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#10212 - Receive The Lamb - Exodus 11-12:13 · 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
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Abounding 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.
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Exodus Chapter 11 is where we are.
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We start a new chapter, Exodus Chapter 11, and I've entitled
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our Bible study Receive the Lamb.
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Receive the lamb Now by now, as you're studying with us, I think
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we would all agree that Pharaoh is an extremely hard and
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stubborn and obstinate man. His heart is pridefully hardened
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and God is establishing that hardness and saying if that's
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what you want, Pharaoh, then that's what you'll get.
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He's the type of man that we meet today.
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He's not unlike many people that might be very close to you, who
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is super hard to just take delight in fighting God or
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fighting you. A representative of God.
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A man or a woman who takes pleasure in pestering and
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harassing God's followers or making empty promises.
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The kind that denies that even God exists.
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You can jot it down in Psalm 14. In verse one it says the fool
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has said in his heart there is no God.
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They're corrupt. They've all done abominable
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works. There is none who does good.
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The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see
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if there are any who understand and seek God.
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Just to think that there's foolish thoughts today.
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The fool has said in their heart there is no God.
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Pharaoh looks like he's alive. I mean, if you watched him from
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just observing him, if you were in his Kingdom, he's got
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everything that you would want. He has power, prestige, money.
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He is the known ruler of the world at the time.
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You would say that's a man that's alive.
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That's something that I would ascribe to, but the Bible would
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say differently. He's not alive according to the
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definition of God, of God's word.
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The definition of life according to God's word, Pharaoh would be
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considered a Walking Dead man spiritually according to
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Ephesians. Paul speaks of being dead in
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your trespasses and sins. In Romans apart a life apart
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from God is called without strength.
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So in reality is a very weak man lifeless.
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And it's a strange paradox. The ones that are fighting so
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hard, the ones that seem to be so strong, the ones that you
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could say are taking life by the horns and getting everything
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that they ever wanted, aren't really alive at all and aren't
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really strong at all. Pharaoh fights, but he's no
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match for God. And it's a reminder even to
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those listening to me right now that have a posture or a
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position against God, like as if you're going to win, as if you
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seem, you seem like you're making progress or you've gotten
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away with it up till now. You too, no match for God.
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And I hope you've learned that already.
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But it's worth saying, God always wins.
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He always wins in the end. He's our Creator and our Saviour
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and our sustainer. My pastor would always say that,
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you know, there's a lot of tough nuts in this world.
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You know, sometimes they're our parents, our neighbors, our
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bosses. But over the years we've seen
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God bring out just the right Nutcracker to break that
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stubbornness. The hardest.
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Men and women, I'm certain some of you have that testimony.
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There's such a transformation in your life because of the gospel,
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but it wasn't too long ago or too many years ago that you were
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that hard nut. It's just that that resistance
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to the love of God. And so for us, we don't want to
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give up on those hard ones and just turn our backs on them,
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those difficult, those stubborn ones.
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Because even if like we see with Pharaoh, even if they continue
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in their stubbornness, the people around them are also
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witnesses. Remember in our last study, the
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servants of Pharaoh were turning on.
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I was like, just let him go. Don't you see what's happening?
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Don't you have your eyes open? And today you're going to see
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that Moses, through all of this, is given favor with the people
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of Egypt. And that reminds me, too, that
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sometimes the way I see things is not the way it is.
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I mean, sometimes I view things so hard and so difficult, but
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that's not the way it is really at all.
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God is at work behind the scenes.
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He's so faithful to us. Pharaoh has had nine chances to
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repent. We refer to them as the Bible
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does, as plagues. He's been warned, he's been told
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he's shown mercy by God, where God has then removed the plagues
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or removed the damage 9 times. He has heard the phrase let my
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people go. And in response, he's offered
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compromise after compromise. But this last one's going to get
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him. This last one's going to get
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him. Notice in verse one of Chapter
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11 And the Lord said to Moses, I will bring yet one more plague
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on Pharaoh and on Egypt afterward.
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He will let you go from here, and when he lets you go, he will
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surely Dr. you out altogether. Speak now in the hearing of the
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people, and let every man ask from his neighbor, and every
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woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles
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of gold. And notice this, you got to mark
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this verse 3. And the Lord gave the people
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favor in the sight of the Egyptians.
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Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in
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the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people.
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God tells Moses it's time. This is it, this will be the
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one. Not only will after this plague
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will Pharaoh let you go, He will drive you out.
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He's not going to be doing this anymore.
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There's not going to be a back and forth anymore.
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And so send the people and get them ready and send them
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throughout the land that they might ask for the property of
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the Egyptians, which I find is very interesting.
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God gave him a favor, but notice it says ask from his neighbor,
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verse 2, every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and
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articles of gold. I like this.
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God says ask for things before they go and ask for the
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expensive stuff. That which is what a value.
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Now you have to understand here, don't let's not forget for 400
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years the children of Israel have been slaves generationally
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in Egypt. They have paid a high price for
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their time in Egypt. It didn't start out that way,
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but remember, there was a Pharaoh that came that didn't
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remember Joseph and began to do great harm and damage to this
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nation. So you could look at this as
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back pay, as preparation wages that were owed to them.
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And by this point, the Egyptians would be glad to see them go and
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be welcome to give them their stuff.
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Get out of here, take my stuff and take the plagues.
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For 400 years they were used and exploited.
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Egypt was literally built on their backs with their sweat and
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their toil and these things, this gold and silver would by no
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means be any type of reimbursement or compensation
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for their labor, but it would be just enough for them to begin a
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new life. Just enough.
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It wouldn't be, it wouldn't cover all sin.
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You'll, you'll never listen, Church, you got to understand
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this. No one this side of eternity
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will ever receive full justice. Sin does deep damage, and we
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won't receive the type of justice that we yearn for.
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We won't receive the type of justice where it seems to be
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literally an eye for an eye, which by the way, from God was a
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limitation upon man's flesh. You know that if, if, if your
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eye was poked out or taken away, there's part of you inside of
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you that would want to take both their eyes, it would never end
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because true justice is never met and experienced among us.
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And there can be reimbursement and there can be restitution,
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but that's not full justice because justice was paid at the
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cross by an innocent man, God in human flesh.
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He took the full weight and penalty of my sin and yours.
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That's where justice is met. But in order for us to
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experience justice, we have to die to ourselves and admit what
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placed, admit our own behaviors. Our own sin is what placed Jesus
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on the cross. And so here they're going to
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have just enough to start a new life, a new generation in the
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promised land as God promised And I this phrase just enough.
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It's a hard place to be, isn't it?
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We always want just a little bit more to be a little bit ahead,
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to have a little bit more in the bank, little more savings, a
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little more, a little more just enough.
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It's hard. It's hard to stop it just enough
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or to be content because we seems like we never have enough.
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We never have enough. In a very real way, that's true,
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especially as we see the way the economy is today in our own
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country and around the world. I mean, sometimes we don't have
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enough because it's of our own past decisions, our poor
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decisions, our debt, our poor money management, wrong
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purchases or situations. Other times it's due to an
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unforeseen job loss or some emergency challenge that we
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couldn't have ever planned for an unexpected bill.
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Sometimes it's because of the sin of others and we're having
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to make up for the difficulties of situations where we had very
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little, if any control. Many times it must be this.
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It must be, you know, admitted to like we have to honestly look
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at it many times in those seasons of discontentment or
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wanting more or pressing after more or whatever it is, is
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because of greed and our desire for more stuff or the battle
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that we have with discontentment.
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Hold your places here. Turn over to Philippians chapter
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4 for a moment. I want to point out a word to
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you there that you may have overlooked or it might be a
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reminder for you. But in the life of Paul, he
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certainly struggled and wrestled with contentment.
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And he gives us a description of this in his own life.
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And I want to draw your attention when you get to
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Philippians chapter 4. Let's start in verse 10.
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Contentment is so valuable and yet sometimes so elusive.
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Just enough or just give us just enough.
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Notice verse 10. But I rejoiced in the Lord
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greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished,
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though you surely did care, but you lacked the opportunity.
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Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned that in
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whatever state I am to be content.
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I know how to be a based, which basically means I I know how to
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have nothing and I know how to abound, which means I have more
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than enough. But everywhere in all things I
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have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and
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to suffer need. I can do all things through
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Christ who strengthens me. Now you might want to mark in
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verse 11 the word learned and then also mark in down in verse
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12 learned. Contentment is something we
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learn. We learn contentment when we
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have nothing. We have nothing like or less
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than nothing or we owe more than what we have.
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We learn contentment when we have nothing.
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But we also learn contentment when we have everything and more
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than enough because we find that contentment is not in what we
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have or what we don't have, but it's in the presence and the
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strength of the Lord. We learn that in those times we
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have nothing we're seeking and where we're pressing in and was
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like, Lord, you know our needs. And then we also learn in
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contentment when we go, Oh Lord, you've been so good and gracious
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to me. I mean, I know where I come
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from. I know who I am and that look
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where you have me. You're so good.
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I know what I deserve. Remember what Paul wrote to
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young Timothy, he said in first Timothy chapter 6 verse 8,
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having food and clothing with these we shall be content.
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Jesus would teach us don't be worrying about these things or
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what you're going to eat or what you're going to wear.
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But as summary remembered Matthew chapter 6 verse 33.
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But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
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all these things will be added unto you.
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Hebrews chapter 13 and verse five.
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Let your conduct be without covetousness.
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Be content with such things as you have.
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For He himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.
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So go ask the Egyptians for their stuff.
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It's almost like God was saying they're ready to give it to you.
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Just go ask them. And yet at the same time, we
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also see that God is showing favor.
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He's showing favor. It says in verse three that the
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Lord God gave people favor in the side of the Egyptians.
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He's moving upon their hearts. He's the one elevating Moses and
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giving him this great prestige in Egypt, and even among those
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that were as close to Pharaoh, his servants.
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Verse 4 Now notice then Moses said Thus says the Lord, about
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midnight I'll go out into the midst of Egypt, and all the
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first born in the land of Egypt shall die.
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From the first born of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to
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the first born of the maidservant who is by behind the
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hand mill, and the first born of all the beasts.
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There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of
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Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it
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again. But against none of the children
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of Israel shall a dog move its tongue against man or beast,
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that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between
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the Egyptians and Israel. And all these your servants
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shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, Get out and
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all the people who follow you. And after that I will go out.
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And then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.
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Why the final plague? Well, in Exodus chapter 4, if
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you want to turn back a few pages, we're given insight to
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this. It's been some time since we've
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been in chapter 4. But notice in verse 22 of Exodus
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chapter four, he says, then you shall say to Pharaoh.
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Thus says the Lord Israel is my son, my first born.
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So I say to you, let my son go that he may serve me.
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But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son,
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your first born, because of what Pharaoh did to God's first born,
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the first born of Pharaoh, and all throughout the land would be
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struck. And yet verse 9, the Lord said
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to Moses, Pharaoh will not heed you, so that my wonders may be
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multiplied in the land of Egypt. So Moses and Aaron did all these
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wonders before Pharaoh and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart,
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and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
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Now remember, we've studied this and we've mentioned it almost
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every time we've come across it, that God is not violating the
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free will or the ability for Pharaoh to make a free will
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decision. Each and every time that Moses
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came to him. He could have chosen to heed the
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direction that Moses gave, but he didn't.
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He chose instead to harden his heart.
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And God was saying in a very real way, if that is what you
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want, Pharaoh, then I will affirm and give you that very
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same thing. Would Pharaoh have experienced
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blessing if he would have changed his mind and gave Moses
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and in reality gave God what he desired?
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Yes. That's not how it's recorded
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because that's not what happened, but God certainly
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would have blessed obedience. Now think about this for a
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moment. Think about this in your own
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life. We're not just separated by
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thousands of years here. Think about this the next time
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you allow your heart to be hardened or you choose to harden
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your heart toward a person, toward a situation.
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Is that what you really want? Do you really want to take a
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step back? Do I really want to take a step
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back from God and the sensitivity of the moving of His
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Holy Spirit? Do we really think that's the
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best decision to harden my heart toward that person, to allow
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that situation to dig into my heart and give bitterness?
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I think, I think of this is such a danger in marriage, right?
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Because we know, we know the source of every single divorce
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that has ever taken place in the history of mankind.
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Jesus told us it's because of the hardness of your hearts.
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There's a lot of circumstances surrounding what will harden the
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heart because you listen to go, wait a minute, you know, this
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happened and this happened and this happened.
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And, and we often will have this emphasis and you'll hear it,
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you'll talk about it. You always hear this phrase.
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You'll always hear this phrase. Well, well, but you pastor,
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that's grounds for divorce. That's grounds for divorce.
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You You may even be accurate in such a statement.
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When adultery takes place or abandonment.
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Grounds for divorce. You very rarely hear the phrase.
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It's also grounds for forgiveness.
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As a matter of fact, you don't hear that phrase very much at
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all because by the time the phrase grounds for divorce is
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used, it's coming from a hard heart.
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And so whatever the circumstances stances might be,
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you find yourself sitting with a pastor here in this church with
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a Bible open. You might even become become
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very frustrated because we're not dealing with all the
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circumstances right away. We're going right for the heart.
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And we're going for the heart that seems the softest because
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that's the one closer to the Lord, even though we might have
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two hearts that are hard. And we begin to nurture it and
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pour the seeds of the gospel into it.
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Because what's grounds for divorce are also grounds for
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forgiveness. It's possible in the power of
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the Lord. I mean, I think on a much
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smaller scale, there are times when we temporarily harden our
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hearts or give way to a bitterness or whatever it might
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be, and you just have to ask yourself, is that what you
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really want? Again, turn over to Psalm 106.
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I was a reminder of this Scripture even just before
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coming in. I'm reviewing my notes and
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praying over them, and I was reminded of this Scripture in
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Psalm 106. If you don't have it marked
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already, you need to because it's a great warning to us.
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It's not Speaking of this situation, but later on of the
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children of Israel as they're upset with God.
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And in Psalm 106, in verse 15, it says that he gave them their
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request, but notice he sent a leanness into their soul and so
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they got what they wanted. You notice what what did they
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want? What says it's in verse 14.
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They lusted exceedingly in the wilderness.
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They tested God in the desert and he gave them their request.
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They got what they wanted, but they got more than they wanted.
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Slimness again, since you are turning turn over to Romans
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chapter one. Do you really want God to let
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you go? Do you really want God to affirm
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your bad decisions? Notice in Romans chapter one, we
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have this strong warning of what it's like in a few verses here.
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It's such a startling chapter as the book of Romans opens up,
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Paul is writing. Notice in verse 24 he says he
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says therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness in the
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lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among
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themselves. Notice verse 26.
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For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.
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For even the women exchanged the natural use of what's against
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nature. Verse 28 And even as they did
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not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to
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a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting.
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Now this is heavy. These are heavy words for
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unbelievers. These are rebellious unbelievers
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that are given over to their sin.
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They're given over to the the lust of their flesh.
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But listen, listen, when you harden your heart, when I harden
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my heart as a believer toward the Lord, we move away from Him.
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We're no longer abiding in Christ.
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Now, I know you don't want God to give you up, and He's
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promised to never leave you or forsake you.
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But as you step back from God, that's a painful step backwards,
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which I'm so grateful. I hope you can say this as well,
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but I'm so grateful for the conviction of the Holy Spirit
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that God will speak to me on the inside.
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Sometimes it's a Bible study, sometimes it's a song.
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Sometimes the Holy Spirit sounds just like Marie.
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Wouldn't you know it? That God will give me the right
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word, the right direction, where God will bring conviction and
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remind me. He'll stop me in my tracks.
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He'll redirect me. He he'll confirm to me that yes,
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Ed, you've hardened your heart and it's time to humble yourself
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behind before the mighty hand of God.
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You know, by the time somebody has enough courage to tell you
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that you're prideful and you need to humble yourself.
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The Holy Spirit's told you 100 times or five or three.
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But that message coming from an outside voice is only
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confirmation of an inside work because God got God got to you a
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lot faster than someone else did.
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And we're not in the position of Pharaoh.
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Although some might be listening today that really do take a
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stand against God that God really has given you over and
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you're living at the based mind a life you're living at the base
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upside down sexually perverse life.
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It's only because the Bible says the fool is said is in our
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heart. There is no God and even today
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the conviction of the Holy Spirit from the outside, God is
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bidding you to come and repent of your sins.
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He said this is not the right way to live.
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And you almost you can hear, you can hear the voice of God echo
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through the ages. Pharaoh, let my people go, let
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my people go, let my people go. And you can hear the same
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request today might sound like, come to me, resist, leave that
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sin behind. I invite you to follow me.
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I invite you to be a part of my family.
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You know, God bidding you to come one time, 2 * 3 times, but
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each time you harden your heart. And God says, if that's what you
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want, then that's what I'll give you.
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And yet he sends another messenger.
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It's another message. If that's what you want, that's
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what I'll give you. But he's sending messengers in
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your life, friends and family messages, message, you know, the
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the reality you might be listening to Christian radio
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right now. It's just from the Lord.
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That's God's gift to you. You're like sitting there like,
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what am I doing? Why haven't I turned this off
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yet? Because you hear the voice of
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God through a man and God's calling you to himself.
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He's calling you to deal with the hardness of your heart with
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the sin that he's asking for clean.
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He's asking you to come clean. You know, I don't want God.
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God gives you your request, but then you leave worse than when
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you came. That's Pharaoh here.
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And I'm grateful for the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
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And so often the conviction of the Holy Spirit is not just from
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a friend and it's not just from a spouse, and it's not just from
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some kiddos that might tell you the truth in your own home.
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But you know where conviction comes the most?
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Through the Word of God. In Psalm 119 and verse nine, it
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says, how can a young man cleanse his way but by taking
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heed according to your word, there is a power in the Word of
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God. Where even as you're reading
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about Pharaoh and you're reading about a man thousands of years
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ago, and you're reading it, and then you feel that sense where
27:04
the Lord says, but I'm talking about you here.
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No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's not me.
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And yet you're fighting the work of God and God's saying, well,
27:15
if that's what you want, then go ahead.
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That's your flesh. It's not me because the spirits
27:24
going to want what God wants. That's what the spirit wants.
27:30
When you're walking in the spirit, you desire what God
27:32
wants. It's actually a sign of being a
27:34
believer. One of the signs that you can
27:37
look for in your life as a born again believer is you start to
27:41
want the things that God wants and love the things and people
27:44
that God loves. There's a radical
27:47
transformation, but Pharaoh's harder still.
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And I find so many times on my own personal walk, as much as it
27:55
hurts personally, and it's how difficult as it is, I often find
28:01
myself saying, yes, Lord, that's the way I have to go, and then
28:07
go making it right or doing what I need to do so that I can
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restore the joy that I have in my salvation.
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That's mine by faith. It never comes by resisting and
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it never comes by hardening my heart.
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You know, back to the marriage thing.
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That's one of the reasons why the Bible tells us and instructs
28:30
us, Don't let the sun go down on your anger.
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Don't let it. It will not be healthy.
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It will not be good in marriage and singleness in life, giving
28:44
it time to nurture so that you can just sleep on it and yet you
28:49
wake up angrier than you did when you went to bed and you
28:53
want to resolve things and let the Holy Spirit do that work.
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Well notice in verse 12 or chapter 12.
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Now verse one fastest we've ever done a chapter in Exodus.
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Praise God for 10 verse chapters.
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Verse one chapter 12. Now the Lord spoke to Moses and
29:08
Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be the
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beginning, your beginning of months.
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It shall be the first month of the year.
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To you speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying,
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On the 10th day of this month, every man shall take for himself
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a lamb according to the House of his father, a lamb for a
29:27
household. And if the household's too small
29:30
for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take
29:33
it. According to the number of the
29:34
persons, according to each man's need, you shall make your count
29:40
for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without
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blemish a male of the first year.
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You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
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Now you shall keep it until the 14th day of the month.
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Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall
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kill it at twilight. So this is a big corner being
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turned Now as we're reading through Exodus in Chapter 11,
30:02
with the focus up to the Chapter 11, I should say, has been the
30:06
focus on the deliverer. But now we're going to see the
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deliverance. That's where it starts.
30:11
Here in chapter 12, we've been looking at the deliverer,
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studying God as deliverer. But now we're going to see it.
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The Passover, the Red Sea, the power of God.
30:22
He's about to do something entirely new for this nation
30:26
that has been used to living in Egypt.
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And the Passover is a glorious holiday.
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It's a high holy day for the Jew even today.
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But it's the clearest picture and type of Jesus upon the cross
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in all the Bible, the best description of him.
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And it's important that we grasp this substitutionary lamb so
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that the rest of the New Testament will open up before
30:53
your eyes. Jotted down First Corinthians
30:56
chapter 5 and verse seven. It says, therefore purge out the
30:59
old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are
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unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover
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was sacrificed for us. So let's keep the feast, Paul
31:12
says, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and
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wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity
31:18
and truth, Christ our Passover. First Peter chapter one and
31:22
verse 18. Knowing that you were redeemed,
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not that you are not redeemed with corruptible things like
31:30
silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition
31:35
from your Father's, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a
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lamb without blemish and without spot.
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So the lamb pointing back to the Passover lamb.
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The Passover lamb is the greatest picture and type of
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Jesus Christ in all the Bible. Israel's life was changed by a
31:58
lamb. Their very life and death hung
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in the balance with this lamb. And today our lives can be
32:06
changed by a lamb, the Lamb of God.
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Remember. Well, maybe some of you don't
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remember, those of you that might be new to the Bible.
32:14
There's a time in the Bible where this wild and faithful man
32:19
known as John, John the Baptist, he comes on the scene and he
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sees Jesus coming and he declares as Jesus is coming, he
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points him. He says he's the Lamb of God
32:33
that takes away the sins of the world.
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He doesn't just cover them so that every year a lamb.
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And we study this in depth. This is what the whole essence
32:44
of the book of Hebrews was when we studied through Hebrews.
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But he doesn't just merely cover.
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So you have to wait every year and offer a Passover lamb every
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year. No, Jesus was the Passover lamb
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and he doesn't cover sin. He removes it.
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I love this in verse two, and I hope we can get through some of
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this, but I love this. It's just a little phrase, but
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he tells him this month will be the beginning, your beginning of
33:11
months. This is a statement that
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everything's going to change for you.
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You're not even going to keep time the same way anymore.
33:19
You're not going to keep the same calendar.
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You're not going to live the way you lived in Egypt.
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It is different you. While the pagans would generate
33:28
their calendars by the crops, Israel's calendar will revolve
33:33
around the Passover. It's almost like God is saying
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as a slave your time belong to Egypt and to your masters.
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But now you're no longer on Egypt time and you have a new
33:46
master, brand new beginning. Listen, this is one of the most
33:50
important steps in following Christ as a new believer.
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Maybe you responded to the gospel here recently, maybe took
33:57
a little packet home or you were watching online and you're a
34:00
newer believer or perhaps a believer that's been walking
34:03
with God for a while or having a relationship with God for a
34:06
while, but you just don't seem to see that progress.
34:09
Here's the thing, this is an important step you must take and
34:13
reaffirm and it's this. I am a new creation in Christ.
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Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become
34:21
new. You got to believe that that is
34:24
the declaration over your life. That is what has happened
34:27
spiritually. But here's the thing, you, you
34:29
make a response here. You, you respond standing where
34:32
you're at, you pray you mean it. It's everything like, it's, it's
34:37
like the culmination of all that God wants, except that it
34:42
doesn't feel all that different. I mean, you walk out the door
34:46
and you're cussing on the way to the car and lighting up your
34:49
cigarette or, you know, you just you feel like the same person.
34:53
You feel like the same person, still dealing with anger, still
34:57
dealing with frustration, still having a difficult home, still
35:00
lonely, and you feel the same. But the Bible says you're not
35:06
the same. And the bridge between the two
35:11
is believing God at His Word. One of the important things I
35:16
needed to believe when I was born again.
35:21
And even though the pastor didn't say it in the Bible
35:23
study, he didn't mention it at all.
35:26
I don't even know the first time I ever heard it.
35:29
I just knew intrinsically this needed to leave my life and I
35:32
needed to believe this from that moment on.
35:34
And that was this, that God delivered me from drugs and
35:39
alcohol. In that moment, I needed to
35:42
believe that it was already true, whether I believed it or
35:46
not, whether somebody declared it over me or not, before I ever
35:51
found the verse. I mean, I don't know how long it
35:53
was before somebody shared with me.
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Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. I have been crucified with
35:58
Christ. It's no longer I who live, but
36:01
it's Christ who lives in me. I, I don't even remember how
36:04
long it took me to find that verse.
36:05
I didn't even know the Bible at all.
36:07
I didn't even own a Bible. But in the moment I was born
36:10
again and I was delivered that moment that even if I chose to
36:15
go back, and even if I had alcohol in the refrigerator,
36:18
even if I had it hidden up in the shelf, even if I waited for
36:21
Marie to go to bed so I can have a nightcap before I went to
36:24
sleep, all of that was against who I was.
36:31
I would be choosing to live against who I was already.
36:36
God had already made me a free man.
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Can you imagine these Egyptians as they are, free from Egypt,
36:45
wanting to go back? Oh, you probably read ahead.
36:50
That's exactly what they wanted. They wanted to go back to
36:52
slavery. They're free.
36:55
They know all about the plagues. They know the difference that's
36:58
being made. They know the distinction that
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God made. They know the protection that
37:02
God gave. They then they know the
37:04
declaration of freedom. By the time they want to go back
37:07
to Egypt, they'd gone through the Red Sea.
37:09
They've seen the miraculous hand of God, they've seen the power
37:12
of God through Moses, and they still want to go back to
37:14
slavery. And you're like, what's their
37:16
problem? No, no, that's the wrong
37:18
question to ask. The right question to ask is
37:20
what's your problem? You're free.
37:25
Oh, maybe you're not free. Like the freedom.
37:27
I need it, but you're free. No, no, you don't understand.
37:30
My I've been, I've been angry. My dad was angry.
37:33
My grandpa was angry. I'm just going to be angry.
37:34
No, you're free. You can walk in the newness of
37:37
life, but you got to believe it. You got to walk by faith.
37:44
You got to believe that God has the power to strengthen you in
37:46
temptation, right? You know the Scriptures.
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This is what builds faith. Faith comes by hearing.
37:51
Hearing by the Word of God, the Bible says that no temptation's
37:54
overtaken you except such as common to man.
37:57
And yet with every temptation, there's a way of escape.
38:01
God has a a powerful life for you.
38:04
It's already yours. He doesn't want to change your
38:09
behavior. He's not just looking at the
38:13
outward of your life. He's working on the inside.
38:18
And when you yield yourself to him, the behavior follows.
38:22
You grow in grace. You learn, I mean, how many
38:27
times you're just going through there?
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I didn't know that Scripture was in there.
38:30
I'm a new creation. What does that mean?
38:32
And then you begin to pray God. What does that mean in my life?
38:36
And the Holy Spirit begins to show you, you're my son, you're
38:39
my daughter. Those of you that with identity
38:41
issues, your identity's in Christ, however you were treated
38:48
or you know, mistreated as a child or a family and you, you
38:51
carry that trauma and pain, even carrying that trauma and pain,
38:56
you have a new identity. God is going to show you what a
38:59
real father's like. He's going to show you what real
39:02
love is. He's going to reveal to you
39:05
himself his faithfulness in your life and he's going to begin to
39:08
heal the hurt that's in your heart.
39:11
That's God. That happens the moment you're
39:14
born again. You just continue to walk in it.
39:18
You're justified. That means you have been at the
39:20
moment of that. You were born again.
39:22
You've been justified, which means you'd be declared innocent
39:25
and righteous and forgiven. And then the rest of your life,
39:28
you enter into the realm of sanctification where God is
39:31
working on the inside and you're cooperating on the outside.
39:35
Right. Because if you do have that
39:36
addiction and you have the temptation to go in that way,
39:39
you have the temptation to move in that direction.
39:42
And the Holy Spirit says, no, How do you cooperate?
39:45
You obey. And that's when your will
39:48
matches God's will. Even if you have a weakened
39:52
will, like, you know, it's just so weak.
39:54
And you don't understand, Pastor, it's so hard.
39:56
Yeah. But the Bible says that God
39:57
works in us, both to will and to do.
40:00
So whatever desire you and I have to follow God, He follows
40:04
that up with power, the ability. And then you do that for a
40:10
minute, 3 minutes, an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, 50
40:22
years, a lifetime of following the Lord starts in the moment
40:28
you were born again. It's so good.
40:31
So here this, everything's changing for them.
40:35
It's all brand new. And then he says in verse three,
40:39
speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying on the 10th day
40:41
of the month, every man shall take for himself a lamb
40:44
according to the House of his father, a lamb for a household.
40:47
This is another word that can be translated different ways.
40:51
And here we have it in the English take, but it can also be
40:56
translated receive. Now that changes things.
41:02
When God is saying to them to receive the lamb, everything
41:06
they have has been given to them anyway.
41:08
So you kind of think, well, I'm taking it, but actually I'm
41:11
receiving it from the Lord. It came from Him.
41:15
And so imagine that as God's first command to the Jewish
41:19
people, it has received the Passover.
41:22
I've already provided it for you.
41:24
I've shown you favor with the Egyptians.
41:28
Hey, make sure your house is big enough and there's a proportion
41:32
you measure it says in verse four according to need, not
41:35
according to greed. If your neighbor had no
41:39
children, the couple supposed to join with another and there's
41:42
just that already in the old covenant that built in God is
41:45
built in humanity is built in our hearts to be together
41:50
physically to be together and share with one another.
41:54
Make sure it's pure without blemish.
41:56
Why? Because it's a picture of Christ
41:58
where there is no blemish. Verse 5.
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And they would kill it together, because this would be done
42:04
together. Notice verse seven.
42:06
They'll take some of the blood and put it on the 2 door posts
42:09
and on the lentil of the houses where they ate, where they would
42:13
eat it. And then they shall eat the
42:16
flesh on that night, roasted in fire with unleavened bread, with
42:19
their bitter herbs, they shall eat it.
42:21
Don't eat it raw, nor boiled at all, the at at all with water,
42:26
but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its entrails.
42:30
You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains
42:34
of it morning you shall burn with fire.
42:36
And thus you shall eat at verse 11, with a belt on your waist
42:39
and sandals on your feet, and staff in your hand.
42:42
So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover, For I
42:48
will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and I will
42:51
strike all the first born in the land of Egypt, both men and
42:54
beasts, and against all the gods.
42:56
Little G of Egypt, I will execute judgment.
43:00
I am the Lord. They were to put the blood of
43:06
this lamb outside the door so that when the Angel of death
43:11
would see it, the Angel of death would Passover even though they
43:16
were inside the home, eating the lamb, worshipping God and
43:22
obedience. The blood would be placed in
43:26
such a way where you can see the head of Jesus, the crown of
43:29
thorns, his outstretched hands. You would be able to see the
43:33
blood that's covering the lamb would be slain at the front door
43:37
of every house. This would become the pattern
43:40
that God is setting for His nation once they leave Egypt.
43:44
I mean, think to the cross. It was a very bloody experience,
43:51
very dramatic. The blood marked the blood of
43:55
Jesus, marked the soil outside the walls of Jerusalem, outside
43:59
the gates, outside the city of the holy temple of God.
44:05
The blood that was shed for us, even as this shedding of the
44:08
Lamb would be very bloody, and it would be the blood that was
44:12
recognized by God. That's what He sees when He sees
44:15
you. It's just unbelievable.
44:18
When I look in the mirror, I don't always see the blood.
44:23
I see the Ed. I see the mistake.
44:29
I see how far I've got to go. Still.
44:32
I see the wrestling and the spiritual warfare.
44:36
I don't always see the blood. But God, he always sees the
44:38
blood Always. He always bids us to come with
44:43
our weaknesses. He invites us to come with our
44:47
whatever, whatever we're dealing with in the moment.
44:51
We should have you right at give me a piece of paper and bring it
44:54
up on a bucket here. Of all the things you struggle
44:56
with today. And if I read them, you'd be
44:59
shocked what's in this room. Or maybe not so shocked as you
45:06
realize you're sitting in a room with men and women very similar
45:10
to you. And then of course, I'd have to
45:14
write mine in some red piece of paper.
45:16
So you could say, well, that's Ed's, that's Ed's, that's Ed's.
45:18
And then I'd pick it up and say, I'm not telling you.
45:21
And I was like, whatever it might be, God always sees the
45:25
blood and then he passes over. Judgment does not come to those
45:31
where the blood has been applied.
45:34
And that's the Passover, the sacrifice, the sacrifice on our
45:39
behalf. The meal itself was to be a
45:43
reminder of Egypt and a reminder of deliverance.
45:48
Special plates, special foods, special remembrance.
45:54
There would be even as you participate perhaps in the Seder
45:59
dinner today commemorating this, the hard boiled egg symbolizing
46:04
new life and hope. The roasted lamb bone, the lamb
46:07
that was slain, the salt water symbolizing the tears that were
46:11
shed, The bitter herbs symbolizing the bitter
46:14
suffering. The gummy Raisin cakes, Speaking
46:17
of the bricks that were being made.
46:18
The matzo bread, the unleavened bread that you would eat so
46:21
quickly and then notice you would you would participate in
46:26
verse 11. Ready.
46:30
You would participate ready to, ready to go.
46:33
You show, eat it with a belt on your waist and your sandals on
46:38
your feet. The Passover would remind you
46:41
that you are in this world, but you are not of this world.
46:46
It would be a yearly minimum, yearly reminder of the
46:49
sufficiency of God, His power, His deliverance, Him seeing the
46:54
blood and not your sin, Him passing over and your need to be
46:58
ready and girded up. Peter would say the same thing,
47:01
don't need to go there now, but Peter would say the same thing.
47:04
Gird up the loins of your mind and be ready and the blood would
47:12
be a sign. We'll get into that next time.
47:15
So Lord, we thank you for the section of Scripture of just
47:19
reminded of your faithfulness in our lives and your goodness to
47:22
us that you see the blood in our lives.
47:27
And we don't always see that, Lord.
47:29
We see our weaknesses and our failures, and we see our
47:33
wrestlings and our strugglings. Life, as you know God, can be so
47:36
hard. This is such a hard world to
47:39
live in. But it was for the Israelites in
47:44
Egypt and it was for the Church in the 1st century, and it was
47:49
for the those living in the time of judges or the kings or the
47:53
prophets. It was that way, Lord, in the
47:58
400 years of silence, it must have been so hard to not have a
48:05
prophet in the land. And here we are in the 21st
48:09
century, hardened hearts, going to bed angry, not embracing God,
48:17
what you're doing in our lives and or dealing with our flesh
48:21
or, you know, saying things we shouldn't say or thinking things
48:25
we shouldn't think or even faithless or hopeless.
48:29
Lord, and I just pray over our church family, both those that
48:32
are here, but our church family, Lord, that you might instill
48:37
hope in our hearts and faith that you might remind us the
48:41
moment we were born again. We we have all that we need
48:46
pertaining to life and godliness in you, Jesus, all of it.
48:50
That by faith, we can live victorious lives that we can see
48:55
spiritual growth. Lord, that we have power to say
48:57
no to sin, that we can leave our addictions behind, that we can
49:01
literally be someone new, even new from last year or ten years
49:06
ago. That you're taking us from glory
49:08
to glory and strength to strength.
49:10
God forgive us for our hardened hearts or our you know, we just
49:17
don't listen to the Holy Spirit anymore or we're not in the
49:21
words. So your word can just wake us
49:22
up. We want to cleanse our ways.
49:26
You said, how can we cleanse our ways?
49:28
Well, we need to take heed to your commandments, Lord, to your
49:31
word that it might live in us. So we pray for an outpouring of
49:36
your Holy Spirit even as we were praying for the kids.
49:38
We pray that for us as adults and as parents and singles and
49:42
Lord, that you would pour out your Holy Spirit, even though we
49:48
might be few or we, we want to live in such a way.
49:52
We're great power can be manifested through our lives, so
49:57
have your way with us tonight and let the word go deep. 235
50:01
things. Whatever you have for us Lord,
50:04
may we not leave unchanged in Jesus name, Amen.
50:09
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study,
50:12
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church.
50:15
For prayer, call us at 87730 Grace that's 877-304-7223.
50:25
To listen to this message in its entirety or to join us for our
50:28
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
50:33
or download our free Calvary Church app.
50:36
Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.