Sermon

April 19,2026

Bridges Sandpoint Church

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  1. The subject of today's study, but it was something, it's kind

  2. of where my heart is when I, when I go to people's

  3. businesses. I mean, if you're going to ask a

  4. friend for a favour, you know, that's different.

  5. But if you're going to go to their place of business and

  6. support them, you know, be willing to support them because

  7. they're good at their job and they're going to do good for you

  8. because they're going to do it for the Lord.

  9. That's the goal, right? So today we're going to be in

  10. Exodus 5, but we're going to start with the last verse of

  11. Exodus 4. And it's so the people believed.

  12. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of

  13. Israel and that he looked on their affliction, then they

  14. bowed their heads and worshipped.

  15. And Lord, I just lift up this time.

  16. I lift up just just you and and thank you to give us this time

  17. that we get to just spend with you and Lord that you you care

  18. enough to to look down and see us Lord, but that you are so you

  19. are also so worthy to be seen or that you you're so big and so

  20. mighty and Lord that you were able to do more than we could

  21. ever ask or think. And I pray all this in Jesus

  22. name, Amen. So Israel, the name of my the

  23. name of my study and it's really it's going to make sense.

  24. But feeling is a victim and or, or feeling victim or surrender

  25. surrendered victor, which is Israel you will see through

  26. through Exodus. Israel is all about how they

  27. feel today, right? And they, they have a hard time

  28. understanding who God is and why this is happening kind of thing.

  29. But anyway, we'll go first one of X of chapter 5 says after

  30. afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh.

  31. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, let my people go that

  32. they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.

  33. So we're just going to go through this real quick because

  34. it's kind of a funny story. But Moses here gives credit,

  35. right? This is the most when you when

  36. you look at Moses, sorry, when you look at Moses, you got to

  37. give him some credit. This is the most powerful man in

  38. the known world and Moses is going to go in and demand.

  39. So Moses automatically knows who he's speaking for, right?

  40. Moses, however he thinks this is going to go, Moses doesn't think

  41. he's walking in and getting it done right?

  42. This this is literally stating this command, this demand is

  43. this is the kind of thing that could get you killed, right?

  44. This is Moses walking in has to, I mean, just the fact that he

  45. did it means he was trusting the Lord because this year or more

  46. to the point of even trusting, he was submitted to what the

  47. Lord wanted him to do. He was surrendered, which is,

  48. you know, the if he dies, he dies kind of thing because he's

  49. just going to follow the Lord. And then verse 2, it's Pharaoh

  50. said, who is the Lord that I should obey Bay the obey his

  51. voice to let Israel go. I do not know the Lord, nor will

  52. I let Israel go. And this is I mean, as much as

  53. we're going to pick on the Pharaoh through this whole

  54. thing, this is not this is really not unreasonable, right?

  55. This is Moses, who he probably knew of Moses and he may have

  56. known him when he was younger, but this is 40 years later.

  57. And Moses is like, who is this Lord you were talking about?

  58. Who who are you talking about? My slaves have a Lord.

  59. And then Moses here, you know, after after Pharaoh asked that

  60. Moses starts, you know, he started in with gusto.

  61. The Lord said, let my people go. Verse three, he goes to I think

  62. we do this right, blame God and not not in a bad way, but in a,

  63. in a please, please do this so God doesn't doesn't get mad at

  64. us, which is so they said the God of the Hebrews has met with

  65. us. Please let us go three days

  66. journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God,

  67. lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.

  68. So Pharaoh, please do this so God doesn't get mad at us.

  69. And you know, please let us go and this the Pharaoh then

  70. chapter verse 4 and and reason we're going through this quick

  71. is there is a whole application thing that we'll get into.

  72. But I just wanted to step through these verses as they

  73. went because it's kind of a funny story when you, if you can

  74. picture be in there, you know, Pharaoh this pretty flat footed

  75. for the as far as when Moses comes in, Pharaoh has no idea

  76. this is coming and then this back and forth, right.

  77. And this is verse 4. It's the king of Egypt said to

  78. them, Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their

  79. work get back to your labor. And the Pharaoh said, look, the

  80. people of the land are many now and you make them rest from

  81. their labor. Like what are you doing?

  82. And so the first one is, is Pharaoh's kind of shocked by the

  83. conversation now. Now Pharaoh kind of gets his

  84. wits about me. Like who are who are you?

  85. What are you doing? Why are you talking to me about

  86. my slaves? And they have a God.

  87. I'm their God, I'm their master, I'm their Lord.

  88. And they need to remember who's in charge.

  89. So then MO then the Pharaoh says in verse 6, and this is this is

  90. the part that a lot of times we don't like is when when God

  91. stirs up our life, right? So the same day Pharaoh

  92. commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers

  93. saying, you shall no longer give the people straw to make brick

  94. as before. Let them go and gather straw for

  95. themselves, and you shall lay on them a quota of bricks, which

  96. they may or they made before you shall not reduce it for their

  97. for they are idle. Therefore they cry out, saying,

  98. Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

  99. Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it,

  100. and let them not regard false words.

  101. The taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and

  102. spoke to the people, saying, Thus says Pharaoh, I will give

  103. you straw, I will not give you straw, Go get yourself straw

  104. where you can find it. Yet none of your work will be

  105. reduced. So the people were scattered

  106. abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather straw instead

  107. of stubble or stubble instead of straw.

  108. And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, Fulfill your

  109. work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.

  110. Also the officers of the children of Israel whom

  111. Pharaoh's taskmaster had sent over them were beaten and were

  112. asked why have you not fulfilled your task in making bricks both

  113. yesterday and today as before? So the disruption of the status

  114. quo was complete, right? Suddenly, suddenly the children

  115. of Israel got got the idea of what what was going to happen,

  116. right? This is, and, and a lot of times

  117. in our lives, that is what happens.

  118. You know, I, I want Jesus to come in and fix things and well,

  119. he's going to, he's going to fix things and it's going to disrupt

  120. my life. I mean, I can remember when I

  121. first got saved, you know, I, I worked in construction and there

  122. were, you know, jokes that I wasn't going to tell.

  123. There were words that weren't going to come out of my mouth.

  124. There were, there were stands I was going to have to make and

  125. that wasn't going to be easy. The my flesh was going to want

  126. to do what it'd only done and be comfortable.

  127. And the Lord was going to make it awkward.

  128. He was going to make it difficult because that's, that's

  129. who he is. And I, I think you guys have all

  130. heard Jesus takes me as I am and that that's how he takes us.

  131. Exactly. I mean, he took Israel exactly

  132. as they are, but he loves me too much to lead me that way, right?

  133. So with Israel in this, he accepted them as they were.

  134. He looked down, he saw their affliction and now he's going to

  135. come and he's going to fix it. But like most things, we,

  136. they're, they're looking outward and the Lord's going to fix

  137. their hearts, right? And and he's going to work on

  138. the world. But it's, it's definitely not a

  139. easy, you know, the our flesh doesn't die easy is basically it

  140. the end of chapter 4. God was praised and worshipped

  141. because he saw them and was going to help.

  142. And and that's we get excited, right?

  143. Our feelings can get all welled up in a worship service or in a

  144. somebody, somebody can come up and give a great message, you

  145. know, other than me, somebody that gives great messages and

  146. you can get excited. But to remember that when when

  147. you get home and it's you and God, right, there's a there's a

  148. you and him thing that that he's going to work on this right.

  149. He always knows what needs to change and the this is the

  150. Israel part and and kind of where we're at is thinking.

  151. I know what I need is kind of a crazy thought since what I

  152. thought is what got me into the mess, right, Israel.

  153. Israel wanted to continue on the status quo they had and be

  154. saved. Well, that's never going to work

  155. because that's what got him into the mess in the 1st place right

  156. there. There's got to be some

  157. disruption. And the, the leadership here

  158. suddenly was, was not comfortable.

  159. They, they suddenly they were getting beaten.

  160. I mean, you got to figure picture our Congress, right?

  161. This is tell, tell our Congress they have to balance the budget

  162. and they they're like, oh, oh, well, you know, they come up

  163. with all the reasons. Well, if the ballot, the budget

  164. wasn't balanced, they didn't get paid.

  165. Suddenly, I'm betting the that might change the way they

  166. balance the budget, right? Or if they had to pay out of

  167. their pockets any money that wasn't covered, right?

  168. It wasn't only that they didn't get paid, is that it cost them.

  169. You know, these guys were getting beaten because they

  170. weren't getting the quota. And and what we say and what

  171. they say, what they said was Lord help.

  172. And what God says is I am, trust me.

  173. And Israel felt like victims. And this is Israel going through

  174. the the Old Testament, through judges and on biz.

  175. Israel plays the victim. They when I say that they play

  176. the it's, it's all happening to me and it's happening to me and

  177. I had nothing to do with it. And Lord, you need to fix it.

  178. And that's what Israel comes to Moses with in verse 15.

  179. Then the officers of the children of Israel came and

  180. cried or sorry. They came to Pharaoh first

  181. Israel and came and cried out to Pharaoh saying we are.

  182. Why are you dealing with your servants?

  183. Thus with your servants, there is no straw given to your

  184. servants. And they say to us, make bricks.

  185. And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is your

  186. own people. They aren't giving a straw,

  187. right? So they go to the world and ask

  188. for, for relief, right? They don't go to God, They go to

  189. the world and they want, they want God to rescue, but they,

  190. they, they don't want to be in trouble in the world at the same

  191. time. So remember my, my line, God

  192. wants all the blame. And so therefore he wants you to

  193. trust in Him completely, and he is willing to take you to a

  194. place where all you have is him so that you have to trust Him,

  195. right? And that but that The thing is

  196. when you get there, that's where true rest is is true rest is

  197. found in complete surrender to Him.

  198. And Pharaoh, of course, here is is angry.

  199. But I would tell you that Pharaoh is probably kind of

  200. vindictively angry, more of a more of just a funny because

  201. they come, they come whining. And Pharaoh, Pharaoh probably is

  202. mad, but at the same time kind of chuckling on the inside

  203. because this is, you know, I got them back.

  204. I got them back where they need to be.

  205. Verse 17 it says, But he said you were idle, idle.

  206. Therefore you say, let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.

  207. Therefore go now and work, for no straw shall be given you, yet

  208. you shall deliver the quota of bricks.

  209. And the officers of the children of Israel saw that there was

  210. they were in trouble. After it was said, You shall not

  211. reduce any bricks from your daily quota.

  212. So Pharaoh's just got him right back where he wants them, right

  213. back under his thumb. They understand I'm in charge.

  214. This this whole thing with the Lord's going to go away because

  215. that I'm just, they're just silly slaves.

  216. And they started out with excitement.

  217. They started out with excitement that God saw them and he, he was

  218. going to help them. And they were, they were

  219. excited. Moses and Aaron had heard from

  220. the Lord, but suddenly this was their problem.

  221. The, the leaders, they had a problem and they, they didn't

  222. understand who God was or who God is in, in, in our terms,

  223. right? And so then they come to Moses

  224. and Aaron because that's who spoke to them.

  225. And they say then as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses

  226. and Aaron who stood there to meet them.

  227. And they said to them, let the Lord look on you and judge,

  228. because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of

  229. Pharaoh, in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in

  230. their hands to kill us. And over and over again Israel

  231. will accuse Moses of taking him out into the wilderness to

  232. starve taking him out of the wilderness.

  233. So they all kinds of things right because they continually

  234. think that Moses is in charge and they they don't recognize

  235. who God is and they don't recognize how big he is.

  236. It's what I've got in my notes is God save me from this evil

  237. world instead of God save me a Sinner.

  238. Israel doesn't recognize that they are in need.

  239. They are in need personally for a savior, not not the the evil.

  240. The evil world is doing bad things to me and I need you to

  241. protect me from the evil world. It's I'm, I have fallen short,

  242. right? I I need God and Moses and Aaron

  243. here. Moses returned to the Lord and

  244. said, Lord, why have you brought trouble on these people?

  245. Why is it you have sent me for since I came to Pharaoh to speak

  246. in your name, he is none evil to the people, neither have you

  247. delivered your people at all. And I said last week, Moses,

  248. Moses had got in and sat down, right?

  249. So he was bought into what the Lord wanted to do.

  250. And this isn't Moses trying to get out.

  251. This is Moses asking the questions, right?

  252. Trying to get some clarity on what's going on and and why is

  253. it going on And this is it. So I haven't heard this is, this

  254. is a question and, and it's a whiny question because I, I

  255. think we, we whine quite a bit. If you go through the book of

  256. Job, you'll find Job never curses.

  257. God doesn't rebel against him, but he whines quite a bit.

  258. So whining is something that God's people do.

  259. Not saying it's not sinful, it's we, we need to trust him, but

  260. it's, this is not a voice of rebellion.

  261. Israel has a voice of rebellion that they don't want what God's

  262. offering. They want to go back to the way

  263. it was and if you think about what Moses's understanding of

  264. who God is, Moses understood how big God was and what God was

  265. asking him to do. When you, when you look back at

  266. the first thing he did, you can imagine the faith it took and

  267. the, the, the stepping out of himself it took to walk into the

  268. the most powerful man in the world and saying, the Lord says,

  269. let my people go. That is not something Moses did

  270. in his flesh. It's not something Moses did

  271. going, this is going to go well. But it was something Moses did

  272. because he trusted God and he trusted God because God had told

  273. him what was going to go on. He gave him an outline right

  274. back in back in chapter 4, verse 23, it says, so I say to you,

  275. and this is God talking to Pharaoh or what God's going to

  276. say to Pharaoh. So I say to you, let my son go

  277. that he may serve me. But if you refuse to let him go,

  278. indeed I will kill your son, your first born.

  279. Moses knows God wins and Moses doesn't know how God wins.

  280. He but he knows God wins. Now doesn't mean that there

  281. aren't questions, right? There's always always that that

  282. questioning hard. It's trying to get that wine out

  283. of our voice of, you know, Mary. When you think of Mary and

  284. Gabriel coming to her, she had questions, but they were they

  285. were questions on how are you going to do this?

  286. Not not you're not able to do this.

  287. And and really that's Moses here is is why are we doing it this

  288. way? And it's something that as we go

  289. through our Christian walk, do we understand how big the God we

  290. serve is? Have we had that moment with him

  291. that we have like surrendered my understanding for his his

  292. ability? Right.

  293. I don't know how he's going to do it.

  294. I mean, that's, you know, building a water line across

  295. Africa. Probably hundreds of times I've

  296. been asked how are you going to do that?

  297. I have no idea, right. And that was doesn't mean that I

  298. didn't do the next thing every time it was open, right.

  299. I, I just kept moving forward on whatever the next thing God put

  300. in front of me. But it wasn't that I knew I or

  301. to this day that I know how we build a living water line across

  302. Africa. I know he said that's what we're

  303. going to do. So it's going to happen.

  304. And, and so anywhere that I have opportunities from, from this

  305. position to help in Uganda, in Africa, I do right.

  306. I, I pray for those people. I, I send encouraging messages

  307. to them. I do what I can do from here as

  308. those opportunities line up, but I don't, I don't ever question

  309. whether or not God's going to do it because he said he would.

  310. And and that's, that is the God we serve.

  311. He is big enough to do what he says he's going to do.

  312. And Israel never shouldn't say never haven't in most of their

  313. history really recognized they, they understand he's holy, but

  314. they never recognized that they're not the victim.

  315. They're the victor. You're not the victim.

  316. You're the victor if you were in Christ.

  317. And the reason you're the victor is because he already won.

  318. And that doesn't mean there isn't a battle, right?

  319. It just means that he is who he says he is.

  320. And something Moses understood who God was.

  321. And if you look at the two different ways that Moses met

  322. God and the Israelites met God, Moses met God in a fire, right?

  323. And that's he met him in a fire. Isaiah met him in the temple.

  324. Job met him in a cloud, right? And it's Isaiah when he met him,

  325. said, woe is me, for I am undone because I'm a man of unclean

  326. lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.

  327. Job, when he met him said, behold, I am vile, what shall I

  328. answer you? I lay my hand over my mouth.

  329. Peter when he met Jesus and recognized his position, he said

  330. when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus's knees and

  331. saying, depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

  332. And Ezekiel, you ever read the vision in in Ezekiel one, it

  333. says, I like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy

  334. day. So was the appearance of the

  335. brightness all around it. It was the appearance of the

  336. likeness of the glory of the Lord.

  337. So when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard the voice of one

  338. speaking. John met Jesus in revelation in

  339. his glorified body and said, I fell at his feet as dead.

  340. And Jesus said, don't be afraid. I am the 1st and the last, which

  341. is Paul met him. When Paul, when Saul met him

  342. trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what do you want me to do?

  343. And Joshua, when he met the commander of the Lord's army,

  344. fell on his face to the earth and worship.

  345. These guys met God and when they met him, they understood how big

  346. he was and how small they were and how much they needed what he

  347. had. And it's Israel accepted God on

  348. their team. He was their champion.

  349. He wasn't their Lord. He he was going to be part of

  350. their team. They weren't, they weren't in

  351. his story. They were.

  352. He was just part of their story. And if and if he didn't do what

  353. they wanted him to do, they were going another way, right?

  354. They had No Fear of the Lord, right?

  355. Next, Proverbs 910 says the fear of the Lord is beginning of

  356. wisdom. They didn't understand He is God

  357. and is worthy. They were the children of

  358. Israel. They were God's children and

  359. they deserved help. Guys, we don't deserve anything

  360. except death. He, he came and died to give,

  361. right? And we, we deserve death and he

  362. loved us enough to come. And my, one of my favorite

  363. quotes in the Narnia books is from Beaver.

  364. And I can't remember which one of the kids sees Aslan for the

  365. first time. It was probably the youngest one

  366. and sees Aslan for the first time.

  367. And he's a big lion and he's walking towards them and, and

  368. looks at Beaver and goes, boy, is he safe.

  369. And Beaver says no, but he's good.

  370. That's the God we serve. Is he safe?

  371. No, but he's good. He is.

  372. He is the maker of everything, the builder of all, and he is

  373. good. And when we, when we come to

  374. him, it's just kind of disrupt our lives because our lives are

  375. built on, on this earth. And we think that there's stuff

  376. here that is, that is worthy of our, our praise and, and honor

  377. and, and joy and where happiness comes from.

  378. And it's just not. And so Moses here was 100%

  379. obeying God and got the back of his head slapped by the Pharaoh,

  380. right. And Peter gives us some insight

  381. about how our walk here on earth is going to go in first.

  382. Peter 1-6. This is the game plan God has

  383. for us. In this you greatly rejoice,

  384. though now for a little while, if need be, you have been

  385. grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith,

  386. being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is

  387. tested by fire, may be found to praise and honor and glory at

  388. the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love,

  389. though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with

  390. joy inexpressible, full of glory, receiving the end of your

  391. face, the salvation of your souls.

  392. And that we will have trials. It's not if it's will, it's

  393. when. The Lord cares what's going on

  394. and wants to help, right? And, and is 100% able to do it.

  395. But that takes growth for us, right?

  396. We, we talked, I think on don't remember it was last week or

  397. Wednesday, talked about Stony ground like Wednesday I talked

  398. about Stony ground and Stony ground.

  399. Mark 416. These likewise are the ones sewn

  400. on Stony ground. When they hear the word,

  401. immediately they received it with gladness, and they have no

  402. root in themselves and so endure only for a time afterwards, when

  403. tribulations or persecutions arise for the word's sake,

  404. immediately they stumble. So did that not sound like what

  405. Israel did right? They, they were excited.

  406. They heard it. They, they, they heard what

  407. Moses said and they were excited because they were going to be

  408. saved, but they had no root in it.

  409. There was they, they wanted, they wanted to have all the

  410. fruit with none of the none of the growth that that's required.

  411. I, one of the pastors down down the Tri-City said, and I imagine

  412. he got it from somebody because it's, is that fruit is not grown

  413. on the mountaintop. It's grown in the valley, right?

  414. And as believers, we don't go from mountaintop to mountaintop

  415. to mountaintop. We go mountaintop into valleys

  416. to mountaintop, right? Which we have those great.

  417. We're going to go to the ministry conference.

  418. And I, I guarantee that when you just dedicate a weekend to the

  419. Lord, you're going to hear from him and you're going to, you're

  420. going to have some highs that are just wonderful.

  421. And then you're going to come back and Monday mornings going

  422. to happen and you're going to be at work and all those highs you

  423. were feeling over the weekend, suddenly reality strikes and

  424. you're back in a valley, right? And the key there is to remember

  425. that God is in both places and is using both of them for his

  426. glory to get you where he wants you to be and to never be in

  427. that position of not trusting him right in in Hebrews 11/1

  428. says now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the

  429. evidence of things not seen. If I know who God is and I

  430. recognize how big he is and in the beginning God created and on

  431. the third day Jesus rose again. I'm pretty sure he's got my work

  432. life figured out and, and whatever's got whatever or my,

  433. my home life, my family life, whatever The thing is, God has

  434. that in his control. And there's, I don't have the

  435. verse, but it's when I die, I'm going to be with Jesus.

  436. So the only thing that somebody, the the worst thing somebody

  437. could do to me is kill me. And what is that going to do but

  438. send me to Jesus? Everything that goes on in this

  439. world, in this time is a blip of my future.

  440. I live for eternity. I don't live for tomorrow.

  441. I don't live. I live in such a way that I can

  442. trust that he's got it under control.

  443. And that means there's suck that happens out there, guys that

  444. that real hurt happens. And it really sucks.

  445. These these leaders truly got beat.

  446. Joshua makes a mistake. They're sin in the camp and 36

  447. men truly die and left their families as widows and orphans,

  448. right? Real bad things happen.

  449. If we trust God, we know that those things happen and the most

  450. people that can get saved are going to get saved through all

  451. of the junk. If there was a better way,

  452. that's the way it would happen. You know, Joe, when you go

  453. through Job, all of those things, if there was a better

  454. way, that's the way it would happen.

  455. We have to trust the Lord's plan and a lot of times that's laying

  456. down everybody around us, right? It is Luke 1426 and believe it

  457. or not this is became one of my favorite verses as I was going

  458. through 2020. If anyone comes to me and does

  459. not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and

  460. sisters, yes, and even his own life also, He cannot be my

  461. disciple. And whoever does not bear his

  462. cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

  463. And everybody's like, wow, you can't hate people.

  464. You have to, you have to understand that Jesus, it's

  465. pretty simple. He wants 100%, not not 92%, not

  466. 99.9%. He wants 100%.

  467. And that isn't because he's selfish.

  468. That's because he knows if you have anything between you and

  469. him, it's poisonous to you. It is it.

  470. It will poison your spirit because it's something the enemy

  471. can use against you. If you have anything that is a

  472. Yeah, but it is outside of Christ, right?

  473. It is the moment you think that this thing will make me happy

  474. instead of I am already full of joy, full of peace because I'm

  475. in Christ now. God, God gives us great things.

  476. He gives. I mean, I have a wonderful wife.

  477. She's not in here so I can talk about her.

  478. I have a wonderful wife who loves me and he's a she's a gift

  479. from him. He wants to give us good things.

  480. But if at any point I put my hands around her and I say she's

  481. mine guiding me, you're going to have a problem, right, because

  482. he's going to say you got to keep your hand open, right?

  483. You got to keep your hand open with your relationships in your

  484. life, their your vehicles in your life, your your job,

  485. everything. It's like Lord, whatever you

  486. want to do with it, right, Uganda, right.

  487. So here, here's a so my plan, because I always have plans, my

  488. plan nuclear nuclear supervisor spend three to six months in

  489. Uganda work outages, have a fifth wheel, go to work.

  490. My plan is working and then go be a pastor in Sandpoint.

  491. If if my hand wasn't open about Uganda, I'd, I'd have said said

  492. this is this is what I do, Lord, I, I'm a missionary in Uganda.

  493. This is this is mine. This is what I do.

  494. But my job is really simple. Not my will, but your will be

  495. done, Lord. And and that is truly it.

  496. If I, if I exchange my my wants and desires for his wants and

  497. desires, guys, there is nothing better on this earth than what

  498. he wants from me. I mean, if it, if I were, if I

  499. had decided I was going to do Uganda, my work life would be

  500. miserable right now and Uganda would be falling apart because

  501. there's no way if I step out of his will that I get to do all

  502. the things that he wants me to do because I'm not doing what he

  503. wants me to do. So even in ministry, if you

  504. decide that you're just going to be about your work, then you're

  505. just a slave to the world because you're trying to make

  506. yourself happy in the world system instead of resting and

  507. trusting in his plan. And, and it's been his plan

  508. since before the foundations of the Earth, right?

  509. It isn't. None of this is a shock to him,

  510. but it you know John 316 which gets beat up, but the the

  511. problem with John 316 and it's not the verse, it's our

  512. understanding of it is very often we we settle like Israel

  513. in John 316 for God so loved the world.

  514. I am so excited praise and worship he gave his only

  515. begotten son That is so awesome praise and worship that whoever

  516. believes in him should not perish but have everlasting

  517. life. I am a victim and I need Jesus

  518. to come and save me. That that the problem with that

  519. is there's this who that whomever believes in him that

  520. not that is not I believe that Jesus because before I was a

  521. believer, I believed I had went through the whole thing and

  522. figured out how I could sleep at night and I believed that Jesus

  523. was a real man and he really walked on the earth.

  524. I believed that he was crucified.

  525. I believe that I believed I even believed he was born of a

  526. virgin. Right, that fine, I'll believe

  527. that. And I believed he rose on the

  528. third day. I believe that, and so I'm good.

  529. So I am now. I am now saved and I'm good.

  530. Except I didn't believe in him, right?

  531. And that believe word is to trust in him, to rely upon him,

  532. to place all confidence in him, to entrust myself to him, to

  533. lean all of my weight of my life on him.

  534. That's believe. That's what that word mean.

  535. And if we're not doing that, then we're acting like Israel.

  536. We're just victims. I need, I need to get out of

  537. jail free card because I'm a good person and the world is

  538. evil. I'm not a good person.

  539. The world is evil, but I'm not a good person.

  540. I'm in the world. I need a Savior that is able to

  541. do what He says, and I believe Jesus is that He is.

  542. He is above and beyond right. Hebrews 11611 six through 8

  543. says. But without faith it is

  544. impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe

  545. that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently

  546. seek Him by faith. Noah, being divinely warned of

  547. things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for

  548. the saving of his household, by which he commanded, commended

  549. the world, and became heir of righteousness, which is in

  550. accord to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he

  551. was called to go out to the place which he was would receive

  552. as an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was

  553. going. So Noah and Abraham did things

  554. not because they understood what God was asking.

  555. They understood who God was in the in the in the human mind,

  556. right is they understood God was big enough to do what he said

  557. right. They Noah understood that God

  558. said build a boat on the land. It has never you got to remember

  559. that in Noah's eight day it had never rained.

  560. The dew came up from the from the ground and watered the

  561. fields. So Noah had no explanation on.

  562. Why or how this boat was going to be used.

  563. Abraham got called to go to a a place he had never been because

  564. God said that isn't trusting that the world has a plan that's

  565. trusting that God's big enough to use the plan that he's got

  566. for me. And if and if we've given our

  567. life to Christ, this is the cost to trust him right?

  568. And that is my when that that full surrender is full faith and

  569. full belief He is able to do what he says.

  570. And that my job as a believer is to do everything as unto the

  571. Lord and not to men, which is get my eyes off the world and

  572. just do what he tells me to do. And that takes prayer and that

  573. takes time. But that trust is when we look

  574. at Romans 828 and you will over the years, you will hear me beat

  575. that verse up because it is so misquoted so often.

  576. But what Israel's missing is they don't understand Roman 828,

  577. which is God does uses all things together for the good of

  578. those who love him, right? That does not mean that God uses

  579. everything for my good. He uses everything for the good

  580. and the good is as many souls into heaven as can get there.

  581. And my life surrender to him is saying, Lord, use my life for

  582. that process. I am willingly surrendering that

  583. to you. And The thing is, when that

  584. happens, when I'm in Christ and I am made new, I'm able to do

  585. that. Second Corinthians 517 is all I

  586. just, I hate it when I do that. Gosh, it's like one of my life

  587. verses and I just space it because I'm standing up here

  588. and you get a new Bible and all the pages are in the wrong

  589. place. It's the it's the Bible.

  590. It isn't me. So 2nd Corinthians 517 says

  591. therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

  592. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become

  593. new and that all things have become new guys is when I give

  594. my life to Jesus. He doesn't take he doesn't take

  595. Nick and go, man, there's a lot of good pieces here.

  596. We can make something out of this.

  597. No, they're nothing good there. All things become new.

  598. The old passes away. And and that's what I'm trusting

  599. in is that he is able to use this broken, useless person and

  600. do amazing things in the Kingdom.

  601. You know, you guys hear it all the time, but we're in his

  602. story, right? The beginning of this was Moses

  603. in God's words. Moses trusted God's words,

  604. right? And then Moses shared God word,

  605. God's words. Thus says the Lord God of

  606. Israel, let my people go and and Moses didn't know how that was

  607. going to happen. He he just trusted God, said it

  608. and told him to repeat it. Do we do that right?

  609. And how important is God's word in our life?

  610. And God's word obviously is like I say, it's twofold.

  611. It is what is it is what is here written down in the Bible?

  612. And it's also that still small voice that's speaking to you

  613. that obviously won't go against the words of the other

  614. Scriptures, but it also will will take you right and say, go

  615. talk to that person. Go do these things right.

  616. John 11 says in the beginning was the Word and the word was

  617. with God and the word was God that's Speaking of Jesus.

  618. But then Revelation 1913, he would clothe in a robe dipped in

  619. blood and his name is called the word of God.

  620. So do you trust that God has a plan for you?

  621. Do you trust that he can speak to you?

  622. And when He speaks to you, do you trust and go and do?

  623. Do you obey, right? And that's when you get back to

  624. that believe. Do you believe the Word?

  625. Do you trust His word? Do you rely upon His word?

  626. Do you believe confidently in His word?

  627. Do you entrust yourself to His Word?

  628. Just like Moses said, let my people go.

  629. Jesus is saying that each of us. He is saying, let go of this

  630. world and trust me. I won.

  631. Write that surrender if we surrender to Jesus, we have one

  632. if, if we just feel like a victim who who needs somebody to

  633. save them. We are we're we're missing it

  634. because we we think that he's coming to defend us from the

  635. world and he's actually using us to conquer the world because

  636. that's what he's going to do with Israel, right?

  637. He's going to Israel is literally going to lay waste to

  638. Egypt. He, they're going to plunder

  639. them, right? They're going to take all their

  640. valuables and it's all going to be because God did it, right?

  641. But it's when Israel and Moses as they, as they go through this

  642. process, guys, I'm not saying, I mean, Israel's going to fail

  643. over and over and over and over again.

  644. Do you know anybody like that, right?

  645. So, but there are little glimpses of moments when they

  646. get it, Moses gets it. Do you get it?

  647. Do I get it? He's bigger than we can imagine.

  648. And he is able to use all the stuff in all the stuff on our

  649. level, all the stuff at the city level, all the stuff at the

  650. state level, all the stuff at the national level, all the

  651. stuff at the international level.

  652. He is able to use all of it for his will, for his glory.

  653. And and it will. That does not mean at any point

  654. that life goes along smooth and level, which I would tell you

  655. Israel's life definitely does not go along smooth and level,

  656. but God will use it all for his glory.

  657. That good stuff. That's good stuff, right?

  658. I I, I really enjoy the idea of getting serious with him right

  659. of being that exchange life of just if guys, if you read your

  660. word, if you're in your Bible, reading the word and you just

  661. listen and follow the rest that you receive is you don't get it

  662. in the world that my when life sucks, like I've said,

  663. Colossians 323. I just work for the Lord, which

  664. means I just need to do my best. It doesn't mean my best is good

  665. enough. You know, it's I need to die to

  666. myself. You know, Galatians 220, which

  667. is this life. I I mean, it's, I've been

  668. crucified, but the end is this life I now live in in the flesh.

  669. I live by faith, right, which means I don't have it in me to

  670. do everything as unto the Lord. I have to live by faith in him

  671. and what he already did. And then when I do that, he,

  672. when, when I live for him, he manifests himself to me, which

  673. is John 1421. You know, when I, when I follow

  674. his commandments, he manifests himself.

  675. He grows. The more I follow, the bigger he

  676. gets, the, the clearer I see him.

  677. We're we're going to do communion and it's a time, guys,

  678. that that's that question to ask yourself.

  679. Say, Lord, is there anything I have that I got my hand around?

  680. Is there anything that I think you can't do that I'm that I'm

  681. trying to do that. I'm going to the world to try

  682. and fix it instead of coming to you, Lord, am I, am I listening?

  683. Am I willing to just say yes, Lord, am I willing to walk into

  684. the Pharaoh and say, let my people go?

  685. And I mean, guys, give Moses and Aaron credit for that moment.

  686. That moment is the is the declaration, right?

  687. It's the IT is the declaration that there that Moses is well,

  688. here we go, right? This is this is an UN, this

  689. wasn't irrevocable moment, right?

  690. I, I can't remember in nuclear, there is a thing like that where

  691. it's a critical step is something that can't be backed

  692. up from. Well, you going in and demanding

  693. to the Pharaoh is something that can't be backed up from because

  694. and when I say that, what I mean is Moses declared the Lord said

  695. let my people go, which means Moses is making a stand that his

  696. God is big enough to force the Pharaoh to let him go.

  697. You know, if Moses walks away and and and Israel doesn't end

  698. up free, then God failed and Pharaoh's bigger.

  699. But we know how that the end of the book is and trust me when I

  700. tell you Pharaoh is not bigger, but this is Jesus, right?

  701. And when he instituted the Lord's Supper, says the Lord

  702. Jesus, on the same night in which he would was portrayed,

  703. took bread. And when he had given thanks, he

  704. broke it and said, take, eat. This is my body which is broken

  705. for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

  706. In the same manner he also took the cup after supper, saying,

  707. This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

  708. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

  709. So guys, as we do this, like I talked about it on Easter, He

  710. said this, and then he rose again on the third day and

  711. proved that it was true, that His blood does wash us clean.

  712. He paid for our sins, but He didn't pay for our sins.

  713. So we had a box of them. He paid for you and me and threw

  714. our sins away. And when we're we're going to

  715. sing a song and just spend some time with him, freshly

  716. remembering what he's done in your life, freshly remembering

  717. how far you've come in that relationship with him.

  718. And if you don't have that relationship, it's a simple

  719. request. Lord, I need you to save me a

  720. Sinner. It's that it's that easy.

  721. It's not a it's a heart thing. Moses got it.

  722. Ezekiel got it. Isaiah got it.

  723. It's not a you don't need to be saved from an evil world.

  724. You need to see saved from yourself and then he will use

  725. you in an evil world to change lives.

  726. And Lord, I just thank you for that.

  727. Lord, I thank you that you cared enough and that you still care

  728. and that you're big enough. Just be with us now and just

  729. lift our voices up to you. Jesus name Amen.