(Through The Bible) Exodus - Part 1 by Zac Poonen

[Music] we are going to begin now let's turn to Exodus in chapter 1 if Genesis we could say is the book of beginnings we could title exodus as a nation is born the birth of the Israeli nation as a nation the beginnings we saw in Genesis and now we find them becoming a full-fledged nation and in the first 15 chapters we read of their slavery in Egypt and their deliverance or we could call it Redemption from Egypt and the rest of the chapter deals with their time in the wilderness and God's giving them his plan for building the tabernacle so let's look at this in the beginning we read of how Pharaoh was disturbed the Israelites even though they were slaves they were becoming more numerous and more powerful numerically and he was afraid that these men would finally stop working for him and overthrow his government so he decided on a scheme to kill all the male children now that was a scheme of the devil now what did he see in our last studies not just that God protects us from the devil schemes but God does something better he uses the devil's plan to fulfill his purpose that shows his almightiness in a much greater way I mean God could show his almightiness to us by protecting us from the dam that itself would be great but he shows it in a greater way by turning the tables on Satan using the very thing that Satan does to destroy him and the greatest example of this is Calvary where Satan got everybody geared up and engineered opposition to Jesus got him crucified and that was the very thing that resulted in the overthrow of Satan but uh Satan was defeated on that cross we can say Satan contributed to his overthrow now this is not just for Jesus it's for you and me it's not just for Joseph it's not just for the people in the Bible that the things which the devil seeks to do for you if you live with a clear conscience and in humility before God he turned it back on the devil and the very thing that evil people in the devil and all his agency to do to you will ultimately prove fill God's purpose for your life this is the message of the Bible how do we see it here because Pharaoh passed an order that all this male babies must be killed that was the reason why Moses mother put Moses in a little heart and put it in the river and that's how Pharaoh's daughter saw Moses picked him up and Moses could grow up in Pharaoh's Palace which is the place where God wanted him to be that could never have happened if the male babies were not being killed if the male babies were not being killed Moses order grown up just to be another slave you see how God's purposes are fulfilled through what the devil does and the thing we see here is a great lesson for us we see it in church history too that when God wants to do something for his people he always begins with a man he had to find a man before he could deliver the Israelites and the training of that man took 18 years and it wasn't academic training alone Moses was trained in the best Academy is of Egypt but that did not qualify him to serve God Acts chapter seven Stephen says that Moses was mighty in words and in deeds that means he was a powerful eloquent speaker when he was 40 years old he was a great military leader he was a very rich person he had been trained with the best education that Egypt could give and Egypt was the world's superpower in those days and at the end of it all he's not fit in fact Stephen says Moses thought that the Israelites would recognize that God had raised up a prince in Egypt's Palace to deliver them but it says they did not recognize him he was not ready all his earthly training all his earthly abilities could not prepare him for the task God had for him today people go to Bible schools and study the scriptures and you're qualified they think they've got a singing voice they've got abilities with instruments it's all good and oh they've got money so we can use money for God's work so many things so many resources abilities learn a lesson from Moses with the best that he had Egypt was the world superpower in those days something like the United States today Pharaoh was the most powerful man in the world Moses was growing up in that palace with the best training with engineering ability to build pyramids with all of that he was not filled powerful speaker no use forty years of the best of the world could give did not prepare him for God's service God took him for another 40 years into the wilderness to a completely opposite life to what he had looking after sheep living with his father-in-law for forty years I mean living with your father-in-law for one year itself can be pretty difficult for a man I mean women in our country live with their father in loves all their life very often but man living with his wife's father and getting a job from his wife's father can you imagine anything more humiliating than that not just for one or two years but 40 years that's how God brought Moses that's how God broke Jacob you remember you have to live with his father-in-law for 20 years and God uses fathers-in-law I tell you then to break people and mothers-in-law also I presume I don't know how Jose Moses mother-in-law was but God uses mothers-in-law fathers-in-law to teach Moses what all the world's abilities cannot teach him all the universities in Egypt cannot teach what he learns they're looking after sheep working for his father-in-law all the humiliation of living in the same tent and at the end of 40 years he is so broken that he says Lord I can't speak please send somebody else and God says now you're ready what is the message we learned from Jacob and from Moses when you think you're ready you're not when you think you're capable you're strong you got knowledge you got ability you can do this you can sing you can play you can speak God says I have to wait I have to wait till you're broken with Jacob it took 20 years with Moses it took 40 years with Peter it took three years with Paul at least three years need not take long that depends on you how long does it take to go through school from first standard to tenth standard how many years ten years I'll tell you people who've taken 15 years 20 years I know some people who study in some of the medical colleges in Bangalore who spend 15 years to finish up for your course so if the course maybe only so much but how long you take depends on you it's the same in the Christian life God had a training program for Moses now I'll give you my personal conviction it says here is a verse in Exodus in chapter 12 and verse 40 which says that the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years now when God spoke to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15 and told him that your descendants are going to be slaves in another land he told him in Genesis 15 and verse 13 that they will be there for 400 years and actually we read they were there for 430 years did God make a mistake God is very exact in the fullness of time God sent his son it was exact you read Daniel chapter 9 the very year is predicted when Jesus will be crucified so God doesn't make a mistake when God spoke to Abraham his plan was Israel Israelites should be in Egypt for 400 years why did it take 430 years let me give you another example when God brought the Israelites out of Egypt his plan for them was that they should be two years in the wilderness how many years did they spend in the wilderness forty years God may want to break you in two years I'm the year's mayor take 40 years in other words God may want to use you in two years he may not be able to use you for 40 years that depends on you so God's plan for the Israelites was 400 years but it took 430 years how many years extra 30 years why I believe the reason is God's man was not ready and from that I deduce that when Moses left the palace of Egypt at 40 God had wanted him to spend ten years in the wilderness with his father-in-law broken by them and come out of the age of 50 to be a leader but Moses did not learn his lessons in ten years his father-in-law had to trouble him some more for him to learn some lessons thirty more years now this is a warning for us God may have a plan for your life it will never begin to be fulfilled till you're broken and what he has planned to do in ten years may take 40 years learn a lesson from that and take a warning it's good lamentations 3 says it's good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth when we are young if we can learn this by the time we have 30 we are ready yeah God takes us through many lessons to break us humble yourself under those circumstances don't fight against those circumstances and delay God's plan any amount of Bible knowledge any amount of musical ability any amount money can not serve God brokenness Jacob becomes an Israel when he's broken Moses becomes a servant of God and a prophet when he's broken now let's turn to Moses Exodus in chapter 2 we read there about time when Moses goes out to deliver the Egyptians and Israelites from the Egyptians and he meets an Egyptian beating a Hebrew Exodus 2:11 and he beats him and kills him can you imagine what a powerful man he was that with his hands he could kill a man now if he had continued killing the Egyptians at that rate one by one how many years do you think he would have taken to kill all the millions of Egyptians he would have died before all the Egyptians are killed if he had killed them one by one that's the result of human ability but when God had broken him at the age of 80 and he lifts up his rod over the Red Sea in a moment the entire Egyptian army is buried under the Red Sea forever that is the difference between human power and God's power that is the difference between a man serving with his human ability and a broken man and serving with the power of God let me encourage you my brothers and sisters the message in the scriptures right from the beginning is if you want to build Jerusalem if you want to build a church you got to be broken you got to be a broken man you got to be humbled by God through circumstances through people and if you don't rebel in those circumstances God can do a quick work in you yeah God can do a quick work in you I've seen a lot of people very zealous young people who know all the doctrines and who think that they can serve God and they go out in their strength twenty thirty years later they are frustrated discouraged critical blame this person that person they've accomplished nothing I feel sad I tell you my life is exciting I'm 61 years old today I've been born again for over 41 years and I believe the best lies ahead of him I I'm so excited to live for God I'm so excited to live for God it's the best possible thing in the world I don't have a complaint against anyone in the world nobody's ever done any harm to me people have tried to do harm many many people but all that they did only work for my good like it says in Romans 8:28 so I have no complaints the gods had to break me even in the last few years through circumstances and events that other people try to do to harm me I humbled myself under God and he breaks the continues to break me throughout my life and the more we are broken the more God can make us a blessing to others you see in the book of Exodus when the rock is smitten the waters flow if the rock is not smitten the waters will not flow when the alabaster vial the woman brought and broke it at Jesus feet the perfume filled the house when it's not broken he doesn't fill the house when Jesus took the loaves and blessed it nothing happened when he broke it 5,000 were fed what is the message in all these things brokenness brokenness brokenness brokenness when the atom is flipped what tremendous power is released to give electricity to a whole city small atom so small that you can hardly see it the message in nature the message in by in the Bible his power is released through brokenness if you've got that message and it's gripped your life God gripped me with that message 36 years ago when I was seeking God for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and power before I left my job I was seeking God for power and the Lord showed me that the way of brokenness was the way of power and I've never lost my sight of that I want to encourage you young people to learn that lesson when you're young we read here that when God finally called Moses and he says I'm reluctant to go just one thing I want to say here God made a promise here through Moses to the people he said to them in Exodus 3:17 I will bring you he told all those elders and the leaders of Israel I will bring you out of Egypt into the land of the Canaanite there were two promises there I'll bring you out of Egypt I'll bring you into Canaan only one was fulfilled the other was not fulfilled this is to prove to you that God's promises are not fulfilled always here is a clear proof all those elders who heard the promise of God I will bring you out of Egypt I'll bring you into Canaan none of them entered Canaan only half was fulfilled because they did not respond in faith that's what I want to say to you God's promises are not fulfilled until you respond in faith it's like a switch you know what happens in a switch one wire you know electricity you need two wires and at the switch the electrician puts those two wires next to each other they don't touch that's why the lights are not burning the moment you put the switch they touch the lights come on the fans come on God's promise and your faith it may be that close it doesn't touch and no lights no fan nothing works the moment it touches everything power can you imagine a small switch and the whole building becoming full of power such a small gap there isn't a switch between those two wires it makes all the difference God's promise you can hear about it you can understand it but when your faith reaches out and says yes it will be fulfilled in my life that's when it's fulfilled and only Joshua and Caleb believe that it would be fulfilled and only Joshua and Caleb experience it Exodus chapter 4 we read about God calling Moses and in order to encourage him and to teach him he gave him three signs the first sign was you know when Moses said how they won't believe me verse one what will I say the first sign he said the Lord said what is in your hand the Lord always begins with what is in our you don't have to go looking for something you don't have what do you have that's enough Elijah asked the widow what do you have in your house a pot of oil that's enough with that part of oil all your problems can be solved the Lord asked Moses what's in your hand a shepherd star okay that's enough if God is with that shepherd stuff all types of things can happen and what is the first sign throw your Shepherd stuff on the ground it became a serpent verse 3 and Moses fled from it and the Lord said don't be scared stretch out your hand and take it by the tail and caught it and became a staff in his hand what is the message there overcoming Satan that's the first thing we need to learn we need to learn that we don't have to be afraid of Satan we don't have to be afraid of that serpent we have to learn that Satan is so close to us right in our hand do you think Satan is far from us it was right didn't Moses man cast it down and you see there's a devil there there's selfishness very close to us right in our flesh Satan has got his Citadel's and his forts but we don't have to be afraid of him we don't have to run away from this serpent in Jesus name we can take that and the very thing they're afraid of becomes a rod of authority in our hand to split the Red Sea and delete God's people on one of the first things God's servants need is authority not knowledge Authority I would rather have a man who has spiritual authority even if he has less Bible knowledge than a man with a lot of Bible knowledge but no spiritual authority the trouble today is a lot of preachers have a lot of Bible knowledge some don't even have that but some have knowledge but they've no authority first thing God said to go so you need Authority in your life you need authority over the enemy you must not be afraid of Satan Satan shouldn't put a fear in your heart secondly the Lord said now verse 6 with the same hand now put your hand inside your bosom put it inside your shirt and when he took it out that's full of leprosy that's the second thing you need to learn the corruption that is inside your own heart inside your flesh you think it's not there put your hand inside and see I've got to give you a light on your what's inside your self and you'll see a lot of it's like leprosy corrupt that's the second thing you need to see that in your flesh like Paul said dwells no good thing Romans 7:18 nothing good dwells in my flesh you cannot serve God until you learn that because if you don't learn that you will go around condemning people as if they have got a worse flesh than yours I thank God that God has shown me one thing well you showed me this first thing that Satan I don't have me afraid of him that I've got authority over Satan he's also shown me the second thing that my flesh is as corrupt as the flesh of anybody in the world nobody can commit a sin which I'm incapable of if I have not done it maybe it's God's mercy or circumstances or something like that but I'm not worse than that fellow if you think that you are better than another human being on this earth I want to tell you in Jesus name you are unfit to be a servant of God to be a servant of God you got to recognize that you are no better than the worst human being on the earth put your hand inside and see that's the second lesson the third lesson was he said in verse 9 take some of the water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground and it'll become like blood now water is the most essential thing for life it's not like food you can live without food you can't live water and blood is a picture of death so I see this as a symbol God was trying to for me the lesson is that all the things of this earth you know the River Nile was the thing that the Egyptians worshipped that was their God the River Nile he said even all this you must pour it out to death a picture of being crucified to the world and the world being crucified to me that I have no more attraction this is not like water to me now it's like blood if it were water I would drink it do you drink blood when the water is turned into blood can you drink it you would rather be thirsty then drink that filthy blood and that's the way I need to see everything in this world if you want to be a servant of God you've got to look at all the attractive things in this world and not only the attractive things even the things that you think are necessary and say Lord I am crucified to it nothing in this world can attract me anymore these are three essential qualifications for a servant of God that's what we see there Exodus 4 and then he sends him out and Moses before he goes to meet Pharaoh he has to learn one more lesson in verse 24 to 26 of chapter 4 as Moses Moses has now agreed to go to Pharaoh he's equipped and he goes the man whom God is trained for 80 years there's only one man on the face of the earth who is important to God's purpose at this time we are not like that today today God has many servants but at that time he had only one man all his purposes depend on one man and it says in Exodus 424 that the Lord tried to kill him now we read there that Satan tried to kill him we can understand that I can understand Satan trying to kill Moses but the Lord trying to kill him why because there was disobedience in his own house he had not circumcised his son because his wife was not a Jew his wife was the daughter of Jethro who was not a Jew and she said no they had an argument when the son was born we're not going to circumcise do you keep all your Jewish customs to yourself and Moses humbly obeyed and he was living in his father-in-law's house and his wife was the boss and he said okay I want circumcised and God said you can't go and lead Israel out of Egypt if you can't leave your own home the Bible says that a man cannot run his own home 1 Timothy 3 how can he run God's house be the head in your own home first I've seen people who go out to serve God was scared of their wife how can such a man serve God that's what God had to teach Moses be the head in your home get get your son circumcised if you can't bring up your children at least when they're in your home in a godly way how can you serve God that's the lesson we learn here too so such a serious thing that God said Moses even though you're the most important man for me on earth if you don't obey me I'll kill you and his wife understood it and so as soon as she saw that her husband is dying delirious with fever she knew what the reason was she took her sharp stone and cut off her son's foreskin and in anger said you are a bridegroom of blood to me and I think Moses did one wise thing he sent his wife home and carried on with his ministry he didn't want any hindrance there and you see there how God is so strict with his servants other people he'll allow them to do many things but if you are to be one of God's choice servants he's going to require or medians in the smallest thing he's going to look into areas of your life that other people he doesn't bother about if you borrowed ten rupees from somebody and didn't return it you're to be a choice servant of God God will keep on troubling you - you go and return it you borrowed a book from someone that you've just completely forgot about the return you kept it in your house and is lying there you see it you can't go and give it back he doesn't do that for everybody because all of them are not God's choice servants most of them are just compromiser and living for themselves God leaves them alone but if you're a choice servant of God he will not allow you to write one false statement in a report he will not allow you to be unfaithful with one rupee of money not even one rupee other believers can do what they like they can be unfaithful with millions but not you do you want to be a choice servant of God you want God to watch over him with such a jealous care that's the price you have to pay this is the man who finally stands before Pharaoh you know when you got a clear conscience before God when you have stood before God what is a world's most powerful man Pharaoh a bit of sand dust for a man who's lived before God's face Pharaoh is nothing this is how a servant of God must be this is the type of servant of God we need in India people who live before God's face like Elijah told a have I live before God's face I'm not worried about anyone I don't fear man I don't go buttering cabinet ministers emily's empties like we see law creatures doing today that's the only way to survive brother in India because we don't know God that's right when you don't know God that is the only way to survive I fully agree with you but that's not the way Moses survived that's not the way like I survived they live before God and when you live before God they have God backing them and they couldn't care less leave alone MPs and MLAs and cabinet ministers they could not care less for Pharaoh the most powerful man with a greatest superpower in the world at that time you want to be a servant of God like this I tell you don't look around at the servants of God you see in our land look into the scriptures that's the type of man God's looking for even today men who don't care for man's approval who don't want yet man's money who don't want backing from political people or anybody they want that backing from God that's how Moses stood before Pharaoh and God backed up Moses completely why doesn't God backup so many people who claim to be servants of God today why do I say God doesn't back them up I've heard these preachers when they get up to preach they bore me to death can you say a man who's boring he's backed up by God rubbish there is no anointing in their word there's no authority in their life even young people wishy-washy sluggish compromises because they're seeking the police men Paul said if I seek to please a single man I cannot be a servant of Christ that's how Moses lived now I want to encourage all of you to be like that don't seek to please man seek to please God let men treat you as they like let it let them treat you like dirt the apostles were treated like garbage Jesus was treated like garbage but they were men of God they lived before God's face they didn't want any backing from human beings they wanted God's back and he stood before Pharaoh and God back Simba with all those miracles there were you know the plagues of blood and frogs and lice and flies and diseases on the livestock and boils and hail and locusts and darkness nine plagues and then the last one the death of the first corn and it says some of those plagues we read in Chapter 7 and verse 11 that the magician's of Egypt could also do it they could do it up to a certain point as tricks you know how magicians do tricks but they did it to resist Moses and this is quoted in the New Testament in 2nd Timothy 3 verse 8 as a picture of counterfeit Christians opposing godly people you know 2nd Timothy 3 speaks about those who have a form of godliness without its power 2nd Timothy 3:5 and then goes on three verses later to speak about Janus and Jambres opposing Moses just like the Pharisees oppose Jesus just like the Jews opposed Paul Janus and Jambres oppose Moses like the false prophets opposed Elijah and the false prophets oppose Jeremiah and throughout church history there have been the professional preachers who stand against the prophets of God that God has raised up in generation after generation in the different lands it's always been the same thing there's a man God has raised up as a prophet and there's the professional preacher who's got all his certificates and his degrees and his robes opposing the man of God it's always being like that John the Baptist opposed by the professional religious establishment it's the same thing pictured there but it didn't make a difference because ultimately Moses triumph he stood before God he didn't want to please that professional religious establishment and if you're gonna be a man of God you're not going to seek to please the professional religious establishment whatever that titles whatever their roles if they don't know God the knowledge of God is the most important thing I respect a man who knows God and he moves life I can see by his life and his words here is a man who knows God who's got discernment of God's ways because he lives before God's face that's how Moses was that is what we learn in those early chapters of Exodus that is what God wants to do and produce in our lives and in Exodus chapter 12 onwards we read about the deliverance of the Israelites they were told to put the blood upon the doorposts and eat the Passover they were to use hyssop hyssop was a very common plant easily found and it's a picture of faith faith is very easily found use the hyssop dip it into the blood put it on the door that's what we do with the blood of Jesus Christ the lamb that was slain pictured way back there in Exodus chapter 12 a picture of Jesus Christ who was crucified nearly 1,500 years later on the same Passover day on the day when Israel left Egypt the 14th day of the first month but the Israeli calendar that is the day Jesus was crucified and God who looked into the future and saw the day that Jesus was crucified that was the day he chose to deliver Israel out of Egypt that's why Israel's deliverance from Egypt has got a big lesson for us how are they delivered not by their good life not by good works the fission stew is very clear not of good works faith God didn't go checking inside each house well however you live let me examine your life for the last 30 years he only examined do you have faith that the only way you can be delivered is by the blood shed of an innocent lamb you dip the hyssop in the blood put it outside your door and say this is what I trust in not my good words not my religious activities and the Angel of Death will never come into your house that's the way of salvation so that no man can boast saying I got saved because I lived a pretty good life no the man who lived a pretty good life and the man who lived a bad life have both got to be saved through the blood of the Lamb and if somebody thought they're in Israel in Israel one of these realized thought well I'm going to pretty good life I don't believe God would judge me and he didn't put the blood outside the door you know whatever happened that's would have come into his house and he would have discovered that the best life was not good enough the blood of the lamb alone could say them and now I know that people have misused this truth abused it to live careless lies and say oh then it doesn't matter how we live no it does matter because Ephesians 2 which says not of works lest any man should boast in the next verse Ephesians 2:10 says after you're saved God has created good words for you to do so we're not talking about good works before salvation you can't save yourself by your good works but after you're saved if you don't have good words I doubt whether your faith is genuine at all that's what James says okay so that's a picture the one of the clearest pictures of redemption way back there with the blood of the Lamb and cheating on the unleavened bread that night was a picture of feeding on Christ it's not enough to put the blood we got to feed on the living Lord and they were - it says the Lord told them eat it in your traveling clothes they were to wear traveling clothes ready to travel and that is how we are to live in this world always ready to go any moment when Jesus calls us in the rapture that's how we are to live every day of our life feeding on Christ trusting in the blood in our traveling clothes this is not our home Egypt is not our home we've got a journey to go and make anytime but call may come we gotta go that's how we're to live and that's what we see there in in that passage and this one report point out one thing to you God's righteousness and Exodus 12 verse 35 and 36 says the sons of Israel asked the Egyptians to give them gold and silver and clothing why was that does God ask his children to demand like that with the Israelites it was right it's not right for you and me to go and ask people to give us gold silver and clothing but it was right for the Israelites because those Egyptians had made these Israelites work for 430 years or at least 400 years nearly a number of years and never paid them God said I'll make sure you get your pay before you leave Egypt and they got their full pay for 400 years before they left Asia I tell you God's righteousness is so wonderful in these little things you see God's righteousness in Scripture read the scripture carefully it's a it's a book of tremendous encouragement in the little little things finally they come to the Red Sea and God hems his people in one test of faith after another behind other Egyptians left side mountains right side mountains underneath as hell in front is the Red Sea which way to go there's only one way to look up and God delivers them you know when God brings us into circumstances where we are surrounded on all sides there's only one direction we can look and deliverance will come from there like the psalmist says I lift up my eyes unto the hills is my help gonna come from there and no help from there the Lord who made heaven and earth he's the one who's going to help me Psalm 121 and so finally God brings them the Lord tells Moses in Exodus 14 you don't have to fight in this battle just stand still Exodus 14 13 and see the salvation of the Lord which he's going to accomplish for you and he splits the Red Sea and they go into the Red Sea and out a picture of baptism 1 Corinthians 10 says that is a picture of baptism in water and they come out there and there's a cloud that comes from heaven upon them another baptism we read in 1 Corinthians 10 a baptism in the cloud a picture of the baptism in the Holy Spirit so what all did they experience their redeemed by the blood of the Lamb baptized in water in the Red Sea baptized in the cloud that came from heaven those three were the initial experiences with which the Israelites came out and it's exactly like that in the Acts of the Apostles when people were converted they were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb immediately they were baptized in water and a very same day they were baptized in the Holy Spirit the Spirit came down upon them from above why did that pillar of cloud come not just to give them an experience some people have got baptism in the Holy Spirit for an experience no the pillar of cloud came down from above it was a pillar of fire at night that's what John the Baptist said he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and Fire the purpose of that pillar was to lead them to the promised land to a land of victory where the Giants would be under our feet why has God given us the baptism in the Holy Spirit to lead us into the promised land of victory where the Giants of lust that have ruled this this is the land of Canaan depth afoot many Giants have ruled here for many many years anger dirty thoughts jealousy bitterness love of money these giants have ruled the land of Canaan by the baptism in the Holy Spirit the pillar of cloud leads me into that land and says I'm gonna bring these giants under your feet you're gonna possess this land this land belongs to God Canaan belongs to God it doesn't belong to those giants many people haven't understood the purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit because the god of this world has blinded their eyes not from the message of redemption through the blood not from the message of baptism in water but from the understanding the purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit when they came out of the river they praise God and as a verse in Psalm 106 verse 12 it says when they saw the Egyptians buried then they praise the Lord that's how the man of sight praises a lot of people praise God after the enemies have been buried that's what it says in Psalm 106 they saw the Egyptians buried all praise the Lord but the man of faith he says thou has set a table before me Psalm 23 in the presence of my enemies my enemies are still there but in the presence of the Lord I sit and I eat and thou anointest my head with oil and my cup runs over with praise even though my enemies are there because I have faith that God will destroy them that's the man of faith so you are either a man of sight who are waiting for God to answer the prayer and destroy the enemies and then you say hallelujah praise the Lord that's Old Covenant life or you're a New Covenant Christian who says well thou has set the table before being the presence of my enemies anointest my head with oil my cup runs over goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I'll dwell in the house of the Lord forever the spirit of triumph even when the enemies are there because we know that God will take care of him Satan for example he's not dead he's being defeated but he's not dead he's alive we're not afraid of him and all his agents in the world who try to harm us of any religion we're not afraid of it they cannot touch a hair on my head without God's permission got me allowed them to kill me that's okay he allowed them to kill Jesus he allowed them to kill copal he allowed them to kill Peter he allowed them to kill James all the apostles except John were killed but not before God's time so we're not afraid yeah then we read of Israel in the wilderness in chapter 15 onwards we read of their coming to the waters of Marah in verse 23 1523 bitter waters and they began to complain everything was a test test of faith the trial of your faith Peter says can you trust me God says can you trust me when you come to the bitter waters that I have already got a solution for it or do you grumble and complain the man of sight grumbles and complains they already praise God in chapter 15 first part for deliverance from the Red Sea but then they grumbled again now the lives of many Christians is like this like in physics they have a thing called a sine wave up and down and up and down praising God complaining praising God complaining Sunday morning praising God Sunday afternoon complaining getting angry Monday morning praising God or sometimes till Monday to Saturday complaining again Sunday morning praising God this is not God's will this is Exodus 15 praising in the beginning grumbling at the end it's not God's will this is all covenant the Bible says rejoice in the Lord always in everything give thanks that's God's will for us in the New Covenant but for that we have to believe that God has got a solution for every problem we face as soon as they had a problem they went to Moses he said what shall we do where shall we drink and he cried to the Lord the Lord said the problem is right there in the solution to the problem is right there in front of you verse 25 the Lord showed him a tree you cut down the tree put it in the waters the waters were healed I want to ask you a question who planted that tree in a wilderness who was it a man or God God why did he plant that tree in the wilderness say 30 years earlier because he knew thirty years from today my children will come here they will find the waters bitter I must start making a solution for their problem now itself do you know that the solution to some of your problems God is already planned for 30 years earlier that's what you get from this book if you can see it's there have faith have faith in God there's no problem that can suddenly crop up that takes God by surprise and say oh I didn't know that would happen he already knows not only he already knows he's already made a solution for it he's planted a seed 30 years earlier so that you'll have a solution to your problem you can look at every problem you face in life I'm telling you that after 41 years I have not just been converted for one year I have never found a problem in my life I faced umpteen problem thousands but I've never found one for which God had not already planned beforehand he planted a seed 30 years earlier because he knew I his unworthy child would come there one day and face a problem I would need a solution he's got people planned to solve it for me walk before God in humility and Satan will never be able to overcome you and you read in Exodus chapter 17 that they come to another place again there's no water to drink and again they are grumbling and the Lord this time says look at that rock Exodus 17 6 go and stand there and smite that rock and he smites the rock and the waters flow you know when I was young and I read that passage I I used to picture a little rock and a little trickle of water coming out and everybody drinking but as I understood how many people needed water do you know how many people there were in that wilderness 600,000 men between the ages of 20 and 60 alone how many women and children below the age of 20 over the age of 60 I think it must have been 2 million people there two million people how much water do two million people need to drink is it a little trickle no it has to be one River this way another River this way can you imagine two million people standing in a queue to get water the last man to die of thirst by the time he gets to the front no it was rivers flowing in all directions so you didn't have to stand in a queue to slow you right by your way you're like people just to can drink this is the rivers of living water that the New Testament speaks about it comes in the raucous Mittman when Jesus was smitten that prepared the wave of Pentecost Calvary and then Pentecost and if rivers of living water are to flow out from us when the Spirit of God baptizes us that doesn't mean automatically rivers are flowing from us you can be baptized and Holy Spirit the day you can wear it but then God has to do a work of smiting Calvary the cross brokenness and when that is done then the rivers will begin to flow from you and two million people can be blessed it's no problem for God you can pick up an ordinary unknown good-for-nothing weak stupid person like you brother or sister and bless two million people every family on the earth through you it just depends on whether God can break that's all okay we go and see further immediately after this it says in verse 8 then a Moloch King a Moloch throughout the Old Testament is a picture of the flesh the spirit and the flesh you see the conflict there in Exodus 17 as soon as the rivers begin to flow then then then a male came the flesh comes into conflict with the spirit and wants to destroy God's people and that was overcome by a combination of Moses lifting up his hands in prayer and Joshua fighting and the enemy in the valley this is the combination that overcomes the flesh using the sword of the Spirit against the enemy and lifting up our hands in helplessness before God and when we are tired we need an errand and a to hold us up it says in verse 12 of chapter 17 Moses was tired you know you can't make it alone my brother's sister you can't make it alone one of the things I've discovered in my life is I cannot make it alone if I stand here today without having fallen by the wayside thirty years ago without having compromised it is because I have brothers and sisters who have encouraged me through these years who have helped me who prayed for me who have exhorted me I've got errands and by the plenty and I value them learn to value they may not know as much as you Moses was a much greater man than Aaron and who was what whereas even honored all but learned he needs to hold up your hand I praise God for those who recognize that that you may be the greatest man of God you need an unknown brother like her to hold up your hand if you are to continue to the end from chapter 19 onwards on through chapter 34 in between here and there you see about God's laws God gives his laws the Ten Commandments in chapter 20 all those Ten Commandments are listed there from verse 1 onwards right up to verse 17 the one commandment with promise honor your father and mother that it may go well with you and that you may live long on the earth the only commandment with promise verse 12 for children and at the end of this these Commandments we read Moses says to the people verse 20 don't be afraid and the people say yeah we'll do everything that God says see they said that even before the commandment in chapter 19 verse 8 when the Lord said his plan for them they said to Moses yea we will do everything the Lord says chapter 19 verse 8 God says okay here are the Ten Commandments do them and they spent 1,500 years disobeying those commandments proving that you cannot keep the law and you see a beautiful example of that in chapter 21 mediately after the law was given is this beautiful story of the Hebrew slave who was allowed to go free because he had finished his six years of slavery the law was in the seventh year who let him go free but in the seventh year he comes to his master and says I don't want to go further I love you my master I'd like to be with you verse five I love my master and 21:5 I'd like to serve you see that comes immediately after giving the Ten Commandments to teach one thing that the type of service that God wanted was not this obedience to the law out of a legalistic spirit here is the Ten Commandments and then is the story of the way we are to serve our master I love my master that's why I want to keep my the commandos that's what Jesus said she loved me keep my Commandments and right through these chapters I'm not going to go into all those details you can read God gave them little little details about you reading the Book of Leviticus and others about cleanliness and so many laws and when he said to them I just want to show you one verse in Exodus in chapter 15 and verse 26 he says if you would listen to the voice of the Lord and everything he tells you to do and give ear to His commandments I will put none of these diseases on you for I am the Lord your healer now many people think healing is the greatest thing no I'll tell you something better than healing health don't you think health is better than evening to get healing you got to be sick first is anything better than that help and the Lord was telling them listen if you fellas obey my laws a lot of these sicknesses that the Egyptians get you will not get its truth the laws of Hygiene he gave them the laws of you know if you are a glutton and you get sick you got yourself to blame you don't follow God's laws God's laws preserve us in health you don't need to go to God for healing so much if you obey God's laws he'll keep you in hell you'll grow old as a healthy man without getting sick without tension cost you a burden on the Lord and then we go on to different laws like let me give you one example 23 verse 9 don't oppress a stranger because you were strangers in Egypt people have been kind to you be kind to them keep the Sabbath chapter 31 verse 16 and 17 see this is the you know the lot of argument among scientific people today whether the six days of creation were actually six days or six million years well it's very clear in exodus 31:16 and 17 the Lord made the earth in six days and the seventh day of the week is a day of rest it's so clear one last thing I want to mention is how they broke these laws when they made the golden count in Exodus 32 and 33 you read about the golden calf they made the worship just because Moses had gone up for forty days you know who preserved Israel in the ways of God not twenty five men one man one man preserved two million people in the right way throughout the ages God has raised up very often one man God looks for one man one man like John Wesley preserved England one man like Moses as soon as that man was gone decay said in God is looking for one uncompromising man he can do more through one man like that then a thousand compromise was like Aaron and Moses comes in then sets matters straight in that account and he leads the people back to God let's pray

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Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Zac Poonen

Id: jWys4-LitVw

Length: 57min 7sec (3427 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 06 2017