Exodus - How to Handle Spiritual Resistance

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For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.

And because there's marks on your skin, there can be marks upon our heart.

The Bible says that you've not circumcised us in the skin, but in the heart.

That you've kind of put your stamp upon us.

You've removed the sinful nature.

So sin no longer has power over us.

You cut it off.

And so we want to act and live and stand in the authority that is ours because of what you accomplished and achieved on our behalf on the cross for God's glory.

And so, Lord, we come to this uh uh to this uh text today with a sense of of freedom and yet responsibility.

And so uh speak, Lord, in a language that we understand, provoke us to think biblically about God and culture and the world and ourself and everything in between.

We count that a privilege, and so we receive it now in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Exodus chapter five.

And if you're our guest, we're preaching through the book of Exodus, kind of episodically.

We'll just go from episode to episode, uh, not verse by verse like we usually do, uh, because it gets about 15 chapters of it.

They're building the tabernacle, and you're kind of like, okay, we get it, we get it.

But anyway, uh, I'm in Exodus chapter five.

Uh, and if you don't have a Bible, there's one on your row.

I'm on page 48, okay?

And before I jump into Exodus chapter five, I want to just point to something that I think most of you all know, and it's simply this God has assembled a really gifted and called group of men and women here at Grand Parkway that we refer to as the church staff.

I think Clyde's a great example of that, our worship pastor.

Uh and and and just don't take that for granted.

Uh, because I think I take, I'm confessing, I think I take it for granted until I go to church somewhere else and I and and and I'm I'm sad and I'm angry.

I'm like, why are they doing this?

Uh and then I come back and I'm like, I don't think this place is perfect because it was, I couldn't be the pastor.

Amen.

That was way too energetic.

I'll see some of y'all after the service.

But I just like this is a little microcosm of our week, like on Friday uh at the school right over here at Oyster Creek Elementary, Way Collyer, our missions and outreach pastor, the guy's known around here, the guy with the beard.

Uh, led a team of volunteers over to help the teachers at Oyster Creek get their all their uh classroom set up, organized, and everything, and then our church uh provided lunch for them from Chick-fil-A.

Uh, I showed up at lunchtime because I heard there was Chick-fil-A.

I didn't lift a thing, I didn't do anything.

I just came and ate a free sandwich and left.

Like a rapper, I just spiked the mic and walked out.

Uh but while I was there, one of the teachers, I was talking to one of the teachers and the principal, and I said, Hey, is there anything we could do for y'all during the year that would bless you?

And the teacher said, an ice machine in the teacher's lounge.

And I was like, Oh, oh, well, oh, oh, okay.

So I'll be working on getting an ice machine for the millennium school right over here.

Because apparently having ice is a big deal.

And I think it's great.

I think teachers should have ice and a stick and a gun.

But anyway, I digress.

But that was Friday.

I want you to know the kind of church you're a part of.

That was Friday.

One of the teachers said, Oh my gosh, this is incredible.

No one's ever done anything like this before.

And so we'll be repeating that in in the years to come.

But then uh Friday night, they had a gathering back here in the warehouse, our student ministry building, led by Aaron, our youth pastor, and they played bubble soccer, which is you put on a thing that looks like a life jacket, but it's a big bubble.

It's like big uh air pockets all around it.

And Aaron was like, man, I was knocking kids down.

It was awesome.

My all I know is that one of mine came home covered in mud, and I said, How was it?

He goes, It was awesome.

I was like, Take your clothes off in the garage, okay?

I don't want that awesomeness in my house.

And so, but I was just I was struck this morning.

I was listening uh to the job that Clyde does, and I just thought, let's not take that for granted.

So when you see these people, speak a word of encouragement to them, all right?

Let them know, hey, what you do matters around here.

And and I know it is I take it for granted.

If you see a guy like Marcus back there in the back, Marcus, I mean you pastor.

If you see anything in print or media on the web or anything, Marcus and Amy came up with that.

Amy Burgess.

Some of y'all go, oh, that's a good idea.

I'm glad you had that.

And pointing to someone go, I had nothing to do with that.

I just showed up and ate a Chick-fil-A sandwich and left.

That's my answer to everything.

Amen.

All right, you ready to read the Bible?

If you're our guest, we don't do this every Sunday.

I just like to every once in a while just kind of point and go, do not take that for it's like your wife.

You can kind of get used to her.

Yeah, we're like, oh, we got serious there all of a sudden.

Like, I got so used to my wife that this yesterday I realized that going to the grocery store is a big deal because I because it was getting ready to rain, and I said, Hey, babe, I'll go around, give me the list, I'll go to the grocery store.

And she's like, No, I want to go to the grocery store.

And what she really meant was, I figured out was I want to break from you and these kids for two hours.

Apparently, it takes two hours to go to Walmart.

But she goes, I hope that doesn't hurt your feelings.

I said, No, I understand that totally because I love the sounds you make when you shut up.

Yeah, yeah.

See, I thought that was funny.

It wasn't.

So, if you're going somewhere for lunch, I'm available.

Just want to put that out there.

Uh, Exodus chapter 5.

Exodus 5 · chapter mention

Let's get into the Bible before I get in more trouble.

Exodus chapter 5.

Exodus 5 · chapter mention

I want to talk to you this morning about how to handle uh spiritual resistance, how to handle spiritual resistance, because you're gonna have days in your life that are great.

You're on you're on cloud nine.

This is incredible, and you're gonna think, man, it's gonna be like this forever.

And then you get up the next day and you realize it ain't like that forever.

And so you don't need, matter of fact, the Bible so promises that that he says in 1 Peter, the Bible says in 1 Peter, hey, don't be alarmed by this fiery trial that you're enduring right now.

And so, well, before you get there, I want you to be prepared for for how to handle that.

And so, Exodus chapter 5, verse 1, here's what the Bible says.

Exodus 5:1

Afterwards, Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord the God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.

But Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?

I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.

And then they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us.

Please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.

But the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work?

Get back to their your burdens.

And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.

The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters and the people and their foremen, you shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks as in the past.

Let them go and gather straw for themselves.

But the number of the bricks that they made in the past you shall impose upon them.

You shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle.

Therefore they cry, let us go offer sacrifice to our God.

Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.

You say, What do you mean?

How to handle spiritual resistance?

I mean, uh look at the first verse in Exodus chapter 5, verse 1.

Exodus 5:1

Afterwards.

Afterwards.

Now that's that's a big word that a little word that the Bible uses to kind of cover a big expanse of time, but also tells you some things happened uh before, and that's why he says afterwards.

What happened before?

What happened before is that, and let me say this everything in the Bible takes place within a specific context.

And if you take it out of that context, it doesn't always make sense.

Like when he says afterwards, what he's kind of saying is, hey, this incredible stuff has happened.

Moses met with God.

He heard what's going to happen.

God says, Hey, you're my man.

I'm going to use you to liberate my my people.

Uh, he enlists his brother Aaron's help.

They come back and they share the vision with the Israelites, and the Israelites confess their faith in God.

That's how chapter four ends.

They said, uh, hey, oh, we believe.

God's looked down and God's familiar and God cares.

Oh my gosh, we want to know this God.

And so, to put it in modern-day vernacular, they gave their life to Christ.

They were saved, they were converted, whatever phrase you use at the end of chapter four, and they bowed their heads to the ground and worship.

And then they come off this mountaintop experience, and Moses and Aaron are going to go to Pharaoh just like God said, and tell them exactly what God said to tell them.

And this is what happens.

Afterwards, Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord the God of Israel, let my people go, they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness, just like God said, Going great.

And then verse 2 But Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?

I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.

Won won't.

But then mark the next verse, next sentence in your Bible in verse 3.

And then they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us.

The God of the Hebrews has met with us.

How do you handle spiritual resistance?

Number one, you need to establish the habit of meeting with God.

You need to meet with God.

The God of the Hebrews has met with us.

What does that mean?

There should be behaviors in your life, in my life, that can only be explained by verse 3, by the phrase, the God of the Hebrews has met with us.

This is a holy habit that Moses continues throughout the book of Exodus, okay?

It's a holy habit that you'll see.

And just a matter of fact, if you got a Bible, keep your hand in Exodus chapter 5 and turn over to Exodus chapter 33.

Exodus 5 · chapter mention Exodus 33 · chapter mention

Probably one of the most uh popular, well-known expressions of what I'm talking about.

Now, when we talk about meeting with God, I don't mean like I was talking to a guy recently, uh, this past week, and I just said, thinking about Sunday, like let me give you a question I want you to think about the rest of this week.

And it's simply this what are some holy habits that you're practicing right now in your life?

Some people call them spiritual disciplines, a different phrase for them, but I don't know, what's a holy habit that you have that you're practicing these days?

It's kind of helping you become who the Bible says you are.

I was talking to a guy and I asked him that question.

We actually were having lunch.

I said, Hey, what are some holy habits that you're kind of practicing uh these days?

He goes, I don't know what you mean.

What are you doing?

Uh what are some habits that you've established in your life so when you read the Bible, it doesn't feel foreign, it feels familiar.

You see yourself living the life that the Bible talks about.

He goes, Well, when I go to work, it's about a 45-minute commute, and I turn off the radio for about five minutes before I get to work, and I kind of think and I kind of pray before I get there.

That kind of thing, kind of, but not exactly.

Uh yes, but no, uh that, but but I I don't mean just kind of a and he was kind of like, well, I mean, I mean, well, I mean, that that that that that's when I meet with God.

And so I'm thinking, how do I help him understand this is not enough?

And I said, So do you date your wife?

And he goes, Yeah, we go out on dates every once in a while.

I said, get your wife to ride to work with you tomorrow and just listen to the radio except the last five minutes, turn off the radio, talk to your wife, and then get to work and look at her and go, wasn't that a fun date?

And he's like, Oh, I wouldn't fly in my house.

Well, if it wouldn't fly with your wife, what makes you think it's sufficient for your relationship with God?

See, when I say this, meet with God, I mean get into the habit of if it's early in the morning before you go to work, or or when you get at work at night, whatever.

You you gotta establish this pattern of meeting with God.

What do you mean?

Exodus chapter 33, verse 7.

Exodus 33:7

This is what it says.

It says, now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting.

Now get this.

The camp is over here, and outside the camp, they had a little tent, and they said, Hey, this is what the tent of meeting, if you want to meet with God, you need to go get in this tent, because this is where people meet with God.

And he called it a tent of meeting, and everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door and watch Moses until he'd gone into the tent.

When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses.

And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door.

Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend.

Now, when Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

There's a couple things I want you to hear in that.

First of all, that last thing we read, that the presence of God was so thick and the fellowship was so sweet.

When Moses would leave the tent, Joshua, the young man, would just go stand in a place where Moses had met with God.

But also I want to point out in this passage that the Bible says that God met with Moses face to face, and he spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend.

Look at me, beloved.

Here's what motivates you, or here's what ought to motivate you.

I don't want you to walk out of here today and think, duty, I should start meeting with God.

No, no, no, no, no.

I think you should walk out of here and think, desire.

Desire.

Do I have a desire to meet with God?

To establish a holy habit?

Like, ask yourself the question: hey, if I ask your kids, when and where does your mom or dad meet with God, what would they say?

Is there any routines or rituals that you've kind of established?

Here's the great thing about a school you're starting back.

My kids get a bedtime.

Glory to his name.

Because them rascals are about to wear me out.

Last night, my 70-year-old likes to go, oh dad, I slept four hours today.

Who let you do that?

What irresponsible parent lets you sleep for four hours?

Well, I was in my room.

Y'all didn't know what I was doing.

I was taking a nap.

What are you gonna do?

I think she stayed up all night.

And I'm like, no, no, no.

So guess what she's gonna get to do today?

Stay up all day.

She goes, Well, I might get sleepy.

I got some work I need you to help me with.

So if I ask your kids, hey, what's the happening?

Here's the great thing about a school year.

It kind of establishes some routine.

It's a great time of the year to kind of go, you know what?

I need to start something, create some space where I can kind of meet with God.

And here, again, not out of duty.

Look at me, out of desire.

Here's why.

Because God has something to say to you.

The Bible says that God met with Moses face to face, He spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend.

It's not duty, it's desire.

It's not obligation, it's relationship.

So, first of all, how do you handle spiritual resistance?

Number one, meet with God.

Establish the habit of meeting with God.

Number two, don't expect lost people to act like Christians.

Don't expect lost people to act like Christians.

Look at verse 2, and I'll show you what I mean of chapter 5.

He says, But Pharaoh said, I mean, they come and they recite exactly what God told them to tell them.

And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?

I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.

And then they said, Hey, we've met with the God of the Hebrews has met with us.

And there's a sense of foreboding.

It's kind of like when the old lady that plays the organ at the church kind of goes, whoa, boom, you're like, uh-oh, something just happened in here.

They're like, we're not just here as two men talking to you.

I mean, I know he's a murderer and a Frady cat, and he can't talk real good, and I'm Aaron's brother, and I'm kind of his mouthpiece.

But if you, Pharaoh, look and you see two men, you're missing it, Jack, because we have met with the God of the Hebrews.

And Pharaoh says, it really reflects the worldview of people that don't know God.

He says, Hey, who is the Lord that I should obey him?

Why does he say that?

Because he doesn't know who God is.

And you know why he doesn't know who God is?

Because he thinks he's God.

You're like, ah, I don't know what.

See, a lot of spiritual depression I see these days and a lot of concern I see these days in people in the church is unnecessary.

Why?

Because we have this kind of Pollyanna mindset that says, you know what?

These people should be doing like when the Supreme Court makes decisions that it makes.

I mean, we can say, well, this is a Christian nation.

Let me tell you something.

This nation is not run by Christians.

You've got to stop saying that.

Because there's this Pollyanna.

It's kind of like, can you believe what the Supreme Court did?

Yes.

How do you expect pagans to think?

How do you expect secular progressives to think?

I mean, it's kind of like we can't be thrown by that.

A couple weeks ago, my family went on vacation.

We flew from here to Boston.

My wife hates to fly.

If it was doable, my wife would walk to Boston instead of fly.

She hates it.

And so we get on a fly.

My kids have to sit on one side with my wife.

I sit across the aisle, and she's like, you gotta sit across the aisle so I can touch you if something goes bad.

I can reach out for reassurance.

And I'm like, hey, if something goes bad, we all going down.

You can touch me all you want.

It ain't gonna change nothing.

Well, that's not very reassuring.

So, what do you mean your wife don't like to fly?

I used to travel for a living.

I've flown so much, I can't get on the plane, I'm asleep in five minutes.

Before the wheels are up, I'm asleep.

My wife is wound up.

We're flying on the little climate, little bumps.

She looks at me.

I'm like, it's fine.

No little bumps.

She looks at me.

I'm like, it's normal.

It's just turbulence, no big deal.

About 30 minutes into the flight, they start serving drinks and stuff, and all of a sudden, bing, captain comes on.

Uh folks, excuse me for a moment.

I'm gonna go ahead and ask the fly attendance to be seated.

We're expecting some uh some turbulence coming up.

So, fly attendants, go ahead and be seated.

My wife's reading a biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

She closes it up and looks at me like, what are we gonna do?

I'm like, you want to get off?

You wanna jump up?

I mean, and I said, because I'm trying to be reassuring, I said, This is normal.

Well, why the fly tenants being seated?

By the way, when you whisper like that and frantically whisper on a plane, everybody around you gets kind of spooked.

And I'm like, hey, hey, you're scaring people.

Shut up, okay?

And I'm like, it's it's this is normal.

I mean, and I didn't say this, but I'm thinking, what do you want the captain to say?

Hey, folks, there's something on the radar.

Bing, hey, folks, this is your captain.

There's something on the radar I've never seen before, so prepare to meet your maker.

No.

He said, Hey, we don't, I mean, we got a little, we got a little turbulence coming up.

I'm gonna have to fly the tennis be seated.

As soon as we're done, we'll be back up and finish cabin service.

I go back to reading my book, I look over, my wife's just staring at me.

It's gonna be okay.

You ever been to the rodeo?

It's a little bumpy, but we're gonna be fine.

It's a you know, 60-ton hunk of metal hurling through the air, and every once in a while the wind makes it go up and down and side to side.

It's no big deal.

Apparently that wasn't comforting.

It's the same way in life.

You're gonna experience a little resistance, you're gonna hit a little bit of turbulence.

There's a lot of people in our country who thought for a long time they were getting away with something, and then somebody hacked into the website of Ashley Madison.

Uh-oh.

See, there's a reason the Bible says, don't be deceived.

God is not mocked.

Whatever a man sows, that will he also read.

And by the way, I have a friend whose name is on the list.

And I guess I call him this week and say, hey, what can I do to help you?

I'm not mad at him.

I didn't ring him up.

Hey man, what's your life to get busted?

Come on.

Come on.

So when I say don't expect lost people to act like Christians, also let me say this: don't expect immature Christians to act like mature Christians.

This is free.

This is so subtle.

But let me say this: if you read the Bible and we read the Bible and we look at all the good people to see ourselves and get lessons from that, you should look at the bad people too.

Because you'll get a more true representation of yourself in the bad people than you will sometimes in the good people.

Who's confused right now?

Raise your hand.

You are like, you lost me in all of that.

We always look at Moses and Aaron and think, yeah, that's me.

Sometimes we're like Pharaoh, because Pharaoh was smart, he was subtle.

This is what he did.

He realizes I can't get the people to not believe Moses, but I can get the people to not like Moses.

And so what he does is because it's a crazy response when they say, Hey, let my people go, he goes, Okay, I'll tell you what, I'm not gonna, who is the Lord?

I'm not gonna obey your God, I'm not gonna let your people go.

Matter of fact, I'm gonna take away your straw you used to make bricks.

And so he says, I'm not gonna reduce the quota.

You're gonna make the same amount of bricks with no straw.

And the people go crazy.

Not at Pharaoh.

They go to Pharaoh and say, Hey, would you reconsider?

And he's like, Nope, get out of here.

And on the way out, if you look down in verse 21, on the way out the door, they see the the leaders who've gone to Pharaoh to ask for mercy.

They see Moses and they go, hey dude, why do you hate us?

We hope God judges you.

You've made us stink in the eyes of Pharaoh, and you put a sword in his hand that he could kill us with.

Because Pharaoh was smart.

He realized, hey, if I can't make these people not believe Moses, I'm gonna make them not like Moses.

Because in leadership, you experience resistance.

You're going to get some pushback.

So if you own a company, if you manage people, I don't care if it's three people, two of those people have had a conversation about you behind your back.

Welcome to life.

Some of y'all are like, this is not very encouraging.

Yeah, you should go in those people's office this week and close the door and go, hey, what do you know about me that I don't know about me?

Some of y'all are like, I wish my boss would ask me that.

Yeah, that's exactly what happens.

So I say, don't expect lost people to act like Christians.

Why is that?

Because lost people think like Pharaoh.

It's a great snapshot into the way an unconverted person thinks.

Because Pharaoh thinks like the person.

Basically, and it manifests itself in two areas: what they think about God and what they think about God's word.

Let me demonstrate.

What do you mean what do they think about God?

See, this is what's so subtle about the Bible.

Look at verse one.

Because one of the things that you have to understand by way of background for the text is that for the Egyptians, their leaders were representative of their God.

So Pharaoh wasn't just like the president of Egypt, he was like a fleshly representation of the God.

So he, whatever he said, that went.

That's why he says, Who is the Lord that I shall obey him?

I do not know the Lord, and I will not do what he says.

That's the way lost people think.

That shouldn't bother you or offend you.

Look at verse 1.

Afterwards, Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord.

Hear that phrase, thus says the Lord.

Now look down at verse 10.

After the people have gone and they've said, Hey, let us go offer sacrifice.

In verse 10, so the taskmasters, because he said, Hey, let heavier work be laid on the men, they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.

Verse 10.

So the taskmasters and the foreman of the people went out and said to the people, Thus says Pharaoh.

You see how subtle he is?

They said, Thus says the Lord.

And he's like, hey, I don't know who you think the Lord is, but I am the Lord.

Thus says Pharaoh.

How many of y'all have been in church for a long time?

Like you've been going to church for over 20 years.

Can I see your hand?

You've seen this little track.

A track, by the way, is like a little booklet of religious literature or whatever.

Remember the track they used to have to have?

They had a little diagram and had a little chair, and they said, This is the throne of your heart.

Who's on the throne of your heart?

Remember that?

And there was nothing on there.

And God was outside the circle, and that's your heart.

God's on a that's Pharaoh.

Pharaoh's like, I'm on the throne of my heart.

Who is the Lord?

It's me.

Thus says the Lord.

So he comes up and says, Thus says Pharaoh.

He's so subtle and so arrogant, but what he's saying is, hey, I'm God.

I get to be in charge.

Here's how it sounds in our modern culture: I'm a self-made man.

Look out.

Look out.

Thus says the Lord.

Second way, the way lost people think about uh uh uh about God is manifest, number one, the way they think about God.

Secondly, how they think about his word.

There's no respect for God's word.

Look at verse nine of Exodus chapter five.

He says, Let them let heavier work be laid on the man that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.

Pay no regard to lying words.

They have no respect for the Bible.

This is how lost people think.

It's just a bunch of lies that keep you from doing what you got to do to get ahead in this world and enjoy your life on your own terms.

Now, at some point, that should sound a little familiar.

You say, What do you mean?

Remember the Garden of Eden?

Remember Adam and Eve?

God says, You're free.

Hear that?

First thing God says to them is, You're free.

You're free to eat of any tree in the garden, but of this one tree, don't eat of that, because the day you eat of that, you will surely die.

Satan comes along, and what does he say?

Surely hath God said, You won't die.

Because he has a low, unbiblical view of God's word.

See, the fundamental difference in the worldview, in the mindset of a Christian and an unchristian, is a Christian believes that Jesus Christ is God, that there's one God.

Hero Israel, the Lord our God is one.

The Lord our God is one God.

And God's word is the supreme authority in that person's life.

For the unchristian, for the unbeliever, the person who's not been converted yet, they're God.

What they say goes.

Here's the great thing for them about not being a Christian.

They're free to do whatever they want.

And the Bible, I mean, that's just here's the phrase you'll hear.

Oh, that's just a book written by men.

I mean, men wrote the Bible, right?

Wrong.

The Bible says of itself that no prophecy has its origin in the will of man, but men spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy chapter 3 says that all scripture is breathed out by God.

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

It's the breath of God down on paper.

So when it comes to, hey, how do I handle spiritual reasons?

One of the things that could keep you from being disappointed is don't expect lost people to act like Christians.

And the fundamental way they express where they are in relation to God is how to think about God, how they think about his word.

Thirdly and finally, tell the whole story.

Tell the whole story.

Look at verse 3.

Are you still with me?

I want us to think a little bit.

So let's think together a little bit.

Look at verse 3.

After he says, I do not know the Lord, and I will not do what he says.

Verse 3.

Then they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us.

Please let us go.

Three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

Mark this next phrase.

Lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.

Lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.

See, here when I say tell the whole story, here's the part of the story that we seem to have lost these days: consequence.

There's no consequence anymore for anything.

Until someone hacks into Axley Madison, then there's a consequence.

And there's lawsuits and this, that, and the other.

But the God of the Bible says, hey, God demands specific things, and if these demands are not met, he doesn't ask, he demands, let my people go.

He demands specific things, and if these demands are not met, there will be swift and terrible justice.

Has anybody noticed that there's apparently no consequence for unbelief?

And one of the reasons that people don't have this sense of what all's at stake is because we leave out the whole story.

We just tell the good news, the good part, but we don't say, hey, by the way, there's a consequence for unbelief.

If you don't believe this, this is not gonna go well for you.

It's not.

And so what you see here in this verse is actually a great model for presenting the gospel.

Let me say this again, and I'll demonstrate and we'll be done.

Good enough?

What you see here is a great framework for how to present the gospel.

You say, what do you mean?

There's four things.

Number one, there's something to believe.

There's something to believe.

We've met with God.

The God of the Hebrews have met with us, Pharaoh, and this God speaks, and he says, Let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.

You see, we kind of forget what the big issue is.

We don't see this in the story of Exodus for what it is.

God wants them free so they can so he can be glorified in their worship, and Pharaoh wants them to remain in bondage so he can be glorified in their work.

Do you hear the difference in those two?

God says, Set my people free so that they can hold a festival to me.

What if at the heart of all this, God says, I want you people to be free so you can worship me, so you can party, so you can just, I mean, your whole life is about learning to just know and enjoy God.

What if that's what drives the heart of God in all of this?

Maybe that's why the church years ago adopted a creed that said the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Let me give you another question I think about this week, and it's this how are you enjoying God these days?

How are you enjoying God?

There's something to believe.

Hey, this God says, let my people go.

That's in Exodus in the gospel.

The gospel is a demand that sinners repent and believe in God's Son.

Acts 17, Paul says to these people, hey, God commands all men everywhere to repent because he's fixed a day when he's going to judge the world in righteousness.

And he's given proof of this.

He's on the record.

He's given proof of this by raising him from the dead.

See, there's something to believe.

Secondly, this belief is specific and exclusive.

It's specific, it's clearly focused on one person and it's exclusive.

He says, Hey, God says, Let my people go.

In the gospel, to believe in God's Son is to trust the crucifixion of Jesus is full payment for your sin.

Let me say it again.

In Exodus, it's, hey, you let these people, the children of Israel, whom I have said is my firstborn son, you let them go.

In the gospel, believe in God's Son means you trust the crucifixion of Jesus, it's full payment for your sin.

You don't trust your religious rituals, you don't trust your prayers, you don't trust in relics, you don't trust in anything else.

You trust only in the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross is full payment for your sin.

See, we've got to stop apologizing for the exclusivity of Christianity.

See, the the gospel of Oprah says that all roads lead to God.

If all roads lead to God, then what's unique about Jesus?

Well, you know, I work with a guy and he's Buddhist, and who's to say he's not right?

The Bible.

What's your next question?

See, the issue I would put before you today, beloved, is not well, not he's right, but are you wrong?

Do you have the confidence in the Bible that the Bible has in itself?

Well, you know, hundred million Chinese people can't be wrong about the Buddha.

Sure they can.

Sure they can.

And that's not a that's not a dish on the Chinese.

It's just we've got to stop apologizing for the exclusivity.

Because here's the deal.

Think for a minute.

You're smart people.

If all roads lead to God, and if your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth, but all truths are equal, then what's necessary about Jesus?

His life and especially his death is the most unnecessary event in human history.

But if, as the Bible teaches, that the only way a person can be forgiven for their sin is by placing their faith in what Christ has done on the cross on their behalf, because that's what pays for our sin.

Not going to church, not giving money to the church.

Isn't that horrible that I just said that as a preacher?

I should be kicked out of the club.

You, your only hope, my only hope is that Jesus Christ died on the cross.

So I can stand and sing, my worth is not in what I own.

And I can hoist up my cup of coffee and go, yes.

Why?

Because I'm all in on that.

Jesus said in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man comes to the Father except through me.

Nobody.

Jesus himself says, There's no other way.

So this belief is specific and it's exclusive.

Thirdly, there's an action required.

There's an action required.

In Exodus, it's let my people go.

In the gospel, it's you gotta repent.

To repent is to be sorry for sin and turn away from it.

It's not just being sorry, like, oh, I feel bad.

You should feel bad.

Matter of fact, the Bible's written to help people feel bad about their sin.

Let me say that again because we've kind of forgotten this.

The Bible is written to help you feel bad about your sin.

And beloved, that's not shame and guilt.

That's mercy.

Why?

Because the wages of sin is death.

What kind of a compassionate, loving God would watch you kill yourself and not say, hey, this should bother you.

That's why the book of James says, purify your hands, your sinners, and your hearts, you double-minded.

And then it says this grieve and mourn and wail.

That's what I mean when I said the Bible helps you feel bad about your sin.

Why?

Because that saves you from destroying yourself.

Otherwise, you're a spiritual leper.

You can't feel what you're doing.

And what kind of a God would care about people and watch them destroy themselves and not know what they were doing?

Finally, in the book of Exodus, there's a consequence for not believing.

Again, please let us go three days' journey in the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.

There's a consequence.

Here's the demand.

And if you don't submit to the demand, Pharaoh, he's gonna fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.

He has both at his disposal.

In the gospel, God makes this demand because those who don't come to Christ will be lost in their sins and will suffer the eternal punishment of God's wrath at a place called hell.

Beloved, we so stop telling the whole story.

Ask yourself this question: When's the last time you heard a sermon on hell?

We don't talk about it anymore.

And if you're visiting our church today, relax.

We don't preach guilt and shame and fear-mongering.

But we're not afraid to tell the whole story.

I mean, otherwise, what are we doing here?

I mean, let's get down to the just to the brass tacks.

If there is no heaven, if there is no hell, if there's only one way to get there, but if that's not true, what are we doing here?

You should be thinking, I shaved my legs for this.

But if there is a heaven, and there is a hell, or to use the word I want to put in your vocabulary today, there is a consequence for not believing the gospel.

How should that motivate us?

There was a preacher that lived a long time ago, his name was D.L.

Moody.

He was famous in Chicago.

Moody would, I mean, he would talk about Jesus to anybody.

And one day, a very successful businessman who went to his church and he was offended that Moody told people, unless you place your faith in Christ, you're gonna die and go to hell.

And he didn't say it with joy in his voice.

He just cared about people.

And one day this man made an appointment with him, comes to Moody's office, and he comes in and he's like, you know, I have a problem with you and your backwards belief and blah, blah, blah.

This is, folks, this is years ago.

We're a progressive society.

We don't need this antiquated Christianity that you preach.

And after a while, Moody's not said a word.

And the guy's like, What do you have to say for yourself?

Moody just got up and walked over and pulled back the shade and asked the man to come over here.

And he said, Look down there on that city, all these people.

What do you see?

I see people walking to and fro, going about their business and worthy of being left alone.

Dwight Moody burst into tears and said, I see men and women walking into hell, and Jesus Christ is their only hope.

That's why I live like I do.

Let me give you one last question to think about.

What explains the fact that you live like you do?

That makes sense.

There are certain things that I do and don't do.

Not because I'm a preacher, but because I'm a Christian.

My neighbor.

Amen.

You hear about this Ashley Madison thing?

Well, you think about that.

I'm saddened because I have a friend that's on the list.

Whoa! Whoa! Really?

Yeah.

Really?

Yeah.

Because my friends always thought he was above the rules.

The rules didn't apply to him.

So you got like real friends.

Yeah, I got real sinners for friends.

I do.

Man.

And I just looked at my neighbor and I said, that's no way to live.

Like Wiley Coyote waiting for the 20-ton Acme anvil to fall on your head.

You think that's what God created you for?

And I said, that's the mercy of the gospel.

Oh, well, there you go, bringing up religion.

And every once in a while I fantasize about choking my neighbor out.

Because he's an idiot.

Well, you're going to bring up religion.

What's this guy?

I mean, I've got yard implements on the wall here, dude.

I'll take an iron rake to you.

But I didn't say that.

I said, this isn't religion.

I said, people's only hope is to be forgiven for what they've done.

Don't wait for it to come out and become public.

No, it's the Bible says what's been done in secret will be declared from the housetops.

That's in the Bible.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Man.

So what are you going to do with your friend?

I'm going to call him on Monday and say, hey, can I buy you lunch?

I don't think anybody's calling him asking him to lunch.

And I'm going to look him in the face and tell him, this is the greatest thing that's ever happened to you.

And he's going to go, I don't see how.

Because there's nowhere to hide.

Everybody knows what God has known all along.

And merciful, patient, long-suffering God who said, It's not my will that any should perish, but all should come to the day of salvation.

Maybe God wants us to bring you to salvation.

And I'm going to pay for lunch.

And I might even put it on my church credit card that you pay for.

So you got some skin in the game, people.

But that's the gospel.

Look at me.

And we'll be done.

Look at me.

He's as guilty as you were before you came to Christ.

And just as guilty as I am.

So I'm not mad at him.

I will love him enough to say, man, is this as good as it gets?

Same thing I say to my friend that's an alcoholic.

Who falls off the wagon and drinks excessively?

Is this what God created you for?

And both of them have the same thing in common.

They have beliefs, but they don't govern their life.

So what beliefs do you have that explain the way you live?

Because when we get later on into Exodus, we're going to do a series on the Ten Commandments called Flourish.

And I'm going to tell you what a lot of people don't understand because you think the Ten Commandments are God's ten rules to make you miserable.

No, this is God saying, hey, you're going to flourish if you do this.

And by the way, He's talking to people that are already Christians.

See, at the core of all this, and I'll be done.

I'm going into overtime here.

I can feel some of y'all reaching down for your stove.

All right, time to go.

Look at me.

At the core of all of this, God designed you and me to be governed by something we believe.

And that will lead to life, or it will lead to death.

Read in Deuteronomy chapter 30, God says, I put life before you.

Deuteronomy 30 · chapter mention

Choose life.

You goofballs.

But they kept choosing death.

My alcoholic friend chooses death on a consistent basis.

And says, I don't want to stop drinking.

He's going to lose everything.

And he says it with such nobility, like, I'm a crusader for alcohol.

I'm not going to stop drinking.

You're going to lose your family, your business, everything over whiskey.

Are you kidding me?

Well, that's just my preference.

That's what I want to do.

What governs?

What beliefs do you hold to that govern the way you live?

Let's think about these things.

Let me pray.

If you're a guest, we like to teach the Bible and then just say, hey, let's take a minute and think about it.

So let's take a minute and think about it.

There's no pressure.

We don't believe in that.

We don't believe you need to be made to feel guilty.

We believe you feel guilty enough already.

But we also believe that merciful God does not want you to continually choose things the Bible calls sin because you're destroying yourself.

And so he convicts you.

He kind of pricks your head, your heart, and says, ought not to be this way.

If that's you and you got stuff going on in your life that's not good, we want to help you.

When the service is over in just a minute, myself and some of our pastors and elders be available down front.

You actually want to come up and just hand us your phone number and say, Call me this week.

I'd like to get lunch or coffee or I want to come by and visit with a pastor.

We'd love to do that.

But for right now, let's just think about the fullness of the whole story.

That it's good news for those who believe and it's bad news for those that don't.

And we don't relish that or celebrate that.

That's what motivates us to be gospel-driven people.

Just take a moment and ask yourself, what do I walk away from this morning with?

I just want to jump on the tail end of that song and remind you, your burden heavy, he will take.

Father, we uh are grateful that you're a loving, compassionate, just God.

Who won't let us just sin and destroy ourselves.

You'll provoke and convict and prick our conscience and say, hey, you'll send people across our path to kind of warn us, to speak out, to dissuade us, to invite us.

The Bible says we're the fragrant aroma of Christ to those who are perishing.

That's how subtle you are.

You don't yell and scream at people with signs.

Sometimes you let them just smell something that makes them hungry.

And I pray that this week that people would smell on us the fragrant aroma of Jesus.

He does not smell like the sweaty determination of religion.

He's a beautiful, attractive aroma of forgiveness and purpose and peace.

And the Holy Spirit, let people get a whiff of the King and the kingdom.

In our lives, we pray.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Stand to your feet.

Let me speak a blessing over you.

Hold your hands out.

As you depart, don't forget that the Bible says you smell like Jesus.

Don't forget that.

Because somebody needs to get a whiff of what he smells like this week.

So depart now.

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.

You're dismissed.