Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10210 - Refuse to Compromise Your Faith - Exodus 9

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#10210 - Refuse to Compromise Your Faith - Exodus 9 · 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 To learn
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more about the many resources available through a Bound in
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Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. All right, open your Bibles.
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Exodus Chapter 9. We'll pick up in a new chapter.
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Exodus Chapter 9 and the title of our Bible study is Refuse to
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Compromise Your Faith. Refuse to Compromise Your Faith.
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I dare say that one of the greatest dangers to the
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Christian is compromise. Now remember, when we're talking
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compromise, there are two types. We're not talking about the
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compromise that you and I might meet in the middle and work
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something out and I give a little and you give a little.
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That's good compromise where you're not, you know, just
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putting your, you know, your foot down and you're immovable,
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That's more of a position of pride when you refuse to bend
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and you refuse to yield. No, that's not what we're
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Speaking of when we say compromise.
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The compromise that we want to avoid is spiritual compromise
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where we have these little concessions to commitment or the
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little slip UPS or letting it go a little.
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The times when we go against the word just a little bit, though
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it's not big, but it's small against our own conscience,
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which is huge. If your conscience is saying
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don't do it or giving you concerns about the decision and
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you go against your own conscience, you want to be
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really careful there, because the Bible speaks of a time where
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your conscience could be seared like a hot iron.
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So you don't want to go in such a way where you don't feel any
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more the prompting of the Holy Spirit or even your own internal
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morality. But you want to be careful not
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to compromise against wise counsel.
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That happens far more than we recognize and realize.
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We're just good wise counsel. But you don't want to follow it
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completely. You want to do most or the.
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I know I should or I would say this, I know I shouldn't, but I
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will anyway. They've taken down so many
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Christians, even the strong. They've sapped the strength of
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others. And as we grow in the knowledge
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of Jesus, we're changing into the image of Christ and that
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image. Remember, this is what you want.
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Image as you get closer and closer to the life of Jesus is
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complete obedience, right? Jesus was able to say he always
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did the will of the Father. We are unable to say that ever
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in the entirety of the rest of our lives.
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However, what we can say is we're growing now and closer and
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closer to that full obedience, always doing the will of the
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Father in our lives. But with our spiritual growth
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and with what God is doing in our lives comes this temptation.
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Because it is a temptation. It's not just a decision.
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The decision is preceded by a temptation to compromise our
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faith. And when you do, it undermines
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your strength and weakens your resolve and tears down our
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progress. Now IQ you.
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If you want to be convinced of this, then you need to speak to
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somebody that has really made a serious error, sinful error in
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their lives, where they're dealing with the consequences of
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something huge and significant. Because usually you don't find
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out about these types of things until it becomes huge and
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significant, until you're found out.
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Or finally you get to a place where you confess your sin and
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you can talk to them if they're open to discuss it, and they'll
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tell you where it started. And it didn't start big.
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It wasn't like I woke up one morning and like, hey, I think I
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want to ruin my life today, or I want to hurt everyone that loves
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me, or I want to disqualify myself in ministry.
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Or 1000 other things. It started with something small.
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It started with a little idea, a little compromise, a little
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nurturing of pride or arrogance. Or it started small.
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But over time it overwhelms and it grows, and it adds to that a
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sense of condemnation and failure.
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And you want to be careful with compromise.
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Why is that such a significant topic for our text today as
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well? Because Moses has offered
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compromises, and he's offered compromises at a time where I
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think if you and I were in Moses Sandals, we would want to be
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looking for a way that could be easier than what he is currently
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experiencing. We left off in our studies with
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Pharaoh, receiving the first few of God's 10 messages to let the
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people go. And God is serious here, Isn't
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it true? I say that pretty easily, but
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isn't it true that God is always serious?
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He's not just writing things just to write them or say things
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just to say them? Or that perfect timing.
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We get this feedback from our app or from the radio around the
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country where you'll you'll get this feedback where God spoke to
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me this morning and God spoke to them from a Bible study that I
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probably delivered a couple of years ago.
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So it's God's word. It's God's word that doesn't
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return void. But see, because we receive so
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much and because we grow to the point where we think we know
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more than we really do, we're not sensitive anymore to God
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just speaking to us in the moment and receiving it for what
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it is. And here God is giving his word
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to Pharaoh. I want my people to go.
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You don't have to experience any of these things.
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Of course Pharaoh doesn't know there's going to be 10 of them.
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He doesn't know they're going to get increased.
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They're going to continue to increase.
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He doesn't know the future. We know, looking backwards, that
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if he would have complied with the first request, Exodus would
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have been written differently. It would have had a different, a
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whole different direction. And that's true in your life
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too. You don't need 10 warnings from
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God, or 10 admonitions or 10 friends, or 10 messages.
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Or you You don't need to go through the whole process.
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You can turn to the Lord today, or you can turn back to the Lord
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today. But I mean, Pharaoh Lee
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experience blood in the Nile, the frogs, the lice, the flies.
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I mean, it's pretty serious. And now Pharaoh's response?
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Hold your place as nine and go back to Chapter 7.
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Pharaoh's response was to offer Moses a series of compromises.
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He says in verse 17 of Chapter 7.
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Thus says the Lord God, By this you shall know that I am the
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Lord. Behold, I'll strike the waters
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in which the river with the rod that it's in my hand, and they
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shall be turned into blood. And the fish that are in the
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river shall die and shall stink, And the Egyptians will loathe to
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drink the water. But as you jump down to verse
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22, you notice that Pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not
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heed them. So the demand upon Pharaoh is
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very clear. Let my people go.
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Let them go. In verse 16, he says.
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Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.
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That's clear. Then we get to 8 Chapter 8,
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verse 25. It says then Pharaoh called for
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Moses and Aaron and said go sacrifice to your God in the
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land. And Moses said it's not right to
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do so. For we would be sacrificing the
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abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God.
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If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their
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eyes then they will they not stone us.
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We will go. Listen, we will go three days
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journey into the wilderness. What did MO, what would, what
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did Pharaoh offer him? You can do it in the land so
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everybody can see you don't go too far.
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Because again, I believe Pharaoh, there's not just the
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spiritual part of this, but the physical part of this or the
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practical side. He's going to lose his
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workforce. He's going to lose everything,
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that progress of his building projects.
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He's going to lose everything that has made his Kingdom what
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it is to this day. So stay close.
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Don't go too far. Don't go too far.
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Go to the land. I know what I hear.
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What you say. The wilderness.
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And then Moses has to repeat it again.
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We aren't going in the land. God wants us in the wilderness.
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He wants to deliver us. We need to leave Egypt Three
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days, at least three days. Journey.
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We need to be out of here. It's not going to happen here.
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And this is the constant attack of the enemy in our lives.
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This is it. What Pharaoh is offering to
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Moses. Pharaoh becomes a type of the
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devil. Moses becomes a type of you and
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me. Where we know what God said, we
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stand on what God said, and the enemy offers us a compromise.
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This is constant and continual. You have the desire, especially
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as a newer believer or like you know that sense of you are
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rededicating. You come out of a bad season and
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you're like, I'm all in, I'm all in, I'm all in.
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And the enemy comes and goes. What you know, you don't have to
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go too far in. You know what?
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It's like not being all in. And you got away with that for a
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while. You don't have to go too far.
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You you can. It's almost like you hear that
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the devil could say, you can do the Christian thing.
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You can learn the songs, you can buy a Bible, you can be at
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church every once in a while. But don't make a full
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commitment. Learn the vocabulary.
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Hang out with Christians, leave some of your sin behind, but
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don't get too radical. Stay in the world.
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And some people attempt to live their Christian life by being
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two people. They're one person when they're
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outside of the building which you know you're around us not
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too long, a few hours a week. If you serve in the church,
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maybe 3-4 hours a week. You live most of your time in
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your home, most of your time in the workplace.
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I mean some people live 3 lives, they have a life at home, they
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have a life in the world, at work, wherever they do, and then
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they have a really special cleaned up version for church
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and you. We like to refer to double faced
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or two faced people as hypocrites.
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That's the word for your life, if this resonates with you.
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Because truth be told, we don't really care if you clean
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yourself up coming to church, it it doesn't matter too much if
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you put on your best face for us.
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It's not what we're looking for. We're looking to live a life
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that's real so that if your commitment to Jesus is 1, where
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you want to see unity in your life, not two faces, then the
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last thing you want to do is play fakery among us, among us
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that have our own situations and our own lives.
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You have to watch out for this. New believers, older believers,
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it never ends. You know you live life, make a
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commitment. Even if you've made a commitment
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in your heart like you haven't even told anybody.
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It's just like a personal thing. It was your prayer life, your
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DeVos, God's been speaking to you.
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You don't have anyone to even share it with.
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But inside you're like you know what, Lord, between you and me,
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I just really need to step into this.
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I want to be more obedient. I want to offer you, I'm going
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to, I'm going to take Romans chapter 12 to heart and I'm
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going to lay my life on the altar.
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And it's just like this personal, sweet, wonderful thing
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that you're doing. And and you'll find yourself in
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a position, even on these personal commitments that you
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make, that all this spiritual attack will come to get you away
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from your commitment. Now, of course, if you make an
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outward commitment and you're verbalizing it and you're
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sharing it with people, then people have a response to that
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too, don't they? They're not always happy about
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your commitment to follow Jesus. So what do they do?
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They start calling you names. They start making fun of you.
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Maybe they'll pull out on the big guns, right, and say you're
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in a cult and what has what has happened?
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What kind of church are you a part of?
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And all you do is read the Bible, you Bible thumper on and
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on the list goes. They invent new things in our
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culture to do that. And what is that?
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What is the name calling and what is the folks coming against
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you? What is that?
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I'll tell you what it is. It's the devil offering you a
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compromise. And here's the compromise.
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You ready? Just tone it down a little bit
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and people will stop calling you names.
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Just tone it down a little bit and you might be invited to
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those parties again. Or just tone it down again and
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add a little bit and you'll be invited into the groups again
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and you'll be treated like it's a compromise.
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And how careful we need to be. We need to follow.
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Jot it down. I love this verse.
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It's so important. The longer we walk with the
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Lord, the more important it is. It's in Luke's Gospel, Chapter 9
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and verse 51, which says now it came to pass when the time had
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come for him Speaking of Jesus to be received up, that he
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steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.
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And I find that commitment is so needed in our lives that today
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God is calling some of you to steadfastly set your face toward
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the Lord. It's a decision you need to make
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without compromise. Jesus was set on the cross, even
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as Moses and all his weakness, all his hesitancy, all his
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excuses, he took this step of faith and now he's all in.
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And we're not going to the wilderness, Pharaoh.
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That's not going to happen. My confidence in the Lord, Faith
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begets faith, begets faith. Pick up with me now in Chapter
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9, verse one. Then the Lord said to Pharaoh,
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or excuse me. Then the Lord said to Moses, go
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into Pharaoh and tell him. Thus says the Lord God of the
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Hebrews. Let my people go and just pause
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here. Just remember you've already
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read, you've already studied this, When God is telling
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Pharaoh to let my people go, there is a broader sense of this
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because we saw it in other places.
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It's Let my people Go completely.
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Three days journey into the wilderness is the basic
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definition, but it's let my people go completely that they
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might serve me verse 2. For if you refuse to let them go
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and still hold them, behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your
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cattle and your field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the
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camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep.
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There will be a very severe pestilence.
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Verse four. And the Lord will make a
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difference. If you don't have this
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highlighted, you should the Lord will make a difference between
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the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt.
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So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of
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Israel. Then the Lord appointed a set
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time, saying, tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.
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So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the
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livestock of Egypt died. But of the livestock of the
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children of Israel, not one died.
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Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed not even one of the livestock of
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the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh became
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hard, and he did not let the people go.
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Now among the thousands of gods, little G of the Egyptians were
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animals. They worshipped the frogs,
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horses, bulls, APIs. APIs was their bull God and they
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believed that APIs was born. This is kind of funny.
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They believed APIs was born by a moonbeam hitting the earth.
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It's amazing what people will believe in.
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Instead of the one true God, it just makes stuff up.
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And so APIs born by the moonbeam was worshipped.
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And the second largest temple the Egyptians ever built was to
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this black bull in their city of Memphis.
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It's interesting because later, when the nation of Israel is in
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the wilderness and Moses is up on Mount Sinai, receiving from
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God, the people are down with Aaron becoming impatient.
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And in their impatience, Aaron collects everything and they
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make an image. They make an image of a bull.
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They were so used to idolatry and false gods that when things
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got tough, they went right back to it.
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Can I just say it's not the bulk of our Bible study today, but I
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believe it needs to be said. It's very easy for you to be so
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engulfed in this world and its system, and I don't even need
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me, necessarily. Sinfully, you work in the world,
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your family, perhaps, is in the world.
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You shop in the world. Everything about this, we're
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submerged in the culture. And I believe there's part of it
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that God intends. Jesus wants us to be in the
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world, but not of the world. But let's just admit today,
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church, that we are in the world, that we live in this
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world. That we absorb the news of this
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world. We absorb the entertainment of
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this world. We absorb the TikTok and the
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Instagram and the Facebook of this world.
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We are in this world. But I want to warn you that you
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can be in the world without realizing how much you've let
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the world in you and you. Maybe you won't find out until
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it's too late when you start making idols of bulls.
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Why would you do that? Well, it's a revelation that
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there's a lot of the world in you.
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It's important that you wash your mind with the water of
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God's word that you refuse and resist to take in the culture,
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to take in the fall off. There is a philosophy of this
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world. The Bible says that the devil is
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the God little G of this world. There is a counter biblical or
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you could say John would say it this way in the 1st century.
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He would say that there are already many antichrists in the
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world, which tells me that there is a philosophy and a thinking
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and a way of of life that is Antichrist.
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I I you know it it. You don't need me to prove it to
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you. I could bring statistics I could
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bring even if I took the time today, which I didn't, But if I
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took the time today just to bring in 10 headlines, just 10
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headlines of various media, you would see the way the world, the
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way the world thinks. The world's out of their minds.
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They're not thinking the way of the of the Lord because they're
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disconnected from God. Some of us, we live that way.
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I mean, we're not. I'm not pointing fingers.
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I'm just, I'm just showing the read this, just the facts.
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I live this way. When I look back on my life and
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I see what my goals were as a dad, as an unbeliever, it was so
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the world, man. God had to change my thinking
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and say that is not the way that you raise your kids, Ed.
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That is not the right way. And to that you say, well then
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what is Lord? And he begins to give wisdom on
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how to live a life here. The children of Israel, they
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were in the world, but the world got into them.
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And even as believers with good motives, you can begin speaking
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like and thinking like and talking like whatever the new
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buzzword of the world is, whatever the new thing the
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world's into. To continue the gap, you got to
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understand the philosophy of the world is to keep people thinking
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they're OK apart from God. That's the world view.
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So they'll create new therapies and they'll create new
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psychological phrases and they'll create all sorts of new
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things to validate that the issue in your life is OK, you're
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OK separate from God. But that's not the truth.
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I'm not OK separate from God. You're not OK separate from God.
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And while there might be some new buzzword or some new therapy
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or some new treatment, the essence of my issue in life is
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my separation from God. The essence of my life is my
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lack of abiding in Christ. Now, are there different
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methodologies to help us move forward in life?
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Of course, there are different methodologies to help us
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understand behaviorally, But let me tell you, if you attack the
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issues in your life by merely seeking behavioral behavioral
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change, like just dealing with all the behaviors, you'll be
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sorely disappointed because you can change all your behaviors
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and still be empty inside. You can be the most empty moral
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person on the planet Earth. I think of someone like Lydia
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from Thyatira, as we were studying the book of Acts.
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I mean, if we met her on the street and we didn't have the
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mind of Christ, we would think this gal has everything she'd
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ever want the rest of her life. Successful, rich, influential.
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She's rubbing elbows with the wealthy and the aristocrats of
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the culture. And yet we've learned from the
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scriptures that she was still empty inside.
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And the fascinating thing about Lydia is that she was born again
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and continued to live in that world.
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She continued her business. She continued to serve.
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She can, But she was different because she was born again.
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Don't read through so quickly in this this judgment, part part of
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the judgment coming upon the bull is man.
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If you read ahead, you just see that the world can get in you.
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Can I get an Amen? Do you guys get that?
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You guys so far like because sometimes church like believers
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just don't believe this. I think so much of our our
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biblical discipleship or what you know, people call
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counseling, but it's really just opening the Bible and getting
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you back right with the Lord. We would have so much less
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office time if we recognize how much the world's in US and
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repent and turn away from the world system and turn away from
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the latest thinking. Somebody needs to write a book
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like every decade how the thoughts of the world has
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changed. It's the same issue, you're
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separate from God, don't worry about it.
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But the way they address it, it just keeps changing and changing
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and changing and probably changes more than decades.
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Now with the way information's going, changes like yearly
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perhaps or annually. I I don't pay much attention to
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it anymore because I need all my extra time to know what the word
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of God says. I don't need to be keeping up
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with everybody. Everything that people are
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making up and all the weird stuff I need to be.
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I need to know the word of God so that whatever comes into my
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office, I can answer it by the word of God.
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And whatever question is asked to me, I can answer it so I can
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give the frame of reference for what God says.
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And I believe that's true for you as well.
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So here Pharaoh, he's not willing to move, He's not
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willing to to change. And the plague comes and
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destroys the livestock of the Egyptians, but doesn't touch
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those of the children of Israel over in Goshen.
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What's interesting here is, you know, Pharaoh will send people
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to go check it out and to see what happened and notice that
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nothing, nothing of Israel was touched.
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Now later on in verses 19 and 20 verse 22, some cattle survived,
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so it wasn't completely in totality.
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Maybe there was some farm animals in the fields, we're not
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sure yet. But in this judgement Pharaoh's
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heart grows harder. And let me just say judgement is
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the wake up call that God can give you at any time, in any
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moment. And here's what he's saying
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through judgement. Stop and turn and receive God's
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forgiveness. The judgment of God is a wake up
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call When you see it and you hear of it.
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It's a wake up call in your own life to be right with the Lord.
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God is showing Pharaoh once again in the land of Goshen that
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even as judgments fall, God knows how to protect his own.
25:33
Isn't that encouraging? It reminded me of what Peter
25:35
said in Second Peter chapter 2 and verse 9.
25:38
Listen then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of
25:42
temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the
25:46
day of judgment. Now, what's our approach?
25:50
What's our perspective? I've found a couple proverbs I
25:52
think will be very helpful when we watch judgment come.
25:56
Certainly if things continue to go that the way they are in our
26:01
country, just our country where we live, maybe even in our city
26:04
or even in our state. If the those in authority
26:07
continue to make decisions they're making, then you got
26:10
just got to know judgment's coming.
26:12
And let me just say, almost always throughout history, the
26:15
way God deals with the nation is to deal with their economy, what
26:20
man trusts in. And that just is a constant
26:24
rolling of the undertones of the moral morality, the morality,
26:29
the moral decay from the inside. They implode because the
26:33
resources that have been trusted to a president or a governor or
26:37
a mayor are being used to perpetuate evil and damage more
26:41
lives. God's not going to put up with
26:43
that for very long. So if we are alive as believers
26:48
to see the judgment coming, it is a wake up call for us to be
26:54
ready for ministry for those that are receiving the judgment
26:59
of God. It's not a time to celebrate and
27:02
clap and go. We told you so.
27:05
The whole world's going to collapse.
27:07
Now I'm talking even before the rapture of the church.
27:10
I'm talking that reality of the imploding of all these
27:16
decisions. I mean, I there's not a day that
27:18
goes by. I do keep up with the news and
27:20
there's not a day that goes by that I I'm just watching local
27:23
news, you know, just local stuff.
27:25
When I moved to Colorado 25 years ago, the first five things
27:29
on the news were hey cat got stuck and we went up and got the
27:33
cat and there was a little wind today and and it rained and we
27:39
like it was a different world. 20 something years ago, just 20
27:42
something years ago here. And there's not a day that goes
27:45
by that I'm watching the news. And even as that it it gets
27:48
presented to us, I just shake my head and I'm like, I just don't
27:51
know, Lord, how long you're going to be gracious.
27:54
I don't, I don't know. But I want to be ready if I'm
27:57
around when judgement comes and judgement falls because while
28:02
Pharaoh's up there with a hard heart, his people are suffering.
28:08
They're losing their livelihood because of this man.
28:11
People are hurting. They're losing everything
28:15
they've worked for. And here's some encouraging
28:20
wisdom. Let's just give you a couple
28:22
Proverbs Chapter 28 and verse 14.
28:25
Happy is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his
28:30
heart falls into calamity. So the alternative here that's
28:34
being presented with Proverbs is a is a reverent, respectful
28:37
life, an honorable life. We don't want to hard hard.
28:41
We don't want to honor the Lord. Be respectful and be open to
28:44
what he wants to do. Pharaoh set his heart to be hard
28:47
toward God, and the opposite of a hard heart is both reverence
28:52
and secondly, Proverbs Chapter 9, verse 10.
28:55
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the
28:59
knowledge of the Holy One understanding.
29:02
For by me your days will be multiplied, and the years of
29:08
your life will be added to you. The fear of the Lord, the
29:12
beginning of wisdom, the knowledge of the Holy One.
29:16
Judgment comes, He hardens again.
29:18
Verse 8. Now the Lord said to Moses and
29:21
Aaron, Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from the
29:24
furnace, and let Moses scatter it among toward the heaven and
29:28
the sight of Pharaoh. And it will become fine dust in
29:30
all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that will break
29:34
out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of
29:37
Egypt. Then they they took ashes from
29:41
the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered
29:45
them toward heaven, and they caused boils to break out in
29:47
sores on man and beast. And then notice the magicians
29:51
could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the
29:55
boils were on the magicians and all the Egyptians.
29:59
But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not heed
30:02
them. Just as the Lord had spoken to
30:05
Moses, ashes were used in Egypt as a sign of blessing the
30:09
people. And now God would use their
30:12
ashes to pronounce a curse upon Pharaoh and the land of Egypt.
30:16
Now the furnace. There's some debate on
30:18
discussion on what the furnace is, but I I tend to lead that
30:22
it's the the furnace was probably the furnaces that the
30:27
Israelites were using to make bricks.
30:30
Now if that's the case, these furnaces would symbolize the
30:35
slavery of Israel to the Egyptians.
30:38
You see that used throughout the scriptures.
30:40
Deuteronomy chapter four, First Kings chapter 8.
30:43
Jeremiah Chapter 11. So this is interesting.
30:46
In this plague, God converts the suffering of the Israelites in
30:51
the furnace so that the ashes become suffering for the
30:55
Egyptians and these boils break out as their skin hardens.
31:00
And these boils ooze out with puss and nasty liquid like it's
31:05
it's a bad it's getting worse in the plagues that are coming.
31:09
And then in verse 11, we see that the magicians were touched
31:13
with these boils, too. That's pretty important because
31:16
the priests who served in the Egyptian temples had to be
31:19
clean. If there's anyone that's ever
31:20
studied Egyptian history, you know that one thing that the
31:24
Egyptians valued among anything personally was personal
31:27
cleanliness. They were very serious about
31:32
being clean, overly serious. And here the magic, the
31:38
magicians or the priests of Pharaoh, they had to be clean
31:43
with no impurity or defects. So for them to be hit with the
31:46
boils would bring a sudden end to leadership within the false
31:53
worship in Egypt. And remember when this all
31:56
began? It began with these pompous,
32:01
confident in their own false God magicians that were able in the
32:06
beginning to duplicate some of the plagues, which also shows
32:12
you the heart. They had no heart for the
32:14
people. If they really had the powers
32:17
that they said they had, they would have ended the plagues.
32:20
And we looked at that before, but in the eyes of man it became
32:24
a battle of the gods. But now is God is declaring
32:28
himself more powerful. He's little by little.
32:32
This is how God deals with us, little by little, but eventually
32:35
it's going to come. He's being gracious to you,
32:39
perhaps not you here today, but watching online or listening on
32:42
the radio. God's being gracious to you.
32:44
He's not approving of your sin or your compromise just because
32:48
you haven't felt the full weight of it yet, or you haven't been
32:51
found out yet, Or there you keep going back to pornography, but
32:54
nobody knows. As if only you know, and you're
32:57
hiding it really well. No, no, no, no.
32:59
God's being very gracious with you.
33:03
God's being very gracious with you to the day you wake up to
33:08
the corruption of your own sin, to the destruction of your own
33:12
life. Pornography is an easy one, But
33:15
how about gossip? Gossip can be even an easy one.
33:19
But how about these little private compromises?
33:22
God said the wilderness three days, but you're settling in the
33:25
land. You know the earlier it said
33:29
that Pharaoh had a hold on on the children of Israel.
33:32
If he didn't let them go into the wilderness, he could keep
33:35
his hold on them. And again, as Pharaoh is a type
33:37
of the devil, he wants to keep his hold on you.
33:42
It'll take a little toe hold and maybe he'll grab your ankle and
33:46
maybe he'll just keep moving up until he gets his arms around
33:49
your neck and he strangles the very spiritual life out of you.
33:54
Well, notice verse 13. Now then, the Lord said to
33:58
Moses, rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say
34:02
to him. Thus says the Lord God of the
34:04
Hebrews, let my people go. And what does that mean?
34:07
Let my people go completely three days into the wilderness,
34:12
so that they might serve you. For at this time, verse 14, I'll
34:15
send all my plagues to your very heart, and on Your servants and
34:20
on your people, that you may know that there is none like me
34:24
in all the earth. Now if I had stretched out my
34:26
hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you
34:30
would have been a cut off from the earth.
34:31
But indeed, for this purpose I've raised you up, that I may
34:35
show my power in you, and my name may be declared in all the
34:38
earth, and yet you exalt yourself against my people, and
34:42
that you will not let them go. Behold, tomorrow about this time
34:46
I'll cause very heavy hail to rain down such as not been in
34:50
Egypt since its founding until now.
34:54
Therefore send now, and gather your livestock all that you have
34:57
in the field, For the hail shall come down on every man and every
35:00
beast which is found in the field and is not brought home.
35:04
And they shall die. He who feared the word of the
35:07
Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and
35:09
his livestock flee to the houses.
35:12
Wow, there's an early remnant of believers now revealed.
35:16
Because it reminds me that even as all this is happening, you
35:20
know you've got you've got the world, and living in the world,
35:22
you've got the Egyptians living their life.
35:24
False, false worship. Listen, please listen to me.
35:30
Those that are not walking with Jesus today, those that are not
35:34
born again, those that maybe take an atheistic approach
35:37
toward God, those that perhaps declare to you they want nothing
35:41
to do with God. Can can I?
35:42
Can I just remind you? I know it's obvious, but I just
35:45
want to remind you and even any atheist listening in right now,
35:48
anyone that's just kind of wrestling with God.
35:51
We know this about you, We know it.
35:53
But I'll say it out loud, those that are living apart from God
35:57
are not dumb. They're not dumb.
36:03
Many of them are very highly intelligent, living life on the
36:07
the way that God created them. Very well educated, like like
36:12
we're not talking about. They're they're very observant.
36:15
Like the Egyptians are watching this whole thing and after 7
36:19
plagues, or after six plagues you go, oh they don't get it,
36:22
they don't care. They love their gods.
36:23
No, for for this group they just needed seven.
36:27
It's the 7th plague that got them and and and so in that I
36:31
just want you to know stop treating the world like they're
36:33
dumb and treat them as the people they are created in
36:37
Christ the Imago day, the image of God.
36:42
Created in the image of God. Because you know how that comes
36:45
off When you start treating people like they're dumb, That
36:47
comes off like you're arrogant, like you're a know it all.
36:52
And that is just not a bridge to be built with unbelievers.
36:54
It just doesn't. You don't like it when people
36:56
call you that or treat you like that.
36:59
Respect and honor and reverence, even for those that have been
37:02
created in the image of God. These guys aren't dumb.
37:05
They're like, OK, we got it. We believe.
37:08
Now, you know, I don't know that this is saving faith or anything
37:11
like that, but they're on the way.
37:13
They're on the way. What did God want to do?
37:17
He wanted to reveal himself as the one true God.
37:19
Well, guess what? In verse 20, there's a few
37:21
people that believe he's the one true God.
37:24
That he means what he says and God says what he means.
37:30
Now try to put ourselves in Moses sandals for a moment.
37:33
I think if this was my, the story of my life, having lived
37:36
my life now for many years, I think I'd be personally a little
37:40
exhausted, a little tired, a little discouraged because I was
37:45
sent with I I was sent on. And I mean if you think about
37:48
Moses, I was sent on a task that I didn't even want to do.
37:52
And I told God I didn't want to do it repetitively and he
37:55
wouldn't let me out of it and instead gave me my brother and
37:58
told me to take Aaron. You're going to do what I tell
38:00
you to do and I'm like, all right, I'll obey you, God, not,
38:03
not not the most collaborative bastard you know or or leader.
38:08
But but he's he's reluctant but he's still willing and so he's
38:12
stepping into it and it's not happening the way he wanted.
38:16
This Deliverance thing is not working.
38:19
It didn't work when I took it into my own hands.
38:21
When I took and I killed that Egyptian and now doing it God's
38:25
way I keep having to go back and he's not listening.
38:30
He's not listening. God and I don't know how many
38:33
times I can do this and considering Moses being
38:39
described in the Bible as one of the most humble men, I wonder
38:43
what he's feeling internally about seeing the judgment of
38:46
God, oils and livestock like he has to watch it and experience
38:50
it and then he's got to deal with this hard hearted guy that
38:53
doesn't regard God like there's a lot going on here for Moses
38:58
and I'm sure, sure that perhaps not in Moses exact situation.
39:03
None of us have been there, but many of us have been in similar
39:06
places. It's just not working out the
39:09
way I thought it was. I had high hopes, but it's not
39:13
working out. Have you ever felt that God has
39:16
called you to something only to find out that it wasn't
39:19
happening the way that you expected?
39:22
It wasn't lining up? And the natural response is I
39:26
need to get out or I want to get out because this is not what I
39:34
signed up for. You know, I've met many people
39:37
over the years who see, quote UN quote the ministry with rose
39:43
colored glasses like it is the best of the best.
39:47
Like, you know, maybe it's measured in the context of our
39:50
church family here where if if I could just be on staff at that
39:54
church, it will be like living and working in heaven, man.
40:00
And that's now one of the lines in our interview.
40:03
I always remind you, when you come here, you're not going to
40:05
be working in heaven. We're not in heaven yet.
40:08
We have a real enemy with a a a real desire to kill, steal and
40:12
destroy. And it's not heaven.
40:15
Or maybe it's not the aspirations of full time
40:17
ministry, but you just want to serve in the church.
40:19
You you just want to have your gifts used or you want to take a
40:22
step of faith and you you get slammed there.
40:25
No, there are problems and issues in life.
40:29
And if you do step into serving God, you'll soon be awakened of
40:35
this reality because you're probably stepping into serving
40:41
because you love people. And because you love people, you
40:44
got to step into the difficulties of their lives and
40:47
help them sort it out. And it can be real difficult
40:52
because you place so much effort to have your life in order and
40:56
it's as in order as much as you can have it.
40:58
And they're always stepping into the messes of other people that
41:01
it's not in order. It's just a big battle.
41:04
It's just challenging. Perhaps Moses is there.
41:07
I don't know. But when you're following the
41:08
Lord, you have to be open. You have to remain flexible.
41:13
It it is not going to be the way you think.
41:19
It could be way better. It could be way worse.
41:24
But you can never stop approaching God in a discovery
41:29
mode. That's what makes it exciting.
41:32
If you approach God with it all figured out, then you'll be
41:35
greatly disappointed. But if you step out on faith and
41:38
you're willing to discover what God wants to do, then you're
41:42
going to be, you know, they'll have the discouraging days.
41:44
But it's pretty exciting to see what God's showing you, even
41:47
what God's showing you about yourself.
41:51
Moses has been used of God to go to Pharaoh and and be used to
41:56
deliver the children of Israel because that is going to happen.
42:00
But really what God is doing is revealing Moses to himself.
42:04
It's taken those 40 years in the backside of the wilderness and
42:07
now he's putting all that lessons into practice so that
42:10
Moses can continue to grow in faith and trust.
42:14
He hasn't arrived, nobody's arrived.
42:17
And Jesus, he has plans for us, right?
42:19
Even with Jeremiah, so encouraging.
42:22
In Jeremiah chapter one, before I formed you in the womb, I knew
42:26
you like you, Lord, you knew me before you were born.
42:30
I sanctified you, I mean before my birth parents even decided
42:35
whatever they went through. I don't even know all the
42:36
details to put me up for adoption.
42:39
God knew that He knew what family he would want me in.
42:42
He would knew and he even knew all the things that I would do
42:45
to undermine and and sinfully like God knew it all.
42:50
And just like Jeremiah, I can say I ordained you, God says to
42:55
me, I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
42:58
But if you met me, you know, at 17 or something, it's like, oh,
43:02
by the way, Ed, I know you're calling, man, I know what God
43:04
wants to do in your life. I'm like, no, I would have been
43:08
one of those guys to call you names.
43:09
That's what I would have been. Holy roller, Bible, thumper,
43:13
whatever word. I would have like, no, I'm going
43:16
to cover my separation from God by pushing you away.
43:20
Don't run away. Of course it's not happening the
43:23
way you thought. It's OK Keep following the Lord,
43:27
because that's that's how you got that's how Moses got before
43:30
Pharaoh. And so he just needs to continue
43:32
following the Lord, because for Moses, he's going to find out
43:37
that the plagues will end and they'll leave.
43:41
And then wouldn't that be? Wouldn't that be the moment that
43:44
you think I'd be? The moment I think that this is
43:48
it. Success and you've got to keep
43:51
reading Exodus, don't you? And Numbers and Deuteronomy.
43:58
The entirety of Moses life was very difficult in a place of
44:02
leadership, but also very successful.
44:06
We're still talking about and learning from Moses today
44:09
because the Lord used that brother and we're grateful for
44:12
him. Notice in verse 21 those who did
44:17
not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his
44:20
livestock in the field. Then the Lord said to Moses,
44:22
stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail
44:25
in all the land of Egypt on man and on beast, on an every herb
44:29
of the field throughout the land of Egypt.
44:31
And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven, And the Lord sent
44:34
Thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground.
44:38
And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.
44:41
So there was hail Fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy
44:45
that there was none like it in the land of Egypt, since it
44:48
became a nation. And the hail struck throughout
44:52
the whole land of Egypt that was in the field both man and beast.
44:55
And the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every
44:58
tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen,
45:01
where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
45:04
Why? Because God knows how to make a
45:05
distinction. Where did he learn that?
45:07
But it reminded me not too long ago we experienced a little bit
45:10
of hail here in Aurora of all these years we've avoided all
45:14
these hail storms, but we just happened to be at the office
45:17
that day on a Wednesday. All of our cars got utterly
45:20
destroyed, completely destroyed by the hail.
45:24
And it was just little baby hail, like we're not even
45:27
talking the kind of hail that we came down with.
45:29
Fire. Can you imagine?
45:30
We look out the window. I was doing the the radio
45:33
broadcast live at the time when it came in and I got text and
45:37
word that it came through. I didn't get to see it because
45:40
there's no windows in that room. But Can you imagine looking out
45:43
the window at the hail coming down and there's fire coming
45:46
down and it's just destroying everything.
45:48
Like God is making a statement. You don't need to wait for hail
45:54
and and fire to come down. God is making a statement.
45:58
And you know the statement that God so loved the world that he
46:03
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in him
46:07
would not perish but have everlasting life?
46:11
Isn't that so good? That's his message, That's His
46:15
word. And so this plague comes down to
46:19
those that hear and obey and those that didn't regard the
46:23
word of the Lord. They suffered again.
46:26
I love Bible study. It's hard to go through a whole
46:28
chapter because I could break off.
46:30
And these are such good topical studies.
46:32
And I can hear this topical study.
46:34
Maybe I'll deliver it one day. But what happens to the person
46:38
all throughout the scriptures that does not regard the word of
46:41
the Lord? I mean, that's here.
46:45
They lose their livestock and everything they're under they.
46:48
They lose everything because they didn't regard the word of
46:50
the Lord. But I man, Church, you've got to
46:54
regard the word of the Lord. Take it seriously.
46:57
Well, as the hail comes down, this was a plague against the
47:02
goddess Isis, the goddess of fertility.
47:06
Considered the goddess of the air, she was often represented
47:09
by a cow head. And yet God is still showing
47:13
himself strong over over the land.
47:17
But not in Goshen, because the children of Israel don't tell me
47:20
it's hailing right now. Sorry, Lord, I'm so sorry.
47:29
I'm doing my best now. If you're listening online or on
47:33
the radio, you don't. We have a metal roof here.
47:35
And so you can hear when the storms come through.
47:37
So you missed it. It's one of those things.
47:40
You got to be here for it. Verse 27 and pharaoh sinned and
47:44
called for Moses and Aaron and said to them, I've sinned.
47:47
This time the Lord is righteous, and my and my people and I are
47:52
wicked. And treat the Lord that there
47:54
may be no more mighty thundering in hail, for it is enough.
47:58
I'll let you go, and you shall stay no longer.
48:00
And Moses said, as soon as I've gone out of the city, I'll
48:03
spread out my hands to the Lord. The Thunder will cease.
48:06
There will be no more hail that you may know that the earth is
48:09
the Lord's, but As for you and your servants, I know that you
48:12
will not yet fear the Lord God. Now the flax and the barley were
48:15
struck, for the barley was in the head, and the flax was in
48:18
the bud, but the weed and the spelt were not struck for their
48:21
late crops. So Moses went out of the city
48:23
from Pharaoh, spread out his hands to the Lord.
48:26
Then the Thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not
48:30
poured out on the earth. And when Pharaoh saw that the
48:32
rain and hail and the Thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more,
48:35
and he hardened his heart, he and his servants.
48:39
So the heart of Pharaoh was hard.
48:40
Neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the
48:43
Lord had spoken by Moses. So kind of a neat little insight
48:47
here, where you're reading and you're listening to Pharaoh in
48:49
verse 27. I've sinned.
48:51
The Lord is righteous. My people and I are wicked.
48:54
And you're almost like, OK, OK, this is it, this is change, this
48:58
is repentance. But remember, we'll take what is
49:04
said, but only time will tell. And the way that works in the
49:10
Bible is if you say you repent, then I receive it and I honor
49:15
and I believe you and I listen to you.
49:18
But over time, I'm looking for the fruit of repentance.
49:22
If your tree is changed, you know, using that metaphor, and
49:25
now you're a repentant tree, then the fruit on your tree is
49:28
going to change. And so you see, just a little
49:31
bit of time Pharaoh was not telling the truth.
49:34
That's where you want to pray. And maybe you need to go back
49:36
and listen to the studies in First Corinthians on the
49:39
discerning of spirits, Chapter 12:00-ish, and learn because
49:43
that gift of discernment is so important, that discerning of
49:45
spirits because not everybody, not everything that someone says
49:50
is actually what they mean. And Pharaoh's lying here.
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So, Lord, we just thank you for the Your word as it speaks to us
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and just navigating through the reality of judgement and plagues
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and your desire to deliver your people.
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And I wonder all the deliverance that you're wanting to do in the
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room today. But it's being held back
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through, you know, resistance and unrepentance and what,
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whatever it may be. Lord, we just want to learn to
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trust you so we live in the land of Goshen, in a safe place that
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we would worship you and honor you and appreciate God, your
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ability to make a distinction in our lives.
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In Jesus name, Amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
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Call us at 87730 Grace. That's 877-304-7223.
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To listen to this message in its entirety or to join us for our
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live stream services, visit us online at Calvary, Co dot Church
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or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as You Worship Jesus this week.