Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10208 - God Makes Himself Known - Exodus 7

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#10208 - God Makes Himself Known - Exodus 7 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the Study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through a
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bounding Grace media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. Amen.
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Open your Bibles to Exodus Chapter 7, a new chapter I've
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entitled God Makes Himself Known.
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You want God to reveal himself to you and the way that God
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reveals himself to you is through His word.
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You remember when we were studying the book of Hebrews?
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It said that God has previous times had spoken through the
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prophets, but in these last days He's spoken to us through His
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Son. We go back in time to this true
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story of Moses and Aaron and the children of Israel and this man
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known as Pharaoh. Pharaoh's a title title of a
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leader of Egypt and leader of the known world.
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Pharaoh has met his match with this man named Moses, but his
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match wasn't Moses. His match was the God of Moses.
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The power of God represented through these two reluctant but
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obedient men, Moses and his obedience, even his reluctant
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obedience, is being used by God to communicate God's great power
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and sovereignty to another human being.
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And yet he's being rejected, which certainly you've
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experienced in your own life when you're talking to people
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about the things of God, when you're sharing your testimony,
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when you come down from the mountaintop, if you will, having
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this amazing experience only to be met with resistance.
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This is a picture, very much, of how you and I face a culture
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that's hates God, a culture that's turned their back on God.
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Their hearts are hardened then in the more and more we step
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into that, into their lives, the more and more we want to share
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it seems, the harder they get. But I found this scripture
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jotted down and Luke chapter 12 and verse 11.
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Jesus is teaching his disciples, and he says when they bring you
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to the synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities,
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do not worry about how or what you should answer or what you
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should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach
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you in that very hour what you ought to say in that very hour.
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This is challenging for some of you who like to plan ahead and
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be ready. There are some things God's
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going to wait to give you until the very hour in the moment.
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And here we are in the hours of Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh.
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Now pick up in verse one notice. So the Lord said to Moses.
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See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh.
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And Aaron your brother shall be your prophet, and you shall
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speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother, shall
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speak to Pharaoh, that he must send the children of Israel out
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of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's
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heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
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But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay my hand on
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Egypt and bring my armies and my people, the children of Israel,
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out of the land of Egypt, by great judgments.
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And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.
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If you haven't marked out already, your reading ahead is
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since we go through the Bible, you can read ahead.
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If you read ahead, mark verse 5, The Egyptians shall know that I
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am the Lord, which tells us a little bit before we jump into
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the text. And this encounter was more than
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for Pharaoh and those in his court.
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It was for the whole nation. It was for the world to see the
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power of God. And I think even in our own
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lives we have to think, we have to really understand something,
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that there is an immediate work of God that's happening right
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now with you and someone else or a situation.
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But what God is doing has far greater implications.
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Your life, my life has so much more meaning than the immediate.
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And so here we're the Egyptians are going to know by the time
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this is over. God says they're going to know
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when I stretch out my hand, verse 5, on Egypt and bring out
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the children of Israel from among them.
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And Moses and Aaron did so just as the Lord commanded them, so
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they did. Moses was 80 years old and Aaron
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83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
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Pharaoh's about to find out how futile it is to fight against
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God. He's about to find out.
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It's going to be a hard, long road for him to find this out,
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but he will find out. He will see very clearly just
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how weak he is. Understand this.
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This is a man that everyone's afraid of.
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A man that has all the consolidated power that a man
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could have in the world. All of the wealth, all of the
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possessions, everything that anyone would ever ascribe to and
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more is about to find out just what an empty life he lives
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apart from God. Here is a man literally in
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charge of the known world, but he's not really in charge at
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all. And whether you're Pharaoh or
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you're a mom at home or a dad out at work or a mom at work and
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a dad at home, doesn't matter. A kid at school, you're going to
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learn this lesson soon enough. You can learn it the easy way or
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the hard way, but you're going to learn this, that you are
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nothing apart from the Lord. You're nothing.
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You have no resources, no power, no ability.
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And even what you may have that is measured in the world's
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standards was given to you by God, is entrusted to you by God.
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Even the hard work you might lean on, you'll know.
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Pastor, you don't understand. I'm a self-made woman.
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I'm a self-made man. You know how many nights I
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stayed up late studying and cramming for that test and how
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many degrees I've earned and all that I've done?
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To which I say man, that's a lot of hard work.
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But who gave you the strength to stay up at night?
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Who gave you the mind to think? Who gave you?
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You may be on the spectrum of being a little bit smarter than
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the rest of us. Where do you think that came
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from? It came from the Lord, your
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Creator. He's been gracious and good to
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you, Pharaoh. Here he has everything, but he
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has nothing at the same time. Just like Jesus would tell us
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later, Who would give up? Who would gain everything but
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then lose their own soul? Who would give up their soul for
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the world? You know who?
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A lot of people, they have everything, but they really have
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nothing. Saul of Tarsus reminds me of
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that young man by the name of Saul who was ready to take on
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the world and destroy the the church.
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You know, he was studious and smart.
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He was spiritually strong. He even had this veneer of
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religi religiosity, if you want to use that word.
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His zeal took him out to take out Christian.
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He was so confident, so strong personality, that he was going
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to take out Christianity himself.
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God would even tell him as Jesus met him on the road to Damascus.
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He would even look at Saul and go, Why are you kicking against
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the goads? Pharaoh, thousands of years
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earlier, is kicking against the goads.
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The goads. Those strong sticks that were
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used to prod the animal. And when the animal didn't want
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to go forward, you could kick against it.
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Kick against it. I don't want to.
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I don't want to go your way, God says.
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Why are you doing that? It's going to come to an end if
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it doesn't come to an end where you bow the knee to Jesus.
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Here the Bible says there's coming a day where every knee
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will bow and every tongue will confess.
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You'll either do it willingly or unwillingly.
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Let me put it down. Let me be a little more clear,
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just a little more simple. Have you learned this lesson
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yet? Have you come to this conclusion
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that it's foolish to fight against God?
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You won't win even if you think you're winning.
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You're not. You're losing and you're self
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deceived. On top of that you can't win and
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prevail against God. Sin is so deceptive and subtle,
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filled with lies. Let me give you 1.
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Jot it down Ecclesiastes chapter 8.
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This is very common Ecclesiastes chapter 8 and verse 11.
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Listen it says because the sentence against an evil work is
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not executed speedily. Therefore the hearts of the sons
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of men is fully set in them to do evil.
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And really, if we translate that paraphrase that just because you
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haven't been caught yet, you think you can get away with it
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over and over and over again. And I just want to emphasize
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this word in the paraphrase. Did you hear it?
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I said it very quickly, but let me just emphasize it one more
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time, just because you haven't been caught yet yet.
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That day is coming, even if not before us.
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Everything is naked and open before the eyes of the Lord, who
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knows all things and searches all things.
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I guess it's not even fair to really say you haven't been
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caught yet because you've been caught right in the act.
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We get away with nothing secret. I think it was Spurgeon that
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said secret. Sin down here is open scandal in
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heaven. There is no secret sin.
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Don't ever mistake church the long-suffering of God as the
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approval of sin. Never mistake the long-suffering
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of God as the approval of sinful behavior.
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Yes, God is patient and His patience, the Bible says, is for
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your salvation, for my deliverance, but no way an
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endorsement of your sin. Notice in verse 2, Aaron and
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Moses are sent with a very direct command.
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You shall speak all that I command you.
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Why? Well, Pharaoh couldn't relate to
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an unseen God. He was used to worshipping idols
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of stone and worshipping animals and the things of the earth.
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So God chooses to send Moses as a tangible messenger to Pharaoh.
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He commissions him and his brother.
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Notice it, says Aaron, and your brother shall speak to Pharaoh.
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I'm sending you. Aaron's going to be a prophet,
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but you're both going to speak to him.
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I'm going to use both of you. Pharaoh through them would
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understand the one true living God through the impression that
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Moses and Aaron would make. Through the representation, they
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would be the ones representing God.
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Which reminds us today, this is the mandate upon us.
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In a very real way, we represent the God who's unseen and the God
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who's resisted and rejected. And through our lives, whether
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we like it or not, it's a heavy. In some cases, it's kind of a
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heavy deal, like I don't want like, no, I'm not perfect.
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I've stumble all the time. I don't want people looking at
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me like that. But, but they are.
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And so it's best just to embrace what God's doing in your life
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and say, OK, if you're going to look to me as an example, then
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here's my response. I want to be a good example.
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I don't want to shy away what God's called me to do.
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I want to grow in grace. I want to learn from my
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mistakes. I don't want to run away.
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I don't want to be reluctant. I don't want to make excuses.
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You want to look to me as a then I want to.
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I want to get as far as Paul did.
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He said follow me. Imitate me as what I imitate
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Christ, and if you change your language a little bit, your life
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follows your language, you know as you begin to speak the truth
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and say yes, God has made me an example.
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Then I'll live up to what God has called me to do.
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Whether you like it or not, you and I are representatives of
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God. Hold your place here.
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We haven't turned much, but turn over to 2nd Corinthians chapter
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5, and mark this passage in your scriptures here in your own
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Bible, Second Corinthians chapter 5.
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And when you get there, go to verse 20, such a glorious
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enlistment like instead of something to run away from.
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It's like, no, Lord, I embrace it.
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I want to be an honest I want to.
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I want you to see my successes. I want you to see my failures.
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But in anything. I want you to see the God of my
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life and what I do in success and failure.
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I go to the Lord who loves me. Notice therefore, verse 20.
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This is Second Corinthians chapter 5.
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Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were
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pleading through us. We beg you on Christ's behalf,
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be reconciled to God. Your life and my life leaves an
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impression, an indentation in people's lives and what a
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privilege it is to represent the living God to a dying world.
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And notice again, back in Exodus, there was a specific
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message to deliver. It wasn't Moses message and it
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wasn't Aaron's message. It wasn't to be edited.
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It wasn't to be changed along the way.
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It was God's message to be delivered God's way.
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Moses wasn't to add to it or take away from it.
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There would be certain things he would have to say, certain
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things he would have to share, even if he was uncomfortable
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with them today. We may say something along the
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same lines that the gospel message cannot be altered.
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The gospel, the good news, that's what the word gospel.
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If you how many of you heard the word gospel say Amen?
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How many of you know it means good news?
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It means good news that if you're new to the Bible, when
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you hear the word gospel, it can.
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It refers to the good news that your sins can be forgiven.
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And it has a specific definition in that the gospel reflects the
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problem we have in separation from God by sin.
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It reflects the penalty of sin, eternal damnation from God.
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If we live a life in rebellion of God and we die that way, it
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reflects the gospel does The gift of God is eternal life,
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that by faith your sins can be forgiven through the blood that
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was shed for you on the cross of Calvary.
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And as we learned recently in the resurrection, Jesus Christ
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coming to life three days later, He proved everything that he
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ever said. There's absolute bona fide,
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trustworthy, eyewitness proof that Jesus Christ is alive
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today. The gospel, we can't add to it.
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We can't make the gospel something else.
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We can't muddy the waters of the gospel.
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We can't pretend that the gospel is not as hard as it sounds, and
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we can't pretend that the gospel is softer than it is.
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What we need to keep the word of God and not mess around with it.
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There is no power when you mess with the gospel.
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I mean, if Moses and Aaron had a little meeting before they got
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to Pharaoh go, I don't know about this.
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What do you think? And they're brothers and they're
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like, I don't know. I'm not feeling it right now.
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I'm not feeling it. How about if we change it a
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little bit and they took that changed message to Pharaoh.
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There is no power in man's word. There is no power.
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We learn in Romans chapter one that the gospel itself is the
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power of God unto salvation. For those who believe.
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For the Jew 1st, and also for the Greek, the power is in the
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word. The power is God using His word
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to transform. We can't be messing around with
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it. We can't add or subtract to it.
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We can't allow the culture to somehow define for us what the
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gospel is or what it isn't anymore.
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We all need to be saved and forgiven of our sins or we are
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toast. That's a paraphrase of the
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gospel. There we are done.
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Our kids need to hear it. Our grandparents need to hear
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it. Our neighbors need to hear it.
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What we need to be careful of is in the delivery of it.
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But in the delivery of it, we need to be 100% faithful to the
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word of God. There is no room for you to mess
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with the word of God or me. And even for someone in my
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position, the Bible says that because I have taken the Bible
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to hand and I've responded to the call to teach it, that I now
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face a stricter judgment, a heavier judgment.
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And you know that that's concerning to me.
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I don't know what it means exactly except that there's a
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greater responsibility. And I know the mistakes I make
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and I know the weakness of my humanity.
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But at times I recognize that in the weakness of humanity, it's
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almost, you know, the flip side of the coin where God's looking
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at Moses and he's all reluctant. It's almost like God's saying,
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that's what I can use. I don't need anybody who's all
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prideful and ready to take the world for me like you used to
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be, Moses, this reluctance. It's like clay I can mold and
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shape. So, you know, don't go so far to
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make excuses and and don't refuse to obey me.
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But this, this humility or this place where you're not quite
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sure and you need to be dependent upon me, I can hear
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God say, That's exactly where I'd like you.
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You come to me and depend upon me, and I'll show myself strong
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on your behalf. Why?
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Because it's for my glory. God says there's a nation that
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will see all that I'm going to do and God's instruction to us.
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This is the answer You've been praying for some of you.
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This is the answer to your prayer.
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This is God's word to you. You must learn to give them his
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word. You must learn how to proclaim
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his truth. I'm not advocating, you know,
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being weird, right? Because you're like, man, I
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don't want to be weird. You know?
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It's like, if if anybody accuses you being weird, it's not the
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Bible, it's you. You're weird.
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It's like you can leave here all excited.
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It's OK. I'm going to go to work tomorrow
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and I'm going to stand up on my desk and I'm just going to yell
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to everybody. You bunch of sinners.
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I knew it. You're going to hell.
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My pastor said to declare the word and they escort you out in
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security. And then you come and, oh, I
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can't believe it. They're persecuting me.
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No, you're just weird. Don't do that.
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Don't do that. You need to learn how to live in
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this world but not be of this world.
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Like some of you are at a job place right now.
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You go. They don't want me to talk about
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the Bible. They don't want me to mention
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the name of God. They don't.
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OK, We'll follow the rules as far as you can until they tell
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you to sin. You can learn how to share the
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Bible with people without it being on your desk.
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You can learn that for some of you, you need the Bible off your
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desk so that that doesn't become a crutch, so that the word of
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God will come out of you. Now, if you can have your Bible
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on the desk, put it on the desk. I'm not advocating that you hide
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your faith, but for some of you're like, man, I need a new
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job because they won't let me bring the Bible.
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They let everybody else bring their dumb books, and I can't
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bring my Bible. All right, You said you wanted
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to work there. Follow the rules.
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What's your problem? Take God's Word, hide it in your
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heart, and give out the word all day.
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When you're talking to people, you don't have to quote
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Scripture. You can just begin to share with
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them what Jesus taught you. It's an attractive thing.
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And then after work, when you have your Bible in your car, you
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could say, oh wait, wait, wait, I want to share something with
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you. You know, I wanted you to.
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I wanted you to see. I could see how you responded to
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what I share with you. And I just want you to know that
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that wasn't for me. It's right here in the Bible.
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And then you just pull it out and you start to read to them.
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You say, see, this is the power of God's word.
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But you know what? What happens is you get all beat
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out of shape and you're going to get all upset.
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I'm going to quit. I'm going to quit.
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They won't let me bring my Bible.
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What are you talking about? The Bible's in you.
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It's already there. Just walk in the Spirit, let him
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use you and give him your word. That, like I said, that's
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probably an answer for someone because it's much easier, isn't
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it? Just to flip out and be upset
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and, you know, write letters to HR or whatever.
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And then while you're writing letters to HR, the person in the
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cubicle next to you needs your attention.
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They don't need you all upset because you're representing the
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Lord. Can you imagine Pharaoh coming?
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I mean, Moses coming to Pharaoh and going, you know, I don't
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like God, Mama, give me your word.
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Anyway, I told him I didn't want to do this.
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See, You know, Aaron. I told him I didn't want to do
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this. I mean, Pharaoh's just going to
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laugh somehow. There was something.
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The the, the presence, the anointing, perhaps even the
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Shekinah, glory of God was on Moses and Aaron that would
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capture the known ruler of the world to give him, give them his
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attention. There was something in them.
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And as we look at the culture around us and we see it so dark,
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you know that even in the darkest of culture, you know the
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darker things get, even the less light it requires to make a
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difference. And if you can just tap into
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that and get the word of God in you, why, you read your Why do
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you read your DeVos in the morning?
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Why? Because you want to get the word
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of God in you. You want it to shape you, Inform
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you. Why are you reading a chapter of
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Proverbs every day so that you might hear the wisdom of God?
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Why would you flip through the Psalms?
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Because you want to deposit the worship of God inside of you.
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Why would you go to the Gospels if that's all you're reading for
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the next years? You would go to follow Jesus so
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that you learn how to walk with him and you learn the ways of
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Jesus. If that's all you did for a
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year, at the end of the year you will be a different woman and a
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different man. Your heart will be melted before
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him. You match that with obedience.
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What what we need to learn is how to walk into things
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tactfully and obediently. They need the word of God.
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They don't need our opinions. You've heard that from the
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pulpit here many, many times. It's very important to me that
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you grasp this. Nobody cares about your
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opinions. Nobody.
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You shouldn't even care about your opinions.
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And to that, everybody leaves. Everybody's leaving right now.
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They're done with me. No, don't check out.
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Nobody cares about your opinions.
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You're the only one that really cares so much about your
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opinions. You're the only one.
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No, no, you don't understand. I found seven other people on
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TikTok. They care too.
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They're all bots anyways, you know?
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And it's like, and you know, quite frankly, most people don't
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care about the word of God either.
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They don't really care about what God's word is or you know,
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what the Bible has to say. But here's the difference
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between God's word and your opinions.
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You ready? You ready?
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Your opinions are your opinions and God's Word is power.
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It's living and powerful and sharper than any two edged
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sword. It cuts to the heart of the
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matter in people's lives. So people don't care about your
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opinions, although you might get a few claps and likes and
22:59
whatever. People don't care about the word
23:02
of God, but God uses the word His word to cut right to the
23:06
heart. Very rarely does He use your
23:08
opinions that way. Unless of course you're sharing
23:11
a biblical opinion and then all of a sudden people are touched
23:15
by that. But don't ever forget, there is
23:18
no power in our opinions. But there's much power in the
23:21
word of God. And so Pharaoh and Moses, Aaron
23:24
and Moses, they come and and it had to come with this confidence
23:28
because look, he's telling them what's going to happen.
23:30
Verse three, I'm going to harden Pharaoh's heart, which if we're
23:33
standing there before God, don't you think we'd say, well, what
23:35
am I going for then? Like if he's not going to listen
23:38
to me and he's not going to care about me and he's just going to
23:41
harden his heart, then why should I go?
23:44
And and he says in verse four, in case Moses was really
23:48
questioning it and Pharaoh's not going to listen to you.
23:50
Like what? What am I going for?
23:54
But the answer in verse five is the Egyptians will know.
23:57
That's why you're going, just trust me or what's the phrase
24:00
that you used today? Like, just trust the process.
24:04
Just trust the process. It may not be happening the way
24:07
you want it right now, it may not be ending the way, but
24:10
you're not at the end yet. So just trust the process.
24:13
What is that? How does that translate to us?
24:14
Just trust the word. Don't be looking for immediate
24:18
gratification, immediate results.
24:20
Just trust the word because God may do it.
24:22
Be doing something more behind the scenes that has nothing to
24:26
do with the moment. Just faithful, obedient.
24:29
Trust God with the process he's got.
24:31
He's working something out. Remember when he says I will
24:36
harden Pharaoh's heart? There's two words in the Hebrew
24:40
that we're dealing with here. When it comes to harden 1 means
24:44
to be hard, difficult, and show stubbornness.
24:47
This is what Pharaoh will do. The other one is to stiffen or
24:50
to make rigid. That's what God will do.
24:53
God will come alongside Pharaoh's hardened heart and
24:57
give him what he wants. So this is a common question.
25:00
Well, it doesn't make sense. Why is God hardening Pharaoh's
25:02
heart? But but it's like the best
25:04
illustration I can think of is like for you parents.
25:07
You understand this with your kids, you understand this.
25:11
You have a piece of candy in your hand and or your kid gets a
25:16
piece of candy and and you come and you grab it and you go, no,
25:19
no, you can't have that. You can't have that right now.
25:21
And they go, what are you talking about?
25:22
This is the end of the world. I want that piece of candy.
25:25
I've got to have that candy. No, no, no.
25:26
Kick and scream. And you're like, trust me, trust
25:28
me. You can't have it right now.
25:31
And why would you say, well, what they don't know is in the
25:33
backroom, you got a basket full of candy.
25:37
Are you ready to bless them? You're ready.
25:39
You're ready to give them so much more.
25:41
But you don't want to tell them yet.
25:43
You just test them with this little piece in their hand.
25:45
That's it. Just just give it to me.
25:46
I'm dad. I'm Mom.
25:48
I don't want to throw my weight around or anything.
25:49
Just I'm telling you what to do. Give it to me.
25:51
But in your back of your mind, you're ready to bless.
25:53
You're ready overwhelmingly take care of them.
25:56
And they scream and kick and scream.
25:57
You know. No, no, no.
25:58
And what do you do? You decide to do.
25:59
OK, if you want the piece of candy, have it.
26:07
Open it up, enjoy it. It lasts 5 minutes and you let
26:12
some time pass. And you say, son, I need to talk
26:14
to you. You know what you did.
26:16
It's just not what we're teaching you.
26:18
Your obedience. However, you disciple your kids,
26:20
and I just want you to know I was ready to bless you.
26:23
What? Yes, I was ready to bless you.
26:27
I just asked you told you give me the candy.
26:28
Why didn't you trust me? Just want.
26:30
Just give him. Give me when I ask you like I
26:32
want. I'm your dad.
26:33
I'm your mom. I love you.
26:34
I want to take care of you. I want you to trust me.
26:38
But you wanted the candy. So let's walk back to the
26:40
backroom. Go ahead and open the closet
26:43
door. Yay.
26:47
And then you say no, you can't have it.
26:52
You got your reward. I gave you what you wanted.
26:56
No, dad, I didn't want that. I want no.
26:59
That was pretty clear. Mom, come in.
27:01
Here, roll the tape. She's off the phone.
27:05
It's like it's pretty clear. You said you wanted it.
27:07
No, no, I didn't mean it. I don't mean I'll get back.
27:08
I'll go by another one. They start crying.
27:10
All the waterworks. They're like, no, I gave you
27:14
what you want. Remember in the Psalms the Bible
27:19
talks about God giving them what they desired but then sent
27:22
leanness into their souls. It's that lesson of trusting in
27:27
the Lord. So this hardening of Pharaoh's
27:29
heart. Don't misunderstand that God is
27:31
not giving them a his them a chance.
27:33
There are 10 plagues coming. God has been very gracious to
27:38
Pharaoh. Well it's like God saying
27:41
Pharaoh, If that's what you want then that's what I'll give you.
27:46
If you set your heart on a course, God will strengthen you.
27:50
So today the good news is, if you choose to follow God, then
27:54
your sales are up and you can take off.
27:56
And God will give you the strength and the joy He will
27:59
give you and empower you. If you want to follow him, if
28:02
you want to harden your heart, If you choose to go against God,
28:06
then your life will be very difficult.
28:11
Your life will be very difficult.
28:12
Jot this down. Maybe memorize it.
28:14
I memorize it in the old King James.
28:16
In The New King James, it says in Proverbs 1315, good
28:20
understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is
28:23
hard. But the old King James is the
28:26
way of the transgressor is hard. And that's how it got burned in
28:31
my mind. This is the process God has
28:34
chosen to display his power. We don't always understand his
28:37
ways, but we know that God has an end purpose in mind.
28:41
So verse 6, verse six is great. We're making great progress
28:45
today, but these are very important principles.
28:48
Then Moses and Aaron did. So I hope that marks your life.
28:51
Just as the Lord commanded them, so they did.
28:53
And then I love this. Don't let's not miss verse 7
28:55
before we move on. Moses is 80 years old and Aaron
28:59
is 83 years old. When they spoke to Pharaoh,
29:03
they're in the prime of their lives, 80 years old, 83, Just
29:08
the opposite of what our society says.
29:11
So those of you that are silver haired, what does the Bible say?
29:16
The silver silver haired head is a crown of glory and in it is
29:22
found the way of righteousness. It was this was God's timing to
29:28
use Moses. We learned this from Pastor Bob
29:31
Clay Camp. When he joined our team.
29:33
He had a word from the Lord that God gave him as he progresses in
29:37
age. And the word the Lord gave him
29:39
was that his latter years would be more fruitful than his
29:43
earlier years. And if you get a chance to talk
29:46
to Pastor Bob and ask him if that's come to pass, I'm certain
29:51
that he would say yes, that God is still working.
29:54
That, and in your older age, in the those of you that are up in
29:58
years, God is not done with you yet.
30:02
Don't listen to the culture. Don't listen to even the church
30:06
at times, you know, and sometimes you look at the
30:08
church, you go, oh, they got all this new music and all these.
30:11
Yes, yes, yes, we do. We do have new music that is not
30:15
80 years old. You're right, because there's a
30:17
whole new culture we're reaching.
30:19
So it's nothing, nothing for you to be upset about.
30:22
It's not a decision against anyone that's old or young and
30:25
any of the things, the technology, the different things
30:28
that weren't the way you were growing up, but those of you
30:30
that are older. I want you to remember this.
30:32
You had your day. You had your day.
30:36
The music was refreshed. When you were young.
30:38
There was another generation that was saying the same thing
30:41
about you. And what we need to remember is
30:45
we just need to learn how to die to ourselves and allow the Holy
30:48
Spirit to do what he wants to do among us.
30:51
And the older generations, those of us that are older, we're
30:53
saved. We're saved.
30:56
And the younger generations, the people were going, the unsaved.
30:58
The culture's different. It's a different.
31:01
Can anybody notice the culture's different than 50 years ago?
31:03
Yes. No.
31:05
So the word of God never changes, but the delivery of it
31:08
does and reaching the culture does.
31:10
The gospel never changes, but the methodology has to change.
31:15
And so it's not. When I say you had your day, I'm
31:17
not minimizing that. I'm just reminding you when the
31:21
music that and you know even the sense.
31:23
Well, you know, I wish we could play the old time hymns.
31:25
Sometimes we do. But you do know there are new
31:28
time hymns, and if the Lord doesn't come back in 30 years,
31:31
people are going to be saying that.
31:34
I was listening to Pastor Ian. He took us into a little bit of
31:36
a song that's 20 something years old tonight that I remember when
31:41
it was introduced to the school. I remember when I was hunting
31:44
around looking for the cassette tape of that particular band
31:49
when whether it was Hillsong or it was Matt Redman or whoever
31:54
introduced that song. It was 20 years ago and some of
31:58
you go, which was that I didn't know what it was.
32:00
I know because it was 20 years ago.
32:03
But here's the point. These men are a model for us
32:07
that are growing old in the Lord.
32:10
And this is what I want each year that my life passes I want
32:13
to be used more. When I was 304050 pushing 60,
32:18
now 80. If God gives that to me, then I
32:21
was when I was first saved at 23.
32:24
I want to continue on. There is no such thing as
32:26
retirement for the Christian. Now.
32:29
You might retire from work and from some other things, but as
32:31
far as serving the Lord, no, no retirement.
32:35
Get out. Like there was a lot of people
32:38
that were commenting on the soup tonight and I said exactly it's
32:41
what I want to do. I want to open a tacos den.
32:44
I want to sell tacos till noon and then rest the rest of the
32:47
day. And maybe we can add a little
32:48
soup as a side. And Maria always reminds me,
32:53
first of all, Ed, I will never do that.
32:54
But second of all, there's no retirement.
32:56
That's not what God's called me to do.
32:59
Maybe God's called you to do that, but that's not what God
33:01
called me to do. God's called me to reach the
33:03
culture a different way than you have.
33:05
And if you are called for a Taco stand, then make the best tacos
33:09
ever so that the reputation of what you do for the Lord is the
33:13
best of the best. And I'll visit your truck and
33:16
give you a five out of five for sure.
33:18
If you're called to teach the Bible, then you study to show
33:21
yourself approved a Workman. Not lean it not to be ashamed,
33:24
rightly divide in a word of truth and keep perfecting the
33:28
craft of delivery. You do what God has called you
33:30
to do. There is no retirement, no
33:33
matter your age. You're 80 years old right now
33:35
You go, man, I just got saved. And I think I'm.
33:38
I wish, I wish. And we respect that.
33:40
But you know what? There's no looking back.
33:43
No matter what age you are. There's only looking forward.
33:46
And let the Lord use you in greater ways.
33:48
All right, you guys with me, because that's what Moses did.
33:52
It's what Aaron's at. These are old dudes being used
33:55
greatly by the Lord. Verse 8 now.
33:59
And the Lord spoke to Moses, and Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh
34:01
speaks to you, saying, show a miracle for yourselves, then you
34:04
shall say to Aaron, take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh,
34:07
and let it become a serpent. And Moses and Aaron went into
34:11
Pharaoh, and they did so just as the Lord commanded.
34:14
And arrow, Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his
34:18
servants, and before his servants, and it became a
34:20
serpent. But Pharaoh also called the wise
34:23
men and the sorcerers. So the magicians of Egypt, they
34:26
also did in like manner with their enchantments, and every
34:29
man threw down his rod, and they became serpents.
34:32
But Aaron's rod swallowed up all their rods, and Pharaoh's heart
34:36
grew hard, and he did not heed them as the Lord had said.
34:41
So these are the miracles that God would use to prove that they
34:44
were sent by him. They would validate the spoken
34:47
word. And up to this point, Moses and
34:49
Aaron have only delivered ultimatums.
34:52
But now God's going to now Pharaoh's going to see.
34:55
He's going to experience it. The power will be demonstrated.
34:59
So they cast down the rods and there are snakes there and and
35:03
you like what happened with these magicians verse 11 and
35:06
sorcerers, these miracles. How?
35:09
How did what? What did they do?
35:11
Well, the magicians did in like manner, but it doesn't say they
35:14
did the same thing the magicians did in like manner.
35:19
They did not do the same thing. And for your consideration,
35:23
there are 4 possibilities when it comes to these magicians.
35:27
What happened here? How did their rods become
35:30
snakes? Number one, it's possible that
35:32
they receive supernatural power from the devil himself, with
35:37
God's permission. Probably not #2.
35:43
God gave them temporary power directly, Probably not.
35:48
The rods were. And here's a funny one I found.
35:50
I didn't make these up this commentary somewhere.
35:53
The rods were rigid snakes already, so they were kind of
35:56
sleeping like, so dumb. And then, you know, maybe they
36:00
froze them or something. And when they cast them down to
36:02
the ground, they woke up. Yeah, probably not.
36:07
I think that they received some kind of deceptive power from the
36:12
devil, that this was just completely false and fakery.
36:18
I don't want you to forget in second Thessalonians chapter 2
36:22
verse eight that part of the end times deception has to do with
36:28
the ability of God or excuse me, of the devil to fake and lie.
36:32
And it says here the coming of the laws was Second
36:35
Thessalonians 29. The coming of the Lawless One is
36:38
according to the working of Satan with power signs and lying
36:43
wonders somewhere in the supernatural realm.
36:46
In the Devil's creative order, he's able to lie and make it
36:50
look real. He's able to even demonstrate
36:54
things, as we'll see in a moment.
36:57
It's interesting that the magicians are neither.
37:02
It says here the men that they call wise are not wise.
37:06
The sorcerers and the magicians of Egypt, they're dealing in
37:09
black magic and they're dealing in the demonic realm, which is
37:12
why we always, you know, any pastor that's faithful to the
37:15
word of God will plead with you to stay away from that stuff.
37:19
Don't even mess around with it, don't have it in your house,
37:22
don't, don't let your kids get involved with it.
37:24
Like, stay away from it. It's deceptive and lying and it
37:29
and it even the magicians, everything is doesn't help
37:32
Pharaoh very much, because what is the devil's plan for Pharaoh
37:38
to kill him so he'll be lost forever?
37:42
What's the devil's plan for all of Egypt to kill them so that
37:47
they might be completely separated from God forever.
37:49
They'll die in their sins and their idolatry.
37:51
So this magicians, these sorcerers, they're not
37:54
demonstrating the power of God at all.
37:57
They're the antithesis now. Verse 12, it says.
38:01
Every man threw down his rod. They became serpents, but
38:04
Aaron's rod swallowed up theirs. And now Pharaoh's heart's
38:08
growing cold. As we study through the 10
38:09
plagues coming up here, you'll see how they get harder and more
38:14
severe. The plagues do.
38:16
At times it looks like Pharaoh might be softening, only to turn
38:19
harder. Eventually he'll be backed into
38:22
a corner and he'll have no choice but to give in and let
38:25
the people go. And as we move forward, know
38:29
just for your to plan ahead for our studies with the plagues,
38:32
know that the plagues are twofold #1 The plagues are
38:35
designed to bring Pharaoh to his knees and get his attention.
38:39
But secondly, the plagues are being used to show God's power
38:43
over the false Egyptian gods. Little G that's what the people
38:48
needed. Pharaoh needed it, but the
38:49
people needed it as well. They will serve as concrete
38:53
evidence. Jehovah is the one true God and
39:02
the fakery and falsehood, as we'll see.
39:06
I mean, let me give you a hint. We're going to head out because
39:08
we're out of time here. But when the next plague comes
39:12
with the rest of the chapter, we're not going to finish it.
39:14
I don't want to plow through it. I want to take my time with it.
39:17
So we'll catch up another time. But as they as the water has
39:21
turned to blood, you will notice that the the sorcerers came and
39:26
just made it worse. Now doesn't it make sense that
39:30
if truly they were representative of the power
39:33
that's greater than God, that the magicians would have
39:36
reversed the plague, not made it worse?
39:41
And that's just how the devil is.
39:42
He's illogical, he's not thinking straight because his
39:47
goal is different than God's. So anyone that's following the
39:50
devil in their deception, you can know that something is not
39:54
from the Lord because it's set for you like you're looking at
39:56
you. Go.
39:56
Why would you? Why would you make things worse?
39:59
That's not from the Lord. It doesn't have to necessarily
40:01
be from the pit of hell. But you can say that's just not
40:04
from the Lord. I don't.
40:06
Why would you do that? Well, you know such a well,
40:09
wait, wait a minute. That doesn't even sound like the
40:11
Lord. Why?
40:12
Like there's blood and nastiness in the Nile and you're just
40:15
going to make it worse. Why would you do that?
40:18
Well, you know, the Lord told me.
40:20
Ah man, the Lord didn't tell you that at all.
40:22
Well, you see what Moses and Aaron did right now?
40:24
Now, God told Moses and Aaron to watch this.
40:27
God didn't tell you to make it worse.
40:30
And so as you read ahead, I want you to notice that And again,
40:32
read ahead all the way through Chapter 8.
40:34
We'll see what we can cover next time.
40:36
But for homework, I want you to read Ezekiel, Chapter 20 to gain
40:45
a little bit of insight on the children of Israel's heart.
40:49
Ezekiel, Chapter 20, Just to see a little bit what's going on in
40:55
their hearts as we see it as well, maybe a mirror to
40:57
ourselves, but God uses these things in our lives to bring us
41:01
to our knees, to get our attention and to reveal His
41:04
power over the false gods that we worship, right?
41:09
Because we're standing here, going, sitting here in a
41:12
sanctuary, gun watching online, listening on the radio
41:14
somewhere. We're like all those idolaters.
41:16
Those idolaters, what we should be saying is God save us from
41:21
our idolatry, from our false worship, save us from the false
41:28
worship of money or career or whatever.
41:31
You know, who knows, who knows what comes in the way of true
41:34
worship of God, what replaces our sufficiency that's found in
41:38
Him. And so it's so encouraging.
41:41
I wish we had more time for the rest of the chapter, but we'll
41:43
get to it next time. So, Father, I thank you for your
41:45
word. And and knowing that you have a
41:49
word for us and being able to remind us of your faithfulness
41:53
and, you know, reluctance and maybe we're like the kid with
42:02
the candy in the hand. One little piece of candy and we
42:07
just won't let go. It's all we want in the moment.
42:10
That's it. Nobody could take it away.
42:12
We're not going to trust you with anything.
42:14
We're going to hold on, hold on, hold on, We can almost hear you
42:17
say, Well, go ahead then to keep it.
42:19
And then our heart of hearts will go.
42:21
Yes, I was right. I was right.
42:22
But then in the closet you had such great blessing waiting for
42:27
us. And we settled for this
42:32
immediate little thing. And so forgive us, God, forgive
42:36
us for not seeing the big picture and bring us back like
42:39
today in the verse. Give us eyes to see the
42:41
spiritual reality. Let us see what's happening in
42:46
the spiritual realm. Let us see God, the the place
42:50
that you have us. And for for some maybe that the
42:52
little excursion about work is is your word.
42:56
What has happened to us, Lord? That we would forget our mandate
43:01
as ambassadors, That we would no longer be tactful, That our
43:04
opinions would be more important than your word in our lives.
43:08
God, please deliver us and help us to walk in the newness of
43:13
life with your power, your strength, your demonstration,
43:18
signs and wonders. Lord healings, that you would
43:22
use us to speak a word in due season.
43:25
That when we would pray, we would pray with great faith.
43:28
Lord, that we would find ourselves not afraid, but
43:31
walking in boldness, open to a freshness of your Holy Spirit,
43:36
Open to be used in ways that would surprise us or we wouldn't
43:42
be stuck. And that we would make room for
43:46
the next generation. And we'll bring our generation
43:49
along. We're not forgotten, but we will
43:52
make room. We'll make room for the
43:55
generations. We sing that song.
43:57
We'll make room for you. And we'll just all come along,
44:01
The young and the old. Who knows what the babies right
44:03
now in the nursery, what music they're going to want to listen
44:05
to, what songs they're going to write.
44:09
I wonder what illustrations some of those babies, when they teach
44:11
the Bible, are going to be using.
44:13
And we just want to make room, Lord, we want to learn from our
44:16
elders and we want to be elders to teach the young, and we just
44:22
want to be a place where we're not hindering you, God, So bless
44:26
your church tonight, those who rise up and allow the Holy
44:29
Spirit Lord, that's what our desire.
44:30
We want to rise up, allowing your spirit to use us in ways
44:34
that far exceed anything that we can think or ask in Jesus name.
44:39
Amen. Amen.
44:40
Let's stand together. And yeah, it's a great section
44:43
of Bible. It's a great section of the
44:46
Bible. And you guys that are older, I
44:48
don't want you to be offended. That wasn't intended to offend
44:51
you. It's intended to stir you.
44:54
Because if you don't, you're going to be stuck.
44:58
You're going to be stuck in a time and you're going to watch
45:00
the time pass you by. Because we need your wisdom, but
45:04
we need your wisdom to be delivered in a way that's agape.
45:07
Love. Not we don't do this.
45:10
And this is not like we don't need that.
45:13
What we need is your love and your experience and your
45:17
flexibility. Because the young has a lot to
45:19
learn from you. And guess what?
45:23
You have a lot to learn from the youngsters.
45:28
You know what? You know, One of the things that
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I love about kids is they just go for it.
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They just some kids, they don't even think about it.
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That's why they're getting hurt all the time and they're jumping
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this and doing that and they just go for it.
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Another thing I love about kids is they just speak their heart
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and mind. They don't really have a much of
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A filter, but they don't really need much of A filter.
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Jesus used kids as an example. He brought a kid and sat him on
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his lap and said, such is the Kingdom of God.
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He's not saying that those of us that are older are not the
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Kingdom of God. He was telling a bunch of
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adults, don't forget this simplicity and this simple faith
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and this innocence and this, this is the Kingdom.
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And so the Lord has a lot for the old.
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Who wants to admit they're old today?
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I am. I'm a lot older than I ever was.
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And who wants to admit they're young?
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He's like, oh, we're all young. No, I was like, look, look, be
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open to a fresh work of the Spirit and don't look down on
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anyone. Help us along the way that serve
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and they make room and make space and not be too hot,
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haughty or or arrogant with each other.
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Just let the Lord do his work. Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
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delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
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prayer. Call us at 87730 Grace.
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That's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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entirety or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Be blessed as You Worship Jesus
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this week.