1 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,360 This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd. 2 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,240 Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,320 striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:21,560 our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,360 at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message. 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,120 We will be in Exodus chapter 15 and it is the victory song after 7 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:32,680 the Israelites cross the Red Sea. 8 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:36,960 And I got to tell you that this song, it's so full and it's so 9 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:41,840 rich that there is just no possible way that I can, I can 10 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,000 even like skim the surface of all of it. 11 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:48,160 And so here's the deal. I, I found a line that I think 12 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:51,120 is really important for us to hear about this morning within, 13 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,120 within that song. But I would encourage you, if 14 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,560 you're not already listening to it, please check out the the 15 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:00,520 Sunday Leftovers podcast that's going to hit tomorrow afternoon. 16 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,160 We dive deeper into the content that we don't have time for here 17 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,200 today. And if you're in a small group, 18 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,680 you've got a study guide and that's another layer that you 19 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,240 can do that. And if that's not enough, which 20 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,040 for a text like this that may not be enough, I'm going to 21 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:18,080 offer you a weird 4th resource that you may or may not want. 22 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,000 But here it is. So typically before I preach, 23 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,120 what I will personally do is I will go through verse by verse 24 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,480 and I write a commentary verse by verse. 25 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,720 Now that rarely gets shared with people because those are my own 26 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:33,960 personal thoughts and reflections on on what God is 27 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:37,960 saying here, right? But because this text is so rich 28 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:42,840 and so full, I have copies of my 5 page verse by verse 29 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,240 commentary. If you want that resource, those 30 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:50,080 are at the connections desk. You can grab one or not, but as 31 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:52,880 we continue to go deeper and deeper into God's Word and we 32 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,960 try and really ring out those truths and get those things 33 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,920 tattooed on our hearts, the more you can be just, you know, fully 34 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:02,040 dwelling in that by whatever resource. 35 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,560 I would encourage that. So if you want that, go ahead 36 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,680 and stop by the Connections desk at the end of the service. 37 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:13,520 Now, as far as like finding a line today and, and, and getting 38 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:16,760 something that we can kind of understand within a shorter 39 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,400 amount of time, we're going to look at today our warrior God. 40 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,080 Our God is a warrior. And we're going to look at this 41 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,520 under kind of three ideas. First of all, we need to know 42 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,920 why we need a warrior God. Second of all, we need to know 43 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:33,760 what he fights against. We need to know what he stands 44 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,240 for. And then we need to look at how 45 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,640 he fights. This text reveals all of those 46 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:41,920 things and more, but this is the line we're going to take today. 47 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,560 So I would encourage you, we're going to read Exodus 15. 48 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:47,440 We'll read verses one through 21. 49 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,880 Again, this is a song, so I'm not going to sing it because 50 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:56,000 that would be bad for all of us. I, you have no idea. 51 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,480 I, I feel so bad for my wife every Sunday because I'm over 52 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:04,200 here and I'm just like, I hope she's got this covered anyway, 53 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,240 so I'm not going to sing it. I'm not going to sing it too 54 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:07,760 bad. Not going to sing it, but I'll 55 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:09,520 read it to you. I'll read it to you. 56 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:14,200 Exodus 15, one through 21 and we read this in Jesus name. 57 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,840 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the 58 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,320 Lord, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed 59 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,320 gloriously. The horse and his rider he has 60 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,800 thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength in my 61 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,320 song. He has become my salvation. 62 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,520 This is my God and I will praise him, my Father's God, and I will 63 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,200 exalt him. The Lord is a man of war. 64 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,640 The Lord is his name. Pharaoh's Chariots and his host 65 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,840 he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the 66 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,320 Red Sea. The floods covered them. 67 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:52,720 They went down into the depths like a stone. 68 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:55,640 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power. 69 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,080 Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. 70 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,160 In the greatness of your Majesty, you overthrow your 71 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,760 adversaries. You send out your fury. 72 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,640 It consumes them like stubble at the blast of your nostrils. 73 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:11,560 The waters piled up, the floods stood in a heap, the deeps 74 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:13,920 congealed in the heart of the sea. 75 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:18,040 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the 76 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,800 spoil. My desire shall have its fill of 77 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:22,680 them. I will draw my sword. 78 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,920 My hand will destroy them. You blew with your wind. 79 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,760 The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the 80 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,400 mighty waters. Who is like you, O Lord among 81 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,360 the gods? Who is like you, majestic in 82 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:39,160 holiness, awesome and glorious deeds, doing wonders. 83 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:41,480 You stretched out your right hand. 84 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,960 The earth swallowed them. You have led your steadfast, you 85 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,320 have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have 86 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:51,520 redeemed. You have guided them by the 87 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,120 strength of your by by your strength to your holy abode. 88 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:57,920 The peoples have heard, they tremble. 89 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,200 Pangs have seized. The inhabitants of Philistia now 90 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,240 are the chiefs of Edom. Dismayed, trembling seizes the 91 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,120 leaders of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan 92 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:11,360 have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them 93 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,600 because you, because of the greatness of your arm. 94 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,800 They are still as a stone Till your people, O Lord, pass by, 95 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:24,080 till the people passed by whom you have purchased you, bring 96 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,080 them in and plant them on your own mountain. 97 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,600 The place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode, the 98 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:35,040 sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established, The Lord 99 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:39,560 will reign forever and ever. For when the horses, the Pharaoh 100 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,320 with his Chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the 101 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:44,760 Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. 102 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:48,040 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of 103 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,600 the sea. Then Miriam the prophetess, the 104 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,200 sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all 105 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:57,800 of the women went out with her with tambourines and dancing, 106 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:02,080 and Miriam sang to them. Sing to the Lord, for he has 107 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,320 triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider has been 108 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,640 thrown into the sea. Here ends the reading of God's 109 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:13,000 word. See you. 110 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:15,400 I mean, it was enough to read it. 111 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:19,000 If I attempted to sing that like, Oh my gosh, that would 112 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:20,320 have been that would have been pretty rough. 113 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:26,000 Now, the attributes of God, they are, well, they're well 114 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,520 documented. God is a loving Father, He's 115 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:34,400 compassionate, He is just, He is faithful, He is kind, He is 116 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,360 generous, and on and on and on. We could actually probably spend 117 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:42,200 the next 25 minutes just naming the attributes of God because 118 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:46,040 they are written all over, not only His word, but they are in 119 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:48,640 creation itself. The best parts that we see in 120 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,400 our world, in each other. Those are the things of God, 121 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:54,680 right? He, he, he's all these things. 122 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:59,960 But verse 3 tells us the Lord is a man of war. 123 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,600 The Lord is his name. In other words, the Lord is a 124 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:07,440 warrior. He is one who fights. 125 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:15,800 Now I understand with some peoples modern sensibilities, 126 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,000 they hear about war and they hear about God as this person 127 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:21,280 who fights in and vanquishes enemies. 128 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:23,360 And they're like, you know what? I really don't like that. 129 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,120 That's not really the kind of kind of God I want to worship. 130 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:31,600 I really like hippie Jesus who like prances in the meadows and 131 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,440 heals people and and does those kinds of things like that's 132 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:36,400 that's my God. The God of the quote UN quote, 133 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,520 the Old Testament is not my God. And so many people kind of 134 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,840 reject this idea of our God as a warrior. 135 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:45,720 And I would tell you that there are some very, very big mistakes 136 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:47,640 in that. But let me at least lay out a 137 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:49,480 couple reasons why people might do that. 138 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:51,720 Because maybe you, you are one of those people. 139 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,120 And if I can name the thing, if I can read your mind and name 140 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,480 the thing that makes us uncomfortable about God being a 141 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,560 warrior and a fighter, maybe we can start to work through some 142 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,720 of some of those issues. And so first, it we don't like, 143 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:08,560 we don't like God as a warrior and as a fighter because it 144 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:12,400 seems to draw us back to like a less civilized time in in world 145 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:14,720 history. So in other words, conflicts 146 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:18,320 primarily, up until several 100 years ago, conflicts were 147 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:22,440 primarily always done in violence and power. 148 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:25,480 So in other words, when we look at God as the fighter and God as 149 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,800 a warrior, and we say those things, we're like, yeah, but 150 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:30,440 that's not how we do things anymore. 151 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:32,360 We talk things out, and that's great. 152 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,679 And we should. I'm not, I'm not promoting war, 153 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,840 but I am saying that God when necessary, he fights. 154 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,320 And if we take that attribute away from him, we have done 155 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,240 something terrible. We have, we have made him 156 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,800 smaller than what he is and that is never a good thing. 157 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:51,360 Second reason, some people get caught up and and they don't 158 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,320 like the idea of warfare. And so they don't want anything 159 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,560 relating to violence or warfare related directly next to the 160 00:08:57,560 --> 00:09:00,680 Gospel, right? Because the gospel again, it's 161 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:02,480 Jesus and he loves me and he died for me. 162 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:06,240 And all that's true. But man, there was a war that 163 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,520 was fought in order for that to happen. 164 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,120 And so but people don't like that. 165 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:16,160 And the other thing is, and this is maybe most relevant, people 166 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:19,600 will sometimes reject or kind of rub up against God as a warrior 167 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,880 and as a fighter because I don't need that. 168 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:27,280 I don't need that. I am perfectly self-sufficient 169 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,040 on my own. I am morally self-sufficient. 170 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,240 I am a good enough person. I don't need him to fight for 171 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:38,640 me. Now saying all that to not 172 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:42,080 recognize God as a warrior. The problem is it really misses 173 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:45,680 some. They're just painfully important 174 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:48,880 things about his character and about how he treats us and about 175 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,000 how he interacts with the world now. 176 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:54,880 So we have to acknowledge first that war is not always fought 177 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:56,840 with weapons and physical violence. 178 00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:59,800 We can give, we can give war, we can give fighting that 179 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,200 definition that it does not have to be done with sticks and 180 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:06,160 stones and swords and guns and God knows what else today. 181 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:09,320 That's not always what war looks like. 182 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,000 Let me let me bring this closer to you. 183 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:23,400 If you have battled with depression or anxiety or some 184 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:28,800 form of spiritual oppression, you know that war doesn't just 185 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:31,320 happen on the battlefields. You know that war happens in 186 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,560 your head and in your heart. Now some of you, none of you 187 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:37,400 said Amen out loud, but you know who you are. 188 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:40,200 You probably walked in here with some stuff today and you're 189 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:43,760 like, man, I, it, it took everything I had just to get my 190 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,200 clothes on and be in public because it, it freaks me out. 191 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,880 I don't like leaving my home. I get so anxious. 192 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:53,040 I get so worked up. And, and, and so, man, you might 193 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:55,480 not be saying Amen out loud, but you better be saying that in 194 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,160 your head because God is fighting that war with you right 195 00:10:58,160 --> 00:10:59,800 now. He's doing it. 196 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:06,880 He's trying to fight with you. I should leave that there for 197 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:09,920 now. Now, understanding too, that we 198 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,160 fight a holy war every single day. 199 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,360 If you think that just because you have relative peace in your 200 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,600 physical life that you are not in a battle every single day, 201 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:22,280 you have, you have made a fatal mistake. 202 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:24,320 And here's what that mistake looks like. 203 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:29,080 That mistake looks like ignoring the enemy, because here's the 204 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:32,080 thing, when we ignore the enemy, we start taking shots from 205 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:34,840 directions we never even saw. Some of you are living an 206 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,760 incredibly difficult life and you look at that and you go, why 207 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,800 is why is this like this? What is happening? 208 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,200 One of the things that you made a major mistake on is you have 209 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:47,120 not recognized your enemy. You have not recognized that 210 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,040 you're in a fight. And because you don't know 211 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:51,560 you're in a fight, you're getting hit from every angle and 212 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:55,400 you never saw it coming. That's dangerous. 213 00:11:56,080 --> 00:12:00,760 That's incredibly dangerous. We have to see that that there 214 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,160 is an enemy. Now, we don't fear that enemy. 215 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:05,360 You want to know why we don't fear the enemy? 216 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,560 Because he's already defeated. But a wounded enemy is a 217 00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:12,280 dangerous enemy and he is wounded. 218 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,960 His time is limited. And so, man, we have to be on 219 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,160 the lookout. Now, you say to me, Pastor 220 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:19,640 Chris, well, what does that look like? 221 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:23,320 You haven't given me any practical application as to how 222 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,160 I'm supposed to do this. I'm glad you asked, because I'm 223 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:30,280 going to answer it for you. Let me give you a couple of ways 224 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:33,720 to get your warrior God fighting for you and on your side. 225 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:37,840 First and foremost, you better pray and you better be praying. 226 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:45,200 I promise you that there are Christians in this room who 227 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:49,560 rarely pray, and I promise you that those same Christians who 228 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:53,800 rarely pray, they are in a position of going, I can't seem 229 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:56,880 to figure this thing out. I love God, I've been, I've been 230 00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:59,520 looking at my Bible and stuff, but I don't feel that personal 231 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:01,320 connection. I feel like this is all 232 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:02,680 academic. It's very dry. 233 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:06,040 Have you prayed? Have you invited our warrior God 234 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:07,960 into your heart and into your mind through prayer? 235 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:09,720 Have you had conversation with Him? 236 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,880 Man, that's the key component to having him on your side, 237 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,080 fighting for you. Second thing, equip yourself 238 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:19,240 with His Word. This, this thing, it doesn't 239 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,840 just look cool on a shelf because it's a big thick book 240 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:26,240 and oh, he must be so smart. No, you need this, this the 241 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:31,280 Bible says God says that his word is a sword sharper than any 242 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,600 2 edged sword. It is sharp, it cuts, it fights. 243 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:40,000 When we look at Jesus and he is being tempted by a Satan in the 244 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,560 in the desert for 40 days, you know what he uses? 245 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:47,040 He uses the Word of God and they're all His words, but he 246 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,560 goes right back to the Psalms. He goes right back to God's 247 00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:52,520 promises in the Old Testament, and that's how he fights back. 248 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,560 That's how he beats back Satan. That's what war looks like. 249 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:58,400 If you're not going to war with this in your head, in your 250 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:01,760 heart, and coming out of your lips, man, you are greatly 251 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,320 stunted and you will have a difficult time. 252 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,520 Invite the warrior God into your life through His Word. 253 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:13,720 Next worship, man. By the way, you guys sounded 254 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,360 really good this morning. If you never sit in the front 255 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,880 row, you never get to hear the voices coming this way. 256 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,480 You guys sound great, but that's worship. 257 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,600 That's worship. If you look at verse one, I will 258 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:27,880 sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. 259 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:29,800 The horse in his ride he has thrown into the sea. 260 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:33,320 It gets repeated in verse 21 as a chorus. 261 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:37,200 Again, it's a song, right? So as we worship, as we lift up 262 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:39,520 our voices to God, that is a fight. 263 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:43,760 That is a battle because you know what's hard to do when I am 264 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,000 feeling anxious, when I'm feeling down, when I'm feeling 265 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,200 like I don't even want to be around other humans, You know, 266 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:50,520 it's really hard to do. Come in here and say I believe 267 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:53,000 in you. The Lord is my strength. 268 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,800 The Lord is my joy. But man, you know how powerful 269 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:58,680 that is? You know what a weapon that is? 270 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:03,920 God actually, in God's Word, He commands us not an option. 271 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:09,400 He commands us to sing. And men, I'm going to tell you 272 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,320 something, guys, this is not, this is going to make you very 273 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,840 uncomfortable, especially as we hit that last song today. 274 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:19,080 God says that men who follow him will lift their hands in 275 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:22,040 worship. They will raise holy hands as 276 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:25,760 they worship. That's a challenge. 277 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:30,760 Now, the thing about worship is, man, it moves our hearts in the 278 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:33,960 right direction. And what Satan wants from you is 279 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:36,360 he wants you to worship when you feel it. 280 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,360 Oh, I feel so close to God. So I'm going to worship. 281 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,680 What about when you don't? What about when you don't feel 282 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:46,120 it? That is the time that you 283 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:50,800 absolutely have to worship like a maniac because that worship is 284 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:55,560 your fight against Satan. Last thing here, don't fight 285 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:58,440 alone. Don't fight alone. 286 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:02,440 You have your warrior God in all these different ways, but don't 287 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:04,640 fight alone on this physical earth. 288 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,400 Have brothers and sisters in Christ on your left, on your 289 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,080 right, and guarding your six. You need that. 290 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:13,760 And I'm not just talking about friends that you text back and 291 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,600 forth with and you gossip with. And Mira, did you see that show? 292 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,120 Did you watch Netflix? No, I'm talking about friends 293 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,680 who will always point you back to the Bible, who will always 294 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:24,840 point you back to Jesus, no matter what's going on in your 295 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,360 life. They will worship with you when 296 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,680 you're having a great day and they will cry with you when your 297 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:35,040 heart is broken, but they will do it all with the gospel. 298 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,840 That's a good friend. That's somebody who you won't go 299 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,080 into war with you. Not somebody. 300 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:42,720 We all have casual friends, I get it. 301 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,560 But man, find people who will be your mat carriers. 302 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:50,320 I can't get into all that, but the the mat carriers who, who 303 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,720 carried the paralyzed man to see Jesus, He had four friends who 304 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,520 would carry his mat for him. They carried his weight. 305 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,840 Find your mat carriers, find them, go to war with them and 306 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,760 fight them into those spaces. Now, what does God fight against 307 00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:09,319 the Lord? I gotta get there, sorry. 308 00:17:10,599 --> 00:17:13,319 The Lord is a warrior and he fights against injustice is both 309 00:17:13,319 --> 00:17:16,560 seen and unseen in the world and in our lives. 310 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:21,599 However, this song, as this song goes on, we see two specific 311 00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:26,160 things that he fights against. Now we could go very, very broad 312 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,960 here, but I want to be, I want to be fair to the text and I 313 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:31,760 only want to bring up what the text brings up. 314 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:33,520 So I'm going to bring up two things here. 315 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:37,080 First and foremost, God fights against pride. 316 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:42,840 He fights against pride. You see these, these people, 317 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:46,520 these Egyptians, they fought, they thought far too much of 318 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:50,080 themselves and far too little of God. 319 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,320 Because quite frankly, as the Hebrews are coming out of Egypt 320 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,240 and they're stuck at the sea, they don't have any weapons. 321 00:17:57,160 --> 00:17:58,760 They, they have small children with them. 322 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:00,800 They have livestock. They're they're carrying their 323 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:03,600 ancient duffel bags and they're kind of weighed down, dude. 324 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,720 They have no chance. And so the enemy looks at them 325 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:08,520 and he's like, man, he's getting hungry. 326 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:10,800 He's salivating. He's like, I got this. 327 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:12,280 I'm going to get all my gold back. 328 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:13,680 I'm going to get all my jewelry back. 329 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,720 I'm going to get it all back. And I'm going to drag them by 330 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:20,160 their hair back to Egypt and I'm going to make their labor three 331 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:22,000 times as bad as it ever was before. 332 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,720 I am going to own them. I will dominate them. 333 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:30,320 This is pride. Now, the fact is, pride is 334 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:34,440 something that God has been fighting since creation fell. 335 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:39,040 Think about it this way. Adam and Eve, in the very 336 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:43,000 beginning, it was pride that caused them to fall. 337 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,400 I can be like God. I can be like God. 338 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,960 Yep, that's pride. And, and, and even before that, 339 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:56,920 it was Satan. Satan in all of his beauty, in 340 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:01,600 all of His Majesty, one of the angels of God thought, you know 341 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,960 what? I'm incredibly beautiful and I 342 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:09,400 can do this better than him. You can read about that fall in 343 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,640 Isaiah 14. It was pride looking forward 344 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,800 that caused King Nebuchadnezzar, that caused God to move King 345 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:19,160 Nebuchadnezzar into a state where he's more beast than man 346 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:21,600 because he refused to bow his knee to God. 347 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,640 He all the miracles, Nebuchadnezzar didn't matter. 348 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:26,160 He still thought he was the thing. 349 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:30,200 And it was. And it was pride that God fights 350 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,120 against in our lives and our hearts. 351 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:46,240 So I got to tell you. If you think because Jesus loves 352 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:52,480 you and Jesus died for you, that God will not go to war against 353 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,200 your pride, you have got another thing coming. 354 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:59,000 You should really rethink this entire thing because when we 355 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:04,840 exercise pride, God has natural consequences of war against that 356 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,720 thing. So let me put it this way. 357 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,560 When you are always thinking about your feelings and your 358 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:16,360 situation and your concern and your looks and your money and 359 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:18,240 you, you, you, you, you, it's all about you. 360 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:21,040 Because quite frankly, you are the star of this movie and 361 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,560 everybody else is just extras in the background. 362 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,360 That's pride, and it's ugly. Now, what's the natural 363 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:30,920 consequence that God fights against inside that pride? 364 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:35,680 Well, let me give you a secular psychologist who says this. 365 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:41,360 If you are overly focused on how you feel, how you think, and how 366 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:45,240 you act, but you lack the ability to regulate, you're not 367 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:48,680 helping yourself. In fact, you are more likely 368 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,840 hurting yourself. That is a secular psychologist 369 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:55,880 who although they may not know it, they agree with the Bible. 370 00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:00,200 You see how science eventually, once it finally makes its way up 371 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,080 to God, goes, Oh yeah, the Bible was right the entire time. 372 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,720 So let me tell you friends, let me just make this really clear 373 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,400 and really applicable that if you are stuck in your own head 374 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,000 and all of your thoughts are about you and woes me and this 375 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,400 me and this me and this me man, God's going to he's going to hit 376 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:17,680 you. And it's not because he doesn't 377 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,160 love you. He's going to hit you hard 378 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:22,360 because he does love you and he needs to kill that self 379 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:24,720 centeredness inside of you. Now, another thing that 380 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:26,840 psychologists tell us, and this is kind of interesting and then 381 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,440 I'll stop, but another interesting thing that 382 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:31,560 psychologists tell us is that for those suffering with 383 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,600 depression and anxiety, one of the greatest things that they 384 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:36,920 can do to help themselves is go serve. 385 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:43,560 Did you know that that service actually helps with anxiety and 386 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:45,400 depression? You want to know why? 387 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:47,640 It's because it's by God's design. 388 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,480 It's by God's design that that works. 389 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:54,000 So in other words, if I'm, if I'm feeling down, if I am 390 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,360 feeling overwhelmed, I need to get my thoughts off of me and 391 00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:02,560 put them back on God. Jesus came to serve, not to be 392 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:05,680 served. Makes sense. 393 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:10,000 Get out of your own head. You can't figure this thing out. 394 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,880 You go love somebody else and forget about yourself for a 395 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:17,920 minute and you might actually find that God was right the 396 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,240 entire time. Second thing he fights against 397 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:26,880 in this text, if we look at verses 11 and 12, it says Who, O 398 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:31,240 Lord among who is like you, O Lord among the gods, who's like 399 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:32,560 you? And, and here's the thing, all 400 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,520 those questions are rhetorical in nature. 401 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,640 Of course there's no one like this God, because here's the 402 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:46,360 fact, God is the only creator. He is not a created thing in the 403 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:48,800 entire universe. Everything that you see here, 404 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,880 feel touched, can't see, whatever, everything you can 405 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:57,480 experience has been created. God is the only one who has not 406 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,000 been created. He has created everything. 407 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:02,920 Now if you can wrap your head around the fact that there is 408 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:07,160 something that exists without being created itself, man, you 409 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:09,400 better come talk to me because my mind is like exploding 410 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:11,960 thinking about that. Like I can't really wrap my head 411 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:13,840 around it. I can say the words, but it 412 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:15,880 doesn't. Like, I don't know, it's a lot 413 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:17,320 for me. It's a lot for me. 414 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:21,240 But but that's the truth. And so God, knowing that he is 415 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:25,200 the only one who can save you because He created your immortal 416 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,080 soul, therefore he's the only one who has the right to save 417 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:32,360 it. He just wants your attention and 418 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:34,720 your affection. Have you given it to Him? 419 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:42,240 I'll tell you what. Your spouse can't save you, so 420 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:47,320 they're not worth worshipping. Your kids can't save you, so 421 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:52,080 they're not worth worshipping. Your job can't save you, so 422 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,960 that's not worth worshipping. Your money can't save you, so 423 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,120 that's not worth worshipping. Any possession you think you 424 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:03,240 need to be fulfilled cannot save you, so it is not worth 425 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,360 worshipping. God is in a war with Satan and 426 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:10,400 he is fighting for your attention and your affection. 427 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,160 Give it to him. You owe it to him. 428 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:17,760 But even beyond the fact that you owe it to him, give it to 429 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:22,200 him because he loves you more than anybody else ever will or 430 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,200 ever could. Give it to him. 431 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:33,600 Last thing, how he fights, OK, God fights in terribly 432 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:36,360 unconventional ways. And I, and I mean that in the in 433 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:39,520 the nicest way we read in verse 13, you have let in your 434 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:41,960 steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed. 435 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,280 You have guided them by the strength of your into the 436 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,560 strength of your holy abode. Now there's a lot there. 437 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:51,680 Again, more than I can talk about, but in the direct context 438 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,520 of this narrative, we see God, we see them celebrating because 439 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,520 God congealed the waters for a time. 440 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,080 That's a crazy concept. He congealed the waters for a 441 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,320 time, and then as soon as the enemies of his people were in 442 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,120 the right position and his people were safe, the waters 443 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,760 came down and crushed them. That's a fight. 444 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,800 It's not a fair fight, but it's a fight. 445 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:17,960 But that's the thing. God doesn't always fight in such 446 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:20,760 conventional ways, and we have to see the motivation of why he 447 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,560 did fight that way. He fought that way because of 448 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:28,920 his unending, steadfast love. That is the motivation for the 449 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:31,800 fight. Unending steadfast love. 450 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:36,000 Now as we take this idea and we and we get a greater view of the 451 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,680 narrative and in that, in that concept of a steadfast love. 452 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,880 So Fast forward to us, people like us. 453 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:49,280 How then is God fighting for us? Well, let's Fast forward to 454 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,160 Jesus. In Matthew 14 we read that Jesus 455 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:56,640 was amongst the crowds and He saw them and they were sick and 456 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,120 they were weak and He healed them. 457 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,440 He fought back Satan through healing. 458 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:06,960 And then later that same day, also in Matthew chapter 14, he 459 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:11,120 feeds over 5000 people because they had come to see their king 460 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,720 and they had nothing, that there was nowhere for them to get 461 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:18,400 food. So He fought off hunger by just 462 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,320 providing food miraculously for all those people. 463 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,880 And then in steadfast love, Jesus pushes back the powers of 464 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:30,880 evil as he casts out demon after demon, releasing people into 465 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,600 freedom. Because here's the thing, if, 466 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,960 if, if you're suffering from something like that, guess what? 467 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,040 You are isolated and the enemy has won. 468 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:42,520 He is, is isolated. You, you can't be part of the 469 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,240 community. Therefore he wins God in his 470 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:50,320 fight through Jesus Christ, in his steadfast love, he releases 471 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:52,920 those demons. He cast them out, he kicks them 472 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,680 out. Know that we can have 473 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,720 relationships both with God and man again and and and of course 474 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,080 Jesus and John chapter 17. He fights for us through prayer. 475 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,720 Do you know what God do you know Jesus is praying for you right 476 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:13,280 now, right now. He sits at the right hand of 477 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:17,960 God, the hand of power, and he intercedes for you in prayer 478 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:23,880 right now. I feel that. 479 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:29,320 I feel that because I wouldn't be on this stage if he wasn't 480 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,760 for me. If he wasn't praying for me, I 481 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:36,040 couldn't be here. And you can't be where you are 482 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,840 without him praying for you. He is fighting for you. 483 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:40,920 And let me give you one last thing and then we'll close. 484 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:48,240 Jesus fought like hell on the cross, but it didn't look like 485 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,680 it didn't look like the warrior, the fighter that the people 486 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:56,560 wanted in Jesus's day, the those who are seeking the Messiah and 487 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,120 waiting for him, They were waiting for somebody like King 488 00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:01,720 David who was going to come in and he was going to be this 489 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:05,600 great warrior and he was going to slay giants with a stone or a 490 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,440 sword or whatever, and he was going to take back political 491 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,600 power for his people and the Romans were going to be kicked 492 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:15,280 out. It's not the warrior we have, is 493 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:17,920 it? It's not the warrior we wanted, 494 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,120 but it's the warrior that we needed because as he fights on 495 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:25,240 the cross, he looks at the people who persecuted him. 496 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,400 He looks at the people who killed him, and he said, Lord 497 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:28,640 forgive them. They don't know what they're 498 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,040 doing. That's the kind of way that's 499 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,680 how our God fights. He fights in humility. 500 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:42,560 He fights with his own life. Friends, don't miss that. 501 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:47,800 Don't miss the fact that God has sacrificed everything in his 502 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,240 fight for you. And the fight is done. 503 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:53,160 I understand that we go through things. 504 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:57,960 I, I feel it, I really do. But the fight is done. 505 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,200 And he won it on the cross with his blood. 506 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:07,560 He, he, he shed, he shed it all. He gave it all away so that you 507 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:11,120 could be confident that in this war you have already won. 508 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:12,960 Amen. Let's pray. 509 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:18,720 Thanks for listening to ERC Sundays. 510 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,200 To support the work God is doing an Emmaus Rd. church, visit 511 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,160 emmausrdonline.org/giving.