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#10211 - God Never Sends Us Alone - Exodus 10 · 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.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Open your Bibles to Exodus
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chapter 10, Exodus chapter 10, and I've entitled our Bible
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study. God never sends us alone.
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Isn't that good to consider? God never sends us alone.
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We have Moses here, having just finished forty years in the
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wilderness, a wilderness experience. 40 years is a long
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time to think about things, especially in the desert.
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Moses had a long time to think about his past, to think about
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his future, to consider his mistakes and to dream about
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successes and second chances. I mean a lot to consider.
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He's married in the wilderness. He has a family, he's settled
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down. But he soon learned that the
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desert wasn't his final destination.
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He soon learned that he wasn't in the desert to settle down,
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but to learn and to be trained and truly to be undone.
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The desert was not his final destination.
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And it reminded me that the desert's not your final
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destination. Either this wilderness
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experience or these wandering times or these feelings of being
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unsettled. It's a place for training and
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development, a time where God is drawing you to himself away from
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everything you know. You didn't know your life was so
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cluttered and filled with stuff and things and people and
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desires until God brought you to the wilderness and you began to
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understand the intimacy that was lost and the sweetness of
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fellowship with God. Moses life reminds us of a
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couple things if you want to jot him down as we open up into
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chapter 10, just considering where he is and where what has
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happened in his life coming up to chapter 10.
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But number one, we learn in Moses life that everything today
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is preparing you for what's up ahead.
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Everything today as you live life to its fullest is preparing
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you for what's up ahead. And certainly God is using you
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in the moment. He is fashioning and molding
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you, but He also has more for us until He calls us home.
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Number one, everything today is preparing you for what's up
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ahead #2 while God. God does give us seasons of rest
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times where there's less going on and we can take a breather in
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the rest. Listen, God never pauses His
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discipleship and development of us.
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So sometimes we define rest, as you know, Hey, just just let up
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Lord. And I don't have, I don't need
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to learn anything more. I don't want to learn anything
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more. I just need a breather.
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And God says, I'll give you the breather, but you're going to
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continue to learn and grow. And so while God does give us
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rest, he never pauses discipleship.
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And then thirdly, this is so good.
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Thirdly, we learn this with Moses very clearly.
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Once you're ready, once God determines you're ready, things
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happen very fast, very, very quickly where you're kind of
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lingering in the wilderness, lingering in the, I mean, some
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right now I'm speaking to you and you're in what you might
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consider a real dry season, a real wilderness experience, 40
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minutes, 40 days, 40 weeks, 40 years, you name it.
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And you're just wondering if it will ever end.
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You were wondering that yesterday.
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You were wondering that last year you were wondering.
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And sometimes even the wondering is getting your eyes off the
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Lord and forgetting that he's developing you and discipling
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you. And just know this.
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And when you stop wondering and you start abiding again, if you
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just, you're just like Lord, I cast myself upon you.
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When God is done, things happen very, very, very fast.
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And Moses was enlisted quickly into the depth of what God had
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called him to deal. Moody put it this way, and I
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quote Moses spent 40 years in Pharaoh's court thinking that he
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was somebody, 40 years in the desert learning he was a nobody,
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and 40 years showing what God can do with somebody who found
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out he was a nobody. And so quickly God can do that
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work. Once God started, there's this
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rapid succession of God's power on display.
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I know that Pharaoh's getting a lot of the attention, and the
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Egyptian people and the plagues are getting a lot of attention.
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But the attention, remember when we're reading through the
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Scriptures needs to be focused on what God is doing and how
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he's preparing a people for the coming of Messiah and how He has
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a plan that each one of us fit in very perfectly and
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beautifully. And things happen quickly.
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Notice in verse one of chapter 10.
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Now, now the Lord said to Moses, go into Pharaoh.
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For I have hardened His heart and the hearts of his servants
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that I might, that I might show these signs of mine before him,
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and that you may tell in the hearing of your Son and your
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Son's Son, the mighty things I have done in Egypt and my
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science which I have done among them, that you may know that I
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am the Lord. You see how many times God in
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communicating with Moses, refers to Himself.
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Moses, this is about me. This is what I'm doing.
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I know it feels like it's all on your shoulders, and I know you
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don't. You know, God could be saying to
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him, I know you don't really want to do this.
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I know that you're at a place now eight different plagues and
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and now God's even telling him I'm hardening the heart of
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Pharaoh again where you can just think with them, What am I
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going? Why should I do this if you're
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just going to harden his heart? Like if you put yourself in
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Moses shoes for a moment in his sandals and you just think, man,
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this is not working out the way I thought.
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God's answer to you and to me will be this, I'm doing
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something. I'm doing something, Moses, and
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you can either be a part of it or not be a part of it.
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But I'm doing something which reminds me in my own personal
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walk with the Lord, to remind you in your own personal walk
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with the Lord to really get along with what God's doing in
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your life. He is doing something and He's
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involving you. We kind of take it so
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nonchalant. Well, of course I'm a Christian.
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God uses Christians. But it is a great graceful thing
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for God to use you and me for the purposes for which He's set
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before us. He could use angels, you know,
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and angels will never give him any lip.
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I mean, they've already, they've already rebelled.
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Those rebellious angels have already rebelled against God.
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The angels that are loyal to God are 100% loyal.
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They do exactly what God desires them to do.
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But God doesn't choose to use angels for the majority of the
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work of his ministry. He will, as we read in the Book
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of Revelation. But for now, in this age of the
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Gentiles, who is God using you and me?
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It may help even tonight before you turn in for the evening to
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look yourself in the mirror and just say, man, I can't believe
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that God would use me. This is all about him, what he
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wants to accomplish. He says it right here.
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I want to show these signs. That's why you're going.
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I want to show these signs to Pharaoh.
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I also want to do this so that you will tell your kids, Moses,
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this is bigger than you. It's about your kids and your
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grandkids. There's a heritage of the legacy
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of faith to be passed down to generations and generations.
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Moses, it's more than just you. I'm giving you a testimony.
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And of course, you know there are no testimony without the
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test in life. It's the very first word as God
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gives you victory after victory. What stories These must have
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been as Moses was telling his kids and his grandkids of the
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great power of God and then weaving in how you know and then
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you know. I almost didn't do it.
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Can you imagine that I almost didn't do it?
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I tried and I tried and I tried. I talked myself out of it.
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I thought I could talk God out of it, but he wouldn't let me.
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He compelled me. Remember what Paul said?
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It's the love of God that compels me.
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And he's saying, hey, look, this is bigger than you.
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It's for your kids, for your grandkids.
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And what I want you to tell them about the mighty things.
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I want you to tell them that I'm real, that I'm powerful.
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I want you to tell that your kids and your grandkids, I want
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your testimony to include Moses, my mighty signs and wonders and
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I'm a God of miracles that I'm a God that can intervene in life.
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But more than anything he says in verse 2, Moses, you're going
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in because I want you to know that I'm God.
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I want you to remember that I'm Yahweh.
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I'm the God of Gods, the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.
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Now I want to show you something.
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This is one of the benefits when you in my program, I can just
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click words and look at them. I want you to see something.
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This is so good. Circle the word go in verse one.
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So you read it in the English language and it is an accurate
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translation of the Hebrew word here.
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The Hebrew word here is the Hebrew word bow Bo.
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And this word can be translated go and it fits the context of
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the direction of the direction that God has given to Moses
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here. But there is an alternative
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definition of this Hebrew word throughout the Old Testament.
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This word go is very key here, and it can also be translated
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come or come here, or in some instances it can be translated
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come with me or come with. Now if this was a translation,
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if God was also saying at the same time, because I think in
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the context God is very clearly reminding Moses that he is with
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him. And so if you took this word and
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you translate it and you say come with me to Pharaoh, come
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with me to Pharaoh, you're going to go into Pharaoh.
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But I am not sending you alone. I'm going to be with you.
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This changes everything. I mean, what if God is saying,
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really saying to Moses, come with me, I'm going to go with
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you. It's going to be my words, but
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it's your mouth. In a very real way, God can
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certainly be saying this even from the context of the word.
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God telling him, I'll be there with you, standing right behind,
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right by your side. You know, we need this insurance
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and God could say it any even greater way for new covenant
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believers because remember what Jesus said in Hebrews chapter
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13. I will never leave you or
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forsake you. And so that we can boldly say
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Hebrews 13, the Lord is my helper.
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I will not fear. What can man do to me?
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What you and I can experience in the sending of the Lord is that
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when God sends us into the world, he goes with us because
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he dwells in us. He is with us.
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This is so exciting. This is this is if you, you kind
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of take back now a chapter 10, you go, wait a minute.
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This is much bigger than Moses and Pharaoh.
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Even though they're the Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh and the
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magicians, they're getting all the attention.
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What's going on behind the scenes is a spiritual battle.
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It it is a battle of the gods, little G and capital G, and God
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is intervening in the battle to bring about victory.
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You, you can trust in your own spiritual battles too, that God
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is intervening and he's with you and you can trust the Lord.
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You can trust the Lord as you look back and you look forward
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and telling your kids of where God has been faithful before,
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where God has got you through, where He has been with you,
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where you didn't want to or you wasn't, you weren't sure and you
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didn't have this assurance, but the Lord showed up.
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This is what our kids need to hear, what our grandkids need to
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hear, what our wives and our husbands and our friends.
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This is our testimony, the faithfulness of God that the
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Lord is with us. I was looking through for the
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greatest example of what this might look like in the Old
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Testament, and I found a couple of scriptures.
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Would you turn with me to Second Samuel Chapter 7, verse 8?
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And I want you to consider the graciousness of God as He goes
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with us, as He goes with this. This is in the life of David,
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his own testimony. This is what he wrote.
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Second Samuel Chapter 7. Notice with me in verse 8.
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Now again, this is the message of God to David, but I'm going
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to look, we're going to look at a few other scriptures where
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David also gives this testimony. Notice Now therefore, thus you
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shall say to my servant David. Thus says the Lord of hosts, I
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took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep to be
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ruler over my people, over Israel.
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Now pause there for a second. Couldn't God say a very similar
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thing to Moses? I took you from the wilderness,
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and I equipped you, and I made you the overseer, the ruler of
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my people, as my deliverer. He could say the same thing.
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And verse 9. This is so good.
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And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have
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cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a
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great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth.
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I love that. You might want to mark it.
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I have been with you wherever you have gone.
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That was God's reminder to David.
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Turn over to first Samuel. Now first Samuel chapter 18,
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First Samuel chapter 18. When you get there, verse 14, if
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you don't want to be as fast turning, I'll just read them to
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you, but I'm going to turn to them because they're so good.
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It says in verse 14, First Samuel 18 And David behaved
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wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him.
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And look what it did to Saul. When Saul saw that he behaved
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very wisely, he was afraid of him again back in Second Samuel,
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chapter 5. In verse 10.
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Second Samuel chapter 5, verse 10.
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So David went on and became great, and the Lord of hosts was
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with him. Second Samuel chapter 8, verse
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six. Chapter 8.
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Verse six. Then David put garrisons in
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Syria of Damascus, and Syrians became David's servants and
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brought tribute. The Lord preserved David
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wherever he went. Verse 14 He also put garrisons
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and Edom. Throughout all of Edom, he put
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garrisons and all the Edomites before became David's servants
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and the Lord preserved David wherever he went.
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And we can go on and on. If you're taking notes, chapter
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22, verse 30, chapter 22, verse 34, First Chronicles 17, and
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then I want you to see this one, Psalm 121.
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Turn over to Psalm 121. Moses has the same promise.
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You and I have the same promise. The Lord is with you wherever
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you go. He's intervening in your life.
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He's fighting your battles. We even sing that song.
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God fighting our battles. He's fighting our battles for
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us. Can I get an Amen on that?
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I know it doesn't feel like that sometimes, but God has promised
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to be your protector, to guard you, to never leave you or
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forsake you. You've been called to go speak
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to Pharaoh. The Lord is with you.
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You've got a big meeting coming up tomorrow.
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The Lord is with you. You're going in for a job
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interview. Oh, the Lord's not with you for
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that. Of course he is.
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The Lord is with you. You've got some tension in your
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marriage. The Lord is with you, your kids
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gone sideways. The Lord is with you, You've
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gone sideways. The Lord is with you, drawing
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you back to himself. The Lord is with you.
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Notice what he says in Psalm 121.
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In verse 8, the psalmist is writing and he says the Lord
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shall preserve your going out and you're coming in from this
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time forth and even forevermore right after he says in verse 7,
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the Lord shall preserve you from all evil, the Lord shall
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preserve your soul. The whole Psalm is so beautiful
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and Moses is getting it. You and I get it, the presence
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of the Lord. It's not about Moses and it's
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not about Pharaoh and it's not about the magicians.
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It's about the Lord. It's all pointing to him and his
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graciousness and his love and his mercy.
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Even in the plagues. You look at the plagues and you
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go, wow, why so much judgment? But the question really is, is
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why so much mercy? Pharaoh could have ended this at
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the first answer. He could have yielded to the God
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of all creation. He could have said go, but he
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didn't. And isn't it true for you?
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You could end so much of your backsliding ways if you'll just
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soften your heart before the Lord.
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You can end so much tension in your life, so much distance that
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you might be having from God today if you would just yield
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yourself to the Lord. The Bible speaks, I believe it
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was James that a piece like a real evidence of the work of God
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in our lives is a willingness to yield a willingness to yield.
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We'll notice now back in Exodus in chapter 10, verse three.
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So Moses and Aaron came into Pharaoh and said to him.
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Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long will you
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refuse to humble yourself before me?
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Let my people go, that they may serve me, or else if you refuse
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to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will being locust
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into your territory. And they shall cover the face of
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the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth.
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And they shall eat the residue of what is left which remains to
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you from the hail. And they shall eat every tree
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which grows up for you out of the field.
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And they shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants
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and the houses of all the Egyptians, which neither your
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father's nor your father's fathers have seen since the day
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that they were on the earth to this day.
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And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
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Then Pharaoh's servants, verse seven said to him, How long
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shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may
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serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt
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is destroyed? Locusts will come, the 8th
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plague will come, Pharaoh, if you don't humble yourself.
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That's the right path. And you notice the question in
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verse 3. I'm certain there are some among
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us that have heard the same question.
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I've heard the same question. I've heard this very excite same
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question in my life. How long, Ed?
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Will you refuse to humble yourself?
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I wonder if you've heard it with your name.
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So I've heard it with your name too, Ed.
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You know, it's like, no, no. How long have you heard it with
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your name? How long?
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How long are you going to live that prideful, arrogant way?
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How long are you going to hold on to your own devices and your
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own plans and your own? How long?
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It's not just words to a unbelieving Pharaoh.
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It's words to an unbelieving church.
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There are times where as believers, we live like
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unbelievers. It's because of pride.
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I see so much in the body of Christ where as we were learning
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not too long ago how to resolve personal conflicts and such
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that, you know, the situation of the personal conflict or the
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difficulties is easily remedied. But decisions are made along the
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way. So that even if it was remedied,
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now we've got a problem of pride.
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Let's just say you let something go for a long time and then
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finally you break down and go, OK, OK, let's resolve it.
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But then now you won't admit you, you won't come to the place
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where you just like, it was my fault.
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It was my, it was on me and there's no excuse and there's no
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but you, you know, so we hear this all the time.
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It was my fault, but you know, stop it.
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You want to pay attention to your language.
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You want to pay close attention to your language, especially if
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you're a man or a woman that loves to use the word.
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But all the time I want you to pay attention to that word in
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your life because usually it involves the connection of two
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sentences, the word. But for example, the beginning
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of the sentence would be I'm so sorry that I did that to you.
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But and I want you to pay attention to everything you say
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after, but because that's what you really mean.
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I'm really sorry that I hurt you.
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But if you weren't such a jerk, I wouldn't have hurt you.
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That contrast, that word is a revelation of our hearts because
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the true humility isn't going to involve the second part, because
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the second part is between you and the Lord.
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It's not between you and me, but I've made it you, between you
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and me, so that I can obligate and I can make some excuses for
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my own bad behavior. No, the reality is, is humility
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equals obedience. When you humble yourself, the
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very next breath is obedience. The very next step is moving
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away from your past and moving forward.
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How long church? How long those you guys on the
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radio? I mean seriously, I'm in your
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car right now. It's like how long will you
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refuse to re humble yourself? And I love this because in this
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question is the persistence of God in Pharaoh's life.
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He didn't have to do this. He certainly could have
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delivered the children of Israel without Moses.
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He could have wiped Pharaoh and his Kingdom off the planet in a
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heartbeat, but he loved the people of Egypt and he loved the
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leadership of Egypt, even though they've greatly sinned against
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him. God just refuses to give up,
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refuses to give up on us pressing in drawing ourselves
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and and I think to us that have a relationship with the Lord.
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When I think of humility, I remember James.
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James says humble yourselves. He says it in the form of a
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command. Humble yourselves in the sight
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of the Lord, and he will lift you up, or you'll face the
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devastation of locusts. And what do locusts do?
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They destroy. They literally destroy
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everything that's valuable. And they bring darkness when
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they come in swarms you can't see in front of you.
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And they're just nasty and disgusting.
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The Syrian locusts were able to eat their own body weight in a
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single day, Easton's Bible dictionary says The legs and the
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thighs of these insects are so powerful that they can leap to a
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height of 200 times the length of their bodies.
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And when they're raised up, they spread their wings and fly so
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close together that they appear as one compact, moving mass.
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The devastations they make in the eastern lands are often
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appalling. The invasions of locusts are
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heaviest calamities that can befall a country.
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Their numbers exceed computation.
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The Hebrews called them the countless, and the Arabs knew
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them as the darkeners of the sun.
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This is going to be so bad that notice there's finally some
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humility surrounding Pharaoh, except that it's not Pharaoh.
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Did you notice in verse seven it says Pharaoh's servants said to
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him, let him go. Don't you see what's happening
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to our country? Let them go.
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I know as you see things happening in our country and the
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leadership of our country, just making decisions that are so
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contrary to the ways and the will of God.
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And we're to pray for our leaders as the Bible dictates.
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But I also want to add to you, begin to pray for their close
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servants and what do they call them?
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The people that are close to them, their advisers, the people
25:53
that they listen to. You know, we pray for our
25:57
president, but we need to pray for his wife, the one that can
26:02
greatly influence him. We pray for those that are in
26:04
the White House and in our country.
26:05
We pray for our governor here. But but we need to pray for the
26:08
people that are close because here's someone close.
26:12
Now. It's not just God's be now God
26:14
has convinced the servants, just let them go.
26:18
Just let them go. Make a wise decision.
26:22
Well, verse 8 so Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh
26:26
and he said to them, go and you're like, yes, yes, he's done
26:30
it. Serve the Lord with your God.
26:32
But who are the ones that are going?
26:34
What did we learn last time? Pharaoh is a big compromiser,
26:40
and he's offering these compromises.
26:41
Moses said we will go with our young and our old, with our sons
26:45
and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds.
26:47
We will go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.
26:50
And remember Moses, when he says we will go, it means that we
26:54
will go all the way. Three days journey.
26:58
Remember, we're going to go all the way.
26:59
Now he's adding to the definition, which never changed.
27:02
He's just giving Pharaoh more information.
27:05
Not only will we go all the way, will we go three days, but we're
27:09
all going, every single one of us, everything that we, this is
27:14
all or nothing. This is all or nothing now and
27:18
then he said verse 10, the Lord had better be with you when I
27:21
let you and your little ones go. Beware for evil is ahead of you.
27:26
Now He tries to intimidate. You know, if he's not going to
27:29
compromise now, he's going to threaten and intimidate after
27:32
all these things have happened, like all these plagues.
27:35
Oh, everything that's happened, he's going to threaten him.
27:38
Verse 11 not so now go you and the men serve the Lord for what
27:43
is desired. And they were driven out from
27:46
Pharaoh's present. Here's another compromise.
27:49
He wants to know who's going and Moses is like, hey, we're all
27:51
going and we're all going three days.
27:54
And he says, no, leave your wife and kids.
27:57
And you're like, no, my wife and kids are the most important part
28:00
of me. We're all going and everything
28:02
that we've owned and everything that we've, we're all going and
28:06
justice. Pharaoh tempts Moses with
28:08
compromise. So are we tempted with
28:10
compromise over and over, over and over again, as we learned in
28:15
our time last time, if you weren't here, like we live in
28:18
this world, we breathe in this world.
28:19
But man, we got to be careful that the world doesn't get into
28:22
us, because that's where the place of compromise is, where
28:25
the enemy would tell to our souls and even our own flesh,
28:28
you know, because we have a price to pay where not so far,
28:31
not too much, you know, I'll give so much.
28:33
I'll do enough just to get along and just to get by.
28:36
But that's not the way of the Lord.
28:37
And again, let me read to you a couple of scriptures.
28:39
You can jot them down in Psalm 9, verse one, it says, I will
28:43
praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart, and I will tell of
28:47
Your marvelous works. Psalm 119, verse two.
28:50
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with
28:53
the whole heart. And you guys tell me if you can
28:58
read these next words, You can say them out loud if you know
29:00
them. In Psalm 119, verse 10.
29:02
With my whole heart I have sought You.
29:08
Let me not wander from Your commandments 12 times in the new
29:11
King James. This phrase in the English is
29:13
used whole heart. Not a compromised heart, not a
29:19
heart that's one way over here and one way over here and one
29:24
way over here, but just one life filled with authenticity and
29:28
integrity. You know, that that is some of
29:30
the characteristics that are valued in our culture today.
29:33
You'll hear it all the time. You know, I just really even in
29:36
my own life, if I'm sharing testimony or somebody, even the
29:38
feedback from our podcast and I receive it for what it is.
29:41
But like, you know, the feedback in some of our podcasts has
29:44
been, you know, I just really appreciate your honesty and your
29:47
authenticity. And I'm like that, that that's
29:51
what we always should be. I'm not going to lie, I'm not
29:56
going to sugarcoat the reality, but you also have to know your
30:00
identity in Christ and be secure that when you share the truth of
30:04
your life, no matter what the response is, you've been serving
30:07
the Lord with your whole heart. You've been serving the Lord
30:11
with your whole heart and that you don't move forward with
30:14
insecurity. Always worried about people are
30:16
going to think about you, what they're going to say about you.
30:19
You know, you just let the people think and people say
30:21
whatever they want about you, but you serve the Lord with your
30:24
whole heart. You give it to him all and he'll
30:27
protect you and he'll just like you told Moses, I'll be with
30:30
you, bro. You go into them, but I'm going
30:32
with you. You speak to them, but they're
30:34
my words. You, you stand strong because
30:37
I'm your strength, I'm your protector.
30:40
I'll preserve you, I'll keep you.
30:42
You can trust me. Well, verse 12 Then the Lord
30:46
said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for
30:50
the locusts, that they might come upon the land of Egypt, and
30:53
eat every herb of the land, and all that the hail has, all that
30:56
the hail has left. So Moses stretched out his rod
31:00
over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind on the
31:03
land all that day and all that night.
31:06
And when it was morning, the east wind brought all the
31:09
locusts, and the locusts went up all over the land of Egypt,
31:12
rested on the territory of Egypt.
31:14
They were very severe. Previously there had been no
31:18
such locusts as they, nor shall they be after him.
31:21
Verse 15. They covered the face of the
31:23
whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every
31:27
herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the
31:29
hail had left. So there remained nothing green
31:32
on the trees or the plants of the field throughout all the
31:35
land of Egypt. And what happened?
31:38
Exactly what God said would happen.
31:40
The locust came and did great destruction, and darkened his
31:44
land. And Moses stretched out his hand
31:47
just as he was told. And it happened just as God had
31:51
warned. Again, something you could read
31:53
over very quickly, but don't. Moses was told to stretch out
31:57
his hand. And what did he do?
31:59
Stretched out his hand. And when Moses stretched out his
32:02
hand, it happened just as God had warned.
32:05
Then according to verse 14, it was very severe.
32:09
And locusts are a tool that God will use.
32:11
Again in Joel chapter 2, my one of my life verses that I hold on
32:16
to and I have held on to since God pulled me out of the world
32:20
was in Joel is in Joel chapter 2 where God promises that after
32:24
the locust has come and destroyed in judgment from God
32:27
that God would restore the years that the locust has eaten.
32:31
And I have lived that promise my entire life that I have wasted
32:35
so much of my life. And God promised to give it
32:38
back. He promised to do even greater,
32:40
exceedingly, abundantly, above all that I could think or ask.
32:44
And locusts are used by God as judgment because they speak of
32:48
devouring, destruction, darkness.
32:51
And you Bible students, you know, if you Fast forward to
32:53
Revelation chapter 8, locusts will show up again and some wild
32:59
stuff during the great tribulation period.
33:01
But this is interesting to me. What's more important to me than
33:04
locusts is Moses and Moses cooperation with God.
33:08
What I call cooperation is really just a soft word for
33:11
obedience. When you obey with God, you
33:14
partner with him. When you obey God, you partner
33:18
with him. God says do this and you say I
33:23
will, I do. And I, you and you are with God,
33:28
you are leaning on God in obedience.
33:29
You're cooperating, you're partnering.
33:31
So this is interesting. Moses outstretched hand becomes
33:35
an extension of the very will of God.
33:40
That hand, just a simple hand and a simple instruction.
33:45
Stretch out your hand. And of course, you know, today
33:49
you can say I will not stretch out my hand.
33:53
I think of as we received a phone call on the live show
33:56
today of a person wrestling with addiction and how hard it was
34:02
for him to hear me say, don't drink.
34:08
Don't take the bottle, don't open it, don't lift it, don't
34:11
put it in your mouth. Don't drink.
34:14
That's not on my authority, but on the authority of God.
34:18
And if he can learn to do that once, he can learn to do it
34:20
twice in the power of God and three times and five times he
34:24
can learn to do it. Today God will be with him.
34:26
Tomorrow he'll have this revelation of the instant God
34:32
gives the command is the instant God gives the power to obey the
34:36
command. He goes, well, I want to be
34:38
sober the rest of my life. I I do, I want you to be sober
34:41
the rest of your life too. So let's just start right now.
34:44
Just stretch out your hand. Just stretch out your hand.
34:47
Just obey God, believe him, because when you stretch out
34:50
your hand, you become a part of the will of God.
34:53
Remember the man with the withered hand, same thing.
34:56
How many times did he send the signal from his brain down his
34:59
shoulder to his hand move. And before he said no more, I'm
35:02
not going to do it anymore, it's not going to happen.
35:05
And then Jesus shows up and he says you want to be healed.
35:08
Are you kidding me, man? Do I want to be healed?
35:10
Are you serious? I mean, you can hear the cop and
35:13
attitude on that, can't you? I've been wanting to be healed
35:15
for years. But none of that said, none of
35:18
that said, he doesn't cop an attitude.
35:23
Jesus tells him, stretch forth your hand.
35:27
And the moment that he decided to cooperate with Jesus was the
35:31
instant his hand was healed. It was that quick.
35:36
And the power of God is ours for the simple, for the mundane, for
35:42
the miraculous. I mean the power of God for you
35:45
to step into someone's life, to speak the word of truth to them,
35:48
to ask them about their life, to share the love of Jesus with the
35:51
the moment you stretch out your hand is the moment you're in the
35:55
will of God. Do what God has called you to
35:58
do. Jesus has given to us delegated
36:01
authority. What God desires for you and me
36:07
is that we can stretch forth our hands and pray in the name of
36:11
Jesus with his power and authority in people's lives.
36:14
When dealing with spiritual warfare, you have to take
36:18
authority and be bold in your prayers.
36:20
If you are standing before Pharaoh or what Pharaoh
36:23
represents the world, the compromise, addiction, failure,
36:28
condemnation, you need to stretch forth your hand in the
36:32
delegated authority of Jesus Christ and fight the good fight.
36:36
Men, you've been learning now on Saturdays.
36:38
You've been learning to fight the good fight.
36:40
You've been learning to pray, to put on the spiritual armor.
36:44
When you enter into prayer, you're entering into warfare.
36:48
You're inviting God to come into the situation.
36:51
You're asking for His help. You're committing that situation
36:55
to him and to fight on your behalf.
36:58
God, you want me to stretch out my hand?
37:00
It's done. It wasn't his hand that brought
37:03
them blocus. It was His obedience that
37:07
brought him into a place of the will and the power of God.
37:11
It was all God. Moses just got to be a part of
37:15
it. Don't you want to be a part of
37:17
it Church? Or do you just want to keep
37:19
being religious? I know it may not be to you that
37:22
this Bible study could be heard in 10 years from now, and it
37:25
could be you in 10 years. You just want to dabble in
37:27
church. You just want to play around.
37:29
You want to have a little earthly Kingdom and you just
37:31
want to get by. You want to get the American
37:33
Dream. You want, you know, do you?
37:35
Is that all you want in life? You can settle for that.
37:39
But God wants you to stretch out your hands.
37:41
He wants you to cooperate with Him.
37:44
He wants you to go from here to there by faith.
37:48
He doesn't want some little religious church that just kind
37:50
of gathers in that building on the corner and sing a few songs,
37:54
have our conscience kind of dealt with and we feel a little
37:56
bit better. But no life change.
37:59
That is not God's will for your life.
38:02
No life change, no transformation.
38:06
He wants you to truly, literally, like he told Moses
38:09
earlier, to have such a transformative life day by day,
38:15
by grace, that when you tell people your testimony, they
38:19
don't believe you. They don't believe which what,
38:25
what? What's the big deal?
38:27
What's the big deal? Because in that lack of unbelief
38:30
it generates. And that lack of belief, I
38:33
should say, generates questions to continue to point your
38:36
friends and family to the finished work of the cross.
38:41
That's the life he doesn't want Tomorrow when you go to work.
38:44
Listen, I'm challenging. The Lord's challenging right
38:46
now. He doesn't want you to go.
38:47
What'd you do yesterday? Oh, I went to church.
38:49
What'd you do? I went to the bar.
38:51
How was it? You know, whenever we sing a
38:53
song and hey, did you get that report for me?
38:56
He wants you to walk into church or to work tomorrow or maybe
39:00
with your kids at home, or perhaps you have a day off.
39:03
You're going to go shopping. He wants you to walk into those
39:05
places with the authority to share the power and the
39:09
privilege of the will of God for your life.
39:14
He wants you to care for that person in front of you so much
39:17
that you open your mouth even with great fear that your heart
39:21
breaks for the lostness of your Co worker of your mom.
39:28
That apart from Christ, what awaits them is an eternity apart
39:33
from Christ Eternal judgment that our hearts would break.
39:39
He, he doesn't want you going to work tomorrow, you know, with a
39:42
loaf of bread and standing up on your desk.
39:44
I am the bread of life and everybody's drawing you.
39:48
And then HR comes and you're fired.
39:50
And you know, it's like, well, you know, they told me to preach
39:52
the gospel. No, you are living the gospel.
39:56
Your testimony is the gospel. It's the pathway to bring about
40:03
the full message of the good news.
40:05
Your living testimony of the gospel.
40:07
What is the Gospel? That God so loved you that he
40:11
sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in him
40:15
would not perish, but have everlasting life.
40:17
What is the Gospel? That Jesus lived, died, and rose
40:21
again, and by his blood that was shed for you, your sins can be
40:25
forgiven. That's the gospel.
40:27
But we, we are living proof of the gospel.
40:33
We are living proof. And it's OK when people say, you
40:37
know, I'm just like your authenticity and I like your
40:39
honesty because eventually you're going to be able to say,
40:42
but that's what following Jesus is about.
40:44
You're going to get the real deal.
40:46
And it's not so pretty and it's I'm not the hero of the story.
40:51
You know, that's another mistake that people make with the
40:53
gospel. You're not the hero of your
40:55
testimony. God is.
40:56
It's like, well, you know, I was so messed up, but then I'm the
41:00
one and I'm the one. But we already learned that
41:02
you're not the hero. God's the hero and we follow a
41:06
great God who's been so gracious and is gracious to us now.
41:11
I mean, you look at this. Coming back to the text,
41:14
delegators, stretch out your hand, church, get involved.
41:18
Step into the story of what God's doing in this world today.
41:22
Let the Lord heal you. Let the Lord restore you.
41:25
Give up your plans as we were learning today in our time of
41:30
discipleship as a team here this morning, learning how to deny
41:35
ourselves. That's how it started and that's
41:39
how it continues. And the final breath before you
41:43
meet Jesus will be a denial of self and an elevation of him.
41:47
It'll just be a beautiful, beautiful reunion and union with
41:52
God. Well, notice with me verse 16.
41:54
Now Pharaoh calls for Moses inheron in haste.
41:59
I've sinned against the Lord your God and against you.
42:02
By now you know this is not real.
42:05
It might be an emotional thing, but it's not real now.
42:07
Therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the
42:11
Lord God, that He may take away from me this death only.
42:14
And he went out from Pharaoh and treated the Lord.
42:16
And the Lord turned a very strong West wind, which took the
42:18
locust away and blew, blew them into the Red Sea.
42:21
There remain not one locust in all the territory of Egypt.
42:25
And Pharaoh softened his heart, sent them out, gave him every.
42:29
No, that's not actually what verse 20 said.
42:31
How do we know that Pharaoh was being a liar?
42:33
Well, verse 20, it says the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart.
42:37
He didn't let the children of Israel go.
42:39
You go. Wait a minute.
42:40
It says the Lord hardened his heart.
42:41
That's because we've already seen the pattern.
42:45
Pharaoh is has a hardened heart and God is affirming that
42:51
hardened heart. Remember what we learn, We
42:54
learned as parents. The best illustration I can
42:56
think of is with parents, you know, you've got like 100 bucks
42:59
in your pocket, but your kid found a quarter and you say give
43:02
me that quarter. And the kid said no way.
43:04
Finders keepers, losers weepers. Mom, I found this quarter.
43:09
Hey, that quarter is mine, son. Just give it to me.
43:11
No, I'm not giving it to you, Mom.
43:13
I mean, and then you start, Whoa.
43:14
You want to keep it? Yeah, I'm keeping it.
43:16
Yeah. Are you sure you want to keep
43:18
it? Like doing like it's moms.
43:20
Like give it to me. It's dads, no, Finders keepers,
43:23
losers, weepers. I'm spinning this quarter when
43:25
next time we go to the market, I'm getting my bubble gum and
43:28
I'm keeping this quarter. Are you sure?
43:30
I'm sure. And you go into your back pocket
43:33
and you take out the $100 bill and say if you would have given
43:36
me the quarter, I would have given you more.
43:39
But because you wanted to keep it, I'm going to affirm that.
43:43
Keep it. Well, if I would have known
43:46
that, no, no, no, you don't need to know that.
43:53
You need to know me. I'm your dad.
43:59
I love you. I've got way more than 1/4 for
44:02
you. But if that's what you want,
44:07
that's what you get. And what happens with the kid?
44:11
Doesn't get broken, gets more angry, gets more frustrated,
44:16
buys a piece of gum at the market.
44:18
Just like they said, all mad at you, all upset.
44:21
I'm going to teach you. And they take it and it's like
44:24
10 years old and breaks a tooth and it's just constantly just
44:27
constant. That's where Pharaoh is here.
44:30
He hasn't softened. And so God comes alongside.
44:33
Why? Don't forget, so that I might
44:36
show these signs. I'm revealing myself.
44:40
God says I'm going to be known. And when it comes to repentance,
44:48
I did a depth in depth study. We're almost out of time, but I
44:51
did an in depth study looking at godly sorrow, worldly sorrow,
44:54
when we studied through First Corinthians.
44:57
If repentance, turning away from sin is something that you're
45:00
wrestling with or really wanting to know what it means, I suggest
45:03
you go on the app or on the website Calvary CEO dot Church
45:07
and look those studies up in First Corinthians.
45:10
Because just just just because you have an emotional response
45:14
and you feel bad about something doesn't mean you've repented.
45:18
Because godly sorrow will lead to repentance.
45:21
Worldly sorrow leads to condemnation and death.
45:27
And Pharaoh here, he's not real. Verse 21 Now then the Lord said
45:31
to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be
45:35
darkness over the land, darkness which may even be felt.
45:40
So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven.
45:42
There was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt.
45:44
Three days. They didn't see one another nor
45:47
anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the children
45:50
of Israel had light in their dwellings.
45:53
Again, why? God knows how to make a
45:55
distinction. He can tell the difference
45:58
between believers and unbelievers and God can do what
46:01
He wants to do. And the children of Israel have
46:05
the benefit of light. Verse 24, Pharaoh called Moses
46:08
and said, go serve the Lord only.
46:09
Let your flocks and your herds be kept back.
46:12
Let your little ones also go with you.
46:15
And Moses said, oh OK, that's fine, I'm ready to go.
46:19
No, it doesn't say that. It says you must also give us
46:23
sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may sacrifice to the
46:26
Lord our God. Our livestock also shall go with
46:31
us, right. What is when we when God says
46:35
let my people go, he means all of us and everything we own and
46:43
three days into the wilderness. That's the word and we're going
46:49
to take them. It says verse 21 and serve the
46:51
Lord our God and even we don't know what we must serve the Lord
46:55
until we get there. They're living by faith, but
46:58
Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. He would not let him go.
47:01
And Pharaoh said to him, get away from me, take heed to
47:03
yourself and see my face no more.
47:05
For in the day you see my face, you shall die.
47:09
And Moses said you have spoken well, I will never see your face
47:15
again. Deep darkness, devastation on
47:20
the land. This was a judgment against the
47:25
sun God, this light sun, SUN raw.
47:29
It revealed their utter weakness.
47:32
For three days, 72 hours, 4300 or 4320 minutes, 259,200 long
47:42
seconds, darkness covered the land.
47:45
The only thing I can relate to is when the kids were young, we
47:48
took them down to Colorado Springs and went into The Cave
47:51
of the Winds down deep. Anybody ever do that?
47:53
They take you down deep and then they turn the lights out.
47:57
And I mean seriously, you can put your hand right up on your
47:59
face. Not no, I wasn't talking to you.
48:04
Series back onto my iPad again. You can put your hand right up
48:09
in your face. You can feel it, you can smell
48:13
it, but you can't see it. And then they turn the lights on
48:17
really quick. Can you imagine three days they
48:21
just stayed in their house while the Israelites, those by faith,
48:25
enjoyed light. You live in a Dark World by the
48:28
way, except you enjoy the light. That's why there's a disconnect
48:33
between your unbelieving family and friends and Co workers is
48:38
they're living in darkness. They're living in a self
48:43
perpetuating darkness because of their lack of repentance.
48:47
So be kind to them. Be patient with them.
48:51
Meet them where they're at. Share your light with them.
48:57
Believe me, in the darkness you have a lot to think about.
49:02
In the darkness you can sit here like take it.
49:04
For someone who lived in deep, rebellious, anti God life, there
49:11
were moments in my life where I'd come home from a two or
49:15
three day party or I'd get out of jail.
49:18
I put my head on the pillow and I'd start to consider the life I
49:22
was living. I didn't have biblical language.
49:24
I didn't know. But I remember thinking, there's
49:27
got to be something different than this.
49:32
There's got to be some alternative way.
49:37
There's got to be. And then I would look at the
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resources of the world and go, no, it's too late, I've gone too
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far. There's no recovery for me.
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I've already passed any sense of recovery, and yet it was in one
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of those moments in a season of time when my wife is ready to
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divorce me or I'm facing serious jail time where we've got
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financial challenges because of all my problems.
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It was one of those times where I'm thinking, man, I think it's
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too far. It's too far, it's too far.
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The phone rings and was my friend.
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God sent my friend with light into my dark house or my dark
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apartment, into my dark marriage, into my dark
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addictions, into my dark hopelessness.
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He sent a little bit of light. It wasn't a lot of light.
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The brother didn't come with a Bible in a, you know, like his
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big Catholic Bible in a wagon or anything.
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He didn't bring that in, you know, or that we had a big Bible
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under the TV that mom put flowers and birth certificates
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in. We never read it, but we knew
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where the birth certificates were.
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He just came with a message and how would he even know what I
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needed to hear? God told him.
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God prepared him. God readied him and he came.
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He didn't come with a wagging finger.
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He didn't come with a Ed. You've just ruined your life.
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There's no hope. But you know, Jesus is there.
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He just began to shed the light in a dark home.
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And you know, you could say that God could take it from there,
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right? You could say, hey, God sends my
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buddy over and God took it from there.
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No, no, no, that's not what happened.
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God had it all along. All along.
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He knew what he was going to do all along.
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He knew how he was going to reach me.
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Church, listen, this is so important in a Dark World, we
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don't have to declare that everything is dark all the time
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because it's already known. Just shine the light.
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Be used to the Lord, Let him, let him show through you the
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gospel of Jesus Christ, that you bring hope.
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Remember what the warfare, you know, the spiritual warfare, the
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armor you shod your feet put on your feet, what the gospel of
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peace, It's so good and we get to be a part of it.
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Well, read ahead. We'll be in Chapter 11 next
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time. Lord, we thank you for your word
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and just the reminder of your great grace in our lives.
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How you go with us, You protect us and your message is real.
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And even though there's darkness, there's light in the
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believer's house, and may we be the bearers of light in the
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people you bring into our lives. We know there's sin and death
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and evil in this world, and most folks know that they're living
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that way. And they don't love God like
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Pharaoh does here. But the gospel is the power of
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God unto salvation for all who believe, for the Jew 1st, and
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also for the Greeks. So before we leave, if you're
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here and this was the light that got brought into you and you
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say, Ed, Pastor guy up there, I want to follow God.
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I want to invite you right where you're at.
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Would you stand to your feet? I want to pray with you and I
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want to help you choose to turn away from your sin today.
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That's what repentance is, right?
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And you don't need me to list a whole thing of sins, right?
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You know what they are. You know your life.
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You know your life better than I do.
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But God is calling you away from that.
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He's calling you to newness of life.
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He's calling you to transformation.
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God bless you in the back. He's calling you to a higher
53:41
level. He's calling you I and, and I
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mean that word where you don't, it's not just a Bible word call.
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It's kind of like when you're calling a friend, when you're
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making a phone call, when you're calling out, Hey, come here.
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God is calling you to himself. Hey, you come here.
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I love you. I want to transform your life
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from the inside out. God bless you up here.
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What a privilege, what an honor. I'm always jazzed, man.
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It's so encouraging. I was saved on a Wednesday
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night. It was a Wednesday night
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gathering. God save my soul.
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And so that's we're going to something we're going to share
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in common. And I was saved at Calvary
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Chapel just like you. We're going to share that in
54:19
common. Some of you are going to respond
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on the radio or you're going to respond online.
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And then there's other people that got saved on the radio or
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online. It's unbelievable.
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The body and family of Christ. So here's what the Bible says.
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The Bible says if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus,
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and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the
54:38
dead, you will be saved. So I want to help you do that.
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I want to help you talk to God. So repeat after me and you can
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use your own words or you can use mine.
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It what what matters is that it's real.
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You could say something like this.
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God, I admit that I've sinned against you, and I ask you to
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forgive me of all of my sin. I believe you sent Jesus into
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this world to live for me, to die for me.
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And I believe He rose again from the dead to save my soul.
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And I dedicate my life to following you today.
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God, I turn away from my past. I renounce my sins and I ask you
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for new life in Jesus name. Amen.
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Amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
55:40
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
55:55
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.