Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000117A
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00:21 Hello, friends,
00:22 welcome to another Wednesday Night Bible Study 00:25 here at the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:27 Thank you for taken the time to tune in. 00:29 We want to welcome you, 00:30 wherever you are, with a hearty amen. 00:32 Can we all say amen together? 00:33 Amen. 00:34 And we have our Bibles, 00:36 we have our pens, we have our lessons. 00:39 And in just a moment, 00:40 I'll tell you where you could get a copy 00:41 of the lesson to continue to follow us. 00:43 But we're going to spend less than an hour in God's Word 00:46 and what better way to enhance our thoughts 00:48 about what God would have us to do 00:51 than to study His Word together. 00:54 In just a moment, we'll sing our theme song, 00:55 and I'll tell you where you can 00:57 get a copy of the lesson to follow along with us 01:00 but before we do any of that, 01:01 let's begin with the Word of prayer. 01:04 Wonderful Father in heaven, 01:05 thank You that Your Word will always enlighten our minds 01:10 when we open this sacred book. 01:13 Father, we thank You for Your sustaining grace 01:16 that has kept this book from generation to generation. 01:21 And now as we ingested 01:23 and hide it in our hearts and minds, 01:25 we know that the power that kept this book 01:28 can also keep us. 01:30 Be our teacher 01:31 through the power of Your Holy Spirit, 01:33 we pray in Jesus' name. 01:36 Amen. 01:38 Now for copy of the lesson, go to this website, 01:41 it is lesson number 31, 01:42 entitled "The Truth about the Body Temple." 01:45 Go to asf.3abn.org 01:49 and download lesson number 31. 01:53 Lesson number 31, 01:54 and we're going to continue in our discussion about 01:58 the Truth about the Body Temple. 02:01 But, you know, we always have a theme song 02:04 and our theme song is on the screen here. 02:07 If you know, you can sing along with us, 02:09 it's called "Victory in Jesus." 02:12 Let's sing the song together. 02:21 I heard an old, old story 02:25 How the Savior came from glory 02:29 How He gave His life on Calvary 02:33 To save a wretch like me 02:36 I heard about His groaning 02:40 Of His precious blood's atoning 02:44 Then I repented of my sins 02:48 And won the victory 02:52 O victory in Jesus 02:55 My Savior, forever 02:59 He sought me and bought me 03:03 With His redeeming blood 03:07 He loved me ere I knew Him 03:11 And all my love is due Him 03:14 He plunged me to victory 03:18 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:22 I heard about a mansion 03:26 He has built for me in glory 03:29 And I heard about the streets of gold 03:33 Beyond the crystal sea 03:37 About the angels singing 03:41 And the old redemption story 03:45 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 03:48 The song of victory 03:51 Key change. 03:52 O victory in Jesus 03:56 My Savior, forever 04:00 He sought me and bought me 04:03 With His redeeming blood 04:07 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:11 And all my love is due Him 04:15 He plunged me to victory 04:19 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:23 He plunged me to victory 04:26 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:33 Amen. 04:35 The topic is "The Truth about the Body Temple." 04:39 Let's say that together. 04:41 They want us to sing again. That's okay. 04:43 I don't mind. Let's say the topic together, 04:45 "The Truth about the Body Temple." 04:49 We have been walking through lesson number 31. 04:55 Now we covered quite a bit of scriptures 04:57 on this lesson so far, 04:59 but we're going to begin tonight 05:00 at question number nine. 05:01 But before we do that, 05:03 I want to go to the anchor verse, 05:05 I call this the anchor verse. 05:07 Go with me to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. 05:13 This is the anchor verse. 05:16 Now before this lesson, we talked about health, 05:19 we talked about the clean and unclean foods, 05:23 what the Bible says we should and should not eat, 05:25 and we always know that whenever we study God's Word, 05:29 the Lord has the best plan, does He not? 05:32 Whenever it's in God's Word, we can trust God's Word, 05:35 the Lord has the best plan. 05:38 He tells us what to exclude and what to include, 05:42 but what I want to bring out also is this 05:44 that the inside is not the only part of our bodies 05:49 that belong to the Lord. 05:52 What other part of our body belong to the Lord? 05:53 Can you say it with me the... 05:55 The outside. 05:56 Outside. 05:58 So many of us concern ourselves with what we put in our bodies, 06:03 but the Bible also, 06:04 the Lord also wants us to be concerned with 06:07 what we put on the outside of the body. 06:09 Now we're living in a generation 06:12 where people don't really care what they do, 06:14 they don't care what they put on the inside, 06:16 they don't care what they put on the outside. 06:19 And if you follow the patterns of the world, 06:21 the world will give you directions 06:23 completely opposite to God's Word. 06:25 What we want to do is follow the directions 06:27 in God's Word, 06:28 why? 06:30 Because we are planning for an eternal kingdom, 06:33 and you don't wait till the day before 06:36 to plan for the best journey that anyone will ever have, 06:40 and that is to live with the Lord 06:41 throughout eternity. 06:42 But not only that, 06:44 we want to be able to represent the Lord in this world. 06:47 You know, if I go over to Europe 06:49 or go to South America or go to wherever I go in the world, 06:54 when I enter through customs, they know right away 06:58 that my citizenship is, where? 07:00 Talk to me, where? 07:02 In the United States. 07:04 They know I'm a citizen of America. 07:06 And when you go to countries, 07:08 sometimes, it's obvious to the people there 07:11 that we are not from their country. 07:13 By the way, we talk, 07:15 sometimes they mention terminologies 07:17 that we don't have any clue what they mean. 07:19 For example, over in Australia, 07:22 what we call the trunk, the back of the car, 07:25 they call the boot. 07:28 Completely different. 07:29 Over here a boot is something you wear on your foot, 07:32 in Australia it's the trunk of the car, 07:34 the back. 07:35 Terminologies are different. 07:37 How people live is often different, 07:40 how they eat is often different. 07:42 For those of us who are pilgrims in this earth 07:45 and preparing for that eternal kingdom, 07:47 there's a way God wants us to live, 07:49 there's a way He wants us to take care 07:50 of our body temple 07:52 both on the inside and on the outside. 07:53 And here's the reason why? 07:55 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. 08:00 All right, let's look at that one together. 08:02 And the Bible says, 08:04 "Or do you not know that your body is the..." 08:07 What's the next word, 08:09 "Temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, 08:13 whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" 08:17 So why do we not own our bodies? 08:20 Let's read verse 20 together. 08:21 Are you ready? Here we go. 08:23 "For you were bought with a price. 08:26 Therefore, glorify God," where? 08:29 "In your body and in your spirit, 08:31 which are God's." 08:33 Now the world often... 08:35 Let me even narrow that down. 08:37 In many churches, 08:38 people say they glorify God in the Spirit, 08:41 they live in the Spirit, they sing in the Spirit, 08:44 they walk in the Spirit, 08:45 some people say, they pray in the Spirit. 08:49 That's well and good, 08:50 but the Lord also wants us to worship Him 08:53 and to acknowledge His ownership, 08:54 not just of our spiritual life, but the physical life. 08:58 The Lord created us. 09:00 He wants us to handle what He's given to us 09:03 with great stewardship. 09:05 And so when we walk through that 09:07 we notice patterns in the Bible, 09:10 what happened when Adam and Eve fell, 09:12 what was the first thing that... 09:14 Well, how did God notice 09:17 that there was a change 09:19 in their relationship between Him and them? 09:21 What did God do when He found Adam and Eve? 09:23 Somebody tell me. 09:26 You remember what God did when He found Adam and Eve, 09:27 they were hiding. 09:29 Why were they hiding? 09:30 Can you remember? Naked. 09:31 Say it again 'cause they were what? 09:33 Naked. They were naked. 09:34 The clothing they had before they sin was gone. 09:38 The glory of God, 09:39 the light of God had disappeared, 09:41 and they knew when they saw themselves, 09:43 "Hey, we got to find some clothing." 09:45 Do you remember 09:47 what kind of clothing they made for themselves? 09:50 Ha? Fig leaves. 09:52 They put fig leaves on. 09:53 The Bible said they made aprons of fig leaves. 09:57 If you've ever seen an apron before, 09:58 it's not the proper garment. 10:00 But the way that people just today looks like 10:02 some people still are buying aprons. 10:05 God wants us to be modest, why? 10:07 Because we're citizens of a different kingdom. 10:10 The Lord did not leave Eve and Adam in an apron. 10:14 He killed an animal 10:15 and He covered them with that skin, 10:17 He wanted them to be covered up. 10:19 And from that day until we receive the glory of God, 10:22 again, you know, the robe of righteousness, 10:25 I believe it's going to be the restoration 10:26 of that light that we lost. 10:28 The glory of God 10:29 will once again enshroud us, clothe us. 10:32 Until that day, 10:33 the Lord wants us to be covered up. 10:35 And that's the principle of modesty. 10:37 He wants us to dress so that when people see us, 10:40 they know that we are not following all the designers 10:44 because when I was being raised, 10:46 and some of you may remember this, 10:48 being raised... 10:49 I remember, you know, in the... 10:52 Well, help me out. I'm not that old. 10:55 I'm getting older, we all are getting older. 10:57 Amen? Amen? Amen. 11:00 But I remember there was an age when there was the miniskirt, 11:05 and then it became the middy skirt, 11:08 then the maxi skirt. 11:11 I grew up in New York City where men wore high shoes, 11:14 elevated shoes. 11:16 They didn't wear high heels, they wore elevator shoes. 11:19 Anyone of you remember platform shoes? 11:20 Anybody remember that? 11:22 They call it super fly, 11:24 with the long coats, the big hats. 11:26 And the world is continually putting us through the wringer. 11:30 It makes us look the way, if we follow the world, 11:32 we'll look different from season to season, 11:36 but if we follow God's Word, 11:38 we always maintain a context with godly dress. 11:43 So tonight, we're going to continue our discussion 11:46 because as we looked at 11:47 how the fall affected Adam and Eve, 11:51 one of the first families 11:52 that are highlighted in the Bible 11:55 is a young man by the name of Jacob. 11:57 Does anybody remember what his wife's name was? 12:01 Rachel. 12:03 Wonderful young lady, her father's name was Laban. 12:06 When the Lord pursued Jacob, 12:13 when Jacob had deceived his brother Esau, 12:16 the Lord met with Jacob at a place called the Bethel, 12:20 which means "the house of God." 12:21 God met him there. 12:24 He wrestled with the Lord, 12:26 the Lord allowed him to prevail, 12:28 he changed his name from Jacob to Israel 12:33 because he prevailed with the Lord. 12:35 But there was something else, 12:37 the Lord desired now to sanctify his family. 12:40 And now we're going to go to question number nine, 12:41 and we're going to begin, 12:43 we're going to walk through the story 12:44 in Genesis 35 12:45 and see what kind of instruction 12:47 the Lord gave to Jacob and his family. 12:50 He was going to sanctify them for service. 12:53 And not only sanctify them for service, 12:55 but sanctify them that they may represent Him, 13:00 they may represent Him because what they did not know 13:04 was God was going to bless the world 13:07 through the 12 sons of Jacob. 13:11 The Lord was about to turn the world upside down 13:14 through the children, through the sons of Jacob. 13:17 But to begin the process, 13:19 He said, "There needs to be some changes 13:21 in your family and even in the servants you have." 13:24 So let's look at question number nine. 13:26 Here it is. 13:28 How did God instruct Jacob and his family 13:32 to present themselves to God? 13:35 How did God instruct Jacob and his family 13:38 to present themselves to God? 13:40 Let's go to Genesis Chapter 35, 13:42 and we're going to walk through the story together, 13:45 and see how God instructed Jacob and his family. 13:49 When God gives instructions... 13:51 I tell you, those instructions always bring enlightenment. 13:53 Here it is. 13:54 I'm reading from the New King James Version 13:57 and that's what's going to appear on the screen. 13:59 Here it is. 14:01 And the Bible says, "Then God said to Jacob." 14:03 What's the first word He said to Jacob together? 14:05 "Arise." 14:07 Look at the screen together with me. 14:08 Let's read that, what is it? 14:09 "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there, 14:13 and make an altar there to God, 14:16 who appeared to you when you fled 14:19 from the face of Esau your brother." 14:23 His brother was coming after him. 14:25 Look at verse 2. 14:26 "And Jacob said to his household 14:29 and to all who were with him." 14:31 Let's read this together. 14:33 What did he say? Look at the screen. 14:34 "Put away the," what? 14:36 "Foreign gods that are among you," 14:39 next thing is, "purify yourselves, and," 14:42 the third thing what? 14:43 "Change your garments." 14:45 Now pause that off the screen for a moment, 14:47 I want to elaborate before we go to verse 3-4. 14:50 The Lord said, "Put away the foreign gods," 14:53 so which meant, 14:54 they were gods among them 14:56 that should not have been there. 14:58 And I emphasized a moment ago, 15:00 Rachel's father a man by the name of Laban, 15:02 you read that in Exodus 33, 15:06 Laban sold gods, 15:08 he fashioned them out of various types of metal, 15:11 various types of wood, he designed them. 15:13 And when Rachel married Jacob, 15:16 she brought these gods into the house. 15:18 So God said, 15:19 "You got to get rid of those gods. 15:21 Next you have to purify." 15:23 Whenever God calls us, He purifies us, 15:26 remember that text? 15:27 If we confess our sins, 15:28 He is faithful and just 15:30 to forgive us our sins and to cleanse. 15:34 So there's always a cleansing 15:35 when you commit yourself to the Lord. 15:37 "Purify yourselves, get ready." 15:38 And of third thing He said was, what's that on the screen, 15:42 last part, change your what? 15:43 "Change your garments." 15:45 In other words, "How you dress, 15:48 that's not appropriate for Me to choose you as My servant. 15:51 You got to get that in order too." 15:53 Now let's look at the next verse, 15:54 which will appear on the screen. 15:56 Here it is. 15:57 And verse 3 of Genesis 35, "Then let us arise," 16:02 always go up when you go follow the Lord get up, 16:05 "Go up to Bethel, 16:06 and I will make an altar there to God, 16:10 who answered Me in the day of My," what? 16:13 "Distress and also and has been with Me 16:17 in the way which I have gone." 16:20 That's powerful. 16:21 Now what did they do in response 16:23 to the instruction about change your garments, 16:26 purify yourselves, get rid of the foreign gods. 16:29 Notice what they did. 16:31 Verse 4, "So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods 16:37 which were in their," what? 16:39 "Hands, and the earrings which were in their," what? 16:43 "Ears, and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree 16:47 which was by Shechem." 16:49 Notice what they did. 16:51 Whatever foreign gods were in their houses 16:53 and, you know, in homes 16:58 when you follow the patterns of the world, 17:00 all kinds of gods could end up in your house. 17:04 The Lord says, 17:05 "Get rid of those and then also change your garments." 17:08 And notice what they understood that to mean, 17:10 they got rid of the foreign gods. 17:12 And in this particular case, 17:13 Rachel brought these in because her father Laban made them, 17:18 they had to get rid of them. 17:19 Now let me ask what did they do? 17:22 What did they do with these foreign gods? 17:24 What did they do with the earrings 17:26 when they took them off? 17:27 What did they do? 17:29 They hid them. 17:30 Specifically, they bury them. 17:31 You don't hide things under trees, 17:34 you bury them. 17:35 Here the word terebinth, simply means, 17:37 in the King James Version, oak tree. 17:40 They dug a pit, they dug a hole burry these gods, 17:45 took the earrings out of their ears, 17:48 and made sure that when they come home... 17:50 The Lord didn't say, "Put them on the counter, 17:52 when you come home, you can put it back on." 17:54 He said, 17:55 "Get them out of your house and get them out of your ears." 17:57 Amen? 17:58 Now when you follow the world, the world say, 18:01 "No, no, no, put them in your ears 18:03 and keep them in your houses." 18:05 Now, 18:08 I'm going to ask you a question and I want a response. 18:11 Whose instruction is wiser, the world's or God's? 18:15 God's. Okay. 18:16 So now let's follow this. 18:18 It may seem really uncommon for this message 18:21 to be going forward in 2015, 18:24 you may see it a different date. 18:25 That's fine. 18:26 But in this day and age, if you follow the world, 18:29 the world will say, 18:30 "No, no, no, no, put the earrings in 18:33 and bring the gods into your house." 18:35 And today, we live in a generation 18:37 where one earring, two earrings, five earrings, 18:43 or as many as you want, 18:45 and as many holes and piercings as you want, 18:47 the world is modifying... 18:50 Let me just use it. 18:51 The world is ignoring God's instruction. 18:54 But why did God instruct them that way? 18:57 It's very important. 18:58 If Jacob was the only ones that were going to be sanctified, 19:01 then the Lord will say, "This is only for them." 19:04 But as you walk through the lesson, 19:05 you'll see this was not instruction just for Jacob, 19:08 but this is instruction for the people of God. 19:11 We'll see that in just a moment. 19:12 All right? 19:13 So write that down, the answer was, 19:15 how did God instruct Jacob and his family 19:17 to present themselves? 19:18 Get rid of the foreign gods, purify yourselves, 19:22 and remove or change your garments. 19:25 In other words, 19:26 remove the earrings that are in your ears, 19:28 and he took them out. 19:30 They took them out. 19:31 When you read the story, 19:33 you'll find that not only did Rachel, 19:35 but the servants that were in their homes. 19:38 God was sanctifying the entire household 19:41 because the entire household was call of God 19:45 to be a place where sanctification exists. 19:48 Now that's important. 19:49 You know, sometimes, 19:51 we honor the Sabbath, and we say, 19:52 "Well, we have visitors, 19:54 we don't want to impose upon them 19:55 what we do on the Sabbath." 19:57 But when the Sabbath was established by God, 19:59 didn't He also say, 20:01 "Even the stranger that is within your gates," 20:03 didn't He say that? 20:05 So God was saying if there are strangers... 20:08 And these servants weren't strangers. 20:11 The imposition here was, "They are your property, 20:14 they work for you, they live with you, 20:17 if your entire household is going to be sanctified, 20:19 I want everyone to comply 20:22 with the instructions given to Jacob." 20:24 And they did. And praise the Lord they did. 20:26 Now, let's go to question number 10, 20:28 all right? 20:30 Here it is. 20:31 Which of the Ten Commandments does this practice reflect? 20:35 Let's go to Exodus 20:3. 20:38 Exodus 20:3. 20:43 This is one of the most misunderstood commandments. 20:49 Now a lot of times, we say the Sabbath is, 20:51 but this one has a broader application 20:54 and if we get to some of the other questions, 20:57 which we will eventually, 20:58 you'll see that this commandment, 21:00 Exodus 20:3, 21:01 has a broader application than just idols of wood and stone, 21:07 and gold and silver. 21:08 Let's look at this question. 21:10 Here is the answer together. 21:11 Exodus 20:3. 21:12 Let's read this together. Are we ready? 21:14 "You shall," what? 21:15 "Have no other gods before Me." 21:19 And in the generation... 21:21 Now I want to give you a little bit of history here 21:22 because the children of Israel 21:24 eventually ended up in the land of Egypt. 21:27 And much of what happens in our world today, 21:29 many of us don't acknowledge this, 21:32 but many of the practices in our world today, 21:34 didn't start in America, they didn't start in Rome, 21:38 they didn't necessarily start in Europe, 21:40 but they go way back to antiquity 21:43 and many of the things that we do today 21:45 have their foundation in places like Egypt, 21:47 places like Babylon. 21:49 That's why you find in the New Testament 21:51 those phrases are used in Revelation. 21:54 You find the word Egypt, you find the word Sodom, 21:56 you find the word Babylon 21:58 because the things that are happening 21:59 in our world today go way back. 22:02 Today, sodomites and sodomy 22:04 is practiced in our world today, 22:06 but how many thousands of years ago 22:09 was this practiced? 22:10 Way back in the days of Nova, way back in the days of Lot. 22:15 It's old. 22:16 So if somebody to say, 22:17 "Well, it doesn't really mattered, 22:19 times have change." 22:20 Does it matter, 22:22 do changing times mater to God? 22:24 Yes or no? 22:26 Do changing times matter to God? 22:27 Yes or no? It's not a trick question. 22:29 No. No. 22:30 "I am the Lord, I change not, I am the same, 22:33 together, yesterday, today, and forever." 22:37 God doesn't change, His commandments don't change, 22:40 His requirements don't change. 22:43 So from generation to generation this applies, 22:46 "You shall have no other gods before Me." 22:48 Now let me give you a little short brief, 22:50 as I possibly can, 22:52 study on why this is so vitally important. 22:55 When I studied the inception of gods 23:01 and studied them in the context of Egypt, 23:05 an amazing discovery came to the forefront 23:09 about why this commandment was given particularly 23:13 when they came out of the land of Egypt, 23:15 why the Lord said that. 23:17 Now I'm going to leave that there as a cliffhanger 23:18 and when we get to Exodus, 23:20 I'll unfold the rest of it for you. 23:22 But now let's go to question number 11. 23:25 Question Number 11. 23:28 All right? 23:29 And here it is. 23:31 How is this adornment instruction 23:34 expressed in the New Testament? 23:38 Go to 1 Peter 3:3-4, all right? 23:43 1 Peter 3:3-4. 23:47 That's where we're going. 23:49 Some of you have already gone there before me. 23:51 1 Peter 3:3-4. 23:56 And let me... 23:57 As you read this, sometimes, 23:59 the English language 24:00 falls short of expressing what's in the Greek. 24:03 And in this particular case, the word that is best used, 24:06 and you'll get to that when you see the context of the text 24:10 is often not clear in the English language 24:12 to use the word that they can best describe 24:15 the translation from the Greek. 24:16 But let's read the text together. 24:18 All right, here we go. It's on the screen. 24:20 Speaking of those who are New Testament Christians. 24:24 "Do not let your adornment be," what? 24:29 "Merely outward arranging the hair, 24:33 wearing gold, or putting on," what? 24:37 "Fine apparel." 24:39 Let's go to the next verse. 24:40 "Rather let it be the," what kind of person? 24:44 "Hidden person of the heart, 24:46 with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, 24:52 which is very precious in the sight of God. 24:55 You know, one of the things 24:56 that the Bible brings out 24:58 is the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. 25:00 If you have the King James Version, 25:02 you'll find an ornament, 25:03 is that what you have in your Bible, Mike? 25:05 Ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. 25:08 Brother Hutchinson, that's what you have, 25:09 ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. 25:12 And the reason why it uses the phrase... 25:16 And I'm going to look here. 25:17 The reason why it uses the phrase, the word, 25:21 "But rather let it be hidden, the hidden person," 25:25 is because people expressed their wealth in society 25:29 by the things that were visible. 25:32 Now let me ask you a question. 25:34 Can you tell what a person is thinking? 25:35 Yes or no? Come on, talk to me. 25:37 Yes or no? No. 25:38 Because it's, what, hidden. 25:40 Right? 25:42 The Lord in essence saying what's more valuable to Him 25:45 is the things that are hidden, 25:48 the incorruptible heart, the gentle and quiet spirit. 25:52 So Peter is encouraging us today 25:55 to not follow the same pattern. 25:56 Now the words that I mentioned to you 25:58 that were very important. 26:00 In the King James Version, sometimes, it says 26:02 the platting of hair or the plating of hair. 26:06 In the New King James it says, the arranging of hair. 26:09 One of the practices that were very prevalent 26:11 in not only the New Testament time, 26:13 but the Old Testament time is when specific hairstyles 26:17 were formed, 26:18 they platted gold and silver strands 26:21 or whatever jewels were had in the hair, 26:25 and it differentiated the very wealthy from those 26:29 that were humble. 26:30 And I don't want to use the word poor. 26:32 The very wealthy from those that were humble. 26:35 And it formed within the hearts of those 26:37 who are adorned this way an attitude of pride. 26:42 And so when you look at that... 26:45 Look at the contrast of that. 26:47 The Lord talked about the incorruptible beauty, 26:50 a gentle and quiet spirit, 26:51 which is a contrast to a haughty and proud spirit. 26:56 So the Lord, in essence, is saying to us today 26:59 in the very same way, 27:00 the reason why the Lord calls us 27:02 to not follow the patterns of the world, 27:04 He wants us to have, what kind of a spirit, 27:06 together, gentle and quiet spirit, 27:11 which means, and this is powerful, 27:13 think of it. 27:16 What you don't say can speak louder, 27:19 sometimes, than what you say. 27:23 Have you noticed that? 27:26 I remember growing up. I've heard this phrase before. 27:29 I didn't hear this in my household, 27:30 so I want to put that in the right context. 27:32 But I remember hearing people say, 27:34 "Don't do what I do, do what I say." 27:39 Now what's deceptive about that? 27:41 What's deceptive about that? 27:43 It's because you might say what to do, 27:45 but you do something completely opposite, 27:48 and the children come along, 27:49 and you ask them when they get adults, 27:51 "Why you do that?" "My mom did that." 27:53 "But didn't she tell you to do something else?" 27:55 But, you know what, together, 27:57 "Actions speak louder than words." 28:02 So the actions of the world are much louder 28:07 than if the world says, 28:08 "Don't do this or don't do that," 28:10 if it does that, 28:11 then we often follow what we see 28:14 rather than what we have heard. 28:15 The Lord brought that out, He said, 28:18 "Let your outward appearance be seen as gentle 28:22 and your spirit be seen as quiet." 28:25 Now another word for... 28:26 The opposite word for quiet is loud. 28:29 And I tell you the way the world dresses 28:31 sometimes is loud. Amen? 28:32 Amen. 28:34 It speaks loud. 28:35 "Whoa! What was that"? 28:38 I saw an article once in a magazine. 28:41 It was a different magazine where the article was, 28:45 "How the present age in which we live 28:47 affects the way that people dress 28:49 when they go to churches?" 28:51 But this is not new. 28:52 Go to the very next text. Go to question number 12. 28:55 This is not new. 28:56 Notice what happened in the past, 28:59 happens in the present. 29:00 Question number 12. Look at this. 29:02 How did God describe Israel 29:06 when they adopted foreign practices? 29:10 What we see today is not new. 29:13 Solomon said there is nothing new 29:14 under the sun. 29:15 What we see today 29:17 happened in a different society, 29:18 in a different age, in a different generation. 29:21 There's really nothing new, it just gets updated. 29:23 All right? Here's Hosea 2:13. 29:26 This is how the Lord described Israel 29:29 when they adopted foreign practices. 29:31 Now notice this. Here it is. 29:34 He says, "I will punish her for the days of the Baals 29:39 to which she burned incense." 29:41 Baal was a foreign god but notice how He knew this, 29:46 notice what was seen 29:48 that indicated her form of worship. 29:50 "She decked herself with,' what? 29:54 "Her earrings and," what? 29:56 "Jewelry, and went after her lovers, 30:00 but Me she forgot,' says the Lord.'" 30:04 Now this is really powerful because the children of Israel, 30:07 at this particular point, 30:09 had already been delivered from Egypt. 30:14 And what they learned as slaves in Egypt for 400 years, 30:19 it was hard to remove. 30:21 You know, sometimes it takes longer 30:23 to break a practice than it does 30:24 to adopt a practice. 30:26 The more you do something, 30:27 the easy it becomes to practice, 30:29 but it takes sometimes longer to get rid of a practice 30:33 than it does to adopt the practice. 30:36 Sometimes a person sees something 30:37 for short span of time, it becomes an influence 30:40 that their practice becomes a habit, 30:42 becomes a character trait, 30:44 and then it carries on from them 30:46 to the next generation to the next generation. 30:49 Whenever the children of Israel were in rebellion... 30:52 I want you to notice something, this is very important. 30:54 "She decked herself." "She did," what? 30:58 "Decked herself with her earrings and jewelry 31:01 and went after her lovers." 31:03 Never did the Lord speak of the children of Israel 31:07 in a righteous walk 31:09 when they were decked with jewels, 31:10 and ornaments, and earrings. 31:12 He never spoke of them as in a relationship, 31:16 as in a faithful relationship, 31:18 whenever they were decked with earrings, 31:20 and jewels, and ornaments. 31:22 He always referred to them as in rebellion. 31:26 And so the question is, should we follow the example 31:29 of a faithful relationship or a rebellious relationship? 31:33 Which one? Faithful. 31:35 A faithful relationship. 31:36 So if the children of Israel did that then, 31:38 and the Lord said, 31:40 "Hey, she's following a different god." 31:42 Today, in our very world, you'll discover 31:45 that people are following different gods 31:47 when they are adorned the very same way. 31:50 About... 31:52 Now it's been 28, 29 years of ministry, 31:55 when I was... 31:57 I'm talking about maybe the 1990s, 32:00 I got invited to speak at a camp meeting once. 32:04 And I never forgot this, after I spoke that evening... 32:08 There was a young lady, was as Adventist young lady, 32:10 she came to me, and she says, "My friend wants to meet you." 32:14 And I said... 32:15 And then she said, "Well, maybe she doesn't. 32:16 Well, maybe she doesn't. 32:18 Well, let me check with her to see if she's okay." 32:21 And I'm thinking what's all this vacillating, 32:23 why keep changing 32:24 either she does want to meet me or she doesn't. 32:27 And then she made the statement that really opened up my mind 32:30 to start studying God's Word even deeper. 32:32 She said, "Well, I'm not sure 32:35 if she's going to have on her protection." 32:38 I said, "Protection? What am I going to do to her? 32:42 It's just me." 32:44 And I met the young lady. 32:45 She was a young practicing witch. 32:50 She was a Wiccan. 32:52 And when I met her, she said, 32:55 "My friend invited me to camp meeting, 32:57 I want to meet you, I enjoyed your speech today." 32:59 Well, I don't give speeches, I give sermons. 33:01 Amen? You guys are quite tonight. 33:03 Amen? 33:04 Amen. 33:06 But she says, "I wanted to meet you 33:07 because I enjoyed your speech today." 33:08 And her friend was there and her friend was, 33:11 kind of, looking back and forth between us like, 33:12 "Oh, is this going to go okay? 33:14 Is this going to go okay?" 33:15 And she said to me. 33:17 And I said, "Your friend mentioned 33:19 that you wanted to meet me, but she want to make sure 33:23 that you might have on your protection." 33:25 I said, "Could you explain that to me? 33:27 What do you mean by protection?" 33:29 She says, "Well, I'm a young witch 33:33 and as a result of the, 33:35 the kind of witchery that I practice, 33:37 we don't believe in any evil existing 33:42 except outside of our protection." 33:45 And I said, 33:46 "What do you mean by protection?" 33:48 She says, "Well, my jewelry is my protection." 33:50 I said, "Protection from what?" 33:53 And when she began to explain this to me, 33:55 it opened my mind, I'd tell you, 33:57 then certain portions of the Bible became alive 33:59 that I never understood before. 34:02 And I went back and I studied. 34:04 And believe me, when I studied, 34:05 I like to go very deep into the study, 34:07 and I came to discover 34:09 that those who followed foreign gods 34:12 believed in the immortality of the soul. 34:18 Follow carefully. 34:19 So that means, if a person died, 34:22 they believed that 34:24 that person's soul or spirit roamed the earth, 34:28 looking for someone else to possess. 34:31 But the way to protect themselves 34:34 from any spirit that could come... 34:35 And she considered me... 34:37 And I praise the Lord for this. 34:38 She considered that since I'm a pastor, 34:40 I might have a spirit that she doesn't want to have, 34:43 so she has to have on her protection. 34:45 I want to say to the glory of God, 34:46 the only spirit that I have is the Holy Spirit. 34:48 Come on, help me out. 34:49 Amen. 34:51 But she didn't want my spirit to affect her spirit 34:54 or to affect her, so she had on her protection. 34:58 And I thought, "Unbelievable." 35:00 So they believed that if a person has a spirit, 35:03 it could somehow possess their bodies 35:06 if it can get in. 35:07 And I said, "Get in how?" 35:09 She says, "Well, 35:11 spirits can enter your body various ways, 35:12 it could enter through the ear, 35:14 through the nose, through the mouth." 35:19 And I kept inquiring. 35:22 And I said, "So let me ask a question. 35:26 What protection do you have on?" 35:28 "My earrings, it blocks... 35:31 See, that earring represented the god she served. 35:34 And so if the earring was positioned by the opening 35:37 of the ear, she believed that if the spirit was trying 35:41 to find a way in, it would see the earring, 35:45 that represented her god, 35:47 and it'd stop the spirit from going in. 35:50 Or if she wore a nose ring that somehow the spirit 35:53 would try to get in through the nose, 35:55 and it'll see that ornament 35:56 that represented the god she served, 35:59 and it would stop, and couldn't get in. 36:01 And you can keep going, the lip ring, 36:03 the tongue ring, all these things 36:05 that are now fads and fashions in America 36:08 were not so when they became, when they were born. 36:11 And I kept thinking. I can't wait to get home. 36:14 I can't wait to get home to study. 36:16 And I discovered that in Egypt 36:18 where these practices were heavily prevalent, 36:22 they had the same belief, 36:23 they believed in the immortality of the soul. 36:26 For example, and I'm teaching right now, 36:28 when the kings died... 36:29 One of the reasons why they built 36:31 these large pyramids 36:32 and put all their gold and silver inside of it 36:38 is because they believed 36:39 that when they got to the other side, 36:41 they will need these articles. 36:43 Sometimes, they even buried them 36:44 with their servants. 36:46 And then also they buried them with a boat, 36:49 and they believed 36:50 that their spirit will row this boat 36:52 to the other side 36:54 where they have continually, where they'll live continually. 37:00 And by the way, my wife reminded me of this. 37:03 And so whenever I heard... 37:04 And this is amazing. 37:05 They believe that in death you crossed the river 37:10 and on the other side 37:12 you had a life that continued. 37:14 So when I heard the phrase, "And then one day, 37:17 I'll cross that river." 37:21 I thought where did that come from? 37:22 Did I hear that before? 37:24 And I've traced that back, 37:25 not that it's sinful in that sense, 37:28 but it connects right to the Egyptian belief 37:31 that when you died you cross the river. 37:35 And then all the artifacts that they wore, 37:37 the gold the jewels, 37:38 they all represented various Egyptian gods. 37:43 So now this is powerful. 37:45 So the question is, if your body is God's temple, 37:51 which it is, 37:54 what fellowship 37:55 does the temple of God have with idols? 38:01 Paul when he expressed that in the... 38:03 We're going to cover that in the next lesson. 38:04 We're going to go to that scripture actually, 38:06 what fellowship does the temple of God have with idols? 38:10 So that's why when the Lord expressed this, 38:12 Hosea 2:13, when He expressed this, 38:16 He was in essence saying, clearly, 38:18 the way that she looks, 38:20 she's dressed like she's following the god Baal. 38:24 And how can I tell? 38:26 By her jewelry, by her earrings, 38:29 she's not following Me, she's following the god Baal. 38:33 That's why the scripture is designed this way. 38:35 That's why God recorded that. 38:37 So today, when you go to these stores, 38:40 they call them ornamentation, they call them accessories, 38:44 and then you go to legitimate jewelry stores, 38:47 whenever these articles are hung on the body 38:49 that belongs to the Lord, 38:51 they identified as belonging to a different god 38:55 other than the Almighty God. 38:57 Amen? 38:59 Now why do we not need these things on our bodies? 39:01 Let's go back to that story, 39:02 I just told you about the Wiccan 39:05 because we do not believe in the immortality of the soul. 39:09 We do not believe that when a person dies, 39:12 there's a spirit roaming the earth 39:13 looking to possess somebody else. 39:14 Do we believe that? 39:16 We don't believe that. 39:18 What we do believe is that the Lord 39:20 is our protection. 39:23 So whenever the children of Israel 39:25 practiced what the nations 39:27 that did not honor God practiced, 39:29 the Lord always said, "There she goes again, 39:31 she decked herself with her earrings and jewelry 39:36 and went after her lovers and Me, she forgot." 39:41 Any time the Israelites moved in that direction, 39:44 God always identify them in a position of rebellion. 39:48 So now let me just put this point on before 39:50 we go to the very next question. 39:53 Did God say big earrings or little earrings? 39:56 Did He describe that in the verse? 39:58 She wore her big earrings... 40:00 What kind? Did He describe that? 40:01 Yes or no? No. 40:03 Somehow, there's this belief today 40:05 that if you wear a tiny little earrings, 40:08 then God is okay with that. 40:13 And that's pervading even the Adventist church. 40:18 It's coming in. 40:19 The Lord never said a tiny piece of pork. 40:22 Come on, somebody. 40:24 He never said just a puff 40:25 every now and then on a cigarette. 40:28 He said abstain completely. 40:31 He didn't say a little necklace with a cross. 40:33 He didn't say wear the cross, He said bear the cross. 40:37 And the world has molded the church so much 40:41 that we look more like the children of Israel 40:46 at the base of Mount Sinai. 40:47 We're going to get there in a moment. 40:49 Then the children as 40:51 they are being made righteous by the garments of God. 40:55 So, brothers and sisters, we've got to differ 40:58 from the way the world is molding. 41:00 I tell you why? 41:02 Because in heaven... 41:03 There's the powerful reason for this. 41:04 In heaven, the streets are made of transparent gold. 41:08 Follow me carefully. 41:09 The gates are made of pearls. 41:13 The 12 precious foundations 41:15 are made of different kinds of precious stones, emeralds, 41:19 rubies, sapphire, turquoise. 41:22 Can you imagine? This is huge. 41:25 Are you ready? 41:26 Say yes. Yes. 41:29 Can you imagine going to heaven 41:30 with this practice. 41:32 You see some folk on the streets of gold 41:34 with their little pick axes 41:36 trying to get some jewels for their earrings. 41:42 It may sound farfetched, 41:44 but that's exactly 41:45 what happened among the children of Israel. 41:48 They wore articles of jewels and gold 41:51 that had no connection with God in that sense. 41:54 If that practice is allowed in heaven, 41:57 give or take a week, 41:58 heaven will be chiseled up, broken up 42:01 because in heaven all these are just simply... 42:04 Heaven's asphalt is gold. 42:07 Amen somebody? Amen. 42:09 That's just precious ornaments. 42:10 God simply use those for the purposes 42:14 for which He ordains them at that particular time. 42:17 What we're going to also do 42:18 is we're going to get into the sanctuary 42:20 to find out why God allowed these articles 42:23 to be among the children of Israel. 42:25 But now let's go to the very next question. 42:27 Question number 13. 42:29 This is one of those lessons you can't rush through. 42:32 Question number 13. Here it is. 42:34 How does God's adornment differ from that of the world? 42:39 How does God's adornment differ from that of the world? 42:45 Isaiah 61:10. 42:47 Go there with me. 42:49 Isaiah 61:10. 42:54 Okay, I'm turning there. 43:01 I am there. Okay, look at this. 43:04 Now what you're going to read in this text when we go to it, 43:06 you're going to see 43:08 the comparison between those things 43:11 that exists in an Asian wedding, 43:17 as compared to the garments that God clothes His people in. 43:23 Watch this very carefully. 43:25 Isaiah does a wonderful job in comparing the two. 43:28 Here it is. 43:30 Isaiah 61:10. 43:31 It's going to be on the screen for you. 43:33 The Lord says, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord." 43:36 Isaiah says this. 43:38 "My soul shall be joyful in my God, 43:42 for He has clothed me with the," say together, 43:46 "garments of salvation, 43:47 He has covered me with the," what? 43:50 "Robe of righteousness." 43:52 Praise the Lord for that. 43:54 Garment of salvation, robe of righteousness. 43:56 Now look at the comparison. 43:58 He says, 43:59 "As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, 44:05 and as a bride 44:07 adorns herself with her jewels." 44:11 He does the comparison. 44:13 We just came back of not about... 44:15 Maybe couple of years ago my wife and I were in Asia. 44:18 Particularly, in India, 44:21 and this is still practiced to this very day. 44:24 The adornment... 44:26 If you've ever seen an Indian wedding, 44:28 you don't know adornment until you seen an Indian wedding. 44:31 Anybody know what I'm talking about? 44:32 If you have seen an Indian wedding, 44:35 then you understand adornment 44:37 because the bridegroom is decked, 44:39 and the bride is decked. 44:41 But that's the practice of their society. 44:45 We were just over in southern India, 44:48 northern India, 44:49 and you'd look at the different gods 44:51 that are there, thousands of gods, 44:52 Hindu gods, Buddhist gods. 44:55 When you go to the temples, the jewels are everywhere, 44:57 they are everywhere, it's a part of their culture. 45:00 The Lord says... And this is powerful. 45:02 Let me just bring it to today's language. 45:03 Lord is saying, 45:05 "You see how the Asian bride 45:08 adorns herself with all her jewels, 45:09 and you see how the bridegroom 45:11 adorns himself with all of his jewels. 45:13 My robe of righteousness 45:16 and My garment of salvation 45:19 is going to be more glorious than that. 45:21 Can I get an amen? Amen. 45:23 He says, "See, how they're glittering, 45:24 how they stand out, and they're ostentatious, 45:28 you think that's something, 45:29 wait till I give you My garment of salvation 45:31 and My robe of righteousness." 45:33 It's going to far outshine any substitution 45:37 that the world can give to us. 45:39 Praise the Lord. 45:40 But the world says 45:41 here are the substitutes for the robe of righteousness, 45:45 and the garment of salvation. 45:47 And I tell you what? 45:49 I want the robe of righteousness, 45:50 and I want the garment of salvation. 45:52 Anybody else? Amen. 45:53 But that's the comparison. 45:55 So when the Bible does comparison, 45:56 the Bible does not authorize it, 45:58 but God used the practice of that day and age 46:01 to make the comparison between His garments, 46:04 His righteousness and their garments, 46:07 and their righteousness. 46:08 Well, let's go to the next one. 46:10 Okay, moving right along to question number 14. 46:14 We want to always follow the pattern 46:16 that God has established. 46:19 Question number 14. 46:20 What did the Lord give to the Israelites 46:24 when He freed them from Egypt? 46:26 Now this is one... 46:27 We're not going to finish this tonight, 46:28 I don't know because we go to question number 19, 46:30 but at least we're going to lay the foundation. 46:32 And there are certain things in the Bible 46:34 you cannot rush through. 46:35 This is powerful. 46:37 When you think about the Exodus, 46:39 that chapter is appropriately titled 46:41 "The Exodus" that means coming out. 46:45 The Lord brought them out with a mighty hand. 46:48 Okay, we're going to go to Exodus Chapter 3 46:50 and find out. 46:51 Now let me do some quizzing here. 46:52 Does anybody remember 46:54 how long the Israelites were slaves in Egypt? 46:57 How long the Bible say? 46:59 Four hundred years. 47:00 And 430 if you count Joseph, 47:03 he was there 30 years before they came. 47:05 So total of 430 years, but 400 generally, 47:09 that's the number of consensus. 47:13 They were there, 47:15 Joseph was there for 30 years 47:17 before another pharaoh ascended to throne. 47:22 And when you look at Exodus 1. 47:24 Look at it very quickly. 47:26 And it says in Exodus 1:8. 47:29 It's amazing. 47:30 Things changed, somebody else sat on the seat. 47:34 The Bible says in Exodus 1:8. 47:36 "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, 47:39 who did not know Joseph." 47:42 He said, "Okay, heard about you, 47:46 not very sure much about you, 47:48 but I don't really know who you are." 47:50 And what happened, as Joseph was in Egypt 47:55 because of the famine he brought his family there, 47:58 and those who were in famine, 48:00 the Lord allowed them to come into Egypt 48:02 to get bread and food 48:04 and sustenance during the time of famine. 48:06 And what happened is this new pharaoh noticed 48:11 that the Israelites were just growing 48:13 in leaps and bounds. 48:15 He saw them everywhere, and then he said, 48:19 "You know what? 48:21 If we let them keep this up, they're going to outnumber us, 48:25 they're going to become the majority, 48:28 and we're going to become the minority, 48:30 and we might end up their slaves. 48:33 So in order to not let that happen, 48:35 let's put them into slavery." 48:37 So for 400 years they were in bondage in Egypt. 48:42 Now when you're a slave, do you get the proper wages? 48:45 Yes or no? No. 48:46 No. Do you get fair treatment? No. 48:49 When you read the story of the bondage in Egypt, 48:51 it was hard bondage. 48:53 And when they cried to the Lord, 48:54 the Lord raised up a man by the name of Moses, 48:59 one who is drawn from the water. 49:01 Raised up Moses to lead the children of Israel 49:04 out of Egypt. 49:06 So now when they left, the Lord said, 49:08 "Okay, I'm going to calculate 49:10 how much the Egyptians owe you." 49:11 This is powerful. God is such a just God. 49:13 Can you say amen to that? 49:14 He said, "They have not paid you 49:16 for 400 years. 49:19 I'm going to calculate what they owe you, 49:21 and I will make sure that when you leave, 49:23 you leave with a big check." 49:25 This is powerful. 49:26 Go to Exodus 3:21-22. 49:29 Look what He did. 49:30 He took all the wealth of Egypt 49:33 and made it accessible to the children of Israel. 49:36 Here it is. Exodus 3:21-22. 49:39 Notice how He did this. 49:40 He says, "And I will give this people," 49:43 what's the next word? 49:44 "Favor in the sight of the Egyptians, 49:47 and it shall be, 49:49 when you go out, 49:51 that you shall not go out empty-handed." 49:53 God is a good God. 49:54 Sometimes, it takes 400 years to get payback, 49:57 but God always make sure that He has the last say. 50:00 And then He says, 50:02 "But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, 50:05 namely, of her who dwells near her house," 50:10 listen to what they should ask for, 50:11 "articles of," say it together, 50:13 "silver, articles of," what? 50:15 "Gold, and," what else? 50:17 "Clothing. 50:18 And you shall put them on your sons 50:21 and on your daughters. 50:23 So you shall," do what to the Egyptians? 50:26 "Plunder." 50:28 Another word for plunder is leave them broke. 50:31 You don't want to be plundered. 50:32 If your bank account gets plundered, 50:35 you're broke. 50:36 "You shall leave the Egyptians broke." 50:39 So let's write that down. 50:41 Exodus 3:21-22. 50:44 Write down, what does the Lord give to the Israelites? 50:47 He gave them articles of silver and gold and clothing. 50:50 And He said, "Put them on your sons 50:51 and your daughters, 50:52 make sure when you leave, the Israelites are broke." 50:56 I mean, the Egyptians are broke. 50:58 All right? 50:59 So what did you put? So watch this. 51:01 Now when He says put them on your sons 51:03 and your daughters, 51:05 you got to understand the context. 51:06 He didn't say wear them, He said put them on. 51:10 Now, I want to make an illustration. 51:11 Can I do that? All right. 51:13 Okay. Now. Okay. 51:16 There are many ways to put the jacket on me. 51:18 One is this way, so I can carry it, 51:21 the other is, this way, 51:25 so I can wear it. 51:28 "Put it on them." 51:29 The context here was 51:31 we're going to carry this stuff out of Egypt. 51:33 "Put it on them." 51:34 So they could carry it with them 51:36 when they leave. 51:37 It was not to wear like the Egyptians wore, 51:39 put it on them, so they can carry it out. 51:41 So they had the clothing, they had the silver, 51:44 they had the gold, 51:45 and they were carrying it out of Egypt. 51:48 They were not wearing it out of Egypt. 51:50 They were carrying it out of Egypt. 51:53 You got to get this all together. 51:54 And when you see the rest of the story, 51:56 you'll see exactly how this is verified. 52:00 So now let's go to the very next verse 52:02 in Exodus 12. 52:03 Let's see what the Lord did. 52:06 He gave the instruction in Exodus Chapter 3, 52:08 and then the deliverance came, 52:11 and we're going to see about the deliverance 52:12 in Exodus Chapter 12. 52:14 All right? 52:15 Here is what the Bible says. 52:17 "Now the children of Israel 52:20 had done according to the word of Moses, 52:25 and they had asked the Egyptians articles of," 52:28 what?" 52:29 Silver, articles of," what? 52:31 "Gold, and," what else? 52:33 "Clothing." 52:35 And it goes on, and it says, 52:36 "And the Lord had given the people favor 52:40 in the sight of the Egyptians, 52:42 so that they granted them what they requested." 52:46 And let's read the last part together. 52:48 "Thus they," what? 52:50 "Plundered the Egyptians." 52:52 This powerfully, wealthy, dynasty, 52:56 when God brought His children out, 52:59 He said, 53:01 "Because of what you did to My people, 53:04 I'm going to leave your dynasty broke." 53:07 And they left it completely broke, 53:09 completely plundered. 53:11 All the articles... 53:12 And I want you to get this. 53:14 Now let's get the big picture here 53:15 because when they left with the articles 53:16 of silver and of gold, 53:18 they didn't melt them down to gold bullion 53:21 or silver squares, 53:23 they brought them in whatever condition 53:24 that they were in. 53:26 They brought the golden gods, they brought the silver gods, 53:30 they brought the ostentatious garments 53:31 that the Egyptians wore, 53:33 they brought their ceremonial garments 53:36 that they wore, 53:37 everything that the Egyptians 53:39 had that expressed their wealth. 53:40 The Israelites now had it in their possession. 53:43 And we're not going to finish this tonight, 53:45 but you will discover something, 53:47 God had a plan for all that wealth, 53:49 God had a plan for all that gold, 53:51 God had a plan for all those precious stones. 53:54 And some of you are wise enough to understand 53:56 where I'm going with this. 53:58 God was going to use all that gold, 54:01 all that silver, 54:03 all those precious stones to do something 54:06 that was far more glorious 54:08 than the Egyptians would ever desire to do with that. 54:11 Now let's hit one more question. 54:12 Let's hit one more question. 54:14 I think we have enough time to do that. 54:15 But now keep this in mind, 54:17 they're carrying all the form of the Egyptian wealth, 54:20 they're not carrying little things 54:22 in their knapsack, 54:23 they're jingling, 54:26 and they are shining 54:28 as they leave the land of Egypt, 54:29 they got all the gold, all the silver, all the jewels, 54:33 all the Egyptian clothing, and they're carrying it out, 54:36 and there's nothing that the Egyptian 54:37 can do to stop them. 54:39 Amen? Amen. 54:40 When God is ready to bless you, 54:42 the enemy cannot stop God from blessing you. 54:45 Okay, now look at question 15 very quickly. 54:49 It says, "What specifically 54:51 did the Lord tell the Israelites not to do?" 54:55 Now get this. 54:56 He said, "Get that silver, get that gold, 54:59 bring it out of there." 55:00 But there's something He told them not to do. 55:03 Okay, now let's go to Exodus 20:23. 55:08 Exodus 20:23. 55:10 Okay, this is huge. 55:12 Now look at the context is, they're out of Egypt, 55:16 they're in the wilderness, 55:18 they just got the Ten Commandments. 55:21 And He says, "You got all that stuff from Egypt, 55:23 you haven't done anything with it yet," 55:26 because this is before 55:27 they started building anything for the glory of God, 55:29 I'm trying to be vague. 55:33 But He said, "Now that you have it, 55:34 this is what I don't want you to do." 55:36 Here is the answer. Exodus 20:23. 55:39 All right. 55:41 He said, 55:42 "You shall not make anything to be with Me," 55:47 together, "gods of," what? 55:49 "Silver or gods," of what? 55:51 "Gold, 55:52 you shall not make for yourselves." 55:55 This is huge. 55:57 We're walking through the story. 55:58 You're going to see how God is so specific 56:00 and clear in His Word. 56:01 He said, "What I don't want you to do 56:03 is make any gods of silver or any gods of gold, 56:05 I don't want you to do that." 56:07 But we got to end on this text. 56:08 Go to the next question very quickly, 56:10 question number 16. 56:11 We have to end here. 56:14 For what purpose were the precious stones 56:16 and jewels to be used? 56:18 For what purpose were the precious stones 56:20 and jewels to be used? 56:22 God said, "Now that you have it, 56:24 here's what I don't want you to do, 56:27 but here's what I want you to do." 56:29 It's so nice that God gives specific instructions. 56:32 Go to Exodus 25:8. 56:36 Exodus 25:8. 56:38 God said, "I don't want you to get like the Egyptians 56:40 because the temptation might arise." 56:42 Now let me make this point. 56:44 If you've got all this stuff among you 56:46 that represents the way that the Egyptians lived, 56:50 wouldn't somewhere along the way you think, 56:51 "Hey, that's a really nice necklace." 56:54 "Whoa! 56:56 Did you see that outfit?" 56:57 "Look at those earrings." 57:00 You can carry with you but so long 57:02 before it starts affecting the way you think. 57:04 "Look at all those rings." 57:06 The Lord said, "Don't do it." 57:07 Now here's the text very quickly. 57:09 Last one. Exodus 25:8. 57:10 Please put on the screen. 57:11 He says. Here it is. 57:13 "And let them make Me a," what? 57:15 "Sanctuary, that I may dwell among them." 57:19 He says, "Don't make gods because I got plans. 57:22 I want you to make Me a sanctuary 57:24 that I may dwell among you." 57:26 It is on that note 57:27 that we're going to wind up this week's lesson. 57:29 You see, God took slaves from Egypt, 57:33 His children. He said, 57:35 "Don't follow the practices of the Egyptians, 57:38 but I want you to take all their gold, 57:40 all their clothing, all their gold, 57:43 all their silver 57:44 and please don't make any gods with them 57:46 because I want to make a sanctuary, 57:49 and so please hold it 57:50 so that I can tell you what to do with it." 57:52 Friends, it's going to be a powerful topic. 57:54 Stick with us. 57:55 If it doesn't make sense right now, 57:57 I can guarantee you, 57:58 keep studying God's Word because sooner or later, 58:00 it will come into A Sharper Focus. 58:02 God bless you. Let's pray. |
Revised 2019-01-21