3. Exodus chapter 3 and we'll look at verses 6 through
10. The title of the message, God's
people are an afflicted people. I told you when we opened up
in Job this morning that both messages were on God s afflicted
people. In Job it deals with one particular
person, Job. Here it deals with the Church.
You know, Israel is a type of the Church, and we see that Israel
here is under great affliction, and God sees that. GOD SAYS I
SEE, I SEE THEIR AFFLICTIONS, I HEAR THEIR CRY. THAT'S COMFORTING TO ME, IS THAT
COMFORTING TO YOU? I SEE THEIR AFFLICTIONS, I HEAR
THEIR CRY. NOW THROUGHOUT HISTORY, THROUGHOUT
THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL, THEY WERE ALWAYS A TROUBLED AND AFFLICTED
PEOPLE. MANY TRIED TO DESTROY THEM from
the face of the earth. I'm reading a book right now
concerning one family in the Holocaust and the terrible things
that were done at that time. But it was Hitler trying to destroy
the Jewish race, trying to annihilate the Jews. When the Messiah came, Jews and
Gentiles crucified him. They turned on him. The early
church suffered greatly. Nero set them on fire. He put
him up on stakes in his garden to light up his garden and set
them on fire. Put them in the arena and let
the wild beast tear them. The apostles, they were put to
death, beheaded, Peter crucified upside down,
except for John. John was exiled because God was
going to use him. He was exiled to the island of
Patmos and God used him to write the book of Revelation. And God's
people, if you look out through history, have always been, and
listen, and always will be an afflicted people on this earth. We live in a world of sin. We
live in a world that hates God. That's the truth. Nobody's born into this world
loving God. The only reason I love Him and
you love Him is because He says He first loved us. It's a response
to His love that He's shown to us in Christ. And so God's people
have always been an afflicted people. And this is why the Lord
said, the Lord said this, count the cost. Now I know that modern
day religion makes Christianity look fun. They try to make it
look like it's fun. The Lord Jesus Christ never did
that. He said, count the cost. Turn
over to Luke chapter 14. Our Lord never tries to fool anyone
into following Him. He says, you might want to count
the cost. You say, with that kind of preaching, you'll never
get anybody following. God will. When He said to Peter, James,
and John, the apostles, you know what He said to them? Follow
Me. You know what they did? They followed Him. If He speaks
in power to your heart to follow Him, you'll follow Him. You will
follow Him. you will identify with Him, and
you will follow Him. In Luke 14, let me see what verse
I want to start reading in. Luke 14. I'm trying to find the
beginning of this. In verse 25, And there went great
multitudes with Him, and He turned and said unto them, See, great
multitudes were following Him. They saw miracles. Everybody
wants to follow a miracle worker. They followed him. You know,
he fed 5,000, gave them a free lunch. They're going to follow
him. He turns and he said, If any
man come to me, and hate not his father, mothers, and wife,
and children, and brethren, and sisters, ye, and his own life
also, he cannot be my disciples. Now he's not saying unless you
just absolutely hate them. He's saying in comparison to
your love for me. AND WHOSOEVER DOETH NOT BEAR
HIS CROSS AND COME AFTER ME CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE. FOR WHICH OF
YOU INTENDING TO BUILD A TOWER SITTETH NOT DOWN FIRST AND COUNTS
THE COST, WHETHER HE HAS SUFFICIENT TO FINISH? LEST HAPPILY AFTER
HE LAID THE FOUNDATION AND IS NOT ABLE TO FINISH IT. ALL THAT
BEHOLD IT BEGAN TO MOCK HIM, SAYING, THIS MAN BEGAN TO BUILD
AND WAS NOT ABLE TO FINISH. OR WHAT KING GOING TO MAKE WAR
AGAINST ANOTHER KING SITTETH NOT DOWN FIRST AND CONSULTS WHETHER
HE BE ABLE WITH TEN THOUSAND TO MEET HIM THAT COMETH AGAINST
HIM WITH TWENTY THOUSAND? FOR ELSE, WHILE THE OTHER IS
YET A GREAT WAY OFF, HE SINS AND AMBASSAGE AND DESIRES CONDITIONS
OF PEACE. SO LIKEWISE, WHOSOEVER HE BE
OF YOU THAT FORSAKES FORSAKETH NOT ALL THAT HE HATH, HE CANNOT
BE MY DISCIPLES." Our Lord's honest, isn't He? Our Lord's
honest. He says, COUNT THE COST, COUNT
THE COST. FOLLOWING CHRIST, NOW LISTEN,
FOLLOWING CHRIST WILL COST YOU YOUR LIFE. Christ is my life now. Christ
is my life. You know what the ambition of
a believer is? Oh, that I might know Him. That
I might know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship
of His sufferings. The ambition of every believer
is to know Christ, is to be found in Christ. It will cost you your life, cost
you your friends. As a friend said to me one time,
he said, I wish God hadn't saved you. He said that to me. I'm sure glad he did. He's already
in the grave in unbelief, died in unbelief in a car wreck. Sometimes it'll cost you your
family. Our Lord said a man's enemies will be those of his
own household. You know, many of the Jews, when
they believed back in those early days, especially, they were excommunicated. It's costly. Salvation is free
now. Salvation is free. It's of the
Lord. But following Christ, he said,
is costly. And he doesn't try to sucker
somebody into a decision. He said, I'm gonna tell you the
truth. You sit down and you think about this. That's the reason
why at funerals, I've preached a lot of funerals, I never try
to get somebody to do something at a funeral. That's when they
are at their weakest emotionally. You can talk them into about
anything, they're emotionally weak. Go home, go home, sit down
and think about what you've heard. Give some real thought to what
you've heard. It'll cost you your life. Now,
I know this. I know that if we could, we'd
never have trouble, wouldn't we? I know we wouldn't. If we could, we'd live in the
sunshine all the time. That's the way we would live.
But we live in a sinful world. We have a sinful nature that
causes us trouble. We have Satan who causes us trouble.
But we know this, the trouble that God sends our way is divinely
ARRANGED of God. Trouble doesn't spring up out
of the ground. God has arranged our troubles,
hasn't He? We saw this in Job in the Bible class. God has arranged
all our troubles, all our heartaches. Was it David who said, You put
my tears in your bottle? You know, God has GOD WITH EVERY
ONE OF HIS CHILDREN, EVERY ONE OF HIS CHILDREN, HE HAS ORDAINED EVERY TEAR THAT
THEY'LL EVER CRY, AND NOT ONE TEAR IS EVER FORGOTTEN BY GOD,
NOT ONE. THESE ARE HIS CHILDREN. WE HAVE
NO CONCEPT HOW MINUTELY GOD LOOKS OVER HIS CHILDREN Continually,
constantly, He looks over His children. We think sometimes,
Lord, where are you at? Why such trouble? Why do you
not show up? Where's God? I'll tell you where God is, where
He's always been, on the throne, on the throne. Trouble is what God uses to teach
us, as we saw this morning in Job, to teach us many spiritual
lessons. The believer does not have misfortunes.
Now listen, the believer never has a run of bad luck. Well,
I've had a run of bad luck lately. No, you haven't, and you know
that. The troubles of every one of
God's children They are sent from their Heavenly Father. I'm
glad of that. I'm so glad of that. They are
instructive. They are on purpose. They come to us by the hands
of the Holy Spirit and they are great teachers. Now you tell
me, which is the greatest teacher? Me telling you something and
you experiencing it. You know, I believe God is sovereign. One
of the things I heard when I first heard the gospel, I heard of
the sovereignty of God. He could save me or damn me.
He could forgive me or leave me alone. God is on the throne. God's sovereign. I know that. And I learned that lesson. And that's when you'll worship
God. When God teaches you who He is, that's when you'll worship
God. And He makes no mistakes. And God has to make us sick of
this sinful world and of ourselves before we ever turn to Him, doesn't
He? He has to cut off all our hopes
except for one, Jesus Christ. He's the only hope I have. That's
what Paul wrote to Timothy in 1st Timothy, I think it's 1st
Timothy, first verse. He calls him Jesus Christ, our
hope. That's right, Christ is our hope. Now in verse 6, God appears to
Moses in this burning bush and He reveals Himself to Moses and
He reveals Himself as the God of His fathers Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. Moses was not only a child of
Abraham by blood, but more importantly, he's a child of Abraham by FAITH!
By faith. Blood relationships are going
to be cut off. Jason's my son by flesh, by fleshly
relation. He's my son. But there's gonna
come a day I'm gonna die and he's gonna die and that fleshly
relationship is cut off. My parents just passed away here
over the last year, two years. That relationship is cut off.
The relationship that we have in Christ is the only relationship
that would last. That's the eternal relationship
we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are blood relatives through the blood of Christ.
In that sense, we are. In that sense, we are. But also,
I know this, FAITH RELATIVES are the relatives that will stay
together. Galatians 3, 7, Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. You're looking
at a son of Abraham right here. I'm looking at some sons and
daughters of Abraham, really. I'm really looking at some sons
and daughters of Abraham. That's that spiritual body of
Christ. Paul said, We are the circumcision which worship God
in spirit and have no confidence in the flesh. They had nothing
but confidence in the flesh. We are Abraham's seed. That's
what they told the Lord. We are Abraham's seed. We've never been
sinners. Well, if you're never a sinner,
you'll never be saved. Christ died for sinners. Christ died
for sinners, He died for the ungodly, and He did not die for
anyone else. But he died for a sinner. Are you a sinner? Ungodly? I was unlike God by nature as
I can be. God's light, I'm darkness. God's
truth, I'm a lie. Isn't that so? But he's called
him the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Who is the God of
Abraham? He's the God of ELECTION. Did
not God choose Abraham when he was in the land of the Chaldeans? He was an IDOLATER! He was an IDOLATER! And God CALLED
him! God CHOSE him and brought him
out! He's the God of ELECTION! God
chose Abraham and called him to leave his family and his country
and go to a place He'd show him! Who's the God of Isaac? He's
the God of REDEMPTION! Remember when they were going
up onto the mountain, Abraham and Isaac? What did Abraham say
to Isaac? The LORD WILL PROVIDE HIMSELF
A LAMB. He?s the God of redemption. Christ is the Lamb of God. He?s
the Lamb of God?s providing. Listen, God provided Himself
a Lamb and God provided Himself as the Lamb. God IS the Lamb! THAT'S HOW OUR SINS ARE PUT AWAY!
GOD ALMIGHTY TOOK UPON HIM HUMAN FLESH AND DIED THAT WE MAY SET
US FREE! WHO'S THE GOD OF JACOB? THE GOD
OF REGENERATION! HE'S THE GOD OF REGENERATION!
WHAT DID GOD SAY WHEN JACOB WRESTLED WITH THE ANGEL? HE WAS WRESTLING
WITH THE LORD JESUS! WHAT DID HE SAY? Thy name shall
not be called Jacob any more, but Israel. He's the God of regeneration. And then He's the God who appears
as the God of covenant mercies. God had not forgotten His covenant.
He's appearing to Moses here because of a covenant He made
with Abraham. God made a covenant with His
Son, Jesus Christ. That's why Many of you here who
believe, that's why you're saved! That's why all those who are
saved, God made a covenant concerning YOU! You're not just throwing
out the gospel like chicken feet and see who picks it up. God
made a covenant, and God's a covenant God. Listen to this in Exodus
2, verse 24, And God heard their groaning, God remembered His
covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. Psalm 105 verse
8, He hath remembered His covenant forever, the Word which He commanded
to a thousand generations. That Word is being commanded
right now, this morning, in this pulpit in Rocky Mountain, Lexington,
and other places, Tennessee. I know pulpits where this Word
is being commanded, this Gospel. You know why? God has a covenant.
He has a covenant with His Son, Jesus Christ. And there's a multitude
of sinners, no man can number them, they're gonna hear the
gospel. He's gonna command. He's not gonna offer it to them.
He's gonna command it to them. He's gonna command like He did
that baby in the field. He said, I spread my skirt over
here and I said, live! He didn't say, do you wanna live?
Do you ask a dead person if they wanna live? Go to a casket next
time you go to a funeral. Don't let anybody hear you. But
go to a casket and say, do you wanna live? Just ask if they
wanna live. They'd take you away in a straightjacket.
But when God says LIVE, you LIVE! Life is not an offer, it's a
GIFT! Eternal life is said to be what? The GIFT of God! A gift
is something you GIVE someone. It's not someone you offer and
say, You want this? I'll give it to you if you want it. No,
a real gift is something you GIVE to someone. He GIVES eternal
life. It's a gift. Psalm 111 verse 5, He hath given
meat unto them that fear him, he will ever be mindful of his
covenant. And you and I ought to be mindful
of his covenant also, we ought to think much upon it. David
wrote this in 1 Chronicles 16 verse 15, Be ye mindful always
of his covenant, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. IF WE WOULD BE MINDFUL ALWAYS
OF HIS COVENANT, I THINK WE WOULD HAVE MUCH MORE ASSURANCE AND
ENJOY MUCH MORE PEACE IF WE'D JUST BE MINDFUL THAT GOD DEALS
WITH US THROUGH A COVENANT. GOD DOESN'T DEAL WITH ME AND
YOU BASED UPON WHAT WE DO OR DON'T DO. GOD DEALS WITH ME BASED UPON
A COVENANT MADE WITH HIS SON. Now I tell you this, what I do
and don't do, He chastens me and you for it. Chastening is whom the Lord loves,
He chastens. He's talking about His children,
He doesn't punish His children, He punished Christ in their stead.
Christ was punished in my stead. But He does chasten me, He does
discipline me, and He does every one of His children like that.
And then God sees our afflictions. You under affliction right now?
Heavy affliction? God sees that. You know, I can't see your heart.
I can't see the affliction and heartache any one of you are
going through. I can hear about it. You can
tell me about it. I know about some of them, but God sees it. God sees the pain. God sees that
heartache. He sees you. He sees when you're
crying, just like he did Hagar. When nobody else sees you crying,
you're in your bedroom and the lights turned out and you're
crying, God sees you. God sees you. He said, the Lord
said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people. He sees
the affliction of every one of them at the same time. See, I
can know about your affliction, but there's been how many thousands
are out there and God's children. I can't see them. I can't see
them, but the Lord sees every one of them. He sees the affliction
of his people, which are in Egypt. I can say it this way. Let me
read it this way. The Lord said, I have surely
seen the affliction of my people, which are in the earth. Egypt
is a type of the world, isn't it? Which are in the world. Here's what he said, I am keenly
aware of my people's affliction. Hagar learned this, you remember
the story of Hagar, she put her son out from her because he's
dying, he got kicked out, she got kicked out with him, had
to leave Abraham and Sarah. But listen to this, and she called
on the name of the Lord there in Genesis 16, 13, that spake
unto her, and here's what she said, Thou God seest me. GOD YOU SEE THAT, SHE KNEW THAT,
SHE HEARD ABRAHAM TEACH HIS FAMILY, NOW GOD SEETH ME FOR SHE SAID
HAVE I ALSO HERE LOOKED AFTER HIM THAT SEETH ME. HE SEES US, WE USUALLY IN AFFLICTION
WE DON'T FEEL LIKE HE SEES ANYTHING DON'T WE? WE FEEL LIKE NOBODY
KNOWS. You know, Hebrews says, We have
not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of
our infirmity, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin. You know, God told Abraham, God
told Abraham that his seed would go to a strange land and they'd
be afflicted for 400 years. That's a long time. That's longer
than we've been a country. 400 years and you know while they
were there they multiplied I mean multiplied and multiplied And
it said they'd be afflicted God said they'd be afflicted They
didn't just happen by chance to be afflicted God said they're
gonna be afflicted I Thought of this when I was
reading that And I thought the world has a strong hold on us
and the Lord has to break it. And He does so by afflictions.
He does. And we learn far more through
afflictions than we ever do at ease. You know, at ease, we have
a real tendency to forget God. I'm telling you this from experience.
You will not pray, really pray like you do when you're in afflictions. When you're in the sunshine,
I tell you what, when you're in the sunshine, prayer becomes
really a struggle. When everything's going great,
prayer is a struggle. But when God puts you under affliction,
prayer is just, it just happens, doesn't it? It's just like breathing. You're crying unto God. You're
crying to Him. He said, I HEARD THEIR CRIES. I've seen their afflictions.
Listen to this in Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71,
Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71,
Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse
71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse
71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse
71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse
71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm
119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse
71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse
71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119, verse 71, Psalm 119 It's another thing when you
experience the sovereignty of God. Like Job this morning taking
everything from him. The Lord giveth and the Lord
taketh. The Lord took his ten children. Now what do you think
about the sovereignty of God? The Lord giveth and the Lord
taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. It's one thing to
believe a doctrine. It's another thing to experience
it. When He takes from you without asking. He demonstrates His sovereignty. Psalm 119, 75, I KNOW THE LORD,
THAT THY JUDGMENTS ARE RIGHT, AND THAT THOU IN FAITHFULNESS,
NOW LISTEN, THOU IN FAITHFULNESS HAST AFFLICTED ME. God did that
in faithfulness to Him. If God sends us our afflictions,
He sees us, He sees us. And He says, My Now don't think
because someone's going through a very difficult time that person
must either be lost or done something bad. Job's friends made that
mistake. THEY made that mistake. God's people are a TRIED people,
and they always will be. The Body of Christ will always
be tried in this earth. Isaiah 48, 10, Behold, I have
refined thee, but not with silver. I have CHOSEN thee in the furnace
of affliction. count the cost. God sees the
distress of His people which are in Egypt, which are in the
world. God sees our affliction while
we are in this sinful world. He knows just where we are and
what the situation is at all times. He says here, And have
heard their cry by reason of their taskmaster. He sees the
reason for our afflictions. He sees the reason for them.
He doesn't see just our pain, but He knows the REASON for the
pain! He knows it! He not only hears the cry, but
He sees the CAUSE of it! He knows what a TASKMASTER SIN
is! He knows what a TASKMASTER SATAN
is! He knows what a TASKMASTER THIS
WORLD is! He knows that! Because He says
here, I KNOW THEIR SORROWS! I KNOW THEIR SORROWS! FOR 400
YEARS THEY WERE AFFLICTED, YOU KNOW FOR 400 YEARS YOU THINK,
IS GOD REAL? IF YOU ARE AFFLICTED FOR A LONG
TIME, YOU KNOW IF AFFLICTION GOES FOR A LONG TIME YOU REALLY
BEGIN TO QUESTION GOD AND YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD. I KNOW THEIR
SORROWS, ISAIAH 63-90 IN ALL THEIR AFFLICTION HE WAS AFFLICTED,
IN ALL YOUR AFFLICTION CHRIST WAS AFFLICTED. AND THE ANGEL
OF HIS PRINCESS SAVED THEM, IN HIS LOVE AND IN HIS PITY HE REDEEMED
THEM. HE BEARED THEM AND CARRIED THEM
ALL THE DAYS OF OLD. HE BEARED THEM AND CARRIED THEM. This is so. Remember when the
lost sheep, they had 99 and one was lost and went out into the
wilderness? And the good shepherd went out and he found that one
lost sheep? What did he do? Did he lead it
home? Did He put a rope around His
neck and lead it home? You know what it says He did? He put it
upon His shoulders and carried it home. And you don't, and I
don't realize God's carrying us. The Lord is carrying us right
now and He will carry us all the way home. He'll carry us.
There is no time when He can put us down and go on now, you're
good. You can do it now. Paul said
in Galatians, Having begun in the Spirit, are we now perfected
by the works of the flesh? We are never perfected by the
work of the flesh, we are perfected by the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we see here in verse 8 that
our salvation is of God and He said, I am come down. Well, that's
a message in itself, isn't it? I am come down to deliver them
out of the hand of the Egyptians. CAN WE HAVE A BETTER DELIVERER
THAN GOD? I'M THEIR DELIVERER! I'M COME
DOWN! SCRIPTURE SAYS SALVATION IS OF
THE LORD! HE'S THE ONE WHO DELIVERS US! ISRAEL WAS HELD CAPTIVE IN
BONDAGE FOR 400 YEARS! THEY WERE STRANGERS IN A STRANGE
LAND! GOD SENT THEM THESE AFFLICTIONS. YOU KNOW WHAT? IF GOD HAD NOT
SENT THEM THEIR AFFLICTIONS, THEY WOULD HAVE STAYED IN EGYPT.
YOU KNOW THERE WAS A PERIOD OF TIME THERE WHEN JOSEPH WAS ALIVE
THEY CAME INTO EGYPT. MAN I MEAN LIFE WAS GOOD. LIFE WAS GOOD. THEY WOULD NOT
HAVE LEFT. YOU KNOW WHEN THEY WENT INTO
CAPTIVITY IN BABYLON THAT MANY OF THEM WANTED TO STAY THERE?
THEY GOT USED TO THAT KIND OF LIFE. That's why Daniel wouldn't
even take any of the king's dainties. Daniel wouldn't do it. He wouldn't
take any of the food that the king sent. He ate his own food.
He was not going to be seduced and drawn into that life. No, no, no. God said, I've come
down to deliver them. He's going to come down and set
the captive free. he's going to do it because no
one can do it themselves you can't free yourself of your nature
you're born with no more than a leopard can change its spot
you can't do it that nature we are born with is too strong for
us this is another thing about youth you don't realize how strong
that nature you were born with you think you can handle the
situation no you can't no you can't It's too strong. They were in bondage and they
could not set themselves free. Nobody can set themselves free
from the guilt of sin. You can't wash that away. Repentance does not put away
sin. THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST IS
THE ONLY THING THAT PUTS AWAY SIN! WE REPENT! WE DO! WE MOURN BEFORE GOD OVER OUR
SINS, BUT THAT DOESN'T PUT IT AWAY! YOU CAN CRY FROM NOW UNTIL
YOU DIE, AND IT WON'T PUT ONE SIN AWAY! YOU CAN QUIT! YOU SAY,
I'M NOT GONNA DO THAT NO MORE! YOU CAN SOBER UP! A DRUNK CAN
SOBER UP! I'M NOT GONNA DO THAT NO MORE!
IT STILL DOESN'T PUT AWAY SIN! YOU'RE JUST SELF-RIGHTEOUS NOW!
YOU GO FROM BEING A DRUNK TO BEING A SELF-RIGHTEOUS PERSON!
Only the blood of Jesus Christ can put away sin. When God told
them to slay the lamb and put the blood over the door and the
side post, you know what God said? When I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. When I see that you've been justified,
that sin's been dealt with, I'll pass over you. I'll pass over
you. Only God can deliver us from
the guilt of sin and the reigning power of sin and the power of
Satan, the power of darkness. You ever been in total darkness?
I mean where it's pitch black. You are shut down. You have no
power. You don't know which way you're
going. You don't know anything when it's that pitch black. And
it's that the way it is till God gives us light. Now let me
wind this down. God said, I am come down. The
great I AM has come down to save His people from their sin by
taking flesh upon Himself, taking human nature, becoming a man.
God became a man. God became a man that He may
put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 1 Timothy 3.16, And
without controversy graced the mystery of godliness. God was
manifest in the flesh. Matthew 1.23 Behold, a virgin
shall be with a child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall
call his name Immanuel, being interpreted, God with us. God
is with us. He has come down that He may
go up to prepare a place for us. Isn't that what the Lord
said? I go and prepare a place for you. He has come down that
He may take us up. That is what He says here. I
have come down and to bring them up out of the land unto a good
land. WHAT DID THE LORD SAY TO THAT
THIEF? TODAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE. EVERY BELIEVER
HERE, YOU'RE GOING TO PARADISE! YOU'RE LITERALLY GOING TO PARADISE! God says, I've come down that
I may bring them up. God came down in the person of
His Son that He may lift us up to GLORY, to HEAVEN, to the THRONE
OF GRACE. My, my, so it's God's come down
He said, I am to bring them up out of that land into a good
land and large, heaven is spoken of a large place, into a land
flowing with milk and honey, into the place of the Canaanites,
Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites. I'm going
to give you that land that's flowing with milk and honey. And that's where we're going.
We're going to that land that flows with milk and honey. the
law in paradise now therefore behold the cry the children of
israel come to me i've also seen the oppression wherewith the
egyptians oppressed them you know he says he says this he sees their oppression but
he tells us in deuteronomy 32 35 to me belong with vengeance
and i'll recompense I'll repay those who afflict you and trouble
you, I'll repay it. Don't you try to get even. Isn't
that in our nature? I'm gonna get you. You know it
says when the Lord was reviled, he reviled not again. Lord, make
me like that. Make me like that. Enable me
to pray for my enemies. Enable me to love them who persecute
me and despitefully use me. Help me to do that, you did it. He says in Romans 12, 19, But
dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.
For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith
the LORD. As God told to Abraham, This people will I judge. And last of all, Come now, therefore,
and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth
my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt, out of this world.
HE CALLS THE DELIVERER, MOSES, AND HE SENDS HIM, JUST AS HE
CALLED FORTH CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, AND SENT HIM INTO THIS
WORLD TO DELIVER US OUT OF IT. GOD USED A MAN TO DELIVER ISRAEL
OUT OF EGYPT. GOD USED A MAN TO DELIVER US
TO GLORY, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS. AND HERE'S THE PURPOSE, THAT
THOU MAYEST BRING FORTH MY PEOPLE, THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, OUT OF
EGYPT. That's what God's doing right now. He's bringing His
people out of this world to glory. There are some people here, when
you die, the second you die, you're going to be with the Lord.
You're going to be out of this world. My mind is set on that. It must be because of my aging
maybe, but my mind is set on that all the time anymore. I
think of it all the time. There's not a day going by I
don't think of walking on that new earth, walking with the Lord,
and having an eternal day, timeless day, no sin, no sorrow. God said that, I'm going to wipe
away all sin, all sorrow, all tears from your eyes. You know,
the one thing every person in this room is looking for the
day you know, you KNOW the day is coming, you're going to die.
Can you imagine being in glory and that never happening again? Never an issue. I'll never perform
another funeral. My pastor said to me one time,
we were walking away from the grave of a friend. He said, I'll
be glad when we quit dying. I said, me too. I'll be glad
when I never do another funeral. But God's people are an afflicted
people. But remember this. I see their
affliction. I hear their cry. And I've come
down to deliver them. All right.