Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10206 - Let My People Go - Exodus 5

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#10206 - Let My People Go - Exodus 5 · 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 a
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bounding 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 here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. I've entitled our Bible study.
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Let My People Go. Let My People Go.
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Moses here is the Reluctant Servant.
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That's a title I think to can fit just about any of us that
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serve Jesus in one capacity or another.
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When you compare your own resources with the requirements
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of God, it's easy to develop a reluctant spirit of sorts.
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That's why it's important that you recognize God's calling upon
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your life. Because when that reluctance
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comes, or that hesitancy comes, or that lack of faith comes, you
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can lean into your calling and you just know that you know that
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God told you to do this, so you want to obey him and be
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faithful. I remember Paul even asked that
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question, as successful as he was, and as much as he was used,
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remember he asked the question, who is sufficient for these
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things? Very rarely do we look in the
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mirror and go, I'm sufficient because we recognize our own
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insufficiencies. And yet there's that progress of
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faith that moves you into following the call of God upon
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your life. And I see two things in constant
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tension. You can jot these down in your
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notes. There's two things I see in
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constant tension among believers and leaders and servants of the
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Lord. Generally, these are among those
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that are maturing in their faith.
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First of all is in Jeremiah chapter 45 in verse 5.
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This is the 1/2 of the tension. Jeremiah 45 five says, do you
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seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them for Behold,
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I'll bring adversity on all flesh, says the Lord.
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But I'll give your life to you as a prize in all places,
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wherever you go. And there's that humility in our
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lives not to seek great things for ourselves, not to want to be
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involved in things that might draw attention to ourselves.
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We don't want great things for ourselves.
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We want great things for the Lord.
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But then there's Jeremiah 33, the other side of that tension,
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and Jeremiah 33. It says, call to me and I will
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answer you and show you great and mighty things which you
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don't know. On the one hand, don't see great
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things for yourself. On the other hand, when you call
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upon him, God is ready to show you great things.
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They don't always come the way you would think.
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Moses is in the middle of seeing great things from the Lord.
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It's going to be very hard and very challenging as we pick up
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here in chapter 5, Moses is on his way to Pharaoh.
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Up to this point, Moses was full of excuses, but God coached him
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through and drew him through them and basically he didn't
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want to do this. Yet God in his grace allows
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Moses to take his brother Aaron along and they confront Pharaoh
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and begins the confrontation Really not between Moses and
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Aaron and Pharaoh, but between Pharaoh and God.
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Pharaoh's taking on God himself. Verse one, chapter 5.
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Afterward, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh.
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Thus says the Lord God of Israel let my people go, that they may
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hold a feast to me in the wilderness.
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And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey his
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voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will
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I let Israel go. This is a young Pharaoh.
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By the way, it's important that you recognize this Pharaoh's
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different than the one that was in charge when Moses was first
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in Egypt 40 years earlier. This is his son.
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He's much younger. Moses comes and he is obedient.
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He is fulfilling the call that God gave him to go to MO, to
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Pharaoh and declare the word of God to Pharaoh.
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It would be easy for those of us that get reluctant at times to
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think it ends here, but it's going to carry on for many
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chapters. God has a lot to show Pharaoh,
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but he also has a lot to show Moses afterward.
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I like that word afterward. After all was said and done, the
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previous chapter, all the excuses, all the hesitations,
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all the worry, anxiety, whatever you want to fill the blanks in
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after all of that was done, look what happens.
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Moses obeys. You can go the easy way.
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You can go the hard way. But listen, friend, you're going
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to go. You're going to fulfill it.
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You will fulfill the will of God for your life.
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They go in. These words remind me that the
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will of God will prevail. He will get the last word.
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It strikes me too, in my own walk with the Lord, that even
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after all the fighting and wrestling, it's not worth it.
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It's so much better to quickly obey.
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God will let you work through, and God will let you deal with
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it. But it's so much better to
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develop the habit of quick obedience, immediate obedience.
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We see that over and over again in the book of Mark.
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There's so much action in the book of Mark and the gospel of
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Mark. We're reminded even with Moses
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here he ends up going And when we argue with God we never win.
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5 excuses, 10 excuses that you got Moses with, the five excuses
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You have Moses with the fear, you have Moses with the
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maneuvering, you have Moses with the manipulating, you have Moses
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with the fidgeting and the squirming.
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But in the end Moses goes in. That's what it says here in
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verse one, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh.
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What do they tell him? Let my people go.
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The Pharaoh's consider deity. This becomes a personal offence
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to Pharaoh. Among the 3000 gods of the
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Egyptians, the Pharaoh was up there at the top.
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They would refer to him as Mighty God, which would prompt
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this question. In verse 2 Pharaoh says who is
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the Lord and you'll notice he uses the proper name.
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In the English translations, these are all capital letters
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referring to the name Yahweh. The Tetragrammaton is mentioned
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here. Who are you talking about?
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So it's as if he's saying, don't you know who you're standing
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before? Don't you know who I am?
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And this is a very interesting, a very interesting episode that
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we have to recognize for what it is.
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This is the ruler of the known world that with a snap of the
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fingers could eliminate Moses and Aaron's life, but is in a
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place where he's humoring them, dealing with them.
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It just reminds me, my own life as well, that there are things
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that seem to be beyond my ability, outside of my control.
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There there, there is actually one thing in my life that I look
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at right now and I just like it. It would require an absolute
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miracle of God. Truly a supernatural
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intervention of God on many different levels.
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Some I know, some he only he knows.
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And I look here at Pharaoh and I'm like, wow, to get an
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audience with Pharaohs. Pretty impossible.
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I mean, who are these guys? They're related to The slaves.
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I mean that. Who are they?
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They're they're nobodies. Pharaoh doesn't care about them
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these generations away from the Pharaohs that did care.
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And his response is very indicative.
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In verse two, Who is the Lord? Of course He's ignorant of the
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one true living God. Ignorance of God always leads to
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disobedience and resistance. The first step in following God
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is coming to know Him intimately and personally, understanding
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His character, His love, and His grace.
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When you know God, then you know yourself, and when you know
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yourself, you have a desire for God and the forgiveness that He
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alone provides. You owe him your life.
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He's your creator. He's your sustainer.
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He's your provider. Whether you know him personally
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today or not, whether you're born again or not, whether what
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we may refer to today as a Christian, whether you're a
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Christian or not, or a church goer, A moral, or, you know, for
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the worst person on the planet earth, God is their creator and
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God is their sustainer and God is their provider.
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The difference, of course, between you and me is that we
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get to enjoy relationship because we know that our sins
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are forgiven. We're not in enmity with God any
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longer. We get to enjoy our Creator.
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We appreciate our Provider. We are surrendered to our
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Sustainer. It's only a matter of time that
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God will answer this question. In verse two, God will reveal to
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Pharaoh who He is. He will revert to Pharaoh and
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bring him to his knees so that he might obey.
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It will be in the coming 10 plagues that God reveals
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himself, dealing each with what the Egyptians valued.
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I don't have time to develop this, but I'm sure you have seen
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it in your own life that when you begin to stray or you begin
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to find yourself in a place where you're not pressing into
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the things of God, enjoying your when you stray away, God begins
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to touch the things that you value, things that are important
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to you. In our culture, most mostly it's
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something material, something valuable, a house, a car, a bank
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account, a friendship. And all of a sudden it's gone or
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there's a challenge because it had drawn you away.
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You you find you, you find a situation maybe with where you
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were living and and things changed with the way you're
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living. And now it's really, really hard
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and challenging. And what happens?
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Your prayer life comes alive. Then you have to ask yourself,
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well, why wasn't my prayer life so alive before?
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Why did it take this? Why does it take these things in
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our lives? For the for the Pharaoh, he's
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going to deal with the difficulty going to touch the
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Nile and bring frogs and lice and flies.
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It's just unbelievable. God is going to touch the things
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that are valuable to him to get his attention.
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And whether God touched them personally or he pulls back some
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of the hedge like he does with with Job.
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The things that we value the most or even above the things in
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my life I've learned over the years that I valued over God
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that I didn't know. I didn't know it until it was
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revealed to me. I'm like, oh, I see now, Lord,
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what a mistake, what a sinful mistake I made with that.
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Please forgive me. Notice in verse three it says
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they said so. They said the God of the Hebrews
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has met with us. Please let us go three days.
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Journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God,
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lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.
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Then the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why do
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you take the people from their work?
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Get back to your labor. There's a pattern here you see
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developed. Those who do not listen to God
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will not listen to God's messengers either.
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Those who do not know God have a hesitancy listening to the
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messengers of God. People who have no time for God
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will have a very short fuse with those that claim to speak for
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God. Remember that the next time you
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share the gospel, the next time you're talking to someone about
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what Bible study, you know you learn something in a Bible
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study. Learn something in your
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devotions. Remember that the next time
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somebody goes off on you because you're talking about the things
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you've got with them. Someone that doesn't know God
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isn't going to be so excited with the messenger of God.
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And some of you, even today you experienced you, you were
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sharing with someone. I want to hear that stupid
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stuff, that nonsense. You follow a myth, you know, you
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churchgoers and you Christians, whatever thing that they want to
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share to keep you blankety blank, blank, blank, blank,
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blankety blank. Yeah, It's because they have no
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desire about to hear about God or to live for God.
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They have no desire. And you're going into a a really
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hard ground and you're sowing seeds and you're preparing to
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follow ground. Some people plant and some
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people water, but only God gives the increase.
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Remember in First Samuel chapter 8 and verse seven, it says, the
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Lord said to Samuel, heed the voice of the people and all that
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they say to you for they have not rejected you, right.
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He took it personally, but God says they haven't rejected you.
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They rejected me that I should reign over them or Jesus would
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later teach us in John 15 verse 18.
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If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated
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you. Notice verse 5 and Pharaoh said,
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look, the people of the land are many now and you make them rest
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from their labor. So the same Pharaoh, the same
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day Pharaoh commanded. The taskmasters of the people in
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their office are saying, you shall no longer give the people
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straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for
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themselves, and you shall lay on them.
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The quota of bricks which they made before you shall not
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diminish it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry out, saying,
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let us go and sacrifice to our God.
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Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it,
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and let them not regard false words.
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Here is the insight to Pharaoh's heart.
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Here is the insight to Pharaoh's heart.
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He is a cruel man, mean spirited.
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He's mad at God, not interested in God.
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Whatever he's dealing with and thinking he, he himself is God.
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And he takes it out on those that are closest to him, on his
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labour force, his slave labour force.
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You know anyone like that, You know anyone that is cruel and
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mean spirited and because they have no relationship with God,
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the people closest to them pay the highest price.
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It's very common, I think, of you, those of you in a unequally
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yoked relationship. I think of you, those of you
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working for a very cruel boss. I think of all of us living in a
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very cruel world where there's great antagonism toward
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Christianity and those that follow God.
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Why? Because the natural man doesn't
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know the things of the spirit of God.
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They don't understand the love of God, and because of that they
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can't take it out on God. So they're going to take it out
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on you to provoke you. And what does the enemy of our
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souls do with that? The enemy provokes your flesh so
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that in the provocation of your flesh, you might act out in your
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flesh. Because if you act out on your
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flesh, guess who's responsible for the sin that comes from your
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life? Not the provoker, but you.
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And you go through that process over and over again, perhaps
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buying into the blame game of our culture and blaming, well,
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you know it wouldn't be this way if if no, no, you already are
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that way. You just don't know it.
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It's just being revealed to you this hard boss.
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As difficult as it is, God is using in your life to show you
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areas of your flesh that must die, the difficulty within your
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home and the conflict in your marriage or the issue with your
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children, God is using that to bring you to a place of
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surrender to teach you. I've been noticing quite a few
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emails coming through to me personally, and also to the
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pastoral team here of very difficult marriages.
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Perhaps you're even one of them and the e-mail comes in or the
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phone call comes in pretty much like, hey, I'm following the
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Lord, can you talk to my spouse? And it's very genuine, very
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sincere. It's not one of those things.
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Please fix my spouse. They're asking for help.
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The problem is, is that their spouse didn't ask, so that a
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call from a stranger or from some pastor guy probably isn't
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going to go too well. So the council is not a phone
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call unannounced or unrequested. That's not the answer I even
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answered in one particular question.
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I it was a husband. I'm saying, here's the answer.
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You ready? God is teaching you how to love
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your wife as Christ loved the Church.
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He's teaching you how to die to yourself.
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He's teaching you that the limitations of your
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unconditional love, so-called, have been met with conditions
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that you're unwilling to press on with, that you've been loving
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your wife to some degree, expecting something in return.
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However, that's not unconditional agape love.
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It's supernatural love to love unconditionally.
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And answer was you. You need to learn.
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And I gave an answer very similar to a lady that emailed
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as well. It's like this is one of those
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areas where you want to learn how.
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You want to learn how to submit to your husband as unto the
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Lord. That without a word, your
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husband might be won over by your conduct, not your nagging
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or not your whatever it may be. You see, in every relationship,
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God is teaching us how to die to ourselves.
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And the more screaming and the more loud and the more response
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just tells you there's a little bit of your flesh or a lot still
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alive, still wanting prominence. And it happens in every area of
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our lives. This is a revelation of
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Pharaoh's heart. This is his heart.
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You know how we're going to get into the theological issues
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about Pharaoh? Hardening is hard and God
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hardening is hard. And there's much debate over why
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would God harden his heart? But that's really, as you'll see
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repeated many times. This is going to be a theme in
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the coming weeks. The question isn't really why
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did God harden Pharaoh's heart. The real question is, why is
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your heart hard? Oh no, no, no.
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I'm just asking a Bible question.
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No, no, no. I'm just giving you a question
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to consider. Why is your heart hard toward
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that person? Why is your heart hard toward
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this situation? Why are you finding yourself
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kicking against the goats of what God's wanting to accomplish
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in your life? Why are you fighting the
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sanctification process? Why are you withholding from
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God? Why are you making excuses?
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That's the question here, Pharaoh.
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We know why Pharaoh hardens his heart.
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We we actually see it right here.
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He's an evil man who's taking advantage of other men and women
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for his. And when he's challenged and
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really it's not even a challenge at this point, it's really not.
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I I guess it could be taken offensive because he's the known
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ruler of the world. And these two, you know, Hebrews
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come and say, hey, have we been talking to our God?
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And and you need to let us go so we can worship that God.
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And his response is we're going to make things harder.
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It says right there the same day, verse 6, the same day
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Pharaoh commanded these taskmasters make it hard on
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them, make it hard. Pharaoh says something that
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makes me sad and it's discouraging.
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Notice in verse 9 before we move on to the rest.
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It says let more work be laid on the men that they may labor in
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it and listen. You may have missed this as we
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read through quickly, but he gives direction.
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Let them not regard false words. This is a big deal, isn't it?
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This is a big deal. I want you to church.
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Listen to me. This is the word.
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You guys on the radio, listen to me.
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Please pay attention here because this is the mistake, a
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false mistake that unbelievers and believers make to their own
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detriment. And that is this.
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Taking the word of God and regarding it as false, or what
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would we say today? Not taking God's word seriously.
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There's so many things vying for our attention, so many things
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getting our attention, so many things that we give ourselves to
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instead of the word of God. And at some point in your life,
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you're going to have to come to the place where you say out
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loud, I'm giving more attention to these things I would receive
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as true than simply reading the word of God for myself.
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So the Holy Spirit can cause the word of God to come alive in my
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life. You know, it's like when you
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open the Bible and you begin to share the words and then you
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come to that place where, you know, I don't really believe
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that. I believe everything but and you
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start to undermine it or you are opening the word of God and you
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go like, oh you know, the Bible's just man made just
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written by men feel contradictions.
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Again, I mention in First Corinthians chapter 2, verse 14.
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It says the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit
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of God for they are foolishness to them, nor can he know them
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because they're spiritually discerned.
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But on the other hand, the Bible says so.
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In Romans 10/17 faith comes by hearing in what?
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Hearing by the word of God, I wonder how much even among us
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today, how much even how what you're going through could be so
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minimized or or lessened if you would just come back to the word
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of God and believe it and trust him in a sovereign hand in your
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life. Pharaoh regards the word this is
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it's expected. I think, from Pharaoh.
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It's expected. He doesn't have anything.
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He doesn't. He.
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Don't. Don't accept those words.
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They're all false. Don't listen to them.
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What is the good reason that perhaps today you don't accept
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the word of God among us who claim the name of Christ?
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Notice in verse 10 it says. And the taskmasters of the
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people and their officers went out and spoke to the people,
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saying. Thus says Pharaoh, I'll not give
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you straw, go get yourself straw where you can find it.
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And yet none of your work will be diminished.
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So the people were scattered abroad through all the land of
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Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw, and the taskmasters
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forced them to hurry, saying fulfil your work, your daily
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quota, as when there was straw. Also, the officers of the
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children of Israel whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had said
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over them, were beaten and were asked why have you not fulfilled
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your task in making brick both yesterday and today?
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As before, Pharaoh is under heavy conviction here, so things
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just get harder and meaner and more upset.
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If you're living with a person who's under heavy conviction
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that isn't a Christian, we need to know you.
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You should e-mail us so we can pray for you.
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We need to know about the difficulties so we can put you
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through the prayer list and intercede on your behalf.
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You don't need to give us all the details.
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You don't need to give us all the things that might diminish
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our view of that prayer. We just need to pray.
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We need to pray for you, and we need to pray for the person
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that's harming and hurting you. It might be an unsafe husband or
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a wife, unsafe kids. The hostility getting worse, the
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agitation is increasing. They hear the truth, they
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receive the love, but they don't want to bend.
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One of the hardest people to live with is an unbeliever.
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But I would say one of the hardest people to live with is
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an unbeliever under great conviction.
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And Pharaoh, along with those that are with them, great
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conviction, great difficulty. They give the they give the word
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of Pharaoh in verse 10. No more.
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You're not getting any more straw.
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It's stubble. But now you got to go find it
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and still keep your quota. Here, here's the thing.
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When the devil sees a person getting closer to Jesus, it
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seems as if he works overtime to stop it.
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When he sees someone getting closer, it seems as if he pulls
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on the pressure to hold them back.
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I'm sure some of you have noticed that he increases the
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assaults. He unleashes new barriers, new
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sins, new temptations. The spiritual warfare for that
25:38
soul increases all the more it's once been said.
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It seems like a person that's closest to the Lord seems to put
25:47
up the greatest fight. We see the same increase in
25:52
spiritual warfare for the Christian that decides to truly
25:55
serve the Lord with all of her heart.
25:58
All of his heart. I think of some that might have
26:00
heard me today and it's like, OK, I'm open, I'm open to the
26:03
mission field, and then within 5 minutes you're thinking about
26:06
something else. Within 5 minutes, you're already
26:09
on to no, I could never do that. No, I could never do that.
26:11
What do you mean? What's impossible with man is
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possible with God. What do you mean you could never
26:16
do that? Keep saying never.
26:18
I like to hear that. Keep saying never and see what
26:21
God might want to do in your life, how he might, you know,
26:24
thinking about because I I laid it out, right.
26:27
I laid it out as we were praying for our missionary in Peru.
26:29
I'm laying out maybe maybe a little bit call you to buy one
26:31
way tickets and head out and and all of a sudden that's where you
26:34
are, you go. I can never do that.
26:35
But now you're not even open to do anything.
26:40
The enemy would love to discourage you.
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Oh, you're never good enough. You never, you'll never measure
26:46
up to anything. And as soon as you make that
26:48
decision, you're going to be hit.
26:51
If Satan doesn't give up without a fight, this phrase that I've
26:56
used for a while now, I keep hearing it.
26:58
Come back and back on and back in different segments of this
27:01
unusual spiritual warfare associated with the progress of
27:05
this church, in particular unusual warfare.
27:09
You got to keep your eyes open for it.
27:11
Be ready for it. Be prayed.
27:12
Up. Stand fast.
27:13
Would you turn over to Ephesians Chapter 6 with me, please.
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If you haven't already memorized these passages, I want to show
27:20
them to you and I want you to memorize them.
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I want you to be equipped. I want you to learn how to
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memorize the Bible. Hide God's word in your heart so
27:30
that we might not sin against him, that you might be able to
27:37
be strengthened in the inner woman and the inner man against
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the strategies and the schemes of the devil.
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Pick up in chapter 6 and verse 10.
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It says. Finally, my brethren, be strong
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in the Lord and in the power of his might.
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Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand
27:56
against the schemes of the devil.
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We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
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principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness
28:05
of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
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heavenly places, And just pause there.
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Memorize those verses. Hide them in your heart.
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Be sure to e-mail me and come back to me at a service and go
28:20
here. I memorize them.
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Sometimes parents will bring their kids up because they
28:23
memorize the scripture and they get to recite it to me here up
28:26
front. I want you to do that.
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Bring yourself up here and go. Hey, I just want to let you know
28:30
I found somebody that memorized Ephesians 6.
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Now who it is. Who is it?
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It's me. All right, Well, let's hear it.
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So that God might instill in you the confidence and the faith to
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stand fast against the schemes of the devil.
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He is always scheming to destroy your life and to destroy your
28:50
purity and to destroy your commitment.
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This is the enemy's strategy. First of all, he loves to keep
28:57
people away from Jesus. How does he do that with
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unbelievers? Well, they don't already care.
29:02
They they don't care already. So you know, they they they he
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just keeps them in a place where they're entertained and they're
29:08
all caught up and stuff. They don't want anything to do
29:10
with the Lord. How does he do that with
29:11
believers? He keeps their mind occupied
29:15
with things other than the Lord. And then what do we do?
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We cooperate by not being in the word, not being in prayer, not
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waking up. I mean, come on, church, think
29:24
about it. Not waking up 10 minutes early,
29:27
10 minutes just so you can have some time alone with the Lord.
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10 minutes is nothing but 10 minutes times 7 is 70 minutes.
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That's an hour of time in one week, 52 hours in a year.
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Don't you think if you poured 52 hours of God's word and prayer
29:44
in your life that you'll be a different person?
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I think so. And you, what happens after 10
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minutes? You're so fulfilled and so
29:50
encouraged that now it's not 10 minutes.
29:52
Now you want 1/2 hour and it's not 1/2 hour anymore.
29:56
You're like, no, I think I want more.
29:58
I'm just going to sit here. I'm going to get up early enough
30:00
where I'm not even worried about what time it is.
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I'm just going to spend time with the Lord.
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I mean, even today as I was getting up early because we have
30:07
a late start now, I was just journaling some things in my
30:10
heart and I woke up some difficult things and and and
30:13
there I was typing, Lord, today I just, this is going to be a
30:16
day of endurance for me. So I'm just praying for your
30:18
endurance. close it up, get back into the word, take a shower,
30:23
head out, take care of things. It's important now.
30:29
I'm at the end of the day and I know a few things of what God
30:32
had to put on my heart besides the things I woke up with,
30:35
besides the things I woke up with yesterday.
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Besides the things, I don't know what awaits me tomorrow.
30:40
The Lord's going to meet me there.
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He's going to be faithful. I get to go with him.
30:47
So the enemy wants to keep us away.
30:50
For believers, the tactics that we see today is, hey, let's slow
30:55
those guys down. Let's divide them.
30:59
That's the it's almost like the demonic realm would love to have
31:03
us all offended with one another, discouraged all the
31:06
time. Worried our eyes on this world
31:09
and the things of this world and you know the this it's man you
31:13
can sympathize with the people here.
31:15
Things are getting worse. Pains are increasing.
31:19
It was literal hell for them. And it's getting worse.
31:25
And you'll see in a moment like their hearts are going to turn.
31:29
They make a critical mistake. They're going to cry out for
31:32
help. But to the wrong person, it says
31:36
in verse 14, The officers and the children of Israel had set
31:40
before them. They were beaten.
31:41
Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both
31:44
yesterday and today, verse 15? Then the officers of the
31:48
children of Israel came and cried out.
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What does your Bible say? They cried out to Pharaoh.
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Isn't that a mistake? Crying out to Pharaoh in your
32:00
deepest difficulty? The enemy would love for you to
32:04
trust in man, would love for you to have confidence in man, would
32:10
love to you for you to turn to man first.
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That would be a great mistake. And this is so relevant in the
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context of how challenging it's getting today in the workforce.
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You, some of you have a really difficult boss.
32:28
No joke. Like, nothing to laugh at.
32:30
It's really bad. But you need the job, pays the
32:35
bills. They're demanding from you now
32:39
more than what's reasonable, more than even what you're
32:43
capable of doing. And it would be real easy,
32:47
wouldn't it? On a bad day, pick up the phone
32:51
and call HR. Call HR.
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That's what they're there for. And I'm not saying that you're
33:00
not to use HR. They're a great resource.
33:02
But don't you ever call HR before you call upon the name of
33:04
the Lord. They will not help you like the
33:09
Lord will help you. They will not give you the
33:12
freedom like the Lord will give you freedom.
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You call upon the name of the Lord.
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This is a great mistake, but I I can understand it.
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I'm not standing in condemnation over them at all.
33:26
Things are getting worse and they need and want relief.
33:30
But Church don't go to Pharaoh. Pharaoh's not going to help you.
33:34
Whoever Pharaoh might be, you will find no help with Pharaoh.
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The one that's too demanding. The one that is overbearing.
33:43
The one that's unfair. The one that doesn't love your
33:47
God, the one that doesn't. The natural man doesn't know the
33:50
spirit of what you're carrying in.
33:52
That one that's jealous. The one that's upset.
33:54
The one that don't you cry out to Pharaoh and notice what he
33:58
said, what they say in verse 15. Why are you dealing dust with
34:01
your servants? There is no straw given to your
34:04
servants. And they say to us make brick.
34:07
And indeed your servants are beaten.
34:09
But the fault is in your own people.
34:11
Oh, that's going to help. But they're expressing what's on
34:16
their heart. But he said, you are idle.
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You are idle. Do you notice in your Bibles
34:22
there the exclamation points? Is Pharaoh getting softer or
34:25
harder here? I mean, he's angry.
34:28
This is the known like. This is an unusual episode
34:33
because rarely will you get the chance on a one-on-one basis to
34:38
scream at the CEO of your company, you know and then have
34:42
him come back. You're idle, you're idle, like,
34:45
get back to work. But notice verse 17 And he said,
34:49
Therefore you say, let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.
34:52
Therefore go now and work verse 18, for no straw will be given
34:56
to you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.
35:00
And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in
35:03
trouble. After it was said, you shall not
35:06
diminish any bricks from your daily quota.
35:08
Then as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and
35:11
Aaron, who stood there to meet them.
35:12
And they said to them, Thank you, Moses and Aaron, for coming
35:16
in to deliver us. We are.
35:18
No, no, no. You got to get the scene here.
35:24
More work, more difficulty. No favor with Pharaoh.
35:29
They're angry, they're upset. They're leaving.
35:32
They come to Moses and Aaron and says, let the Lord look on you
35:36
and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of
35:41
Pharaoh, in the sight of his servants to put a sword in their
35:44
hand to kill us. Is it a true statement?
35:52
It's not a true statement. Do they feel that way?
35:57
Absolutely. But it's not true.
36:01
They're already abhorrent to the face of Pharaoh because the
36:05
enemy will get you to the place where you turn upon the people
36:09
that really love you and care for you and look at someone like
36:13
Pharaoh and defend him in their lives.
36:17
It all started with their slavery.
36:19
They were slaves. They were already abhorrent and
36:23
mistreated, already in a condition.
36:26
And because of the way they were treated and the extra work and
36:29
the the fragility of their emotions and the fragility of
36:34
their bodies and the fragility of how they're dealing with one
36:38
another, you know, how you you're just a weakened.
36:40
You and I are in a weakened position when we fight one
36:42
another and the enemy would love to come and take advantage of
36:45
that. Put really weird thoughts in
36:48
your mind, really weird thoughts in your head.
36:50
Like it's just it's all a set up.
36:55
But it happens as the demands got harder and harder.
37:00
They're looking for anyone to blame.
37:03
This slavery in Egypt. It's a picture of a type of
37:06
people before they come to Christ, Person in bondage, no
37:12
capacity to help or get out from under it, Most often going to
37:16
experience it in a much deeper way.
37:18
The only deliverance of the children of Israel is the same
37:21
deliverance of the person apart from Christ.
37:23
They need God to intervene. They need God's deliverance.
37:28
And it's in Jesus Christ that you and I are delivered from our
37:31
sins. This is the group.
37:33
Turn back to chapter 4 real quick.
37:35
This is the same group in verse 29 that says in chapter 4, verse
37:41
29. Then Moses and Aaron went and
37:43
gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.
37:45
Aaron spoke all the words of the Lord had spoken and he did the
37:49
the signs in the side of the people.
37:51
So the people believed when they heard that the Lord God had
37:55
visited the children of Israel and that he had looked on their
37:58
affliction and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
38:01
This is the same group that said, look what you have done,
38:03
Moses. Which reminds us again, a lot of
38:07
reminders today that people are very fickle for you one day,
38:14
against you the next. That's why our eyes have to stay
38:17
on the Lord. If you're out to serve man and
38:19
please man, you'll never be happy.
38:22
Because one day they're supportive, the next day they're
38:24
destructive, one day they're hosanna and the highest, The
38:27
next day they're crucify him, crucify him.
38:32
Fickle, I think, is to put it lightly.
38:35
In Galatians chapter one and verse six, it says, I marvel
38:38
that you were so you are turning away so soon from him who called
38:42
you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel.
38:45
In Ephesians chapter 4, verse 14, it says that we should no
38:50
longer be children tossed to and fro.
38:52
That's fickleness tossed around to and fro, carried about by
38:56
every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men in the cunning
39:00
craftiness of deceitful plotting.
39:04
Colossians chapter 3, verse 17, says whatever you do in Word or
39:07
deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to
39:11
God the Father through him. Opposition from within, from
39:18
among God's people, is almost always the person, almost always
39:21
worse than persecution from without.
39:24
When we're persecuted by unbelievers, Jesus said, You
39:26
know, that's a blessing. That's a blessing when you're
39:29
persecuted for the name of Christ.
39:32
We can thank God for that. When it comes from within, that
39:35
stings and it hurts. But Moses in verse 22, he does
39:39
the right thing. He returns to the Lord and said
39:42
that's what it says, right? He's coming against him.
39:44
And it says very clearly Moses returned to the Lord.
39:49
Why have you brought this trouble on this people?
39:51
Why is it that you've sent me for since I came to Pharaoh to
39:54
speak in your name? He has done evil to this people,
39:59
and neither have you delivered your people at all.
40:03
And I wish we had more time here.
40:04
But I just want you to know the enemy loves to create chaos.
40:08
Because in chaos people blame God.
40:13
He doesn't want you at peace. That passes all understanding.
40:17
He don't want, doesn't want you in a place of simple faith.
40:21
I think of your marriages. I think of the marriages here
40:23
today. And on the day that you said I
40:26
do, He doesn't want you ever going back to that day, one of
40:29
the most joyful, wonderful days of your life.
40:32
He doesn't want you going back there.
40:34
He wants you at odds with one another.
40:37
He wants you mad. He.
40:39
He wants you in your church when you walk in maybe the doors of
40:41
this church. This is amazing.
40:43
Can't believe it. God's using his word in my life,
40:45
transforming my family. He doesn't want you staying
40:47
there. The enemy wants you all mad and
40:49
upset and things that don't even matter, so that in the chaos and
40:53
confusion you came back to the Lord, but now you're mad at the
40:55
Lord. Can't you hear God?
40:58
God said, what are you mad at me for?
41:00
I'm the one that led you here. I'm the one that's with you.
41:03
I'm the one that said, like Moses.
41:04
Calm down, bro, because it's going to get better from here.
41:07
You think it's bad now? It's going to get worse, but
41:09
it's going to get better. You're.
41:11
No, no. I want it all now.
41:14
I want it all now. God, look what you're doing.
41:16
You made it worse. Yeah.
41:18
You don't understand. I said I was going to deliver
41:21
them, which tells me that as difficult as it is today, what I
41:27
see is not the end. God is going to fulfill his
41:31
promises. This is not the end.
41:35
Even if some of us have to wait until we leave this earth and
41:40
meet the Lord in the air or see him face to face, in eternity,
41:44
God gets the final word. He gets the final word.
41:49
And so Moses does well to go back to the Lord.
41:52
He does well to bring whatever he's feeling to the Lord.
41:56
But church, be careful. Be careful.
42:00
Be careful what you do in difficult times, where your
42:04
feelings are all inflamed when you've had a long day, because
42:09
this is where you know people turn to the bottle.
42:11
This is where people turn to pornography.
42:14
Long days, difficult days, feelings, emotions, all of that
42:20
you know, anger rises up, all the flesh.
42:22
Just be careful. Let the Lord do what he's going
42:25
to do. You can trust him.
42:28
Even what you're seeing right now is not the end.
42:31
Amen. So Lord, we thank you for the
42:33
insight of this chapter and and just help us to see Lord beyond
42:37
what's in front of us. Because you know we've had some
42:40
bad days in the past and they've passed.
42:42
They've they've they they are in the past.
42:44
We're not there anymore. These difficult days and we got
42:49
through them, those challenges, we were able to persevere.
42:54
And even today, Lord, as we in the day, even as I think back on
43:00
what I wrote this morning, here we are moving into the evening.
43:05
And another day has passed. And you've been glorified in my
43:09
life. And while the circumstances
43:11
didn't change, maybe got a little worse in some ways.
43:16
You met me there and you get all the glory.
43:20
And that's repeated over and over and over again today in
43:22
this room. And we want to be careful to
43:24
give you the glory Lord. Maybe some got more more
43:28
difficulty at work. Maybe some it was really harder
43:32
at home. Maybe some there's more anxiety
43:36
or worry. Maybe some, you know, just
43:39
facing the worst of the worst that they've ever faced.
43:43
But comfort their heart, Scott. Help them through this
43:48
adversity, this affliction. Bring them back to chapter 4,
43:53
where when we hear the words of the Lord, we rejoice and the
43:57
experiences kind of mess us up. Circumstances mess us up, but
44:02
your word brings us life. And so I pray for the 10 minutes
44:06
or the 5 minutes. Lord, would you please stir our
44:09
church that they might come near to you?
44:12
And I do think it's valuable in the morning.
44:16
It's more important than catching up on the news or
44:18
checking e-mail or, you know, seeing what other people's lives
44:21
are. We want to see what you have for
44:23
us. So give us, Lord, feed us and
44:26
encourage us that we might grow in grace.
44:30
In Jesus name, Amen. We pray that you've been
44:34
encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
44:37
sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
44:40
Call us at 87730 Grace. That's 877-304-7223.
44:49
To listen to this message in its entirety or to join us for our
44:52
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary, Co dot Church
44:58
or download our free Calvary Church app.
45:00
Be blessed as You Worship Jesus this week.