Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10242 - Staying Close to the Lord - Exodus 33

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#10242 - Staying Close to the Lord - Exodus 33 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Exodus chapter 33.
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Would you open your Bibles there?
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We're going to try to tackle the whole chapter today.
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I entitled our Bible study Staying close to the Lord.
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One of the secrets not so secret in Moses life was his ability to
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stay close to the Lord. Even though Moses was a normal
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man, much like you and me, he was also a special man with a
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special ministry. There was a uniqueness about
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him, much like you and me. You have a special uniqueness
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about you, a special calling upon your life, a purpose to
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fulfill. We read these stories, these two
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stories of the men and women that God has used throughout
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history, and we think, ah, so different than me and so
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different in life and so different in calling, and not so
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much very similar as we seek to obey God in the life that He has
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given to us, we're following him like Moses was following him.
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We're trusting him like Moses was trusting him.
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We're obeying Him like Moses was obeying him.
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We're disobeying him like Moses disobeyed the ups and downs of
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life. It's good to remember that we
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have a special calling in our life as well.
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Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 11. And the NLT says this.
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For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.
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They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future
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and a hope. And in those days, you'll pray
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and I will listen to you. I was reading as I was reviewing
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my notes last week. And today I was reviewing my
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e-mail and an e-mail came into my inbox from one of our
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missionaries, Nate and Tess Markhart.
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And as I was reading through, it was a very long one with
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pictures and all the things that they were going through.
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As I was reading through it, I thought, man, this, this man and
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his family are living out the book of Acts.
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The things that he's sharing, the things that are going on in
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his life, the whole story around.
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I've known him since way back in the days of the school when he
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was super young, starting out in his career.
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I remember laying hands on him and praying for him early on in
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his marriage. And now they're out on the
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mission field. But then I had to pause and I'm
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like, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, wait.
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I know I'm reading an e-mail from Nate and Tess, but you
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know, I'm living out the book of Acts of my own life.
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I know I'm not on the mission field, but I'm living out what
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God has for me too, just like He is.
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You're living out. You're living out the will of
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God for your life and to write it out, I mean, maybe if you
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gave an update letter of your life every month and you had to
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send it to your family and friends.
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This is what's going on. This is what happens when I wake
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up. This is what God did.
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I tried this over here and there was a closed door.
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I went over here because that's really what's happening in Nate
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and Tessa's life right now. They're moving forward after a
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couple hard closed doors. They had this vision and this
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desire and they went forward with great faith.
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And then they experienced some really hard closed doors.
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They watch the door close. They took a turn and moved off
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in a new direction. And I remember too, I had all of
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this is I was praying through the e-mail, thinking of them,
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praying for them, responding to them.
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I was thinking, you know what, it wasn't too long ago where
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they were sitting in a chair just like you in this room,
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worshipping God together. It wasn't too long ago when they
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were looking at their life, praying through their life,
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wondering what does God want to do in the next season?
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What is what God want to do? I wonder if, and really for
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Nate, it was stepping into a new season of life.
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They moved, they lived all the way across town.
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They were driving to church here from Arvada for years.
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And the Lords like, no, I'm going to move you on.
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I'm going to move you on. You're going to move you out
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into the mission field. And so when we're reading Moses
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life like he's living out way before the book of Acts, he's
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living out this dynamic life of faith as well.
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It's available to all of us. The ups and downs, the
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difficulties, the the closeness, the mountaintop experience is
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what we just saw. I mean, he's receiving the law
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from God personally. And then he comes down to what
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that scene, oh, that scene, that golden cap.
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What have you done, Aaron? What have you done?
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And he takes care of it. That's what we saw in our last
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chapter in 3032. Let's pick up in verse 1,
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chapter 33. Then the Lord said to Moses,
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depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have
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brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore
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to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying to your descendants, I
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will give it, and I will send my Angel before you, and I will
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drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the
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parasite, and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
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Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey.
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For I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the
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way, for you are a stiff necked people.
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Here is God's answer to Moses prayer.
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Go back to chapter 32, verse 11. In chapter 232, verse 11, it
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says Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, Lord, why does
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your wrath burn hard against your people whom you have
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brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a
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mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak
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and say he brought them out to harm them and to kill them in
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the mountains, to consume them from the face of the earth?
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Turn from your fierce wrath and relent from this harm to your
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people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and
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Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self and
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said to them, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of
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heaven. And all this land that I've
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spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall
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inherit it forever. So the Lord relented.
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When we get to chapter 31 in these first few verses, this is
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the answer, Moses. I won't destroy them.
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I relent. Now go and depart.
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Go into the land that I promised you'd lead these people.
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I will fulfill my promises that I made to Abraham, Isaac, and
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Jacob. I'll do it.
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I want you to lead them out now. There's great safety in praying
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to God, the promises that He has made.
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There's great safety and great power when you read through the
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scriptures and you pray the promises that God has given.
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One promise I share with you that you can begin praying right
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now. Those of you that are doubting,
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those of you that are wondering, those of you that are
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questioning where you are in life today, what is God exactly
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doing? You have stumbled along, maybe
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got a hardship, all of that. You can pray Jeremiah 2911 and
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say, God, I know you have a plan for my life.
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I know you know what you're doing in my life.
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I know that what you have allowed in my life and what's
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going on is not for my disaster. And I pray God you'd show me I'm
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asking you right now. Reveal it to me now.
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Be careful not to don't don't ask him for I mean, you can ask
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whatever you want, but it's just my advice to you.
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Don't ask for. Can you give me the 30 year
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plan? I want to know all your plans.
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Just just make it for the moment.
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Lord, you know where I'm at, you know what I'm feeling, and this
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is what your word says. And then you would have somebody
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come along and go, wait a minute, pastor, you know
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Jeremiah 29 that that was an old covenant promise to the nation
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of Israel. You're right, You're absolutely
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right, 100% A+ plus on your Old Testament survey class.
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However, if the new covenant is greater than the old covenant
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and God doesn't change, then wouldn't it make sense that it's
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a greater promise in the new covenant for God's plans for
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your life in Christ Jesus? And so be careful.
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The guys that just want to talk, they want to make everything
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about God some Bible study where they're the smart ones and
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you're the dumb one. Don't let people do that to you.
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The promises of God are yours to claim and to live and to pray
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and ask God and just say you, you go through a promise of God
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and you pray it wrong or you get something wrong in prayer.
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What do you think God's going to do?
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He's going to correct you gently.
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He's not going to go. I can't believe it.
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You're not using the Bible correctly.
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What's your problem? What do you mean?
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I have a plan. Don't you know that was just for
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Israel? Go back and learn it.
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Do you think God would do that to you?
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He wouldn't do that to you. He invites you to pray.
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And don't you need to hear the promises of God?
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Don't you need to hear that God can make a way where there is no
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way and you go, oh, hey, pastor, that's just not going to happen
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in my life. If you knew what was going on in
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my life, you'd have a different promise for me.
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I'm like, no, no, I've seen it happen over and over again in
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the Scriptures. I've seen God do this over and
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over. The big one, of course, the one
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that's mentioned over and over again, is the parting of the Red
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Sea. But won't, wouldn't you see it
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over and over again in the Scriptures?
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God doing something that was unexpected in the lives of his
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people, doing something that just jumped into their life
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right in the moment. What do you do when you face a
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crisis? You turn to the Lord.
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What do you do when you're discouraged?
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You turn to the Lord. What do you do when you're going
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through a season of wondering and questioning God?
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Do you quit? Do you throw in the towel?
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No, you run to the Lord and now the answer to Moses prayer comes
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very, very quickly. You know, when I come to a place
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of difficulty, which often happens in my life, when I face
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difficulties emotionally, when I face difficulties in my station
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of life, my responsibility, when I when I come to something that
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I just don't understand because I have that tendency to want to
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understand. Anybody have that tendency?
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Can I get an Amen? I don't want to be alone in the
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room where everybody's tripping out on how bad I am.
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Let's be bad together. The reality, when I come to a
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place where I don't quite understand, I don't know what's
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going on exactly, I have some questions.
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I've been taught, and I want to apply it in my lives, to always
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fall back on the promises of God.
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I want to fall back on the when everything's wishy washy in my
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mind and my thoughts. I want to fall back on those
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things that are solid and stable no matter what I feel about
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them, no matter how I approach them.
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For example, I know this to be a fact.
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I've lived it out of my life. You have to.
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God loves me. There's no question God loves
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me. He has a supreme.
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He proved beyond any type of doubt in our lives His love for
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us. If you're ever looking to be
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reminded of the love of God in your life, you look to the cross
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and all that Jesus has done for us.
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I know that God loves me #2 I know that God has what's best in
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mind for me according to His purposes.
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He knows how to use my life. I have already been given
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freedom and permission before I was saved to handle my life and
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do whatever I want with my life, do it on my own terms.
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It wasn't the best decision, it wasn't the right decision, but
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God gave me the freedom to do that.
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And coming to the end of myself, it's almost like God saying, OK,
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now what are you going to? Are you going to come to the end
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yet, Ed? Aren't you praying that for some
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people right now? Not for Ed to come to the end,
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but you're praying for that prodigal, whatever it takes God.
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You're praying for that uncle, whatever it takes for your
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brother, whatever it takes for your sister, whatever it takes
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that they might see that their way is not the right way.
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That they would allow the pain to show them.
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That they would allow the frustration to show them.
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That they would see what God you see in their lives and they
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would turn to you by faith and trust you.
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I know that God has what's best in mind for me.
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He knows what He's doing with my life.
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I can trust Him. I also know, thirdly, that Jesus
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will never leave me. He will never abandoned me.
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He's promised that He will never turn and abandoned and leave me.
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Nor, fourthly, will He forsake me.
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He is committed to me. I mean, I can go through over
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and over, line after line of line of the promises that God
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has made. Another promise I'm reminded of
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is that nobody can snatch me out of the Father's hands.
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Another one, nothing can separate me from the love of
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God. Another one, God will give me
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the victory over the giants in my life, day by day, moment by
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moment. How about this one?
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Isaiah 54, verse 17. No weapon formed against you
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shall prosper. Every tongue that rises against
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you in judgement you shall condemn.
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This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their
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righteousness is from me, says Lord.
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Great. A great thing to memorize
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Scripture because although I have a little bit of notes here,
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those scriptures came to mind because they're in my heart.
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They're mine. I've obeyed the Word where it
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says that David hid God's word in his heart so that he might
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not sin against him. Hide God's Word in your heart.
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It's such a easy, inexpensive way to walk in victory.
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It costs nothing, it doesn't cost you a penny.
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You know, you're looking at everything's rising in prices
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and you can't afford this and you can't afford not to memorize
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Scripture. It's free and to hide God's word
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in your heart will strengthen you.
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Not only that, notice what he does in verse 2 coming back.
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He says I'm going to send my Angel before you.
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You notice in the new King James, it's capitalized.
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This is a theophany or a christophany.
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This is the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God being
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sent before. He is not an Angel.
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He is coming in the form of an Angel.
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And there are many times we studied in other places where
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Jesus appeared before He took on human flesh.
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Notice why the angels going before him?
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Why? Why The Lord has been sent
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personally for the sole purpose in verse 2 to drive out all
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these ites. Whenever you read about the
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Canaanites, the parasites, the Hittites, the the Jebusites, the
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Hivites, whenever you read about the I, I just want you to
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remember one word, enemies. These are the enemies of the
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nation of Israel. And God will deal with the
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enemies. God's dealing with the enemies.
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I'm going to send you into enemy territory, but I'm going to send
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my Angel before you just go up to that land that's flowing.
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Verse 3 of milk and honey. I love that.
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Verse 4 when the people heard these, and when the people heard
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these grave tidings, they mourned, and no one put on his
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ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses,
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say to the children of Israel, you're a stiff necked people, I
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could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you.
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Now, therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what
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to do to you. So the children of Israel
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stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.
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Interesting English word being used to your ornaments.
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It's just jewelry. It's the jewelry they took from
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Egypt. It was the jewelry they they
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used to make the golden calf. Obviously they didn't use all
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the jewelry. They still had it.
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It was what was representative of the false worship of Egypt
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God. You'll remember when they left
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Egypt, they plundered the Egyptians.
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They took all that wealth with them for the purpose of building
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the Tabernacle and the future life in the new land.
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But they had taken it and used it for themselves.
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This is a pattern throughout the Scriptures.
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We don't have time to develop it, but you will see what God
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has given to the people of God. They'll often use it for
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themselves and to their own, for their own interests.
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This is an example, these ornaments, these, this jewelry
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was not to be used like the Egyptians used it.
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Now Moses again is in the place of delivering difficult things.
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He has to share something that's hard.
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He had a message from the Lord. How about this, a message from
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the Lord. You're a stiff necked people.
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Somebody needed to tell them. And the delivery mechanism at
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this point was God, Moses people, you're a stiff necked,
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stubborn people. That's what God wants me to tell
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some of you today, that you're a stiff necked, stubborn person
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and it's hurting you. You haven't always been that
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way, but you are now. You haven't always been so hard
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to receive a word. You haven't always been so hard
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to humble yourself. You haven't always been so hard
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to admit you're wrong. You haven't always been so hard,
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but you are now, and it's important that you recognize
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that and repent and come back. It's interesting to me how
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things changed from chapter 3. In chapter 3 of Exodus, what did
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we read? We read of that of the people in
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Egypt under, under great bondage and slavery, crying out to God
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for deliverance, asking for His help, wanting to get out of
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slavery and bondage. And God said in chapter 3, I
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have heard the groaning of my people, I've seen their
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affliction, I've seen their oppression and I will deliver
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them. Now, what does he see after all
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that has happened, after the deliverance, after seeing his
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faithfulness, after the plundering of the Egyptians,
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after God doing what he's what he only he could do, What does
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he see now? Stiff necked, stubborn people,
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It's always been in them. God didn't change.
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They changed. You know, God will often deal
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with us depending on how we deal with Him.
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If you come to Him with a hard heart, you can expect some
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resistance from God. You can expect that to those
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that come to him pride you can expect the Bible says that God
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resists the proud. You stiff necked, some of you
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right now going, I can't believe that guy just told me I am stiff
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necked. That message was for you because
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that guy did say that and you heard it very clearly.
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And so if that's how you want to respond, then that's how God
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will deal with you. He can't get to the depths of
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your heart. He can't get to the innermost
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issues. He's not.
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He's got to deal with the pride first.
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Breakdown those barriers first. You're making it harder on
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yourself. Because while God resists the
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proud, what does He do? He gives grace to the humble.
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God will deal with us depending on how we deal with Him if our
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heart is hard. And then God will deal
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differently with you than if your heart was soft.
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God loves us so much that He won't let you keep going
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forward, or He won't let you go away, or He won't let you wander
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off in your pride. He'll chase you, and He may even
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push you and press you into a corner where you have no way out
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except to cry out to Him. But what happens even in the
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corner? You're still mad and you're
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still upset and you're still blaming God.
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And you're still resisting when all of this has come from the
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Lord for you to cry out to Him once again, like you did back
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when you were in bondage, when the only way you thought of God
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was anything. I'll do anything and Get Me Out
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of this. I'll do anything.
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I can't take this anymore. I don't want my kids to grow up
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this way, my grand. And you're in that place of
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desperation. Wouldn't it make sense then in
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your pride and in your stiff necked arrogance and
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stubbornness that God would try to bring, not try to draw you
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into a place where you will finally cry out to Him again?
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The real question is, is what happened in the in between?
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What happened? What happened from you going to
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a place of crying out to the Lord to no longer crying out to
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the Lord? Or in the context of our Bible
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study, what happened from you being so desperate to get out of
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bondage and get out of Egypt that while Moses is delaying
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himself on the mountain, you brought Egypt right to Mount
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Horeb? What happened?
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I thought you wanted to get out of Egypt.
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I thought you wanted to be delivered from alcohol.
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I thought you wanted to be a better husband.
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I thought you wanted to be a better employee.
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What happened? That's a, that's a prayer I've
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been waiting for. That's what I've been waiting to
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do in your life. I've been waiting for those
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words. I want you.
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And now what happened? God is a God of love.
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He'll do whatever is needed to break us over and over again.
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You can just jot it down. Actually, this turnover, I want
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you to mark this. Would you turn over to Romans
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chapter 2 with me in Romans chapter 2?
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It's just one of those beautiful, beautiful truths
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promises of God in Romans chapter 2.
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Notice with me in verse 4, Paul says the Holy Spirit speaking
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through Paul, he says, are you, do you despise the riches of his
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goodness, forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that
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the goodness of God leads you to repentance, the goodness of God,
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the patience of God, the forbearance of God, the
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long-suffering of God, It's so that we might repent.
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Moses had to share some tough words.
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He's interceding from these tough words aren't like angry.
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He's not frustrated at this point.
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He's been interceding for them. He's willing to lay his life
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down on their behalf. No, no, don't wipe him out.
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God, it's going to ruin your reputation.
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It's going to ruin your. Don't wipe them out.
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No, I don't want a new nation made out of me.
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That's not at all what I want. It's like, OK, Moses, but you're
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going to have to tell him the truth.
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It's the only way out is the truth.
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Notice verse 7. He says Moses took his tent and
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pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp and called it the
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Tabernacle of meeting. Real quick here you.
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This is not the Tabernacle we've been studying or will as we end
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the chapter, as we review the Tabernacle again, this is
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probably Moses tent. It's representative at this
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point. They haven't built a Tabernacle
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yet. So we have a representation of
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Moses and his Tabernacle. He moves it outside of the camp
23:54
far and it came to pass. It says that everyone who sought
23:58
the Lord went out to the Tabernacle of meeting which was
24:01
outside the camp. Listen, sin always delays what
24:04
God wants to do in your life. It always slows things down.
24:09
It always takes our attention away from big vision, big moving
24:12
forward like let's go get the world for Christ.
24:14
But no sin will slow that down. And now we've got to deal with
24:18
this. We got to deal with the calf.
24:20
We got to deal with the attitude.
24:22
We got to deal. We got to take care of it
24:24
because we need to get back to what God called us to do in the
24:27
1st place. That's where Moses, he can't
24:29
move on. He's got, OK, I'm getting my
24:31
tent, I'm moving out. We're not going to build the
24:33
Tabernacle right away. Well, why not, Moses?
24:35
Because of your hearts. Because of your hearts.
24:40
I mean, that's a great question to ask, right?
24:41
Why not? Don't you remember golden calf
24:49
jewelry that you're still wearing, your desire to go back
24:53
to Egypt? You're murmuring, you're
24:55
complaining, you just drink the calf.
24:59
So convenient. Our memories are.
25:03
Our memories tend to be always in our favor.
25:08
We need to remember the goodness of God and we need to remember
25:12
the fate that we need to allow our memories to be in favor of
25:15
God and not of our own sinfulness.
25:20
He takes his own tent and he pitches outside the camp.
25:23
Notice he says in verse 8. Now whenever Moses went out to
25:28
the Tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood
25:31
at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the
25:36
Tabernacle. And it came to pass when Moses
25:39
entered the Tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and
25:43
stood at the door of the Tabernacle.
25:45
And the Lord talked with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of
25:50
clouds standing at the Tabernacle door.
25:52
And all the people rose and worshipped each man in his tent
25:57
door. And so the Lord spoke to Moses
26:00
face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
26:03
And he would return to the camp. But his servant Joshua, the son
26:07
of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the Tabernacle.
26:13
Moses, he takes his tent and he goes outside of the camp, an act
26:17
of mercy and grace on his part. God could have, if it was His
26:23
purposes, wipe them out even through Moses prayer.
26:27
But he allows Moses to take a place of worship and go outside
26:30
the camp. Why?
26:32
Because God is holy and man is not.
26:35
They defiled the camp by allowing the golden calf.
26:39
They're the ones that pushed God out of the midst and without the
26:43
sacrifice of animals, yet instituted.
26:45
The solution was to go outside of the camp.
26:48
It would be here that the people would go to worship God.
26:51
And I love verse 8. It says that the people watched
26:55
Moses. Moses was leading them by
26:59
example. He was allowing not only his
27:03
words to be used, but but his example.
27:06
They see their leader worship and it makes them want to do the
27:10
same thing. It's now Moses, you know, before
27:15
just a few moments, a few days ago it was where is Moses?
27:19
It's Aaron we want, but now it's Moses we watch.
27:26
It's Moses we watch. The pillar of cloud descends.
27:29
God affirms the leadership of Moses.
27:32
God affirms His presence, and now all the people it says in
27:37
verse 10 rose and worshipped each man now at his 10th door.
27:45
I've got a little note here to remind me.
27:47
Aren't you glad that God gives second chances?
27:50
It's like second chances. How about third, Pastor?
27:55
OK, you can have third, and then I pick some random #4569.
28:02
And just in case you're counting.
28:04
But we see it all throughout the Scriptures, the God of the
28:07
second chance. We see it all throughout God
28:10
desiring his best in our life. It started in the garden.
28:15
Adam sinned against God. But instead of God starting
28:19
over, what does he say? He says, where are you?
28:23
That's the question of the day. Where are you?
28:27
Oh, I don't mean that in the context of, hey, why aren't you
28:30
in church? Why aren't you?
28:31
No, no, no, no, no. Wherever you are is a place of
28:35
worship. The real question is, where are
28:37
you in your heart relationship with God?
28:40
Where are you? Who are you watching?
28:44
Who have you allowed to influence your thinking?
28:48
Where are you? Who are you?
28:51
What are you doing with your life?
28:53
Because God is ready to give you a second chance now in that
28:59
situation, in that issue, in that sin, if you will repent and
29:07
come to the Lord. I think of not only Adam, but I
29:10
think of Jonah. Jonah ran from God and God got
29:16
him, swallowed him up with this God ordained fish.
29:22
And what an experience that must have been.
29:27
But God wasn't going to let him go.
29:30
Israel, here in the very early stages of the nation, sends
29:34
greatly against the Lord. But God doesn't forsake them.
29:38
He gives them another chance, and he shows them the reality of
29:44
the situation, but invites them into worship.
29:47
Some of you hearing my voice today have failed God and you're
29:52
fed up with the promises of God that you seem to see slipping
29:57
through your fingers. And it's so frustrates you and
30:01
the tension mounts and grows and the accuser of the brethren
30:05
comes off you with accusation after accusation.
30:09
You condemn yourself for your own mistakes and your own
30:12
failures, but you haven't gone outside the camp.
30:17
You're staying in the camp. You haven't dealt with the
30:20
situation the way it needs to be dealt with.
30:23
I mean, beating yourself up is not receiving the forgiveness of
30:26
Christ. Beating yourself up and
30:29
listening to the accuser of the brethren is a form of idolatry
30:33
where you stay in control. Now your control is this.
30:37
You know, I, I just beat myself up because then then I can have
30:40
these emotions that I can create and I can just live in my
30:42
emotions instead of coming clean before the Lord.
30:46
God's going, where are you? You have to say, here I am Lord,
30:50
here I am, your own hearts condemning.
30:57
You're so far from the Lord, and yet you're so close.
31:01
And God says, I'll receive you and I'll receive your heartfelt
31:04
worship. Just come back to me.
31:07
And that's what the people do here.
31:08
They come back, not a perfect people, they just come back.
31:12
And what happens with Moses? Moses in verse 11 has this sweet
31:16
intimacy. He's close to the Lord, speaking
31:20
with him face to face like a man speaks to his friend.
31:25
It says such sweet intimacy the Lord offers us through Jesus
31:33
Christ. But Moses experienced it even
31:37
before the New Covenant. This phrase face to face could
31:42
also be translated mouth to mouth.
31:45
It's an idiomatic phrase, not that Moses has seen literally
31:49
the face of God, but that there's closeness and intimacy.
31:53
He speaks to him as a friend. This is the God of all creation.
31:58
This is the creator God. This is the God who institutes
32:01
judgment, the God of wrath, the God who's worshipped.
32:08
But to communicate and have closeness, that's what our
32:11
prayer life does. Communicating with God as a
32:14
friend. That's what Bible study does.
32:16
Receiving from the Lord as from a friend.
32:19
That's what fellowship does, hanging around and sharing in
32:23
common with the friends of the friend.
32:26
That's what communion does, the breaking of bread with your
32:29
friend. In Acts chapter 2, verse 42, it
32:32
says they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and in
32:37
fellowship in the breaking of bread.
32:39
There's so much more, but God is for you and not against you.
32:43
And Moses encouraged, he was encouraged to have that
32:46
intimacy. Verse 12 Notice then Moses said
32:48
to the Lord, see, you say to me, bring up this people, but you
32:53
know, have not let me know whom you will send with me yet you
32:59
have said, I know you by name and you've also found grace in
33:03
my sight. It's interesting, isn't it?
33:05
Pillar of cloud, presence of God, intimacy with God.
33:10
And there's still questions. They still wait a minute.
33:15
Who are you going to send with me and no doubt on a practical
33:18
level, he's thinking I don't know about Aaron.
33:23
The jury's out of my brother. I don't know about Aaron, but we
33:27
just read it. There is a man waiting in the
33:29
wings says here in verse 11, Joshua, the son of nun.
33:35
He lingered around. We read of him later as Moses
33:39
assistant. You could say that Joshua's I
33:43
eyes and ears were glued to Moses.
33:50
He was being trained up. And yet you don't find Moses and
33:54
Joshua often in the scriptures like Moses sitting down and
33:57
teaching him like a classroom. They served together.
34:03
Joshua learned and put into practice what he learned and he
34:08
loved Moses and he served alongside of him.
34:12
Another thing I see in verse 12 is that Moses is saying I need
34:15
help. You told me I'm going to lead
34:17
the whole nation, but you see, we haven't started out so well
34:20
and I'm going to need some help. And so verse 13, therefore I
34:25
pray if I found grace in your side, show me now your way that
34:29
I may know you and I might find grace in your side and consider
34:32
that this nation is your people. And he said, my presence will go
34:37
with you and I will give you rest.
34:40
And he said, if your present doesn't go with us, then don't
34:42
bring us up like we can't go without you, Lord.
34:46
Verse 16 For how then will it be known that your people and I
34:49
have found grace in your sight, except you go with us?
34:52
So we shall separate your people and I from all the people who
34:56
are upon the face of the earth. Show me your way, Lord.
35:01
I can't move forward. I got to know, what do you want?
35:05
It's a very different thing than our present day ministry.
35:09
We see things changing in the church today so radically, so
35:13
quickly where you don't, you don't hear a lot about, you
35:16
don't hear a lot of people talking about what is God's way.
35:20
It's almost like man's already figured out what God's way is
35:22
and they're just going to implement it.
35:24
But it's very, very important that you ask the Lord for His
35:28
way. It's very important that you
35:30
read the Scriptures and see God's way, because there is
35:33
God's way and there is man's way.
35:37
And it's very important that we discern the difference in the
35:39
Proverbs many, many times as you're reading a chapter of
35:42
Proverbs every day, all year, you'll come across many, many
35:46
times. There is a way that seems right
35:48
to man, but the end thereof is death.
35:52
I memorized in the old King James.
35:54
The end thereof is death. There was always a way that
35:57
seems right to man, but we don't want the right way for man.
36:01
We want God's way. And I'm not saying that in some
36:04
super, you know, spiritual way where there's just a little
36:07
secret way that no God wants to reveal his way to you.
36:11
And most of the time the answer is very simple and very
36:13
biblical. All these complex questions we
36:16
have and all these layers of difficulty we have.
36:18
The Bible is very clear. Like, like for example, all the
36:21
consequences and difficulties of sin, all the myth, all the
36:24
things you've got yourself into, all the everything, it's all
36:27
coming down on you. What am I supposed to do?
36:28
I don't know. This is what I'm going to do.
36:30
Now here's it's a simple answer. It all starts with repentance.
36:34
You want to get out of the mess, come back to the Lord.
36:37
And the first step to coming back to God is repentance, godly
36:40
sorrow. It's not that complicated.
36:43
Yeah, but it is complicated. No, no, no.
36:45
The mess that you have made is very complicated, Yes, But the
36:50
way out of it is not so much you're trying to figure out.
36:55
And if you piece this together and you put this over here, and
36:58
if you try this and you move this over here, it's like a big
37:00
chess game to you. But God's not playing chess.
37:04
He's already got the game figured out.
37:06
You need to ask him what's your way, Lord?
37:09
And you will eventually, and I will eventually just come to
37:13
that place where I don't know what I'm doing.
37:16
I've tried all the things. I've tried all, you know, as a
37:18
pastor, I've tried all the things I've tried in the past
37:20
and I've tried all the and eventually, if that's the way I
37:23
want to go, I want to go in the way of man, I want to go in the
37:25
way of Ed. I'll tell you where that's going
37:27
to end. God, I have no idea.
37:31
You need to show me your way. I'm so sorry for wasting all
37:34
this time going my way. I want to know your way.
37:38
That's where Moses is. There's such a deep honesty.
37:41
God help me. You know me, you know these
37:45
people. What am I supposed to do?
37:47
They're your people. And quickly here before we
37:51
leave, I want to give you some ingredients of his prayer.
37:54
If you're looking for some direction on this kind of
37:56
prayer, a prayer of help, here's some things that Moses prayed
38:00
that may be very helpful for you #1 In verse 12, he asked for
38:04
guidance. He asked for guidance.
38:05
Show me your way. I can't go unless you show me
38:10
your way #2 He asked to know him.
38:14
He wanted to know more of the character and nature of God.
38:17
Verse 12. He wants to know more of God
38:20
because the more he knows, the more faith his faith will remain
38:24
strong. It's like some of you today will
38:28
go. You know my faith is strong
38:29
because I know the Bible. There's one more step.
38:32
Your faith will become stronger when you know the author of the
38:36
Bible because the Bible represents the heart of God as
38:42
he's communicating his heart to you and me.
38:43
It's not just a bunch of rules and regulations.
38:45
Do this, don't do that. It's like it's like our father
38:48
saying this is what's best for you, daughter, OK?
38:53
This is what's best for you, son.
38:54
OK, I trust you. And then over and over you've
38:58
seen God's faithfulness. You say, Lord, I want to know
39:01
you. I need, I need direction.
39:03
But what I really need is to know you.
39:07
And so praying for God's guidance, praying for God's
39:11
presence in the situation and God's answer, my presence will
39:16
go with you, Moses, I'm going with you.
39:21
You're with me, and I'm with you.
39:24
I love that. It just sounds so sweet hearing
39:28
it. God telling you I'm with you,
39:31
I'll never leave you or forsake you.
39:34
We're in this to the end. My promise is until you awaken
39:38
righteousness, until you're absent from the body and you're
39:44
present with the Lord, God says I'm with you, that nothing turn
39:49
over to Romans chapter 8, would you?
39:52
We just got to read it. We've got to allow it to
39:55
permeate our hearts today and our minds.
39:58
We need to receive it for the truth that it is.
40:00
Romans chapter 8, we just come to this high point in the heart
40:04
of Paul as he's thinking about the glorious presence of God,
40:09
the faithfulness of God. Verse 31, would you?
40:12
Romans 8, verse 31, if you want to go in depth on these verses,
40:16
I taught through Romans verse by verse.
40:18
All those studies are up on the app and up on the website.
40:21
And I'd encourage you to dig deep and to go deeper.
40:25
But notice in verse 31, what shall we say to these things?
40:28
If God is for us, who can be against us?
40:32
He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up,
40:36
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
40:41
freely give us all things? And who shall bring a charge
40:44
against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
40:48
Who is he who condemns? Verse 34 it is Christ who died
40:52
and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of
40:56
God, who also makes intercession for us.
40:59
Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
41:02
Shall Let's just answer these questions.
41:04
You ready? Who shall separate us from the
41:06
love of Christ? Shall tribulation distress?
41:10
Oh, come on, Is there more than two people here?
41:13
You guys ready? Shall tribulation, distress,
41:18
persecution, famine, nakedness, sword?
41:24
No, as it is written for your sake.
41:27
We're killed all day long. We're accounted as sheep for the
41:30
slaughter. Yet in all these things we are
41:33
more than conquerors through him who loved us.
41:38
And I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
41:42
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
41:45
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall
41:50
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
41:54
Jesus our Lord. That's the answer Moses got with
42:00
the phrase, I'll be with you. That's what he got.
42:05
My presence will go with you. My presence will go with you.
42:09
We got the full answer. We got the full answer in the
42:14
new covenant, the expanded edition, the amplify.
42:19
You know, some of you have that amplified Bible, the amplified
42:22
version of explanation after explanation after explanation of
42:28
the presence of God. Well, verse 17 Now back in
42:31
Exodus, then the Lord said to Moses, I'll also do this thing
42:35
that you have spoken for. You have found grace in my
42:38
sight, and I know you by name. And he said, please show me your
42:42
glory. Moses gets a little bold.
42:43
Now we need you. I need some guidance.
42:47
I want you to go with me. Oh, I'm going to go with you.
42:49
OK. All right.
42:51
I want to see your glory. He's been speaking to him face
42:54
to face. He's been up on the mountain for
42:55
40 days and 40 nights, and he still wants more.
42:59
Haven't you found not to be true?
43:01
All the experiences, all how far you and I have come, all that
43:05
we've been able to see, What is our prayer?
43:07
Oh, I want more, Lord. I want to see your glory.
43:10
I want to see things I haven't seen yet.
43:12
I want to be a part of things I haven't been a part of yet.
43:15
And Moses had seen a lot. He need experience a lot.
43:19
God defeats Pharaoh, delivers the people, opens the Red Sea he
43:23
got, speaks to him from a fiery Bush, a pillar of cloud man, a
43:26
rod. And he's still not satisfied of
43:30
all, even at this place in his walk, of all the things that
43:33
he'll experience. And no matter much, no matter
43:36
how much you know and how far you've come, how mature you
43:39
might be, how often you've been around the block spiritually,
43:43
how much of the Bible you know, how you meet somebody, go, well,
43:45
I've read the Bible five times. Like that's the end.
43:48
No, no, no, no, even to that point, there is still a place of
43:52
spiritual growth for you and for me.
43:55
If you read the Bible five times, it's time for #6 and
43:59
whatever the Lord has for you, you never come to that place.
44:03
Like there is a part in our lives where God desires and
44:06
commands us to be content, but there's also a part of our
44:09
spiritual lives where we are to be spiritually discontent in the
44:14
sense that God has more for us. Every great worship service,
44:20
every great time in His Word only whets our appetite for more
44:26
so good. Well, he says in verse 19, God
44:32
says, I'll make my Oh my goodness pass before you.
44:35
You want to see my glory? I'm going to show you my
44:38
goodness. We went to all the bells and
44:41
whistles. Some churches, they amplify
44:44
that. All the activity, all the
44:46
prophetic, all the hey, look, you're looking for the glory of
44:49
God. He's going to reveal his
44:51
goodness to you. He's going to show you his
44:54
character. He's going to reveal to you not
44:57
all the hype and all the all the excitement.
45:00
You know, you get involved in all the hype and the excitement.
45:02
You know what happens? You leave and you don't take the
45:05
hype and excitement with you. You live in reality.
45:09
Sometimes the hype and excitement in churches is just
45:11
man made. It's just some man's
45:13
personality. It's somebody hyping you up and
45:15
knows how to work a crowd. You go, Oh God, I want to show
45:18
you, show me your glory. And God says, all right, I'm
45:21
going to show you my goodness. You're going to learn more of
45:25
me. So I'm going to make my goodness
45:28
pass before you, and I'll proclaim the name of the Lord
45:30
before you. Verse 19 I'll be gracious to
45:33
whom I'll be gracious. I'll have compassion on whom
45:36
I'll have compassion. But you can't see my face.
45:39
No man can see me and live. And the Lord said, here's a
45:42
place by me. You go stand on the rock.
45:45
And so it shall be while my glory passes by, that I will put
45:49
you in the cleft of the rock, and I'll cover you with my hand
45:53
while I pass by. And then I'll take away my hand,
45:57
and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.
46:03
You stand there in that little safe place in the rock, and
46:08
you'll see what I revealed to you.
46:10
You're not going to be able to see the fullness, but you'll see
46:13
me as I pass by. That afterglow, as we'll see.
46:18
You'll see that afterglow of my presence.
46:21
It'll be enough. You'll see my back, but not my
46:25
face, because I want you to live.
46:26
I mean, here's another. You might see this as what?
46:29
God's holding out on you. What do you mean?
46:32
God, you give me all this. You won't let me see.
46:34
No, no, you got to understand, Moses, I love you.
46:36
And anybody that sees me, they're going to die.
46:40
I want you to live. And so I'm just going to put you
46:42
in a rock, going to set you there by yourself, and I'm going
46:45
to pass by, but I want you to live.
46:48
That's the final word I think the Lord has for us today.
46:50
God wants you to live. Jesus came to give you life and
46:55
that more abundantly, not just eternal life in the future, but
47:00
fullness of life today where you can live out the fullness of
47:04
God's will for your life and then you can trust him.
47:07
No, God, I've come to that place where I want to see your glory.
47:10
I want to call down glory from heaven.
47:12
He said no, no, you just go back in the rock over there.
47:14
Just hide in the little crack there.
47:17
Just no, it's not even going to be like you think I'm going to
47:19
pass by. You're going to enjoy my
47:21
presence because my goodness is going to come and I'm going to
47:23
show you my character, my nature.
47:24
I'm going to reveal myself to you.
47:26
That is what you need, Moses. You're going to live with the
47:30
knowledge of who I am. Man, it's so good.
47:34
So Father, thank you for your word and the, the, the the
47:37
strength of your word in our lives.
47:41
We're asking God that you would show us your glory by revealing
47:46
your goodness to us, your patience and your forbearance.
47:50
You know our hearts, Lord, we, we may have that stubbornness in
47:53
US. Forgive us God, there may be
47:56
some that heard the word and they go, well, I'm that stiff
48:00
necked. 1 The Lord just soften their hearts.
48:04
Bring them to a place like it. I hope it's not the hard way.
48:08
I hope they don't press and push and resist you, get mad at you
48:15
and be frustrated with you. Lord, they just cry out to you
48:20
and submit and come to you humbly.
48:24
Lord, you give grace to the humble.
48:27
And I just pray that humility over our church today, over
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those listening on the radio or watching online.
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Just pray grace on us, Lord, We want that humility in our lives.
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We need it. I know we have this excitement
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and desire to see great things, but you don't.
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You don't want us to see great things.
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You want us to see you. You want us to see your
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goodness. You are great.
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Nothing else is great. You are great.
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And your will, your will in your word is perfect.
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And so, God, pour out your Spirit on us.
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Pour out your Spirit on us, pour out your spirit.
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And so right now I want to give you a chance.
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Church, I battled in my on my own heart right now.
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I had the impression to do this and then I go, no, I'm not going
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to do that. And then I'm going to do it.
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And so it could be for someone. But if you're the stiff neck
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stubborn 1 and you want to acknowledge that publicly, you
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just want to be able to do it and get over your pride like a
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standing or you know, being acknowledging it in some way,
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someone's going to see it. You just need to get over that
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and stubbed that stiff necked word.
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As for you, just stand up right now so we could pray for you.
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I didn't want to do it because I'm feeling like, well, I don't
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want them to be embarrassed, but this is not my church.
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So I still don't want you to be embarrassed and I don't think
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you will. I really don't.
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I think you're in a safe space in this church.
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But it was a word that to, to respond to and you don't have to
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stand to respond. But I'm asking you like this is
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you can do it publicly. So it's in your mind, it's like,
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hey, whatever comes my way, I'm not too concerned about people
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right now. I'm concerned about the glory of
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God in my life. And there's just a resistance.
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And God wants to set you free. He wants to set you free today.
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He's been fighting the work of God in your life, fighting the
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will of God in your life, wrestling and fighting and just
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wondering what it is today. This is where I'm I'm helping
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you follow through with the Bible verse.
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Humble yourselves in the sight of God and he will lift you up.
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And so you guys around them standing, go up to them and lay
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hands on them. Let's pray over them.
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These are your brothers and sisters in your church, so
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there's some here. Just get up and lay hands on
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them. Somebody close to you, somebody
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you see, There's some in the back that might be behind you,
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so you might have to turn around so you can see them.
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Let's just pray over them. Maybe you're still really
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fighting this and you're praying for someone, but you got to pray
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for yourself. Just go ahead.
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Just give it to the Lord Father and pray out loud.
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You guys, anybody have a word? You have a prophetic word and
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inside, just give it over them. Just speak it.
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You have a scripture that God gave in your DeVos today.
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You can speak while I'm praying. God can sort it all out, but
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I'll pray what's on my heart. Somebody in your group might
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want to pray what's in their heart.
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Father, I pray for those today that would acknowledge this
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stiff neckedness. Here we are in church.
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We come in and out all the time. We're worshipping, we're
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singing, we're enjoying, we we love you, Lord, but there's that
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corner of our heart and our mind that have been fighting you and
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resistant to you. We walk through the dry ground,
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but on the other side now we have reverted back to Egypt,
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reverted back to what we wanted to be delivered from to begin
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with. And I just pray release over our
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church God, release these women and release these men by the
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power of your Holy Spirit from the pride and the stiff
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neckedness and the stubbornness that have been holding them back
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from the next step that they might see your glory as your
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goodness is passes beside them in front of them.
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You might even give them a vision right now.
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You might even impress on them a thought in their head.
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You might even give them right now God, a confirmation that
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this was the moment that you had from that you would show them in
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your in their mind like God in their spiritual imagination.
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Or you know this where they are thinking right now.
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Give them a scripture that they were reading this week or a song
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lyric that we've been singing, something that God, you would
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refer to them a confirmation that they are forgiven and
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washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
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Nothing can separate us, nothing, nothing.
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We set it with our own lips. No, no, no, not even pride,
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because pride, the enemy of pride is humility.
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And we receive that today in Jesus name, Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
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delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
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prayer. Call us at 87730 grace that's
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877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.