Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: TWH
Program Code: TWH000011A
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00:32 Let us pray...
00:36 Lord, this morning we stand on the foundation of Your grace 00:45 and Lord, the longer we commit ourselves to You, 00:53 the more we recognize how much of Your grace we are in need of. 00:57 And so, this morning, as we invite Your Spirit to 01:03 tarry and tabernacle with us, we pray that You will 01:09 guide our hearts and minds to understand the blessing 01:15 and the responsibility of living in Your grace. 01:20 In Jesus name, I pray... Amen 01:26 The message is entitled "Out of Egypt," 01:30 Out of Egypt - in your Bibles this morning, we read 01:34 in Exodus 9:1- Together we read these words... 02:07 The Israelites understood the restraints of the harsh 02:11 treatment of slavery and after nearly 400 years in Egypt, 02:15 and in bondage, they began to cry to God for deliverance. 02:20 You know, I believe that the difference between where 02:22 we were and where we can be is when we begin to 02:25 cry to God for deliverance. 02:28 At some point, sin should get us to the place where we are 02:32 so TIRED of it that we want to be free. 02:35 Amen - somebody... 02:37 I mean I know - even growing up, you could be so dead 02:40 to sin - I remember sitting there on Friday nights 02:44 looking for a pool hall somewhere to gamble. 02:47 No matter how cold the weather was, looking for a train 02:51 somewhere to find a party... 02:53 No matter how loud the music was, I was so dead 02:56 in sin and I could sit in front of a column of speakers 03:01 and fall asleep because my body had become so 03:05 acclimated to it, but in God's mercy, 03:11 and I say this - "in God's mercy," His Spirit, 03:15 and I thank God for this, JESUS is not willing that 03:20 any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 03:26 So He sees us in sin and He doesn't say, "Stay in sin," 03:31 but He puts the Holy Spirit into action, sends Him to 03:34 convict us of sin so that we can become aware OF sin 03:40 and then He exposes to us how beautiful our lives could be 03:44 if we simply accept the power that can deliver us from sin. 03:49 Amen church! Amen 03:50 Nobody could have ever told me, nobody could have every told me 03:54 when I was in the "World Trade Center" on the 44th floor 03:57 disc jockey - nobody could have told me when I was on 03:59 Broadway and 47th Street at the "Seafood Playhouse"... 04:03 Nobody could have ever told me when I was in the 04:05 "Pegasus Club" on Second Avenue and 38th Street, 04:08 in Manhattan, nobody could have ever told me 04:10 when I was scratching records back and forth, 04:13 and getting people to party, no one could have EVER 04:16 told me THEN - that I would be preaching God's word today. 04:21 But there's a text that has resonated so beautifully, 04:24 my wife and I said this slowly in the car as we were driving 04:27 a few weeks ago and it was as though God was speaking to... 04:31 it was a though - as we were repeating it, 04:34 God was saying it with us. 04:37 Now what a text when God can say, "I know the plans 04:43 I have for you," come on somebody... 04:46 God loves us so much that He gets up in the morning 04:52 and He says, "Charletta and Jeff - I got plans for them!" 05:00 I know the plans I have for them - thoughts of peace 05:08 and not of evil to give THEM a future and a hope." 05:14 Who can love us like Jesus does? Nobody! 05:21 But He looks at us while we're slaves, either slaves 05:24 because of a lack of knowledge; either slaves because of 05:27 a sin that has bound us; either slaves because of the 05:31 circumstances we were raised in our family - there are so 05:34 many forms of slavery. 05:35 There is even indentured slavery. 05:38 It's called "indentured servants" where the slave 05:41 and the master makes a contract to see how each of them can be 05:45 mutually beneficial. 05:47 In other words, "I'll be your slave if you do this for me." 05:50 Let me tell you brethren, don't ever get into a mutual 05:53 agreement with Satan because there is no slavery 05:56 that Satan has that can be of any benefit to any of us. 06:00 There are some people that think that as long as I'm 06:02 good, but I like what the Lord said in Exodus 3... 06:08 Go there with me, if you don't have your Bibles, 06:11 then look here on the screen. 06:16 "They began to cry for deliverance." 06:19 Sometimes I go to New York and, we'll be in New York 06:22 in a couple of weeks and when we go to the city... 06:25 you know - sin, sin just has a way of 06:28 showing itself. 06:30 You can see sin in peoples eyes and in their faces, 06:33 and hear it in their voices. 06:34 You can see the degradation of sin walking the streets 06:37 either small towns or large towns, you can drive 06:42 through West Frankfort and you can see the sin established 06:45 places - the bars; you can see people coming 06:49 out of there and it's almost like a cycle - they get to 06:52 know each other because they show up there ALL the time. 06:55 Sin puts you on this endless cycle of coming back 06:58 to the same place or doing the same thing over and over 07:02 and ALL the while sin just laughs at its slaves. 07:07 But I love this verse in Exodus 3:7... 07:10 And the Bible says, speaking of God, "And the Lord said, 07:13 thank you Jesus - I have surely seen the oppression 07:17 of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry 07:22 because of their task masters, for I know their sorrows." 07:27 We've got a God who knows our sorrows! 07:31 You don't go through Sunday to Sabbath with a God that 07:37 doesn't know your sorrows, a God that understands our 07:40 tears and our difficulties, a God who understands 07:43 our struggles - a God who understands 07:46 that we are but dust. 07:48 A God who understands that our lives are but a vapor, 07:51 and He wants to give us eternal life. 07:56 I know that God never supported slavery for He says in verse 8 08:00 of Exodus 3... So what am I going to do? 08:04 "So I have come down to deliver them." 08:07 Why did God send His Son? He came down to deliver us 08:11 out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up 08:15 from that land to a good and large land, 08:20 to a land flowing with milk and honey." 08:24 That's just the first part, I'll stop right there. 08:25 "To a land flowing with milk and honey." 08:29 You see when God takes you out of a stagnant land... 08:32 I always wondered - because you know - those of you 08:34 that are vegetarians and vegans, you know - I mean, 08:37 milk and honey together could be an amazing concoction... 08:42 Milk - some people say, "Don't drink milk because of a lot of 08:44 mucus and you add a lot of honey to it?" 08:46 That's not - but what God was saying... He says, "This is 08:51 the land of abundance - not just milk and honey." 08:54 But they had grapes and pomegranates and fig trees, 08:59 and plains where the cattle can feed in abundance. 09:04 They had trees that as far as the eyes could see, 09:09 God planned their provision. 09:11 I want to tell you something... 09:12 When you put your life in the hand of God, 09:14 He promises and He is able to deliver... 09:18 "Our God will supply all of our need according to 09:21 His riches in glory." 09:25 But God put a plan together, Exodus 12:3, in harmony 09:31 with His will, God gave them specific instructions for their 09:34 deliverance, but look at what He said... 09:56 They were told to keep it until the 14th day of that same month. 10:00 And they were also told to make sure that that lamb 10:02 had no blemishes and that that lamb had no 10:06 spots and the Apostle Peter said, the reason is because 10:09 "We were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ 10:12 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 10:16 We were redeemed by a Lamb without blemish 10:20 and without spot." 10:22 I want to share something with you that I talked about 10:23 on Wednesday night... 10:25 You are... you, you, you are missing some 10:28 studies about FREEDOM in Jesus! 10:32 We're not walking through a "Twenty-Eight Fundamental," 10:34 we are diving into the anatomy 10:38 of righteousness on Wednesday nights. 10:40 You want to learn how to be free and remain free? 10:43 Come on Wednesday nights. 10:45 We're talking about this topic... 10:46 It's in my bloodstream, it's in my mind, 10:48 it's in my thoughts and God is showing me how 10:50 beautiful it is to know that our freedom is found in Jesus, 10:54 but it's a lot deeper than just that... 10:55 You see when the Lord gave them this beautiful picture 10:59 of freedom, He made it known that from the beginning 11:03 until the very end... if you don't have a lamb, 11:08 then there is no freedom outside of the lamb. 11:13 But it was not just enough to have the lamb... 11:16 Verse 7 of Exodus 12, He gave them further instructions about 11:21 what to do with this lamb when the lamb was slain, He said... 11:34 And when you go further, He said, "Not only do you 11:38 apply to the doorpost of your house, but you have to 11:41 stay IN the house for the blood to apply to your life. 11:46 You see, one of the reasons why the Lord established 11:48 the church - He has established the church, as the Bible says 11:51 in Acts - "The Lord added to the church daily, those who were 11:54 being saved..." It's okay to accept the 11:56 blood of the Lamb, but you also have to be 11:58 IN the house. 12:00 It's okay to accept the grace of God, but no one knew 12:02 he had to be IN the ark. 12:05 It's not enough to look AT the ark. 12:06 It's not enough to look AT the church. 12:09 We've got to be IN the church. 12:11 We have to be IN the ark. 12:12 We have to be IN Christ to find freedom. 12:16 Can't find freedom just looking at Christ. 12:19 Look at verse 11 of Exodus 12... 12:43 I had to pause when I got to the word "Passover." 12:46 Do a little bit of homework because I know that there are 12:50 millions of Jews today that still observe Passover, 12:55 and I said, "Lord, even though I have some theological 12:59 understanding, but a pretty deep understanding of Passover, 13:03 help me to understand this the way that they see it." 13:06 Why do they still observe Passover? 13:08 Passover is one of the most celebrated Jewish memorials. 13:13 This year, it will be celebrated from April 10th to April 18. 13:18 And why do they continue to celebrate 13:20 Passover even still today? 13:23 More than 1,300 years before Christ, 13:29 the Jews began celebrating Passover because it 13:33 commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from 13:37 slavery in Egypt. 13:39 You go to New York - one of my favorite stores, B and H, 13:43 you electronic buffs know what that is. 13:48 When you go to B and H's website, it won't be open from 13:52 April 10 to 18- they close. 13:55 They close at 1 o'clock on Friday. 13:58 They don't even get anywhere near the Sabbath and be opened 14:00 because it's owned by the Jews. 14:02 You see, today, if you want to understand the validity of 14:07 the record of the Passover and the reality of the 14:10 truth of God's word, you need only ask the millions of 14:14 Jews that follow the instruction of Moses 14:18 in this area - Moses instructed them that on the 14:22 15th day of Nisan, 2,448 years after creation, was when this 14:31 text was applied, "Eat the Passover tomorrow, 14:35 God is going to deliver us when His final judgment is 14:39 poured out on the land of Egypt." 14:41 And still today, all those Jews still recognize 14:45 Moses as the one who led them out of Egypt. 14:48 They had not yet come to recognize Jesus, 14:51 but they do say that they began keeping the Passover 14:55 1,300 years before Christ. 14:58 They recognize His existence, but they don't 15:01 recognize Him as the Messiah. 15:03 So the Genesis record is clear, the Exodus record is clear. 15:07 From the day that God delivered Israel, through his servant 15:10 Moses, the Jews have continued to this very day, 15:13 and they call it "The Festival of Freedom." 15:17 So from the 10th of April to the 18th, 15:20 they will be celebrating "The Festival of Freedom." 15:23 They recognize the power of the deliverance of God. 15:27 You see... go to Deuteronomy 6:21, the Passover 15:30 served as a constant reminder of God's deliverance, 15:35 and God instructed them to tell their children 15:38 from generation to generation, 15:40 and let me add another caveat here... 15:43 This text is still repeated to the children of Israel today. 15:47 in the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch, the Torah. 15:52 They are still telling their children 15:54 what I'm going to read to you right now. 15:56 Listen to verse 21 of Deuteronomy chapter 6... 16:06 And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a what? 16:09 A mighty hand... what kind of hand church? Mighty. 16:14 Oh, that means when God delivers, He delivers! 16:17 He who the Son sets free is free indeed. 16:20 It was not Moses that led them out, it was God. 16:24 It was not Moses that performed miracles, it was God. 16:27 It was not Moses that saved them from destruction, 16:30 it was God. 16:32 It was not Moses that provided their needs or protected them 16:36 or decided to set them free, IT WAS GOD... 16:40 And they had not forgotten that, look at verses 22 and 23... 17:06 Before I even emphasize that, let me tell you, 17:08 when they talk about the signs and the wonders of God, 17:12 the severe and the great signs, when you read the history 17:16 and thank God for the inspiration we find in the 17:20 writings of Ellen White, come on somebody. 17:22 Speaking about this deliverance, 17:25 and you read this in Exodus 14, the Bible says 17:29 that when the children of Israel knew that Pharaoh 17:32 pursued them, they lifted up their eyes and they began to 17:35 cry - because they kept their eyes on Pharaoh... 17:37 When you read into that more, when Pharaoh, 17:40 by God's strong hand, could not but let the 17:44 children of Israel go, after they had left the land 17:50 of Egypt, the magicians and the priests of Egypt 17:55 after the trouble was passed, after the danger was gone, 17:59 after all the plagues had ceased, they were once again 18:03 deceived by Satan and they said to themselves... 18:06 They said to themselves, "Why did we let the Israelites go?" 18:10 Why did WE let the Israelites go? 18:13 And they decided, "We cannot allow them to remain free." 18:17 I want you to hear this, it's very significant to the sermon. 18:21 "Why did WE let them go?" 18:23 "WE cannot allow them to remain free." 18:26 And so Pharaoh chose the best of his fighting men, 18:30 6,000 chariots - he chose the best of the fighters in Egypt. 18:35 He not only chose those who were powerful warriors, 18:40 but Pharaoh himself accompanied them. 18:43 You see, what we don't know is that when the Lord 18:46 delivers - hear me carefully, when the Lord delivers US, 18:50 Satan and his angels double and triple their efforts 18:55 to find a way to bring us back to Egypt. 18:58 Does anybody know that to be true? AMEN 19:07 And they flatter themselves. 19:10 "Why did we let them out?" 19:12 Why did WE let them out? 19:13 I'm going to tell you today, the devil didn't let me out, 19:16 GOD brought me out. Amen! 19:18 With a mighty hand, but salvation is not just 19:23 the divine act of bringing us out... 19:26 Salvation is the divine act, hear me carefully... 19:31 of getting us ready to go in. 19:35 He brought them out... the Bible says in verse 23, 19:38 "He brought them out from there that He might bring us in." 19:42 So don't get settled that you are out of sin, 19:45 get ready to go in to the Promised Land. 19:50 Get ready one day to march into beautiful Zion. 19:55 Am I the only one excited about that? 19:57 Get ready one day to enter a land flowing with the 20:01 abundance of God's grace. 20:03 You know, I don't need a mansion, 20:05 I just need a sleeping bag. Come on somebody! Amen! 20:07 I don't need a mansion... Karen, I don't need a 20:11 mansion, just give me a tree somewhere that I could 20:14 lean my head on the bough of the tree. 20:17 I don't need any golden crown, 20:20 just give me a towel, I'll be happy. 20:23 As long as I make it in - that's all that matters to me. Amen! 20:27 But I want to tell you today, the devil knows that... 20:30 Nothing insults him more than having to admit 20:38 that God is greater than all the forces of spiritual Egypt. 20:43 So they got together and they came after them, 20:45 and when we were reading that story, my wife and I 20:47 were reading that last night together, 20:48 we were highlighting like crazy. 20:51 I mean, we were highlighting! 20:52 Man, I had so much material, I could have made this a 20:55 7- part series. 20:58 Highlighting like crazy! 20:59 I was moved when I read in the application, how when Pharaoh 21:09 closed his army and all the regalia of Egypt, 21:12 and they began to pursue the children of Israel. 21:15 The children of Israel heard the thundering hoofs 21:20 of this fat army... the best weapons, 21:27 the best chariots, the most skilled fighters, 21:30 and not only this time, Pharaoh also included 21:33 the magicians and the priests of Egypt to not only attack 21:38 them militarily, but attack them spiritually 21:41 to bring upon them the dark arts, the spiritualism of Egypt. 21:45 They came after them with every force they had 21:49 available in the land of Egypt. 21:52 And the children of Israel heard them coming... 21:57 and I love the way Exodus talks about it... 22:01 I'm not going to go there, you read that yourself, 22:02 Exodus 12:13, 14, 15- do something, 22:05 read it on Sabbath afternoon. 22:07 The angels of God that were leading the children of Israel, 22:11 they began to cry, "Were there no graves in the wilderness..." 22:16 Were there no graves out here that you brought us out 22:19 here to be killed?" 22:20 And as they are voicing doubt, the angel of God that was 22:25 leading them - Ellen White says, "He shot up to the heavens 22:29 and trajectory to the back of the line to the children of 22:33 Israel and led and he established such a wall of fire 22:38 between the Israelites and the Egyptians that the children of 22:42 Israel seeing the glory of God, she says "to the Israelites 22:47 it was nothing but the glorious light of God, but to the 22:50 Egyptians, it was nothing but pitch darkness and God 22:54 set a wall between them." 22:56 You know why God did that? 22:57 Let me tell you why God did that... 22:58 Because those that came out of Egypt after being slaves 23:01 400 years - Ellen White says they had no knowledge, 23:04 they had no experience with God - they were slaves. 23:06 They didn't know how God could deliver. 23:08 They didn't know how God could change their lives. 23:10 They were slaves all their lives. 23:12 Nobody in that band was 400 years old, 23:15 so they had no experience with God. 23:18 They were not even church members yet. 23:21 God just said, "I'm going to bring you out, 23:24 but I'm going to show you how powerful My deliverance is." 23:29 They went from sulking and fearful 23:33 to rejoicing and praising God. 23:36 And that wall of fire was there, that wall of fire stayed there 23:41 day and night and to the children of Israel it was 23:44 glorious light, but to the armies of Egypt it was 23:48 nothing but darkness - they could not move it. 23:51 And the next morning, after God safely delivered them 23:54 to the other side, God said to the Egyptians, 23:58 "Keep coming, come on, keep coming, come on, come on, 24:03 you're not deeply enough in the Red Sea, come on, come on, 24:07 come on," and they looked up and God removed the cloud. 24:15 And they saw the Israelites safely on the other side, 24:19 and they got their stamina going again, their juices 24:22 to kill and they decided, "Let's pursue them with all 24:26 the vehemence we have." 24:28 And as they did, inspiration says, "When the Bible 24:32 speaks about the glorious act of God, 24:35 she said, "The heavens began to thunder, the clouds began 24:39 to clap and God poured water down," and the way she 24:43 describes it, "These walls that God had held up," 24:46 she says it in such descriptive language, "The waters 24:49 began hissing almost in a thirst to swell and to drown the 24:55 Egyptians and God let the waters go," 24:59 and not a single Egyptian touched a single Israelite. 25:05 Now why am I so passionate 25:06 about that? Let me tell you something... 25:07 God ain't gonna let the devil touch us without His permission, 25:10 come on somebody! Amen! 25:12 He may get close, but God is not going to let 25:16 the devil touch us without His permission. 25:18 God waited, God waited... when they called on God, 25:22 God waited until these inexperienced Israelites 25:26 called on Him so that they could understand 25:30 that when you call on God, freedom is yours... 25:35 But I want to switch now, I want to almost, 25:37 I want to almost jerk your neck in a different direction 25:40 because the lesson from the Exodus is... 25:44 Every slave that experienced freedom under the leadership 25:48 of Moses was born into slavery, the reality is "when all you 25:57 know is slavery, it doesn't seem like slavery." 26:03 When all you know is sin, it doesn't seem like sin. 26:08 When you were born into slavery, 26:10 it is the only normal that you know and every one of us, 26:17 every one of us, every beautiful child, every highly educated 26:22 adult, every one of us are born into a world of sin, 26:26 but let me switch today and tell you - slavery did not 26:30 begin in Egypt, slavery began in Eden. Amen! 26:35 1 Timothy 2, look there with me... you've got your Bibles? 26:42 1 Timothy 2:14- Slavery began in Eden and even though 26:48 Eve ate the first fruit, Adam had a choice, 26:53 and I want you to hear that. 26:54 Adam had a what? He had a choice. 26:57 Eve, although she ate the first fruit, 27:00 Adam had a choice. 27:02 God had placed Adam in the position to open or close 27:07 the door to sin... Adam had a choice. 27:10 Look at the way that the Apostle Paul communicates 27:12 this to the protégé Timothy... 27:14 He says in 1 Timothy 2:14... 27:26 Adam's choice, and this is a powerful point, 27:29 you want to get this because the rest of the sermon hinges 27:31 on these two principles... 27:33 Adam's choice affected the entire human race. 27:39 Well I am where I am today because of my dad, 27:42 not my dad, Johnny Parker, but my dad, Adam. 27:45 Let me re-phrase that, can I re-phrase that - 27:51 because I gotta give God the glory. 27:53 Where I used to be was because of my father, Adam, 28:01 but where I am now is because of my father, Jesus! Amen. 28:06 I'm going to give you another term for that in just a moment. 28:08 You see, Romans 5:12 makes it very clear... 28:11 Adam's choice affected the entire human race. 28:14 The Egyptians would have never been able to put the Israelites 28:19 in bondage if Adam didn't do what he did. 28:22 Romans 5:12- The Bible says... 28:42 Now I want to just break this down because, you know, 28:45 we could read these verses over and over and hear them 28:46 over and over and sometimes they can go over our head 28:48 like a speeding jet. 28:50 "Just as through one man SIN entered the world." 28:55 A lot of people ask the question, 28:58 "WHAT entered the world?" 28:59 Which one of the sins entered the world? 29:01 This text didn't say "sins" entered the world, 29:02 the Bible said, "sin" entered the world. 29:04 The nature entered the world. 29:06 What we do is Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned 29:12 and fall short of the glory of God." 29:14 So sin and sins, while closely associated, 29:20 are not the same thing. 29:22 How many of you love to be forgiven of your sins, 29:26 raise your hand. 29:28 Some of you don't... 29:31 That's the best question I could ask you. 29:33 I'm going to try one more time... 29:35 How many of you would LOVE to be forgiven of your sins? 29:37 I'm not even gonna look, I'm going to let your hands 29:40 be a testimony to God. 29:42 THANK YOU JESUS FOR FORGIVING US OF OUR SINS! AMEN! 29:47 "He shall save His people from their sins." 29:52 FROM not IN - that's what Matthew said, 29:56 but John had a deeper text. 29:58 John said, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away 30:03 the SIN of the world." 30:06 The ignominious, vile thing that Adam opened the door 30:11 to that has produced in the earth every manner... 30:15 Allow your mind for a brief moment to go crazy, 30:19 and think of the dark things 30:21 you've heard about in our society, in our world, 30:25 that is perpetrated by humans, on humans that has created, 30:30 that exists on television, in music, in movies, 30:36 the insane places, the insane things that people do... 30:42 We live in a world where people will do things that 30:44 dogs won't even do and we glorify it and we sell it. 30:51 That's why I'm really amazed, and I say this in reality, 30:55 this is not in the sermon, but this is just extra credit... 30:57 I'm really amazed how there's such an outcry against 31:03 same sex marriage when there should have been an outcry 31:06 60 years ago against pornography. 31:09 Come on somebody, say Amen! Amen! 31:11 Do you not know that that seed you hang around 31:14 you hang around with sin long enough, 31:16 it's going to produce ALL KINDS of EVIL. 31:19 There is no extent to which evil can grow 31:23 once it has given birth, no extent! 31:31 Now here's the reason why... 31:33 Adam's sin affected everybody, 31:37 but Eve's sin created a different dynamic altogether. 31:42 Genesis 3:16- "And to the woman He said, I will greatly multiply 31:47 your sorrow and your conception," this is God 31:50 speaking to Eve... "In pain you shall bring forth 31:53 children; your desire shall be for your what? Husband and he 31:58 shall what? RULE OVER you." 32:04 Now this text has a far greater application than we 32:09 often give it credit for. 32:14 It is not about Adam's, it is not about Eve's desire 32:21 for Adam alone, but the woman's desire for her husband. 32:31 How many husbands have there 32:33 been since the creation of the world? 32:38 I don't need an answer. 32:41 It is not just Eve's desire for Adam, but the woman's 32:47 desire for her husband. 32:51 You see, since the husband is able to rule over the wife, 32:55 it gives the impression that wives have no choice. 32:59 Now ladies, if you've been married long enough, 33:01 you know you've got a choice. Come on ladies, say "Amen." 33:04 It is not about limitation, but it is about law... 33:09 Go to Romans 7, it's not about limitation, it's not about 33:12 saying, "Women, sit down, shut up, don't say a word," 33:14 but it's about law - not about limitation of women, 33:18 but it is about a law that entered the world that cause 33:23 us to be in the condition we are today. 33:26 Romans 7:1-2... 33:47 Verse 1 ain't about a woman, it's about a law 33:50 having dominion over man. 33:52 It doesn't mention a woman at all in the first verse. 33:55 He says, "There's a law that has 33:57 dominion... you know what dominion means? 33:59 "There's a law that claims the right over you as long as 34:03 you are alive." 34:05 It has dominion over a man as long as that man is alive. 34:11 Let's go to the next verse, and then he switches the picture 34:14 and pulls us back to Genesis in a language of parody, 34:19 he says, "For the woman who has a husband is... 34:23 what's the next word? ... bound by the law 34:27 to her husband as long as he lives, but if the husband 34:31 dies, she is released from the law of her husband." 34:37 It is not about the law of God, the law of her husband. 34:44 Now, can I get frank with you? 34:52 The woman in the story is us. 34:54 The husband that we are bound to is the old nature. 35:02 The focus of the relationship is the HUSBAND'S law. 35:09 What happens, what happens WHAT HAPPENS 35:14 if we are continually bound to the law of our husband? 35:21 I'll just repeat the text... 1 Corinthians 15:22 35:25 "As in Adam, all die." I'm going to say that again. 35:30 As in Adam - how many of us? ALL DIE. 35:34 Now how many of us want to die? 35:37 I'm glad nobody raised their hand. 35:38 How many of us want to live? 35:39 As in Adam all die - even so in Christ, all shall be what? 35:43 Made alive. 35:44 You see, the woman may govern the household, 35:47 but the husband governs the wife. 35:51 In other words, as long as she lives, as long as 35:54 he lives... he says, do this and she says, "Yes." 35:59 Because she is bound, but it's even deeper than that. 36:03 You see, when you read Genesis 3:16, 36:05 it didn't just say that, "You will do what your husband says," 36:12 but it said, "Your desire." 36:16 Now, there's only one thing worse, 36:21 there's only one thing worse... Help me Lord... 36:31 There's only one thing worse than being abused and used 36:35 by sin. 36:40 It's when your desire is to be used and abused. 36:46 It didn't say - He would use and abuse her. 36:50 It said - Your desire will be for that man who does nothing 36:55 but use and abuse you and make your life miserable, 37:01 and day-by-day, moment-by-moment is getting you ready 37:05 for the fires of destruction. 37:07 It didn't say - She would be arguing with him. 37:10 You see, the nature of sin... 37:14 I'm glad you're quiet, I want you to get this. 37:17 The nature of sin... when sin is in us, 37:20 we don't argue with sin because our desire is for the very 37:26 thing that pleases the law that our husband put inside of us. 37:33 Let's go on... Quickly, are you ready? 37:36 Romans 7:20- You see desire is the prelude to action. 37:43 When we desire something, according to the text, 37:46 when we desire something, it is in control. 37:49 Desire is the precursor to action when we desire someone 37:55 they're in control. 37:57 Whatever we desire is in control - did you get that? 38:00 Whatever we desire. 38:01 Let's go, let's make that clear. 38:03 If you desired a cigarette, it's in control. 38:05 If you desired the alcohol, and you yield to it, 38:07 it's in control... instantly! 38:09 If you desire body... Bob, can I talk about this? 38:12 Can I say it Bob? If you desire pornography, 38:14 it's in control. 38:16 If you desire lust, it's in control and it 38:20 does NOT let you loose. 38:22 We can only be set free by Jesus. Amen, praise God! 38:28 And when Paul began by saying, "I'm speaking to those who 38:31 know the law," you know what he was in essence saying, 38:33 "You guys, you guys, you're the Jewish, you're the big guys. 38:38 You know about this law." 38:40 I'm talking about guys who know the law - you know the law, 38:43 but you're bound because you don't know the Savior. 38:48 Look at Romans 7:20, the NIV says it so beautifully. 39:01 Paul is saying, you see what Jesus came to do 39:05 was not just to make us look tidy, Jesus came to show the 39:11 world - here's the beauty of Christianity... 39:13 Jesus didn't come to establish churches ONLY, 39:17 Jesus came to say to the sin-packed world, 39:20 that it is possible that through the blood of Christ, 39:24 a people can walk the earth to reflect not only the 39:29 grace of God, but the delivering power from the slavery 39:34 of sin. Amen? Amen! 39:37 If it doesn't work for me, why would I want to... 39:39 What can I give you that doesn't work for me, Bob? 39:41 What can I say to you, Jill, if it doesn't work for me? 39:43 Do you want something that 39:45 doesn't work for me, would you buy it? 39:47 I'm going to bring you a broken vacuum cleaner, 39:48 and try to sell it to you, would it work? 39:50 If your relationship as a Christian is broken 39:52 between you and Christ... nobody wants it! 39:55 If it doesn't work for you, if it doesn't work for you, 39:59 it ain't gonna work for anybody else! 40:01 And what Jesus is doing, the most beautiful message of 40:04 heaven is this... The Lord takes people that 40:07 were born into slavery, sets them free, 40:09 then sets them on fire so that the world can say 40:13 "Yes, it is possible to live above the POWER of sin." Amen! 40:20 That's why I know people that used to be bound by 40:23 this and that and they no longer even have a desire for it. 40:27 They no longer even have a desire for it. 40:29 Desire is a powerful thing. 40:31 I'm going to go past James... 40:32 Actually no, I'm not going to do that... 40:34 I gotta go to James. 40:36 Let's look at the power of desire. 40:38 James, the Apostle, talks about desire gone bad. 40:41 Look at what he says in James 1:13-15... 40:45 It starts with desire - that's why the devil spends so much 40:49 time trying to pump into our minds, sin, in so many 40:54 different avenues, he keeps it ever before us. 40:56 When you go to the mall, when you go to the shopping 40:58 centers of the city, when turn on the television, 41:00 when you turn on the radio, you hear it - it's always 41:03 in your face and here's the key... 41:04 You know the way that you know you're getting close to Christ? 41:06 Hear me carefully... The way that you know that 41:08 you're getting closer to Jesus is when sin starts 41:12 making you sick! 41:14 When you see it and it no longer brings satisfaction, 41:20 you know that you're becoming more like Jesus. Halleluiah! 41:25 We shouldn't even laugh at sin. 41:28 We shouldn't even allow the world to make us laugh 41:32 at that which is sinful. 41:38 My wife and I were thumbing through the channels 41:40 of television to find something to watch. 41:42 We said, "Well, let's watch a family program." 41:46 "Let's find something that's very family-oriented." 41:48 It wasn't 3 minutes into it that the devil was already in it. 41:51 I said, "Honey, change it, I ain't watching it." 41:55 "Okay, listen, let's look at something old from way back 42:01 in 1986- surely they gotta be more moral than they are now." 42:06 Two minutes... "Honey, change it." 42:11 "Honey, let's just look at the house channel, 42:14 we know ain't nothing wrong with that." 42:16 Two gay guys buying a house... 42:19 "Honey, turn it off, let's just read our Bibles." 42:23 AMEN somebody! Amen! 42:25 We've got to make choices like our minds is the place 42:29 where we want Jesus to live. 42:33 Why? Look what happens, sin is insidious. 42:36 James 1:13-15... 43:05 In "The Great Controversy," page 623, Ellen White says.. 43:09 "Satan finds in human hearts, some point where he can gain 43:14 a foothold - some sinful desire is cherished by means of which 43:21 his temptations assert their power." 43:24 In other words, Satan studies us, 43:26 that's why we've got to pray every day that we must die to 43:29 ourselves and allow Jesus to live in us. 43:32 Can I get an Amen somebody? Amen! 43:33 Every day, why? John 8:44- when Jesus met 43:37 the Pharisees and scribes of His day, people that, 43:40 and as you turn there, people that have the 43:42 right diet - did you hear what I said? 43:43 They have the right diet, they have the right day of 43:46 worship - they have the oracles of truth, 43:50 and he looked at this people whose hearts were unchanged, 43:54 and he said of them in verse 44 of John 8, 43:57 notice what he said... 44:11 Get it? The woman desires, he is not forcing them, 44:15 the devil is not forcing them. 44:16 When the desire is connected to the devil, you WANT to do it. 44:19 You want to do it! 44:23 It's not hard to want to sin when your desire and the devil 44:27 is in control of your life... you'll want to do it... 44:46 But I want to tell you this... Testimonies Vol. 2, p. 294, 44:51 listen to this... I'm not going to let you 44:53 off the hook, I'm almost done and I gotta end 44:55 in a few moments. 44:57 "It is true that Satan is the great originator of sin." 45:02 ... Hear me carefully.. Yet this does not 45:06 excuse any man for sinning for he cannot force 45:12 men to do evil. 45:14 He tempts them to do it and makes sin look enticing 45:19 and pleasant, but he has to leave it to their own 45:26 wills whether they will do it or not." 45:32 So "Flip Wilson" was a liar, you young people, 45:34 you don't know who that is. 45:36 Flip Wilson said what? Come on.. "The devil made me do it." 45:39 He can't make us do diddly, but here's what happens. 45:42 When our desire and the sin we desire have something in common, 45:48 we want to do it. 45:51 So we gotta find a way to kill them. 45:52 Now let's end by saying, how do we get rid of this desire. 45:56 You want to get rid of it? 45:57 Let's go to Romans 6:6-7... 46:14 Here is the key... 46:16 For He who has died, has been what? 46:20 Freed from sin. 46:22 Oh Galatians said it, here's the key... 46:25 If you've never submitted your life to Jesus, 46:28 you are a slave. 46:30 If you've never asked Jesus to come into your life, 46:33 you are a slave whether you want to admit it or not. 46:37 And I want to tell you, you know why it's hard to get 46:39 people to submit to Jesus? 46:41 Because their desire for that sin is so great, 46:43 that they rather have the sin than have Jesus... 46:47 But I want to tell you, the deception of sin is 46:50 "The wages of sin is death." 46:53 It never tells you you're going to die. 46:55 It makes it look pleasant. 46:56 Pleasant to the eyes; a tree desirable to make 46:59 one wise, lust of the flesh, all those - it looks good, 47:03 but in the end is the way of death. 47:06 Don't allow your life that is of value in the eyes of God 47:10 to go down the wrong road because, you know what? 47:13 The law of sin and death is this... 47:15 Every bad tree bears bad fruit. 47:18 Every good tree bears good fruit. 47:21 Jesus wants to deal with the problem from the root 47:26 so that we could show the fruit. 47:28 The fruit of the Spirit is what? 47:30 Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, 47:34 patience...but until the root has changed, 47:36 the fruit will not change. 47:38 Let me tell you something... 47:40 You cannot staple good fruit to a bad tree, 47:44 and that tree have any ownership to it. 47:46 Don't try to staple good works in your life, 47:48 Allow the Lord to take the root out, Amen somebody? Amen! 47:51 Listen to this... Romans 7, I'm going to 47:53 go there, my brother, in Romans 7. 47:56 Romans 7- The only way that we can be free, and by the way, 48:03 by the way - Romans 6 is dealing with baptism. 48:06 That's why baptism is the drowning of the old man. 48:10 The Lord holds him under until he's dead and He comes up 48:15 with us that we could walk in the newness of life. 48:17 Amen somebody? Amen! 48:18 We need a new life! 48:24 For those of us that have a new life, 48:25 we're going to talk next Sabbath, 48:27 on how to maintain that new life. 48:29 Romans 7:4... The only way that we can be free is 48:33 to serve Jesus and, therefore, my brethren, you also have 48:36 become dead... you have become what? 48:38 Dead to the law - NOT the law of God, but the law of sin. 48:44 It no longer reigns over you. 48:47 You have become dead to the law through the body of Christ 48:50 that you may be what? Married to another, 48:54 to Him who was raised from the dead that we should do what? 48:59 Bear fruit to God. 49:03 You see, desire is not a bad thing. 49:06 But desire must give way to the right action of the will. 49:13 Now watch this... I'm ending on this quote. 49:15 When I wake up in the morning, we're going to talk about 49:19 this next Sabbath... How are my desires going to 49:24 be molded for that day? 49:27 I could say - "Let me think, what do I want to do today?" 49:32 I could leave it to my mind that has not yet been replaced. 49:36 God is going to replace our minds 49:38 when He comes back. Amen? Amen! 49:40 If I want the mind of Christ to be in here so I could draw 49:45 from it to start making godly choices, 49:47 I gotta put something in there for God to use 49:51 to draw me away... What did David, the psalmist, say? 49:54 "Thy word have I what? Hid in my heart 49:58 that I might not what? Sin against thee." 50:01 He talked about the root of the issue. 50:03 He wasn't just talking about the fruit. 50:04 He said, "This sin will not come out of me 50:07 if the word of God is in me. 50:10 Sin can't come out where the word of God is in, 50:12 and here's what the beautiful news is... 50:14 The last quotation. You can play softly, Jill, 50:16 thank you so much. 50:18 You see, Ministry of Healing, p. 176... 50:20 When I read this text, I said, "Lord Jesus..." 50:22 You know, can I give you an insight? 50:25 Back in 1993, as a young man, I remember Jan was in my church, 50:34 Jan and Michael, I married Jan and Michael 25 years ago. 50:38 I did their wedding, as a young man, black hair, 50:41 hardly no wrinkles, clueless, but excited about Jesus. 50:47 When I first came to Antioch, I preached about jewelry... 50:51 I preached about television... 50:53 I preached about going to places on the Sabbath... 50:56 All these things are right, I was trying to SCREAM 51:01 the bad behavior out of my church and one day God 51:05 slapped me upside the head and said, "No, they're going to be 51:07 bad because their roots are bad." 51:09 "Why don't you start preaching about Jesus?" 51:12 I never forgot that day when I found a book called, 51:14 "The Life of Victory," by a man 51:16 by the name of "Meade MacGuire." 51:18 When the church was struggling with righteousness, 51:20 this God touched this man's life and I would say it in a 51:25 very respectful and humble way, "It's like righteousness 51:28 by faith for dummies." 51:30 It breaks it all down, it makes it clear. 51:34 And I began to find that the only way that we can be 51:38 free is to have the old desires taken to the cross, 51:47 and the new desires to be seated in Christ. 51:52 And the Lord started taking things out of my life, 51:54 moving out the way and our church was on fire. 51:58 Our church was on fire spiritually. 52:03 And I went to Fairfield, I did it there, 52:05 our church grew like leaps and bounds because 52:07 we finally found that the answer is in knowing that 52:10 that we are free in Jesus and when we yield our desire 52:13 to Him, it becomes His will, like He said, 52:15 "Father not my will, but Thine be done," 52:17 that happens in us and the church exploded. 52:24 The Lord said to me a few months ago, 52:25 "Hey John, prophecy is great, beautiful, but you need to 52:30 get back to preaching about Jesus because there are some 52:33 people bound in your congregation with all 52:36 manner of evil, all manner of sin, 52:38 and the only way that all of you are going to be free 52:42 is that you need to point them to Me. 52:47 Let My people go that they may serve Me." 52:50 Listen to this - The tempted one needs to understand 52:55 the true force of the will. 52:57 This is the governing power in the nature of man... 53:01 the power of decision, the power of choice. 53:05 Everything depends on the right action of the will. 53:11 Desires for goodness and purity are right as far as they go, 53:16 but if we stop here, they will avail nothing. 53:22 Many will go down to ruin while just hoping and desiring 53:28 to overcome their evil propensities. 53:33 They do not yield the will to God. 53:36 They do not choose to serve Him. 53:42 See the answer is this... 53:44 Desire will take you right here, but what will take you 53:49 the rest of the way is choosing to give Him your will. 53:54 And I'm going to ask the question this morning, 53:56 and this question reaches out and touches 53:59 every one of you today and I'm speaking to myself too. 54:03 How many of us today want to say, "Heavenly Father, 54:12 I want Your will to be my will. Amen! 54:16 I want Your desires to be my desires. 54:20 You see, this preacher that is getting older, 54:24 always talking about coming to prayer meeting, 54:26 come on out, come on to Bible studies, come out to 54:28 prayer meeting, come out to Bible studies, 54:30 and I know many of you have different schedules 54:32 and this is not an issue, but I want to tell you, 54:35 when the word of God comes in, the will of man goes out. 54:40 If the will of man is there, the word of God won't come in. 54:44 So this morning, I'm going to ask, I'm going to make this 54:45 appeal - is there someone here today that wants to know 54:50 this victory that's found in Jesus? 54:55 Is there somebody here today that wants to stand and say, 54:58 and I'm being specific... you haven't done it yet, 55:04 but you want to stand and say, "Father, today I want to give 55:07 You my will and I want Your will to be lived out in my life, 55:12 that's what I want today. 55:14 I want to start a new walk with You today. 55:16 I want to give You my will and I want Your will 55:20 to be lived out in my life. 55:23 That's for the person that has never made that... 55:25 Praise the Lord, praise the Lord! Praise God! 55:29 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! 55:33 You see, sin could be ever so sweet, 55:41 but when the skies unfold and Jesus is coming, 55:49 then sin will rear its ugly head and only then 55:53 we will know that we have lost the greatest prize. 56:02 Is there someone else here today that wants to say, 56:05 "Father, I want to continue to submit my will to the 56:10 molding influence of Your Spirit. 56:15 I want that to be my daily dedication. 56:18 I can't do it. 56:19 I want You to filter my life, I want You to begin to show me 56:24 where I'm yielding in the wrong direction, 56:27 where my desires are deceiving me and I want to be 56:31 more like You, my Savior. 56:32 I want to be like you in thought and deed, 56:34 I don't want to wait till You come to be like You. 56:36 I want to be like You tomorrow. 56:38 I want to be like You this afternoon. 56:39 I want to be like you today! 56:41 I want to know that I'm free. 56:43 If I take one more breath and tomorrow is not mine, 56:46 I want to know that when Jesus comes, He'll call my name, 56:53 and clothe me in His eternal righteousness. 56:58 Lord Jesus, today Your people are standing, every one of us, 57:04 we want You to lead us all the way from where we are 57:09 today to cross the Jordan. 57:13 We've already passed the Red Sea, 57:15 but the Jordan is before us and by faith we are 57:18 stepping through this wilderness of temptation. 57:21 By faith we're saying, "I will have none of it, 57:25 my Father has a land just before me." 57:29 Help us, Lord, to tune our ears out when the devil calls us 57:34 and to tune in when Jesus speaks. 57:36 Father, by Your indwelling will, help us to not even desire 57:41 those things that have kept us coming back 57:43 to that well of dissatisfaction, that well of unfulfillment, 57:48 that place where we find no freedom, no grace, no hope, 57:52 no joy - break that journey, Father, 57:56 so that when Jesus comes, we won't just become 58:01 like Him at the last moment, but we'll be so like Him 58:03 when He comes, that we will embrace Him, 58:06 and say, "Lo, we have waited for You Father and You will save us. 58:10 Fulfill in us now, Lord, this great desire to be like Jesus 58:16 and submit our will to Him every moment of every day. 58:22 In Jesus name, I pray... Amen |
Revised 2017-10-17