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[0:00] Okay, well, you should know by now where to turn to if you've been around here at all.

[0:11] Exodus chapter 4, we finished last week at Exodus 4 verse 28. And last Sunday was exposing the faults of a man and we saw that God had made Moses write some things about himself that I would not want to write about myself to be in the pages of eternal scriptures for every human being to read and to understand and to know.

[0:37] I would surely overlook those things. I would not want you to have men be standing and proclaiming them to everybody else about how I didn't believe God and about how I was dishonest and about how I even deleted some details of the message that God told me to say about how I was disobedient in bringing up my children and things like there's so much about Moses that probably you just read past and as we kind of dove into it, he had some faults.

[1:10] And in the end of it, it wasn't something that we were going to really just put on him and just pound him for but rather glorify the Lord for that the Lord would use a man and chose to use a man despite his faults.

[1:27] And he insisted upon using Moses and sending him back to Egypt to fulfill this great exodus of his people. And so praise the Lord that he'll use, what's the term there, the marred clay.

[1:45] He'll use marred clay like in Jeremiah 18. And thank God that he's interested in cleaning us up and fixing us up but he's also interested in glorifying himself through us all along the way.

[1:58] And so we expose the faults of the man. Now this morning we're going to finish the chapter, just a real few verses here and probably be a little bit brief this morning. Let's finish chapter 4, Exodus 4 verse 29.

[2:13] The Bible says, And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.

[2:25] And the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had been looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

[2:36] Let's bow our heads. Lord, I ask now that you'll take our minds, our thoughts and help us to stay focused upon this passage and upon what it says.

[2:48] And help me to bring forth truth that can be applied to us today. And Lord, take this and minister this word to our hearts. We believe these words are not here by accident.

[3:00] We believe they're here on purpose and that you have something for us to learn and understand from it. So please speak to our hearts in this time and we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

[3:12] So this morning we're going to look at some characteristics of the people of God. Some trademarks of the people of God. These are the people that God sent Moses to.

[3:26] He left Midian and his life there to go to these people. And to start was to deliver a message to them. Before anything, it wasn't just, all right, pack up, we're out of here.

[3:39] But no, it was something else. It was a message first. And so in verse 29, as we've already read, Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.

[3:52] They had a message to declare to them from the Lord. And so I'm diving right in this morning with the first thought. A characteristic of the people of God is that they gather together.

[4:06] And that they hear the word of God proclaimed to them together. That's something that God established. That's something we see right away here in this passage.

[4:17] But what I want you to note is it wasn't until now, really, that God's doing this. Before, the Lord was speaking to a man individually. And turn back to just a few pages back.

[4:28] Go to Genesis 49. Up to this date, you'll see God dealing with a man and even some men preaching. You'll know about Enoch.

[4:40] Jude tells us that Enoch was a preacher. Peter tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. We know that those men back in their day before the flood were preaching to the masses. But you might consider that more like street preaching.

[4:53] More like preaching to an assembly of people or to whoever's around. But they're not really assembling to hear or to submit and to listen. They're just probably not even interested.

[5:05] And they're rejecting the message, rather, most if not all of them, especially in Noah's day. So what we're reading in Exodus is really one of the first times anything like this has ever happened where the people of God gather together to hear the word of God.

[5:22] Now, I want to show you the first time that I've believed that this ever happened. And it's in a little different setting. And it's almost kind of like just a stepping stone toward what we're reading in Exodus.

[5:34] In Genesis 49, look at verse 1. And now Israel, Jacob, prophesies over his twelve sons their future.

[5:59] And things that go all the way out into the latter days, as he says, some of which not yet been fulfilled. And that's the beginning of this thought of gathering people of God together.

[6:12] These are people under a covenant, Jacob and his twelve sons, the people of promise. And gathering them together to declare unto them the word of God. The next time it happens is right here.

[6:23] It's years and years later, many years later. But the next time in Scripture that this takes place is Exodus chapter 4. And it's on a much larger scale.

[6:34] The twelve sons of Jacob have become twelve tribes. And now they're a full-blown nation. Maybe not in their independence yet.

[6:47] That hasn't quite taken place. But the gathering of the elders of these tribes to hear the word that God would have from his servant. Matter of fact, this assembly of people in just a short while is going to be called a church.

[7:03] Paul calls them a church as they traveled through the wilderness and went through the water. Now this gathering is a command of the Lord.

[7:13] That's important to know. Look back at chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3 and verse 16. The Lord's instructing Moses.

[7:24] And he says, Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say unto them. And then he's going to pronounce and proclaim the word of God to them. So this gathering is by the command of the Lord.

[7:39] A characteristic of the people of God is that they gather together by command of the Lord. Amen. That's what we do.

[7:51] God's chosen means to deliver a message to his people is by gathering them together. He could have met with them in any means that he chose.

[8:01] He's God. He could have sent out a dream to all of them. He could have a vision to all of them in one moment in time. He could have met with them over the land of Goshen in this great pillar of cloud or great pillar of fire.

[8:17] And caused them all to come out of their tents and wonder. And then the voice of God could have come forth. Ye people of Israel. That wouldn't. I mean that's not far fetched of the Lord.

[8:27] That's something he does in the scriptures. Speaks out of heaven. They hear it. They think it thundered. That's not far fetched from God to speak audibly to man.

[8:38] It's not far fetched for him to reveal himself or to appear in such a flame or pillar of a cloud. But no. How he chose to do this. How he commanded to do this was for them to gather together.

[8:51] And the word of God would be proclaimed. I wonder would you agree. What do you think? Would you agree that this was an important gathering?

[9:02] In verse 29. Moses and Aaron gathered together the elders of the children. Would you agree that this date, this time, this meeting was an important one? What made it important then?

[9:16] Was it the fact that Moses returned to the land? The prodigal Moses. It's been 40 years Moses. My you look good. It's good to see. Was that what they were meeting for? Or was it that Moses returned to Egypt with a message from God?

[9:33] That's what made it important. There was a message from heaven that was going to be delivered to them. That's why they gathered. That's why they obeyed the command of the Lord to come together.

[9:46] God had a message for his people. And he had signs for them to deliver to them as well with proof that this was of the Lord. He had visited his people.

[9:57] The time had come. Imagine if one of the elders would have missed the meeting. Imagine if they missed the meeting and missed the miracles and missed the message.

[10:12] You know what their day would have been like? Just every other day in Egypt. Just another day. The sun rises and the sun sets over Egypt. And they're doing what they do every other day in Egypt.

[10:26] But this particular day there was a gathering. There was a special gathering. Because there was a message that God had for them. I wonder if you were one of those elders, would you have been present?

[10:41] Would you have been there when they gathered? I'm curious because sadly, born again Christians have given themselves the option to gather way too often.

[10:58] Gathering is not the priority. Gathering is not what they have set as a conviction in their heart that this is for me. They neglect to gather.

[11:08] They miss the message. They miss the working of God. Because they don't gather. And then they never know and they never experience what God had for them in that meeting.

[11:21] Instead for them, they're saved but it's just another night in Egypt. Just another day in the world. And had an opportunity to come apart. And to have a message from God.

[11:34] And to be stirred. To be changed. And still today, people of God gather together. And it's a command of God.

[11:44] Just like we see in the passage. And I'm saying these things because I want to instill in your hearts. Don't neglect the opportunity to gather.

[11:58] Don't neglect it. Don't neglect any of them. Don't ever despise this. Don't imagine that this is a suggestion of God for you to come together and gather.

[12:12] It's not a suggestion. One of the things that attracted me to my wife, Carla, was that she attended church. I'm telling you dead serious.

[12:23] When I'm looking for a wife and I was trying to serve God in my heart. And I was scared to death. Who do I marry? And how do I know she's the one? And how am I going to know?

[12:34] Because I feel like there's a calling of God in my life. And what if I pick the wrong one? Well, one thing that attracted me to her was she had a conviction in her heart that she belongs in church.

[12:49] Her mom and dad didn't go to church every time the doors were open. Her brothers and sisters all fell out of church and quit going. But she, as a young woman, got up, left the house, got in her car, and went to church.

[13:02] And that impressed me about her. And it seriously, God knows my heart. That attracted me to her. I thought, that's a battle that I won't have to fight in our marriage.

[13:15] Is that, because we are together on this. We believe that when God's people gather together, we belong there. We believe that in our hearts. It wasn't just because the pastor tells us all the time.

[13:28] I feel like, personally, I feel like I hear myself saying this more and more lately. And I don't want to be a broken record or this be my hobby horse to just be chiding on you to be here.

[13:38] I surely don't want that. But I believe the Lord is dealing with you about it or He wants you to commit. He wants you to get that mindset and that belief and conviction. It's what the people of God do.

[13:50] It's a characteristic. They gather together. It's always bothered me as a young man and getting in church and getting faithful in church.

[14:01] It would bother me when we'd have a special day and everybody would show up. And I'd sit there and think, where are you every other week? How come you're only here for the special speaker?

[14:15] For the big day? For the anniversary? How is it that you can get in your car and come to church on the big day and yet no show for every other day?

[14:27] Is it because those aren't special to you? Is it because this meeting isn't special to you? It's got to be something more than the normal? And that's really what it is.

[14:38] It's got to be something that attracts them, something that interests them to get them to come out. I've probably told you about this before, but we had a revival meeting one week with a real good preacher.

[14:51] And it was such good stuff. It was such a good meeting. And the attendance was just medium. And then about a month later, we had a creation scientist guy come.

[15:03] And he's going to show PowerPoints and refute evolution. And the place was packed. They sat there for hours and listened to this seminar after seminar. They just loved it.

[15:14] And it bothered me to see these people so excited about evolution, refuting the science. But they didn't want to submit themselves to just Bible preaching at the new man, aimed at their heart, aimed to convict them of their sin and to get them right.

[15:32] It bothered me. What is it? One time we had a politician come to the church years ago. A guy locally who claimed to be a Christian who went to a church close by.

[15:45] And the pastor invited him to come. Somebody knew him and blah, blah, blah. And he came and he was running for a local office. And he had a testimony. He wanted to tell us all that he's born again.

[15:56] He's just trying to solicit our votes. And so he's there. And the pastor gave him the service. And so he didn't preach the word of God. He just talked about the issues. And I can remember to this day sitting, listening to that, kind of not really knowing how to handle this.

[16:12] And thinking as a younger man, just like, what is this all about? I felt like what you're saying, what you're standing in front of us promoting, it's not really, you're not preaching this.

[16:27] You're talking about values and America's systems of this and that. And I felt a disconnect. I sensed a disconnect. But the place was packed.

[16:39] The people came to hear the politician. To hear what he would do. To hear how he would affect things and changes he'd make in office and on and on and on. We'd have a Christmas banquet.

[16:53] This is the worst of all of them. A Christmas banquet. There'd be food. There'd be fellowship. There'd be fun. And there'd be family.

[17:05] I mean, people's families and extended families would show up to the church. Christmas banquet. Would they ever darken the doors for a church service?

[17:16] Absolutely not. Reminds me of Jesus Christ telling them that you came not because you saw the miracles, but because of the loaves you were filled. That's why you came.

[17:28] And that's why they came. And it bothers me. It doesn't bother me so much anymore. You kind of understand what it is. But there's something wrong with that mentality.

[17:41] If the speaker's special, if the food's involved, then I'll show up when I'm interested. If it's attractive to me, then I'll come. But no, this gathering of the people of God, it's important to God.

[17:55] And it ought to be important to you. If you're a child of God, it ought to be special to you. The truth is, for many Christians today, it's just, they become complacent. It's become normal.

[18:06] It's become, I've been there, done that every Sunday and every Wednesday. And I just, that's just, I've done so much of that in my life. I could take it or leave it. And you forget about how special it is.

[18:16] You forget about that this is your lifeline to your brothers and sisters and to God Almighty. And you can just take it or leave it. And before long, other things become attractive to you.

[18:28] And you become just present when it's convenient to you. And what you're doing is forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. But this is a command of God.

[18:41] Don't take it for granted, church. The people of God gather because it's what God said to do. It's a characteristic, it's a trademark of the people of God.

[18:52] Look back in the passage in Exodus chapter 4. And look at verse 30. It says, And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.

[19:08] Another characteristic of the people of God is that a man delivers a message to them from the word of God. The Lord here has some words that he wants these people to hear.

[19:20] He's got some words that he wants them to understand. And it's some things that, it's a reminder. It's things that he's already said years ago and it's carried on through their generations.

[19:31] But it's a reminder to them. And it's also a word of preparation. You need to be getting ready for something that's coming. Something's very close. And so the Lord sent a man with a message from the word of God.

[19:45] This was the Lord's means. His method was to deliver this message by the words of a man. This is the method he chose. And this is just what God chose to see happen.

[19:58] I don't know that I would come up with a better one. Of course I wouldn't. I don't know if I could even think of a better one. This is how he operates. All through this Old Testament, it's prophets and preachers.

[20:12] They're always saying, Thus saith the Lord, and hear, O Israel, the word of the Lord. And you can read through their prophecies and it says, The word which came unto Hosea, or the word such and such Isaiah by the word of the Lord, Thus saith the Lord.

[20:26] These men are always proclaiming God's message to his people. That's just the means or the method that God chose. And still today, pastors and teachers stand up and say, Turn in your Bibles to a passage of the word of God.

[20:43] To deliver a message from the word of God. It was Paul that told Timothy, Preach the word. It was Peter that said to the elders which are among them, He said, To feed the flock of God which are among you.

[20:58] And so a man delivers a message from God. It's a trademark of the people of God. And it's important to emphasize that what we read in verse 30, It says that Aaron spake what's said to be, All the words which the Lord had spoken.

[21:16] The words which the Lord had spoken. That's what's being declared. Nobody's gathering together to hear how Moses made out. And tell us a few more stories about Midian, Moses.

[21:27] That's pretty. Tell us about the flock. No. They're not interested. That's not why they're gathered together. It's to hear the words which the Lord had spoken. That's why those prophets said so many times, Thus saith the Lord.

[21:43] Look at John chapter 7. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ claimed that he was doing in his ministry. He was delivering to them the words and the doctrines and the teachings from his Father.

[21:57] Gospel of John. And find chapter 7. And we'll find verse 16 through 18.

[22:15] They're asking if he's, how does he know what he's teaching? How does he know this stuff? He's never learned letters, they say. In verse 16, Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine's not mine, but his that sent me.

[22:31] If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory. Jesus Christ is not speaking of himself.

[22:46] Later on he talks about if a man honor himself. And chapter 8 says, That's not what I'm here to do. I'm here to honor my Father. Look at chapter 14 of John.

[22:56] Chapter 14 and verse... Number 10. John 14, 10.

[23:10] Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me.

[23:25] He doeth the works. So we've got Jesus Christ claiming that his message and preaching and teaching was not of himself either, but rather from heaven, from above, and from the Father.

[23:37] The prophets, the New Testament apostles and preachers are commanded to preach the word of God. It's a staple or a trademark of the people of God to come together and to hear the preaching and the declaration of the word of God.

[23:55] That's why this pulpit's here. It's here front and center in this place. You walk in the door and your eyes are drawn to the front. Why? Because it's an elevation of the Holy Scriptures, the sacred text.

[24:10] That's what we're here for, to hear these words proclaimed. This is not set over here on the side and a little baby sprinkling station set over here. This is not moved aside.

[24:21] We didn't clutter this up with a bunch of band equipment because we have a rock show and then we just wheel in our little pulpit and give you a little talk to fill in the time. No, this is like permanent, monumental.

[24:34] So the word of God gets the priority. So it's the preaching and the declaration of the scriptures, what the Lord said. That's what the people of God come together to hear.

[24:47] It's no confessional booths set up along the sides and around this place. It's a permanent pulpit fixed here to elevate and proclaim the word of God.

[24:59] This thing takes priority in our services and in our church, in our assemblies. It takes center stage. I enjoy good Christian music. I enjoy hearing groups sing and families sing.

[25:13] I've traveled at different times to go to meetings because a certain family was there singing. And some families were just very, very good. They'd let them sing like full-on sets of, I don't know, four songs and have a little testimony time and something and then another four songs and something and something and it would just go on.

[25:34] And sometimes I've enjoyed that. I've been to a meeting, though, where the meeting climaxed during the singing because it went so long. It went 45 minutes of, you know, the offering, the singing, this, but then the special music gets up and the family and they sang for 45 minutes.

[25:53] And then they sat down and then they introduced the preacher to get up. And I'm telling you, I felt it. I looked around the place. Everybody's checked out. They've already been stirred.

[26:05] They've already been moved emotionally by the music. It felt good. It was a good message. It was stirring. It was powerful. And now this guy's got to, like, take it up to here to keep our attention.

[26:16] And it wasn't happening. It wasn't. The focus and the priority of the show was on the family, on the singing. And it was good stuff. But there was just the balance wasn't right.

[26:28] And the Word of God didn't get the priority. The people come together. It's for the preaching. That's God's method to deliver His Word, not music.

[26:39] Music is a blessing. Music is a gift from God. But that's not how God chooses to communicate His Word. Understand that. There's a big problem with contemporary, quote-unquote, Christian music.

[26:52] A lot of the artists, and I've read articles on this, they proclaim that the number one purpose, goal, for their, quote-unquote, ministry of music is evangelism.

[27:04] They were asked, what is your goal with putting this music out? And they say, it's to evangelize. What does that mean? It means to win the loss to Christ. What does the Bible say of how you win the loss to Christ?

[27:18] It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. It pleased God by the foolishness of a rock band posing to be Christians.

[27:29] No, no. They're not centered. They're not scriptural. And, no kidding. Doesn't take much to see that.

[27:41] And so the people of God come together to hear the Word of God, the speaking and the preaching of the Word of God. There's something else. Verse 31, Exodus chapter 4, back there again.

[27:53] And verse 31, it says, And the people believed. Now, Moses was skeptical about this earlier. The very first verse of the chapters, Moses answered, said, But behold, they will not believe me.

[28:09] They won't believe. They won't hearken to my voice. But the people believed. How about that? The people believed the message. When God's people hear the Word of God, you know what they do in response?

[28:25] They believe. They believe the book. They hear the Word. They believe it. It might sound like religious mumbo-jumbo to a lost man, but to the people of God, Oh, this book is real to us.

[28:40] This book is alive to us. This book speaks to us. The Word of God moves us. It affects us. It fills our hearts. Have you never been in a service, in a church service, and there'll be a 45-minute message, but just something in there, just some little snapshot, just gets in, just pierces, even to the dividing of thunder, gets inside of you in a quiet but powerful way to where you've got an answer about something, or you got convicted about something, or the Lord just put His finger on a sin in your life, and that wasn't even what the message was about.

[29:25] That wasn't even what anybody else heard, but you, in that moment, it's like that book just fills you. It gets inside and shines light on your heart and on your life.

[29:38] It's a living, living thing. Now, a characteristic of the people of God is that they assemble, and they hear the Word of God, and that they believe it.

[29:50] They believe it. The Word of God does so much more than just give us some kind of sense of belonging, or some generic thought, like just an uplifting and encouragement for the day.

[30:01] This book is far, far more than that. I hope you've realized that by now. This Bible resonates on the inside in the new man.

[30:13] This Bible, these words feed me. They nourish me. They cleanse and sanctify me. The Word of God gives hope and comfort.

[30:25] It gives understanding to the simple. It gives clarity to things in my life, to things in my heart, to my motives, and my decisions.

[30:37] It gives discernment to the simple. This book, whether you could verbalize this or not, it's what the new man in you longs for.

[30:49] It's what he requests through the week. The Word of God hits the spot that no news, that no experience in life can touch.

[31:06] This book does it. It's... No food can touch it. No tangible feeling, no emotional experience can touch it.

[31:21] But the Word of God can get inside and satisfy. It can get inside and enlighten and strengthen and motivate. The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit.

[31:34] It affirms and agrees that these words are so and that these words are for us and that they're from our Father. And we believe it. We believe the words.

[31:45] We don't doubt the words. The people of God don't question the words. They accept the words. And they hold the Word of God in high regard. Keep your place right here. And I want you to turn one more area.

[31:59] We're going to hit a few verses here. 1 Thessalonians 2. I go to this regularly. If you're not familiar with this one, you need to get familiar.

[32:10] It's a powerful statement in Scripture. 1 Thessalonians 2. 1 Thessalonians 2. About how the Word of God can work when we exercise faith and we believe it as the Word of God.

[32:25] And not just the opinions or the thoughts of man. 1 Thessalonians 2. Verse 13. Get familiar with this thought here.

[32:36] The Bible says, For this cause also thank we God without ceasing because when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the Word of men.

[32:48] You know why? They believed it. They believed it was the Word of God to them. But as it is in truth the Word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe. And so the people of God hold the Word of God in high regard.

[33:03] We believe this book. We love this book. This book has done something to us. It's done something for us. We believe that it's the Word of God, holy, eternal God that inhabits eternity and has has just brought himself and him down into this realm.

[33:33] has condescended to men of low estate to reveal and to deliver something outside of this world, something above all of mankind, something cleaner and purer than anything man could conceive, something of his very nature, holy, and to place it on earth and to put it in the hands of man.

[34:00] We believe these are the words of God. Others are skeptics. They believe it's the words of men. Others believe it's maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

[34:15] But no, the people of God, a trademark of God's people is they believe the message of the Word of God. You can keep your place back here in Thessalonians.

[34:26] We're going to come back there real quickly. And I want you to consider one more thought here. Back in Exodus 4, verse 31, it says, And the people believed.

[34:38] But we're not finished. There's one more thought here. It says, When they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

[34:53] They assembled, they gathered together. A man spake all the words which the Lord had spoken.

[35:08] They believed it. And then they responded by bowing their heads and worshipping. Their bowing displays their submission, their surrender, their obedience to the spoken word.

[35:27] They hear the word, they receive it in faith, and then they respond in submission, in obedience. That's really all that God wants to see from you when you hear the word of God is you believe that's what the Lord said and then you respond.

[35:46] He wants you to believe and bow. Believe and bow. Surrender your will to his word. It's a characteristic of the people of God.

[35:58] It's what we do. God's word comes to us and we don't fight it. We don't resist it. Why, we'd be fools. We'd be hypocrites. No, we believe it and we obey it.

[36:11] We hear it, we believe it, and we submit to what the word of God says. That's what we do. We bow our hearts. We bow our wills and we receive the words of Holy God into our hearts and into our lives.

[36:29] We permit it to work in us. The world doesn't understand this. The world, they never will understand this. Why do you attend church?

[36:40] Why do you give your money to a church? Are you trying to feed the poor? What are you doing? Why would you ever do stuff like that? The world doesn't understand it.

[36:52] Why do you refuse to attend certain places or events? Why do you refrain from saying certain words or listening to certain things? What is it about you?

[37:04] Why are you different? Because we submit to the word of God. That's all. Because the Bible, every time you're asked or the thought comes up why you're different, the answer should be right to the text.

[37:20] Bible. The answer from the Bible. Why don't you do this? Bible verse. Why don't you? Bible, Bible. And that's evidence. You're submitting to the word of God. The world doesn't understand that.

[37:32] They think it's just, you know, religion. They can only assume you're just trying to be a good person. You're trying to follow some rules, trying to get to heaven, trying to appease a holy God and not go to hell.

[37:44] And that's all they can assume. It's just a work of religion, but it's not. Now you're back in 1 Thessalonians. Come back that direction again and go to Titus. We'll look at two more verses back here quickly and then we'll be done.

[37:57] Titus, chapter number 2. Titus, chapter 2. The people of God submit to the word of God.

[38:11] That's what we do. Titus, chapter 2. And we'll start in verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.

[38:40] Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.

[39:01] And notice, that's what the preacher is supposed to preach. These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. We have a calling to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts.

[39:17] To live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. To be peculiar, different, zealous of good works.

[39:29] To abstain from fornication, to abstain from the worldly or the works of darkness. To be different.

[39:42] So how are you going to accomplish this wonderful transformation? Look now back at just a page or two to 2 Timothy 3. How is this going to be accomplished in you?

[39:57] Well the answer is by what we're talking about by submitting to the word of God. And that's what the word of God will work in you. It will change and transform you. 2 Timothy 3 we'll start in verse 15 and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith.

[40:18] Thank God for that. Through faith which is in Christ Jesus. But it doesn't stop with salvation does it? All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

[40:36] And why is that? Here it is. That the man of God may be perfect. Throughly furnished unto all good works.

[40:47] This is what God wants us to be. Perfect. Complete in Christ. Shaving off and walking away from those things which defile and those worldly lusts and building ourselves up in our most holy faith.

[41:06] Furnished. We do that by surrendering to the word of God. Surrendering our hearts and our desires. Surrendering our thoughts and our wills and bowing and worshipping.

[41:23] When the Lord speaks we obey. When the word of God comes we don't resist it. We don't fight it. We don't dismiss it.

[41:34] We receive it. We bow. We surrender to it. It's time that some of you in here stop pleasing yourself and start trying to please God because you know the word of God.

[41:54] You've heard the word of God yet you just dismiss it and dismiss it and dismiss it and resist it as if it's not real to you. As if it's not right from God to you.

[42:07] You've gotten away with it and you just keep walking away from it. Just keep it at bay. It's time for some of you to start living like the child of God that he is calling you to be.

[42:22] It's a characteristic of the people of God. It's time for you then to start submitting to the word of God where you know where God has enlightened your mind and heart on something in your life from the scriptures.

[42:34] It's time for you to submit to bow and worship. The world doesn't control our thinking.

[42:47] The word of God does. The world doesn't control our decisions. The word of God does. The people of God don't look to justify things that we want to do.

[42:58] No, we sacrifice our will on the altar of self-denial and take up our cross because the word of God says so and follow.

[43:10] We submit to the word of God. We gather, we hear, we believe, and we submit. We bow and surrender.

[43:21] That's us in a nutshell. That's it. That's what we do. Trademarks, characteristics of the people of God. Now, the next time we get together, we're going to see that there's a message for somebody else.

[43:35] But he's not one of the people of God. He's Pharaoh. And it's a different message and it's a different response to the message. But this here and these last three verses of this chapter, those are characteristics of you and I.

[43:54] That's us. getting together and hearing and receiving and believing and obeying. Now, the problem that some of you have is you don't gather together faithfully like you ought to.

[44:07] A problem that somebody else might have is you despise the speaker. You don't see it as relevant or I want something more special than that or I think if it was a bigger name, it would be a better time and you look for something that attracts.

[44:27] Maybe for others, you have trouble just believing the Bible and you fight with that thing. But probably the majority of the fault lies in that last thought of surrender, of submitting to what you know is right, to what you know is of God for your life today, of the person you ought to be today.

[44:49] That's what you struggle with. And you can get help with that. You can get help with that by just bowing and surrendering. Let's pray.

[45:00] Lord, we see a picture back here of us, of what we do even today, thousands of years later. We see a picture back in this meeting, back in the land of Egypt.

[45:13] And Lord, in a sense, we're still in Egypt, still in this world, waiting to be delivered. And the picture really just carries all the way through.

[45:26] And so God, help us to submit our wills to your word, to receive it, to desire it, to allow it to do its work in us. There's nothing wrong with the word.

[45:38] There's never been anything wrong with the word. Anything wrong is because of our stubbornness, because of our folly, our lust for sin, our love for things that are ungodly and fleshly and unrighteous, worldly things.

[46:01] And we've seen the passage, it was declared this morning, your word is to change us to be peculiar to this world, to looking different, to sounding different, to standing different, to loving different things, desiring different things.

[46:19] Father, do a work this morning in your people. Do a work in our hearts. Help us to believe. Help us to submit. God, if somebody here is struggling with something, I trust you made it known to their heart.

[46:32] Help them to surrender. Help them to believe and bow. And I pray that Christ would get victory and that you'd receive something from us this morning. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed still, I just want to put it on your plate this morning.

[46:52] You're one of the people of God, right? You're not an Egyptian. You know you're saved. You know you're born again. If that's the case, then everything I said was right at you.

[47:10] Right between your eyes. Do you believe that our gathering together is special? That it's important to God? Are you committed and surrendered to being here in your place every single time you possibly can?

[47:32] Without excuse. you long for the word of God to hear it? You long to receive it?

[47:46] To allow it to work in you? What else is going to work in you? What else is going to clean you up and set you straight and fix your mind and soothe your thoughts and your heart?

[48:02] What else is going to rebuke you and reprove you of sin that's damaging you and destroying your spirit and your countenance and your testimony?

[48:16] The Holy Scriptures will do that. So will you surrender to it? Will you receive it? Each time, each meal, open wide and swallow hard.

[48:34] I hope you'll submit to this and surrender to this, that this is who you are, one of the people of God Almighty. This is your place and that you're all in.

[48:46] And you're ready to receive more. And you're ready to do what you can. You're committed. You're surrendered. I hope that's your case today.

[48:57] If not, I invite you to talk it over with the Lord. I invite you to discuss anything with the Lord as we sing. I invite you to just pray. Pray the Lord does a work in your heart.

[49:07] Go ahead. Let us all stand here for page 162.