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Well, my dear brethren and sisters, first of all, let me say what a real pleasure it is to be back with you. I think the last time that I met most of you was in 1963 at Wilbraham. I would like to bring to you the greetings of the Southern California Ecclesias, CYCs, and especially those of my own Ecclesia, the Lompoc Valley Ecclesia in Lompoc, California. We're small, but we hope that we're mighty in the work of the Lord's work, and this is what we're trying to do in that area. I would like to begin our study this morning by mentioning the fact that I was deeply impressed with the opening prayer. And I would like to preface these remarks, brethren and sisters, by saying that if we were to be asked the question, what is the greatest form of worship that we can render to the God of Israel? I might get many varied answers, but the Scripture makes it quite plain, and this was the theme of our brother's prayer this morning. It is exemplified in the peace offerings under the law. It's interesting enough that every time we have a record of an altar being built to Yahweh, the two basic offerings that are offered on that altar are the peace offering and the burnt offering. And one of the major factors of the peace offering was praise. And this is the greatest form of worship that we can render to the God of Israel is praise and thanksgiving. This was the central theme of our brother's remarks this morning. He concluded by mentioning the fact, too, that we, every one of us, in the body of Christ, are members of that organization that are holding high the way of life, brethren and sisters. We are in a very real sense the mortal carabim of God. We're being prepared for that immortal carabim. But I'm sure we're very familiar with the fact that the carabim actually means one in whom God dwells, one in whom God rides. This brings us right down to the theme of our wilderness wanderings this morning, that we are a privileged few. You know, you might not think you are very important as an individual in the body of Christ. You might have the idea many times that God doesn't see me. Who am I? And basically, this is right, because it is an obedience to the command that we're told, what does the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God. But on the other hand, brethren and sisters, had you ever stopped to think that as small as you might feel that you are, you are the one thing that is holding back the judgments of God upon this world? Had you ever thought about that? God is not going to move in with his judgments and the time of trouble such as never was until you as an individual have been removed from this world, just as it was in the days of Lot. When the angel told Abram that he wouldn't destroy that city as long as any of his brothers and sisters, God hasn't indiscriminately gone out and picked people. He doesn't go into the large cities of the land and say, come everybody. God has been very choosy. And we must remember that no man comes to God except God himself draw him. It is God's operation. And this is number one that we must remember. And it comes right down to the one of the basic facts of our subject this morning, that we are a privileged people just as Israel was a privileged people. You know, many times we, when we think of the atonement, we only think of Christ. And far be it from us to belittle the Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid. But by the same token, my brethren and sisters, don't give Christ the initial glory in this thing. God was in Christ, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians, the fifth chapter. God was in Christ manifesting himself unto the world. It's God that does it. And we can in some small way in this session realize that the God of Israel has reached down into your life and into mine and lifted us out of this world of corruption and has said in so many words, you are the material out of which I want to form the building blocks for the future age. Now I know many times that when we mention this book, we think of it as something different, something that is basically completely different than any of God's creation. I know the world looks upon anyone that looks upon this book and reads it as some kind of a nut. They're fanatical. But if there's one thing I want to leave in this class, my dear brethren and sisters, it is this, that this book is the handbook of the creator of heaven and earth, and he put it there for one reason. He put it there, brethren and sisters, because in the beginning man transgressed God's law, and God in so many words has given us a handbook that guides us from the Garden of Eden to the end of the millennial age, and it doesn't go back any further than that, and it does not go ahead any further than the end of the millennium. It is a book that has as its central theme the redemption of man and the earth, and because it is God-given, it has the basic laws of the universe as its foundation. Now if we can remember that, we'll approach the Bible with an entirely different viewpoint. This is what the apostle Paul means in Romans 15 and 4 when he says these things were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scripture might have hope. What are you saying, Paul? Well I am saying that the basic fundamentals that guided the children of Israel through the wilderness are the same basic fundamentals that you're going to be facing when you come to the end of the age. They don't change. God doesn't have the sun rise on the eastern horizon one morning and on the west the next, brethren and sisters, and this of course we know. Why? Because this is a basic fundamental law. And when we get this idea of these glorious themes going from Genesis to the Revelation in an unbroken continuity, all weaving themselves together in a beautiful pattern that we know is the glorious Kingdom of God on earth, then we begin to see the beauty of the Scriptures of truth. I think one of the central themes that we must remember, first of all, brethren and sisters, and it is the basic theme of the Atonement, is the basic theme of Israel's wanderings in the wilderness, is found for us in Genesis 1, 27. And it is God's eternal purpose where God says, let us make man in our image and after our likeness and let him have dominion. Let us never forget that. Let him have dominion over the earth, rulership. And we know, don't we, brethren and sisters, that that fixed principle of God was temporarily delayed. Temporarily delayed because in God's creation that he looked out upon and pronounced very good, a horrible, dirty thing entered. And that thing, the sin, how did it get there, brethren and sisters? Did God put it there? No. No, God can't look on sin. We of all religions in the world are the most fortunate in realizing this because anyone that attains to immortality could never fall. There could be no personal devil working in opposition to God, for God cannot look on sin. And the Apostle Paul makes this very clear. In Romans 5 and 12, and the Apostle Paul, of course, he's very meticulous in the words that he chooses. He doesn't want any question in our minds, no ambiguity at all. The Apostle Paul emphasizes, brethren and sisters, that by one man, and let us never forget that, by one man sin entered the world and death by sin, and so death has passed on all men for that all have sinned. Now we're right at the basis of the entire theme of the Bible. First of all, let us remember that God has determined that one day man is going to be in his image and in his likeness, and man is going to have dominion over the earth. God has decreed this. God has taken three oaths in the Bible that this is the theme where God says that as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Now if we begin to ask ourselves the question, how is the glory of God going to fill the earth when that ugly thing known as sin is in the earth? Well, we have cause and we have effect, don't we? If you were to get an appendicitis and you wanted your health restored, the logical thing to do is to remove the appendix. What have you done? You have removed the cause to gain the effect. And God was quick to tell mankind that that was exactly what he was going to do. In Genesis 3 15, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, serpent, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Now notice carefully, brethren and sisters, God is going to do it. And I want to emphasize this over and over and over again. It is God, the supreme ruler of the universe. God is going to do it. You may have asked yourself the question from time to time, why did God say the seed of the woman? Why did he say that? In most scriptural genealogies, you very seldom find a woman, do you? Genealogy comes down through a man. Why did God say the seed of the woman? And God was actually saying, I cannot abdicate my position in the universe. I cannot abdicate my high and lofty and exalted position to come to earth to fight sin. So I'm going to meet that monster sin head on, and I'm going to do it through a virgin. So the prophet Isaiah says that, behold, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. Of course, we are familiar in our names and titles of the deity that we know that L is that particular title that signifies the power of God. The power and strength of God manifested in a woman, manifested in the arena of flesh, would meet flesh sin head on, and would conquer sin. Who did it? Secondarily, Christ did it. Primarily, God did it. Why was he doing this, class? He was doing it that his original purpose in the earth might become a reality. I will make man in my image and after my likeness, and he will have dominion over the earth. Now, you see, we see this theme develop, don't we? And as we come down through the stream of Bible history, we see God moving to this end. And notice, if you will, it's God that's doing it always. We come to the time of the flood, and we have the destructive waters, the very thing that destroyed mankind, the very power that destroyed man was the power that saved man, because those waters that destroyed man lifted the ark up and carried it to safety. And Peter makes quite a thing out of this, doesn't he? Showing how baptism does the same thing for us. And then we come to the time of Abraham, later Abraham. We find him obeying God, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, come into a land that I will show thee, Abram. He comes into the land of the earth, the Chaldees. I'm going to give you a seed, Abram. How long, God? You wait and see. He wanders five years and 10 years and 15 years and 20 years, never doubting, never discount Sarai, my dear brethren and sisters. You don't find her murmuring and complaining, even though she'd left the lap of luxury. What was God teaching? He waits until he's a hundred years old, far past that normal time for childbirth. God says, now watch, I'll intervene. And the birth of Isaac is a miracle, an absolute miracle. Who did it? God did it. What's his purpose? To effect that destruction of flesh, the destruction of sin, to eradicate, brethren and sisters, that thing which had temporarily delayed his eternal purpose. We come down to the time of Rebekah and God touches the womb of Rebekah, another miracle, so that when the nation of Israel came into existence, it was a miracle. The birth of Israel was just as much a miracle as the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. For God did it. We can go on down through the stream of time and see how this pattern begins to broaden out, can't we? How God is working. For one thing, that is the destruction of sin. Is it any wonder then that the apostle Paul picks this up in the sixth chapter of Romans and tells us, brethren and sisters, that if we want a place in the kingdom of God that our old man must be crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed. Or in Galatians chapter 5 verse 24, where God tells us that they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. You might ask the question then, what does this have to do with the wilderness wanderings? It has everything, my dear brethren and sisters, everything. Because as the nation of Israel now begins to become a nation, God has not changed these principles. And he's also going to affect a string of narratives in actual life that can be used by his brethren and sisters, by the brethren and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ as they come to the end of Gentile times. Why can they be used even though they were nearly 4,000 years ago? Because of the fact that God's principles do not change. Because he is taking out a people for his name. Because of the fact, brethren and sisters, that the first fruits of that new creation spoken of in the first chapter of Hebrews, where we were told that God, who at sundry times in a diverse manner spake in time fast unto the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. And we go on in the second verse and we find that he is the exact duplicate of God. The exact duplicate made in the express image. It's an echo, isn't it? Of Genesis 1, 27. Made in the express image and in his likeness, let him have dominion over the earth. Let us make man in our image. The apostle Paul says he's the first fruits of them to sleep, the first fruits of a new creation. And all that are born again, born into this, become part of, become one of those stones that will be built upon the chief cornerstone that was cut out of the mountain without hands. And because that is a multitude which no man can number is outlined in the seventh of the revelation, it becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth. They don't change. These principles don't change. You don't change the purpose of God. Now when Israel begins to grow as a nation, God doesn't change these principles. They are taken into Egypt. Why? As we're told in the 11th chapter of Hosea, verse 1, but it might be fulfilled out of Egypt if I call my son. Why Egypt? Did God just reach out and out of thin air pick out a nation? No, my brethren and sisters, He didn't. In His creation, when He created the earth, He created Egypt with peculiar characteristics. Peculiar characteristics so that it would exemplify the ugliness of flesh. You see, the land of Egypt does not receive its sustenance from the skies. It receives its sustenance from the River Nile whose headwaters are far away from the land of Egypt. And what is the consequence? An Egyptian is constantly looking down. He's looking to the ground for help. It's typical of the nations of the world who put trust in their own ability in this quality that seems to be flooding the world today of self-confidence, the power of positive thinking, the great I Am inside of man, which is entirely opposite to the will of God. And there you have it in Egypt, brethren and sisters. Constantly looking down. But what do we have in the land of Israel? We have an Israelite looking to the heavens for the early and the latter rains, constantly dependent upon the God of Israel. In Egypt, we have preservation of the dead, mummification of the dead. As the tombs are excavated, they find the earthly possessions of these monarchs still intact. They find the food that was given there for his sustenance still the same. He hasn't touched it. We find verification of the biblical principles that in death there is no in the grave who shall give the thanks. We see the grand fulfillment of David's words as he warns us in 146 Psalm to put not your trust in princes nor in the son of man in whom there is no help. His breath go forth, he returneth to his earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish. He sees such a fulfillment of those glorious truths, don't we, brethren and sisters and young people? And so into this land, we have the beginning of the nation of Israel. They grow up here. They become a great and mighty nation. And we see God working through an individual by the name of Joseph. And in Joseph, we have a tremendous type of Christ. If we only had time to elaborate on this, we see a man that was figuratively lifted from the grave. We see a man who by the revelation of God was permitted to be a savior to Egypt. We see one deliver his people from the house of bondage. And in Joseph, we see an individual that has not one recorded sin against him. Not that he didn't sin, but there is no recorded sin against Joseph and he becomes a marvelous type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, it's very interesting that when the writer to the Hebrews reaches down to take something out of the life of Joseph, that he bypasses all of the colorful events in this man's life, brethren and sisters. And think of the many incidents that he could have chosen. But when he comes to put him in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, he discusses his bones. Why does he do that? Because here is faith. Faith at work. Stop and think for a moment. Joseph, in line for the throne of Egypt, Joseph, who could have been buried in the royalty of Egypt on the banks of the Niles with the Pharaohs, he calls his brethren and says, this isn't our final resting place. This isn't the land of our fathers. This is Egypt. This is that which is a symbol of opposition to God. I don't want any part of it. You're going back into the land. How did he know that, brethren and sisters? Remember that when Joseph made that statement that the nation of Israel was riding on the crest of the waves, they were friends of the prime minister they were looked to. How did Joseph know they were going back? That's the theme of the 11th of Hebrews, isn't it? He had faith. He believed God. He said, you're going back. And when you go, take my bones with you. It's interesting that the book of Genesis opens with the creation and it concludes with a coffin in Egypt. That's the way the book concludes. It opens with life. It finishes with death. The book of beginnings. A coffin in Egypt. You know, if you are familiar with Adam Clark's commentary and many others, they will tell you and many travelers will tell you the same thing, that a coffin in Egypt was quite a thing because there was only two kinds of burial in Egypt. You were either buried in royalty or you were buried in poverty. And to be buried in royalty as Joseph was meant that you had a casket that was hewn out of solid stone. That casket would weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 tons. This is the reason they carried Jacob back on wagons. Can you imagine the problem that they had in Egypt? Carrying the bones of Joseph through that wilderness for 40 years. And what was it doing? God intended it for them to be a problem because it was a constant reminder, brethren and sisters, a constant reminder that in that coffin was the bones of one that was going into the promised land. It was the counterpart of that which is constantly with us. That one day the Lord Jesus Christ is going to reign gloriously in Jerusalem, in the promised land. And that is the reason he tells you and me to abide in me. Hold on. Don't turn loose. Why do you say that, Master? Well, if you hold on to me viciously and tight and never let go, there's only one place that you can go because I'm going to be king over all the earth. And if you're holding on to me, you're going to be carried into that kingdom. But I warn you that it's not going to be easy to hold. Many times you're going to loosen your grip, but take renewed strength, take renewed courage as God told Joshua this morning. Be strong and of good courage. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. I'll give you that strength as long as your desire is there. And if you hold on to me, there's only one place you can go and that is into that kingdom with me. Now you see, these are basic, these are fundamentals. And what I want to emphasize as we begin these wilderness wanderings, brethren and sisters, that the principles that we find in the wilderness are the same principles that we find in the wilderness of life today. They haven't changed. And you know, many times we are inclined to say, my, my Israel, how could you do it? How in the world could you turn against God with all of the manifestations of his power at your right hand? Oh, we wouldn't do that. Oh no, not us. We look out on a world this morning, a world that is the exact and complete fulfillment of what Christ said in the 21st chapter of Luke would be in the world just prior to his coming, no way out. No way to turn. Could you think of three better words this morning to describe the dilemma in Washington right now in the Watergate affair? Could you? Could you think of three better words, brethren and sisters, to describe the problem in Southeast Asia? We thought we had peace, didn't we? That is, the world did. The Christadelphians knew better. Could you look out on the dope problem that is in the world today and find three better words to describe that problem? No way out. Well, you know, if God or Christ could have thought of three better words, they wouldn't have used it in the 21st chapter of Luke. But that's the three words they used. But every one of us this morning should fall down on our knees and thank the God of Israel that he has given us a way out. Now in that bondage in Egypt, as Israel were under the power of the Pharaohs, those three words hit them right in the face. And apart from the intervention of God, there would have been no way out. But because they cried unto the Lord, because they had a desire to be delivered from bondage, and remember, it was because of that desire, God heard. God sent them a deliverer. God extricated them from the bondage of sin, the bondage of Egypt, and he brought them into that glorious land of promise. And the apostle Paul, reaching back, brethren and sisters, says in Romans 15 and 4 that these things were written aforetime for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scripture, might have hope. And in our next two classes this morning, I want to take the highlights of that deliverance, and I want to bring them right down into the laps of every individual in this audience. And I want us to take those first principles, brethren and sisters, that are enumerated over and over again, these basic laws of God. And I want us to see how they can be stepping stones into that kingdom that is coming, brethren and sisters, and that's the most important thing in the world. I don't know how many of you are familiar with it. You should be. You're right in the middle of it. But about a year ago in the Los Angeles Times, there appeared a half-page article, and it was from MIT here in Boston. And in that half-page article in the Times, and I am sure that you would all agree being as close to this Brayden factory as you are, that they would have nothing to do with the Bible as an authority, but they're dealing with facts. And they warned the world that unless man took his head out of the sand and got up and did something, and they said, we don't know what you're going to do because it's an insurmountable problem, unless you do something about the population explosion and the shortages that are going to develop in food and everything else, that civilization is going to come to a halt in 1984. Now they're beginning to see that they knew what they were talking about. I don't know what the problems you're having here, but we're facing gasoline rationing in California. We're facing power blackouts. We're facing innumerable problems. The pollution is getting out of hand. It is stated by authorities that people will be falling over in the streets in Los Angeles by 1975. Now if you look at these things squarely, brethren and sisters and young people, and if the world looks at them squarely, I can forget this book. And they're face to face with the fact that the future offers nothing but trouble. The future holds nothing but annihilation. That is the reason that you and I this morning should fall on our knees before the God of Israel and thank him for the open door that he has given us that will lead us out of this land of Egypt through this dark night, across the Red Sea, and into our promised hope. We hope to develop this in our next few lettered classes. Thank you.

Transcript

As we open the book of Exodus, we find a sad commentary on human nature. How many times this has spelled doom for an individual, that there are rows of pharaohs that knew not Joseph, and all the glory that had been Israel, all the prestige that they had owned, suddenly is blanked out. How many times this has been true in the course of civilization, and how it emphasizes the truth of David's words once again, to put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man in whom there is no help. His breath goes forth, he returneth to his earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish. It emphasizes again the fact that the Jeremiah reveals to us in his 17th chapter that the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately ill or sick. It's diseased, and he goes on to ask the question, who can know it? Of course, this becomes one of the great facts, unchanging facts that the world has been faced with when they put their trust in man. So we see the nation of Israel go into bondage, hard labor, under the whip of the taskmaster, their cries come up before the God of Israel. Our story goes back now to the provision of a deliverer. We know the story of Moses, don't we? There's no need to go into a lot of detail concerning the miraculous deliverance of this man, and how he was taken into the courts of Pharaoh. But I want to pause for a moment in that story, and I want to tell you, brethren and sisters, to bring out a gem. You know, there's more beauty, actually, in the unwritten things in Scripture than there is in that which is written, if we stop and analyze it, if we go under the surface for a moment. We often think of the unwritten story that elapsed between that time when God told Abram to go offer Isaac as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah, and the next words that we have, and he rose up early in the morning. There was a night that intervened there, brethren and sisters. That was Abraham's Gethsemane. Do you think he slept that night? I'll leave the answer to you. It wasn't just an ordinary offering. It wasn't a sin offering. This was a burnt offering. That required the skinning of the animal and the severing of the parts of the body. Abraham was all too well aware of the demands of that offering. But to get back to our question and point this morning, Moses was under the tutelage of his own mother. You don't read much about Jacobet, do you, brethren and sisters? There isn't much to be said. But I want you to stop and think for a moment. There have been many Jacobets in Israel, Jacobets who undoubtedly went to their deathbed thinking that God has never seen me. I have tried, but I have done nothing spectacular. I have never given a public lecture. I have never been out in front where the world could see me. I am an unknown. And yet those Jacobets, brethren and sisters, will be in the Kingdom of God, and many of those who have made a big noise will be cast out. For you see, Jacobet lost no time. When she received that baby back, she went to work. And on that soft mind of clay, she so instilled the principles of Almighty God that when he was faced with the glories of the throne of Egypt and all of the fringe benefits that could come to him from a natural standpoint, he refused and he chose, as the writer to the Hebrews says, to suffer the affliction of his people rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. And once again, brethren and sisters, I want to emphasize something here. The apostle Paul is going right back to our basic principle of the destruction of sin, that operative principle that came into the world that temporarily delayed God's plan. Moses didn't want any part of it because he was looking forward to that city whose builder and maker is God. But you know, in the seventh chapter of Acts, we're told something very interesting, brethren and sisters. In regards to this man, I would like to direct your attention to the 22nd verse. Acts chapter 7, verse 22. We go to 11 now. In this part of it, huh? Acts chapter 7, verse 22. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds. And if we go to the historian Pliny and to Josephus, for the hidden years of Moses' life, and even though they are not really authoritative historians, yet they are credited with some degree of credibility, we find out from them that Moses was one of the greatest generals in the Egyptian army, that Moses was the mastermind in building the treasure cities, that Moses was one of the greatest men that was ever in Egypt. And as the writer in Acts tells us here that he was skilled in all the wisdom and knowledge of the Egyptians. Now don't take that too lightly, brethren and sisters, because that was a tremendous education in that time. That would have meant a degree in engineering. It would have meant that he was skilled in hieroglyphics, that he was skilled in all of the wisdom of Egypt, and at that time that would have meant a tremendous education in secular knowledge. And now Moses, in the prime of life, 40 years of age, with all the wisdom of this world, he comes to God and he says, Here I am, look at me. I have this marvelous education, I'm in the prime of life, I am qualified in every detail, God, to do your job. I know that's rather a free translation of the King James Version, brethren and sisters, but the thought is there. And God says, Oh, no, you're not Moses. No, no. You come to my school for a while, Moses. Eight years? No. Ten years? No. It'll take longer than that, Moses. How long, God? Forty years. Well, what university are you going to send me to, God? I'm taking you, Moses, to the backside of the desert where I have and will train every one of my workmen. I'm taking you far away from the exchequer. I'm taking you away from the world of the commercial. I'm taking you, Moses, back into my creation. I'm taking you back where you can get a good look at my stars and my universe at night. I'm taking you, Moses, back where I can get rid. Where I can cleanse your mind of flesh. What was in Moses' mind? Or you say you just said that he had been filled with the wisdom that Jacob had given him of the knowledge of God. This is true. But in Acts we are told that he was skilled in all the wisdom of Egypt. And what is Egypt? It's flesh. What's God telling him? Now, brethren and sisters, let's get down to the basics. Here in this one verse is the meat of the atonement. In this one verse is exactly what Christ did at Calvary. He destroyed the thinking of flesh. Why did God tell the serpent that he was going to be hit in the head? Because in the head is the brain, is the thinking of man. It wasn't only to destroy that serpent, it was to destroy the thinking of man. That the thinking of God could come in. And this is what Paul tells you and me, Galatians 5, 24, that they that are Christ have crucified the flesh. And where do we do it, brethren and sisters? I can talk freely to you back here. But I don't know any of your habitat. I don't know what bothers you, except that you're mortal like I am. But I can tell you the trouble in California and Los Angeles area. I can tell you why our Bible classes have gone down and down and down. And they can be traced to the advent of Dodger Stadium and the Angel Stadium in Anaheim, if I can use that term loosely. To Disneyland, to Marine Land, to Disneyland. And someone says, what's the matter of that? That's good clean entertainment. Brethren and sisters, we don't have time. We have a given space of time to go from this point to this point and there is no place for a detour. And this is exactly the reason that God took Moses to the backside of the desert. There was no Disneyland back there. There was no Marine Land. There was no Dodger Stadium. There was no Anaheim Stadium. There was nothing of the world back there. It was in God's creation. And for 40 years, he drained out the wisdom of Egypt. He crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. And a man that had been the one of the chief spokesmen for Pharaoh, a man that had led armies, a man that had been the greatest in the Egypt, was now so humbled and brought to his knees before the God of Israel that he had to have a spokesman when he stood before Pharaoh. That's what God wants. God says, you can't do it on your own. And the sooner you come to that realization, the sooner you are in a position to being my disciple. When you come to the realization that my son came to, that of my own self I can do nothing, that I'm a weak, frail, stumbling creature of dust and without your help, God, I'm lost. When you get to that point, then you're ready. And after 40 years, Moses is now ready. 40 years in God's school, 40 years of flesh, now 40 years of spiritual exhortation in a building. He comes to Pharaoh. Oh, brethren and sisters, there's so much here. There's such an exhortation, there's such a warning. Isn't it interesting that as Moses comes to Pharaoh that he utters the beginning of a cry that we're hearing today in Russia? Isn't it interesting that as there were three, approximately three million Israelis or Jews in Egypt, that there are three million Jews locked up in Russia today? And isn't it interesting that the same cry that says, I'm gonna let my people go is the same cry that's being echoed from the four corners of the earth today? And isn't it interesting that the Egyptian army was destroyed by water and God says it won't happen again, but this time it will be by fire? The judgments of God and we're seeing those things and we hear the words of Jeremiah crying out in the third chapter of Jeremiah, go into the land of the north and bring my people home. The words to Elijah and the immortalized saints, bring my people home, let my people go. You see, God's principles don't change, do they? Now Moses comes before Pharaoh. We know the story well. We know how that Pharaoh's heart was hardened and how many comments we've heard on this, brethren and sisters, but God didn't harden Pharaoh's heart. Isn't it interesting in the scriptures of truth that God never hardens the heart of an individual and an individual's heart is never hardened until mercy is extended? As long as those plagues were in Egypt, as long as the frogs were there, as long as the lice were there, as long as the darkness was there, Pharaoh was a very humble person, wasn't he? Meek. But when God extended his mercy, the hardness of Pharaoh's heart returned. You'll think, well, how could you do that, Pharaoh? Be careful, brethren and sisters. There's several in this audience this morning that have had a pretty close brush with death as individuals and in their families. You know, there isn't any time in your life that your mind turns to Yahweh Rufika as it does in the hour of pain and sickness, for you realize that he is the only one that can affect the cure. All the hardness in our hearts towards our brethren and sisters, if we have any, and we pray God that we don't. Every sin that we have committed comes bounding back like a echo, doesn't it? And oh, if we only had time to remedy these things, because there's a possibility I might not live through the night. We're rather a meek person, aren't we, brethren and sisters? Our financial trouble comes and no way to turn, and we go to our knees in prayer and we give everything to God. There's the heart that God wants, but then health returns and the sun begins to shine and the larder is full and the bank account grows, and what happens to our hearts the way it was? And the world becomes quite bright again, doesn't it? And our old associations look better than they had in our hour of trial, and we begin to go back to Egypt. Our heart hardens, God doesn't do it. You see, our heart is never hardened until mercy is extended to us. That's one of the ironical things of human nature. But anyway, to progress with our story this morning, Moses realizes that the only way that Pharaoh is going to bend is by force. And God is going to prove another point. God is going to prove to Israel and he's going to prove to Egypt that there is only one God that can save you. Now, you know, when we speak of the power of God, we are liable to think many times of his massive universe, and this is the power of God. There's no question about it. When we look at the extent of space and man's utter incapability of reaching in space, or even fathoming its end, or even fathoming its depths, certainly that speaks to the power of God. But that's not the way the Scripture speaks of the power of God, brethren and sisters. The way the Scripture speaks of the power of God is spoken by Paul in Romans 1, where he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation to everyone to believe it. And as he comes to Philippi, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. The power of God is exemplified to us in God's ability to save. We realize this, don't we, when we go to a funeral and we look at one we've known in life, the brother John Carter said in Pomona one day when he was speaking on the atonement that there is no time in our life, in our experience of life that we realize that our utter helplessness, like we do when we look upon one that has passed on, there isn't anything they can do, there isn't anything we can do. We're utterly dependent upon the power of God. I have an extremely good friend in Pomona area that is a physician and he told me one day that, Maury, if there is ever any time in a physician's life when he feels the need of God, it is when we have, for instance, a young person that is in the prime of life that's been in a serious accident and we operate and we put all those pieces back together just like the book says to do and then we wait. We wait for that spark of life to begin flowing through that body and he says, if you ever felt a helpless moment, and he says, every physician realizes this, the most helpless moment is when you wait for that spark of life and you know that you yourself can't put it there. My brethren and sisters, that's the power of God. And now God is going to move in and he's going to exhibit that power. And isn't it interesting that he strikes at the very source of power in Egypt because Egypt had those 10 gods that they worshiped, that they deified. The frog-headed goddess Haika, the earth god Keb, the sun god Ra'amon, the river Nile, and on and on and on. God says, very well Egypt, you worship these gods, I'll reverse them for you and then we'll see if your God can deliver you. Remember the priests of Baal, don't we? They had the same principle and so the land was flooded with frogs. They became a pestilence and the Egyptians went through their ceremonies of praying to their frog-headed goddess Haika morning, noon, and night and nothing happened. Rings a bell, doesn't it, brethren and sisters, when men are putting their trust in idols of silver and gold and they're falling down before them but nothing happens. There's plenty of money in Washington this morning but it's not clearing up the scandal. There's plenty of money in our military but it's not clearing up the problems in Southeast Asia. It is a replica, isn't it, of Nebuchadnezzar going to the wisdom of this world rather than coming to the wisdom of God for a solution. There we have it in the courts of Babylon. The sun god, Ra Ammon, turned into darkness. They couldn't bring light. The river Nile turned into blood. But you know, remember what we stated that these are fixed principles. And very soon the world is going to see the power of God displayed in a manner that they will know beyond any question of doubt that this power is far beyond human ingenuity. When they feel this worldwide earthquake and they see every wall falling to the ground, the dams breaking in their strategic position throughout the world, God moving in to cleanse this world in preparation for the kingdom of God on earth, we're going to see the fulfillment of the last verse of the 38th chapter of Ezekiel. Thus will I be magnified in thine eyes, O Israel, and they shall know that I am Yahweh. His principles don't change, right, my sisters. And then that very memorable night, a lesson that Israel was never to forget, by the way, a lesson that we are never to forget, either, brethren and sisters, a lesson that we're going to be reminded of tomorrow morning at the breaking of bread. Take a lamb, Israel. Take a lamb. Slay that lamb. And take that blood and put on the doorposts and the lintel of your house. Don't put it on the doorstep, Israel, because that would be the symbol of treading the Son of God underfoot. But identify yourself with that which can bring deliverance, rather, Gene Turner, a moment ago, said, Morrie, there is one way out. How true. Christ said there would be no way out for the world, but we have the hope of one way out, brethren and sisters, and it was no accident that he was a carpenter, none whatsoever. He was a builder, and we're spoken of as his companions as the four carpenters in Zechariah, building upon the ruins of the four horns or the Gentile powers that have brought the Jewish nation to Israel. And that carpenter of Nazareth constructed the door, the only door by which and through which man can enter into life eternal. And here it is, back in Egypt. You put that blood on the door. There was one door into the ark. I am the way, the truth, the life. I am the door. If a man comes in any other way, he is a thief and a robber. And we can only come through, brethren and sisters, by having that righteousness that God has recognized and the Lord Jesus Christ imputed to us. There's only one way we can approach into the presence of God, and that is on the basis of 100% righteousness, 100% purity, and we of our own selves can't do it. Any man that thinks that he can is a liar. But thanks be to the God of Israel. With the blood on the doorposts of our heart, we can come boldly, as the writer to the Hebrews says, boldly before the throne of grace. This is what Israel was learning that night. The angel of death is going to come through the land, and unless that blood is there, you will become a victim. The angel of death is in the land, isn't it? We're all afflicted with leprosy, aren't we, brethren and sisters? But thanks be to God, he passes over us, because as we're told in the eighth chapter of Romans at verse one, there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh or sin or give their lives to this, this principle that has temporarily delayed the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth, of making man in the image of God, who walk not after that, but after the Spirit. As Brother Robert so beautifully brings out in the blood of the Lamb, it's not a matter of us walking perfectly before God, brethren and sisters, it's a matter of development as we walk to the kingdom of God. We're baptized as no, when we're baptized, there is no guarantee that we won't sin again, none whatsoever, we stumble, we fall, but we learn by our failure. Certainly we sin, certainly we transgress God's law, but it is not our desire to do these things, that's the difference, Christ is reigning in our hearts as a monarch. You know, a few years ago, I heard an illustration and I think it's well to bring it out at this time, I've never forgotten it. And brethren and sisters, it can be a test for each one of us this morning as to whether we will be in the kingdom of God or not. The illustration is this, that a compass, the needle of a compass is attracted to the north pole because of the magnetic field there, but you can put a strong compass or a strong magnet to the side of that needle and you can sway it to the right or to the left, but once that magnet is removed, the needle points back to the north pole. We are that compass. Our needle is pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ, but as we go through the day, in the trials and in the problems that we have, there are strong magnets on either side pulling that needle to the right and pulling it to the left, but the question is, at the end of the day, when all restriction is lifted, when there are no Christadelphians around, when you are by yourself in the loneliness of your room and those magnets have been carried away, where does your needle point? Which is at the right hand of God. That's the question. The angel of death came through just as the angel of death is going to come through in the very near future, brethren and sisters. For the last plague is on Gentile times, that plague of darkness. And Isaiah says that it will grow more and more intense as time goes on until darkness covers the earth and gross darkness to people. The prophecy of Joel tells us that as this time comes and that we are taken to the judgment seat of Christ, that the moon and the stars and the sun shall withdraw their shining. What's he talking about? The sun of righteousness will have left the Father's throne. The moon, the reflected light, the ecclesia of God will also be there. The individual stars will be there. Every trace of light that lightens this world today, brethren and sisters, and those that proclaim the truth of God will be taken out. They will be taken to the right, to the judgment seat of Christ. They will be with their Lord. And then darkness will cover this earth as gross darkness to people. Men will struggle and stumble and fall as a time of trouble comes on this earth and we will see a reenactment of the plague of darkness, and then the angel of death will strike. There's two minutes to 12 on the divine timetable. That great number, that angel spoken of in Daniel, Palmoni is his name, the keeper of secrets, the keeper of God's timetable. At this very moment, brethren and sisters, he is counting down, counting down 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. That's how near we are to the time of the end. That's the reason, brethren and sisters, that it is so appropriate for us to consider this type of situation that was given us in vivid outward manifestation in real life of the problems that we would face as we come to the time of the end. And we are there. And in our next session, we're going to follow closely now as we come out of the land of Egypt and figuratively come into the land of promise, brethren and sisters. All the principles are there. God never changes. God never changes. History repeats itself. Did you say 10 or 11? Okay, we'll leave Egypt for a while. So the Exodus begins. We come to the edge of the Red Sea. Now try to get Israel's dilemma, brethren and sisters. And I want to emphasize this point. When we think of Israel in Egypt, we are thinking exclusively of their bondage. Now let's do not make that mistake. The Egyptians were no dummies. And they realized that for Israel to be an effective people for them, they had to be healthy. And Israel was given the best of food. They were in the breadbasket of the world. And even though their bondage was severe, their bodily needs were taken care of. They lived actually as far as food and shelter was concerned in the lap of luxury. Their bondage was severe, but you don't hear of them starving, do you? Oh no. Brethren and sisters, this has its counterpart in our life. Our bondage in this life, regardless of the fact that we think sometimes we never had it so good, the bondage of flesh is a horrible thing. Sickness, pain, suffering, trial, problems on every side. But we're quite well fed, aren't we? The material things of life are in abundance. Many times this is bad. And it proved to be the downfall of Israel because they never forgot the garlics and the leeks in Egypt. And here they are on the edge of the Red Sea, and already this exodus has began to be quite a problem for them. Three million people on the march. The metropolis of Los Angeles on the march through the wilderness under the leadership of Moses. Any of you have seen that picture of Cecil B. the middle of the Ten Commandments? I think he gives a very fitting picture of the exodus that night, of all their possessions, squalling children, all the problems that would be in attendance, leaving Egypt. Three million of them, never discounted a tremendous operation. Now they are at the Red Sea, brethren and sisters, the sea in front of them, tremendous mountains on either side. They look back. What a shame to look back. What are they doing? They're looking back to Egypt, brethren and sisters. They see a frightful sight. They see the best trained army in the world bearing down on them. It was the best trained army in the world at that time. A thousand horses and chariots bearing down upon them. They panic. They cry unto Moses. And Moses in turn cries to God. And young people and brethren and sisters, if you want something for success in this life, always go to the Bible because if you want success in this life, because you have basic fundamental principles here that they're the secrets of success. Napoleon Hill has written a book, one of the best sellers, Think and Grow Rich, and he's written many others. And if you look in the preface of that book, he'll say, you know, these aren't my ideas. These principles came from the greatest salesman that ever lived. These principles have come from the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's taken every one of his basic principles out of the teachings of Christ, and he's created a best seller. And multitudes of people have become rich by applying these principles in their basic lives. And I want to leave one of those principles with you that God told Moses. Moses, prostrate before the God of Israel. And God tells Moses something. He says, Moses, get up off of your face. Get up off of your face, Moses. Get up and go forward. What did that imply? What was God telling Moses? He says, haven't I been with you all these years? Haven't I guided and guarded and directed you in all that you have done? Have I ever failed you, Moses? Do you think I'm going to fail you now after I've brought you out of Egypt, after I have exhibited my power in these 10 great and dreadful plagues that I've proved to you in a way that has never been demonstrated in the history of the world that I am the God of Israel that can save? Do you think I'm deserting you now? You get up, Moses, and you put your foot in that water. I'm not going to move until you show me the step of faith. And when you put your foot in that water and show me that you mean business, Moses, I will perform. And brethren and sisters and young people, what I'm going to show you here is a principle. God will never force you into his kingdom. God will never force you to do anything. God says, you go and I will be with you. But you make the move. We're going to see later that the Jordan never, never stopped and went back to the city of Adam until the priests put their foot into that water. And when God calls you to do a job, God says, I'm going to be with you, but you show me that you have the faith to take the first step. You know, we have a candidate in Lomboc right now who we've been working with for over, well, nearly three years. And we've beaten all the false doctrines out of him, and he knows the truth backwards and forwards, and for some reason, he won't make the step. I told him just the other day, I said, Earl, it's up to you now. We've done all we can for you, but I'm not going to force you to be baptized, Earl. Oh, I could force him, I could persuade him, I could catch him in a weak moment and he would go. We don't want this, brethren and sisters, because God doesn't want it. There comes a time in your life and mine when there is no one in the world that can make the step except you and me. And that was the position that Israel was in at that moment. That was the position that Moses was in. And when Moses took the step of faith and when he put his foot in the water, a miracle took place because the Red Sea divided and there was dry ground. How many times in our lives have we met the Red Sea situation, brethren and sisters? And those waters will never part for you and me until we put our foot in. When we do, we have the comfort that we read in the first chapter of Joshua this morning. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will be with you as I was with my servant Moses and never let us limit that to Moses, brethren and sisters or to Joshua. He's speaking to Jesus and his followers. And what great comfort there is in the hour of trial. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. But remember, God was with Moses only when Moses took the step of faith and he will only be with us as we take the step of faith. And we're going to see where that step of faith led Israel in our next session.

Transcript

My dear brethren and sisters, we come to one of the great experiences of the Scripture now. Of course, it illustrates the atonement in a way probably unequaled in any other part of typology of the entire Bible. Remember that Israel is leaving Egypt. We're reminded of what the Apostle Paul tells us in the second chapter of the Ephesians, that at one time you were strangers from the covenants of promise. And he says, because of this, you are without hope and without God in the world. Now here is the glorious, visible manifestation of this great truth that God has given to us. And we do ourselves a great injustice when we pass over these Old Testament narratives lightly, brethren and sisters, because they're for a real purpose. I had a brother once tell me that whenever we come across any reference in the New Testament where we have a reference to the Old, that it would pay us to stop right there and go back and find out the details of this reference and what a true statement this is. Because God put it there for a reason. When we come to the crossing of the Red Sea, we have a picture of what happened at Calvary. We have a picture of what happens in our own life in the waters of baptism. We have a picture, brethren and sisters, what happens every time we come before the throne of grace and prayer and thanksgiving to God. We have a glorious picture of that day when this mortal will put on immortality. And we have a vision of the end of the millennial age when the world itself will be completely delivered out of Egypt and sin is destroyed. There's great depth and a great magnitude of understanding in Hosea 11 and 1 that out of Egypt have I called my son. And this is exactly what we're going to experience in this third session. Let's bear in mind now what Israel was leaving. They were leaving the land of sin and death. That's exactly what's happened to you and to me in the waters of baptism, brethren and sisters. We're leaving the land of sin and death. But they did not leave the land of sin and death, brethren and sisters, until they recognized the fact of the slain lamb and what God was trying to tell them. The same story he told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden of the coats of skin. Let's go back there for just a moment to get the magnitude of what Israel was experiencing. You see, Adam and Eve had never seen death before, brethren and sisters. Had you ever stopped to think about that? Adam and Eve had never seen death. And suddenly a lamb is slain in front of them. And that which was alive, that which was part of God's creation, suddenly now is inanimate. And they had not even recovered from that shock until suddenly they are wrapped in that animal's skin. That was a lesson they would never forget. And Israel is about to receive the same sort of an experience. They had seen the Egyptians slain, hadn't they? They had seen the firstborn of Egypt. They had heard the cry. But stop and think, brethren and sisters. They were spared the real suffering because that night Israel was in the land of Goshen. They were in the very similar circumstance of Noah in the ark. With the door shut, they did not hear the cry. They did not see the suffering. God spared them that. It reminds us, doesn't it, of the assurance that we have in the 26th chapter of Isaiah. That call, brethren and sisters, that we could receive even before we leave this meeting. And what a tremendous vantage point it would be to leave for the judgment seat of Christ from a gathering like this. And rest assured, brethren and sisters, that we will hear this call as certain as the sun rises tomorrow morning. Come, my people. Enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee. Hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpassed, for the Lord goeth forth to punish the inhabitants of the earth. You see how these principles repeat themselves, brethren and sisters, over and over and over again. And they are telling us the same story. Remember what we said this morning in Genesis 1, 27. The central theme of the Bible, God's eternal purpose, let us make man in our image. And after our likeness, and let him have dominion over the earth, his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government, brethren and sisters, there's the dominion. That was made as unto our God kings and priests, there's the dominion. That's God's eternal purpose, and he selected you and me to be part of that great order. Is it any wonder that he tells us, nail everything else to a cross, will you please? Nail it up, get away with it, come out from among them, be ye separate, touch not, taste not, handle not the unclean. Why, God? Because that is the thing that has temporarily delayed my purpose. That's the reason that I gave you a picture of Calvary. That you might see the sinfulness of sin, how I look upon sin, and what was done to Christ, brethren and sisters in principle, was done to sin. Nailed to a cross, let's don't say it too quickly. The most precious thing in God's sight, his only begotten Son, nailed to a cross. That's God's evaluation of sin, brethren and sisters. Is it any wonder he says that you're going to be part of me, you're going to be my hands, my fingers, my eyes. You're going to be my spokesman throughout the world, you're going to be part of me. I can't look on sin. You're in the proving ground, you're in the wilderness like Moses. I'm chasing Egypt out of you. My brethren and sisters, there's not one idle word in the Old Testament. All of these things speak to us of our future glory in the Kingdom of God. Paul tells us, all things are for your sakes. All things. Oh, the creation, man enjoys it. But the creation, the glorious sun rising on the eastern horizon every morning, that's not for man in his unsaved condition. That's not for the world at large. Certainly they enjoy it. But the sun rising on the eastern horizon every morning, brethren and sisters, is telling us a story, if we would listen. It's telling us of the sun of righteousness rising and just as the natural sun dissolves every trace of darkness. God says, look forward to that time when the sun of righteousness will arise with healing in its beams and every trace of sin will be obliterated from the earth. That's what I'm telling you. Everything in God's creation is for you and for me, guiding us to the Kingdom of God. And if we can look out upon God's creation and see the true story that's behind the rainbow, brethren and sisters, it's seven colors that go from red down into purple and you don't change that progression. You never change it. Have you ever wondered why God gave Noah a rainbow? Have you ever wondered in the first chapter of Ezekiel why the rainbow arches the throne? Is it accidental? Oh, no. No, and the next time you look at a rainbow, notice the color progression. Seven, the number of spiritual perfection. The seven colors of the spectrum. Going from red, the nature of man, through yellow, trial. Picking up the green of immortality. Next, coming into blue, the color of God, and ending with purple, royalty. And God's telling the world that they would realize that this is the progression from mortality to priesthood. This is with a message that Noah saw on the dawn of a new day which typed the millennial age. And this is the message that Ezekiel saw as the rainbow arched over a sapphire throne, brethren and sisters, the restored throne of David. Everything in God's creation guides us to a place in the kingdom of God if we would let it. And so Israel begins their journey out of the land of Egypt. Just like you and I began our journey by recognizing that we must be baptized into Christ. And what is baptism, brethren and sisters? Why was Christ baptized? I don't have to tell you. Why was he baptized in the Jordan of all places? That dirty, filthy stream that runs from the river of life down to the river of death. That stream that bounds down to 1,280 feet below sea level through the precipitous crags, it's a picture of man going from life down the problems of life to death. And the reason the Ark of the Covenant went across that river was to teach us something, brethren and sisters, and that was that when Christ enters that stream of life that that stops. And those waters are turned back. We have hope for life eternal. The same picture of the widow of Nain carrying her only child from Jerusalem down to Jericho, the same principle again. And Christ stops that funeral procession just as he stopped it in your case and mine. And he says unto that young man, I say unto thee, arise. That's what he says to us in baptism, brethren and sisters, arise. You remember what he told Lazarus when he came out of the grave, bound hand and foot in grave clothes. That's our condition before we come to Christ. And when we come to Christ, he says, loose him and let him go. And now Israel is going to be loose from the bondage of Egypt. They go through the Red Sea, brethren and sisters, and it's interesting, they go through at night. At night. Was that accidental? Why not in the daytime? Why do you do these things, Almighty God? I'm teaching you a lesson. You are going through the wilderness of life and you're coming out of darkness into light. You're coming from the blackness of sin into the dawn of a new day. And brethren and sisters, they were pursued, aren't they? Just like you and I are pursued with our sins after we are baptized. But there's something different now because we read in the 91st Psalm that I will give my angels charge over thee. That word charge in the Hebrew we are told, even though I don't profess to be a Hebrew scholar, but those who do profess tell us that that word charge means command. God is saying I will give my angels a command over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. Isn't it interesting that that is the work of the Cherubim, to keep the way. To keep the way of the Tree of Life. To keep thee in all thy ways, my God, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone. And so they had that protection even to the point of taking the wheels off the chariots, even to the point of putting a division between Israel and the armies of Pharaoh. That division is still there, brethren and sisters, if we will only accept it. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee nor suffer thee to be tempted above that which you are able, but will with a temptation make a way that you may escape. Let's appropriate that to ourselves, brethren and sisters. Let's don't think all that, just apply it to the Old Testament characters. No, no. No. If the Apostle Paul and Peter could be here this morning, we would probably reverence them and give them a high seat, but they wouldn't be any better than we are, brethren and sisters. They are our brethren. They are our sisters. They are servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's the attitude they would have. They wouldn't be puffed up. No. They are part of us, and they are trying to convey this message to us. We are all in this race for life eternal. And you know when Israel arose the next morning, what did they see, brethren and sisters? They saw that which would destroy them destroyed. They saw the dead Egyptians on the seashore, identically the same thing that we see in the waters of baptism. We see our sins floating on the surface of that water, figuratively speaking, dead. We are dead to sin. And it doesn't only happen in baptism, brethren and sisters. As we came before the throne of grace this morning, if our hearts and if our minds and our attitude was with our brother who offered the prayer, we were led into the very presence of the God of Israel. Think of it. We were led into the place where only the high priest could go one day a year on the day of atonement, and that only after special garments and special washings had taken place. We were in the living presence of the God of Israel. We are in the living presence of the God of Israel at this very moment. Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst of them. This is a serious thing, brethren and sisters. The Egyptians are floating on top of the water and they are dead. Your life is hit with Christ in God, Christ in you, the hope of glory. This is the plane we must elevate ourselves to, brethren and sisters, and still keep that humility which must be there that we of our own selves have done nothing. We have not done it. We are indebted to the God of Israel for his mercy. And now Israel sings the song of triumph. The rider and his horse have been cast into the sea. And we find the grand and glorious counterpart, brethren and sisters, in the eighth chapter of Romans, there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. We see the glorious consummation of this in the seventh chapter of the Revelation where John was permitted to see us in the Kingdom of God. And he says, who are these that are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? Notice, brethren and sisters, the exact counterpart. These are they which came out of great tribulation. They came out of Egypt. They put the blood of Christ on the doorposts of their heart. They would not dare to tread the blood of Christ underfoot. They had been delivered from that night of darkness. Their sins have been forgiven. These are they which came out of great tribulation, have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. There it is. God is actually saying, I am going to give you a visual manifestation of what happens when you come into the truth. I am going to take three million people. I am going to bring them out of the very symbol of sin and death. I am going to bring them through the Red Sea. I am going to have the greatest army in the world pursue them. I am going to destroy that army. They are not going to do it. They are not capable of doing it. They have no weapons to do it. I will do it, says God. God tells you and me the same thing. You aren't capable of delivering yourself from the hand of death. You are utterly incapable. I will do it, God says. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit. There is the answer, brethren and sisters. God was in Christ. And we are not taking away from Christ. God was in Christ. And He was in Christ to redeem us, brethren and sisters, to bring us to Him. Let our praise and our thanksgiving, first of all, be to the God of Israel, the source of all mercy, second to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the accident, the incident we spoke of earlier of Abraham offering Isaac. And remember, I think it's repeated three times, the two of them went together. The two of them. And you take, get a picture in your mind of a father and a son, hand in hand, going to that great principle exemplified in the Red Sea of the destruction of sin's flesh, a willing victim, a willing sacrifice. But they went hand in hand, realizing that this was the only way that man could be redeemed. Well, brethren and sisters, our time is getting away. We must go on, and I direct your attention now back to the 15th chapter of Exodus for a moment. What a tremendous chapter this is. I only wish that we could linger on it, because there are gems in this chapter, gems that can help guide us, brethren and sisters, to the Kingdom of God, as there is, of course, in every chapter of the Bible. But I would like to bring you down now to verse 24. You know, many times we say, oh, Israel, how could you murmur against God? Brethren and sisters, let's not be too harsh on Israel. I want you to try to stop and think for a moment. Here you are, all your earthly possessions. You have two squalling children, one in each arm, and you're going over sand dune after sand dune in the blistering sun, and you get to the top of one sand dune, and there's four more in front of you. No water. Remember, brethren and sisters, you've left the breadbasket of Egypt. You were under trial. You were under persecution and all that. But you had a comfortable place to stay, and you had food that was unsurpassed in the world. And now you're going through this. I wonder which one of us wouldn't ask the question, is this deliverance? Deliverance from what? And now they come over the sand dune, and they see water. And they cry, water! And they run, and they pick up that water, and you can see them stumbling over each other, and they scoop up that water. Bitter! Bitter, Marah! Let's read the account, brethren and sisters. 24th verse, Exodus 15. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? What shall we drink? What a verse we have in verse 25. And he, Moses, cried unto Yahweh, and Yahweh showed him a tree. And when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statue and an ordinance, and there he proved them. Some time when you get time, brethren and sisters, if you haven't done it in the past, it might be well for you to look up the original of that one. Look up the word tree, and you will find something very interesting. You will find that it's the same root for the word cross. And what God was actually telling the children of Israel in your journeys through the wilderness of life, you've been delivered from the bondage of Egypt, but that doesn't mean that your way is going to be without trouble and trial. You're going to find the bitterness of life as you go through these trials, as Christ was later to say that unless you take up your cross daily and follow after me, you're not worthy of me. Christ was saying, you're not going to have an easy time. Why, Master? Well, basically because the principles that I am teaching you are spirit. They are in that category spoken of by the Apostle Paul when he said the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, light, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. And every one of those principles is diametrically opposed to works of the flesh. And when you manifest these principles of truth, you're going to run into opposition wherever you turn. That's what he was telling them. And your life is going to be bitter many times. Now, you know, brethren and sisters, the Apostle Paul has a tremendous lesson for us in Hebrews on this subject. As you know, the Apostle had a tremendous job as he comes to the Ecclesia in Jerusalem and his letter to the Hebrews. First of all, they were going back to Judaism, and he has to prove, first of all, that Christ was greater than the angels, and then second, greater than Moses, and then greater than Joshua, and then the priesthood was far superior to that of the Levitical order. But in his dissertation proving that Christ was greater than the angels, he's telling them what angel could have gone to Calvary. Impossible, the Jews would say. What angel could learn obedience by the things which he suffered? Well, we hadn't thought of that, Paul. What angel could become a merciful and faithful high priest by God taking down a tool off of the shelf, and that tool was labeled suffering? In other words, what Paul was saying, brethren and sisters, that Christ did not obtain the ability to be a merciful and faithful high priest when he was immortalized. No, he gained that by going through God's school. And he's also telling you and me something in Romans that when you're chastened of the Lord, don't ask the question, why is God doing this to me? Don't do it. He's saying you're going to be kings and priests in that future age, and you're going through God's school. And brethren and sisters, you may be going through severe trial, but had it ever occurred to you that your position in the millennial age as you go out into the world to teach the nations may be concerned with an individual that has your same problem, who could be better qualified to deal with that than one that has suffered, by the way, experiencing every problem and trial? This is the reason Christ is our merciful and faithful high priest. And this is the great lesson that we have coming out of the waters of Merah, that we're going to drink that water of bitterness. But he says, drop in that water, that tree or that cross, the symbol of Calvary, the symbol of the crucifixion of flesh, and that water which is bitter will be made sweet, because you will see the reason for that suffering. You will see the suffering servant that has gone before you, and you will see and you will hear his words, follow me. And we ask, where are you going, Master? He says, I'm going to Calvary. I'm not your substitute. I'm your representative, and I request that you be up there on the cross with me. I don't want you down on the ground sending up cat calls. I want you up there co-crucified with me. Why, Master? That the body of sin, that thing that has kept God's original purpose from being fulfilled, the body of sin might be destroyed. There it is, brethren and sisters. And he goes on in this next verse, and he gives us this assurance. He says, let's come to verse 26. If thou wilt diligently harken to the voice of Yah with thy Elohim, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments and keep all his statues, I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am, and this is the first time, brethren and sisters, that this title of deity occurs in the Scripture. This title is Yahweh Rophikon. I am Yahweh that healeth thee. It is the basis of the great physician. It is the basis of that great salvation that God has brought through Yehoshua. God is my salvation, the great physician. And why is he called the great physician? Because he is the only one that can cure us from leprosy, brethren and sisters. Of course, this is a beautiful subject of the law of Moses. But do you know that we never have an account in the Scriptures of truth of leprosy ever being cured except it be by the miraculous intervention of God? And there is no case of leprosy ever being cured except that. That is the reason that it was proof positive to the Pharisees and to those leaders of religious movement in the time of Christ that when a leper went to them cleansed, who did this? Jesus of Nazareth. Never had it been done because here was an incurable disease and they knew well, having known the Scriptures of truth, that no leper was ever cured except God had intervened. This was the reason they were responsible to God. They were casting His truth to the ground. I am Yahweh Rophika that healeth thee. Brethren and sisters, this is not just a healing like our faith healers talk about. It's speaking of the botch of Egypt, either cancer or leprosy, a terminal disease, and we're all afflicted with it. We're all lepers, brethren and sisters. Thank God it hasn't broken out in our foreheads which was incurable. When a man's mind was diseased, but we are lepers. And there's only one person that can cure it and that is Yahweh Rophika. And the principles of that cure, brethren and sisters, have not changed from that verse. Underscore it in your Bible. Notice what he says. He said, if thou will diligently, let's ponder that word for a moment, brethren and sisters, and will do that which is right in His sight, will give ear to His commandments, keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee. And how beautiful in their next aspect of their journey they come to Elam where there were 12 wells of water. Now, brethren and sisters, let's take this word by word. After having come to a knowledge of God's truth, after dedicating our lives to Him, after having absolutely turned our back on the things of the world, God says, if you do these things, you will come to Elam. And what does Elam mean in the Scriptures? Palm trees. And what do palm trees mean in the Scriptures? It's a sign of victory, brethren and sisters, another aspect of nature, as a palm reaches its hands to heaven in contrast to the willow which droops. You know the children of Israel in Babylon were under the willows. It was a symbol of defeat. Their country had been destroyed. The temple had been sacked. And there they're sitting in the symbol of defeat. But when Christ came triumphant into Jerusalem, they strewed palm branches. And as we see the glorious picture of the redeemed brethren and sisters in the book of the Revelation, they're marching triumphant, that's you and me, and they have palms in their hands. Where are the willows? They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat. The willows are gone. Palm trees victorious, and they come, brethren and sisters, to Elam. And there were twelve wells of water. Oh, brethren and sisters, what a beautiful picture this is. Twelve wells of water. And we're reminded, aren't we, of the woman at the well where Christ says, I can give you water to drink. You'll never thirst of this water. What was he talking about? He's talking, my brethren and sisters, about the commonwealth of Israel, that hope which springs from the covenants of promise, the twelve tribes of Israel. That's what he's talking about. He's speaking of that of which we read in the first psalm. Blessed is the man that walketh, not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law does he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. And our minds are transferred to the twenty-second chapter of Revelation, aren't they? Let's turn to it, brethren and sisters. The twenty-second chapter of Revelation where John was permitted to see the glorious culmination of this. Revelation 22, what an outgrowth of this is of what God promised Israel if they would only conform their lives to his service. In this twenty-second chapter of the Revelation, in this vision of the redeemed, and brethren and sisters, never let us separate ourselves from this. We are there. John saw us in this vision. Think on it. The building blocks of God's new creation. He showed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river was there the tree of life, or as Brother Thomas tells us in the Eureka, the wood of life. It would be impossible for one tree to be planted on both sides of the river. Here is the wood of life, a forest of trees, and the leaves were for the healing of the nations. Brethren and sisters, that's you and me. That is a tree that is planted by the rivers of waters that bring forth their fruit in their season. His leaf also shall not wither. He is an immortal. And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. That's the glorious vision that they had. And they come to Elam. They come to these palm trees. They come to victory, brethren and sisters. And there were three score and ten, there were twelve wells of water, and there were three score and ten palm trees. And I don't have to tell you that seventy in the Scriptures of truth speak to us of the nations of the world. And the leaves were for the healing of the nations. Do we separate the old from the new, brethren and sisters? Oh, by no means. By no means do we separate it. Here it is, and it leads us into the glorious consummation. And they encamp there by the waters. Now where did those waters come from? Where did they come from, brethren and sisters? They come from the very throne of God. The very throne of God. And we are told in the Revelation, Therefore are they before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. Does that fulfill what God promised? Listen. If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of Yahweh thy Elohim, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statues, I will put none of these diseases upon thee. In other words, you will be cured of leprosy. You will be cured of mortality. You will, brethren and sisters, come into the glorious realization of the final consummation. Had you ever stopped to think of the fulfillment in your body and mind, brethren and sisters, of this glorious truth? Had you ever stopped to think of behold I show you a mystery, we shall not fall asleep. But we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised to incorruptibility, and we shall be changed. Try to envision this, brethren and sisters. For this mortal must put on immortality. Think of immortality surging from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head, and to know that for you eternity had been won. None of these diseases shall come upon you. The botch of Egypt shall be no more. Leprosy shall be cured. Go and show yourself unto the priest. This mortal will put on immortality. That speaks of those that will be alive when Christ comes. This corruptible will put on incorruption. That speaks of those who are in the grave, who will be restored to life. So that when this mortal shall have put on immortality and this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Isn't that interesting? I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Death shall be swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, that terrible thing that has delayed my purpose. And the strength of sin is the law. There would be no sin if I hadn't given a law, says God. But thanks be to, remember what we said, brethren and sisters, this mercy comes from God himself. Thanks be to God which giveth us a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Put a price tag on that, brethren and sisters, if you can. I'm sure as we try to contemplate the greatness and the value and the blessing that is ours because God in His mercy has seen fit to choose us out of all the millions in the world to be possessors of His Kingdom. I think this realization is summed up beautifully by the Apostle Paul when he says, O the depth of the wisdom, both of the riches and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor? Or who hath given to Him and it shall be given to Him again? My dear brethren and sisters, may this be your prayer and may it be mine in the days that lie out ahead. Never let us forget it. I know the Apostle Paul had a vision of that glorious day as he closed this verse by saying, for of Him and through Him and to Him. Be glory forever. Amen.

Transcript

In the Old Testament, he has given us vivid examples of what he means to be transferred into the spiritual side in the New Testament. We see this so many times in the Tabernacle, don't we, that the great brazen altar, a symbol of total dedication to God, upon which the daily burnt offering was rising to the praise and honor of God, and every time the Israelites would look out the doors of his tent, he would see that smoke ascending to God as a sweet smelling savor. And then we hear Paul saying, now the New Testament counterpart of this is to let your bodies be a living sacrifice. Let your bodies be totally dedicated to God. And all throughout the Old Testament, we have that glorious picture that's given to us of a vivid real life representation of a principle that God wants us to take and use in our spiritual walk to the kingdom of God. Now in this chapter in Exodus this morning, Exodus 17, we have several of those examples, and while we won't be able to completely cover the tremendous lesson that we have here, yet there is much food for thought. Now I want us to bear in mind the tremendous task now that Moses has. He's leading metropolitan Los Angeles actually as far as population is concerned, through the wilderness of life. And those of you who have been over there, I have not had the privilege of going into the Sinaitic Peninsula, but they tell me that it is really something to see as far as desolation is concerned. And here Moses is, they've crossed the Red Sea, and they're coming down to Sinai through this barren desolate waste. I remember that Israel had left the land of plenty as far as food and water and shelter was concerned, and now they come to the very reverse of this. Very similar, brethren and sisters, to what we leave in the world. We leave a world that offers us the nicety so to speak of this life, and suddenly we find ourselves crucified to the flesh. And many times it isn't easy. We've been told many times that it only took a few months to get, a few days to get Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel. And it takes a full lifetime for us to get Egypt out of ourselves, doesn't it? And we never completely conquer it. And here are these three million now trudging towards Sinai, all of their earthly possessions through this barren desolate waste. And those of our brethren and sisters who made the trip last year and this year to Sinai, even in modern facilities, say that it was a rugged, rugged, rugged trip, even coming down from Jerusalem as they did. Much less going through the barren desert without any facilities whatsoever like Israel did. And they run out of water. Now stop to think for a moment, brethren and sisters, this is not only water. In our life, we run out of water many times. We run out of the water of life. And it's very easy to do when we let the things of this life supersede those of our high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Our daily partaking of the word of truth, our daily drinking of that living water that will bring us the absence of thirst when we shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, neither shall the sun light on us nor any heat. And probably one of the most profound lessons in all scripture is given to us here. As Israel cries for water, I direct your attention to verse five. Once again, I apologize for having to skip over so many of the real gems that are hidden in this marvelous incident. But we come to verse four. Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, "'What shall I do unto this people? "'They be almost ready to stone me.' And the Lord said unto Moses, "'Go on before the people and take with thee "'of the elders of Israel.'" Note, if you will, brethren and sisters, here we have at Rephidim the leaders of the Mosaic system. Now, this is important. Take with thee the elders, the leaders of the Mosaic system, and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand and go. Behold, I will stand before thee upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Now, let's pause for a moment. Let's look at the names and titles of deity here once again, brethren and sisters. For this word rock is Tezur, T-Z-U-R. It is one of the titles of deity. It is used many times in Scripture. For instance, in the 32nd chapter of Deuteronomy, we have it at verses four, 15 and 18, this title of deity. And this word, Tezur, means a huge rock, a boulder as being set in the earth, providing shelter for man and beast. This is one of the titles of deity, an immovable rock, providing shelter, note, in the earth. And when Moses was commanded to strike that rock, it has the counterpart of Christ being struck in crucifixion. And in this, Moses was obedient. Now, I want you to turn with me to the 20th chapter of Numbers. And of course, this is Rephidim. Let us get our direction straight here. This is Rephidim. But now we have in Numbers 20 and 8, the great sin that Moses committed that kept him from going into the land. Notice, if you will, this time, instead of taking the elders of Israel under the Mosaic system, he is to take that, number one, he is to take the type of the priesthood of Christ. He is to take Aaron this time, not the elders of Israel. We put in at verse eight, take the rod and gather thou the assembly, thou and Aaron thy brother. Notice what he was to do. He was not to smite the rock this time, brother and sisters, and there's a very real reason. He was to speak unto the rock. And it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock, so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. Of course, Moses took the credit to himself when he said, here now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock, must we? But brother and sisters, there's something interesting in this word, rock, because no longer is this tejour. This word here is an entirely different word. This word here is selah, S-E-L-A-H. And this word typifies a mighty crag, high up, inaccessible. That's the meaning of the word. And this time, it is speaking of Christ risen, Christ at the right hand of God. And Moses is told in so many words, you can't smite the rock now, Moses, because that would be crucifying Christ afresh. There's only one way that you can come to this rock this time, Moses, and that's to speak unto it. A tremendous lesson, brethren and sisters, on a play of words here, coming down to the meaning of these words. But the two aspects of Christ, his earthly ministry, and now his ministry at the right hand of God, speak to it, Moses. But Moses, in his anger, smites the rock. And in doing so, he typically crucifies the Son of God afresh. And the writer to the Hebrews tells us that if we crucify the Son of God afresh, that there is no forgiveness for that. No forgiveness. And this was the entry, not that Moses will not be in the kingdom of God, brethren. He says, God forbid, but here was a principle, a living principle that God was giving to us, to you and to me, to show us the necessity of not trampling the Son of God underfoot. And to those who do this, that they will not be in the kingdom. And this was basically the reason not so much Moses taking the glory to himself while that was a sin, but basically the principle that we have here is that Moses could not lead the children of Israel into the land of promise because of this sin. Of course, the children of Israel could not go into the land of promise under the Mosaic covenant. They had to go into the land of promise under the leadership or the type of the new covenant, Joshua or Jesus, just as we hope to go into the land of promise under the leadership of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer. Now, brethren and sisters, in this chapter, I want to come down to the main theme of our talk this morning. And I think it's a tremendous lesson to each and every one of us. In these closing days of Gentile darkness, we have an exhortation in the 17th chapter of Exodus that if we will heed, will guide us into the kingdom of God, but it is not as easy as we might think. I think it's very important that we get a word picture of the struggling multitude now as they are going to Mount Sinai. We have the ecclesia of God in the wilderness of life on their way to Sinai and eventually into the land of promise. And here they are, struggling down through this barren wilderness, all of their possessions with them, murmuring, distraught, discouraged, thinking of the luxury they had left in Egypt, even though the taskmasters had been severe. Do we recognize ourself, brothers and sisters? We do, don't we? Human nature hasn't changed. The heart that is desperately sick, there it is, who can know it? Desperately evil, it is diseased and there were three million of these hearts beating in the breasts of these people, murmuring against Moses. And now they're approaching Sinai and let's try to visualize this terrain that now the mountains begin to appear and the precipitous crags and the rocks begin to get larger and they begin to narrow down now and go through a canyon as they approach the precincts of Mount Sinai. You see, brethren and sisters, some of them became discouraged. Some of them became weak. Some fell and lagged behind. But they didn't realize that in those mountains was a very, very wicked individual, one that was working in direct opposition to God. That man's name was Amalek. Amalek was a coward. He was afraid to attack Israel as a body. Now let's remember that, brethren and sisters. As long as Israel held together as a community, one strong community, Amalek would not attack. Who was Amalek after? Amalek was looking for those that lagged behind. Those that were unprotected. Those that were lackadaisical and possibly had had their feelings hurt. Those that were going to show someone that they couldn't be treated like this and we won't associate with it. I'm glad I'm not in your eclasers here because you'd think I was talking about someone, wouldn't you? We have the problem too, brethren and sisters, so don't feel alone. You know what I'm talking about. I wouldn't be seen with her if she feels that way toward me. Well, they can just have that attitude if they want to. I know my personal feelings. And we have many of these in Israel and you can imagine how many there would be. Three million, brethren and sisters. Disgruntled, they were letting the works of the flesh take hold and they could not see the forest, you see, for the little blades of grass that were in front of them. They were going to separate themselves. They hadn't yet learned that we need the ecclesia which is far worse than the ecclesia needs us. We're sheep, brethren and sisters, and the sooner we realize that when a sheep is isolated, why, he's vulnerable to every attack, but when he's part of a community of sheep, he is safe. And here was Amalek lurking in those hills and when he would find a straggler, he would pounce on him. And that was the end. There was no more Israelite. And that is the way, brethren and sisters, that Amalek has worked down through the stream of time. And as we conclude this chapter here this morning, we have the verse that Amalek is going to be with you throughout your generations. And could you think of a more vivid representation of the danger of Amalek than the one we are given here in the 17th chapter of Exodus, brethren and sisters? It's hard to imagine a more vivid illustration that we could have. Now, notice if you will, verse eight, then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim and Moses said unto Joshua, choose this out man and go out and fight with Amalek tomorrow. I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. Note if you will, how Israel fought Amalek in body, brethren and sisters. See, we have a two-fold lesson here. We have Amalek picking on the weak and straggling and we also have Amalek in ecclesial life. And another vivid illustration was that as Moses held his hands up in prayer to God, Israel prevailed. And when those hands went down, Amalek prevailed. I don't think we have much trouble seeing the beautiful significance here. God was telling Israel something that they were incapable of fighting Amalek on their own. He was telling them, brethren and sisters, actually that they were incapable of gaining life on their own. And the principles we spoke of yesterday, without me you can do nothing. You remember the reference we made to Brother Carter as he was saying that we never realized this until we stand in front of a deceased loved one and we look at that loved one in the casket. There isn't anything they can do. There isn't anything we can do. Without my father, I can do nothing. And brethren and sisters, we're totally dependent upon the God of Israel. Now we know what Moses was doing, don't we? He was lifting his hands in prayer to God, asking for the guidance and direction of God. But he was also afflicted with a human weakness, brethren and sisters, of flesh. And he became tired, he became exhausted, and he needed help. He needed the help of the ecclesia of God. Moses couldn't do it alone because of physical inability to do it alone. And here is the great lesson for Christadelfia today. We can't go it alone. If there is one lesson we have in the 17th chapter of Exodus, my dear brethren and sisters, it is the need for unity in the brotherhood today. Rising above the little things of this life, I wonder if we have ever thought, and I imagine we have, how foolish the fleeting things of this life, for instance, this morning, every one of us are plagued with some personal problem that's out there in that world. Every one of us. If we would let ourselves go, this problem would crisscross our minds, wouldn't it? You have yours, I have mine. I have a motive to the things in California that if I would let go this morning, it would detract from the glorious words of truth. And my hands, it should be raised in prayer, would fall. But you, my brethren and sisters, are holding up my hands this morning in prayer to the God of Israel. And thank God for the glorious association we have had together. Our minds have been eradicated of the things of flesh as Abraham told those about him as he went to offer Isaac. Abide ye here. I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and in due time, we will come back to you. And that's what we have done this morning. It's what we've done this weekend. We've said to those cares, those things of Amalek, abide ye here. I am going with my dear brethren and sisters to worship the God of Israel. I'm going to fill my heart and my mind with things of truth. I'm going to let them hold up my hands in prayer to the God of Israel. Due time, we'll come back to you. That's what we've said, isn't it, brethren and sisters? And here is the principle. But if this morning, while we're sitting here, as severe as many of our problems might be, and we were to hear the words, come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee, and, brethren and sisters, that isn't an impossibility at all. The Lord has come and calls for thee. I wonder what that home would amount to. I wonder what that new car would amount to. I wonder what our businesses would amount to. Have you anything at home you want to go back for, brethren and sisters? You see, the magnitude of the second coming of Christ, so far out distance is the things of this life that there's no comparison. I haven't a thing in California that I want to go back to. I know my family would be at the judgment seat of Christ with us. There isn't anything of material possession that means a thing to me out there. And if I knew that I was going to be with my Lord, it would mean far less. I wouldn't even think of it, brethren and sisters. And this is the great lesson we have here. And if this theme could dominate and fill the lives of Christadelfia and throughout the world today, all division, all personal matters, everything that detracts would go out the window and we would emerge as the strongest community in the world fighting for the principles of truth and letting the world know that Christ is coming back to the earth and we would reflect that belief in our life, in our attitude, and in our joy of expectancy of his return, brethren and sisters. We would be giving our all to him. And this was the objective that God wanted when he told Israel as they came from the Red Sea, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy strength, and all thy mind. That's what he wanted. Why do you suppose God said that, brethren and sisters? Well, he said in so many words, in so many words, Israel, if it hadn't been for me, you would be dead. You saw that mighty Egyptian army bearing down on you. What chance did you have, Israel? And it was by my power and by my might that you were saved. Now, Israel, you owe everything to me. We would say, yes, Israel, are you so foolish? You can't see that. Beware, brethren and sisters, because if it were not for the intervention of God in the provision of the Lord Jesus Christ, that Egyptian army would eliminate us also. But God was manifest in flesh, justified in spirit, believed on in the world, received up into glory. And thanks be to God, God was in Christ manifesting himself unto the world. And he redeemed us, brethren and sisters. And by this, we are made holy. And by this, we can triumphantly sing the rider and his horse as they cast into the sea. And God sends a resounding message to everyone in this audience this morning. Everyone in this audience this morning and to the brethren and sisters throughout the world, you owe everything to me. You're mine, you're my firstborn. You're the firstborn of a new creation. Therefore, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul, all thy mind. No, brethren and sisters, Israel had that great truth firmly implanted on them every time they offered a burnt offering, a symbol of total dedication to God. God wasn't interested in the skin of that animal, was he? Tells the priest, you take it, do whatever you want to with it, I don't want it. I don't want that outward appearance in you. I could care less if you have on a $250 suit. It doesn't make any difference if you come to me in overalls. I'm not interested in the outward appearance. Let's rip it off. Let's see what's inside. The thinking Israelite would realize this. Then that body was severed and there was a very distinct order in which that body went on the altar, brethren and sisters, as we're told in Leviticus. First was the head. What's in the head? The mind, the thinking of man. That went first. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. The second thing that went on that altar was the fat, and that fat was not just any fat, brethren and sisters. That fat was the fat that cushioned the liver and the kidneys. That fat which determined the health of the animal. That fat which developed unseen and developed on that which the animal ate. And if there was any blemish in that fat, out. Anything negative never went on God's altar, and don't forget that. We can't approach God except on the basis of 100% righteousness and anything negative never went on that altar. The third thing that went on that altar was the legs. Speaking of the strength. You know in the 12th chapter of Mark, I believe it is, a rich young, the scribe comes to Christ and this scribe had been standing back, and we know well, don't we, that the scribes had had to rewrite the law to the point they had become lawyers in Israel. But there were some very sincere scribes and there were some very sincere Jews. And this scribe was one of those, and he's standing back in this crowd and he's listening to the master, and he thinks to himself, my word, this man knows the Old Testament. Listen to his profound explanation. I've never heard anything like it. And he goes to the master and he says, you know, there's something that's been puzzling me. I want to know the answer, and this is the man I'm going to come to. Master, what's the greatest commandment? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy strength, all thy mind. There's none greater than these, and this scribe says, you know, master, that's just what I thought. Just what I thought. And master, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind and thy strength, it's greater than burnt offerings, isn't it? And Jesus looked upon him, and the word means knowingly. He saw in this man one who had taken the principle of this offering, brethren and sisters, of total dedication, and he says, you are not far from the kingdom of God. Beautiful, isn't it? You are not far. Here was one in Israel that had seen the typology, brethren and sisters. Here was one in Israel that had taken the lesson of the 17th chapter of Exodus and had held together with the body, had lifted his hands in prayer constantly to God, realizing that he could do nothing of himself, and he realized that the burnt offerings, as far as the offerings were concerned, was merely a ritual, but that wasn't the important thing because he remembered that God had said, I don't need your cattle, Israel, a cattle and a thousand hills are mine, they're all mine. I want what's inside. I want your heart. And here in the 17th chapter of Exodus, brethren and sisters, there's something that is telling us that there's someone out there, and he's not a personal devil either, but there's someone out there that wants our heart also. We're quite popular, aren't we? You didn't know you were wanted by two people, did you? Well, Amalek wants you and God wants you. It has ever been the same, and this chapter concludes by saying that Amalek's going to be with us till the end of the days, and you know, Israel could very easily have been destroyed, if it were not for the protective power of God, by an Amalekite, do you remember that? And his name was Haman. You look up his genealogy sometime, and you will find that he was an Amalekite. And God brings these people into focus to show that he means what he says. And someone might say, well, we don't have any problem with Amalek today, do we? And I tell you, my brethren and sisters, and my young people, I address this to our young people, because you're facing a great trial, probably facing a much greater trial than the older ones are now. You're facing a greater trial than I faced when I was your age. I say to you that Amalek is right outside that door, and he's waiting for you to come out this morning. You're going to find Amalek out in the world. He's going to be looking at you through a television screen. I won't repeat that he will be in Dodger Stadium, because I think I've worked that. Someone asked me yesterday, why do you have against the Dodgers? And I said, that's the trouble, I don't have enough against them. I'll tell you, give you a very vivid illustration of why I don't have enough against them, brethren and sisters, because they happen to be my Amalek. You see, I've played baseball, played football, and very active in school and these things, and I can't get involved, because I get right out there in the game with them, and my decisions sometimes don't agree with the managers. One night, working at the fairgrounds, one afternoon, I had everything well under control as far as my daily work is concerned, and I had on my tape recorders, which God has graciously given me the opportunity to do, and I had my own Bible class. Once I got my work laid out, why, it doesn't take any concentration, all of these lines, and so I can listen to my tape recorders without any interruption. I was doing fine, I'd started about three o'clock in the afternoon, and I was progressing beautifully on a study in Eureka, and six o'clock came, and I thought, well, I'll go eat dinner. I'll get right back, and we'll continue. I had my Bible out, and I had my notebooks on my bench, and when I'd come across some gem, I'd stop the recorder, and I'd put this material down, and actually, I was out of this world. I was in the realm of the kingdom of God, and floating on cloud 37, so to speak. I went to eat. Made the mistake of turning the radio on. The Dodgers were in New York. It was the third inning, and they were tied one-to-one. I ate, came back to the car, and it was the sixth inning, and they were still tied one-to-one. I got back to shop, and it was the seventh inning. Scored the same. I thought, well, now, there's only two more innings to go, and it won't hurt anything to see how the outcome is, and I'm sure I can help manager Alston. Ninth inning came, still one-to-one. You know, brethren and sisters, that game lasted until the 16th inning. And I was in a state of frustration. I was a nervous wreck. And at 8.30 in the evening to salve my conscience more than anything else, I turned the recorder back on. You know, it didn't even sound the same. I couldn't recognize the words. I wasn't, Amalek had moved in. Now, you may not have this problem, brethren and sisters, and I pray to God that you don't. Music is another one of my problems. The music is one of my amaleks, and someone says, what in the world is wrong with that? There's nothing wrong with it. But you know, I have to stay away from a musical, and I'd rather go to a good musical than I had to eat because I can tell you every move of a musical I saw in 1930, and maybe some of you saw it. Most of you weren't even, a lot of you weren't even born but you've heard of that paper moon. And sound movies were just coming in, and it was a real, real novelty to hear the voices and hear the music, there's many of you here that went through that transitional period with me. And I thoroughly relaxed one afternoon to that beautiful music of a paper moon. But I can't forget it. Now this becomes my problem, brethren and sisters, it may not affect you at all, but I have a mind that is very limited for capacity, and it depends on what I put into that receptacle of how much room I have for the truth of God. This is the sin, there is no sin, actual sin that I can see in going to Dodger Stadium, or going to Marine Land, or going to Disneyland. But the idea is that we don't have time, we don't have the place for that material, it's crowding out something, something has to give. Now maybe you have the capabilities, and I pray to God that you have, that you can just let everything come into your mind and you can file it in separate little compartments and reach up and extract anything that you want from those separate compartments any time you want to. Well, God bless you if that is true. But I'm telling you, this individual is speaking this morning, can't do that. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. As far as I'm personally concerned, sports, number one, is one of those things that I have to nail to a cross. And I can tell you that when I nail it to a cross, I can feel the prints of those nails piercing my hands because it's tearing something away from me. But brethren and sisters, that's Amolek. One of my favorite programs on TV was the Lawrence Welk Show because his music dated the times that I loved to hear music. Music meant something to me. I'll never forget, we had an old brother that was staying with us and loved the Lawrence Welk Show and he came on Saturday nights. And I was determined that I was going to stay over my Sunday school work because that was a time that I had set apart for my Eureka study at that time. One night, I will never forget, I was over my desk and he had this program on and Joanne Castle began to play. And I kind of like ragtime piano, I must confess. I thought, well, Maury, it won't hurt you to relax just a few minutes and this might be good for you. It'll kind of clear your mind, you know all the excuses you can make. So I got up and went in and stood in the back of the chair for a minute until Joanne came and got through. And then that team that they had on that's very similar to Jeanette McDonough that he came on, I thought, well, maybe I better sit down for a moment. You know, brethren and sisters, before I got through that I had lost two hours in front of that television set. Someone said, well, that didn't hurt you, didn't it? You know, when I went back to Eureka that it didn't look like the same book? You see, they won't mix, brethren and sisters. They will not mix. Now Israel made a great statement. I'm trying to bring in a lot of things here in the Wilderness Wanderings, brethren and sisters, trying to bring this, but I want to leave some thoughts with you. Amalek will not mix with the truth, but Israel thought that they would. I would like for you to come with me this morning to, I think we have time to conclude this and I think it would be a very fitting thing to conclude with as we're taking lessons out of this book. You know, as Israel began to move into the land, they were told to destroy the land. They were told to destroy the Canaanite. Now, Israel did not obey that command. Israel did not obey and it proved to be their great downfall, brethren and sisters. We read in the last chapter of Zechariah, chapter 14, one of the last things that we are told, that there shall no more be the Canaanite in the house of the Lord. There shall no more be the Canaanite in the house of the Lord. Now, God says when Israel comes into the land, I want you to destroy the Canaanite. We won't have time to take the complete tour of this through the scriptures because it's about a half hour session, so let me brief it for you. Destroy the Canaanite. Now, let's stop for a moment and think what the Canaanite was, brethren and sisters. The Canaanite himself was not a particularly bad person. In fact, as we would have the counterpart of the Canaanite today in an individual that we say, oh, they're lovely people, they're high moral people, they don't believe like we do, they don't go to church very often, but they're wonderful people. They make wonderful neighbors. Now, that's the type of people the Canaanite, and I know there were the reprobates among them just as there are among everyone else, but for the most part, the Canaanite was a fairly nice individual on world standards. He was a law-abiding citizen. He paid his taxes. He was, you might say, a very, very prominent businessman, and the name means that he's a traitor. He's, you might look at him as a high-pressure salesman of some kind, but the trouble is that he's used in the scriptures of truth as one that deals in men's souls. And when God said destroy the Canaanite, Israel didn't debate. In fact, as we progress through the scriptures of truth, you'll find that they intermarried, that they intermingled. You know, that's dangerous, brethren and sisters, because so many times we'll say, well, I'll marry out of the truth and I'll bring that individual into the truth. There have been rare occasions that that happens, but 80% of the time, brethren and sisters, it works in the opposite direction. That Canaanite was a very, very good man. It makes a Canaanite out of you. This is what Israel found out. As they went through their life, they found out that they were worshiping the idols of the Canaanites. And because of this, God moved in because God cannot stand idolatry. And this is the problem we have today about us, brethren and sisters, we have wonderful people. We work with them, don't we? But they're not, are in every sense of the word, the Canaanite. They are of the seed of Amalek. They are that which has for their city, a city that is built with hand. And we look away to that, don't we? To a city whose foundation, whose builder and maker is God. God says, destroy it. He doesn't mean for us to go out and kill our neighbors. You know what he means. Crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts. But brethren and sisters, there is the trial that you and I face today. We sometimes hear brethren and sisters say, don't you think that we will go through tremendous persecution before the second coming of Christ? Brethren and sisters, as far as the truth is concerned, we're going through that persecution today. And let me tell you that that persecution is more severe than those that the disciples endured because in the time of Christ and up until the first century, when you took a stand for the Lord Jesus Christ, it meant death. There was a clear line of demarcation. You knew where you stood. If you were in a Christian, you were in this category. If you were for the world, you were in this category. There was no gray section at all. But what do we have today? We are living in the world of Amalek. We are living in the world of seduction, brethren and sisters, and we're living in a group of people that say, we don't care what you believe. We're living in the world of the Canaanite that says, we are broad-minded. We don't care what you believe. Come with us. You can believe what you want. We'll even go to your church with you. But you come with us. And one of the great lessons of the wilderness wandering, brethren and sisters, was that when God said to destroy the Canaanite, he meant exactly what Paul was later to say in the fifth chapter of Galatians in verse 24, they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. They have nailed it to a cross. And brethren and sisters, it is not easy. Anyone that thinks that their road to the place in the kingdom of God had better reevaluate their journey. There's only one way, brethren and sisters, and this would be my closing message to you. There is only one way that we can ever hope for a place in God's kingdom. There's only one way that we can crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts. And that is to follow the example that we have in the wilderness wanderings of loving the Lord our God with all our heart and all our strength and all our mind. And when we look at the greatest example, we find in the 12th chapter of Hebrews that it was for the joy that was said before the Lord Jesus Christ that he endured the cross. It was for the joy that was said before him that the Lord Jesus Christ crushed out Amalek. It was for the joy that was said before him that he crushed out the Canaanite. And what was that joy and how did he get it? He obtained that joy, brethren and sisters, by constantly infiltrating his mind with weak ends such as this, by saturating his mind with the word of truth, by praying to God from morning to night, by seeking and gaining the help of angels, by saturating every vestige of his heart and his mind with the truth of God, and leaving no space for the things of Amalek or for the things of the Canaanite. And because he was totally dedicated to God, because he had the vision of that time that is coming, when he shall see of the travail of his soul that host which no man can number and he will know that they gained immortality by what he accomplished at Calvary. That's what he saw, brethren and sisters. He saw that glorious day when he would take to himself the five great titles of wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And when he said, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, I do not believe, he was dreading the cross of Calvary, brethren and sisters. What was he speaking of then? He knew that presence of his Father that had been with him so long must now depart so that he could drink the suffering to the full for you and me. That's what he didn't want to leave. We don't want it to leave either, do we, brethren and sisters, because he's in these last few steps of the way. He's blazed the trail, he's gone ahead and he says, follow me. We say, where are you going, master? Going to Calvary. What are you going to do there, master? I'm nailing Amalek to that cross, he's in my way. I'm nailing the Canaanite to the cross, he's in my way. There can be no stumbling blocks between me and my goal because that joy is set before me. This is new, brethren and sisters, because God gave us that formula when he brought Israel out of Egypt, didn't he? And they began their journey, he says, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy strength. There's the answer, brethren and sisters. I'm sorry we've had to rush through the wilderness wandering. I hope we've left something for you to think about. It's been a real joy to be with you in this study, I can assure you. It's going to be my prayer that I might take your hand that glorious day of Zion's glad mourning and that we can reminisce on weekends such as this and see how they were provisions made by the God of Israel and they were stepping stones into our eternal rest. And may it be your privilege in mind as we stand at the portals of that everlasting possession that we might hear those welcome words, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. My brethren and sisters, I want to be there with you and we feel the thrill of immortality going completely through our body and that we can look out on the unending ages of eternity knowing that eternity will never dent our immortal frame to know that at last we have won. Our dream has come true. That we shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, neither shall the sun light on us nor any heat and that we may exclaim once again with the Apostle Paul, O the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out for who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his counselor or who hath first given to him and it shall be given to him again and then we will know the true meaning that Paul expressed when he said, for of him and through him and to him be glory forever. Amen.