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Voddie Baucham - Doubting God's Promises · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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Speaker 1: If you have your Bibles with you, open them to
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Speaker 1: Exodus chapter 14. Exodus chapter 14, as we now approach
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Speaker 1: the Red Sea, and arguably the most renowned miracle in
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Speaker 1: the Bible, aside from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there
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Speaker 1: are very few things that are known by more people,
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Speaker 1: recognized by more people than the parting of the Red Sea.
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Speaker 1: This is probably due in large part to Cecil B.
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Speaker 1: DeMille's treatment in the Ten Commandments and the fact that
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Speaker 1: early on in movie-making history, people got to have a
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Speaker 1: visual of this event. unlike anything that they had experienced
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Speaker 1: before in regard to biblical miracles being accomplished. But this
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Speaker 1: ranks up there with Noah's flood in terms of the
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Speaker 1: sheer spectacular nature of what happened. But many Christians find
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Speaker 1: the miracle accounts in the Bible inaccessible, if not unrealistic.
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Speaker 1: The thinking goes something like this. We don't experience these
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Speaker 1: types of miracles in our own lives. Therefore, we can't relate.
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Speaker 1: I don't see 40 days and 40 nights of global
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Speaker 1: flood in my life. So I can't really relate. I
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Speaker 1: don't see miracles. Fire and brimstone coming down as in
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Speaker 1: Sodom and Gomorrah. Therefore, I can't relate. I don't see
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Speaker 1: seas parting. And therefore, I can't really relate. So how
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Speaker 1: can I apply something like this to my own experience?
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Speaker 1: Several things are important to remember here. First, not even
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Speaker 1: the people in the Bible experienced miracles regularly. In fact,
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Speaker 1: most of the people you read about in the Bible
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Speaker 1: didn't experience miracles in their lives. Secondly, the miracles in
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Speaker 1: the Bible were spread out over thousands of years, which
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Speaker 1: is why most of the people in biblical times never
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Speaker 1: experienced miracles. And three, the miracles in the Bible are
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Speaker 1: about more than just their immediate impact. They each teach
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Speaker 1: us something about God. These miracles that we see in
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Speaker 1: the Scriptures are were purposeful. They happened for a reason,
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Speaker 1: not just to overcome whatever the immediate obstacle was, but
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Speaker 1: in order to communicate something more significant and lasting than that.
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Speaker 1: For example, how many of us can relate to this story?
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Speaker 1: Imagine someone telling this story and ask yourself if that
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Speaker 1: someone could possibly be you. I became a Christian many
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Speaker 1: years ago, and God delivered me from a lifestyle of
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Speaker 1: sin and from a number of particular sins. However, as
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Speaker 1: I walked away from my sin, it would sometimes come back.
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Speaker 1: It was as though my sin didn't want me to go.
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Speaker 1: At times, I even thought it had me. I felt
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Speaker 1: like my situation was hopeless, like I wasn't really delivered
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Speaker 1: at all. I would even ask myself if it was
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Speaker 1: really worth it. If I'm honest, I sometimes ask myself
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Speaker 1: if God was really there, if he was really enough,
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Speaker 1: or if I was really saved. As again and again
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Speaker 1: and again, this sin that I believed that I had
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Speaker 1: overcome would reach out to grab me once again, would
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Speaker 1: come to get me once again. And as it came
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Speaker 1: for me, I found myself at times, if I'm really honest,
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Speaker 1: even appreciating the fact that my sin was once more
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Speaker 1: coming after me. Does that sound familiar to anyone? Folks,
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Speaker 1: if you've been slaved longer than a month, that absolutely
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Speaker 1: sounds familiar to you. By the way, that's not an
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Speaker 1: individual's story. That's Israel's story in Exodus chapter 14. Because
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Speaker 1: that's precisely what's happening here. They've been delivered. And remember,
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Speaker 1: the Exodus becomes sort of the symbol of deliverance of
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Speaker 1: God's people from sin. And as they've been delivered and
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Speaker 1: they find themselves walking away, all of a sudden that
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Speaker 1: which held them captive determines to come after them again.
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Speaker 1: And as they look up to see that which held
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Speaker 1: them captive, determined to come and take them away again.
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Speaker 1: They grumble. They murmur. They question God. They question their
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Speaker 1: deliverance and even resign themselves to just lay down and die.
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Speaker 1: This is a microcosm of the Christian experience at various times.
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Speaker 1: This is a microcosm of our continued struggle with sin
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Speaker 1: and This is a microcosm of the battle that we
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Speaker 1: fight on a regular and ongoing basis. This is a
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Speaker 1: microcosm of what God is doing as he delivers each
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Speaker 1: and every one of us from our sin and to glory.
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Speaker 1: Salvation has been achieved and it is being achieved and
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Speaker 1: it is going to be achieved. Your salvation, past tense,
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Speaker 1: you are justified. You have been declared righteous. Your salvation
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Speaker 1: present tense, you are being sanctified. You are progressively being
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Speaker 1: delivered from sin and that sin does not want to
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Speaker 1: let you go. And you do not want to let
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Speaker 1: your sin go. Which is why we anxiously anticipate that
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Speaker 1: time when we will ultimately and completely be delivered from
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Speaker 1: our sin in glorification. When we are finally there and
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Speaker 1: it is finally done and we are no longer subject
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Speaker 1: to these temptations anymore. Is anybody looking forward to that? Amen.
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Speaker 1: But in the meantime, there are those days where we
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Speaker 1: look up and here come the Egyptians. And we're not
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Speaker 1: all that certain that we don't want them to get us.
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Speaker 1: Because we're tired. Tired. Because the struggle is hard. Because
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Speaker 1: we remember certain things that brought us comfort. And deep
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Speaker 1: down in those places that we don't talk about in
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Speaker 1: Sunday school, we want that comfort sometimes. We want that
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Speaker 1: pleasure sometimes. We want that familiarity sometimes. It's ironic, but
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Speaker 1: you ever wonder, I can remember, you know, being in
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Speaker 1: college and I remember having to assist certain friends of
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Speaker 1: mine on certain nights when they partook of certain things
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Speaker 1: in excess. And certainly, you know, they're bowing before the
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Speaker 1: porcelain God, as we would put it. And they're there
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Speaker 1: as sick as they can be, always saying the same thing.
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Speaker 1: I'm never going to do this again. And you sit
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Speaker 1: there and you go, that's funny, but I heard you
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Speaker 1: say this just a couple of weeks ago. So it's
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Speaker 1: not just that sometimes we yearn for pleasure, but sometimes
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Speaker 1: in a very sick way, we yearn for the misery
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Speaker 1: as well. You ever listen to some people as they
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Speaker 1: talk about their sin and what they smile at and
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Speaker 1: laugh at is the misery that it caused? As though
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Speaker 1: even the misery of it brings them comfort. Oh, beloved,
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Speaker 1: don't you think for a moment that Exodus chapter 14
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Speaker 1: doesn't apply to you. It absolutely does. But as it
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Speaker 1: applies to you, here's how I want you to understand
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Speaker 1: the application. I want you to understand that it gives
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Speaker 1: you a bird's eye view of what's happening in this
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Speaker 1: process as God is delivering you. Because when we're experiencing it,
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Speaker 1: we're not thinking about this perspective. When we're experiencing it,
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Speaker 1: all we know is that we are between a rock
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Speaker 1: and a wet place and the Egyptians are bearing down
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Speaker 1: on us. And there appears to be nowhere left to go.
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Speaker 1: That's all we see. That's all Israel could see. All
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Speaker 1: Israel could see was where they were. All Israel could
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Speaker 1: see was that there was no way out. All Israel
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Speaker 1: could see was that it was not possible for them
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Speaker 1: to deliver themselves or for anyone else for that matter
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Speaker 1: to deliver them. All they knew was these people who
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Speaker 1: were obviously upset with them, who never wanted to let
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Speaker 1: them go in the first place, were finally coming to
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Speaker 1: reclaim what was theirs and there was nothing they could
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Speaker 1: do about it. But if they could see this from
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Speaker 1: God's perspective, it would look quite different. And there was
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Speaker 1: one who could. Moses stood there and did not have
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Speaker 1: the same experience that every other Israelite had. Because Moses
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Speaker 1: had been let in on the divine perspective. Look at
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Speaker 1: the first four verses. And first we see that what
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Speaker 1: was happening was part of a sovereign decree. Verses 1
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Speaker 1: through 4. Then the Lord said to Moses, tell the
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Speaker 1: people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front
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Speaker 1: of Pihahiroth, between Migdal and the sea, in the front
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Speaker 1: of Baal Zaphon. You shall encamp facing it by the sea.
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Speaker 1: For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, they
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Speaker 1: are wandering in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.
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Speaker 1: And I will harden Pharaoh's heart. And he will pursue them.
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Speaker 1: And I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts.
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Speaker 1: And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.
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Speaker 1: And they did so. This is part of a sovereign decree. Again,
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Speaker 1: you're standing there and all you see is the Egyptians
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Speaker 1: are coming. You don't understand it from God's perspective. Here's
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Speaker 1: the way we experience the world. When something like this
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Speaker 1: happens and it doesn't go according to plan and it
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Speaker 1: looks like things are about to take a turn for
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Speaker 1: the worse, your automatic assumption at that moment is God
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Speaker 1: let this one slip by. If you can't say amen,
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Speaker 1: you ought to say ouch. That's your automatic assumption. God
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Speaker 1: didn't see this one coming. God wasn't prepared for this.
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Speaker 1: God wasn't powerful enough to stop this or he just
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Speaker 1: doesn't like me anymore. This is the way we interpret
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Speaker 1: reality like this in the moment when you see it
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Speaker 1: coming and it looks like this terrible thing is about
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Speaker 1: to befall you. However, what Moses knew that the rest
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Speaker 1: of Israel didn't was that this was part of a
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Speaker 1: sovereign decree. That this was not happening by accident, but
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Speaker 1: like everything else in the world, it happened because of
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Speaker 1: God's sovereign decree. Listen to the words that he uses here.
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Speaker 1: The definitive nature of God's statements. You shall encamp. Pharaoh
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Speaker 1: will say, I will harden Pharaoh's heart. He will pursue them.
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Speaker 1: I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts.
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Speaker 1: The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. Those
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Speaker 1: are definitive statements. In other words, God does not come
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Speaker 1: to Moses and say, Moses, don't panic. But I just
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Speaker 1: noticed that Pharaoh and the Egyptians are coming. I'm going
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Speaker 1: to try to work something out. You just hold it.
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Speaker 1: That is not the way God says this. God says
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Speaker 1: to Moses beforehand, this is what's going to happen. And
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Speaker 1: here's why it's going to happen. And here's how it's
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Speaker 1: going to happen. He's even specific as to where. The
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Speaker 1: specific nature of his state. In front of Pahiroth. Between
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Speaker 1: Migdal and the sea. In front of Belsaphon. You shall
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Speaker 1: encamp facing it. This is amazing. I've had the privilege
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Speaker 1: on a number of occasions of standing in different places
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Speaker 1: in Israel where you're able to say X marks the spot.
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Speaker 1: And the reason that there are so many places like
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Speaker 1: that in the land of Israel where you can say
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Speaker 1: X marks the spot is because of things like this.
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Speaker 1: Between here and here facing that way. And there are
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Speaker 1: a number of those places where you can walk there
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Speaker 1: and you can say, here it is right here because
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Speaker 1: you're between this point and that point and you're facing
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Speaker 1: that way. X marks the spot. Here's where it happened.
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Speaker 1: The Bible is clear like that because God is clear
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Speaker 1: like that. What are the implications of this? Folks, the
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Speaker 1: God who delivers us is in control of every detail. Amen. Hallelujah.
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Speaker 1: Praise the Lord. The God who delivers us is in
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Speaker 1: control of every detail. Secondly, there's nothing that Satan can
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Speaker 1: do to thwart his plan. That's the other thing that
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Speaker 1: we need to keep in mind. God is in control
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Speaker 1: of every detail. There's nothing Satan can do to thwart
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Speaker 1: his plan. By the way, it's hard when the Egyptians
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Speaker 1: are bearing down on you and you're between, again, the
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Speaker 1: Egyptians and the sea with nowhere to run. It's hard
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Speaker 1: to remember these things, which is why you need to
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Speaker 1: remember them now. Amen? We need to rehearse them over
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Speaker 1: and over and over again so that when the Egyptians
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Speaker 1: bear down, the answer is already clear. Job 42.2, I
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Speaker 1: know that you can do all things and that no
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Speaker 1: purpose of yours can be thwarted. You need to know that, saints.
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Speaker 1: No purpose of God's can be thwarted. Satan cannot thwart
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Speaker 1: the decrees of God. Satan cannot thwart the plans of God.
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Speaker 1: Psalm 135, 6, whatever the Lord pleases, he does in
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Speaker 1: heaven and on earth, in the sea and all deeps.
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Speaker 1: Whatever God pleases, he does. God doesn't do anything because
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Speaker 1: he's being forced to. Whatever God pleases, he does. God
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Speaker 1: doesn't do anything because he's trying to make up for
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Speaker 1: his mistakes. God doesn't make mistakes. Whatever he pleases, he does.
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Speaker 1: Ecclesiastes 8.3. Be not hasty to go from his presence.
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Speaker 1: Do not take your stand in an evil cause. For
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Speaker 1: he does whatever he pleases. In other words, don't oppose
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Speaker 1: God because you can't win. I remember an old saying.
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Speaker 1: And sometimes we sort of say it in jest around
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Speaker 1: the house. Your arms are too short to box with God. Amen?
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Speaker 1: That's just good, isn't it? You're going to remember that
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Speaker 1: and you're going to say it at home, I promise.
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Speaker 1: Your arms are too short to box with God. You can't.
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Speaker 1: You can't. It's not possible for God to be defeated.
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Speaker 1: It's not possible for His plans to be thwarted. Thirdly,
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Speaker 1: remember this, there's nothing that can separate us from God's
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Speaker 1: saving love. Nothing. Nothing. The Egyptians... Needed to know this.
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Speaker 1: Or the Israelites needed to know this. You need to
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Speaker 1: know this. You need to know this. Because there are
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Speaker 1: days when you doubt this just like they did. Romans 8,
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Speaker 1: 35 to 39. It's so familiar to us. But I
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Speaker 1: frankly don't care. I'm reading it anyway. Because I need it.
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Speaker 1: I always need it. Who shall separate us from the
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Speaker 1: love of Christ? Shall tribulation or disease or persecution or
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Speaker 1: famine or nakedness or danger or sword or the Egyptians
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Speaker 1: or Pharaoh or his chariots or his horses or their,
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Speaker 1: the list could go on and on and on. As
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Speaker 1: it is written, for your sake we are being killed
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Speaker 1: all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to
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Speaker 1: be slaughtered. No. No. In all these things we are
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Speaker 1: more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I
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Speaker 1: am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,
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Speaker 1: nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height,
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Speaker 1: nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be
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Speaker 1: able to separate us from the love of God in
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Speaker 1: Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. In other words,
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Speaker 1: what that means is God didn't bring Israel out of
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Speaker 1: Egypt hoping he could save them. He brought Israel out
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Speaker 1: of Egypt knowing that he would save them. God didn't
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Speaker 1: bring you out of your situation hoping that he could
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Speaker 1: save you. He brought you out of it knowing that
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Speaker 1: he would save you. For all of those who have
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Speaker 1: put their faith in God and in his work through
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Speaker 1: the person of Jesus Christ, know this. God is not
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Speaker 1: hoping that he can save you. you on that day
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Speaker 1: God knows that he will save you on that day
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Speaker 1: this is our God this is the God in whom
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Speaker 1: we trust This is the God to whom we have
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Speaker 1: given ourselves and we can know that he is able
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Speaker 1: to guard that which we have entrusted with him against
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Speaker 1: that day. His sovereign decree. But what does this mean?
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Speaker 1: What if we don't cooperate with his sovereign decree? What
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Speaker 1: if the evil one doesn't cooperate with his sovereign decree? Folks,
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Speaker 1: did you hear what I just told you? Why are
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Speaker 1: you asking me that if I just told you that
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Speaker 1: he does whatever he pleases? Why would you ask me
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Speaker 1: that question? The providential response, though, needs to be understood.
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Speaker 1: There's a difference between sovereignty and providence, between his decree
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Speaker 1: and his providence. His decree, his sovereign decree, that's his
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Speaker 1: authority by which he decrees everything whatsoever comes to pass.
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Speaker 1: His providence is the means by which he works those
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Speaker 1: things out. Look at verses 5 through 9. Before we
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Speaker 1: look at that, let me define this for you a
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Speaker 1: little bit more. Let me define it first from our confession.
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Speaker 1: 1689 The chapter on providence defines it this way. God,
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Speaker 1: the good creator of all things, in his infinite power
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Speaker 1: and wisdom, doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures
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Speaker 1: and things from the greatest even to the least by
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Speaker 1: his most wise and holy providence to the end for
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Speaker 1: which they were created according unto his infallible foreknowledge and
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Speaker 1: the free and immutable counsel of his own will. to
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Speaker 1: the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice,
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Speaker 1: infinite goodness, and mercy. John Gill, famous Baptist theologian, puts
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Speaker 1: it this way. Providence, by which all the creatures God
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Speaker 1: has made are preserved, governed, guided, and directed. The word
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Speaker 1: itself is never used of the divine being syllabically or
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Speaker 1: in so many syllables in scripture yet the thing itself
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Speaker 1: or what is meant by it is fully declared and
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Speaker 1: clearly expressed as that god upholds all things by his
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Speaker 1: power governs the world by his wisdom looks down upon
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Speaker 1: the earth takes notice and care of all his creatures
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Speaker 1: in it and makes provision for them and guides and
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Speaker 1: directs them to answer the ends for which they were
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Speaker 1: made which is the sum and substance of providence. And
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Speaker 1: I think Wayne Grudem puts it even more plainly. We
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Speaker 1: may define God's providence as follows. God is continually involved
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Speaker 1: with all created things in such a way that he
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Speaker 1: wants all created things, not just those that are in
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Speaker 1: submission to him, but every created thing. God's providence doesn't
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Speaker 1: just cover Christians. God's providence covers Christians, non-Christians alike. Every
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Speaker 1: created thing is governed by God's providence. So that he, one,
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Speaker 1: keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he
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Speaker 1: created them. That's why things stay what they are. That's
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Speaker 1: God's providence. It's God's providence. By the way, that's why
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Speaker 1: we can do science. We can study birds. Because birds
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Speaker 1: won't turn into something else. I don't care what the
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Speaker 1: evolutionists have told you. We can study primates because primates
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Speaker 1: don't turn into something else. Two, cooperates with created things
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Speaker 1: in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them
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Speaker 1: to act as they do. So he keeps things being
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Speaker 1: what they are and doing what they do. And three,
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Speaker 1: directs them to fulfill his purpose. Now with that in mind,
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Speaker 1: look first with the Egyptians and how they respond in
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Speaker 1: verses five through nine. When the king of Egypt was
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Speaker 1: told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh
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Speaker 1: and his servant was changed toward the people. And they said,
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Speaker 1: what is this we have done? that we have let
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Speaker 1: Israel go from serving us. So he made ready his
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Speaker 1: chariot and took his army with him and took 600
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Speaker 1: chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with
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Speaker 1: officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the
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Speaker 1: heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the
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Speaker 1: people of Israel. And while the people of Israel were
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Speaker 1: going out defiantly, The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses
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Speaker 1: and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them,
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Speaker 1: encamped by the sea at Pihaharoth in front of Baal Zephon.
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Speaker 1: So what happened? Did Pharaoh go into a trance? And
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Speaker 1: did God all of a sudden make Pharaoh the enemy
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Speaker 1: of the Israelites? No, he didn't. No, he didn't. He
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Speaker 1: continued to be who he was. This is absolutely in
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Speaker 1: keeping with who Pharaoh has always been. God didn't have
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Speaker 1: to make him be like this. But in the providence
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Speaker 1: of God, this Pharaoh was Pharaoh when these events took place.
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Speaker 1: So that he, being who he was, would respond in
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Speaker 1: this exact way because that is what God decreed in
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Speaker 1: order to maximize his glory in these events. This is
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Speaker 1: important for a number of reasons. first of which is
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Speaker 1: this oftentimes we believe that if people will just have
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Speaker 1: the right kind of experience that that's what they need
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Speaker 1: to bring them to god If they just experienced a tragedy,
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Speaker 1: if they just experienced, if they just, if something would
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Speaker 1: just happen, if God would just do ABC or XYZ,
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Speaker 1: then this person would change and they would come to God.
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Speaker 1: And sometimes tragedy will strike and you'll see an amendment
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Speaker 1: of behavior. I've talked frequently about the post 9-11 quote
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Speaker 1: unquote revival. 9-11 took place. And after that, in the
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Speaker 1: fall of, rest of the fall of 2001, church attendance
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Speaker 1: bumped up significantly in the United States. Not only did
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Speaker 1: church attendance bump up significantly, but also elected officials were
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Speaker 1: quoting scripture and talking about God. People were getting away
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Speaker 1: with things that they never got away with before. That Christmas,
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Speaker 1: you know, the ACLU and the Citizens United for the
27:25
Speaker 1: Separation of Church and State weren't nearly as active in saying,
27:30
Speaker 1: you can't do that. And there are displays all over
27:33
Speaker 1: the place. And there are a lot of people who
27:35
Speaker 1: refer to this post 9-11 revival because there was an
27:39
Speaker 1: amendment of people's behavior. People spoke to one another with
27:43
Speaker 1: greater kindness on the streets. There was more patriotism than
27:47
Speaker 1: we'd ever experienced before. It was an amazing thing for
27:51
Speaker 1: a few months. And then everything went right back to
27:56
Speaker 1: the way it was. Church attendance went right back down
27:59
Speaker 1: to where it was before. People's antagonism toward God resumed
28:05
Speaker 1: their normal levels. This is what happened with Pharaoh. All
28:12
Speaker 1: these plagues come one after the other After the other.
28:17
Speaker 1: And they break him down. But every time his heart
28:21
Speaker 1: is hardened again. And finally the plague of plagues comes.
28:27
Speaker 1: The death of the firstborn. And it breaks him. But
28:32
Speaker 1: it doesn't change his heart. He's still the same man.
28:40
Speaker 1: And he lets Israel go. And eventually when his grief ends.
28:46
Speaker 1: Turns back to rage. He girds himself up. He gets
28:53
Speaker 1: his army together. And he says, what was I thinking?
28:59
Speaker 1: Let's go kill them all. See, don't confuse the amendment
29:08
Speaker 1: of an individual's behavior with an actual change of heart.
29:15
Speaker 1: Don't confuse the individual who gets tired of fighting against
29:21
Speaker 1: God with the individual who's actually been born again and
29:25
Speaker 1: now loves God. Pharaoh was tired. He was weary and
29:31
Speaker 1: he was defeated, but he was not changed. I wonder
29:42
Speaker 1: if there are pharaohs among us. I wonder if there
29:46
Speaker 1: are individuals even here under the sound of my voice
29:49
Speaker 1: and there are things in your life and circumstances in
29:52
Speaker 1: your life that turned you toward God. And these circumstances
29:58
Speaker 1: that turned you toward God are no longer present in
30:01
Speaker 1: your life or active in your life. And yet, since
30:04
Speaker 1: you turned toward God, it just seemed to you that
30:07
Speaker 1: the right thing to do was to continue in this vein.
30:10
Speaker 1: But there has been no change of heart. You are
30:14
Speaker 1: still the same individual. You are still as outside of
30:18
Speaker 1: the camp as you ever were. Yet, you have learned
30:22
Speaker 1: how to be comfortable in this circumstance and in this setting.
30:30
Speaker 1: You have not been born again. You have not been transformed.
30:36
Speaker 1: You have not been united to Christ in his death
30:40
Speaker 1: and in his resurrection. You have merely learned to amend
30:46
Speaker 1: your life by keeping a few rules so you appear
30:51
Speaker 1: outwardly to be holy. And yet, on the inside, you
30:57
Speaker 1: still rage inside. Against God. But you have no idea
31:04
Speaker 1: what to do with it. The answer is repent. The
31:12
Speaker 1: answer is acknowledge your sin. The answer is to flee
31:16
Speaker 1: to Christ. The answer is to run to the cross.
31:22
Speaker 1: And see your sin nailed there. There's also the providential
31:29
Speaker 1: response of Israel. Notice that Israel is still who they were.
31:37
Speaker 1: We see that in verses 10 to 12. When Pharaoh
31:43
Speaker 1: drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes
31:47
Speaker 1: and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them and they
31:51
Speaker 1: feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to
31:55
Speaker 1: the Lord saying, They said to Moses, is it because
31:59
Speaker 1: there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken
32:02
Speaker 1: us away to die in the wilderness? What have you
32:05
Speaker 1: done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is
32:08
Speaker 1: not this what we said to you in Egypt? Leave
32:12
Speaker 1: us alone that we may serve the Egyptians. For it
32:15
Speaker 1: would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians
32:19
Speaker 1: than to die in the wilderness. Notice the statements here.
32:23
Speaker 1: The people feared greatly. The people cried out to God.
32:26
Speaker 1: The people expected to die. This is Israel. And this
32:34
Speaker 1: is some of you. And this is sometimes me. Something
32:43
Speaker 1: happens and all of a sudden, we lose our minds.
32:48
Speaker 1: Something happens and all of a sudden, even if just
32:52
Speaker 1: for a brief moment, We believe and hold on to
32:56
Speaker 1: this idea that God saved me just so he could
33:01
Speaker 1: bring me to this point and embarrass me. Or God
33:06
Speaker 1: saved me just so that he could get my hopes
33:09
Speaker 1: up and disappoint me because he doesn't really like me.
33:15
Speaker 1: God saves me, but now he's forgotten about me. God
33:20
Speaker 1: saves me, but he doesn't love me as much as
33:22
Speaker 1: he loves other people because look at how easy it
33:25
Speaker 1: is for them and how hard it is for me.
33:27
Speaker 1: You know what the problem is? Twofold. Number one, you've
33:36
Speaker 1: forgotten your deliverance. Think about what has happened coming up
33:42
Speaker 1: to this point. Think about all that God has done
33:46
Speaker 1: in order to identify Israel as his own and in
33:49
Speaker 1: order to deliver Israel after hundreds of years out of Egypt.
33:54
Speaker 1: Think about everything that God has done. And now there
33:57
Speaker 1: are some hoof beats, some horses on the way. And
34:02
Speaker 1: all of a sudden we believe that the God who
34:05
Speaker 1: controls the Nile and the locusts and the flies and
34:09
Speaker 1: the sun and the stars and the death angel has
34:15
Speaker 1: suddenly run out of power. Ah, but not this. I
34:23
Speaker 1: know that he can do that, but not this. I
34:26
Speaker 1: know that he can deal with those things, but not this.
34:28
Speaker 1: I know he can deal with everybody else's problems, but
34:31
Speaker 1: not mine. I know that there are other Christians who
34:34
Speaker 1: can find comfort, but there's never been a Christian in
34:37
Speaker 1: the history of the world who's been hurt as much
34:40
Speaker 1: as I'm hurting right now. And there's no way that
34:43
Speaker 1: God has enough comfort to help me. No one's ever
34:51
Speaker 1: blown it as bad as I just blew it. And
34:55
Speaker 1: the blood of Jesus may cover other sins of people
35:00
Speaker 1: throughout the history of the known world. But there's never
35:04
Speaker 1: been anyone who blew it like I blew it. And
35:06
Speaker 1: I'm sure that God didn't have this sin in mind
35:09
Speaker 1: when Jesus went to the cross. This is us. You
35:20
Speaker 1: let a few Egyptians show up and all of a sudden,
35:22
Speaker 1: our faith is gone. If you can't say amen, you
35:26
Speaker 1: ought to say ouch. This is us, folks. That heartache comes.
35:36
Speaker 1: That disappointment comes. That failure comes. That sin raises its
35:41
Speaker 1: ugly head again. And all of a sudden, all we
35:44
Speaker 1: can see is the Egyptians crying. And we do not
35:49
Speaker 1: see the God who has dealt with them again and
35:52
Speaker 1: again and again. Here's what we need to remember. And
36:09
Speaker 1: here's where we get off track. Folks, God did not
36:14
Speaker 1: save Israel because of their great faith. And if you
36:18
Speaker 1: ever wondered about that, here's your answer right here. If
36:23
Speaker 1: there was ever any question, this settles it right here.
36:27
Speaker 1: God did not save these people because of their great faith.
36:31
Speaker 1: Not these individuals. Oh no, uh-uh. Here they come. Oh,
36:37
Speaker 1: you brought us out here. We couldn't die over there.
36:38
Speaker 1: We had to come down over here, right? We could
36:40
Speaker 1: have just stayed. We could have just stayed slaves in Egypt.
36:43
Speaker 1: Wait a minute. You're the same people who were crying
36:46
Speaker 1: out to God, begging him to get you out of Egypt.
36:49
Speaker 1: And now a few horses come close and you're saying, yeah,
36:55
Speaker 1: we should have just stayed there and died. He did
36:59
Speaker 1: not save them because of their great faith. Amen. Amen. Secondly,
37:06
Speaker 1: he didn't save them because of their holiness. This is
37:11
Speaker 1: not a holy people. Not by themselves. He didn't save
37:18
Speaker 1: them because they're holy. He saved them and made them holy. Amen.
37:23
Speaker 1: God's actions were not dependent upon Israel at all. But
37:29
Speaker 1: God did this for his own sake and for his
37:32
Speaker 1: own glory. And one of the reasons that he chose
37:36
Speaker 1: Israel was because they're not Egypt. In other words, if
37:40
Speaker 1: God in his sovereignty. settles his love on the most
37:47
Speaker 1: powerful nation in the world people see the success of
37:50
Speaker 1: that nation and they say it's because of horses and
37:54
Speaker 1: chariots but if God sets his love upon a slave
37:58
Speaker 1: people who have no power and exist in small numbers
38:02
Speaker 1: and they become the most significant people in the world
38:06
Speaker 1: the only answer is God's on their side That's the answer.
38:16
Speaker 1: But why is this important in light of God's providence
38:19
Speaker 1: in your life in these difficult circumstances? Here's why it's important.
38:25
Speaker 1: Because if God saved me for his own glory and
38:29
Speaker 1: not because of my faith, not because of my holiness,
38:32
Speaker 1: not because of my goodness, not because of my intellect,
38:35
Speaker 1: then when difficulty comes my way, it's God's problem. Amen? Amen?
38:45
Speaker 1: The Egyptians are coming. We got a problem. God's got
38:48
Speaker 1: a problem. Because God's the one who delivered us from them.
38:54
Speaker 1: So God's the one who's got to deal with them.
39:01
Speaker 1: And he will. He will. He will. But you know
39:11
Speaker 1: when I believe he won't? When I believe he won't
39:14
Speaker 1: is when I believe that My deliverance and my salvation
39:17
Speaker 1: are contingent upon me being worthy of it. And so
39:21
Speaker 1: now all of a sudden I hear the sound of
39:25
Speaker 1: chariots coming and I say, yep, I didn't have as
39:29
Speaker 1: much faith as I needed. to. Now he's going to
39:31
Speaker 1: let the chariots get me. Yep, I only kept nine
39:39
Speaker 1: of the things on my holiness list instead of 10.
39:41
Speaker 1: Now he's going to let the Egyptians kill me. you
39:51
Speaker 1: didn't save yourself and you can't keep yourself God is
39:58
Speaker 1: the one who keeps his people God was the one
40:02
Speaker 1: keeping Israel there's no way in the world for them
40:08
Speaker 1: to defeat the Egyptians and that's the whole point finally
40:15
Speaker 1: there is the prophetic declaration and this is crucial verses
40:20
Speaker 1: 13 and 14 Moses said to the people, again, remember,
40:26
Speaker 1: he's got a little insight on this. Fear not, stand firm,
40:33
Speaker 1: and see the salvation of the Lord. That's a sermon
40:36
Speaker 1: right there in itself, is it not? There's your three points.
40:39
Speaker 1: You want to preach something. Fear not, stand firm, and
40:44
Speaker 1: see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work
40:48
Speaker 1: for you today. Why? For the Egyptians you see today
40:53
Speaker 1: You shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you.
40:57
Speaker 1: And you have only to be silent. Fear not. Stand firm.
41:06
Speaker 1: Watch God. Shut up. There it is right there. There
41:14
Speaker 1: it is right there. Can't believe you brought us out here.
41:17
Speaker 1: We're going to die. We're going to die over there.
41:20
Speaker 1: Now we're going to die over here. Why did I
41:22
Speaker 1: listen to you? I should have just stayed. I should
41:24
Speaker 1: have just. Fear not. Watch God. Stand firm. And please,
41:32
Speaker 1: shut up. This is how we know that God is active.
41:47
Speaker 1: Because he has his prophet tell us that he's acting.
41:51
Speaker 1: And this is how we know why God has acted.
41:54
Speaker 1: Because he has his prophet tell us that he acted.
41:57
Speaker 1: See folks, if God just acted, but there was no
42:01
Speaker 1: prophet to tell us. If he just acted, but he
42:04
Speaker 1: never gave us his word to explain, then we'd be
42:07
Speaker 1: like the rest of the world. Every culture has a
42:10
Speaker 1: religious explanation for the way the world works. Every culture.
42:14
Speaker 1: Every culture. That's why there have been people throughout history
42:19
Speaker 1: who have thrown virgins into volcanoes. Or beheaded their enemies
42:25
Speaker 1: and tossed their heads down the stairs of their wonderful
42:29
Speaker 1: religious monuments. This is why people have eaten the hearts
42:35
Speaker 1: of their adversaries. This is why people have done rain dances.
42:41
Speaker 1: This is why people have done a whole host of
42:43
Speaker 1: other things. Because you look at the world, you see
42:47
Speaker 1: what happens, and without the word of God, all you
42:51
Speaker 1: have is your own assumptions as to why things are
42:56
Speaker 1: happening the way they are. And so you do the
42:59
Speaker 1: best you can with what you have, and you try
43:02
Speaker 1: to appease the gods, and you try to control nature. Yet,
43:12
Speaker 1: this is not the way God has dealt with his people.
43:16
Speaker 1: God has revealed himself in his word. All scripture is
43:23
Speaker 1: God-breathed and profitable for teaching and rebuking and training in
43:28
Speaker 1: righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished
43:33
Speaker 1: for every good work. It's the word of God. It's
43:37
Speaker 1: the word of God. This is important. Because unfortunately, many
43:41
Speaker 1: Christians still try to operate as though we don't have
43:45
Speaker 1: the word of God. And so an event happens in
43:48
Speaker 1: your life and you close your eyes and say, oh,
43:52
Speaker 1: to try to figure out what it is that God
43:54
Speaker 1: is saying to you through the events. That's paganism. That's paganism.
44:05
Speaker 1: That's not biblical Christianity. That's paganism. God did not call
44:09
Speaker 1: the Egyptians or the Israelites to sit there, close their eyes,
44:15
Speaker 1: and think real hard about what he was trying to
44:18
Speaker 1: say to them through these events. He had his prophet.
44:22
Speaker 1: And his prophet said, have faith. Fear not. Watch God.
44:27
Speaker 1: Shut up. And now, oh, by the way, turn around
44:33
Speaker 1: and let's walk. Because God did that. And he told
44:40
Speaker 1: you beforehand that he was going to deliver you out
44:43
Speaker 1: of the hands of the Egyptians and that he was
44:46
Speaker 1: going to wipe them out. So that they would know
44:50
Speaker 1: that God is God, so that you will know that
44:52
Speaker 1: God is God, so that you are not tempted to
44:55
Speaker 1: worship and serve another God. And folks, this is the key.
45:06
Speaker 1: God doesn't want Israel to worship God The Egyptian gods.
45:12
Speaker 1: God doesn't want Israel to worship Moses. God doesn't want
45:16
Speaker 1: Israel to worship his staff. God wants Israel to worship God.
45:22
Speaker 1: So he communicates clearly to his people through his prophets.
45:28
Speaker 1: Here's who I am. Here's what I'm doing. And here's why.
45:34
Speaker 1: And here's how I expect you to respond. And this
45:47
Speaker 1: is why we worship in accordance with what we find
45:51
Speaker 1: in the word of God. God hasn't even called us
45:55
Speaker 1: to figure out on our own how we respond to
45:59
Speaker 1: his deliverance. God even tells us in his word how
46:04
Speaker 1: we're to respond to his deliverance. Here's how you respond
46:09
Speaker 1: to the way that I've delivered you. So God delivers
46:11
Speaker 1: us through the person and work of Jesus Christ. And
46:14
Speaker 1: then he doesn't leave us and say, okay, Jesus has
46:17
Speaker 1: saved you by his blood. Now do the best you
46:22
Speaker 1: can to figure out how you can say thank you
46:24
Speaker 1: to me. No, he tells us what to do. He
46:28
Speaker 1: tells us what to observe. He tells us that we're
46:31
Speaker 1: to give attention to the public reading of his word.
46:34
Speaker 1: He tells us that we're to sing psalms, hymns, and
46:36
Speaker 1: spiritual songs. He tells us that we're to pray. He
46:40
Speaker 1: tells us that there's to be preaching. He tells us
46:43
Speaker 1: that we're to observe the Lord's table. He tells us
46:46
Speaker 1: these things. And he tells us that we're to do
46:48
Speaker 1: it one day in seven, over and over and over
46:51
Speaker 1: and over again. So that when we gather, we are
46:56
Speaker 1: responding to God in the way that God has commanded
46:59
Speaker 1: that we respond to him so that we can know
47:01
Speaker 1: we're giving to him exactly what he desires and deserves.
47:11
Speaker 1: We don't have to be innovative. And in fact, when
47:15
Speaker 1: we attempt to be innovative, basically what we're doing is
47:21
Speaker 1: when we attempt to be innovative in worship, we're like
47:24
Speaker 1: this husband. We're like the husband who says this. I
47:29
Speaker 1: know she has told me 97 times that this is
47:34
Speaker 1: what she likes. And I know that every time that
47:39
Speaker 1: I do what she has told me 97 times that
47:43
Speaker 1: she likes, that she really likes what she says she likes. However,
47:50
Speaker 1: this is the 98th time. So I'm going to do
47:54
Speaker 1: something that she hasn't told me that she likes, which
47:58
Speaker 1: she's kind of indicated that she doesn't really like at all.
48:03
Speaker 1: But because I'm being innovative, I'm sure she'll be blown away.
48:13
Speaker 1: And again, man, if you can't say amen, you ought
48:14
Speaker 1: to say ouch. And then we get offended when we
48:19
Speaker 1: come on the 98th time and do that innovative thing
48:22
Speaker 1: that we kind of know she doesn't really like, but
48:24
Speaker 1: we're tired of doing the thing that she likes. And
48:27
Speaker 1: we come to her and her response is, oh. Oh.
48:33
Speaker 1: And now we're offended. Why? Well, because you're supposed to
48:38
Speaker 1: like what you don't like. This is the church, unfortunately,
48:49
Speaker 1: in worship in many instances. I know that God has
48:55
Speaker 1: told us clearly in his word what worship is. But
48:59
Speaker 1: I believe that we can give him something that will
49:01
Speaker 1: blow his mind. We can go above and beyond that
49:09
Speaker 1: which the God of the universe expects in worship. We're
49:16
Speaker 1: going to be innovative. No. We're going to do what
49:24
Speaker 1: he says. The way he says it. Because he says it.
49:34
Speaker 1: Because God delivers his people so that they might worship
49:38
Speaker 1: him Rightly. For his deliverance. You see the next time.
49:48
Speaker 1: You hear the hooves of horses. The next time. The
49:53
Speaker 1: Egyptians get so close. That you can almost see. The
49:57
Speaker 1: whites of their eyes. The next time that you are tempted.
50:03
Speaker 1: To throw up your hands. And to lay down. And
50:06
Speaker 1: wait for somebody to put dirt on you. the next
50:11
Speaker 1: time you are tempted to shake your fist at God
50:14
Speaker 1: because he delivered you only to disappoint you now, remember,
50:22
Speaker 1: there has been a sovereign decree and that nothing is
50:27
Speaker 1: happening by accident. Remember that this is God's providential plan
50:36
Speaker 1: and he is working out your salvation today. in accordance
50:39
Speaker 1: with that which will bring him maximum glory, not necessarily
50:43
Speaker 1: that which will bring you maximum comfort. And remember, if
50:50
Speaker 1: you have questions or doubts about why God does what
50:55
Speaker 1: he does the way he does, you don't find it
50:59
Speaker 1: by closing your eyes, smoking some peyote and thinking real
51:05
Speaker 1: hard about it. You find it by searching His Word.
51:14
Speaker 1: Because He has spoken. He has done so authoritatively. And
51:20
Speaker 1: He has done so completely as it relates to your
51:24
Speaker 1: salvation and mine. There's nothing that befalls you that His
51:32
Speaker 1: Word doesn't explain to you. And the next time you
51:39
Speaker 1: wonder whether or not he really loves you, or whether
51:46
Speaker 1: or not he just brought you out here so that
51:49
Speaker 1: he could bury you by the sea, remind yourself that
51:54
Speaker 1: as you see your Egyptians coming toward you, that God
51:59
Speaker 1: didn't deliver you by putting to death somebody else's firstborn.
52:05
Speaker 1: He delivered you with the death of his own firstborn.
52:12
Speaker 1: So if you want to know whether or not God
52:15
Speaker 1: really loves you, don't look at your own heart. Don't
52:20
Speaker 1: look at your own circumstances. Don't look at your own
52:24
Speaker 1: pain and don't look at your own fears. If you
52:28
Speaker 1: want to know whether God really loves you, you look
52:30
Speaker 1: at the cross. And I double dog dare you to
52:34
Speaker 1: look at the cross and question God's love. Whatever you're experiencing,
52:43
Speaker 1: whatever you're going through, I guarantee you, saints, You look
52:51
Speaker 1: at the cross where your deliverance was purchased. And you
52:55
Speaker 1: may not have all the answers as to why you're
53:00
Speaker 1: enduring this right now. But what you will have is
53:03
Speaker 1: the answer to this question. Can God deliver? And the
53:20
Speaker 1: answer is a resounding yes. He can deliver because he had,
53:27
Speaker 1: has delivered. And he will deliver. This is the assurance
53:36
Speaker 1: that is ours in Christ. Let's pray. Oh God, how
53:53
Speaker 1: we thank you for your mercy and your kindness and
54:00
Speaker 1: your patience and your long suffering with us. How we
54:06
Speaker 1: thank you for the countless ways that you have reminded
54:13
Speaker 1: us of your goodness and of your deliverance. The countless
54:19
Speaker 1: ways that you have demonstrated your patience the countless ways
54:27
Speaker 1: that you have reassured us of your love reminded us
54:35
Speaker 1: that greater love has no man than this that he
54:36
Speaker 1: laid down his life for his friends reminded us that
54:40
Speaker 1: you demonstrated your love toward us and this that while
54:43
Speaker 1: we were yet sinners christ died for us Reminding us
54:48
Speaker 1: that you so loved the world that you gave your
54:50
Speaker 1: only begotten son so that all the believing ones may
54:54
Speaker 1: not perish but may have everlasting life. Grant by your
55:00
Speaker 1: grace that we might look to this love as opposed
55:08
Speaker 1: to merely looking to our own circumstances. Father, I lift
55:16
Speaker 1: up those under the sound of my voice who have
55:22
Speaker 1: heard the hoofbeats and the rolling wheels of chariots in
55:29
Speaker 1: their lives this week. Who have seen the Egyptians so close.
55:47
Speaker 1: that it seemed that there was no way out, grant
55:51
Speaker 1: by your grace that they would be reminded today that
55:57
Speaker 1: you are not a God who delivers partially and you
56:02
Speaker 1: are not a God who delivers only to disappoint. Remind
56:08
Speaker 1: us all today that your deliverance is about your glory.
56:18
Speaker 1: Grant by your grace that we might hold to this truth,
56:24
Speaker 1: that we might walk in this truth, and that we
56:27
Speaker 1: might be conformed to this truth. This we pray for
56:33
Speaker 1: Christ's sake and in his name. Amen.