Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10215 - Facing a Crisis? Do Nothing - Exodus 14:1-14

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#10215 - Facing a Crisis? Do Nothing - Exodus 14:1-14 · 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 Exodus chapter 14 as we tackle the
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first half of Exodus 14. I've entitled this Bible study
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Are you facing a crisis question mark do nothing, do nothing.
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And there are those times in the life of the believer where God
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brings us to places of deeper faith.
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We would prefer that they come through reading a book, and
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sometimes they do, or going to a seminar or conference.
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And certainly God can build our faith there maybe some homework
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that's given to you by a pastor or a counsellor that says here,
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this is going to help your faith.
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But most of the time God will bring us to these places where
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we literally have nowhere to turn but to the Lord.
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And that's how God would have it normally and naturally to turn
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to Him and to trust him. But our tendency is to go off on
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our own. Our tendency is to trust in
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ourselves. Our tendency is to think that we
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really don't need the type of help from God that we needed
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last year or two years ago or three years ago.
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But God would have us to daily trust in Him, not forgetting
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about Him. And so circumstances change and
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either send our way or allowed by God so that we might get our
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eyes back on Him. Chapter 14 highlights the need
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for complete and total faith. That's where the nation is.
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The nation of Israel is at a place where they need complete
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and total faith. And what a true story it is to
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inspire us in God's delivering power.
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Though the natural way of escape for the nation is their leaving
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Egypt, as God has done a great deliverance.
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The natural way of escape was one way.
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God will bring them the opposite way on purpose.
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And if you just take a moment and consider your life for a
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moment, you will see the same thing where you've got things
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planned out or you have desires, or you kind of think the way and
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God will take you the exact opposite way.
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And remember how it made you feel or how it's making you feel
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right now. You're like, oh, pastor, that's
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where I'm at right now and how it's easy to panic and to walk
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in fear and to doubt God and to wonder what's going on.
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Today. We'll find that God deliberately
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leads them into a trap. And yet he did it to show His
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great strength to reveal himself in a new and a fresh way.
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You'll remember God's promise was to be with them in the midst
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of it all, that He would send the deliverer that He would
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deliver them. Not only did He promised that
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he'd be with them, but He promised that He would take care
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of them. And they have His word so that
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the enemy, just like from the Garden of Eden, will try to get
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them or even get us by way of application to doubt the Word of
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God, to doubt His promises, to doubt the promises He's given to
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us personally. And God does promise us so many
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things in the Scriptures and we're to hold them close.
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My pastor would say this all the time.
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He'd say God said it, I believe it, that settles it.
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It's just a great place to be. God said it, I believe it, and
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that settles it. You could even take out the
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middle part, can't you? God said it, that settles it.
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If you want to enjoy it, then you need to believe it.
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That's the key of enjoying the word of God is faith and trust.
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And we have His word church. We can trust Him in His Word
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even though the battle of the mind is real.
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Jot it down. First Kings chapter 8 verse 56.
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I love this. In First Kings 8 verse 56, it
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says blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people,
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Israel, according to all that He promised.
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Then he says there has not failed one word of all his good
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promise, which He promised from His servant Moses.
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There hasn't failed one good word, not one.
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So pick up with me in verse one chapter 14 Now the Lord spoke to
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Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, that they
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turn and camp before π Hararoth between Migdaw and the sea
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opposite by all Zephan, you shall camp before it by the sea.
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For Pharaoh will Save the Children of Israel.
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They are bewildered by the land. The wilderness has closed them
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in. And I will harden Pharaoh's
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heart so he will pursue them, and I will gain honor over
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Pharaoh and over his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am
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the Lord. And they did.
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So I love this about God here with Moses.
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If you stand back from the dramatic parts of this true
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story, the plagues or the doubts of Moses or the reluctance, if
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you just stand back one step, you'll see that God was always
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giving Moses insight about what he was going to do.
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He was always telling him ahead of time, this is how it's going
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to go down. This is what I want you to do.
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This is how it's going to ha, this is what's going to happen.
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And he does it one more time. He says, this is what's going to
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happen. I want you to go in this way.
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I want you to stop here because at that moment, Pharaoh's going
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to begin thinking about you. And it says Pharaoh's going to
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say to the children of Israel, look, they're twisted up.
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They don't know where they're going, they're stuck, they're
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bewildered. They're all closed in verse
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three. And it's then God says, I'm
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going to deal with Pharaoh's heart and he's going to pursue
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you. He's going to pursue the nation
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and I'm going to gain honor. He says verse 4 and over the
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army. And the end result would be that
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the Egyptians know that I am the Lord.
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From Pharaoh's perspective, as he assesses the situation, the
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real situation is, is that his economic strength has just left.
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This was the economic engine of the nation.
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He's far more concerned about money than he is his own people,
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how the first born just died throughout the land.
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He he wants to take back control.
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They just let their entire economic strength walk out.
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And it's dawning on him that it's going to hurt.
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And God, he speaks to Moses, letting him know what's going to
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happen. And hearing from God directly is
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a wonderful experience. Personally, I've never heard a
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loud, audible voice of God speaking to me from a burning
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Bush or or from a cloud somewhere or a fiery pillar.
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But I have heard the voice of the Lord.
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I have had that sense of His direction in my life.
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I've had that sense of confirmation and even times in
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that sweet moment, usually in my car, usually coming up Buckley,
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making the ride on Hampton where God seems to speak very loudly
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at that corner. I think I need to go a different
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direction sometimes because it seems like Hampton and Buckley
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is the place where God really deals with me, whether I'm on my
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way in the office or on my way home.
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That seems to be a place where a conversation starts in my car as
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God begins to speak to me about something I taught or something
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that's been heavy on my mind or something I won't let go.
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Some scripture He's bringing to my remembrance, some lesson He
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wants to teach me. I have heard the voice of the
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Lord, and it almost always is tied to what God has said in His
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Word, to a truth that's immovable.
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God revealing to me what to do, how to do it, when to do it,
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what the results might be, sensing the leading of His Holy
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Spirit. I've never had a conversation
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like he's had with Moses. I I think I would want to, but
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then I wouldn't want to. I think I'd be real excited.
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Go, God, Do you want to talk to me?
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Yeah. Well, wait a minute.
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Go ahead. Tell me what's going to go on.
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Oh, man, it's going to be so bad.
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I don't want to hear anymore. Because you know how when people
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come up and they go, well, I got good news and bad news, what do
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you want to hear? Well, you know, give me the bad
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news first. Let me just get it out now
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because I want to end with the good news.
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But I mean, if I have a choice, just give me the good news and
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you deal with the bad news. I mean, I I'm not a big bad news
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kind of guy. I don't like it, even though
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much of my life in leadership is to help bad news become good
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news, you know, and so I get that I'd like that.
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But then I think a part of me really wouldn't like that.
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I really wouldn't. I mean, there's part of me it's
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like, yeah, give me the five year plan, Lord.
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But then if I knew something was going to happen four years ago
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or four years ahead, that is going to be so hard and so
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difficult. I know me and I know some of
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you. It would be a real sense for you
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to try to avoid that 4th year, to do whatever you can to avoid
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it, to beg and plead. Like, like if God told me in
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four years something really devastating would happen.
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My whole life, I just know my flesh, my whole life would be
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stuck on that 4th year. So I'd I'd lose year one because
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I'm worrying. I lose year 2 because I'm
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worrying worse year three. And then I'd be so dreading the
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day. And so I'm grateful that God
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leads us by faith. I'm grateful that he'll give me
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what I need when I need it. Almost always he holds us on a
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need to know basis. And if I need to know, he'll
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tell me. If I don't need to know, I can
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walk by faith. He's given me what I need.
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And so I think this is really a powerful time where God is
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giving insight to Moses even as he wants to give insight to us.
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He wants to show us that he's with us and that I've found that
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God when he wants to speak to your heart, when he wants to
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commune with you, he he wants to share hope and encouragement.
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But our attitude often becomes like Pharaoh, where Pharaoh will
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be like God will be leading us and guiding us and giving us
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direction. And then like Pharaoh in in
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Exodus chapter five, he says, who is the Lord?
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That I shall obey his voice. Almost like we approach God that
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we could do it better or we have a better plan or, you know, God,
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you know, leading us into a trap that ain't going to work.
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That's not how things work. There are easier ways to go.
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There are quicker ways to go. I've travelled this path before.
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And so quickly we want to come outside of the place of faith
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where God, and this is a battle, maybe even what we're praying
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about, the battle of the flesh. God wants us to stay in a place
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of dependence and we want to be in a place where we're in
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control. And those two are incompatible.
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So God is preparing Moses for what's up ahead.
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Notice in verse 5 Now I was told the king of Egypt that the
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people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was
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turned against the people. And they said, why have we done
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this, that we have led Israel go from serving us?
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So we made ready as chariot and took his people with him, and he
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took 600 choice Chariots and all the Chariots of Egypt with
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captains over every one of them. Verse eight.
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And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and
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he pursued the children of Israel, and the children of
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Israel went out with boldness. I like that.
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So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and Chariots of
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Pharaoh, his horsemen, his army, and overtook them by camping by
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the sea beside π Haarath before Baal Zephan.
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Pharaoh again, once once again takes the lead in pursuing God's
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people. Egypt's first borns are dead.
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The cries and the wails of the nation continue throughout the
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land. And where do we find Pharaoh?
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He's angry. He's upset.
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He sees his two and a half million people, workforce gone,
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and he comes to that place. My son is dead.
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My country's in chaos. I have to do something.
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So he takes his own chariot, the Bible says, and 600 choice
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Chariots. These were advanced, you know,
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technologically advanced fighting war machines.
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That's what now Pharaoh is going to lean on.
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He's not going to soften his heart.
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He's not going to humble himself.
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He's not going to seek the God of the Egypt of the Israelites.
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He's not going to consider the 10 plagues.
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He's not going to recall all ten of the times God was gracious to
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him and merciful to him. None of that.
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He's going to take things into his own hands.
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He takes these Chariots of Egypt with the captains over them and
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he takes off to pursue them. And it's interesting because the
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Egyptians knew the power of God. Pharaoh knew the power of God.
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He watched it with his own eyes. If the if the plagues weren't
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enough, if the frogs and the boils and the flies and the
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grasshoppers and and the first born weren't enough, Pharaoh
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still has one more, one more thing he's trusting in not all
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of these little gods. And now he has one more thing
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that God's going to show his power over.
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And to some commentators, they point the the the they point it
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directly on the military might that God's going to show his
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power over Egypt's military might.
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And he is. But I suggest something that's
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even greater that Pharaoh's going to learn that's more than
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his military might. God is wanting for all going to
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show Pharaoh and the nation that God is greater than Pharaoh.
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Pharaoh has to learn that. The nation has to learn that,
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and this is the episode. They're going to lean on their
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military strength and they're going to go and recover what's
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been taken. After everything that's
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happened, I think it's good just to pause here for a moment and
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let's be very, very careful here.
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Even though I understand that Pharaoh's lost and unsaved and
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all, I agree. But let's just be very, very
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careful that we're not so quick to point the finger at Pharaoh
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and just kind of shake your head and go, what is this guy's
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problem? Because this is a pattern I see
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among believers, among those in and out of our church or those
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that might e-mail or connect with us.
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I see the same thing. God has shown himself faithful,
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shown himself faithful, shown himself faithful.
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I mean, how many, how many years, how many times, how many
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situations can you look at in your own life and see God has
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been faithful, God has been gracious, God has been merciful,
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and still you want God to prove himself to you.
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Still you won't trust, still you won't lay down your agenda,
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still it's still continually something you won't let go.
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You won't let go. And they'll lean on whatever
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else you have and lean whatever. This is a pattern I see we we
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see Pharaoh. Sometimes the Bible is a mirror,
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even in an unbeliever that rebukes us because how much more
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is it for us who know God and are born again and live in the
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new covenant that would turn to lean on the arm of the flesh?
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It wasn't too long ago that we studied the life of King Saul.
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And it wasn't too long ago that we studied the life of David
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when David was on the run. And you'll remember how many
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times David was tempted or had the temptation before him to
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take things into his own hands and fix it.
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And I'll end this and I'll take this and I'll do this.
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It's a it's a real difficult place to be because it's often
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in a place of pain. It's often in a place of kind of
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feeling like you're not in control.
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And it's a very uncomfortable place, as we'll even see today
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with the children of Israel in their response to a faithful
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God, where you are in a place where you just want some
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semblance of control. And God says, no, I'll take care
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of that for you. Just look to me.
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And we're like, yeah, I actually just don't want to look to you
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anymore. I just don't.
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I love you, God, and I appreciate you, but I'm I, I'm
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you've, you've, you've let this go on too long.
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It wasn't too long ago where I had that opinion about a very
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important situation in our own personal life, my family's life,
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where I just came to the end and I'm like, this is, this is too.
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It's just been too long. I could take care of it.
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I'm going to take care of it. I remember like it was yesterday
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I was here on a weekend service teaching whatever Bible study
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was there and God seemed to bless his word and
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encouragement. But I went home super
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discouraged. I went home just overwhelmed.
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Situation's just just too much, man.
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It's gone on too long. So I go right up and go right to
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bed and I'm going to take a nap. And that evening we had
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scheduled the afterglow on a Sunday night, just a gathering
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of prayer. Come together and seek the Lord
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together and and I remember as the home was getting ready,
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Marie, my daughter was getting ready to go and I I don't want
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to go. I don't want to go.
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Just go without me. I'm going to stay in bed and I'm
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feeling kind of foul right now. You guys never get in a foul
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mood. Yes, no.
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It's like, oh, Ed, you're so horrible.
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What about you? Like like I'm just in a foul
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mood like I just don't feel good.
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I got all this wrapped around I'm just battling.
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I can take care of this and and you know, I'm so I finally, I'm
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like, I'm the pastor. I can't let them go without me.
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I'm going to go. And I sat downstairs and I just
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had my head down for an hour and a half.
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I didn't participate. I didn't pray.
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It's one of those times, and maybe you've been there where
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I'm just waiting for them to say Amen so we can go home.
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And I don't want to be there, but I'm there nonetheless.
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Pastor Matt was with us back then.
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He's leading the thing. And when you know it, wouldn't
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you know it As God began to move in that room, speaking forth His
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Word through different people, there were different words that
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kind of started in front of me and then started around, kind of
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went around the circle in the room.
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And they were really specific words that were very
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encouraging. And, you know, almost just like
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being repetitive, repetitive, Don't think, take things into
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your own hands, that kind of stuff.
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It's going around the room and it's going around all the way up
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into behind me. And even Marie is kind of going.
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I think that's for you. I think that's for you.
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And I'm thinking nothing is this for me.
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I want to go home, but I was listening.
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That's the beauty of being in the company of you can't.
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You know, I wasn't going. No, no, no, no, no the whole
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time. That would not have looked good.
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So I was listening and I was there, even though it was a
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battle, the spirit against the flesh.
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The spirit was willing, but man, the flesh was weak.
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And so as it goes all the way around, I'm sensing, man, this
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is for me, this is for me. And then as we're getting ready
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to go, I'm like, well, maybe not so much because it's time to go
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now. Matt's winding it down, and as
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Matt is sharing, he shares something about, you know, like
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obedience, like something about obedience, like, you know,
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there's somebody for this, words for you got to respond because
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if you don't, you'll be disobedience, disobedient.
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And that is a place where God knows me.
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That's a place, I'm not saying I'm not disobedient or I haven't
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had those things, but that's something that God deals with me
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when he brings something to me that's black and white, it's
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very difficult for me to choose to disobey, very challenging.
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And so he's pressing the issue, pressing the issue.
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And I'm like, yeah, I don't, I don't think I want to respond to
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this because like this is where pride comes in.
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I'm the pastor. And all the words were like
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pretty strong, like somebody's messed up in this room and
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everybody's waiting mess, you know, get up, messed one, messed
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up one. I'm like, I don't want to be the
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messed up one. But the Lord was dealing with
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me. He's dealing with my heart.
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And I believe literally saved me from making a decision that
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could have led to great consequences.
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It would not have been successful.
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And I did respond and just started bawling and crying and
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everyone's coming around laying their hands and praying on the
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one messed up person in the whole room.
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The word was for one person. You see the battle of the Spirit
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in the flesh. It's real church.
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Please don't dismiss it. Don't think it's no big deal.
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Don't just walk away like you'll get over it or it's not that bad
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or I don't want to be that messed up one.
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I may just tell you, you are that messed up one, you and I
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are walking in a world that's hurt and it's scary and it's
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hard and it's difficult and you have your own issues and God
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might even lead you to a place where this is where I want you
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to go. And, and you're going to feel a
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lot of things there. And I want you to feel it.
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I want you to feel it this way. I want you to come to the end of
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yourself. I want you to be in a place
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where you have nowhere to turn but me.
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That's how it started when you were born again.
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That's what you admitted that that's when you stood to receive
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the Lord, when you raised your hand, when you came up to a
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stage like this and you prayed for the salvation that God
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offered you by repenting of your sins.
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That's where you were. You were stuck nowhere to go.
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You couldn't go to the left or to the right.
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You couldn't walk out the door the way you came in.
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The only logical, valuable, important place you could turn
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to was the Lord. And you did.
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And over time you stopped turning to the Lord.
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Over time you start started to lean on your own understanding.
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So once again, God will lead you to a place where will you look
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to me now? Because I wish I could say, you
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know, hey, that episode a few years ago, that was the only
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time I was the only messed up one in the room.
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But that's not true. We walk in often broken and
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beaten. No matter what we're carrying
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around, no matter what our rule is, no matter what our title is,
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the Lord's working deep in us all so that we might trust him.
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Notice verse 10. Now this is interesting turn our
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attention from Pharaoh now to the children of Israel who just
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must be so filled with faith, right?
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This is just amazing what they're a part of.
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They are literally watching the hand of God work 400 years,
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generations of slavery ended in a moment, verse 10.
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And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their
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eyes and behold, the Egyptians marched after them.
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So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out
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to the Lord. Now that sounds very spiritual,
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doesn't it? They cried out to the Lord.
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But then what did they do to poor Moses in verse 11?
23:27
Because there were no graves in Egypt.
23:28
Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?
23:31
Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt?
23:35
Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt saying leave
23:38
us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?
23:41
Like for it would have been better for us to serve the
23:44
Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness.
23:50
Can you believe your ears? Just a few moments being
23:59
delivered, just a few days being delivered from generations of
24:03
slavery. They're telling Moses, didn't we
24:07
tell you we never wanted to leave?
24:10
Didn't we tell you we like life the way it was?
24:14
Which tells us they just they are not thinking clearly.
24:18
Why was Moses sent to them to begin with?
24:20
Because God heard their cries, because they were asking for
24:26
help, because they were in a different desperate situation
24:31
that God met them. This is the first of many times
24:35
where the children of Israel will cry out with murmuring and
24:38
complaining where they really do believe their ways better.
24:43
And it comes notice as a time in verse 10.
24:45
You might want to mark it. They were very afraid.
24:48
They were very afraid. It was a crisis.
24:52
It created panic. Ahead of them is the Red Sea,
24:59
and it's uncrossable. On either side of them are
25:03
mountain ranges or hills impassable.
25:06
Behind them are angry, pursuing marching Egyptian army, and they
25:11
begin to panic and cry out to the Lord.
25:14
What were they crying out to the Lord?
25:17
A form of what they were telling to Moses out of the abundance of
25:22
the heart, the mouth speaks. So they didn't switch.
25:26
So oh Lord, you're so good. You're so wonderful.
25:29
We're so glad we're stuck, Moses, don't you?
25:32
It's all your fault that we're they didn't change that quick.
25:36
It's all in there. They're crying out to the Lord
25:39
and they're taking it out on Moses.
25:41
Oh, by the way, those of you that want to be in spiritual
25:44
leadership and you want to be a pastor one day or whatever, this
25:48
is your life, the rest of your life, people are crying out to
25:52
the Lord and taking it out on you.
25:54
And you just got to learn. You got to learn that most of
25:57
the issues that pastors and leaders and overseers experience
26:01
in the church really have nothing to do with the pastoral
26:04
overseer. Just somebody's going through
26:06
something and you're the closest one that they get to take it out
26:09
on. That's usually what it is.
26:12
You're the one that they're you're the one that represents
26:15
God to them in some way or you're just proximity wise.
26:19
You're just the one that has to take the burden and help people
26:23
get through things. And it's really not that
26:25
personal after all. But here when you see the
26:29
children of Israel, what was their problem here?
26:32
And I would suggest to you that they have an eye problem.
26:36
Not I the letter, not a self-centered problem, but an
26:40
eye problem. EYE.
26:41
Did you notice this? They lifted up their eyes and
26:45
all of the rest of it comes from what they saw.
26:49
What they saw. They have an eye problem.
26:52
What they were looking at determined their actions.
26:56
And what does this look like to the eye?
26:59
It would look like exactly what you would see.
27:01
You would see the same thing if we were there with them.
27:05
I don't know that we would be too much better than them.
27:07
We would see the same thing. We're headed out.
27:10
We're making progress and the Red Seas before us.
27:14
We have no idea how we're going to get our stuff and our
27:17
children and our wives. We don't know how we're going to
27:19
pass that. And there's really no option to
27:22
go right or left. We're a little bit questioning.
27:25
It doesn't seem like the right way to go.
27:27
It would have been there was an easier way.
27:31
And here they are. They say, well, let's go back.
27:36
And they see the dust rising and they hear the noise.
27:41
I mean, it would be the equivalent of us taking off in a
27:46
direction and we got nowhere to go.
27:49
And when we turn around, like the United States Army's coming
27:52
after us at the order of the government, it would instill
27:57
fear. But it wasn't the truth.
28:03
It was just what they saw. And that's what's deceptive.
28:06
Write this down. Jot it down.
28:08
Not everything you see is the truth.
28:13
Just because you see it doesn't mean your conclusion is the
28:18
truth. Not.
28:21
Or what do they say? Not everything is as it appears.
28:24
So, yeah, you're assessing everything.
28:26
You. Red Sea in front of you, True.
28:28
Two hills on, you know, mountains, small mountains on
28:31
either side of you. True, the Egyptian army behind
28:34
us. True, we're done.
28:37
We don't know that yet. And not only do we not know that
28:42
yet, what do we do? We fall back on the promise of
28:45
God, who said he was taking us into the promised land.
28:48
That's what he said. I will deliver you and take you
28:51
in all the way. What it appears to be is a trap,
29:00
and the trap is what it appears is that the children of Israel
29:03
are LED into a trap. But that's not the truth.
29:07
The truth is God's setting the trap for Pharaoh.
29:12
It's the exact opposite. It's they're not trapped.
29:17
Pharaoh's trapped. The Egyptian army's trapped.
29:22
Pharaoh is falling into God's trap.
29:25
He should have just let him go that he was told 10 times to do.
29:32
He should have just let him go. But now he's trapped.
29:36
This is what God does when you follow him church.
29:38
This is a part of the Christian life.
29:40
He's going to lead you into places where your enemies will
29:44
be caught, where you will be delivered and they will be
29:48
trapped. It's hard to believe because we
29:50
only see and feel what we're seeing and feeling.
29:52
Just like David so many times we only see and feel what we see
29:56
what we're feeling and seeing. David said in Psalms 27 verse
30:00
two, when the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh,
30:03
my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell.
30:08
He says that after the fact, Psalm 56 verse one, be merciful
30:12
to me, O God, for man would swallow me up fighting all day.
30:17
They oppress me. My enemies hound me all day, and
30:21
there are many who fight against me, O God.
30:25
And then notice, turn over to Psalm 124.
30:27
I want you to see this. It's a quick Psalm and this is
30:30
one of the many reasons why we like to read through the Psalms
30:32
together as a church because it plants these things.
30:35
And it wasn't too long ago that we read Psalm 124.
30:38
Look at this one. This is so such, such a good
30:41
Psalm. Listen in Psalm 124 verse one,
30:46
it says, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side, let
30:49
Israel now say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our
30:52
side, when men rose up against us, they would have swallowed us
30:56
alive. Their wrath was kindled against
30:59
us and the waters would have overwhelmed us.
31:02
The stream would have gone over our soul.
31:04
Then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul.
31:07
Blessed be the Lord who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
31:12
Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers.
31:15
The snare is broken and we have escaped.
31:18
Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth,
31:22
and to that the church says, Amen.
31:24
This is the word of the Lord, but it doesn't always feel that
31:28
way. I want to write a song like
31:31
that. Well, you got to get through the
31:32
1st 7 verses, don't you? So you can get to the 8th.
31:37
And what would the eight really? What would verse eight really
31:40
mean if you didn't experience the first 7 where you can
31:45
actually not just hear it with the ear and see with the eye,
31:48
but you lived it. It is your testimony.
31:52
It is your true story. It is what you have seen God do
31:57
in your life. But the first 7 verses of Psalm
32:01
124, just like the children of Israel here, are filled with
32:05
terror and pain and panic and hurt.
32:11
And this is the key for the nation.
32:12
As long as they kept their eyes on the fiery pillar and followed
32:15
the Lord, and we're walking by faith, no enemy could touch
32:19
them. They don't even need to worry
32:21
about the enemy, because if they saw the fire, stay put.
32:25
The pillar of fire by day, the cloud by night, If it didn't
32:28
move, they weren't supposed to move.
32:30
That was God's message to them. They knew it would be safe.
32:34
They knew that's where God wanted them.
32:36
They knew that they could bed down for the evening.
32:39
They knew that they could tuck the kids in.
32:41
They knew. They knew that if God didn't
32:44
move the pillar, then they were safe.
32:47
If God didn't move the cloud, they were safe.
32:50
But they took their eyes off of the cloud.
32:52
They took their eyes off of the pillar here in the day, and they
32:55
looked to the enemy. And let me just tell you,
32:57
church, you pay attention to the enemy all the time, you'll be
33:00
freaked out too. You look what he's doing in the
33:04
world today. It'll freak you out.
33:07
You take your eyes off the Lord and you see the attack of the
33:09
enemy. You see the work of the enemy.
33:11
All you're worried about is your enemies, the world, the flesh
33:14
and the devil. Woe is me.
33:15
Look at me. I'm giving over to sin.
33:18
It's my problem. You want to live that way,
33:20
you're going to be a miserable person.
33:22
You can live that way if you want.
33:23
Disobediently, you take your eyes off the Lord.
33:26
You're all you're going to see is your enemy.
33:28
And your enemy's going to freak you out, scare you, undermine
33:33
you, lie to you, undermine your faith, increase your anxiety.
33:38
If you're already an anxious person, the enemy is going to
33:40
play with that. If you're already a fearful
33:42
person, he's going to mess with that.
33:44
If you don't have the fear of the Lord, but instead you have
33:47
the fear of man, you're trapped already.
33:52
And then what happens if you're a complainer, if you're a
33:56
murmur, if you attack your spiritual leaders because of
33:59
your own problems, it's because you lack faith in God.
34:05
You've left the place of trust. If that's all you're worried
34:11
about is that guy over there and why do we do this?
34:14
And you're just the complainer and a murmur.
34:17
Here's the root. The root is your faith
34:21
relationship with God is broken. You've chosen not to believe
34:26
God. You've chosen to trust in other
34:29
resources, trust in what you see, trust in what you feel.
34:33
And this is how it is. When we're when things are OK,
34:35
we're OK. If things seem to be not OK, we
34:38
get in a panic. The only cure for fear is to
34:42
keep our eyes on the Lord. The only cure for anxiety is to
34:46
keep your eyes on the Lord. Look to the Lord, follow Him
34:50
closely. We walk by faith, the Bible
34:52
says, not by sight. What are the kids learning at
34:56
VBS? Exactly what I have in my notes.
34:59
When the storms come, Jesus takes a nap.
35:05
Jesus takes a nap. And in that little makeshift
35:10
boat they were making today, they made one of those kids lay
35:12
down and pretend to be Jesus. Every boat had a Jesus in it so
35:19
all the kids could see His rest and His care and his abiding in
35:26
the Father's will. Everything was going to be OK.
35:29
Why? Because Jesus said we're going
35:31
to get to the other side. You hold on to His word.
35:34
Don't you care, Lord? Don't you see what's happening?
35:37
Oh, I see everything that's happening.
35:39
I guess you don't. You get your eyes back on the
35:45
Lord. It happened right here with the
35:46
children of Israel. They started to murmur and
35:48
complain. And when we come to verse 11
35:53
again, I mean, put yourself in Moses sandals for a moment.
35:59
I, I, I can get a little bit of weight.
36:01
It's like, you know what, God, I didn't want to do this to begin
36:04
with. Didn't I tell you, send somebody
36:07
else. This is not for me.
36:09
I didn't want to go to Pharaoh. And I definitely don't want to
36:11
hear murmuring and complaining the rest of my life.
36:15
But we don't see that later on Moses is going to describe
36:19
himself as the most humble man on the earth.
36:22
There was a quality about Moses that God saw that he didn't even
36:25
see, so that when he denied it, said he didn't want to do it and
36:29
send anyone else. God said, you know, go ahead and
36:31
get it out, emote Moses. But you're the guy.
36:33
I already know it. You're the guy.
36:35
You're the only guy. You're the only one I want to do
36:38
this. You're the only one that's going
36:40
to. But I have trained you for 80
36:42
years. You're the guy.
36:46
And so you'll get through the murmuring and complaining.
36:48
Moses, what you don't know and God didn't tell him yet is that
36:51
you're going to be doing this for 40 years, buddy.
36:54
And these complainers, they know they're get, they're
36:56
professional complainers and they're going to want to go back
37:00
more than once. It's hard though.
37:03
The nation that you love, that you serve is turned on you.
37:06
But that is a part of spiritual leadership.
37:09
I mean, you see it all throughout the Scriptures.
37:12
We're following the life of Paul and the very people that Paul
37:16
would sacrifice his life for and get beat up and stone and thrown
37:19
in prison would also turn on him.
37:22
It's just the human condition. And so if a leader can't keep
37:26
his eyes on the Lord, then he'll be really messed up because now
37:29
he's not living by faith and has to deal with all the
37:32
difficulties for the people that he's been led to serve.
37:36
But it's interesting for the children of Israel because they
37:39
they saw the 10 plagues. They saw the power of God, the
37:42
cloud, the pillar of fire, the release from captivity, and they
37:45
still complain. To me, this section is a very
37:52
convic, convicting place in my own life because I know what
37:57
it's like to complain and I know what it's like not to to like
38:02
something. I know what it's like to
38:05
disagree with the leadership of a church or I know what it's
38:08
like. None of us are innocent of these
38:12
types of things, but Even so, is the Scriptures convicting for
38:17
me? I want you.
38:19
I want it to be convicting for you too.
38:22
I mean, when you just think about complaining for a moment,
38:25
what does complaining do to help the situation at all?
38:30
It just makes it worse. Now we have the problem that you
38:33
have so clearly identified, and now we got to deal with your bad
38:37
attitude on top of the problem. And no doubt if you're
38:40
complaining, then other people are agreeing and joining with
38:44
you. You're, you're like infecting
38:45
people with your bitter complaining.
38:48
And now, now we got all kinds of problems.
38:53
You go. Come on, Ed, you're exaggerating
38:55
a little bit. I'm not this group that's
38:58
leaving the the nation of Egypt and being delivered.
39:02
This group, this group. Read ahead.
39:07
They die. The whole generation dies in the
39:10
wilderness because of a bad report of the leaders, the
39:17
elders that were sent in to the promised land.
39:20
They thought they were going on a on a reconnaissance mission,
39:24
but what they were really going in is to see God's faithfulness
39:27
and bring back a report. We're going to be just fine.
39:31
And they didn't, which is another Bible study altogether.
39:35
I think so much more could be happening in the Kingdom of God
39:38
if we would stop complaining, stop murmuring.
39:41
So much could happen for the Kingdom of God in this world if
39:44
we just stop complaining. Like, go ahead and say it once,
39:47
look what's happening, and then stop.
39:48
Like what now? You don't need to say it 50
39:51
times. Now what?
39:51
What are you going to do about it?
39:52
How are you going to step into it?
39:54
Turn that complaint into a prayer and see how God might use
39:57
you to be a part of the solution.
40:00
But church, don't look at the devil and don't give him your
40:04
time. Don't talk to him, don't bargain
40:06
with him, don't compromise, don't mess around with the
40:09
world, don't take that first drink, don't say yes to
40:11
temptation, don't go dating an unbeliever, don't turn around
40:15
behind you. Keep your eyes looking forward
40:19
on the Lord and you'll be safe. All this stuff will be
40:22
happening, but it'll fall to the wayside while you're following
40:26
the Lord and his plan and his purpose for your life.
40:30
Jot it down. Philippians chapter 3, verse 13.
40:32
It says, brethren, I do not count myself to have
40:35
apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things that are
40:39
behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.
40:43
I press toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God
40:48
in Christ Jesus. So good.
40:51
There's 13 now, and Moses said to the people, do not be afraid,
40:59
stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he
41:04
will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians who you see
41:07
today, you shall see again no more, for the Lord will fight
41:11
for you, and you shall hold your peace.
41:15
Some of you, if you notice in your Bibles, you might have an
41:17
alternative translation there. Mine says you shall hold your
41:21
peace. The alternative translation is
41:23
you should be quiet. Do you know how we say that
41:26
today? Shut up in a very kind way.
41:32
I heard he's like, stop it, be quiet, be quiet.
41:36
Enough of this. God's going to do this and then
41:40
you know Moses, he doesn't know how.
41:43
So he does require some faith from him.
41:46
He doesn't know. It would be a just a thought, a
41:49
way for him to join the complainers because he doesn't
41:53
know. He sees the same thing except
41:56
that he has the word, doesn't he?
41:59
The relationship that we see between him and God, that God
42:05
was talking to him, that was with him.
42:08
Remember the promises that God gave to Paul when he was ready
42:13
and freaking out perhaps, or concerned about the
42:16
circumstances. Hey, Paul, I'm with you.
42:19
I'm going to protect you. I have a purpose for your life.
42:25
I'm going to put people. There's so many more people,
42:27
Paul, you haven't even met yet. You just look to me.
42:30
You lay your head down on the pillow, I'll take care of you,
42:32
go to sleep, you rest. I'll take care of everything for
42:36
you. You're going to be just fine.
42:40
Moses is basically saying the same thing with less words
42:43
several times in the Bible. God says don't be afraid,
42:47
Abraham, when he receives God's covenant.
42:49
Don't be afraid, Abraham. Joshua.
42:52
When he's crossing over the Jordan, don't be afraid.
42:55
You're going to be fine. Joshua, Solomon, Gideon, the
42:59
women at the tomb. This is a phrase used over and
43:02
over. Don't be afraid.
43:03
Don't be afraid. Don't lose it.
43:06
God is in control. He hasn't forgotten you and
43:09
maybe even you tonight. God has LED you into a trap on
43:12
purpose. He's allowed this on purpose.
43:16
He wants to show you his resources that you don't know
43:18
of. Maybe you're in a corner and you
43:21
don't know how you're going to get out and the only way is that
43:23
God will deliver you. Don't worry, don't be afraid.
43:27
I love what Moses. Moses didn't jump in the mud
43:30
with them and try to logically explain everything.
43:32
Oh, let me just sit down and tell you what the Hebrew means
43:35
in this and how God has been. He doesn't.
43:36
He's just like, hey guys, calm down.
43:38
Everything's going to be fine. We're going to be fine.
43:41
God has told me what he's going to do.
43:42
He just told him to watch God work.
43:44
He says just stop. Which leads us to the title of
43:47
our Bible study. You're in a tough spot, you're
43:51
in a difficult place. You're in a place of panic, of
43:55
fear. You feel trapped.
43:59
Do nothing. Just stand, stand still.
44:05
Don't run away. Don't take things into your own
44:07
hand. The Lord's going to fight for
44:10
you. Verse 14 Thank God for the Moses
44:13
in our lives. Thank God for the pastors and
44:16
teachers that will give us the word of God in due season.
44:20
That will take the word of God and explain it to us and speak
44:23
forth in the power of the Holy Spirit and give us a word in due
44:26
season. Or what the Bible would say a
44:28
Rhema word. Fresh mana every day.
44:31
Not these warmed over microwave sermons that get downloaded.
44:35
Or now you know this silliness of guys getting their sermons
44:38
from AI. Are you serious?
44:41
God does not inspire ChatGPT to give you a word.
44:48
You can, you can have the, the, the AI artificial intelligence
44:52
can Get the facts right, but has no ability to know your heart.
44:56
Only God knows your heart. And the way that God has chosen
45:00
according to his word is he has gifted men, pastors and teachers
45:04
to give forth the word of God because the word of God always
45:07
comes through us, not just to us.
45:11
So don't get ripped off by these guys that might.
45:14
Well, you're just listening. That sounds like a robot, man.
45:17
That sounds like a robot. Like you need to go back to your
45:20
prayer closet, bro, and get a word from the Lord and it's from
45:24
his word here again, sounds like another Bible study to deliver
45:29
one day, maybe at a pastor's conference.
45:32
I am chat pastor today. Like it's like I don't know.
45:37
All right, look, if the children of Israel at this point in their
45:40
life continue to disobedience, if they continued in doubt, if
45:44
they didn't listen to their leader, to their pastor, to
45:47
their shepherd, to their spokesperson on behalf of God,
45:51
in their crisis, in their difficulty, if they didn't
45:54
receive the words, if they tried to run away, if they tried
45:58
anything else than standing still in the trap, they would
46:04
have died. Because the wages of sin is
46:10
always death. This is the truth.
46:16
The fight isn't for you. The fight is against you.
46:22
The enemy comes against you. What would you rather have, the
46:26
enemy coming against you or God fighting for you?
46:29
Listen, God is ready to fight on your behalf.
46:33
He's strong and mighty. He's the Lord mighty in battle.
46:37
So do me a favor today, turn to someone near you or around you,
46:40
or yell across the room. You don't have to be afraid,
46:42
just say it out loud. You don't have to be afraid.
46:45
Come on. You don't have to be afraid.
46:46
You don't have to be afraid. Stand still.
46:49
Stand still. Look to the Lord.
46:51
OK. Enough.
46:52
Enough. Enough.
46:53
You guys got it. I like it.
46:55
I'll tell you. The Lord will fight for you.
46:57
Just stand still. You don't have to be afraid.
46:59
Did you guys get it? Do you hear that enough.
47:00
You don't have to be afraid. You don't have to be afraid.
47:04
Doesn't matter what it looks like, what it feels like.
47:06
You don't have to be afraid. The Lord is going to fight for
47:08
you. The Lord is fighting for you.
47:10
He's with you. He's your help.
47:11
He's your strength. Here's a word from the Lord for
47:14
you. Ready.
47:14
Receive it. Be open for it.
47:16
For those of you who are fearful, for those of you who
47:19
are panicked, for those of you who are overwhelmed, for those
47:21
of you that don't where to turn, here's the word of the Lord.
47:23
You ready? Do nothing.
47:27
That's what you've been praying for.
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You've been desperate for an answer.
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Here's the word of the Lord. Do nothing.
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Just stand there. Just stay still.
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That's it. Just watch the Lord work on your
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behalf. It's so counter intuitive, isn't
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it? Because even when you're
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standing still, you want to do something.
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You take me back to that little gathering in my own illustration
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of my own life. I shared earlier and and I'm I'm
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I'm sitting still, but inside I'm doing to all kinds of
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things. I want to get out of here.
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Hurry up and early. It's done.
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We got to be like it. It's even in the standing still.
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You don't want to stand still, but the Lord wants you in a
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place where He can speak to you. He wants you in a place He could
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show you His power so that you can say to someone, hey, I read
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about God's power and I've heard about God's power.
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But let me tell you something. I have experienced it.
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It has changed my life. I've seen God deliver me.
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I've seen God speak to me. I've seen God lead me.
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I've seen God stop me. I've seen God take out the
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enemy, and if he's done it before, he'll continue to do it.
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I could write my own Psalms, you can write your own Psalms, but
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you got to do nothing. Stand still.
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You don't have to do anything. God will give you the peace.
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God will give you the victory. God will give you the help.
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And we'll get to the rest of the chapter next time.
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Amen, Lord, Thank you for your word and just speaking to us and
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showing us your faithfulness like it's so good.
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We're so grateful for you, Lord, and to see how these studies
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weave together of what Paul was going through on his missionary
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journeys and how you showed up and it seemed like Paul just
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needed a word from you. And now the children of Israel
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show you show up because they needed a word from you.
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And Moses is there and now he's got a different thing.
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He's, oh, you know what, let's go back to Egypt.
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I told you guys, I told you, Moses, we never wanted to go.
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And you're like, what? What do you mean?
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And so we just pray for that supernatural strength.
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God pour it out on us in abundance.
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We've said it to each other, and now we want to receive it.
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You've got nothing to be afraid about.
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You're going to take care of us, Lord, You promised.
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You're going to take care of the finances.
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You're going to take care of our children.
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You're going to take care of where we're going to live.
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You're going to take care of the food on our table.
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You're going to take care of the clothes on our back.
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You're going to take care of the government, you're going to take
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care of the election, you're going to take care of the laws,
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you're going to take care of the depravity that seems to be
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running wild. Lord, we, we just just
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strengthen us so that we might watch you, that we might trust
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you, that we might hear you, and then we can move.
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You got to part the Red Sea and we don't even know what you're
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going to do yet. We just got to wait.
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We don't even know what you're going to do.
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We just got to wait. You have a solution.
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There's a way, God, you can make a way where there is no way.
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So forgive us for our eyes and our feelings.
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They're very real, Lord, but they don't always tell us the
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truth. And we commit ourselves again
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today, fresh and anew, that you might revive us, strengthen us,
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give us wisdom from above in Jesus name, Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study,
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delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church.
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For prayer, call us at 87730 Grace that's 877-304-7223.
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To listen to this message in its entirety or to join us for our
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live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
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or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.