The last chapter of Genesis,
Genesis chapter 50. We have come to the end of Genesis
for this series. This will probably be the last
message in Genesis. I figure we will move on forward
with Exodus. Genesis chapter 50, I'm gonna
read the last few verses. I'm gonna begin in verse 22.
If you don't know where Genesis is, it's the first book in the
Bible. I had trouble the other day when Joe or Paul or somebody
read a scripture, I never did find it. I said, finally start
listening rather than trying to find it. I could not find
it. Genesis chapter 50 verse 22. And Joseph dwelt in Egypt. He and his father's house. Joseph
lived 110 years. And remember, Even Jacob acknowledged that
his years were not near as what his forefathers were, but 110
years. And think about what a blessing
this was to Joseph. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children
of the third generation. That's amazing. Listen to me,
God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love.
Joseph was a faithful, obedient servant of God. He was not without
fault or sin. but he believed God. And he lived
and walked before God with the ability that God gave him to
live and walk before God. And in all that Joseph went through,
and he went through a lot, yet here he is, as it goes on to
say, bouncing these children, don't say it that way, but bouncing
those children on his knees. The children also of Makar, the
son of Manasseh, were brought up upon Joseph's knees. Joseph said unto his brethren,
I die. And, and here's a statement,
and God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land
unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to
Jacob. Joseph took an oath of the children
of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you. And ye shall carry
my bones from hence. So Joseph died, being 110 years
old. They embalmed him and put him
in a coffin in Egypt. And there his body lay embalmed,
just like many of the pharaohs were embalmed. Remember, this
was reserved usually for the higher class, especially with
the degree to which they embalmed the pharaohs. But Jacob's body
is embalmed and lays there for just over 400 years in that box. And when God visited the children
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob carried his bones out of Egypt,
buried him in the land of promise. Think of it. Genesis begins with
life. And while we believe in the creation
of all things, this whole universe, by the spoken word of God in
the person of his son, Jesus Christ, I still do not know what
that garden was like. Life. Life, teeming with life
and everything was at peace. The lions and the bears and the
little lambs, the bunny rabbits. I had a story I was gonna tell
you about a sign, a penny saying, what was it, penny, go ahead
and tell it to me. Tell us what it was. Jesus even loves all
the little bunnies or something like that. No. is loved of Jesus. That's the world of Christianity
that we live in today. Genesis begins with life, and
I don't know what that was like, but Genesis ends with death. Genesis begins in a garden, a
plush garden. It ends in a coffin in Egypt. How did it come to that? How
did it come to that? Here's how it came to that. One
prohibition. One rebellion. That's all it
took. One prohibition, do not eat.
When you eat, you'll die. And you will die in that day.
The physical death we see of Joseph in this coffin embalmed
is only indicative of the spiritual death that took place when that
one prohibition was rebelled against by our Daddy Adam. The Apostle Paul put it this
way, and you don't have to turn if you don't want to. In Romans
chapter five, he put it this way, and you know this. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
so that death passed, not is passing. Physical death is passing
on us all. This death here has already passed
on us all. And death by sin, so that death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. How did we sin? We sinned in Adam. Look what
it also says, same chapter, verse 17, first part. For if by one
man's offense, death reigned by one. Verse 18, first part. Therefore,
as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all to condemnation. And that doesn't mean everybody's
going to hell. That's condemned to death before
God. condemned to spiritual death
before God. Look at verse 19, the first part.
For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. God did not ask us our opinion
in this. God had established our daddy
Adam as the federal head of the whole human race, and he acted
upon our behalf. And when he obeyed and enjoyed
God in the garden, we were obeying and enjoying God in the garden.
But when he disobeyed in rebellion, Not through deception. Eve was
deceived. Adam was not. And he stepped
clearly into that rebellion. He plunged the whole posterity
of the human race to be made sinners. That's how it came to
that. That's how it came to that. But
glory also says this in the latter part of chapter five, verse 19.
Wherefore, as by one man's obedience. For as by the obedience of one
man shall many be made righteous. Not even imputed righteousness,
although that comes very soon after we're made righteous. We're
made righteous when God creates a spiritual heart within us.
And I'm not gonna preach on that, but you look at the parable of
the seed and the sower. The good word of God, the seed
must be sown. But it only benefits where there's
good ground. And that good ground is described
by our Lord God himself as a good heart. And you and I don't have
that by nature. But when God creates that good
heart, now it's ready for the seed to fall into. And it'll
bring forth fruit. The good heart must come first.
But a good heart without the seed ain't worth nothing. You
see, the good heart without the seed ain't worth nothing. You
see, as soon as death reigned, life himself visited in the garden. As soon as Adam and Eve had rebelled,
and they realized they were naked, they began to sew together fig
leaves. But even then, although they
didn't really get it and couldn't really get it apart from the
grace of God, even then they realized that wasn't enough.
Because life came into that garden. It's called the voice of the
Lord God. Now you know who that is, don't you? That's none other
than Jesus Christ himself. And they hid themselves amongst
the trees of the garden. But aren't they glad? Weren't
they glad? I am glad life came and visited
where death had begun to reign. In Genesis, you see it through
the whole, it starts out, soon as death enters in and reigns,
the life giver must visit. And you see that all throughout
this, Abraham down there the Caldees what happens the life
giver visits him, huh? Isaac and Jacob Jacob's brothers
or Joseph's brothers Joseph Joseph's brothers the life giver must
visit first But thank God visit he shall This was not a Decent wish by
Joseph This was a prophecy given him by the Lord God Almighty,
passed down, I am sure, from his daddy Abraham, granddaddy,
great granddaddy Abraham, on down to Isaac, on down to Jacob,
on down to Joseph himself. God will surely visit you. That's my text, my title, God
Will Visit You. will surely visit you. While
we see death reigning right here in the end of the book of beginnings,
thank God there is the absolute, the absolute immutable promise
of life giving visit from the life giver. And I thank God for
that. Now let's consider four thoughts
about this kind of visitation. And I'll be brief on this, but
I want to explain what I mean when I say this kind of visitation.
There are two kinds of visitation. But sometimes the same visitation
has the both kind effects. When God rained down fire and
brimstone on Solomon Gamara, that was a visitation from God.
But it was a visitation in absolute judgment. But at the same time,
God sent messengers down to Sodom and Gomorrah and bless God, drug
Sodom out of that city. It was all one visitation, but
it had two totally different effects for two different kinds
of people. Somebody say, that ain't quite
fair. It ain't about fairness, it's about grace. Had it been
fair, God would have killed them all, including Lot and his daughters. He turned his wife into a pillar
of salt. It ain't about fairness. God
is more than fair. God is just. Now God is not unfair,
but it's not about fairness with God. It's about absolute justice
and mercy and justice being so satisfied that God can still
be merciful and have mercy on people like you and I. Four things about this kind of
visitation. Sometimes God may visit in just judgment. Sometimes
he may visit just in mercy and grace. But let me tell you something,
when the gospel's preached, it always has two effects. Always has two effects. It's
either life to those who have life, and that's what it's talking
about, or it's death to those that have death. Even when the
gospel's preached, it just adds to somebody's condemnation. Because
they refuse it and rebel against it and will not walk after it.
But others, they hear it, and it's life and a life. So, let's
consider four thoughts about this kind of visitation. My main
thought here is on the positive part of it. It's my main thought
here this morning. Number one, visitation by default
demands need. Destitution. Bondage. The children of Israel didn't
know it. They didn't feel as though they
were in bondage. but bondage was coming down the pike. You
read the second book of Moses called Exodus? As soon as the
Pharaoh died that didn't know Joseph, things went downhill
quick. And we'll save all of that for later. It went downhill
quick. Their bondage, I know some folks
don't like this, but this is who God is, their bondage was
decreed. Far before they ever even existed. Visitation, by default, demands
need and destitution and bondage, and you'll see that specifically
stated in Exodus chapter one, verses eight through 11. Second,
visitation is absent in today's preaching. Is it not? How many
people, if you listen to people in general, preachers in general,
how many of them do you hear them talking about God visiting
them, unless it's he put a $50 bill in my pocketbook because
I gave 10 to the church? That's not what God's talking
about here. Now God may visit you with physical things, he
may not, but that's not the point. God can visit you in mercy when
you ain't got two dimes to rub together. And you may have a
billion bucks and never see the mercy of God. Visitation is absent
in today's preaching. Why? Here's why. Because men
by nature are destitute, but men by nature don't know they're
destitute. Men by nature are destitute,
but men by nature cannot know they are destitute. They are
so destitute that they think they're wealthy. They think they're wealthy. From
pulpit to pew to the populace, there is no real need. Nobody's
in bondage. Therefore, the message of visitation
is not good news when they hear it. It's an insult. What do you
mean I need to be visited by God? God ought to be glad that
I would visit him. Don't some of them talk like
that today? God ought to be just glad, just thrilled to his soul
that I'd walk an aisle for him and I'd pray the prayer. Is that
not the way some, not all, but is that not the way some men
present it today? God is so fortunate to have people
still coming to him. You see, our depravity, is not
only seen in the bars and the brothels. It is seen in the bars
and the brothels. But our depravity is seen in
our total inability to perceive our own bondage and corruption
and destitution and need. And God's got to open your eyes
and your ears and your heart to even that part of it. You see, if you begin to read
the book of Exodus, you'll find out that the children of Israel
didn't begin to cry out right at first. because they had to
really find out and taste what bondage really is. And the more they cried, the
worse the bondage got. So from pulpit to pew to the
populace, there's no real need today, and I understand that.
Don't be angry with people when they don't want to hear the gospel,
why? Because they're not ready for the gospel. But God says
preach it to them anyway. Isn't that what he says? Preach
it to them anyway, because we don't know when it will be ready. Another point here on number
two. Very few declare their own bondage, do they? You remember what the old Jews
said? He said, Christ said, if you
see the sun, you believe the sun, if the sun sets you free,
you'll be free indeed. They said, what you talking about
free? We're Abraham's children. We've never been in bondage to
any man. They didn't mind the thought of freedom. They just
didn't think they needed freedom. They were already free, but the
natural man will lie to himself because they were under Roman
bondage at the time. We've never been in bondage to
any man. No, you're in bondage to yourself. You're in bondage
to your own evil, wicked heart, and you can't do nothing about
it because you really don't even perceive it till God opens your
eyes. But then there's another kind
of person. And here's one, he was called an apostle. He was
a writer of inspired scripture, and he says, oh wretched man
that I am. He said the will is present with
me. Men talk about free will. He said I've got the will, but
I don't have the power to do. But how to perform that which
is good, I find not. That's an indictment against
so-called free will. My will can be there, but I'm
still in bondage to what I am. The will don't change anything. The will has to be changed. A
new will has to be given. But this man, he said, oh wretched
man that I am, and he had the right answer. Who? He started
with who? who shall deliver me, not what. It's never a what. The life giver
must visit before bondage is ever released. Here's the third
thing. Visitation comes by God's sovereign,
predetermined purpose. I'm not gonna read it. It was
already decreed by God. That had been decreed before
the world began. But it was decreed by God in open declaration when
he showed it to Abraham in Genesis 15, verses six through 14. Your
seed's gonna go down into a land that's not theirs. And they're
gonna be in bondage there for 400 years. And it terrified Abraham
in this dream that he had. But God just said, this is the
way it's gonna be. But they won't stay that way. They won't stay there. Folks, our God is in absolute
sovereign control of all this whole mess. Even death is in
his hands. I make a life, I kill. That's what God says. Number four, and I'll spend most
of my time on this one. is him who visits. God himself must be him who visits. In purpose, in power, in blood,
and in gospel revelation, all. Purpose, power, blood, and
gospel revelation, and I will deal mostly with the last three. First of all, concerning purpose,
he does not offer visitation. He decreed it. And then bless
God at his ordained time, he does it. That's just the way
it is. And I'm glad it's that way. I
know most folks that claim to be Christians say, I don't understand
what you're talking about. Then you evidently don't have
even an inkling of understanding who God is. But if God ever visits
you, then that inkling of understanding will all of a sudden be emboldened
to say, wait a minute, somebody's visited me. Somebody's visited
me. Things are different than they
were before. So God is he who visits. He doesn't offer visitation,
he decrees it. God will, S-U-R-E-L-Y. Isn't that what it says? God
will surely visit. And when you find yourself in
bondage, and you can't get out, you think those bunch of Hebrews
down there in Egypt could have overthrew Pharaoh? He'd have
wiped them out in a heartbeat and wouldn't have been a judge
to stand against him because he was the monarch of that country. He even tried it. Huh? Right? But God didn't just fool
his purpose. God was executing his sovereign
purpose in it all. God doesn't offer it, he decrees
it. And God visits in power. Start reading the book of Exodus.
When God visits, he visits in power. He brought 10 plagues
upon Egypt. It began as plagues against everybody. Then all of a sudden God says,
I'm gonna make a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites.
I'm gonna show that I choose who I want. And he didn't bring
10 judgments, 10 plagues upon Egypt to soften Pharaoh up. He
brought 10 plagues upon Egypt so that Pharaoh and God would
both do some hardening. And Pharaoh was the sole object
of the hardening. Pharaoh hardened his own heart,
and sometimes it just says his heart was hardened. We're not
told where it come from, and then sometimes we're told God
hardened Pharaoh's heart. And God did it all to drown Pharaoh
in the Red Sea and say, see, I'm God. But who was that really
revealed to? Only the people that were on
the other side of that Red Sea when the waters flooded back
in and killed them all, except for the people on the other side.
You see, God, when he visits, he will visit in power. And he
will either visit to judge all, no, he will visit to judge all. Either directly or in mercy through
a substitute. See the 10th plague. See the
10th plague? The Passover lamb? There was
a firstborn slain in every house. Wasn't it? Either the firstborn
was directly slain by God when God passed through the land,
or a firstborn was slain on behalf of, a firstborn lamb was slain
on behalf of a group of people in this little servant hut. Death
reigned in every house. The death of a firstborn happened
in every house. See, God demands blood through
death. Think about it, it's the third
thing here in the number four. God visits in mercy only because
of the blood. It says, God said, I will pass
through, and when I see the blood, When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Wait a minute, maybe that person
in that house wasn't thinking the right thoughts. I guarantee
you on all too many times, they probably weren't thinking the
right thoughts. I live in one of those little old hovels and
I'm not talking about my home made of stick and wood, I'm talking
about right in here. God help me, I rarely ever think
the right way all the time. Even when I think about God,
Joe, and I pour out my heart to Him in prayer, I find my mind
wandering on God-awful things. No, God said, when I see the
blood, and it's on the two sides of the door, and if you're in that house,
God said, I will pass over you. I wanna be in that house, don't
you? I wanna be in that, but think
about when you see the blood. He said, when I see the blood.
But how do I know I'm in one of those protected houses? Because
you're in there feasting on the same lamb whose blood's out there
God's looking at. Can you feast on that lamb? That's
all I'm asking. Can you feast? Are you feasting? Will you feast on that lamb?
Bless God if you're in that house and you're hearing the wails
and the cries of all in Egypt who did not have the blood of
that first born lamb on that day. You know that terror begin
to seize the souls. Is the blood enough? It is, because
God said so. And let me tell you, if I'm in
there and I'm the one, I'm hearing the wails. As God moved through,
you could hear the wails, no doubt, moving through. There's the man. His blood's
on that tour post. I'm gonna eat it. Yes, sir. And like it. Yes, sir. You may,
no. You will eat it with bitter herbs.
that lets you know that even when you're in that house, you
will be thinking the wrong thing and doing the wrong thing sometimes.
But bless God, thank God I feast upon the lamb. He gave the lamb
for me to feast on, for you to feast on. If you're in the house,
the blood's for him. The blood's for him so that he
can still be a just God and a savior at the same time. because the
Israelites deserve death themselves just like the Egyptians. They
were no different by nature than the Egyptians. We just come through
the last chapters of Genesis. That's the third thing. God visits
in mercy only because of the blood. And thank God this book
says Christ is our Passover. Sacrificed for us. Here's the
fourth thing under number four. That is God is the one who visits. Here's the fourth thing. When
God visits, he also has ordained means. That is gospel revelation. Before God ever actually delivered
the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. Now he could have just
come down and wiped out the Egyptians. The Israelites could have went
over and picked up whatever they needed and headed up north. Now
could he not? Could he not? But he didn't do
that. He sends a man named Moses and said, go tell him I am sent
you. I've seen your bondage and I've already visited you. Although
their experience deliverance wasn't fully felt yet. Why were
they delivered? Because God had said so before
the world began. You know what Moses said, this
is amazing to me. I don't want to go into all that too much
detail. We'll get there God willing later. Moses says, but God, I
can't talk well. and he had some kind of speech
impediment evidently. I can't talk well, and God, he
kept going on with this, and God got angry with him. That's
what the book says. He said, all right, you got a
brother named Aaron. Oh, by the way, he's already on his way
over here. I've already moved him. He's
coming this way, and he'll be glad to see you. Isn't that amazing? God knew Moses was gonna complain
and bellyache. He said, all right, go ahead.
I've already taken care of things for you. He's coming, and listen,
you're gonna tell him what I tell you, and then he'll tell Pharaoh
what I've told you to tell Pharaoh and the people. Go in and announce,
deliverance is coming. Deliverance is coming, and here's
the amazing thing. He said to Moses, Aaron will
be your mouth. An amazing statement next, and
I will be as God, or you will be as God to Aaron. Now hear
me now, when God sends a gospel preacher who is actually preaching
the gospel now, not just Bible facts, but actually preaching
Jesus Christ, you are hearing God Almighty speak. We're hearing God Almighty speak.
So as I said, when God visits, he's ordained means, and that's
gospel revelation. He did it in Egypt. Go down and
announce it's coming. Now there's a lot more we could
deal with on that, but I want you to listen now, and if you wish to, turn
to Job. I seen this the other day, and
it just blessed my soul. Turn to Job chapter 33, and I
will try to move through this quickly. Job chapter 33. I want us to listen to an ancient,
poetic account of gospel conversion. From Job chapter 33, verses 10
through 26. And this is Elihu. You don't
read much of Elihu right to the end of the book. And anyway,
that don't matter. Let's just get to Elihu's words,
at least a certain portion of verse 10 of chapter 33. He's
speaking of God. Behold, he findeth occasions
against me, and he always can if he would. He always can if, well I'm a
Christian now, I don't do what I used to do. You're old hearted
and you're still wicked and evil and rebellious. And you're prone
to every other sin under the face of God Almighty's son standing
out there in that universe. Behold, he findeth occasions
against me. He counteth me for his enemy.
and he has the right to if he so desires to. Because by nature,
that's what I am. At my best state, at my best
state, I am altogether vanity. Not even at my worst state. Oh, if God would just show some
people this. Look, he putteth my feet in the stocks, and marketh
all my paths. In other words, God Almighty
got me right where he wants me. You see it? He got me right where
he wants me. Look, behold in this thou art
not just. I will answer thee that God is
greater than man. That's not just great in state,
though that is absolutely true, but he's greater than man in
power. both right and might. Look, is greater than man. Why dost thou strive against
him? For he giveth not account of any of his matters. He knew
God Almighty was absolutely sovereign. Does he not? The way God does
things is right because God did it. That makes it right if God
did it. And if it happens, God Almighty
meant it for good. Look, let's go on. For God speaketh
once, yea, twice, yet man perceiveth it not. And he never can unless
something changes in man. Now let's go on. In a dream,
in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men,
in slumberings upon the bed, then he openeth the ears of men
and sealeth, sealeth, their instruction. You see, once your ears are open,
now you're ready. And he'll do that even when you
go to bed at night once God Almighty visits you. You will dream about
things you never thought you'd dream about before. Now you'll
still dream about some of the old, evil, corrupt things. You'll
wake up in the middle of the night, God Almighty, who he is
and who you are will be on your mind and you can't get away from
it. That's what he's talking about. Now, I know most people
want to see visions in their bed, so they say, well, here's
what God told me. I don't care what this book says.
Now, am I telling you the truth or not? That's not what Elihu's
talking about here. He's talking about God Almighty's
hedged you in, put your feet in stocks. He got you locked
up. You're in what? Bondage. Bondage. Who do you think was in control
of Pharaoh? Ah, come on now. Then he openeth the ears of men
and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from
his purpose, or you could just say purpose, because it ain't
whether it's my purpose or your purpose, our purposes are faulty
at best. That he may withdraw man from
his purpose and hide pride from man. He keepeth back his soul
from the pit and his life from perishing by the sword. When
you think God's gonna kill me today, God has the right to slay
me today. I don't deserve anything from
God but the pit. Yet God holds it back. You see
what he says? He keepeth back his soul from
the pit and his life from perishing by the sword. He is chastened
also with pain upon his bed and the multitude of his bones with
strong pain. It hurts deep down inside. It's that proverbial itch that
you cannot scratch and make go away. So that his life of wharf
bread and his soul dainty meat. What is more pleasant than being
hungry? Having this need and being destitute,
just sitting down and having a really good meal. But when
God Almighty visits, the first thing that happens, even eating
a pleasant meal, just brings no hope. And somebody says, that's
kind of odd language. He's using poetic language to
describe the spiritual turmoil of the bondage deep down in our
soul when God Almighty first opens your eyes to see what you
are before him. His flesh is consumed away that
it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out.
What's he talking about? Everything about me is revealed,
even on the deep down inside. Yea, his soul draweth near unto
the grave, and his life to the destroyers. If, oh, what a glorious
if. I told you, God ordained the
means of gospel declaration, gospel revelation. If there be
a messenger with him, an interpreter, and there ain't very many of
them. Oh, there's a lot that claim to be. He said one in a
thousand. One in a thousand. Watch TV,
you'll probably see that's about right if you had time to sit
down and count them. One in a thousand. Look, to show unto man, what? Not man's righteousness, God's
righteousness. Then, then and only after then,
what? The interpreter comes. The messenger. This is Elihu way back yonder
in Job's time. I thought these people didn't
know much about God other than killing a few lambs. No, Elihu
had been through this. Elihu knew what, he was speaking
by experience. Go back and look where Elihu
starts, chapter 32. Then he is gracious unto him
and saith, deliver him from going down to the pit. Why? I have
found a ransom. There's the blood. There's the
blood. I have found a ransom. His flesh,
you know what happens when you finally see? God tells you this,
I got a ransom for you. You don't have to pay a dime.
Not even two little pennies. His flesh shall be fresher than
a child's. That doesn't mean all of a sudden
his body's gonna get young again. It's talking about the hope that
arises inside a man's soul when God reveals to him the person
and work of Jesus Christ the Lord. His flesh shall be fresher
than a child's. He shall return to the days of
his youth. He shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable
unto him. And he shall see his face with
joy. And you know the only place you're
gonna see the face of God? That's in the person of Jesus
Christ. Second Corinthians chapter four
tells us that. For he will render unto man, not man's righteousness,
but God will render unto man God's righteousness. Paul put
it this way. Abraham believed God. He believed
that what God had promised, he's able to perform. And it was imputed
to him for righteousness. Faith honors God. God likes faith. He said to whom it shall be imputed.
to us if we believe. That's it, yep, just feast on
that lamb. Just believe. Just believe. And yet, God still
visits this way today. He told the Thessalonians, I'm
bound to give thanks for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, chosen
you to it. through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. And sanctification of the Spirit
must come first. And then belief of the truth,
he says, where unto? He what? Called you by our gospel. So hear me now. When God visits
men and women, they do not find deliverance by academic study. It's not, I'm gonna figure all
this out. I'm not telling you not to study
God's word. Don't you get me wrong. I'd pour your heart, mind,
and soul into the study of God's Word. But that's not how you
experience deliverance. It's God Almighty sending a messenger
to you and saying, deliverance is wrought. It's done. Christ did it 2,000 years ago
and God purposed that before the world began. It's done. What
God's promised, He's able to perform. Can you feast on that?
Can you just eat it? I take that in. I hate it. You see, when God
visits, men and women are delivered by gospel declaration in power
and truth. And power is not how strongly
a man forcibly preaches the gospel. No, the power is the power of
God Almighty. And he just takes words coming
out of lips of clay from this old sinner, and he declares through
that messenger his truth, and it'll set you free. if he's visiting
you in mercy. So I'll sum it up with this.
Any bondage here this morning? I said any bondage. You see,
this gospel's not just good to start out with. You must start
out with this gospel. But it's what's gonna get you
through to the end. This same gospel. We don't believe the
gospel and then go on to greater things. There is nothing greater
than the message of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Nothing
greater. You all talk about walk, Jesus
Christ is always the center of it. Husband loves your wife,
wife reverence your husband. Now what's the example of that?
Jesus Christ and the church. You wanna see how to walk in
this world? Look at Jesus Christ. Right? Somebody said, we all
preach Jesus too much. You can't preach Jesus too much.
No, never, never, never, never, never. We all exalt God too high. No, he's greater than man. He's
greater than man. And remember, the lesser is always
blessed to the greater. The greater. Any bondage here? Any bondage? Seek out Christ
preached. That's what I tell you to do.
Seek out Christ preached. And that's the only way you're
gonna really say, you say, I'm free. Yeah, the Egyptians may
be hunting pursuit, but even then, God will move back behind
you. In the pillar of cloud by day,
in the pillar of fire by night, and he'll keep the Egyptians
just exactly far enough away from you for his own purpose
and design. And he says, I'll be your rear
reward, re-reward. That means your rear guard. Because
I can't watch my back. I can't. If I watch my back,
I am turning my face toward my back. You understand? And Mason,
that begins the way I start to go. And we don't want to go back.
Keep your eyes on Christ. Keep your eyes on Christ. What
if he moves away? Keep your eyes on Christ. It's
in this book right here. He'll take care of what's behind
you. He'll take care of what's behind you. And you know what?
In this whole study of the book of Genesis, we find out, Joe,
he's all the way around me. Even when the enemy assaults
me right to my face and sticks me with his sword, it will not
hurt me. Because it's meant for what?
Good. It don't say it might not be
painful, but it won't hurt you. We're talking about real bonafide
hurt. Oh. God help us. Father, bless these words. May they be to your son's honor
and glory. Amen. Let's stand and sing number 38.