The Lord will fight for you

Good morning, everyone.

We're going to be reading from chapter 12 to start,

and then we'll jump to later in 12, and then a bit in 14.

So from the start of chapter 12, 1 to 14.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

This month shall be for you the beginning of months.

It shall be the first month of the year for you.

Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month,

every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses,

a lamb for a household.

And if the household is too small for a lamb,

then he and his nearest neighbour shall take according to the number of persons,

according to what each can eat, you shall make your count for the lamb.

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male, a year old.

You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,

and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month,

when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on two doorposts

and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire.

With unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.

And you shall let none of it remain until the morning.

Anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.

In this manner you shall eat it, with your belt fastened,

your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand.

And you shall eat it in haste.

It is the Lord's Passover.

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night,

and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast.

And on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments.

I am the Lord.

The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood I will pass over you,

and no plague will before you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

This day shall be for you a memorial day,

and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations.

As a statute forever you shall keep it as a feast.

Then we'll jump to chapter 12, verses 29 to 32.

At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,

from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne,

to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon,

and all the firstborn of the livestock.

And Pharaoh rose up in the night,

and he and all his servants and all the Egyptians.

And there was a great cry in Egypt,

for there was not a house where someone was not dead.

Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said,

Up, go out from among my people,

both you and the people of Israel,

and go, serve the Lord as you have said.

Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said,

and be gone, and bless me also.

Then we'll flick forward to chapter 14, verse 9.

We'll read through to 15, verse 3.

So from chapter 14, verse 9.

The Egyptians pursued them,

all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army,

and overtook them and camped at the sea,

by Pai-ha-hiroth in front of Baal-Zephon.

When Pharaoh drew near,

the people of Israel lifted up their eyes,

and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them,

and they feared greatly.

And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.

They said to Moses,

Is it because there are no graves in Egypt

that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?

What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

Is not this what we said to you in Egypt?

Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians,

for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians

than to die in the wilderness.

And Moses said to the people,

Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord,

which he will work for you today.

For the Egyptians whom you see today,

you shall never see again.

And the Lord will fight for you,

and you have only to be silent.

The Lord said to Moses,

Why do you cry out to me?

Tell the people of Israel to go forward.

Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea,

and divide it,

that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.

And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians,

so that they shall go in after them,

and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts,

his chariots and all his horsemen.

And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord,

when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh,

his chariots and his horsemen.

Then the angel of the Lord,

who was going before the host of Israel,

moved and went behind them.

And the pillar of cloud moved before them

and stood behind them,

coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel.

And there was the cloud and the darkness,

and it lit up the night without one coming near,

the other all night.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,

and the Lord drove the sea back

by a strong east wind all night

and made the sea dry land,

and the waters were divided.

And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea

on dry ground,

the waters being a wall to them on their right

and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued and went in after them

into the midst of the sea,

all Pharaoh's horses,

his chariots and his horsemen.

And in the morning watch,

the Lord in the pillar of the fire and of cloud

looked down on the Egyptian forces

and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,

clogging their chariot wheels

so that they drove heavily.

And the Egyptians said,

let us flee from before Israel,

for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

stretch out your hand over the sea,

that the water may come back upon the Egyptians,

upon their chariots and upon their horsemen.

So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,

and the sea returned to its normal course

when the morning appeared.

And as the Egyptians fled into it,

the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.

The waters returned and covered the chariots

and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh

that had followed him into the sea.

Not one of them remained.

But the people of Israel walked on dry ground

through the sea,

the waters being a wall to them on their left,

and on their,

to the,

being a wall to them on their right hand

and on their left.

Thus the Lord saved Israel that day

from the hand of the Egyptians.

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord,

saying,

I will sing to the Lord,

for he has triumphed gloriously.

The horse and his rider has thrown into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation.

This is my God,

and I will praise him.

My Father's God,

and I will exalt him.

The Lord is a man of war.

The Lord is his name.

Well, my name's David.

If you're visiting this morning,

a warm welcome to you.

Will you pray with me as we come to God's word?

Let's pray.

Our Father,

I pray for an outpouring of your spirit this morning

through your word,

through me as I speak,

and through all of us as we listen to your voice

and your word.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

Well, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones,

he was once a medical doctor,

then he's a well-known pastor.

You might have heard of him in London

around the World War times.

He's famous for preaching through Romans,

a whole sermon on a single verse sometimes.

We're trying to do the opposite this morning.

We're trying to preach the whole Bible in one sermon.

But he used to ask his people a diagnostic question

in private conversations.

Are you a Christian?

Are you saved?

I was expecting a more profound kind of question than that.

I imagine you might have been as well.

How would you answer that question?

Some, he said, would reply,

of course I am.

Of course I am.

A bit offended that he would even have to ask.

And then they'd go on to say,

I used to belong to this church,

and now I'm belonging to this church.

I was baptised on this day.

Others would reply with less assurance

and go, I'm trying.

I'm trying to be.

He used it as a bit of a diagnostic question of,

does this person,

they might have been in church their entire lives,

does this person understand

what makes a person a Christian or not?

If you could travel back in time

and meet an Israelite family

after the Passover,

after the Red Sea,

they're part of this huge caravan of people

following a pillar of cloud.

If you could just stop one of the family

and just ask them,

are you saved?

Are you one of God's people?

What do you think they might say?

The Exodus lays down the biblical paradigm,

the blueprint for us to understand salvation.

And my prayer this morning is that each one of us

will more deeply understand the greater Exodus

that Jesus Christ achieved

and be able to answer that simple

but all-important question.

Well, we evangelicals,

we can often talk about being a Christian

as a relationship with God.

We can talk about conversion,

some kind of experience,

some conversion.

Sometimes we can use the term

decision

to follow Jesus.

The scripture has a word

that we dare not lose.

You lose a word

and you lose the idea

that the word pictures.

Redemption.

Now, redeem,

I don't know,

in our day and age,

like we've got a gift voucher

for a restaurant

that's shut down now,

50 bucks,

we can't redeem it anymore.

That's a bit annoying.

So, something to do with payment.

I think of Steve Smith,

the cricketer,

when he got caught

in the ball tampering scandal,

he was banned

from international cricket

and then when he could

finally return

and he hits

a century for Australia

and the commentators

are talking about

that's his redemption.

He redeems himself.

He restores his reputation.

So, it's something to do

with payment.

It's even,

we can understand

it's about acceptance,

our reputation as well.

But, biblically,

it's not something

you can do.

Ancient times,

redemption

is the costly payment

to purchase back

a slave

or a prisoner of war.

We have the Passover

at Egypt

to help us picture

what our spiritual

redemption

is.

the Lord is coming

to redeem

his firstborn.

All the people

of Israel

are called

his firstborn,

the whole community.

And a price

will be paid

to restore

his people

to their rightful owner.

Freedom.

The Israelites

were powerless

to free themselves

from serving Pharaoh.

Spiritually,

the Bible teaches us,

on our own,

we are powerless.

Powerless

to free ourselves

from serving

the power of sin.

Well,

last week,

we saw the nine

supernatural plagues.

They were through

Moses and his staff.

This tenth plague,

not through Moses.

Redemption

is all Yahweh's doing.

Yahweh himself

comes to Egypt

as judge

and there is

a hefty price.

The death

of the firstborn

in every family.

Now,

we're a bit

individualistic,

aren't we?

Ancient cultures,

your identity,

in some cultures

today still,

your identity

is in family.

That's who you are.

You are blessed

together

or you're cursed

together.

Your identity

is in the family.

your hopes

are in the family.

The firstborn

represents

the family.

This is a judgment

on all.

This is a horrible night,

is it not?

I'll just think

of my family.

My dad

would be dead,

my eldest brother

Steve

and my son

Sam.

Now,

multiply that

by the families

in this room.

Multiply that

by the nation.

There was not

a house

without someone

dead.

It's

sickening,

isn't it?

Yahweh's

divine patience

with Pharaoh

comes to an end.

Pharaoh

won't even

fear this

final warning.

I think

what we're

meant to see

here

is that

this night

in Egypt

is this

localised

temporary

judgement day.

We don't

like it.

I don't

like it.

Why don't

we like it?

Even for

stubborn Pharaoh

we don't

like it.

Why

don't we

like it?

It's

brutal.

It's

bloody.

Like,

the cries

must have

been awful.

In

1961,

Adolf

Eichmann,

who was

a

first

lieutenant

German

Nazi

SS

officer,

he was

the colonel

and he

was the

master

behind the

death

camps,

the Jewish

genocide.

He was

put on

trial and

a man

named

Yuhil

Denor,

he was a

death

camp

survivor,

he was

brought in

to testify

against

Eichmann.

But when he

walked in,

he saw

Eichmann

and he

collapsed.

He was

sobbing

and he

fainted.

Now,

22 years

later,

Yuhil

Denor is

interviewed on

60 Minutes

and the

interviewer

shows the

clip of him

falling apart

and asks,

what was going

through your

mind?

Was it

hatred,

just

overwhelmed

with hatred?

Were you

overwhelmed

with fear?

Were you

overwhelmed

with fear?

Denor said,

I came

in and I

looked at

Eichmann and

I realised

this is not

a demon.

This is

someone just

like me.

And if

he's capable

of doing

this,

so am I.

And he

said,

Eichmann

is in

all of

us.

This is a

death camp

survivor

saying,

Eichmann

is in

all of

us.

He fell

apart

because he

was looking

at himself.

Can I

suggest the

revulsion we

feel towards

this day

of judgment?

I think

we're facing

ourselves.

We don't

like seeing

the consequences

of what we

deserve.

Maybe you

find that a

bit too

extreme,

that we

would all

deserve

this.

But even

if we

just take

our own

standards

of right

and wrong,

we don't

even live

up to our

own

standards,

do we?

A British

atheist who

became a

believer,

Francis

Buffett,

he said

it like

this,

if you

actually

reflect on

yourself

honestly,

you discover

yourself as

a being

who acts

against

yourself as

often as

you act

for

yourself,

who is

resistant to

your own

best intentions,

who whatever

the line is

that your

society and

you yourself

draw between

the good and

the bad,

are some

of the time

just voting

haplessly on

both sides

of it.

We can't

even live up

to our own

standards,

let alone

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

God's.

Yeah.

Am I

understanding?

You want to be a

better person?

Is that?

Yes.

So do I.

So do I,

Matt.

Yep.

Yep.

Absolutely.

Right,

right.

Well,

can I

encourage you?

Let's keep

looking at what

God does

because I

think,

I keep

slipping too

and I

think we've

got God

on our

side.

So,

thanks Matt.

Well,

the Israelite

families,

on their

own,

they're not

safe that

night.

When the

Lord comes

in judgment,

Pharaoh's not

actually their

greatest problem

anymore.

The Lord's

presence as

the judge of

all the

earth is

their greatest

problem.

We're told

that if

anyone left

that Israelite

shelter,

the destroyer,

would treat

them on

equal terms

as the

Egyptians.

In every

house,

someone is

dead,

the Egyptian

firstborn or

the lamb.

God says,

chapter 12,

verse 13,

when I see

the blood,

when I see

the blood,

I will pass

over you.

God knew

his people.

He had

protected them

from the

previous

plagues.

He could

have said,

when I see

you,

I'll pass

over you.

No,

when I see

the blood,

I will

pass over

you.

God

entered

Egypt in

wrath,

but he

passed over

in peace.

The blood

seems to

satisfy the

judgment of

God.

the lamb

is a

substitute

for the

firstborn.

It had

to be

spotless,

without

blemish,

precious,

only a

year old,

carefully

chosen to

meet the

needs of

the people.

The lamb

is the

price to

redeem the

whole community

of God's

people.

Now,

in the

previous

plagues,

like I've

already said,

God just

protected

them.

They didn't

need to

do

anything.

But this

time,

he requires

his people

to obey

in faith,

sacrifice

the lamb,

paint it

over their

house,

and stay

in the

house.

I think

he's

requiring

his people

to publicly

declare they

are coming

under the

shelter of

the blood

of the

lamb.

John the

Baptist saw

Jesus and

says,

behold,

the lamb

of God

who takes

away the

sin of

the

world.

Let's

return to

that original

question.

Are you a

Christian?

Are you

saved?

Please don't

say, of

course I

am.

Look at

what I've

done.

Look at

this or

that.

Look at

this church

I've been

to.

Look at

this

baptism.

Don't

say, I'm

trying to

be, have

you come

under the

shelter of

the blood

of the

lamb?

That's a

Christian.

An

Israelite

father might

be trembling

that night,

but how on

earth could a

lamb's blood

possibly keep

my Samuel

safe?

He might

be trembling.

That's not the

decisive factor.

Acting in

faith, being

under the

blood of

the lamb,

that's the

decisive factor.

It doesn't

matter about

your confidence.

If you look

to the cross

of Jesus

Christ, your

only hope is

in him in

the coming

judgment.

The Lord

says, I see

his blood, I

have passed

over you.

I will pass

over you.

And we

can feast.

We can

feast in

safety,

dressed

ready,

knowing his

promise.

I see

his blood,

I've

passed

over you.

Well,

when Israel

are finally

free in

the wilderness,

they're led

by the glory

of the Lord

in the

pillar of

the cloud

by day

and pillar

of fire

by night.

Pharaoh

changes his

mind,

seems as

he always

does,

and he

comes after

them,

600 chariots.

They are

the most

technical

weapon of

war.

600 chariots.

He's put

them under

a death

sentence.

Serve me

or die.

And they

feared

greatly.

What can

they do?

They're

trapped

between the

sea and

the army

and Moses

tells them,

the Lord

will fight

for you.

You have

only to be

silent.

The Lord

will fight

for you.

And then

we see

Yahweh in

the pillar of

the cloud

coming between

his people

and the army

all night

long.

He drives

the sea

back.

They walk

through on

dry ground

and some

of them

might be

going,

I knew

the Lord

would do

it.

Others

might have

been walking

through going,

looking at

those walls

of water,

I'm going

to die,

I'm going

to die,

I'm going

to die.

Their

confidence

doesn't make

the difference

again.

it's the

Lord

fighting

for them

that makes

the difference.

Pharaoh

comes in

after them

and their

wheels are

getting clogged

and they

realise the

Lord is

fighting for

them,

but it's

too late.

The waters

come crashing

down and

Pharaoh and

all his

army wash

up on the

seashore.

Not one

of them

survives.

And the

Israelites are

looking at the

dead bodies

and they see

a decisive

victory.

Their

enemies are

gone.

No more

threat.

Not one.

It is

finished.

Today I

don't think

we're looking

at dead

bodies.

We're

looking at

a living

body who

walked out

of the

tomb three

days later

and we

know our

enemies are

gone.

look at

his living

body.

All our

enemies are

gone.

Jesus says

in John 5

after saying

that the

father has

entrusted

all judgment

to the

son,

he says

in John 5,

truly,

truly I

say to you,

whoever hears

my word and

believes him

who sent

me has

eternal

life.

He does

not come

under judgment

but has

passed from

death to

life.

It's

done.

The sin

that speaks

to us,

serve me.

That's our

old master.

We owe

nothing to

that master

anymore.

We were

bought at a

price.

We're

not

that demand

has no

rights over

us.

Satan and

his accusations

are empty.

They're empty

words.

He is

utterly

defeated.

There's a

hymn that

says,

well may

the accuser

roar of

sins that

I have

done.

I know

them all

and

thousands

more.

Jehovah

knoweth

none.

None.

It's

done.

Those

accusations,

it's,

he's

defeated.

Death.

Where is

your sting?

Where is

your victory?

Thanks be to

God.

Through

Jesus

Christ.

He gives

us the

victory.

When we

look at

his alive

body,

all our

enemies are

decisively

destroyed.

Redemption,

victory,

it's all of

the Lord.

You did

nothing.

You can

do nothing

to add

to that.

The

Lord

fights for

you.

Every

other

religion,

you get

converted,

you better

use the

resources of

religion to

get better

and hopefully

you'll make

it.

Or if

you're not

religious,

you better

use the

resources at

your disposal,

just try and

win people's

reputation,

try and

bless yourself

as much as

you can.

The Christian

faith,

oh,

we can

relax.

It's all

the Lord's

doing.

It's totally

free and

it's done.

It's already

done.

It's a

decisive victory.

So travel

back in

time.

You ask

that

Israelite

family,

are you

saved?

They would

not answer,

of course

I am.

How dare you

ask that?

I'm a

descendant of

Abraham.

I'm the

tribe of

Benjamin.

They wouldn't

say, oh,

I'm trying to

be, I'm

really trying.

I think

they would

say something

like, I was

powerless.

powerless to

free myself

from a

tyrannical

master.

I was

under the

sentence of

death.

And Yahweh

came in

judgment.

I deserved

what the

Egyptians got,

but he gave

me shelter

under the

blood of

the lamb.

I saw

Yahweh's

decisive

victory.

All my

enemies are

gone.

Yes, I'm

saved.

I did

nothing.

It's

finished.

I'm

free to

serve my

creator, my

redeemer.

I'm in the

wilderness.

It may not

look like

abundant life,

but he is

present and

he's guiding

me to the

promised land

to make sure

I'm going to

make it.

That's the

kind of words

of a

Christian.

Are you

saved?

Are you a

Christian?

Have you

come under

the blood of

the lamb?

trusting his

promise.

I see my

firstborn son's

blood.

I will

pass over

you.

I have

passed over

you.

See his

alive body

and know

that your

enemies are

gone.

Well,

if it's

done,

maybe I

should just

sit down.

What do

you do?

What does a

saved person

do?

It's

done.

I think we

see three

things in

this passage of

what a saved

person does.

They stand

firm,

they remember,

and they

rejoice.

aren't you

a bit

amazed at

the

Israelites

before the

Red Sea?

How forgetful

they are?

Like,

you've just

seen the

ten plagues.

Why are you

so afraid?

They're just

irrational.

They're looking

at the present

going,

is it just

because there's

no space

for our dead

bodies in

Egypt?

Do you want

to kill us

out here?

They think

of their

past.

We were

fine as

slaves.

It is,

what are

they talking

about?

Fear is

so irrational

but I do

that all the

time.

Fears plague

me constantly.

Fear not.

Stand firm.

Just be

silent.

Stand firm.

Most of the

Christian life

is talking

to your

fears,

just talking

to your

feelings,

just preaching

to yourself

the victory

of the

cross.

I just

want to

read a few

New Testament

passages.

When facing

temptation,

we're told

to put on

the armour

of God.

Remember

our salvation.

Take up

the whole

armour of

God that

you may be

able to

withstand

in the

evil day

and having

done all

to stand

firm.

Remember

your

salvation

facing

temptation.

When your

mortality

looms

large and

this idea

of the

resurrection

hope just

feels like

wishful

thinking.

1 Corinthians

15,

thanks be

to God

who gives

us the

victory

through our

Lord Jesus

Christ.

My beloved

brothers,

be steadfast,

immovable,

just stand

firm.

When

disunity

in the

church

discourages

Philippians

1.27,

only let

your manner

of life

be worthy

of the

gospel of

Christ,

standing

firm in

one spirit

with one

mind,

striving

side by

side for

the faith

of the

gospel.

when the

world and

what they

live for

is so

attractive,

we're meant

to remember

that our

citizenship is

in heaven,

glory is

coming.

Yes,

you don't

belong here,

but Philippians

4.1,

therefore my

brothers and

sisters whom

I love and

long for,

my joy and

crown,

stand firm.

Most of the

Christian life is

just stand

firm.

That's what a

saved person

does.

look to

the victory

of the

cross.

In our

lounge room,

we've got a

printed canvas

of our

wedding photo,

of a wedding

photo,

and I've got

the vows

printed on

it.

On our

anniversary,

whatever that

word was,

on our

anniversary,

anniversary,

we watched

the montage

of our

wedding day

that Pete

McMurray put

together.

On my

hand,

I have

this ring.

Why?

Why all

these things?

Am I

trying to get

married repeatedly?

leave?

Is my

ring some

mystical

superpower?

Like,

like,

like,

Captain

Planet?

Sorry,

that's totally

distracting.

It's not to

get married

over and

again.

It's not

some mystical

power.

It's not

trying to

boast.

you know

why we

do all

these things.

It's to

remember.

It's to

remember those

life-changing

promises.

That

decisive day

that changed

who we are.

Now,

way more

decisive is

our salvation,

our redemption.

But just

because we are

saved doesn't

mean we

automatically

think that

way.

We are

forgetful.

we need

to remember.

If you

notice in

the Bible

reading,

the Lord

gives so

many

reminders.

The calendar

changes.

This is the

new beginning

of your

life.

It's the

new beginning

of every

year and

you start

it with

the feast

of Passover.

Yes,

they sacrifice

the lamb

again.

Yes,

they eat

the bitter

herbs

and the

unleavened

bread.

Yes,

they get

dressed again

but only

once,

only once

did that

actually

redeem them.

Every other

time from

then on

it was to

remember.

That's the

word used

in the

passage,

remember.

We didn't

read chapter

13 but

all the

firstborn of

their animals

they had to

redeem.

The firstborn of

their children

they had to

redeem.

Their

everyday

livelihood

it was just

everywhere

in their

family.

as a

corporate

people

the

feast

it's

just

we

need

to

remember

saved

people

are to

remember

that they

were in

slavery

but the

Lord

redeemed

them with

a mighty

hand

who we

belong

to now.

That's

why we

the Lord's

supper

might

it feels

ordinary

sometimes

let's

be honest

it feels

ordinary

but

let's

not

despise

that

we

need

that

at

the

Passover

meal

the

father

presiding

would

say

this

is

the

bread

of

our

affliction

then a

man

came

along

and

said

this

bread

is

my

body

do

this

in

remembrance

of

me

we

need

it

we

need

to

get

together

Hebrews

10

we

need

to

gather

there's

I've

noticed

I'm

not

sure

people

don't

come

to

church

every

week

I

don't

I

don't

want to

make a

rule

about

this

but

we

need

to

get

together

to

remember

who

we

are

that

we

are

the

redeemed

whose

we

are

what

life

is

about

to

save

people

we

stand

firm

and

we

remember

we

help

each

other

remember

and

finally

we

rejoice

singing

is a

bit

weird

as

well

some

people

love

singing

it's

a bit

weird

when we

have the

songs

we're

not

just

stretching

our

legs

in

between

the

important

parts

in

the

service

the

tuning

of our

vocal

chords

might

need

redeeming

when

Jesus

comes

back

but

singing

is

just

so

appropriate

if

salvation

is

done

it

involves

our

whole

body

our

mind

our

emotion

our

affections

it

just

captures

us

in a

way

that

other

things

can't

it

involves

the

whole

community

we're

singing

with

one

voice

it

expresses

who

we

are

it

expresses

worship

it

it's

just

what

you

do

you

can't

add

to

your

salvation

we

just

see

in

chapter

15

that

all

the

men

all

the

women

are

just

caught

up

in

the

excitement

of