How God Operates with his People

[0:00] Everybody here this morning, it would be even better to have everybody back next Sunday. Just want to put that plug in there. So while we're here, let's get in our Bibles to the book of Exodus and chapter number 23.

[0:13] If you're visiting with us and haven't been around for a while, we're going through the book of Exodus, portion by portion, and we find ourselves into chapter 23. We've already spent two weeks in this chapter, and Lord willing, we'll finish this chapter up this morning.

[0:30] So as you find Exodus 23, just give you a brief review. The last Sunday we were together here, we looked at the section that has to do with the Sabbaths and some feasts.

[0:48] And that was from verses 10 to verse, we stopped at verse 17, where we realized that it wasn't so much that God was concerned about the land, although he mentions that, or the poor, though he mentions them, or the beast of the field, though again he mentions them as well.

[1:05] But rather that God was, he was demanding these observances, these years or special days or these feasts, because there were some expectations that he had for his people, Israel.

[1:16] They entered a covenant with the God of Israel. He's now their God. There's going to be some things that come along with that. And one of the things we learned from that first Sabbath of the seventh year, where they were not to sow in their fields on the entire seventh year, the first thing we learned was that God must be trusted.

[1:37] That's expected of his people, is that they trust him. We learned also that God must be obeyed. He told them in verse 13 to be circumspect and to pay close attention to everything I'm telling you.

[1:49] And we found out why. Because he killed some of them for disobeying his Sabbaths. He kicked them out of the land for not obeying or observing his Sabbaths. And the third thing, besides him being trusted and obeyed, was that he must be worshipped.

[2:04] If he's God, then you have to worship him. Because that's the only way the thing works. You're definitely not God. God. And so he is, and therefore we worship him. And that's expected.

[2:16] So today we're going to move forward from verse 17. And really we want to pick it up in verse 20, but I don't want to skip the scripture here, so I'll just briefly comment on verses 18 and 19 just to kind of get us off the ground.

[2:27] And let's read these two verses. I believe these two, for the most part, seem to tie in back to these three feasts that we read about last week. Verse 18 says, Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

[2:44] And it seems likely that this has to do with the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, one of those feasts where indeed they were to appear before the Lord in Jerusalem, as he said. And then in verse 19, The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God, seems to match the Feast of Harvest mentioned in verse number 16.

[3:07] But to close off verse 19, Thou shalt not see the kid in his mother's milk. I have a hard time matching that one to the other feast, the Feast of Ingathering, or as we know it, oftentimes the Feast of Tabernacles.

[3:21] And so that's a strange one to me, and I don't really have much to comment on that, except to say it shows up in Exodus 34, and then it shows up a third time in Deuteronomy 14, where God is making sure they get this thing.

[3:34] And there's a lot of suggestions of why they're not to seethe a kid in his mother's milk. Now understand when the word kid is referring to a goat, a young lamb, not a child, not a human being by any means.

[3:47] But they're not to cook it, or to boil it, to prepare it in its own mother's milk. And so the thought there is that that's kind of against nature. Like that's a form of cruelty, perhaps.

[3:59] It's something that would be used to nourish that child, or that young animal. And one of the commentators said that that's an outraging, that doing that is outraging the order of nature.

[4:11] So that's possible, but I don't know what to say about it besides that. So we'll move on from there. There's no real significance to offer you this morning. So let's read together the remainder of this chapter, beginning in verse 20.

[4:24] And we're going to learn some more things this morning. Verse 20 says, Behold, I send an angel, and look at that capital letter, an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

[4:37] This angel is deity. This angel is divine. It's got the name of Jehovah in it. Verse 21, Beware of him and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him.

[4:52] And I'm not going to take a Bible study on this, but I'll give you a few references if you want to write them down, look them up, do whatever you want with them. One verse is chapter 13 and verse 21, that says, earlier we studied this, that the Lord is going to be the one that's going before them, leading them into the land.

[5:08] And here it says, an angel is doing it, and that angel is the Lord. In chapter 14 and verse 19 is another one. And another third reference is 33, 14, which we'll get to in a few weeks, where it's the Lord's presence that is going before them.

[5:24] And I think 13, 5 might be, yeah, 13, 5, you might want to take a peek at that as well as another reference to add to this. But that's all I'll say about that. That angel, that's the appearance or the presence of God.

[5:38] Now verse 22, but if thou shalt indeed obey his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies and an adversary unto thine adversaries. For mine angel shall go before thee and bring thee in unto the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I will cut them off.

[5:59] Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works, but thou shalt utterly overthrow them and quite break down their images. And ye shall serve the Lord your God and he shall bless thy bread and thy water.

[6:13] And I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. There shall nothing cast their young nor be barren in thy land. The number of thy days I will fulfill. I will send my fear before thee and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come.

[6:26] And I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. I will send hornets before thee which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee. I will not drive them out from before thee in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

[6:41] By little and little I will drive them out from before thee until thou be increased and inherit the land. And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea, even under the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river.

[6:54] For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and thou shalt drive them out before thee. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

[7:04] They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me. For if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee. Now let's pray and then let's carry forward into this passage.

[7:17] God, we come before you. We come before you humbly and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, understanding that it's only by His blood that we can be made and brought nigh. And Father, we ask that you'll move in our midst this morning and may your word be powerful, may its truth be proclaimed and understood and received.

[7:39] And may the Holy Spirit of God have access to every single heart that's in this place. And may you speak into their hearts truth and convict and convince them of things that are necessary.

[7:51] May we understand how this is relatable to us today. May you do a work from the word of God today. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So much like the previous chapter, it's history, it's things that don't really relate to us, Sabbaths and feasts and now this thing about God sending them in to conquer a land of the inhabitants of the land, wicked people.

[8:15] This really, I mean, we're not going to go out there with swords and we're not going to kick people off of their property and take over their homes. So in that sense, this isn't really matching our everyday life. But you have to remember, this is the word of God.

[8:27] And what God wrote in this text, as in the entirety of this book, it has substance, it relates, it teaches truths.

[8:38] And this morning, it's going to teach some truths about the Lord, specifically about how He operates with His people in a relationship. And you've got to remember, this is a relationship that's new, that's just starting to come to pass.

[8:51] He's just revealing His covenant to them and His laws and these Ten Commandments we came through and now those judgments and some certain feasts. This is all new to them and they're absorbing all this information and then they have a decision to make of whether they'll obey and follow it.

[9:08] I also want you to remember while we're reading this stuff that this Bible is a revelation of God. It's not just about history. It's just not about a people and about miraculous things and they're getting away from Egypt and lice and the plagues and the Red Sea.

[9:23] It's about the person of God is what's coming through these pages. It's a revelation of His character. It's a revelation of His will, of how He operates and specifically how He operates in a relationship.

[9:39] And so there's always more truth to be discerned and to be discovered when you study the Scripture than what meets the eye on just a historical level. So first of all, let's learn something about how God operates with His people from the very beginning of our passage.

[9:55] I'll take you back to verse number 20 where He mentioned that angel that's going to go before them. He's going to keep thee in the way, meaning He's going to protect them, going to guide and protect them. And then in verse 21, something we must note, beware of Him.

[10:12] What? What? I thought He's on our side. He's going to go fight the enemies for us, right? He's going to destroy them and run them out of there. So, what are you talking about beware of Him?

[10:26] What are we supposed to beware of? This is something, this is going to reveal something about God's operation within a relationship. He says, beware of Him, obey His voice, provoke Him not, for He will not pardon your transgressions for my name is in Him.

[10:44] Now, we know that from this, going back even to Him, the burning bush, this is God coming through with what He promised. This is His intention, is to bring them into the land. He's already through several phases of this trip.

[10:58] And so, God's doing what He planned to do. But, instating those intentions, again, about taking them into that land and just eliminating, cutting off the enemies of Israel from that land, He issues this caution to beware, to obey, to provoke not.

[11:16] The first thing I want you to learn this morning from the Scripture, how God operates with His people, is that God can be for you or God can be against you.

[11:28] And I know that it doesn't just, oh, that's not a great thing to start off on this morning. but this is Bible truth that you need to, you need to believe this stuff. You need to see God maybe through different eyes this morning.

[11:41] I want you to notice the audience is His people. The audience is the people that He delivered from Egypt, redeemed them with a strong hand, set them free, guided them to this place by unbelievable feats and actions, and here He is threatening them and letting them know, you better be careful, you better watch your step, you better obey my voice.

[12:11] Why? Because God can either be for you or He can be against you. We're not talking about the wicked today and the heathen nations that He wants to dispel from the land. We're talking about this very people that He redeemed.

[12:25] You might say, well, God wouldn't deliver them from Egypt and then just destroy them, would He, in the wilderness? He wouldn't do that, would He? Well, a couple weeks later, look at chapter 32 and He is ready to do that.

[12:39] Like, in a moment, He is ready to exterminate them all and keep Moses alive. Chapter 32 and verse number 7, the Lord said unto Moses, Go get thee down for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.

[12:58] they've turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made them a molten calf and have worshipped it and sacrificed thereunto and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

[13:10] The Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people. Behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore, let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great nation.

[13:23] No, that is not God's desire or intention for this people, this nation of His. He refers to them earlier in this book as His firstborn son. He wants to take them into the land.

[13:36] But they better beware and they better obey because He could be for them and He can be against them. And it's in that chapter 32 He's ready to just wipe them out.

[13:50] And you know what? That's on them. That's not Him. That's on them for their disobedience and saying, these be thy gods, O Israel. What an abomination just a few weeks after this chapter we're at in chapter 23.

[14:04] You might argue, well, God's a God of love and God's a God of grace and of great mercy and He's plenteous in mercy. And I would say, yes, God is that God.

[14:17] But that's not a balanced view of God. God. That's not a complete assessment of God. Just looking at His love and mercy and compassion and kindness. That's not a complete evaluation of the character and person of God.

[14:32] None of those attributes reside above His holiness or above His righteousness. And so He will be righteous even in His anger, even when He's against His own people.

[14:43] So He can be for you or He can be against you. He's for you, verse 21, if you'll beware and obey. If you'll fear Him and obey Him. And He'll be against you if you'll, verse 20, if you provoke Him and you transgress His word.

[15:02] When God's for His people, He sends three things. In this chapter, He sends, in verse 20, He sends His angel to keep and protect them and to guide them. In verse 27, He sends His fear before them where the enemies will just run.

[15:18] And God also sends the hornets, in verse 28, before them to drive out those remaining. When God's for you, it's unmistakable. When God's for His people, His people are untouchable.

[15:35] You can't miss it. And yet, when God's against them, oh boy, I need to show you a chapter. You may be familiar with this, but this is so telling about this content.

[15:48] Come to Deuteronomy. Just a few books to the right. Deuteronomy 28. And the whole chapter of 68 verses is about God being for them or God being against them.

[16:08] The first 14 verses are God being for them. And I just want to skim this briefly with you. I'll start in verse number 1, Deuteronomy 28, verse 1.

[16:20] And it came to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe, to do all His commandments, which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

[16:39] And you just skim the blessings in verses 3, 4, all the way down to verse 14. It's going to be good. God will establish thee in holy people unto Himself in verse 9.

[16:52] The blessing will be on their children, on their cattle, on their crops. When they go out to war, God's going to fight for them. Their entire country will be blessed. But, verse 15 starts with the but.

[17:05] But it shall come to pass, I could be for you, or I could be against you. You make the choice. If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe all His commandments, statutes, which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee.

[17:22] And this is worth noting, it's not 14 verses of blessing and 14 verses of cursing. it's 14 and 54 verses of curses, violent curses upon His people.

[17:39] You can skim these and it gets ugly. And it's as if God is just stripping them of every pleasure of life and leaving them very, very low if they refuse to obey His voice.

[17:53] Because God can be for you or God can be against you. And this is a Bible truth that we need to receive.

[18:04] I know you get this thought, well, if I'm a child of God then it's just all good and God loves me and I'm with you and God's with you. That's His intentions just like He has intentions for these people.

[18:15] But when they don't fear before Him and when they don't obey His voice, He's not for that. By default, He's for the child of God.

[18:26] But when the children of God choose to imitate the Canaanites, God can't be for that. He can't bless that. Children of God, saved, redeemed children of God believe on His Son, look around at the Jebusites.

[18:43] Look around at the way the Hivites are dressed and say, I like their music. Yeah, but they're sacrificing their babies to a God.

[18:55] Yeah, but I like the beat that comes off that neat drum. That just sounds good to me. And God's own children fall in love with the Canaanites all around them.

[19:06] God's not going to bless that. He will not bless that. He loves you. He'll guide you. He'll help you. He'll give grace and mercy to you to help you in time of need. But you better understand He doesn't give you a pass to unrighteousness.

[19:20] He doesn't give you a pass to sin and to rebellion. It's up to you to beware of Him and obey His voice and provoke Him not. When God's against you, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, He won't send you to hell.

[19:34] That thing has been settled by the blood of Jesus Christ. If you're His child, you're His child. You're in Him. You're bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. And you're in His hand and no man can pluck you out.

[19:45] I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. But it can be a rough ride home. It can be really rough. When God's against you, He'll correct you.

[19:57] He will not be mocked. He will not excuse your sin and your rebellion. And consider this, the potential for these Jews in this time in Exodus 23 when the Lord is revealing to them beware of Him.

[20:16] I'm sending Him before you. He's going to go do a work. Be careful. You obey His voice. Consider the potential for this people to just obey, to love God, to fear before Him, to keep His statutes, to honor these feasts and these Sabbaths and to just say, whatever you say, God, we're in.

[20:37] We believe you. The potential was there, but how almost painful to know that going forward, they will stay His hand of blessing.

[20:49] It'll be on them. They will stop Him from blessing their lives. They will actually incur the curses of God upon them. And Christian, it's the same for you and I.

[21:03] How horrible to miss out on a life that God offers you because your heart's in Canaan somewhere. Because you're looking at the Hittites, the Amorites, and they just got something that you don't have and that your parents won't let you do.

[21:21] And I like the way they do it. God help you not to get enthralled with the world. How foolish and how absurd. Could you picture a little child, just a little child, and going through some dangerous ground or some dangerous crowd and a father reaching his hand down to take their hand and the little child saying, get your hand off of me.

[21:45] I'll do what I want to do. Can you see the hand of God trying to guide His child, trying to guide you through life and your rebellious heart saying, get your hand away from me.

[21:57] I like what I see over here. I'm just going to go that way. I'm just going to chase that for a while and see where it leads. I'll deal with the consequences later. How absurd for a child of God to refuse the hand of God that would guide them and protect them.

[22:15] because it will be that same hand that will correct them and slap them around and say, I want you over here. And God's merciful when He does that.

[22:28] Amen. I know what that one's like. But it's the same hand God can be for you, Christian, or He can be against you. This is how He operates. Do you see that?

[22:39] So we're coming back to Exodus 23. I want to continue a portion of this chapter. I'm going to skip a few verses and pick it up in verse 27 and learn something else about the operation of God, how He operates with His people.

[22:54] Verse 27, He says, I will send my fear before thee and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

[23:05] Man, that sounds great. God's going to do that. I'll send hornets before thee which shall drive out the Hivite, Canaanite, and Hittite from before thee. That sounds great. This is good.

[23:15] This is going to be really good. And then in verse 29, He says, I will not drive them out from before thee in one year. And you kind of just, everything stops and you say, wait a minute, what?

[23:31] Well, how long is this going to take? I'm not going to do it in a year. It's going to take more than a year? I thought you're just going to take us into this land and just blow through this place with a storm.

[23:44] I mean, just, just mushroom cloud and the heathen are gone to be remembered no more. That's the mighty hand of God, right? God says, I'm not going to do it that way.

[23:56] This one's going to take some time. He says in verse 30, by little and little, I will drive them out from before thee. I didn't see that one coming when I heard God promise me that he's going to take me into the land and just wipe out, he said he's going to cut them off in verse 23, all of these six nations that dwell there.

[24:21] And there's a second truth that we need to learn how God operates in this, in relationships with his people. And brothers and sisters, this truth, you better, I've learned it, you're going to need it, is that God does not operate in urgency.

[24:37] He does not operate that way. God is slow. God is steady. He's methodical. He takes time. Taking time is a signature mark of the hand of God working.

[24:51] Just taking time. God's in eternity. It's like it reveals his own nature and how slow he deals down here in time.

[25:03] He's not in a hurry. He's not rushed. And time's not a factor where he dwells, so he operates within time almost the same way. You and I, we cannot accelerate his hand.

[25:19] He does not operate in urgency. He's never distressed. God never responds to pressure. He's always patient.

[25:31] He's always controlled. And in this passage, he's in no rush to dispel the enemies of Israel out of the land. Even considering the filth and the abominable practices that the scriptures teach were going on in that land, he's still just going to say, no, no, no, just by little and little.

[25:51] I'll just keep nudging you forward and nudging them out. But I'm not going to do it in urgency. I'm not going to do it in a day. I'm not even going to do it in a year.

[26:03] And that just doesn't resonate with us sometimes, does it? Because we have a problem. And we need God to fix it. And we've got a situation and we've got a decision and God, what do I do?

[26:15] Give me an answer. Just keep reading your Bible. Just keep going to church. Just keep doing right. Keep putting one foot in front of the other.

[26:28] Just keep doing what you know is right to do. And I'll work that out in time. In time.

[26:39] So they expect this is going to happen quickly and it's not. There's a reason why in verse 30 it says, by little and little I would drive them out from before thee. And notice this next couple words, until thou be increased.

[26:54] God's concerned with the increase of his people. This people is not increased enough to take over this land to operate and to overcome it.

[27:07] And that increase takes time. So how does this apply to you and I and to our relationship with God? To how he operates in our relationship? Well consider it this way.

[27:18] I think you can relate to this. When a sinner gets saved, when a lost sinner in their sin realizes they need Christ. They need what he did for them on Calvary and they come to Jesus Christ as a sinner and call on him for salvation.

[27:36] Their life in that moment it may look an awful lot like the land of Canaan. It may be filled with ungodliness.

[27:47] filled with generations of wickedness. And God doesn't come in and just poof the whole thing's fixed and remedied and all new.

[27:59] It's all happened just now. God doesn't put the whole Christian life on a new convert in a moment of time. He doesn't even do it in a year.

[28:11] You know how he does it? It's in the passage by little and little and little and little as he grows you and grows you.

[28:22] We talked about it a few weeks ago about faith being growing. When you exercise faith it grows. When you exercise it more it grows. And someone with great faith is someone who's been down some roads already with the Lord.

[28:36] And that faith has been stretched and been tried and it's grown. The same thing's true in the Christian life. as the believer increases as the believer begins to push out and grow the inhabitants of the land start to go out as well.

[28:52] And a stable Christian life starts to take shape by little and little. Because God doesn't operate in urgency. And if the hands of God is at work it's slow.

[29:06] It's slower than you and I would want it to be. So be careful Christian. Learn this. Apply it to your heart. Be careful. When you feel pressured to do something to act or to make a decision or to fix something that's just so messed up be careful that you're not trying to force something that God's not doing.

[29:26] Not yet. Just learn to trust Him. He may be teaching you patience. Tribulation worketh patience. And you need it.

[29:37] Because God's got it. And when we're not lined up with Him this thing just doesn't feel so good. But as you learn to settle down and rely on Him and trust Him and walk with Him then things start to line up.

[29:53] And so we need to learn this. They say that time is the great equalizer. Time has a way of revealing things. Time has a way of establishing things.

[30:08] And time has a way of teaching us lessons too. I think back of in the Gospels when Jesus Christ was on the earth and Satan offered to give Him His inheritance before the time.

[30:22] And He said if you'll bow down and worship Me I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world. He showed them to Him in a moment of time. Something outside of this realm and He's showing what Jesus Christ deserves.

[30:33] What's His from the Father. And He said I'll give it to you. And there's two cool things about this. If you'll do this if you'll worship Me I'll give it to you. You won't have to wait for it.

[30:45] And you won't have to pay for it. As in you won't have to suffer. I'll just give it to you right now. But Christ said no it's not time. And I'm going to have some tribulation ahead.

[30:57] And I'm going to have to learn patience. And I'm going to have to operate like my Father slow. Day to day. I'm going to have to go through this ministry where they reject me.

[31:10] Where I preach to them. Where I labor and fulfill the will of God. God does not operate in urgency. And He teaches us discipline.

[31:22] And He teaches us to trust Him and trust His timing. And then I want you to come back to our passage once more in Exodus 23. And I want to look at one more thought here I believe is beneficial to you and I in understanding God's operation with His people.

[31:38] Is in verse 31 it says I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the Sea of the Philistines. From the desert to the river. God establishes boundaries in the relationship He has with His children.

[31:55] He establishes boundaries. Physical boundaries literally right here in this passage. These physical boundaries He promised all the way back in Genesis 15 to Abraham.

[32:07] You can go read that and you'll find this is what He's talking about. And yet it wasn't even realized or acquired until King David 450 years later until all of it.

[32:17] It wasn't established under Joshua. And those physical borders weren't fully realized for a long time. But I'd have to say that God also in this passage is establishing some spiritual boundaries that have to do with their conduct or their manner of life.

[32:34] I skipped the verses but let's backtrack a minute to verse 24 and notice here where He says Thou shalt not bow down to their gods nor serve them nor do after their works.

[32:46] Thou shalt utterly overthrow them and quite break down their images ye shall serve the Lord your God. And then again later in the chapter in verse 31 He sets bounds and in verse 32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them nor with their gods they shall not dwell in thy land.

[33:04] So some boundaries established here by the Lord God I want to back up and remind you in Exodus 20 we studied the Ten Commandments the second command showed us that God was a jealous God.

[33:19] Do you remember that I called that the jealousy of Jehovah and we learned some things we learned that in this relationship there's room for one God only and thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images you're not going to bow down to them nor serve them I the Lord thy God am a jealous God and as we learn from that jealousy that in accordance with that He needs them to understand that this covenant and this relationship is going to operate with some guidelines with some boundaries and I'm going to set up some boundaries and so instead of bowing down to their images I want you to break them down as we read in verse 24 rather than imitate them in verse 24 nor do after their works rather than imitate I want you to eliminate them instead of uniting with them by covenant in verse 32 you're going to fight with them and you're to expel them from the land not dwell with them in thy land in verse 33 the final thought and to drive this home

[34:24] I want you to get verse 31 notice this I will set thy bounds who's the subject the Lord God I I will set thy bounds God will establish the boundaries of this relationship and covenant he decides what's acceptable to him he decides what is right for our attitudes and our actions if he's God in this relationship then he sets the bounds he sets the rules if you're a parent in your home do the kids set the rules do they tell you what you're going to do well why in the world would we expect Christians to establish their own boundaries I think Christians today need to get back to placing God on his throne in their life and treating him like he's God and they're not meaning

[35:31] God establishes what's right and wrong not me I'd get too frustrated to try to expound upon this and I'd probably say something I shouldn't but it's frustrating to see Christians just say oh there's nothing wrong with that yes there is get your Bible open yeah but we allow that or it's not a big deal why did you decide it's not a big deal why is it so popular to say there's nothing wrong with it why isn't it vogue to say there's something right with it why don't we look at things through what's right because our God is right and he's righteous and holy why don't we look at things that way I will set thy bounds Christians need to get back to placing God in his proper place in the relationship and stop imagining that you and I decide where the boundaries are we don't decide anything we beware and we obey and we provoke him not that's what we do we submit

[36:37] God decides and you submit to the word of God there's a whole lot in this book if you want to know what it is if you need an answer to a question you can get it in the book God can give it to you you don't have to pretend oh there's nothing you don't have to pretend it's vague we can get you there if you need an answer God's fully capable of answering your question through his word I assure you of that so this morning we're looking at how God operates with his people and it's revealed in the word of God this thought is coming out of this text and it's probably not your traditional Easter message this morning and I'm okay with that because this is where we are in our study and this is what we need we need to be aware it's for our benefit if we understand how God operates I wouldn't want to be on the other side where I don't understand how God operates I'd be probably flopping around I wouldn't be in church what am I talking about but if I was in some church just anything goes because I don't have a

[37:41] Bible and I don't study it we learned three things this morning we learned that he can be for you or he can be against you not the wicked that he's angry with the wicked every day no his own people that he redeemed and set free he can be for you or against you and he does not operate in urgency so you and I need to learn to wait on him we need to learn to trust him to just shut our mouth bow before him in prayer and listen for his voice and when it comes through receive it he doesn't operate in urgency and then finally he establishes the boundaries for our life for our conduct remember there's only room for one God in this relationship just one and you are not it so maybe some things need to get a little flipped around today maybe in maybe in just an area things need to get back in line

[38:42] God is worthy of being your God he is capable of being your God you can trust him you don't need to question him he's got a perfect record flawless and he wants to be your God like he literally wants to guide you in this life every step of the way with a decision for your future with a mate to marry with children with a home with retirement with work with all of it ministry he wants to guide you through the whole thing he's never left one of us alone but we need to learn how he operates and we need to stay in these boundaries and get underneath that umbrella of his operation you try to run too fast you're outside of it and then you're going to mess it up it's happened a lot so we need to learn these things they can help you they can avoid a lot of pitfalls and a lot of heartaches and a lot of tribulation by just learning how

[39:52] God operates he lays it out in the book now it's our job to receive it implement it submit to it and obey so I hope that helps you this morning and I hope you can see that there's something in there for your life we're going to dismiss in just a moment I want to thank you for being here I know it's a special day and I don't know every single person that's in this building today and what I want to put forth to you is we celebrate this special day as the day that Christ arose from the dead and the Bible says that Jesus Christ was declared to be the son of God with power by the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead meaning when he came out of that tomb it was proof that he in fact was the son of God not just some teacher and prophet like the Muslims try to call him no he was in fact the son of God the one and only begotten son of God why was he in that tomb because he died why did he die he died for your sins that's why he died

[40:55] Christ died for our sins the Bible says that Christ died for the ungodly in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us so he died for your sins he was buried and he rose again proving that he in fact is the son of God the question I have for each one of you is have you received him as your savior are you placing your faith in his finished work on calvary or in something else or in this I went to church on Sunday so God's happy with me not as much as you think if you want God to be happy with you you're going to have to come into a relationship with him where he's your God if the way to do that is to come through his son the son of God that loved you and gave himself for you if you believe on his son and receive him as your savior you can be born into the child of God in a spiritual manner born of the spirit the bible says you can be born again and have eternal life and then you're attending church and your prayers and your bible reading and your good works can please

[42:07] God but until you're born again they're just dead works to God and they mean nothing and I want you to be saved and to know that you're in a relationship with God it can only be done through Jesus Christ let's bow our heads together before we do take off and dismiss I want to ask one question across the board have you received Jesus Christ as your savior have you done that yet what are you waiting for what if you died today what if you died on your way home from this church service you did a good thing right you came to church but what if you died and have never received the gift of God his salvation through his son you'll go to hell as a sinner you need a savior and I know of one he's my savior and he can be yours too you simply by faith call out to Jesus

[43:09] Christ believing that he died for your sins that it was you that sinned against God you believe on him you take him as your savior it's a simple simple thing to do it's you praying from your heart to God the father asking for his forgiveness asking for his eternal life by believing on his son that he paid for your sins and Christian to the rest of us today that are born again we may need to recalibrate our thinking and understand how God operates in this relationship we don't make the rules we obey the rules we don't decide the time God decides we submit we wait we trust we beware we fear we obey father I pray that you'll use your word this morning to strengthen our hearts in Christ

[44:17] Lord if anybody here is unsure of their salvation help them to get it taken care of today to receive that free gift before they leave we pray this in Jesus name amen