Lessons from the Life of Moses - The Passover

[0:00] Moses The man of God, Moses. Hebrews 11 verse 23.

[0:11] By faith Moses, when he was born, was hit three months of his parents, because they saw he! was a proper child and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

[0:24] By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.

[0:51] By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

[1:09] By faith they passed through the Red Sea, as by dry land, which the Egyptians attempting to do were drowned. Amen. Exodus 12 verse 3 tells us about the Passover and about the great substitute.

[1:24] The great substitute. Exodus 12 verse 3 is pointing towards the cross, pointing forwards to that great place of Calvary, that great moment of our redemption made possible by Christ's blood.

[1:39] It says in Exodus 12 verse 3, speaking unto all the congregation of Israel, saying in the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house.

[1:57] And then verse 12, the Lord says, for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast.

[2:09] And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. God. Here we see the substitute. Every man a lamb. Every house a lamb.

[2:21] And a Passover is promised that when God would see the blood, he would pass over.

[2:35] And friends, today there is great destruction coming. Great destruction. The context here is a great destruction coming. And we see in our world there is destruction coming.

[2:46] It is almost imminent, isn't it? The way the world affairs are happening in the world stage. There is destruction coming. But more truly, God's destruction is coming.

[2:57] The destruction and renewal of planet earth is coming. You are facing, this world is facing a great destruction.

[3:09] But the wonderful, glorious joy that you have, if you are a believer this morning, is that a substitute has stood in your place.

[3:20] A substitute has stood in your place and taken your very sin and your very punishment upon himself. The context here in Exodus is of judgment, of condemnation, and yet of a substitute.

[3:36] A substitute. And a substitute that brought safety. A substitute that brought safety. Because not only is there great destruction, there is great danger.

[3:48] Great danger. You know, when you see, especially street preaching, as people walk the merry way, really the merry way to hell, you see that they are in great danger and they can't even see it.

[4:02] Their eyes are blinded. They are blinkered. They are lost. The devil has blinded the minds of them that believe not. They can't see the great danger, the great terrible torment that awaits them.

[4:15] The great and awful danger of being lost without Christ at death door.

[4:26] The great danger. And yet, for us, there is great safety. You can take assurance this morning that for you that believe, there is great safety for you, in complete contrast to that danger.

[4:38] The complete opposite. The complete opposite. Because why? Not because of any working of our own, but because of the blood. It was a sign. The blood was a sign. That in that house, there had already been a death.

[4:51] There had already been a death. There was going to be death in every house in Egypt. Death in every house. For the believers, it was the death of the lamb. For the Egyptians, it was the death of their firstborn child.

[5:05] It was a blood red mark that was to signify the safety. We see danger signs and safety signs as a bright red or a bright mark, a bright indicator.

[5:22] And friends, the bright red blood upon that doorpost and lintel was the mark of safety for the people of God, who had availed themselves of God's provision, that they need to face that terrible danger, that awesome judgment, that universal judgment that was to sweep the nation of Egypt.

[5:41] They were safe. Isn't that wonderful to know that as a believer this morning, there's a wonderful safety. It's a wonderful safety that you enjoy. Not by any working or virtue of your own, but completely of His working on your behalf.

[5:57] That they were safe because it was the blood that was between them and the angel. The blood was the only way that they were to be saved, to be kept safe.

[6:08] And there's a hymn that talks about souls in danger. Souls in danger. Look above. Jesus completely saves. The souls in danger in our world. And you that are a believer, you that are Christians, wouldn't it stir your heart to know that the souls in danger?

[6:25] There's friends and loved ones that are in danger. And there is great safety that they're missing out on. There is great safety for you that are under the shelter of the blood. So we see the substitute that saves us from destruction.

[6:39] We see the safety that is in Christ that keeps us assured of shelter in danger. And we see the sacrifice that took our very death.

[6:53] The very death because the wages of sin is death. The price that our sin is due, payment for, is death. There had to be a death. There had to be a death as sad though it be of any death as we know.

[7:09] There had to be a death in Egypt for the people to be saved. There had to be a death of the land. And Exodus 12 verse 30, it says that Pharaoh, the death angel struck, and Pharaoh rose up in the night.

[7:26] Exodus 12 verse 30, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt. For there was not a house where there was not one dead.

[7:37] As I say, a dead lamb or a dead firstborn. There had to be a death in every home in Egypt that night.

[7:50] Either a dead lamb or a dead son. We all deserve destruction. You deserve destruction. You deserve the danger, the darkness, the destruction, the death. You deserve it all.

[8:02] And yet God himself has provided himself a lamb. The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In every life there has to be a death. And for you, for me, friends, we have to die to ourselves.

[8:16] We have to put the old self to death and find the new life that Christ brings to us by virtue of his working. And what a great victory, what a great deliverance was purchased that night.

[8:29] As we know, as the Egyptians just couldn't get rid of them fast enough. When the destruction, when God's judgment fell. They wanted to eject the Israelites and give them gifts as well to get rid of them from their land.

[8:44] And there was a great deliverance, a great victory. And like that too this morning, as a believer in Christ, as we look back at the cross. Moses looked ahead at it. As we look back at the cross this morning, we think of that great deliverance of God, don't we?

[8:58] We see the great grace of God, the great mercy that he should be a substitute, bring safety and be our very sacrifice for us. And so, friends, we invite you as believers today.

[9:12] It says, let a man examine himself and so let him eat and drink of that cup. And friends, make that judgment today. The judgment of yourself. Discern the body of Christ.

[9:25] Let a man examine, scrutinize himself today. Scrutinize yourself. See if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

[9:36] Friends, that's a personal prayer that we can seek God this morning. And I pray that that would be your heart's desire today. Exodus chapter 2. Talking about Moses' life.

[9:48] And Moses' life, there was really three 40-year periods in Moses' life that stand out. And the first 40 years, Moses lived as a prince in a palace.

[9:59] The second 40 years, he was a shepherd in exile. And the third 40 years, he was a deliverer of God's people. And we'd like to look at three ways that God dealt with Moses.

[10:14] And firstly, God's choosing of him. God's choosing of him. Now, there's a lot of talk. I know I was talking to our brother last night in brief, and I didn't get to hear him in the open air preaching.

[10:28] But he was saying that whenever he goes open air preaching, he always gets decisions. He gets decisions every time. Amen. Lots of decisions. Now, of course, we know there's a lot of talk about decisions.

[10:39] People making decisions to follow Jesus. But really not heartfelt conversions. Not conversions.

[10:50] There's just a lot of people use their mouth to blab decisions, so-called. But yet, don't make that real heart-deep decision to believe in your heart and then confess with your mouth as is lacking.

[11:04] And here we see a decision, a choice. And firstly, we see God's choosing of Moses. God's choosing of him. We meet Moses in Exodus 2. Pharaoh had ordered the slaughter of the Hebrew children.

[11:17] And from verse 1 of Exodus 2, And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bore a son. And when she saw him, that he was a goodly child, or a fair child, she hid him three months.

[11:33] And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime, and with pitch, and put the child therein. And she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.

[11:45] Here she was, laying the baby Moses, the baby, in the ark, the small boat, into the river, and by the river's side.

[11:56] And verse 4, And his sister stood a fire off, to know what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river. And her maidens walked along by the river's side.

[12:08] And when they saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child. And behold, he wept. The babe wept.

[12:19] And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. Speak to us, Lord, for your holy scriptures, Lord.

[12:31] Help us, Lord, as we take it to heart. Touch each one, Lord, that it might be something helpful, and that will challenge us, that will provoke us, that will stir us to deeper faith, we pray.

[12:44] In Jesus' name, Amen. A Hebrew mother did all that she could to save her little son, to save her baby, her firstborn, to protect him.

[12:56] She hid him in the reeds. He was three months old, he was getting a bit hard to hide. He was then rescued by Pharaoh's daughter herself, and raised in the very house of the enemy.

[13:10] God's choosing of Moses. He was chosen. He was specially protected, specially cared for. After forty years, he stands by his own people, and slays an Egyptian, in a kind of offhanded act.

[13:29] And then as a killer, rejected by his own people, he flees Pharaoh, in verse 15. God's hand was on Moses' life. God's hand was upon this man.

[13:40] He was a man of God's choosing. And we see Moses too. Moses had a choosing of himself too. In Hebrews 11, verse 24, it tells of Moses choosing God's way.

[13:52] Because of course, there's a two-fold act of God choosing us, and of us choosing him. In Hebrews 11, verse 24, it says, By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

[14:15] We see God's choosing of the man, Moses.

[14:30] We see God's choosing of the man, Moses. And of his choosing of God's way, of God's walk. And secondly, we see not only God's choosing of Moses, we see God's using of Moses.

[14:43] God chooses people so he can use them. We see that in Exodus 3, we pick up the story again. Of course, we're just taking a few snapshots. We can't get the whole picture in this short time.

[14:55] But we see in Exodus 3, we pick up the account again. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, way right out in the back yonder of the desert.

[15:09] Here was Moses. And he came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And verse 2, And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush.

[15:22] And he looked, and behold, the bush was burnt with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

[15:35] And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here am I!

[15:46] And he said, Draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

[16:05] And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt.

[16:17] And I have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. God had heard, he had seen, he had felt the punishing hard work, the hard labour that the Egyptians were putting the Israelites through.

[16:36] Moses was so glad to hear this. God had heard this. God had seen this. And it says in verse 8, And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up, out of that land unto a good land, and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

[17:01] Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me. And I have also seen the oppression, where the Egyptians oppressed them. Moses was right on board with this.

[17:13] This was straight down the line, what he wanted to hear from God's very mouth. God was going to do something about this problem, about Egypt. And verse 10, it says, And verse 10, it says, Come now therefore, and I will send thee, answer Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

[17:33] Whoa, that sounded a bit scary to Moses. That wasn't part of what he wanted to hear. And here Moses, here he was encountering the Almighty God, a man of God's choosing, called to be the liberator of God's people of Israel.

[17:49] We see God using of this humble man. Here he was, a broken man, fearful. He spent 40 years in the back yonder of the desert, fearful of speaking, of serving God.

[18:01] He feels utterly inadequate. Here he is, just totally bamboozled that God was saying that God is going to use him. He's going to use him to do the work. And brokenness, it's been said, is the first step of usefulness in God's kingdom.

[18:17] God's got to get us to that place where we're feeling inadequate, where we're feeling lacking. And this humble man, he obeys the Lord. Eventually, he leads the people of Israel out of Egypt.

[18:29] But firstly, he has a bit of an argument with Almighty God. You know, God's choosing and using of Moses was, despite his every attempt at excuses, why not? Why he couldn't do what God had said to do.

[18:42] We see that from verse 11 of Exodus 3 through to chapter 4, verse 13. He says things like, who am I to do this? You know, you picked the wrong guy, Lord.

[18:53] You know, who am I? I don't have anything to offer. What shall I say? They won't believe me. And then God says, from verse 2, what is that in thine hand?

[19:05] Here he was, the shepherd man, holding a rod in his hand. God uses what we have. The less we have, the more evident his power. God uses what you have.

[19:18] What is that in thine hand? That is what he says to you this morning. To every one of you. God wants to choose you. And God, not only does he want to choose you, he wants to use you.

[19:30] And though you might feel totally inadequate, unworthy, incapable, as Moses did, God says, what is that in thine hand?

[19:42] What is it that you've got? What is it that you've got there? I can use that, that little that you have got. And he says in verse 10, Lord, I can't speak. I can't say much.

[19:54] I'm not eloquent. I'm a slow speech and I have a slow tongue. And God assures him that he will teach him what to say. God will use his very tongue. God will use his minimal abilities that he sees in himself.

[20:09] And Moses said to God in verse 13, send someone else in effect. He says, send somebody else. You've got the wrong guy. Choose somebody else. Send somebody else, Lord.

[20:20] And God chose Aaron, alongside Moses, Aaron's brother, to speak for Moses. Moses did everything possible that he could to say no to God. And we do that too, don't we?

[20:32] Don't we? To be honest today, we say no. If God chooses you, there are no excuses. There are no excuses. He will provide all that you need. He will provide you.

[20:43] He'll equip you. He'll enable you. He'll give you the ability that's beyond your own. And God uses Moses, we see later in the book of Exodus. He uses Moses in tremendous ways to fearlessly confront this powerful, godless king.

[20:59] Moses put his faith into action and goes to Pharaoh and he declares, let my people go. Let my people go. Here he was.

[21:10] This king could have struck him down in an instant. He had great power. And yet Moses stood. Maybe his knees were knocking, but he said what God had told him to say.

[21:21] And Moses became the true leader of God's people. The divine assurance that he'd received at that burning bush was his confidence. That fresh confidence. And wielding that shepherd's rod which he had used to hurt the sheep, he now used it to start ten miraculous plagues that struck the land of the godless.

[21:42] And brought Egypt to ruin almost by the power of God. And as the plagues progressed, Pharaoh's heart was hardened even still, even more. And finally, before the last plague, he threatened to take Moses' life if he was to ever come again into his presence.

[21:59] That's Exodus 10, verse 28. But the faith of Moses was strong and his confidence was in the Lord. It was not shaken by the threats of that great king.

[22:11] And you see, through Exodus 7 through 11, each plague was against one of the Egyptian gods. I've heard it explained that every one of those plagues was actually an attack against the religious system of that nation, of the false gods and idols of that land of Egypt.

[22:34] The first plague watered into blood was an affront to the Nile god. The plague of frogs was against the frog goddess. I've got all their names written down.

[22:46] The lice was a threat to the earth god that the Egyptians worshipped. The flies was a threat to the beetle god. The death of cattle was a threat to the cattle god.

[22:57] The boils was a threat to the physical god. Hail was a threat to the air goddess. Locusts was a threat to the insect god. And darkness against Ra, the sun god.

[23:09] And death was ultimately against all the false gods. God was confronting through Moses all the false gods, the false philosophies and heathen ideals and the secular godlessness of the day in the miraculous plagues through Moses' hand.

[23:31] And the plagues revealed God's great power and his judgment upon the gods of Egypt. And the Passover then occurred as we've talked about. The Passover at midnight, at the midnight hour, the angel of God passed over the lamb.

[23:46] And the firstborn of man and beast died, except where the blood of the slain lamb had marked the sides and lintels of the doors. When I see the blood, God says, when I see the blood, I will pass over you.

[24:02] Christ is our Passover today. 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7. Friends, you've got to have the blood applied. You've got to have the shelter of Christ's blood, of his redeeming sacrifice, of applying that death of Christ, of his death on your behalf, for you to be saved, for you to be saved, for you to be sheltered from God's judgment.

[24:25] And that means receiving Christ's work at Calvary in your place. His sinless body carried your sin and mine. And the great cry went up that not a house was there that had not one dead.

[24:40] And the Egyptians were saying, we're all dead men. And they thrust Israel out with haste, with many gifts.

[24:51] And in the face of this judgment of death, God provided a way out for his people. And Moses was there demonstrating his great, complete trust in the Saviour.

[25:04] As God hardened Pharaoh's heart again, and he changed his mind and then pursued the children of Israel. As you know the story, that Moses continued to show his faith in God as they walked through on dry land through the Red Sea.

[25:17] And Israel witnessed the salvation of God. And the Egyptians were drowned as they tried to follow. And the people praised God for the great victory and deliverance that he had done.

[25:29] And then we see Israel through its travels as God led them through the very wilderness, feeding them with manna and quail for 40 years. And then when they get to Mount Sinai, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments.

[25:44] But even while he was receiving them, the Israelites were down yonder, building an idol to worship. As the very holy hand of God, the very finger of God was inscribing God's very law into blocks of stone.

[26:01] The people of God were down there cavorting and dancing and jiving around the golden calf. Around the idol that they were building to worship.

[26:12] And because of their obedience, none of them was going to enter the promised land. They would instead wander in the wilderness for 40 years. And while they wandered, they began to whinge.

[26:23] They began to complain. They blamed Moses. They blamed Moses. We wish God had struck us dead. They would say at Mount Sinai. Did you just bring us here to let us die?

[26:35] Why did you make us leave Egypt? We had it so good there. We had all those nice things to eat. Over there. Here we don't even have water to drink. And what a time it was.

[26:47] This was a time of God's reproving. Of God's reproving of the nation. And as we see of Moses himself, because he got upset. And God had told Moses to command the wrong to pour out water.

[26:59] But instead he struck it with his staff in frustration at the people. Water gushed out and fed the people, the animals, the drink, their fill.

[27:10] But because God had commanded Moses to speak to the rock and instead he struck it, God punished Moses by forbidding him from entering into the promised land. Isn't it wonderful how the word of God shows people in their human frailty.

[27:27] In their lack of wisdom, in their wrong choices, in their humanness. You know, I think it's great because you hear of some mythological books and legends where, you know, it's all, everything's painted in a rosy picture.

[27:43] But in God's word you see the men and women of God warts and all, don't you? And you see Moses. Moses, the hero that he was, the great deliverer of the nation, he still was fallible and faulty.

[27:57] He did enter into the promised land, but it wasn't until 1400 years later in Luke 9.28 at the Mount of Transfiguration. Then the Lord allowed him to be present with Christ on the Mount in Luke 9.28.

[28:15] 1400 years later, he had to wait. Sometimes God brings his correction and his discipline to us. God's reproving. We see God's using, we see God's choosing and we see God's reproving.

[28:29] What about your life? Can you look back and see through the history of your life, God's choosing of you. How God's chosen you. Not only have you chosen him by virtue of his calling and choosing of you, but we see God's choosing of you.

[28:46] God's choosing of you in his grace and mercy, his unmerited favour and kindness. We see God's using of you. He wants to. He wants to use you. I think sometimes we make excuses and we keep on making excuses.

[29:00] We don't bow the knee like Moses ultimately did and say, yes Lord, here am I, use me. God's using of you. And have you experienced God's reproving of you? Maybe there's times of his disciplining of you, of his chastening, of his need for correcting.

[29:16] And God has a plan for each one of you today. Each one of you this morning. We've been talking about a historic figure, a real character in history, Moses. And friends today, the word of God is applicable for you, for each one of you, for each one of us here today.

[29:32] This is not some story to put on a shelf. This is something you can apply. Be not just a hearer, but a doer of the word. God has chosen you. He's chosen you out of the darkness and night of sin.

[29:47] He's chosen you out of the blackness of forever, out of the miry clay. And he's set your feet on the rock. He's chosen you. And not only is he choosing people, he wants to be using people.

[30:01] He wants you to be a vessel that he can fill. He wants you to be an instrument in his hand. He wants you to use that which is in thy hand. The rod that you've got.

[30:13] Whatever it be, the talent that you've got. The latent ability. The potential that you have to serve. That quality that you have. To minister, to witness, to be his hand extended.

[30:26] God wants to use you. Now I was encouraged last night when someone phoned me. And I said, oh, I haven't had the roster yet. And I'm just, I want to be doing something.

[30:37] And I said, look, it's my fault. I haven't made the roster yet. It's looking a bit, it's looking a bit scant at the moment who I can put on the roster, so to speak. But there's lots of opportunities to serve.

[30:48] You know, there's opportunities to do so many things. We don't want to be a church where it's a one man band, where there's too much by one, so to speak.

[30:59] There's a neglecting of the gifts and working together of the body of Christ. And we want to encourage you, each one of you, if you've got a latent gift, a talent, an ability to not bury it, but to be used of God.

[31:16] Be used of God. And don't shy back when God's reproving hand may come to you. When he might bring that chiding, that chastening, that he can direct you and redirect you.

[31:27] He shows his strength even when we're weak. And God works through the course of our lives. We can look back, maybe we haven't lived 120 years yet like Moses, but maybe there's been stages in your life as God has walked with you, as you've walked with God through your life, through your life's experiences.

[31:48] It took Moses 40 years to identify with Israel, to realise, I'm a Hebrew. And then of course he made that rash move of killing an Egyptian and he fled from Pharaoh.

[32:00] And then spent another 40 years in the backside of the desert, still learning. God was teaching him through that time still, as he worked in Moses' will and developed his patience.

[32:15] And sometimes the Lord will lead you too, through wilderness times, through desert times, through the backside of the desert, to teach you, to grow you, to strengthen you. And the Lord calls every one of you here today, every one of you.

[32:29] There's a place of service for you. There's something that you can do. And we can all think of excuses like Moses did. We can all say, well it's just too hard or that's just not me.

[32:40] Or to somebody else, there's someone better qualified, there's someone better looking than me who can do it. But Moses was called. God had this man of his choosing.

[32:55] And God had a man of his using. And God had a man of his reproving. God provides what we need. We just need to take action. And think really of the testimony of Moses as we read in Hebrews 11 earlier on, of that testimony of a man.

[33:14] It says that by faith, by faith Moses, by faith Moses was, he chose not to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. By faith Moses, he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

[33:31] What a choice! He had it laid on. He could have lapped it up in the luxury of pleasures and treasures of Egypt. But yet he chose instead the reproach of Christ.

[33:42] He chose that as sustaining that as greater riches. And by faith he forsook Egypt. Through faith he kept the Passover. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land.

[33:55] It's by faith. Faith was the hallmark of his life. An example of faith, of meekness. It says of Moses, he was the meekest man on the earth. An example of endurance, of prayer.

[34:07] When God punished people, Moses was always there standing in the gap. When Miriam was punished by God with leprosy, Moses prayed that she be healed.

[34:20] When Israel built the golden calf, Moses interceded for the people. God would have struck them down. When the people refused to trust God enough to enter the land of Canaan, God wanted to destroy the people and begin again with Moses.

[34:36] It did not happen because Moses interceded for the people he prayed. That's a great gift that you may have today too. I know we need a lot of prayer. I thank God for the prayers of the saints.

[34:47] They keep this church strong and keep one another lifted up and aided at the throne of God.

[34:59] We need to pray. We need to intercede. He was Moses, a reluctant leader of a rebellious nation, yet called a man of faith. What about you this morning? Has God chosen you?

[35:10] Aren't you saved? Would you rather choose to go with God's people than to toy with the pleasures and treasures of this world? Do you want to just sit on the fence and toy with them a bit longer?

[35:21] Today is decision time. Choosing you this day, whom you will serve. I pray, I'm not sure where everyone is at this day in this building, but I pray and I urge you, make that choice.

[35:34] Make that choice from your heart. As you believe in your heart, you'll confess with your mouth and there'll be a heart deep change, a repentant change, a conversion change, a transformation from the inside out.

[35:48] That's what new life in Christ is about. That there'll be a choosing of God choosing us and of us choosing him, of responding to his grace and of God using you. And friends, don't shy from his reproving if it happens to.

[36:02] I urge you today, be challenged to walk with God. Let us pray. Help us Lord today. Lord, if there be any present who hasn't taken that step of trusting you, they don't realise what it is to know heaven in their heart of sins forgiven, of a heart cleansed by faith as they've repented and turned in trusting you and what you've done.

[36:24] Help us that have trusted that we walk with you, that will not make excuses and that will not shy away from being used by you. Lord, that you'll use that which is in our hand, which is in our heart, which is in our heads.

[36:39] Lord, you'll use that which is in our ability to do, to give, to be, that we won't be neglectful of that great salvation. Lord, that will be used by you in wonderful ways, that every one of us will be used by you, as you'll equip us to be used and empower us to be used, Lord, by your grace and mercy.

[36:58] We thank you, Lord, as we walk with you, you'll help us. You may chasten us along the way. Help us to hear your voice and to obey, to not shy away, to not be neglectful or disobedient.

[37:10] Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[37:21] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.