1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,600 God paints a picture of the Promised land because he's 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:08,800 trying to see, have I found a man or a woman that looks at the 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,280 blessing not as the byproducts of their relationship with me, 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:18,320 but as me themselves? All right, last week we were 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:23,120 talking out of Psalm 32 and I, we're talking about Moses and 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:28,640 how Moses was an intercessor and Moses cried out on behalf of 7 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,080 Israel. And there's this disturbing 8 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,560 passage. And I, I stand by that 9 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:37,960 disturbing passage in Exodus 32. It ends out on a high note. 10 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,640 It's a good, but it's, it's, it should cause us all the pause. 11 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,000 We've got to be so careful. We don't just read over 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:45,640 Scripture. We're familiar with the story. 13 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:47,680 We don't think about what's really happening. 14 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:50,080 Moses is in the pocket of intercession. 15 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,520 He's up on the mountain. God's just giving them all the 16 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,680 law, all about the temple. And then the Lord says this to 17 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,200 him. Now, Moses, leave me alone. 18 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:00,000 You ever had the Lord tell you that? 19 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,200 That's sobering. Leave me alone, Moses, that my 20 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:10,160 anger may burn hot and then I will make it. 21 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:12,520 He said I'm going to destroy the children of Israel because of 22 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:14,240 the rebellion. There's stiff necked people. 23 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,880 They were down. They were having a party. 24 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,040 The parties used to go to before you got saved. 25 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:24,440 They were they were having this party and the Lord said my anger 26 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,600 burns hot and then I will make a great nation out of you. 27 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:32,160 And we talked about how that that phrase, you know, leave me 28 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,600 alone. How disturbing that is for Moses 29 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,760 to hear yet. But Moses did not move, which is 30 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,160 a really intriguing thing, This this man of God, the leader of 31 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,320 Israel. God tells him to leave them 32 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:46,680 alone, and Moses stays put. Was it a disobedience? 33 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,680 No, it was out of revelation. Moses knew God, there was 34 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,120 intimacy with God so that he could interpret what God was 35 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,360 really saying. And rather than hearing it's 36 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:02,320 inevitable Israel will be destroyed, he saw an invitation 37 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,440 to intercede on their behalf. And he thought, oh, you need to 38 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,360 be alone for your anger to burn. And he dug his heels in and he 39 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,120 said, Lord. And he began to remind the Lord. 40 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,360 And we were talking out of that passage in Isaiah. 41 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:18,000 I want to say it's chapter 44, but it says bring me into 42 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:22,160 remembrance. Debate or argue with me. 43 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,240 He's inviting them. Hey, contend with me so that I 44 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:29,720 can bring you into your inheritance and all that you 45 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:31,600 promised. I promised you. 46 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,800 And so there's a place in God that God invites us to remind 47 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,800 him of his past promises and argue with him in the present. 48 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,640 Literally get in an argument with God based upon the 49 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:46,880 principles of his word so that we can see breakthrough in the 50 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,240 future. This thing is much more 51 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,480 relational than you and I often think of. 52 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:56,840 And so Moses understood this is not an inevitability. 53 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,160 It was an invitation. And so he dug his heels in and 54 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,160 he cried out and God spared the nation of Israel. 55 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:09,040 It's an amazing passage. And so, God, let's read it. 56 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:19,600 Look at Chapter 22. Look, look at verse 30. 57 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,400 The next day Moses said to the people you have sent. 58 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:24,520 So Moses hears this on the mountain. 59 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,240 God relents, he comes down the mountain. 60 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:32,640 Now it says that Moses anger burned hot because Moses is the 61 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:35,560 go between. He is a priest of of the most 62 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,160 high God. He functions in that role that 63 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:40,640 before God. He pleads the case of the 64 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,600 people. He said God have mercy on them. 65 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,720 But then when he comes down to the people, he speaks for God 66 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,120 and he picks up God's heart and he sees why God's anger was 67 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,600 burning hot. And he, he breaks the stone 68 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,840 tablets and, and, and 3000 of the people die. 69 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:01,280 And then he says this the next day Moses said to the people, 70 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,920 you have sinned a great sin. And now, now I will go up to the 71 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,120 Lord. Perhaps there's a chance he 72 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,520 says, I can make atonement for your sins. 73 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:14,560 So Moses returned to the Lord. Alas, the people have sinned a 74 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:16,959 great sin. They have made for themselves 75 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:19,560 gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive 76 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:24,160 their sin, forgive their sin. But if not, please blot me out 77 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:25,880 of your book that you have written. 78 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,000 That is an astounding thing to say. 79 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:39,440 There's only one other guy other than Jesus in Scripture that 80 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:41,680 prayed a prayer like that, and that was the apostle Paul. 81 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:47,560 The apostle Paul prayed for Israel and said God, He said I 82 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:53,280 would allow my soul to be damned to see God's chosen people 83 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,520 reinstated and reconciled to him. 84 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,440 It's an amazing thing. That's why Paul could say on the 85 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,640 with all confidence, he said Israel will be saved and we 86 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,400 before this thing called human history wraps up. 87 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:12,560 It's going to happen because God will not deny the prayer of 88 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,960 somebody that wraps themselves around their request so firmly. 89 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:18,600 We see the same with Moses and God. 90 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:24,160 God tells him, he says whoever has sinned against me, I will 91 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,200 blot out of my book. But now you go lead the people 92 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:28,840 to the place which I have spoken to you. 93 00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:30,760 God said, OK, I'm going to let you go in. 94 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:34,560 Behold, my Angel shall go before you. 95 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,120 Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin 96 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:39,200 upon them. Then the Lord sent a plague on 97 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:41,880 the people because of the calf and the one that Aaron had made. 98 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:47,960 We brush over these as new covenant people and we don't 99 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,480 deal with these types of verses because through the new covenant 100 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:57,880 we, we tend to forget that that side of God's nature, that God 101 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:02,080 is just, he is holy and he hates sin because of what it does to 102 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,440 people. And so God's anger was burning 103 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,680 because there were these this next generation coming up and 104 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,120 the people who should have known better in sausage miracles had 105 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,360 sinned so greatly against him. But God had an intercessor in 106 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,120 the place of Moses. And so once Moses stood in God's 107 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:23,040 presence, said God, if you don't, if you don't allow them 108 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:24,880 to live, then then blot my name out. 109 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,160 And the Lord's relented. And then we go into verse 33. 110 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:30,440 The Lord said to Moses, depart, go up from here, you and the 111 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,360 people whom you are brought out of the land of Egypt to the land 112 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,160 which I swore to Aram, Isaac and Jacob saying to your offspring, 113 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,120 I will give it. So the Lord is saying, I'm going 114 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:39,400 to I'm going to make good on my promise. 115 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:43,320 I will send an Angel before you and he we will drive out the 116 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,640 Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, parasites, the Hivites, the 117 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:48,320 Jebusites and all the other sites. 118 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,520 Verse 3 go up to a land of flowing with milk and honey. 119 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:58,040 But I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, 120 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,800 for you are a stiff necked people. 121 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,600 Sobering. Now I want to I want to point 122 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:06,680 something out to you. God says to them. 123 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,440 Verse 3, Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. 124 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,480 God paints this picture and reminds them, look at what I'm 125 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:19,040 offering you, this lush land flowing with milk and honey. 126 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:21,480 And by the way, I'm not going with you, I'm going to send an 127 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,800 Angel. And I would propose to you that 128 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:29,120 God was baiting Moses and He would have made good on his 129 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:30,640 word. He would have, He would have 130 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:34,360 allowed Moses to lead the people into the promised land without 131 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,480 his presence. They could have went in for with 132 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:38,880 an Angel. They could have got the presents 133 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:44,120 of the blessing PRESENTS without the presence. 134 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:45,240 I'm not even going to try that one. 135 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:50,120 He without God's presence. But Moses, he, he's unwilling to 136 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,280 go. So listen to what it says here. 137 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,720 When the people heard the disastrous word, they mourned 138 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:02,360 and no one put on his ornaments. We don't have time to get into 139 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:04,240 all this, but so look at verse 7. 140 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,640 I'd encourage you to go and and read this under look at verse 7. 141 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:13,240 Now Moses used to no, I'm sorry, verse 12, verse 12, Moses said 142 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:15,600 to the people or to the Lord rather. 143 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,600 So Moses has gone. The word is disastrous. 144 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,720 They take all their ornaments off their jewelry and and it 145 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:24,000 says from horrible. They're they're not wearing that 146 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:25,280 stuff because they're in a grief. 147 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,920 They realize the cost of their sin and they're they're grieved. 148 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,559 And so now Moses goes back into the presence of the Lord in 149 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,000 verse 12. And this is the interchange that 150 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:39,039 we want to look at this morning. Moses said the Lord, see, you 151 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:42,559 have said to me, bring this people up, but you've not let me 152 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:46,680 know whom you will send with me. You've said I know you by name. 153 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,640 Moses is pleading a case again. He's back in the pocket and he's 154 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:52,920 pleading with the Lord. He's arguing with the Lord. 155 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:54,640 He's he's entering into a debate. 156 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,080 He's reminding the Lord just like that verse in Isaiah we 157 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:02,240 talked about, it's an amazing thing and we can't just scoot by 158 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,880 this stuff. There's there's an invitation 159 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:11,560 from God for us to contend with him on these matters, but when 160 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:16,080 we have a shallow relationship with God, we easily pull out of 161 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:18,800 the pocket of intercession. Well, I guess it's God's will. 162 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,840 I guess this is my circumstance rather than carrying the heart 163 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,800 of these situations and bringing them before the Lord. 164 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,240 Last week when we were talking about this whole thing of God 165 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,920 saying I'm going to destroy Israel, we're talking about how 166 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:38,800 Moses understood that that was an expression of intention but 167 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:43,800 not an expression of desire. And those are two separate 168 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:47,240 things. There are times where, as a good 169 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:52,240 parent will at time fully intend and even follow through on 170 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:54,400 something they do not want to do. 171 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,120 And they'll tell their children this is what's going to happen. 172 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,520 And it's not because it's a desire that they've been 173 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:05,720 cultivating within their heart. It's an intention because they 174 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,760 know they can't do what they really want to do because the 175 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,600 behavior of that child has canceled out that possibility. 176 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:15,720 And they know I can't give them all I want to give them. 177 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:17,200 I can't do all that I want to do. 178 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,200 So they withhold and they they speak an intention, but not a 179 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:22,360 desire. And Moses, because of his 180 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:25,200 relationship with God, he discerned that that's an 181 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,560 expression of intention. God is going to kill this entire 182 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:30,960 nation. So Moses digs his heels and it 183 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:35,320 says, God, please, please, is there any way around this thing? 184 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:38,120 Will you withhold your hand? He reminds of Lord, what are 185 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,280 the, what are the pagans that you, they were delivered from in 186 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:43,560 Egypt? What about the Pagan nations who 187 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:45,720 serve other gods that we're coming into? 188 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,640 What are they going to think that you, you rescued them to 189 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:50,840 kill them? Lord, what about what you said 190 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:54,080 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? He's reminding God of his 191 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,040 promises and his principles. And in interacting with God, he 192 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:02,600 secures the deliverance in the salvation of an entire nation. 193 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:09,120 It's amazing. And so now he's back in God's 194 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,400 presence. And God said, I won't kill him, 195 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:13,920 but I ain't going with you into the promised land. 196 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,360 And Moses begins to talk to the Lord again. 197 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,360 But listen how he reasons with the Lord. 198 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:25,000 He said, Lord, you've, you said to me, I know you by name. 199 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:26,560 Now I'm going to be honest with you. 200 00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:31,480 I don't know what that means because we know God's 201 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,120 omniscient. He knows all our names. 202 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:34,840 So why would Moses bring that up? 203 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:39,120 He's talking about some special relationship that he has with 204 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:42,400 God that there's something about. 205 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:44,840 I know you by name. He said, God, you told me that 206 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:47,600 we're, we are personally acquainted. 207 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:52,520 And Lord, you told me I have found favor with you and God, if 208 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,320 I found favor with you, he begins to leverage the 209 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,200 relationship he has with God for the sake of the people. 210 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,560 And I want to propose to you this morning that God has 211 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:07,720 invited all of us into that process. 212 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,520 But not all of us have equal favor with God. 213 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:17,760 We don't all walk in the same level of favor, but we can. 214 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,680 There's an invitation. We all have equal access through 215 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:25,360 the blood of Christ. You see, as believers in the 216 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:29,040 born again experience, we've been given favor. 217 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,520 The word here, favor is hen. They say if you speak Hebrew, 218 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:34,800 you never have to clear your throat. 219 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:36,320 You just talk and it does it for you. 220 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,600 Hen. It's HEN, but it's, it's 221 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:44,080 pronounced hen. It's it's grace and favor and 222 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,720 even popularity. So Moses is saying, God, you 223 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:51,520 told me I was popular in heaven. You told me, Lord, that I have 224 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,520 found favor. I have grace from you and he's 225 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,200 leveraging that and he's, he's saying, God, you're telling me 226 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:02,920 there's something special about our relationship that I'm going 227 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:06,400 to leverage for everybody else. You say, well, pastor, I I think 228 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:08,560 you might be stretching that and saying, well, not everybody has 229 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:12,320 equal favor. If God were to tell Moses, you 230 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,320 have favor with me and we all have equal favor to be a 231 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:19,520 nonsensical statement. Be like saying Moses, you're a 232 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:24,200 human, you're a human being. So I'm going to Ant he wouldn't 233 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,680 refer to that. He says to Mary, you who are 234 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:34,240 highly favored, so there is a deposit of grace in the form of 235 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:36,880 favor. When we get saved, every one of 236 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,800 us, we come in, it's by grace and we have favor with God and 237 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:43,320 we can come boldly before the throne of grace. 238 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,160 That's favor, That's grace, and that's a wonderful thing. 239 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:52,560 But there's levels of favor and most people park it there. 240 00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:57,200 They are satisfied to have the grace of salvation and the favor 241 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,880 of salvation. I'm in Christ, I'm going to 242 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:03,080 heaven. That's favor and they get stuck 243 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:06,160 right there. You remember when God called 244 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:09,080 Abram when he was still Abraham and not Abraham? 245 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:14,160 Genesis chapter 12, what he says to him, He said Abram, he said 246 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:17,200 get up and leave the place you are. 247 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,920 And I'm going to bring you to a place I've not yet told you 248 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:24,960 about and I will bless you so you can be a blessing. 249 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:27,760 The first one, I'm going to bless you. 250 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:33,280 But the blessing on your life is to be leveraged for the nations 251 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:38,160 of the earth. The the initial grace on you is 252 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:42,440 to be used as leverage so other people can enter into the grace 253 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,040 you have. That is what a priest does. 254 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:49,240 And the fact is you and I. First, Peter says that you and I 255 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:54,840 are a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a Kingdom of 256 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,800 priests. We are meant to be go betweens. 257 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:03,920 We receive grace just like Abraham. 258 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:07,680 We receive blessing so we can be a blessing. 259 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,440 And here's the danger. God was baiting Moses. 260 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:15,720 He said Moses, I'm going to send you into a land. 261 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:19,320 And he mentions again, he paints this attractive picture flowing 262 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:21,760 with milk and honey. It's yours. 263 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,680 You've broke through an intercession. 264 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:25,920 I'm going to answer your initial prayer. 265 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,000 I won't kill them. I'm going to let you lead them 266 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,320 in. Oh, by the way, I'm not going 267 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,880 just like the first time he says, Moses, I'm going to kill 268 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,640 that entire nation and I will make a great nation out of you. 269 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:44,840 And there was a an opportunity to Moses to step in and make his 270 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,680 name great. He could have forsaken the 271 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:51,040 people and said, wow, this is this is pretty heady stuff. 272 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,800 This is amazing. It'll be the nation of MO. 273 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,480 They're going to bear my name, and down through history, 274 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:58,920 everybody's going to Remember Me as the father of the nation. 275 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:02,360 But Moses says, no, it's not about me being a blessing. 276 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:05,160 I'm a blessing to or to being blessed. 277 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:09,720 It's for me to be a blessing. And he refuses that invitation. 278 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:12,640 And he presses in and he takes the favor on him. 279 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:17,000 And rather than absorbing it, he stretches it over the children 280 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:18,360 of Israel. And he said, Lord, if I have 281 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,400 found favor, Lord, please spare them. 282 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,640 And so again in the next interchange, he said, Lord, if I 283 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,880 have found favor with you, Lord, you told me you know me by name. 284 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:34,080 Lord, you told me I've found favor. 285 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:39,040 If that is true, the Lord go with us. 286 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,640 Lord, here, let's read exactly what he says Here. 287 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,080 Let me read you this, this, this found favor here. 288 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,520 If I can find it real quick here, it's an interesting phrase 289 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:58,160 found the Hebrew word found means to come to, to attain or 290 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:03,200 to arrive at. And again, there are levels of 291 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:05,960 favor. See God's no respecter of 292 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:07,520 persons. It's very clear in Scripture, 293 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:12,560 but he is a respecter of hard attitude and not everybody walks 294 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,680 in equal favor. If we did, it would be nonsense 295 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:17,760 for him to say to Mary, you are highly favored. 296 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:21,119 Well, why greet that if if it's just a generic phrase that we 297 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,119 all enjoy and we don't? There are people who walk in 298 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:26,560 greater favor with God, greater grace upon their life. 299 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:31,320 But the greater grace on your life is intended to extend to 300 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:35,240 other people. And every time we walk in the 301 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,280 grace of God, anytime that there's a blessing, there is a 302 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:42,200 temptation to only embrace the first stage. 303 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:46,040 I am blessed and we forget about being a blessing. 304 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,480 God paints a picture of the promised land because he's 305 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:56,680 trying to see, have I found a man or a woman that looks at the 306 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:00,200 blessing not as the byproducts of their relationship with me, 307 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:05,040 but as me themselves? And so God is looking for people 308 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:09,320 who will recognize the greatest blessing is him. 309 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:14,000 When you are invited into a relationship with him, that is 310 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,880 the blessing. And, and we are so easily 311 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,480 distracted and God is looking throughout the earth. 312 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,440 Can I find the people who are captured by me? 313 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,360 And then when they're captured by me, they're not pulled away 314 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:32,360 of the blessing by the blessing of being in relationship to me. 315 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,200 Because it's inevitable. When you get into relationship 316 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,600 with God, all of a sudden your life begins to work better. 317 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,040 You're not spending money on stupid stuff. 318 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,120 You're not, you're not drinking your paycheck away, you're not 319 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:52,240 spending it on Internet porn and all this crazy stuff. 320 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:56,440 All of a sudden the bondages in your life get broken and now all 321 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,440 of a sudden there's margin in your life and you're like, this 322 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:00,760 is a blessing. And the danger for every 323 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:04,760 believer is that we get distracted by the land flowing 324 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,520 with milk and honey and we forget that we've lost his 325 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:10,720 presence. And God is looking for a people 326 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:12,720 like Moses. Let's say, God, if you're not 327 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:13,960 going with us, we don't want to go. 328 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,360 Lord, all of those external things are not, that's not what 329 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:22,360 we want. God told this frightening thing 330 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:26,160 to Moses and Moses reiterated to the nation of Israel. 331 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:30,800 He said when you enter the promised land and you forget 332 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,560 about me and the prosperity, he's, he's in the context. 333 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:36,640 It's when you enter the prosperity of the promised land 334 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:41,880 and you forget me almost as if it's an inevitability, but I'm 335 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:45,040 telling you it's not. I pray this all the time to the 336 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:47,120 Lord. We're we were over at Julia 337 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:49,400 Kritsky's father's house last night. 338 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:54,640 His I love the guy. He his his understood your your 339 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,400 grandparents, your grandmother and grandfather were both in a 340 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:02,000 Nazi prison camp for five years. Then they were delivered. 341 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:07,200 His his dad ended up getting saved and planting underground 342 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,800 churches in Russia, in Ukraine. The KGB was after him. 343 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:16,000 Amazing story. But we were talking about how in 344 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,680 that abject poverty and under oppression, the church thrived. 345 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,520 But then often when people move to the prosperity of the West, 346 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:25,280 all of a sudden they become apathetic. 347 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,000 And it just breaks my heart. And I've I found myself praying 348 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,760 this again and again. God, Lord, the prosperity of the 349 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:37,880 West is not too great for you. You are great enough to capture 350 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,240 our attention so that we can resist the enticement of 351 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:46,080 prosperity. Does God have to impoverish to 352 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:51,160 keep us connected to Him, or is He great enough to capture our 353 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,200 heart so that we can resist the enticements? 354 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:59,080 Can God find a people that when they come into blessing because 355 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,920 of their relationship with them, they're not distracted by the 356 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,560 blessing? They recognize those blessings, 357 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:08,800 whatever they are. All of a sudden our families 358 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:12,920 begin to work, the dysfunctional relationships become functional 359 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,120 financially, we got margin. All of a sudden we're a better 360 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:18,840 worker. We start making more money, all 361 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:23,880 the blessings, but we wreck, we continue to recognize all of 362 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,000 this is merely A byproduct. The main thing is the main 363 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:31,520 thing, God, the best thing about serving you is you, Lord. 364 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,520 And, and I find myself praying again and again and I, I, I feel 365 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,720 embarrassed. It seems like a crime. 366 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,240 It seems, it almost seems sinful. 367 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,360 But I pray this and I say, God, you know my weakness. 368 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,960 God, win me all over again. Lord, reveal yourself to me 369 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,240 again. Lord, you know how easily 370 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,920 distracted I am that you bless me. 371 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,760 And pretty soon I'm down the rabbit trail playing with the 372 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:01,800 toys and forgetting about the one who gave them to me. 373 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:08,280 And it seems tragic that we even need to talk like that, that we 374 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:11,200 would be distracted from the things He gives us. 375 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,760 And suddenly we think that's the blessing. 376 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:17,360 That's not the blessing. The blessing is Him. 377 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:20,840 And furthermore, once we break into the blessing and we have 378 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,920 relationship with them, the whole purpose of this, the only 379 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,320 reason you and I are still here is so that we can be those who 380 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:31,840 represent Him to the nations of the earth. 381 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,200 But the, the strategy of the enemy and so many believers, we 382 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,280 park it at that first level of favor, it's favors for 383 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:42,400 salvation. By grace, we are saved. 384 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,560 And we, we began to enjoy the blessings. 385 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:48,360 And pretty soon we're so caught up in these blessings, we've 386 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:51,280 forgotten about him. We're still going to heaven, but 387 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:53,880 we're not concerned with taking anyone with us. 388 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:58,240 We're all caught up in the blessings and God, God is 389 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:01,280 looking for people. And I believe he was baiting no 390 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,520 Moses and saying, Moses, listen, I'm going to give you a land. 391 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,600 I want to remind you it's flowing with milk and honey. 392 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:11,200 You're going to move into homes you didn't build, garden gardens 393 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:13,240 you didn't have to plant. It's going to be awesome. 394 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:14,680 Moses. Oh, but by the way, I forgot to 395 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:19,120 mention, I'm not going with you. And God found a man in Moses. 396 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:20,760 That's it. God, if you're not going, we're 397 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:25,360 not going. I cannot move into my future 398 00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:28,520 without you. And when God found that, he 399 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,520 found the man through which he could lead. 400 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:35,200 And I'm telling you that the nature of our relationship, 401 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:39,600 every one of us are called to be an influence. 402 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,000 Every one of us. We are a Kingdom of priests. 403 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:48,000 This is not just for leaders. In fact, we're all called the 404 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:52,440 leadership, we're all called some form, some fashion to be 405 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,280 those who grow up into that state where our lives become a 406 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,560 blessing and we've got to guard against and we've got to pray 407 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,240 against and we've got to begin to bring our hearts before the 408 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:06,240 Lord continuously say, God, forgive me, I am such, I'm so 409 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:10,040 easily distracted, Lord, please, Lord. 410 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:12,840 And Moses says that. He says, please Lord, come with 411 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:15,040 us, Lord. He's crying out to God. 412 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:20,080 He's looking for a people who would use their favor. 413 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:23,840 Moses had found favor with God and now was leveraging his 414 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,000 personal favor for the nation's sake. 415 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,560 He was using what the Lord had told him about himself. 416 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:32,920 And you know, he said, God, you said this about me, you said 417 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,400 this about me. If that's true, the Lord do this 418 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,880 and God wants to bless you, but He wants to use that blessing 419 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:47,280 and you to take it back to him. Everything that you've developed 420 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,720 in your relationship with God, and then you use that to move 421 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,520 him. Lord, if I found any favor, the 422 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:55,680 Lord, I'm asking you, extend it to others. 423 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,160 I stand in the gap for those who have not yet found favor. 424 00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:02,600 I stand in the gap for those whose minds are so darkened or 425 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,000 their bodies are so broken, they're so consumed with their 426 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,480 own brokenness that they don't have the capacity to give you 427 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:09,720 their attention and their affection. 428 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,560 And Lord, I'm here before them, before you for them. 429 00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:17,720 And Moses takes the favor on his life, and he begins to extend it 430 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:22,000 over. Here's the sobering thing that 431 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:28,000 positions of leadership are meant to be entry points for the 432 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,920 blessing of God upon others. And the whole thing we call the 433 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:36,720 call of God is actually God giving you grace, and you 434 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:39,840 cultivate that in a relationship with Him. 435 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:43,360 And because of the call on your life, God will give you things 436 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:47,440 you don't deserve. Revelation, wisdom, gifts of the 437 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,200 Spirit, even finances. He'll give you things. 438 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,240 It's not that you've earned it. It's the grace of God being 439 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:55,960 released to you. But He expects you to leverage 440 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,440 it for others. And we as mature, immature 441 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,880 little children end up just playing with the toys and 442 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,320 hoarding them. And it's we were meant to be a 443 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,720 conduit, not a reservoir that just keeps the hold of the 444 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,680 blessings. And God has to look for another. 445 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:16,160 And So what, what Moses did is Moses would come before the Lord 446 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:20,960 and say, God, if I found favor with you, Lord, if, if I found 447 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:27,040 any kind of if, if I, if my life garners your attention, then 448 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,000 Lord, I'm asking you, I'm standing and I'm leveraging 449 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,000 that. Lord, would you visit them? 450 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,160 And God would answer him again and again. 451 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:36,680 Your life is supposed to be lived for others. 452 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,160 Intercession is more than a prayer life. 453 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,760 Moses lived in an intercessory life. 454 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:48,560 He lived his life for other people and in so doing emulated 455 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:55,680 and expressed the life of God. God is by nature sacrificial, 456 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,520 for God so loved He gave His only begotten Son. 457 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:04,520 You know that the the only two things that God could give us 458 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:09,040 that He couldn't replace where His Son and His Spirit, because 459 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:13,240 they were uncreated. The Father gave the uncreated 460 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:18,280 Son and the uncreated Spirit and He gave us both of them at great 461 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,960 expense. And when we are emulate, when we 462 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:26,320 become like him, we begin to live our lives for other people. 463 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:32,480 And everything that we crossover into in our in our relationship 464 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,640 with God is actually leveraged for the life of other people. 465 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,120 And if we're not seeing it that way, we're stuck in this selfish 466 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:45,280 immaturity that we're just absorbing blessings and we end 467 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,000 up getting distracted from the real blessing, which is him. 468 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:55,640 And I believe God baited no Moses twice He said, I'll make a 469 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:57,680 great nation out of you. No, Lord, I don't want any of 470 00:27:57,680 --> 00:27:58,600 it. I don't need my name. 471 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,640 Great. I need you to save these people 472 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,320 you've entrusted me with. Then he said, OK, I'm going to 473 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:05,120 let you lead him in and I'm going to give you the promise 474 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:07,360 on, but I'm not going with you. And Moses is digging his heel. 475 00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:10,120 And no, Lord, if you don't go with us, I don't want to go up 476 00:28:10,120 --> 00:28:13,320 from here. God is looking for people who 477 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:15,880 value His presence above all else. 478 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:19,760 And then once we break into favor, we keep our eyes fixed on 479 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:21,800 Him. We keep crying on God. 480 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:27,040 Save me from my distractions, help me not to be distracted 481 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,560 because that one of the greatest barriers from God are the 482 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:32,720 blessings that come because of him. 483 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:38,000 In the sermon on the of the soils, there were those whose 484 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,520 hearts were hard. That first type of soil, it was 485 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:42,200 trodden path. Their heart was so hard. 486 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,840 The word of God could not penetrate the second type of 487 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,520 soil. If I remember right, I believe 488 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:55,200 it was the third time. The third one is that the there 489 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,360 was such blessing. It was the the the grew up with 490 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:01,720 the plant. It was the cares of this life, 491 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:06,960 the deceitfulness of riches and the troubles of this world. 492 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,720 And they conspire those three things and they choke out the 493 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,000 word of God. The second one was trials. 494 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:16,840 The first one was hardened heart. 495 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:20,560 We can't even receive the word. The second one trials and we we 496 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:22,320 get offended and we walk away from God. 497 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,480 And the third one is we get choked out by blessings. 498 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,560 There's a progression here. Some people never accept Jesus 499 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:33,080 because their heart is hard. There's some that come into the 500 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:36,920 faith, but because they haven't dealt with the unyielding stones 501 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:42,080 under the surface, as soon as the the the hot heat of the sun 502 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,800 begins to bake them, they get offended and they walk away from 503 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:46,560 God. And there's some that will 504 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:50,320 endure the trials of life and break into the blessings. 505 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:54,480 But as those weeds begin to grow, they they endured the 506 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:58,400 trials, but they can't make it through the blessings. 507 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:05,360 And then there's those who bring forth 3060 and a hundredfold 508 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:12,800 harvest because they don't get distracted by the blessings and 509 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:17,360 they understand any favor on my life, any blessing on my life is 510 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:21,000 meant to be for others. That God, you're going to, you 511 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:23,640 want to use me, You want to use my life. 512 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:25,960 And, and I'm telling you, that's what leadership is. 513 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:30,680 Leadership is US leveraging our life for the sake of other 514 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,440 people. We live our life before God and 515 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:36,400 anything he does in US. OK, how can I help others with 516 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:38,760 this? And that's the way to keep the 517 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:40,200 flow. You only get to keep what you 518 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:42,640 give away. But if you become a reservoir 519 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:45,880 that begins to hoard, you'll stop the blessing because you 520 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,000 cut yourself off from the very thing that brought it. 521 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:51,160 And there are a lot of believers that live there. 522 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:55,280 They've gotten distracted from God. 523 00:30:55,280 --> 00:31:01,720 They've lost their first love. That's why we need to pray. 524 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,720 And again, I'm embarrassed to admit that I have to pray. 525 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:09,040 God, Lord, win my heart. God, give me a fresh revelation 526 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:12,160 of you. Lord, I got distracted from the 527 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:16,680 last one. Lord, you've been so good to me. 528 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:21,400 But now that you've been good, I've got caught up in all these 529 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:24,720 things. Lord, would you reveal yourself 530 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:28,960 again? And if we'll keep that God, God 531 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:32,480 can use our life. And that is what we're all 532 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:36,240 called to do. We're to become an access point 533 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:41,720 for God to bless other people. And let me just say this, the 534 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,640 scary thing about that principle, a leadership 535 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:50,920 principle, that God will choose someone, bless them to be a 536 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:56,120 blessing, and they become a conduit through which a church, 537 00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,920 a family, a city, a nation is blessed. 538 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:04,040 The flip side works for darkness as well. 539 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:11,720 That's why we have to pray for our leaders, our president, your 540 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:17,240 pastor. We need, I need your prayers 541 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,720 because if I'm distracted and I did something stupid, it would 542 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:27,960 hurt a lot of people. David, as the man who was chosen 543 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:31,720 by God to be a blessing to the nation of Israel, was a 544 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:35,000 tremendous blessing. And they lived under the favor 545 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,960 until David sinned. He counted the fighting men and 546 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,800 a plague broke out. And David cried out to God, 547 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:42,560 withhold your hand. It was I who did it. 548 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:46,200 The people are suffering because what we need to understand is 549 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:50,160 positions of leadership are actually access points for the 550 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:53,840 spiritual realm. And when God grants us influence 551 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,720 at whatever level we have in other people's lives, it was 552 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,720 intended to flow blessing and we posture life. 553 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:01,520 God, Lord, I want to relate with you. 554 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:03,560 I want to know you more. Show me your ways. 555 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:05,480 And then I want to give away everything I have. 556 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,800 And Lord, I want to stretch anything, you, anybody that's 557 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,360 under my influence. Lord, I want to stretch the 558 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:12,960 blessing you've given me over them. 559 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,960 But if the enemy can corrupt a leader, then there's great harm 560 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:20,520 that comes through that same opening called leadership. 561 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,560 That's why we need to pray. Paul said pray for your leaders 562 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:31,280 and I implore you, pray for, pray for your leader. 563 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:36,920 Pray for our president, pray for all our pastors, pray for our 564 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:40,360 elders. Let's pray for those that are 565 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,280 have influence. Some of you have seen the the 566 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:47,080 video that came out here in the last two weeks and I'm not going 567 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,960 to comment on it until they're the, the, the ones that are 568 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:52,480 being addressed have an opportunity to answer for 569 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:55,040 themselves. But we need to pray. 570 00:33:55,240 --> 00:34:00,560 We need to pray for our leaders because we can all start out 571 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:06,160 well and get pulled off track by distractions, get pulled off 572 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:11,280 track by we, we, we so enjoy the blessings of the initial wave of 573 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:15,199 grace called salvation that we fail to leverage it for anybody 574 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:19,280 or move into greater blessing. And Moses was the one who went 575 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,320 from glory to glory, favor to favor. 576 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:24,560 He, he's crying out to God. God, don't kill him. 577 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:26,920 He says, OK, I won't kill him, but I'm not going with you. 578 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:28,920 He says, please go with us. He said, OK, I'll go with you. 579 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:30,840 And then Moses said, show me your glory. 580 00:34:32,679 --> 00:34:35,880 Hey, thanks for watching. At Heartland Church, we love to 581 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:37,639 worship the Lord and we love His Word. 582 00:34:37,639 --> 00:34:41,440 In fact, if you could jump on and subscribe to our YouTube 583 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:43,719 channel, you could make sure that you don't miss any of the 584 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:45,840 services. We'd love to have you join us 585 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,920 live or in person every week. See you next time.