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[0:00] All right, looks like we have a new associate pastor coming up to preach here. Please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Exodus, to the book of Exodus.

[0:13] If you are new or visiting, welcome. My name is BK. I have the pleasure of serving as one of the pastors here. You're going to need a Bible for this, but we're also getting the habit of putting up some overhead.

[0:26] So if you do need a Bible, please put your hand up and one of our ushers will make sure that you get one. This morning, we're continuing our story of the Bible.

[0:37] And the reason we kind of got into this series is the observation that, let's be honest, we're scared of the Old Testament. We don't understand it. How does it fit?

[0:48] You know, we're familiar kind of with the stories of Noah, Adam and Eve, and Abraham and his sons, but we really don't quite understand what it means for me because Jesus has already come.

[1:01] We don't need the Old Testament, right? We kind of got the New Testament. But as I believe and hope that I've been aptly demonstrating, we do need the Old Testament.

[1:13] And it is joyful to understand. So what I'm kind of doing is going through a structure to help you understand the Old Testament, where everything fits in, and inevitably how everything points to the person of Jesus Christ, how everything points to the cross.

[1:35] So we're kind of on this eagle-eye look, and then we're taking this deep dive at certain points of Scripture. If you've been following us, you would know that we are in Act 1.

[1:48] I've divided the Bible into five different acts. We're in Act 1. Genesis 1 to 11 is the prologue. It's the story that explains why we need a Savior.

[2:03] It explains why Jesus needs to rescue us. And what God begins is with a desire for a nation.

[2:15] So God has started this rescue plan, and God has made it so that he is going to bring this Redeemer through a nation of people.

[2:28] And if you remember, in Genesis 12, that is the beginning of the Abrahamic covenant, and God outlines essentially three things that you need for a nation.

[2:38] And this is the same thing today if you were to, how the UN would recognize a nation. One, you need a people. You need a people group. Have a language, a distinct culture.

[2:50] Number two, what do we see? We need laws and leadership. And last week, you remember, we met Moses. That's God bringing Moses. And as we got into today from Exodus 19, Exodus 20 is the Ten Commandments.

[3:06] God's going to start to give his people laws by which to follow. And then once that's kind of taken care of, they're going to go into the promised land. Then they're going to have a homeland.

[3:18] So from Genesis 12 to 50, we've been looking at Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, eventually Joseph. 400 years of silence.

[3:29] And eventually, we get to this book called Exodus. Just to recap a little bit from last week, we talked about how God raised this man, Moses, who has the most fascinating background, that he served in the, or he was raised in the royal court for 40 years.

[3:48] He had the best education man could ever have at that time period. Thought he was ready to be a leader. Went to stand up for his people.

[3:58] Killed an Egyptian. That must mean they will accept me. Acts 7 tells us the story about how they rejected him. They simply said, who made you Lord over us?

[4:12] So upon hearing that Pharaoh wanted to kill him for killing an Egyptian, he lives in the desert for 40 years. In this desert, this wilderness, God reveals himself to Moses.

[4:28] First through a burning brush, and then God begins to nurture him into the leader that God desires, to lead his people.

[4:40] So this morning, I want to focus on two specific things. I want to look at two ways that God essentially communicates with us, and we see this in the book of Exodus.

[4:54] And the first one is, we see how God communicates through his actions. How God reveals himself through his actions. And so we're going to look at God's actions through the first 19 books of the chapter of Exodus.

[5:09] Then, I want us to begin looking at the words God speaks to his people. The words God speaks to his people.

[5:22] So before I go any further, just let me start. Let me begin with a word of prayer. Dear Lord, Holy Heavenly Father, just as we get into this incredible book, and we look back at Abraham and Moses, and what you did, God.

[5:39] It's amazing. It's in these two covenants that we're going to see how you begin to build your relationship with your people, that you speak to your people.

[5:54] You have a message. Father, I pray that we hear this message. If there's someone new who does not know you, I pray that they have be given an understanding of what this message is and the person who delivered it in Jesus Christ.

[6:14] I pray if they have any questions that need answered, Father, you will begin to answer those questions today. For some of us who've been sitting here in the Christian faith for a while, and we haven't really spent much time truly considering the words of the First Testament, I pray that we would be blessed by a greater and deeper understanding of what you were trying to fulfill there, O Father.

[6:43] How you were laying down the blueprints for our eventual salvation through Jesus Christ. Father, these are incredible things, and I pray that we would leave here with a sense of awe, and a sense of glory and a desire to worship you in an even deeper and more profound way.

[7:02] So I ask you these things in your holy and mighty name. So one of the points that I made last week, we're in Exodus 1, is by the time we're here in Exodus 1, the Jews do not have an active relationship with their God.

[7:20] There's no written word. They would have passed down the promises that came to Abraham, who would have passed them on to Isaac and Jacob, but there would have been no central way to worship him.

[7:36] So when God appears on the scene, we see that he first introduces himself to Moses through the burning bush. The bush literally talks without being consumed.

[7:47] And then he calls Moses to return to Egypt. And then God introduces himself to Pharaoh. And if you remember last week, Pharaoh said, you know, Moses says, I want to take my people.

[7:59] And he says, I don't even know your God. And then we saw last week, essentially God overthrows over 10 of the Egyptian gods, that every plague is targeted at a belief system that Egypt had.

[8:18] Demonstrating quite clearly in the ironic words of Pharaoh, that Yahweh, the God of Israel, demonstrates that he is greater than any of their gods.

[8:28] Now, I want you to understand, he's not just proving this to the Egyptians. Guess who else he's proven to? Israel. Israel. I am your God.

[8:39] Watch what I am going to do. This is how I'm going to free you from this land. So they're now out. Moses says, get out of here. Our firstborn sons have been killed because of this God.

[8:52] Get out of here. And Moses leads his people and they begin to flee. Exodus 13, 17. I believe there's this marvelous passage. And these are why some of these times, we just need to slowly go through the passage to get a glimpse of the greater God.

[9:09] So it says, when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the Philistines, although that was near. And here it's telling us the mind of God.

[9:20] For God said, lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt. Now we read that and we think, boy, what a weak group of people that God is calling, right?

[9:36] They saw God's greatness, all these things that he did. And now they're kind of questioning, God even says this. But here's the point of this.

[9:50] God knows who his people are. God knows their thoughts, their intentions, and where they are. They've just really been exposed to God in this very short time period.

[10:02] And we see this wonderful hand of God because they're not trained for war. They've been working in slavery. They'd probably be a strong people, but not trained for warfare against a group of people that is known to be quite militant.

[10:20] And then we just see God's hand of grace. But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness towards the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.

[10:35] I believe that mirrors our life sometimes. There's these challenges that God would put before us, but he kind of redirects us because he knows we're not ready. We're not prepared.

[10:47] Just like Moses, God had prepared Moses to lead his people, but he wasn't ready to step in when he killed that Egyptian. That wasn't the leader that God was looking for. So God takes him out to this wilderness and trains him for these 40 years.

[11:02] In Genesis 16, we begin to see that God demonstrates his power once again with the parting of the Red Sea. And it's not only the parting of the Red Sea that's amazing, but it's also the absolute destruction of Pharaoh's army.

[11:19] It's quite interesting. I was golfing last year, and there's this retired Yale professor who lives in the city. And one day, Lord willing, he'll show up here. But he's kind of an agnostic, and he was kind of a historian, and he was kind of telling me about the Sea of Reeds and the idea that, you know, it really wasn't this deep sea, but it was really just this shallow water with the tide that pulled out.

[11:41] And God and his people made it through. And he's kind of, you know, you must agree with me. And I said, man, if that was so, that's even a greater miracle, because that same tide drowned all of Egypt's armies.

[11:53] They ceased to be a world power after that. So whichever way you want to slice it, God was doing a mighty thing. But we also read that the people needed food and water, and it says that God provided manna and quail and water for his people.

[12:09] And an important incident happens, and we're going to get back to it, but it's shortly after they escape.

[12:20] They're attacked by the Amalekites. We read that Joshua leads them in victory. And if you're familiar with the story, you know that Moses is told to keep his arms up, and Aaron and Nun are the ones helping him.

[12:39] And as long as Moses' arms are up, they have this victory over the Amalekites. Now, the Amalekites are actually the descendants of the grandson of Esau.

[13:01] They were very anti-Israel, anti-Jacob. Jacob was the one who stole the blessing from Esau, their ancestor. So we're going to read historically throughout Scripture, there is a hatred of this people for God's people, and we're going to see why and how it relates.

[13:21] So finally, God has placed his people before this mountain. And I'm going to read a part of the same passage that Pastor Dave read to us this morning, starting in Exodus 19.1.

[13:38] On the third new moon, after the people of Israel have gone out of the land of Egypt. So we're looking at probably third new moon. How many times does a new moon show up? What's that?

[13:50] Once a month. So we're looking at three to four month period after. Not a long time. Now God is going to speak to his people. So they've gone out of the land of Egypt, and on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

[14:05] They set out from Rephidim, and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they camped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God.

[14:16] The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel, You yourselves have seen what I did.

[14:30] Notice who's the object of this sentence, the most important part of it. It's the I, what I have, what I did for the Egyptians. How I bore you on eagles.

[14:44] So they have seen the work of God, but they haven't personally heard the voice of God. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.

[15:07] For all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.

[15:26] Do you get the promise that God is laying out? All the earth is mine, and you will be my people.

[15:43] So here we've seen God revealing himself through the saving or the salvation from Egypt.

[15:53] We've seen God. We've seen God, and we know what happens in the rest of Exodus 25, 40. They come down. Moses goes up.

[16:04] The people panic. They make a golden calf. God comes down. Snakes bite them. They're dying because of their willingness and rebelliousness.

[16:15] Then Moses makes a bronze serpent, a precursor to Christ. If they were to look upon it, they can be saved. They do. So we've got God who reveals himself through the salvation of Egypt.

[16:28] He reveals himself through the judgment. He said, if you do these things, come against me. I will be in your midst. And that's a code word. You will die. Two, or three, we see God's salvation in his forgiveness.

[16:45] And as it says at the end of this passage, the smoke, pillar of smoke by day and fire by night, which will reveal God's presence as he lives with his people.

[16:59] So what am I getting at? God is working overtime to reveal himself to his people. So that's what we see.

[17:10] We see him in his judgment, the forgiveness, his presence, and his power. So now for the first time, God begins to speak.

[17:29] God begins to reveal himself with his words. If you're familiar with Psalm 19, Psalm 19 is the greatest exposition in scripture that God speaks through creation, revealing his presence, and then God reveals his purpose by revealing how to worship him.

[17:54] He reveals his words. He reveals his method of salvation. The fact of the matter is, Psalm 19 begins with, the heavens declare the glory of God.

[18:09] Creation is huge. We could preach a whole sermon, if not a whole year's worth of sermons, by how great creation displays the handiwork of God.

[18:22] Everything from the perfect sides of the earth, from the perfect distance from the sun, to the perfect distance of the moon, from the earth, and how the earth affects the tides perfectly. We can even talk about the incredible properties of water, of oxygen, that exists nowhere else in the universe.

[18:39] We could talk about the complexities of the human body, which all point to a designer who has a purpose. Right? So it leaves us without question.

[18:51] And then, of course, we now have these people seeing miracles, that God enters their presence, reveals himself from the parting of the Red Sea, from the provision of the ten flags to save them, to the death of their disobedience, and their salvation, to looking upon this bronze snake.

[19:13] But then God speaks. Hebrews 1, verse 1-2 says, It says, And now, he speaks through Jesus Christ.

[19:53] Right? That's what John 1 describes for us. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

[20:06] All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

[20:21] Verse 14, The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, glory, as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

[20:35] So we understand that the perfect Word of God has come through Jesus Christ. But before Jesus, did they have that Word?

[20:47] Isaiah 45, 19 simply states, I did not speak in secret. In a land of darkness.

[20:59] I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, seek me in vain. I, the Lord, speak the truth. I declare what is right.

[21:11] Turn to me, verse 22, and be saved. All the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other. So if anybody is wondering here, did Jesus Christ, or the Word of God, God's plan, ever revealed in the Old Testament, you've got it right there.

[21:28] The message was clear. God did not speak in vain. So all those miracles that God's doing, His displays of power, are meant for something.

[21:42] They're meant for something. It's not vanity that God does these things. It's just to demonstrate, but He's commuting, communicating something very specific.

[21:55] In the New Testament, we know what it is. John 17, 3 says, and this is eternal life, that they may know you in the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

[22:10] But the truth of the matter is, God has never been silent. So this morning, and it's going to continue on tomorrow, or next Sunday, that's how excited I am, we're meeting tomorrow for another sermon.

[22:24] We're going to actually look at, and as I weave this into the Old Testament, I want to look at, there's going to be seven major times that God speaks to His people.

[22:35] Seven major times, and I believe they're up on the overhead. The first one is the Abrahamic covenant of promise, that's Genesis 12 to 22, that is God actively speaking to His people.

[22:47] That's the first time. Second time, we read it's where we are right now in Exodus 19. This is the beginning of the Mosaic covenant of promise. The third time will be the Davidic covenant of promise, which happens in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, and it's referred to in a great many books.

[23:08] Then in Isaiah 2 Malachi, we're going to hear the announcement of the new covenant, that there's going to be an even better covenant. The Gospels profess to us that the covenant is secured through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

[23:29] The covenant is realized. The New Testament tells us about what is it like to live in the light of the new covenant. And finally, the book of Revelations, God gives us a final word.

[23:46] Now, what is interesting, when we work our way through Genesis, we see God speak to, we've seen Him spoke to Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, and to individuals. But now, in Exodus, He begins to speak to His people.

[23:58] God speaking to us is no small thing.

[24:10] Do you understand? We do not have a silent God. We do not have a God who does not have a voice.

[24:23] We have a God who is purposeful with His communication. And for us to ignore that communication coming from the creator of this universe who created all the marvels of this world is no small thing.

[24:47] One author writes, the eternal destiny of every human soul, every human being, depends on their response to this very word of God.

[25:00] Let me translate this for you. Your soul, your eternal destiny, depends on how you respond to what God says.

[25:12] That's it. To say that you can ignore what God says is to put your eternal soul into peril.

[25:26] So when God speaks to us about His purpose, His destiny for us, and our salvation, the obvious question is, do we listen? Do we care?

[25:43] Is there an excuse or a reason that would demonstrate it's not real enough? Do we have a better God? Has some other God spoken? To willingly ignore God's very words is the height of all arrogance.

[26:03] So this morning, I want to look at four questions that you and I need to ask when God speaks to us. Four questions that we need to ask what God is speaking to us.

[26:14] And just to let you know, we're only going to make it through the first two this morning, but there's four, and I'm going to tell you what the four questions are. The first question is the need.

[26:24] Why is God speaking? Why is God speaking? Why did not God speak yesterday? Why doesn't He speak tomorrow? Why is it that God is speaking at this specific time?

[26:40] What is the need for Him to say something? This is the first thing we need to consider when we look at and we're going to go through these seven sections as we move through the Old Testament and the New Testament.

[26:54] We're going to answer this question because the reality is every time God speaks He is addressing a specific need. The second question is an obvious one is what does God say?

[27:09] What is the content of the message that God has for us? When we consider the time God spoke to Abraham, the question is why is He speaking to Abraham?

[27:20] Why is He speaking to Abraham at this time? And more importantly, what is He saying to Abraham? So we need to handle that question. The third one, which is interesting, is what method is God using to speak?

[27:35] What method is God using to speak? To put it another way, how does God speak speak to us? We will see as we observe through this story that God will use different methods to speak, and each method is going to fit the context of having that message get out.

[27:52] So, the fourth question, and it's the most important question that we, you and I, need to answer is, what response does God require?

[28:03] require? What response does God require? The obvious question is, what does He expect from me? Because the truth reality is, God does not speak in vain.

[28:18] He's already told us this. God just doesn't utter words because He wants to hear the thunders clap around the world. When God speaks, He has something to say, and God expects a certain response from you and me every single time He speaks.

[28:39] So, when we see that God is speaking, we're going to look for the need, the content, the method, and the response. So, turn back with me in your Bibles to Genesis 12.

[28:52] Genesis 12. This is the Abrahamic covenant. This is God calling Abraham out of His land. Now, we've looked at this before, and you know, I've kind of talked about it over the last couple of years, and the more I study it, the more I see the depths and how central this is to God's entire plan.

[29:17] And so often we are ignorant of what God was saying here to Abraham, thinking it not important. But the Abrahamic covenant is a covenant of promise.

[29:31] In fact, act one begins with God speaking to Abraham. And these are God's first words about what God's program is for the redemption of the human race.

[29:50] And it actually begins with a condition. Come out of the land. It's the only thing Abraham could have done, either obey or disobey.

[30:01] But he obeys, he follows God. And now God reveals to him that there's an unconditional covenant. And what it means is that this is a covenant that God is going to fulfill.

[30:14] And that unconditional part is that God is taking it upon himself to fulfill this covenant in his time. God is going to understand what God is saying here.

[30:31] So remember the first question, what is the need? What is the need? Why is God speaking to Abraham at this time? We know it is because we're lost.

[30:44] Adam and Eve blew it in the garden. God created the earth, God made Adam and Eve, all was good. And then we rebelled. Man fell into sin.

[30:56] Fell is actually not the right word. Man and women chose sin and everything spirals down from there. In fact, their children commit the first murder.

[31:11] The greatest thing that happens is that man wants to do their own thing. So this is the need. man has messed up.

[31:22] Why the Abrahamic covenant? Because man has messed up. So God approaches Abraham and tells him his plan to redeem the world from the rebellion of Adam and Eve.

[31:35] And why is he doing this? Abraham doesn't know God. He's never talked to him before. He's never read anything about him.

[31:48] But Abraham starts off trusting God. And what's interesting, and as we look through the life of Abraham, God gives Abraham seven specific tests, not so much to test his faith, but to grow his faith until he's finally able to accomplish the task that God has for him.

[32:12] So what's interesting is that God begins by establishing a faith relationship with Abraham. And Abraham has no reason to trust God except that God has going to tell him his plan.

[32:31] Hebrews 11.6 says, Without faith, it is impossible to please him who is God. for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

[32:48] Verse 8. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

[33:02] By faith, he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. Now, it's important for us to understand this because the relationship that God is calling Abraham is the exact same relationship that God calls us to.

[33:25] God calls us to a faith relationship. We are called to place our faith in Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God.

[33:38] He is the answer that began to the need that Abraham answers. And the way God wants us to relate to God is the same way God relates to Abraham.

[33:56] That's why Abraham is not mentioned in the great hall of fame of works. Abraham's name is listed in the great hall of fame of faith, faith in Hebrews 11.

[34:10] You see, here's the things, my friends. Our faith isn't just about believing the words of God. Our faith is believing God.

[34:23] Do you understand that? Our faith just isn't believing the words of God. God. Our faith is upon believing God.

[34:35] His words come true because he's God. You with me on that? His words hold power because he is God, because he is perfect. And when we look at our faith, how much easier it is for us, we can look back.

[34:50] We can look back at these great promises that he began with Abraham, and it moves us forward. Now, let's be honest. We do know people that obey the Ten Commandments or follow the Ten Commandments, right?

[35:05] The reality is the Ten Commandments are a great way to flourish humanity. Any culture that has embraced the Ten Commandments has flourished. That's why they're adopted all over the room and they're founded in hundreds of courtrooms.

[35:22] But do those commandments actually establish faith in God? They don't. Does adopting the Ten Commandments as a social ethic build a relationship with God?

[35:41] No. What about a philosophy of the Ten Commandments? Does that establish a faith with God?

[35:52] No. See, the basis for following the Ten Commandments or any of God's commandments, it's not based on the merit of the command, it's based on the merit of the one who gave the command.

[36:06] You with me? It's the one who gives the command. It's about trusting God. We trust him as the basis as trusting his words.

[36:17] Why is this important? God's learned. Let's be honest. When you and I are tempted to sin, we're not tempted to follow after something ugly.

[36:29] We're not. We're not tempted by things that don't appeal to us. We're tempted by things that kind of look good, that they think will answer an issue for us.

[36:44] whether it's I'll save money from lying to the tax man, or if I pursue this relationship I will have the love that I always wanted. That's how sin works.

[36:57] It doesn't get you that, hey, follow this road, it will completely devastate your marriage and your kids will no longer respect you. No one's following after that. So when God says to keep your passions in check, we might not understand why, but we obey because we know who gave us the command.

[37:22] You with me on this? Why is this so important? It's even more important when we struggle with the weight of this world. Because we live in a world that has been consecrated to the sin.

[37:40] This world is a depressing, rebellious place. This world's sin is what leads to cancer. It leads to heart conditions. It leads to broken relationships.

[37:53] All those things that started with Adam and Eve are a part of the brokenness that you and I have to deal with every single day.

[38:03] whether you be a police officer or a doctor who deals with the public on a first-hand basis, you know wholeheartedly how evil and destructive this world is.

[38:25] How do we remain strong? wrong. Here's another way to say that. How do we stay weak yet stay on the side of God?

[38:39] Even in the moments that seem impossible. It's because God is asking us to trust him. Now if you are starting to grasp at what I'm getting at now, you're starting to put yourselves in the shoes of these saints that lived in the time of Exodus.

[39:04] You with me? You're starting to understand the wonders of the Old Testament. You're starting to you're getting that question why do we have the Old Testament?

[39:18] the same things that you and I struggle with, they struggled with. And the ways that they responded, we respond.

[39:31] So to come to the Old Testament and read it as some moral tale or to read it as I can do things differently than them because I'm better than them, you've missed the whole point.

[39:43] you see, here's the thing. There is no other way to relate to God other than a relationship with God.

[39:59] You with me? There's no other way to relate to him other than through a relationship. You may say, well, I'm not sure I want this faith relationship, so you might say to God, can't we work out some other kind of deal?

[40:14] The Lord says, nope. I want a faith relationship with you. Well, we might counter. Can we just give me a contract?

[40:25] If I do this, you will do this. If you give me the specific laws I'm supposed to follow, I can write them on the walls of my house, I can put them in my car, and I will know I will have the good life if I do these things, and I'll be okay.

[40:45] Would you do that for me, God? Nope. God says, I want a relationship with you. God, if I do these things, will you give me peace with you?

[40:59] God says, no. I want a relationship with you. God, if I do these things, can you just tell me everything? Can you tell me what tomorrow will be like?

[41:12] Just for tomorrow? God says, nope. I want a relationship with you. God, if you do these things, will you tell me if my mom is going to be okay from cancer?

[41:25] God says, nope. I want a relationship with you. God, can you not tell me if I will do these certain things? Will you tell me if I will be financially secure?

[41:35] God says, nope. I want a relationship with you. God, can you not tell me just some things and you can at least tell me if I will grow to be healthy?

[41:50] Nope. I want a relationship with you. But God, can you give me something, something to do, that if I do it, you'll tell me that my spouse will love me to the day I die?

[42:02] Nope. I want a relationship with you. God, if you tell me what my part is on how to make the things the way that I want them, can't you simply just do your part?

[42:20] God says, nope. I want a relationship with you. I want another way, we say. But God says, but this is the way I want it.

[42:32] and can I tell you something else? It's way better than you can even imagine. My relationship takes you through the value of the shadow of death and you will fear no evil.

[42:50] Your way lasts you a day. My way lasts a lifetime. See, the fact of the matter is you can't argue with God on this.

[43:05] You have to relate to God the way he wants you to relate to him. You can be here sitting here thinking about this and asking yourself, I'm not sure about this relationship.

[43:18] I'd rather still look the part and have it my way. God, this would work so much better if this was my way. think about the arrogance to say something.

[43:31] What have you created? What mountain have you made? What ocean do you hold in the palm of your hand? Yet to say, I want it my way.

[43:49] See, what God is establishing here with Abraham, if you want a relationship with me, you have to do it in the way that I want it.

[44:04] And that reveals our greatest need and our greatest need is that we need a relationship with God. We've already shown when we were perfect, Adam and Eve were created perfect.

[44:16] They had no sin on the inside. They had no temptations on the inside. They disobeyed God when they had everything perfect. That's why we see in the wilderness when Jesus is called to the desert, right at the beginning of his ministry, how Satan comes against him with all the lies, and it happens after Jesus was in the desert already weakened in a physical spiritual state for 40 days.

[44:46] Adam couldn't fight him, the best of us, and make no argument, Adam was the best human being ever created, and he failed.

[44:57] And here is Jesus Christ in the worst physical condition that man could be, yet he fought and won. Why?

[45:09] Because he's Jesus, the Son of God. He won the battle that we cannot win. See, the fact of the matter is, man doesn't want to rule for God.

[45:21] Man doesn't want to obey God. And man, who is now deep in sin, doesn't even have the ability to obey God. They just walk around acting in this guilt and shame, trying to make up for something that only causes them more problems.

[45:41] So God has a plan, and his plan is Jesus Christ come from the nation that God wants to start with Abraham. And this is where we put our faith.

[45:54] So what does this mean for us? When God speaks, we listen. And we respond in a faith relationship. This is our greatest need.

[46:05] Our greatest need is for us to have a repaired relationship with God. We need God to repair that relationship that we broke in the garden.

[46:16] God is for God. We need to have a relationship with God. And it's fixed in the same way to have a relationship with God.

[46:30] Thus, our greatest need is to sit at the feet of the Father, to walk with Him, to have a life with Him, to enjoy Him. and that can only happen if we're in a relationship with Him.

[46:52] Here's the thing. If you are here today and wondering if you can place your faith in God, let me ask you a few questions. Do you have any reason to doubt or to mistrust God?

[47:07] If you are basing your relationship on God with the way that you wanted, you probably do. Because you put expectations on God that He never said He would answer.

[47:18] He never promised to give you those things. But if you are following God's way of building a relationship, you understand perfectly that God has been good to every single promise.

[47:34] So the promise He's making to Abraham is that there will be a seed that comes from the nation that will bless all the families of the earth. And that seed is Jesus Christ.

[47:48] Galatians 3.16 says, Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say and to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one, and to your offspring who is Christ.

[48:07] Christ. You see, God promised Abraham that He would give him Christ. Over 30 times that promise is made.

[48:20] You know the promise is for us. He's already given us Jesus Christ. He's already given us redemption. The only thing is, we just need to accept it.

[48:30] And this is the content part that I'll talk about, and I'm going to go quickly. So the message addresses the need, and the content, and what I fail to say here is, this is where Galatians 3.16 is, the content of the message to Abraham is Jesus Christ.

[48:54] That's the contents. That the future hope will come through the birth of Abraham's nation. So I conclude with these thoughts.

[49:06] Because of God's covenant with Abraham, we know that God calls us to a relationship with him. That God has always called his people to trust him.

[49:20] And when we ask, how do I make that relationship happen? Because, let's be honest, you might say, I've been going on my way for a long time.

[49:34] You don't know the crazy trains I've been on. Right? You don't know the rebellious ways. I wasn't ignorant of God. I knew God, and I still rejected God. Is there still a place where I can receive faith?

[49:48] God says, yeah. Well, you don't get it. I was really bad. Really, really bad. I was so bad, I can't even forgive myself.

[50:01] Can God forgive me? Yeah. God can forgive you. Even if you weren't quote unquote lost, but that you were purposely running away, you can still believe in God.

[50:20] Even when you told God, I trust me more over you more, is there still hope for me? God says, yes, there is. Because the reality is, you're not the one who fixes the relationship.

[50:35] I'm the one who fixes the relationship. And the way you come to faith is through trusting in the birth of my son, Jesus Christ, which is why, and I hate mentioning this word before December, it's Christmas.

[50:51] That's the answered promise that fixes our greatest need. that Jesus paid it all. So sometimes you're going to hesitate to trust God's word.

[51:05] Don't. Trust God. If you trust God, you will trust his word. God says, put your faith in me so I can do the work for you.

[51:19] And that is the Christian message. So next week I'm going to look at the method God uses and the response God wants from us through both Abraham and through the Mosaic covenant.

[51:33] Let's pray. Dear Holy Heavenly Father, there's a little bit of a technicality to these sermons and I pray that at the same time we can understand the personal implications of the technicality here.

[51:48] The truth is that you made Abraham a promise and in the New Testament we read that you fulfilled that promise.

[52:04] That before Abraham we revealed man's sinful nature that we had a great need. You told Abraham that you would redeem mankind through his seed and you have done so.

[52:17] Even as we get into the story of how these people struggle with believing your words I pray we will learn to hold fast during difficult times.

[52:39] That we will hold fast to the truth of who you are even when we don't understand your words to be safe with you.

[52:55] Father I pray that you would grant us each the gift of salvation the gift of believing the gift of faith for some people they've been let down so many times in life that it's the gospel message seems so too good to be true no matter how far they've wandered or even personally took the crazy train away from you God they struggle whether they are welcome into your bosom but we know that the hands that were stretched wide in which the nails pierced on that cross saves everybody those nails were meant for every single one of us because all of us at one time were rebels but father now we have a purpose we have a cause we are a part of your marvelous plan we may not understand what it is but we trust you just like

[54:07] Abraham could not understand what the plan meant because his wife was barren she could not have a child and God just to demonstrate his glory gave her a son maybe that's the same thing God is doing with our lives he's demonstrating that he is indeed God of the impossible that God doesn't want us to look and wonder man I'll never be able to accomplish that and maybe that's where faith begins when God says good now you can depend on me so for all of those saints who've been walking with you father through the valley of the shadow of death clinging like a child clings to his father holding your hand I thank you God I thank you we didn't let go more importantly we thank you that you never let go of us that you hold us you wait you know you understand just as we read in exodus 13 they knew their faith could not handle dealing with the philistines but their faith could handle being before a mighty sea and letting

[55:26]  God part it sometimes God takes us where he does all the work then at other times he asks us to respond and act in faith as well so God on this Sunday morning I pray that our worship is enhanced with a greater understanding that God truly did know us right from the beginning in Genesis chapter 12 in your most holy and precious name amen