Audio Archive

Transcript

well my dear brother 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 lombok valley ecclesia in lombok 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 caribbean of god

we're being prepared for that immortal care of them

i'm sure we're very familiar with the fact that the caribbean 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

it is an obedience to the command

that we're told what does the lord require thee but to do justly and to love mercy and 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

have 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 chosen people were in that area

and this brings us to another thing brethren and sisters god hasn't indiscriminately gone out and 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 second corinthians the fifth chapter god was in christ manifesting himself under 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 uh

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 in 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 any further than the end of the millennium it is a book that has 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 as 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

now we know don't we brother 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

horrible dirty thing entered

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

and we are 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 going to be in actuality numbers 14 and 21

isaiah 11 and 9

habakkuk 2 14

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

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 brother 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

l

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

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 there are the colonies

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 serie my dear brother 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 the 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 the 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 rebecca and god touches the will of rebecca 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

and 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 brother 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 uttered 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 past unto the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by son 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 at verse 1 that 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 uh 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

there you have it in egypt brother 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 reigns

constantly dependent upon the god of israel

in egypt we have

preservation of the dead

mummification

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 remembrance of thee in the grave who shall give thee thanks

we see the grand fulfillment of david's words as he warns us in the 146th psalm to put not your trust in princes

nor in the son of man in whom there is no help his breath goeth forth he returneth to his earth and that very day his thoughts

perish

he see 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 [Music]

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

so 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

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 brother and sister

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 brothers 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 brother and sister says

in romans 15 and 4 that these things were written a fourth time 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 brighton 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 screeching halt in 1984.

now they're beginning to see that they knew what they were talking about i don't know the problems you're having here but we're facing gasoline racing 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

they 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 classes thank you

Transcript

as we open the book of exodus

we find a sad commentary on human nature

how many times this is spelled doom for an individual

that there are rows of pharaoh that knew not joseph

and all the glory that had been israel's

all the prestige that they had owned

suddenly has 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 but 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

their 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 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 knight that intervened their 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 jochebed 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 jochebeds in israel

jochebeds who undoubtedly went to their deathbed thinking that god has never seen me i have tried but i have done nothing spectacular

i've 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 jochebed's 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 jochebed 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 hebrew 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 brother and sisters in regards to this man

i would like to direct your attention to the 22nd verse

acts chapter 7 verse 22.

do we go to 11 now

10 minutes

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 to the 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 brother 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

40 years

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 jochebed 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 then 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 just 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 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 marine land to disneyland

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 back side of the desert

there was no disneyland back there

there was no marine lands

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 spokesman 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 mine 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

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

well 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 is there were three approximately three million israelis

for jews in egypt

that there are three million jews locked up in russia today

and isn't it interesting that the same cry to let my people go is the same cry that's being echoed from the four corners of the earth today

and it isn't this 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

they've had a pretty close brush with death

as individuals and in their families

and you know there isn't any time in your life that your mind turns to yahweh ropheka as it does and they are 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 destiny and oh if we only had time to remedy these things because there's a possibility i might not live through the night

but 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 larger is full and the bank account grows and what happens to our heart the world becomes quite bright again doesn't it

and our old associations look better than they had in our hour of trial and uh

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

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 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 this scripture speaks of the power of god is spoken by paul in romans 1 where he says i am not ashamed of the gospel of christ for it is the power of god under salvation to everyone that believeth

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 and god's ability to save

we realize this don't we when we go to the a funeral

and we look

at one we've known in life

brother john carter said in pomona one day when he was speaking on the atonement that

there is no time in our life and 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'm an extremely good friend in pomona area that is a physician and he told me one day and 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

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 worshipped

that they deified

the frog-headed goddess haika

the earth god kept

the sun god raw ammon

the river nile

and on and on and on

god says very well egypt if 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

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 brother 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 is 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 raw 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 brother sisters

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 door posts and the little of your house

don't put it on the doorstep israel because that would be the symbol of treading the son of god under foot

but identify yourself

with that which can bring deliverance

brother gene turner a moment ago said maury 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 really 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 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 hebrew 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 in verse 1 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 this 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 faith

certain

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 crystaldelphians 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 the 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 son of righteousness will have left the father's throat

the moon the reflected light the ecclesia of god will also be there

the individual stars will be there every trace of life that lightens this world today brothers 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

darkness will cover this earth as gross darkness the people men will struggle and stumble and fall as the 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

that's two minutes to twelve 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

9

8

7.

six

five

four

three

two

one

the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the 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 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

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 10-11

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 brothers 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 bread basket 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

brother 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 leaks 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

many of you have seen that picture of cecil b the mills 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 discount their 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 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

young people

and brothers 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 at the preface of that book he'll say you know

these are 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 bestseller and multitudes of people have become rich by applying these principles their basic life and i want to leave one of those principles with you that god told moses

moses prostate trade before the god of

israel and god tells moses something

he says moses

get up off 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 and 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 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 lompoc right now

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 girl 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 brother and sister 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

and 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 sister 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 brother 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 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 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 11-1

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 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 egyptian 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 goethe forth to punish the inhabitants of the earth

you see how these principles repeat themselves brethren 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 no dominion that was made us unto our god kings and priests there's no 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 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

all the creation man enjoys it

but the creation the glorious sun rising on the eastern horizon every morning that's not for man and his uh 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 son of righteousness rising and just as the natural son dissolves every trace of darkness

god says look forward to that time when the son of righteousness will arise with healing in his beams and every trace of sin will be obliterated from the earth that's what i'm telling you everything and 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 a 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 in 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 1280

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 at 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're 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 the

that word charge in the hebrew we're 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 caribbean to keep the way

to keep the way of the tree of life to keep thee in all thy ways why 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 brothers and sisters if we will only accept it i will never leave thee nor for safety nor suffer thee to be tempted above that but you're able but will with the temptation make a way

that she may escape

let's appropriate that to ourselves brother and sisters let's don't think all that just applied 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 c but they wouldn't be any better than we are brother 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're part of us and they're trying to convey this message to us we're 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're 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 the 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 and 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

hath he 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

noticed 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 doorpost of their heart

they would not dare to tread the blood of christ under foot

they've 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'm going to take three million people i'm going to bring them out of the very symbol of sin and death i'm going to bring them through the red sea i'm going to have the greatest army in the world pursue them i'm going to destroy that army they're not going to do it they're 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's the answer brethren and sisters god was in christ

and we're 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 acts the incident we spoke of earlier

of abraham offering isaac and remember i think it's repeated three times

that 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 brother 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 bread basket 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 water other and they scoop up that water

bitter

bitter mara

let's read the account brother 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

sometime 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 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 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 chasing to 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 mara 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 hearken to the voice of yahweh thy elohim and will do that which is right in his sight and will 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 rophika

i am yahweh that healathy it is the basis of the great physician

it is the basis of that great salvation that god has brought through ye hoshua

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 and 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 occurred 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

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 ropheka and the principles of that cure brethren sisters have not changed from that verse underscore it in your bible notice what he says

he said if thou wilt diligently let's ponder that word for a moment brother and sisters

and we'll do that which is right in his sight will give ear to his commandments keep all his statues 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 twelve

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 hela 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 anymore 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 12 wells of water

oh brethren and sisters what a beautiful picture this is 12 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 12 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 no 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 22nd chapter of revelation aren't they let's turn to it brethren and sisters the 22nd 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 22nd 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 of 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 his 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 bringeth forth their fruit and their season his leaf also shall not wither he's an immortal and whatsoever he does 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 believes 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 encamped there by the waters

now where did those waters come from

where did they come from brothers 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 anymore 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 will 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 all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump

for this trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised to incorruptibility and we shall be changed try to envision this brother 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 serpent

thou shalt bruise his heel death shall be swallowed up in victory oh death where is thy sting oh grace 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 would be no sin if i hadn't given a law says god

but thanks be to

remember what we said brethren sisters this mercy comes from god himself thanks be to god which giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ

put a price tag on that brothers 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 seemed 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 and he says

oh 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 and the days that lie out ahead never let us forget it

i know the apostle paul was

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 and the god and every time the israelite would look out the doors of his tent he would see that smoke ascending to god is 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

and 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 has they've crossed the red sea and they're coming down the sinai through this barren desolate waste

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 nicethy 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 in 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

i stopped 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

direct your attention to verse 5. i'm 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 verse 4 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 repudium 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 smote us the river taken 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 tis your 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 4

15 and 18 this title of deity

and this word teshur 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 refidem let us get our our uh directions straight here this is refidem

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 8 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 though thou shall 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 brethren and sisters there's something interesting in this word rock because

no longer is this tijur

this word here

is an entirely different word

this word here is sila 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 end not that moses will not be in the kingdom of god brethren it says there's god for bed 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 under foot

and to those who do this that they will not be in the kingdom

and this was basically the reason not so much of 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 task masters had been severe

do we recognize ourselves 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 brother 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 uh

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 you

i'm glad i'm not in your occlusions here because you'd think i was talking about someone wouldn't you

we have the problem too brother and sister 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 far worse than the ecclesia needs us

we're sheep brethren and sisters and the sooner we realize that when a sheep is isolated by

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 brothers and sisters

it's hard to uh 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 chooses 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 rather than sisters see we have a two-fold lesson here

we have amalek picking on the

weak and straggling

and we also have amalek in a collegial 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 realize 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 the 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 christadelphia 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 of 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 brother and sisters are holding up my hands this morning and prayer to the god of israel and thank god for the glorious association we've 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 am the lad will go yandra in 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 here

i am going with my dear brother 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 will come back to you

that's what we have said isn't it brother 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 brother and sisters

you see the magnitude of the second coming of christ

so far

out distances 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 christadelphia 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 and 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 brothers 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

and we would say

yes israel are you so foolish you can't see that

beware brother 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 under the world

and he redeemed us brethren and sisters and by this we are made holy

and by this we can triumphantly sing the writer and his horse as he cast into the sea and god sends a resounding message to everyone in this audience this morning

everyone in this audience this morning unto 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

you know 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

dollar 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 in the kidneys

that fat which determined the health of the animal that fat which developed unseen and developed

by which the 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

the 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 i 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're not far from the kingdom of god

beautiful isn't it

you're not far here was one in israel that had seen the typology brother 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 burn offerings as far as the offerings was 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 brothers and sisters there's something that is telling us that there's some one 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 is 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 what 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 played baseball i 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 i 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 concentrate 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

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 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 a sixth inning 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 brother and sisters that game lasted till the 16th inning

and i was in a strait of frustration i was a nervous wreck

and at 8 30 in the evening

to save 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 a music is one of my amaleks and someone said 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 then 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 that beautiful music of a paper moon

but i can't forget it

now this becomes my problem brother and sisters it may not affect you at all but i have a mind that is very limited in 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's 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 crowning 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

you can file it in separate little compartments and you can reach up and extract anything that you want from those separate compartments anytime 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 prince of those nails piercing my hands

because it's tearing something away from me but brethren and sisters that's amalek

one of my favorite programs on tv was the lawrence welk show because his music dated the

times that i love 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 walk show and

it came on saturday nights

and i was determined that i was going to stay over my sunday school work because

that was the 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 and all the excuses you can make

so i uh got up and

went in and stood in back the chair for a minute joanne came got through and

then

that team that they had on that very similar to jeanette mcdonald eddie came on i thought maybe i better sit down for a moment

you know brother and sisters before i got through that i had lost two hours in front of that television set

and someone said well i 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 brother 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 brother and sister's 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 would be a very fitting thing to conclude with is we're taking

lessons out of

out of

this book

you know as israel began to move into 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're 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 brother 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 uh 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 that came tonight oh 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 uh prominent businessman and the name means that he's a traitor he's uh

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 obey

in fact as we progress through the scriptures of truth you will find that they

intermarry

that they intermingle

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 if that happens

but 80 percent of the time brethren and sisters it works in the opposite direction

that canaanite 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 brother 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 hands

and we look away to that don't we to a city whose foundation whose builder and maker is god

god says

destroy it now 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 sister 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 in 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 wanderings 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 at verse 24

they that are christ have crucified the flesh with his 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 re-evaluate

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 which is affections and lust 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 set before the lord jesus christ that he endured the cross

it was for the joy that was set before him that the lord jesus christ crushed out amalek it was for the joy that was set 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 weakness 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 amalekura 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 the 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 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 calgary

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 brother and sisters because god gave us that formula when he brought israel out of egypt didn't he they began their journey 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 wanderings

i hope we have 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 morning 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 and mind as we

stand at the portals of that everlasting possession that

we might hear those welcome words well done though good and faithful servants

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 frames

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 has been his counselor or who has 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 [Music] and through him and to him

be glory forever