The subject of today's study, but it was something, it's kind
of where my heart is when I, when I go to people's
businesses. I mean, if you're going to ask a
friend for a favour, you know, that's different.
But if you're going to go to their place of business and
support them, you know, be willing to support them because
they're good at their job and they're going to do good for you
because they're going to do it for the Lord.
That's the goal, right? So today we're going to be in
Exodus 5, but we're going to start with the last verse of
Exodus 4. And it's so the people believed.
And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of
Israel and that he looked on their affliction, then they
bowed their heads and worshipped.
And Lord, I just lift up this time.
I lift up just just you and and thank you to give us this time
that we get to just spend with you and Lord that you you care
enough to to look down and see us Lord, but that you are so you
are also so worthy to be seen or that you you're so big and so
mighty and Lord that you were able to do more than we could
ever ask or think. And I pray all this in Jesus
name, Amen. So Israel, the name of my the
name of my study and it's really it's going to make sense.
But feeling is a victim and or, or feeling victim or surrender
surrendered victor, which is Israel you will see through
through Exodus. Israel is all about how they
feel today, right? And they, they have a hard time
understanding who God is and why this is happening kind of thing.
But anyway, we'll go first one of X of chapter 5 says after
afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh.
Thus says the Lord God of Israel, let my people go that
they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.
So we're just going to go through this real quick because
it's kind of a funny story. But Moses here gives credit,
right? This is the most when you when
you look at Moses, sorry, when you look at Moses, you got to
give him some credit. This is the most powerful man in
the known world and Moses is going to go in and demand.
So Moses automatically knows who he's speaking for, right?
Moses, however he thinks this is going to go, Moses doesn't think
he's walking in and getting it done right?
This this is literally stating this command, this demand is
this is the kind of thing that could get you killed, right?
This is Moses walking in has to, I mean, just the fact that he
did it means he was trusting the Lord because this year or more
to the point of even trusting, he was submitted to what the
Lord wanted him to do. He was surrendered, which is,
you know, the if he dies, he dies kind of thing because he's
just going to follow the Lord. And then verse 2, it's Pharaoh
said, who is the Lord that I should obey Bay the obey his
voice to let Israel go. I do not know the Lord, nor will
I let Israel go. And this is I mean, as much as
we're going to pick on the Pharaoh through this whole
thing, this is not this is really not unreasonable, right?
This is Moses, who he probably knew of Moses and he may have
known him when he was younger, but this is 40 years later.
And Moses is like, who is this Lord you were talking about?
Who who are you talking about? My slaves have a Lord.
And then Moses here, you know, after after Pharaoh asked that
Moses starts, you know, he started in with gusto.
The Lord said, let my people go. Verse three, he goes to I think
we do this right, blame God and not not in a bad way, but in a,
in a please, please do this so God doesn't doesn't get mad at
us, which is so they said the God of the Hebrews has met with
us. Please let us go three days
journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God,
lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.
So Pharaoh, please do this so God doesn't get mad at us.
And you know, please let us go and this the Pharaoh then
chapter verse 4 and and reason we're going through this quick
is there is a whole application thing that we'll get into.
But I just wanted to step through these verses as they
went because it's kind of a funny story when you, if you can
picture be in there, you know, Pharaoh this pretty flat footed
for the as far as when Moses comes in, Pharaoh has no idea
this is coming and then this back and forth, right.
And this is verse 4. It's the king of Egypt said to
them, Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their
work get back to your labor. And the Pharaoh said, look, the
people of the land are many now and you make them rest from
their labor. Like what are you doing?
And so the first one is, is Pharaoh's kind of shocked by the
conversation now. Now Pharaoh kind of gets his
wits about me. Like who are who are you?
What are you doing? Why are you talking to me about
my slaves? And they have a God.
I'm their God, I'm their master, I'm their Lord.
And they need to remember who's in charge.
So then MO then the Pharaoh says in verse 6, and this is this is
the part that a lot of times we don't like is when when God
stirs up our life, right? So the same day Pharaoh
commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers
saying, you shall no longer give the people straw to make brick
as before. Let them go and gather straw for
themselves, and you shall lay on them a quota of bricks, which
they may or they made before you shall not reduce it for their
for they are idle. Therefore they cry out, saying,
Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it,
and let them not regard false words.
The taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and
spoke to the people, saying, Thus says Pharaoh, I will give
you straw, I will not give you straw, Go get yourself straw
where you can find it. Yet none of your work will be
reduced. So the people were scattered
abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather straw instead
of stubble or stubble instead of straw.
And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, Fulfill your
work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.
Also the officers of the children of Israel whom
Pharaoh's taskmaster had sent over them were beaten and were
asked why have you not fulfilled your task in making bricks both
yesterday and today as before? So the disruption of the status
quo was complete, right? Suddenly, suddenly the children
of Israel got got the idea of what what was going to happen,
right? This is, and, and a lot of times
in our lives, that is what happens.
You know, I, I want Jesus to come in and fix things and well,
he's going to, he's going to fix things and it's going to disrupt
my life. I mean, I can remember when I
first got saved, you know, I, I worked in construction and there
were, you know, jokes that I wasn't going to tell.
There were words that weren't going to come out of my mouth.
There were, there were stands I was going to have to make and
that wasn't going to be easy. The my flesh was going to want
to do what it'd only done and be comfortable.
And the Lord was going to make it awkward.
He was going to make it difficult because that's, that's
who he is. And I, I think you guys have all
heard Jesus takes me as I am and that that's how he takes us.
Exactly. I mean, he took Israel exactly
as they are, but he loves me too much to lead me that way, right?
So with Israel in this, he accepted them as they were.
He looked down, he saw their affliction and now he's going to
come and he's going to fix it. But like most things, we,
they're, they're looking outward and the Lord's going to fix
their hearts, right? And and he's going to work on
the world. But it's, it's definitely not a
easy, you know, the our flesh doesn't die easy is basically it
the end of chapter 4. God was praised and worshipped
because he saw them and was going to help.
And and that's we get excited, right?
Our feelings can get all welled up in a worship service or in a
somebody, somebody can come up and give a great message, you
know, other than me, somebody that gives great messages and
you can get excited. But to remember that when when
you get home and it's you and God, right, there's a there's a
you and him thing that that he's going to work on this right.
He always knows what needs to change and the this is the
Israel part and and kind of where we're at is thinking.
I know what I need is kind of a crazy thought since what I
thought is what got me into the mess, right, Israel.
Israel wanted to continue on the status quo they had and be
saved. Well, that's never going to work
because that's what got him into the mess in the 1st place right
there. There's got to be some
disruption. And the, the leadership here
suddenly was, was not comfortable.
They, they suddenly they were getting beaten.
I mean, you got to figure picture our Congress, right?
This is tell, tell our Congress they have to balance the budget
and they they're like, oh, oh, well, you know, they come up
with all the reasons. Well, if the ballot, the budget
wasn't balanced, they didn't get paid.
Suddenly, I'm betting the that might change the way they
balance the budget, right? Or if they had to pay out of
their pockets any money that wasn't covered, right?
It wasn't only that they didn't get paid, is that it cost them.
You know, these guys were getting beaten because they
weren't getting the quota. And and what we say and what
they say, what they said was Lord help.
And what God says is I am, trust me.
And Israel felt like victims. And this is Israel going through
the the Old Testament, through judges and on biz.
Israel plays the victim. They when I say that they play
the it's, it's all happening to me and it's happening to me and
I had nothing to do with it. And Lord, you need to fix it.
And that's what Israel comes to Moses with in verse 15.
Then the officers of the children of Israel came and
cried or sorry. They came to Pharaoh first
Israel and came and cried out to Pharaoh saying we are.
Why are you dealing with your servants?
Thus with your servants, there is no straw given to your
servants. And they say to us, make bricks.
And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is your
own people. They aren't giving a straw,
right? So they go to the world and ask
for, for relief, right? They don't go to God, They go to
the world and they want, they want God to rescue, but they,
they, they don't want to be in trouble in the world at the same
time. So remember my, my line, God
wants all the blame. And so therefore he wants you to
trust in Him completely, and he is willing to take you to a
place where all you have is him so that you have to trust Him,
right? And that but that The thing is
when you get there, that's where true rest is is true rest is
found in complete surrender to Him.
And Pharaoh, of course, here is is angry.
But I would tell you that Pharaoh is probably kind of
vindictively angry, more of a more of just a funny because
they come, they come whining. And Pharaoh, Pharaoh probably is
mad, but at the same time kind of chuckling on the inside
because this is, you know, I got them back.
I got them back where they need to be.
Verse 17 it says, But he said you were idle, idle.
Therefore you say, let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.
Therefore go now and work, for no straw shall be given you, yet
you shall deliver the quota of bricks.
And the officers of the children of Israel saw that there was
they were in trouble. After it was said, You shall not
reduce any bricks from your daily quota.
So Pharaoh's just got him right back where he wants them, right
back under his thumb. They understand I'm in charge.
This this whole thing with the Lord's going to go away because
that I'm just, they're just silly slaves.
And they started out with excitement.
They started out with excitement that God saw them and he, he was
going to help them. And they were, they were
excited. Moses and Aaron had heard from
the Lord, but suddenly this was their problem.
The, the leaders, they had a problem and they, they didn't
understand who God was or who God is in, in, in our terms,
right? And so then they come to Moses
and Aaron because that's who spoke to them.
And they say then as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses
and Aaron who stood there to meet them.
And they said to them, let the Lord look on you and judge,
because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of
Pharaoh, in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in
their hands to kill us. And over and over again Israel
will accuse Moses of taking him out into the wilderness to
starve taking him out of the wilderness.
So they all kinds of things right because they continually
think that Moses is in charge and they they don't recognize
who God is and they don't recognize how big he is.
It's what I've got in my notes is God save me from this evil
world instead of God save me a Sinner.
Israel doesn't recognize that they are in need.
They are in need personally for a savior, not not the the evil.
The evil world is doing bad things to me and I need you to
protect me from the evil world. It's I'm, I have fallen short,
right? I I need God and Moses and Aaron
here. Moses returned to the Lord and
said, Lord, why have you brought trouble on these people?
Why is it you have sent me for since I came to Pharaoh to speak
in your name, he is none evil to the people, neither have you
delivered your people at all. And I said last week, Moses,
Moses had got in and sat down, right?
So he was bought into what the Lord wanted to do.
And this isn't Moses trying to get out.
This is Moses asking the questions, right?
Trying to get some clarity on what's going on and and why is
it going on And this is it. So I haven't heard this is, this
is a question and, and it's a whiny question because I, I
think we, we whine quite a bit. If you go through the book of
Job, you'll find Job never curses.
God doesn't rebel against him, but he whines quite a bit.
So whining is something that God's people do.
Not saying it's not sinful, it's we, we need to trust him, but
it's, this is not a voice of rebellion.
Israel has a voice of rebellion that they don't want what God's
offering. They want to go back to the way
it was and if you think about what Moses's understanding of
who God is, Moses understood how big God was and what God was
asking him to do. When you, when you look back at
the first thing he did, you can imagine the faith it took and
the, the, the stepping out of himself it took to walk into the
the most powerful man in the world and saying, the Lord says,
let my people go. That is not something Moses did
in his flesh. It's not something Moses did
going, this is going to go well. But it was something Moses did
because he trusted God and he trusted God because God had told
him what was going to go on. He gave him an outline right
back in back in chapter 4, verse 23, it says, so I say to you,
and this is God talking to Pharaoh or what God's going to
say to Pharaoh. So I say to you, let my son go
that he may serve me. But if you refuse to let him go,
indeed I will kill your son, your first born.
Moses knows God wins and Moses doesn't know how God wins.
He but he knows God wins. Now doesn't mean that there
aren't questions, right? There's always always that that
questioning hard. It's trying to get that wine out
of our voice of, you know, Mary. When you think of Mary and
Gabriel coming to her, she had questions, but they were they
were questions on how are you going to do this?
Not not you're not able to do this.
And and really that's Moses here is is why are we doing it this
way? And it's something that as we go
through our Christian walk, do we understand how big the God we
serve is? Have we had that moment with him
that we have like surrendered my understanding for his his
ability? Right.
I don't know how he's going to do it.
I mean, that's, you know, building a water line across
Africa. Probably hundreds of times I've
been asked how are you going to do that?
I have no idea, right. And that was doesn't mean that I
didn't do the next thing every time it was open, right.
I, I just kept moving forward on whatever the next thing God put
in front of me. But it wasn't that I knew I or
to this day that I know how we build a living water line across
Africa. I know he said that's what we're
going to do. So it's going to happen.
And, and so anywhere that I have opportunities from, from this
position to help in Uganda, in Africa, I do right.
I, I pray for those people. I, I send encouraging messages
to them. I do what I can do from here as
those opportunities line up, but I don't, I don't ever question
whether or not God's going to do it because he said he would.
And and that's, that is the God we serve.
He is big enough to do what he says he's going to do.
And Israel never shouldn't say never haven't in most of their
history really recognized they, they understand he's holy, but
they never recognized that they're not the victim.
They're the victor. You're not the victim.
You're the victor if you were in Christ.
And the reason you're the victor is because he already won.
And that doesn't mean there isn't a battle, right?
It just means that he is who he says he is.
And something Moses understood who God was.
And if you look at the two different ways that Moses met
God and the Israelites met God, Moses met God in a fire, right?
And that's he met him in a fire. Isaiah met him in the temple.
Job met him in a cloud, right? And it's Isaiah when he met him,
said, woe is me, for I am undone because I'm a man of unclean
lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
Job, when he met him said, behold, I am vile, what shall I
answer you? I lay my hand over my mouth.
Peter when he met Jesus and recognized his position, he said
when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus's knees and
saying, depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
And Ezekiel, you ever read the vision in in Ezekiel one, it
says, I like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy
day. So was the appearance of the
brightness all around it. It was the appearance of the
likeness of the glory of the Lord.
So when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard the voice of one
speaking. John met Jesus in revelation in
his glorified body and said, I fell at his feet as dead.
And Jesus said, don't be afraid. I am the 1st and the last, which
is Paul met him. When Paul, when Saul met him
trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what do you want me to do?
And Joshua, when he met the commander of the Lord's army,
fell on his face to the earth and worship.
These guys met God and when they met him, they understood how big
he was and how small they were and how much they needed what he
had. And it's Israel accepted God on
their team. He was their champion.
He wasn't their Lord. He he was going to be part of
their team. They weren't, they weren't in
his story. They were.
He was just part of their story. And if and if he didn't do what
they wanted him to do, they were going another way, right?
They had No Fear of the Lord, right?
Next, Proverbs 910 says the fear of the Lord is beginning of
wisdom. They didn't understand He is God
and is worthy. They were the children of
Israel. They were God's children and
they deserved help. Guys, we don't deserve anything
except death. He, he came and died to give,
right? And we, we deserve death and he
loved us enough to come. And my, one of my favorite
quotes in the Narnia books is from Beaver.
And I can't remember which one of the kids sees Aslan for the
first time. It was probably the youngest one
and sees Aslan for the first time.
And he's a big lion and he's walking towards them and, and
looks at Beaver and goes, boy, is he safe.
And Beaver says no, but he's good.
That's the God we serve. Is he safe?
No, but he's good. He is.
He is the maker of everything, the builder of all, and he is
good. And when we, when we come to
him, it's just kind of disrupt our lives because our lives are
built on, on this earth. And we think that there's stuff
here that is, that is worthy of our, our praise and, and honor
and, and joy and where happiness comes from.
And it's just not. And so Moses here was 100%
obeying God and got the back of his head slapped by the Pharaoh,
right. And Peter gives us some insight
about how our walk here on earth is going to go in first.
Peter 1-6. This is the game plan God has
for us. In this you greatly rejoice,
though now for a little while, if need be, you have been
grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith,
being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is
tested by fire, may be found to praise and honor and glory at
the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love,
though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with
joy inexpressible, full of glory, receiving the end of your
face, the salvation of your souls.
And that we will have trials. It's not if it's will, it's
when. The Lord cares what's going on
and wants to help, right? And, and is 100% able to do it.
But that takes growth for us, right?
We, we talked, I think on don't remember it was last week or
Wednesday, talked about Stony ground like Wednesday I talked
about Stony ground and Stony ground.
Mark 416. These likewise are the ones sewn
on Stony ground. When they hear the word,
immediately they received it with gladness, and they have no
root in themselves and so endure only for a time afterwards, when
tribulations or persecutions arise for the word's sake,
immediately they stumble. So did that not sound like what
Israel did right? They, they were excited.
They heard it. They, they, they heard what
Moses said and they were excited because they were going to be
saved, but they had no root in it.
There was they, they wanted, they wanted to have all the
fruit with none of the none of the growth that that's required.
I, one of the pastors down down the Tri-City said, and I imagine
he got it from somebody because it's, is that fruit is not grown
on the mountaintop. It's grown in the valley, right?
And as believers, we don't go from mountaintop to mountaintop
to mountaintop. We go mountaintop into valleys
to mountaintop, right? Which we have those great.
We're going to go to the ministry conference.
And I, I guarantee that when you just dedicate a weekend to the
Lord, you're going to hear from him and you're going to, you're
going to have some highs that are just wonderful.
And then you're going to come back and Monday mornings going
to happen and you're going to be at work and all those highs you
were feeling over the weekend, suddenly reality strikes and
you're back in a valley, right? And the key there is to remember
that God is in both places and is using both of them for his
glory to get you where he wants you to be and to never be in
that position of not trusting him right in in Hebrews 11/1
says now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen. If I know who God is and I
recognize how big he is and in the beginning God created and on
the third day Jesus rose again. I'm pretty sure he's got my work
life figured out and, and whatever's got whatever or my,
my home life, my family life, whatever The thing is, God has
that in his control. And there's, I don't have the
verse, but it's when I die, I'm going to be with Jesus.
So the only thing that somebody, the the worst thing somebody
could do to me is kill me. And what is that going to do but
send me to Jesus? Everything that goes on in this
world, in this time is a blip of my future.
I live for eternity. I don't live for tomorrow.
I don't live. I live in such a way that I can
trust that he's got it under control.
And that means there's suck that happens out there, guys that
that real hurt happens. And it really sucks.
These these leaders truly got beat.
Joshua makes a mistake. They're sin in the camp and 36
men truly die and left their families as widows and orphans,
right? Real bad things happen.
If we trust God, we know that those things happen and the most
people that can get saved are going to get saved through all
of the junk. If there was a better way,
that's the way it would happen. You know, Joe, when you go
through Job, all of those things, if there was a better
way, that's the way it would happen.
We have to trust the Lord's plan and a lot of times that's laying
down everybody around us, right? It is Luke 1426 and believe it
or not this is became one of my favorite verses as I was going
through 2020. If anyone comes to me and does
not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and
sisters, yes, and even his own life also, He cannot be my
disciple. And whoever does not bear his
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
And everybody's like, wow, you can't hate people.
You have to, you have to understand that Jesus, it's
pretty simple. He wants 100%, not not 92%, not
99.9%. He wants 100%.
And that isn't because he's selfish.
That's because he knows if you have anything between you and
him, it's poisonous to you. It is it.
It will poison your spirit because it's something the enemy
can use against you. If you have anything that is a
Yeah, but it is outside of Christ, right?
It is the moment you think that this thing will make me happy
instead of I am already full of joy, full of peace because I'm
in Christ now. God, God gives us great things.
He gives. I mean, I have a wonderful wife.
She's not in here so I can talk about her.
I have a wonderful wife who loves me and he's a she's a gift
from him. He wants to give us good things.
But if at any point I put my hands around her and I say she's
mine guiding me, you're going to have a problem, right, because
he's going to say you got to keep your hand open, right?
You got to keep your hand open with your relationships in your
life, their your vehicles in your life, your your job,
everything. It's like Lord, whatever you
want to do with it, right, Uganda, right.
So here, here's a so my plan, because I always have plans, my
plan nuclear nuclear supervisor spend three to six months in
Uganda work outages, have a fifth wheel, go to work.
My plan is working and then go be a pastor in Sandpoint.
If if my hand wasn't open about Uganda, I'd, I'd have said said
this is this is what I do, Lord, I, I'm a missionary in Uganda.
This is this is mine. This is what I do.
But my job is really simple. Not my will, but your will be
done, Lord. And and that is truly it.
If I, if I exchange my my wants and desires for his wants and
desires, guys, there is nothing better on this earth than what
he wants from me. I mean, if it, if I were, if I
had decided I was going to do Uganda, my work life would be
miserable right now and Uganda would be falling apart because
there's no way if I step out of his will that I get to do all
the things that he wants me to do because I'm not doing what he
wants me to do. So even in ministry, if you
decide that you're just going to be about your work, then you're
just a slave to the world because you're trying to make
yourself happy in the world system instead of resting and
trusting in his plan. And, and it's been his plan
since before the foundations of the Earth, right?
It isn't. None of this is a shock to him,
but it you know John 316 which gets beat up, but the the
problem with John 316 and it's not the verse, it's our
understanding of it is very often we we settle like Israel
in John 316 for God so loved the world.
I am so excited praise and worship he gave his only
begotten son That is so awesome praise and worship that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have everlasting
life. I am a victim and I need Jesus
to come and save me. That that the problem with that
is there's this who that whomever believes in him that
not that is not I believe that Jesus because before I was a
believer, I believed I had went through the whole thing and
figured out how I could sleep at night and I believed that Jesus
was a real man and he really walked on the earth.
I believed that he was crucified.
I believe that I believed I even believed he was born of a
virgin. Right, that fine, I'll believe
that. And I believed he rose on the
third day. I believe that, and so I'm good.
So I am now. I am now saved and I'm good.
Except I didn't believe in him, right?
And that believe word is to trust in him, to rely upon him,
to place all confidence in him, to entrust myself to him, to
lean all of my weight of my life on him.
That's believe. That's what that word mean.
And if we're not doing that, then we're acting like Israel.
We're just victims. I need, I need to get out of
jail free card because I'm a good person and the world is
evil. I'm not a good person.
The world is evil, but I'm not a good person.
I'm in the world. I need a Savior that is able to
do what He says, and I believe Jesus is that He is.
He is above and beyond right. Hebrews 11611 six through 8
says. But without faith it is
impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe
that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently
seek Him by faith. Noah, being divinely warned of
things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for
the saving of his household, by which he commanded, commended
the world, and became heir of righteousness, which is in
accord to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he
was called to go out to the place which he was would receive
as an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was
going. So Noah and Abraham did things
not because they understood what God was asking.
They understood who God was in the in the in the human mind,
right is they understood God was big enough to do what he said
right. They Noah understood that God
said build a boat on the land. It has never you got to remember
that in Noah's eight day it had never rained.
The dew came up from the from the ground and watered the
fields. So Noah had no explanation on.
Why or how this boat was going to be used.
Abraham got called to go to a a place he had never been because
God said that isn't trusting that the world has a plan that's
trusting that God's big enough to use the plan that he's got
for me. And if and if we've given our
life to Christ, this is the cost to trust him right?
And that is my when that that full surrender is full faith and
full belief He is able to do what he says.
And that my job as a believer is to do everything as unto the
Lord and not to men, which is get my eyes off the world and
just do what he tells me to do. And that takes prayer and that
takes time. But that trust is when we look
at Romans 828 and you will over the years, you will hear me beat
that verse up because it is so misquoted so often.
But what Israel's missing is they don't understand Roman 828,
which is God does uses all things together for the good of
those who love him, right? That does not mean that God uses
everything for my good. He uses everything for the good
and the good is as many souls into heaven as can get there.
And my life surrender to him is saying, Lord, use my life for
that process. I am willingly surrendering that
to you. And The thing is, when that
happens, when I'm in Christ and I am made new, I'm able to do
that. Second Corinthians 517 is all I
just, I hate it when I do that. Gosh, it's like one of my life
verses and I just space it because I'm standing up here
and you get a new Bible and all the pages are in the wrong
place. It's the it's the Bible.
It isn't me. So 2nd Corinthians 517 says
therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become
new and that all things have become new guys is when I give
my life to Jesus. He doesn't take he doesn't take
Nick and go, man, there's a lot of good pieces here.
We can make something out of this.
No, they're nothing good there. All things become new.
The old passes away. And and that's what I'm trusting
in is that he is able to use this broken, useless person and
do amazing things in the Kingdom.
You know, you guys hear it all the time, but we're in his
story, right? The beginning of this was Moses
in God's words. Moses trusted God's words,
right? And then Moses shared God word,
God's words. Thus says the Lord God of
Israel, let my people go and and Moses didn't know how that was
going to happen. He he just trusted God, said it
and told him to repeat it. Do we do that right?
And how important is God's word in our life?
And God's word obviously is like I say, it's twofold.
It is what is it is what is here written down in the Bible?
And it's also that still small voice that's speaking to you
that obviously won't go against the words of the other
Scriptures, but it also will will take you right and say, go
talk to that person. Go do these things right.
John 11 says in the beginning was the Word and the word was
with God and the word was God that's Speaking of Jesus.
But then Revelation 1913, he would clothe in a robe dipped in
blood and his name is called the word of God.
So do you trust that God has a plan for you?
Do you trust that he can speak to you?
And when He speaks to you, do you trust and go and do?
Do you obey, right? And that's when you get back to
that believe. Do you believe the Word?
Do you trust His word? Do you rely upon His word?
Do you believe confidently in His word?
Do you entrust yourself to His Word?
Just like Moses said, let my people go.
Jesus is saying that each of us. He is saying, let go of this
world and trust me. I won.
Write that surrender if we surrender to Jesus, we have one
if, if we just feel like a victim who who needs somebody to
save them. We are we're we're missing it
because we we think that he's coming to defend us from the
world and he's actually using us to conquer the world because
that's what he's going to do with Israel, right?
He's going to Israel is literally going to lay waste to
Egypt. He, they're going to plunder
them, right? They're going to take all their
valuables and it's all going to be because God did it, right?
But it's when Israel and Moses as they, as they go through this
process, guys, I'm not saying, I mean, Israel's going to fail
over and over and over and over again.
Do you know anybody like that, right?
So, but there are little glimpses of moments when they
get it, Moses gets it. Do you get it?
Do I get it? He's bigger than we can imagine.
And he is able to use all the stuff in all the stuff on our
level, all the stuff at the city level, all the stuff at the
state level, all the stuff at the national level, all the
stuff at the international level.
He is able to use all of it for his will, for his glory.
And and it will. That does not mean at any point
that life goes along smooth and level, which I would tell you
Israel's life definitely does not go along smooth and level,
but God will use it all for his glory.
That good stuff. That's good stuff, right?
I I, I really enjoy the idea of getting serious with him right
of being that exchange life of just if guys, if you read your
word, if you're in your Bible, reading the word and you just
listen and follow the rest that you receive is you don't get it
in the world that my when life sucks, like I've said,
Colossians 323. I just work for the Lord, which
means I just need to do my best. It doesn't mean my best is good
enough. You know, it's I need to die to
myself. You know, Galatians 220, which
is this life. I I mean, it's, I've been
crucified, but the end is this life I now live in in the flesh.
I live by faith, right, which means I don't have it in me to
do everything as unto the Lord. I have to live by faith in him
and what he already did. And then when I do that, he,
when, when I live for him, he manifests himself to me, which
is John 1421. You know, when I, when I follow
his commandments, he manifests himself.
He grows. The more I follow, the bigger he
gets, the, the clearer I see him.
We're we're going to do communion and it's a time, guys,
that that's that question to ask yourself.
Say, Lord, is there anything I have that I got my hand around?
Is there anything that I think you can't do that I'm that I'm
trying to do that. I'm going to the world to try
and fix it instead of coming to you, Lord, am I, am I listening?
Am I willing to just say yes, Lord, am I willing to walk into
the Pharaoh and say, let my people go?
And I mean, guys, give Moses and Aaron credit for that moment.
That moment is the is the declaration, right?
It's the IT is the declaration that there that Moses is well,
here we go, right? This is this is an UN, this
wasn't irrevocable moment, right?
I, I can't remember in nuclear, there is a thing like that where
it's a critical step is something that can't be backed
up from. Well, you going in and demanding
to the Pharaoh is something that can't be backed up from because
and when I say that, what I mean is Moses declared the Lord said
let my people go, which means Moses is making a stand that his
God is big enough to force the Pharaoh to let him go.
You know, if Moses walks away and and and Israel doesn't end
up free, then God failed and Pharaoh's bigger.
But we know how that the end of the book is and trust me when I
tell you Pharaoh is not bigger, but this is Jesus, right?
And when he instituted the Lord's Supper, says the Lord
Jesus, on the same night in which he would was portrayed,
took bread. And when he had given thanks, he
broke it and said, take, eat. This is my body which is broken
for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
In the same manner he also took the cup after supper, saying,
This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
So guys, as we do this, like I talked about it on Easter, He
said this, and then he rose again on the third day and
proved that it was true, that His blood does wash us clean.
He paid for our sins, but He didn't pay for our sins.
So we had a box of them. He paid for you and me and threw
our sins away. And when we're we're going to
sing a song and just spend some time with him, freshly
remembering what he's done in your life, freshly remembering
how far you've come in that relationship with him.
And if you don't have that relationship, it's a simple
request. Lord, I need you to save me a
Sinner. It's that it's that easy.
It's not a it's a heart thing. Moses got it.
Ezekiel got it. Isaiah got it.
It's not a you don't need to be saved from an evil world.
You need to see saved from yourself and then he will use
you in an evil world to change lives.
And Lord, I just thank you for that.
Lord, I thank you that you cared enough and that you still care
and that you're big enough. Just be with us now and just
lift our voices up to you. Jesus name Amen.