WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:08.240 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:13.199 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:19.120 Father, if we're not careful, we can uh we can become people of a no. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.199 People of the no instead of people of the yes. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:25.359 And you're a God of yes. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:31.120 And so give us ears to hear today what we need to say yes to. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:36.399 Because yes makes a bigger difference in our life than no ever will. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:50.320 And so, Lord, as we read your word this morning and it's it's preached and proclaimed and taught, I pray that a big yes would swell up inside of our head and our heart. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:52.320 And I pray this in Jesus' name. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:55.039 And everyone said, Amen. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:58.719 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Exodus chapter 2. 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:00.960 And if you're a guest, we're going through the book of Exodus. 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:02.399 We'll take a break and we'll do other things. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:05.920 We won't just go all the way through Exodus, but we're going kind of epithetically. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:08.079 Look at different scenes from the book of Exodus. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:14.239 Uh, and we're we just started, so we're in chapter two, and I want to talk to you this morning about the smiling hand of Providence. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:16.159 The smiling hand of Providence. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:16.959 And what do you mean? 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:21.599 Usually when we use that word providence, we're referring to things that we can't understand, explain, or figure out. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:26.400 So we just kind of say, hey, let's store that in the cloud that we kind of refer to as providence. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.319 I don't know, I don't know why that happened, but it was just providence, you know. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:32.000 We don't know. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:34.799 That's not what I mean when I say the smiling hand of providence. 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:49.359 When I say providence, I mean that God has not abandoned the world that he created, but he created uh, but but rather he works within that creation to manage all things according to the immutable counsel of his own will. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:52.079 And so when I say providence, that's what I mean. 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:58.959 I don't just mean, well, providence is, hey, you know, God, you can't really figure it out, and so uh that's fate. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:07.519 Um providence is somebody's in charge of it all, and somebody's working for and toward the good of his people in the midst of it all. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:14.800 And so I want to read from Exodus chapter 2, the first ten verses, and I want us to kind of see the smiling hand of Providence here. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:16.719 This is what the Bible says in verse 1. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:20.960 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife, a Levite woman. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:26.319 The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:41.919 And when she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and she daubed it with bitumen and pitch, and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the riverbank, and his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:47.120 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young woman walked beside the river. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:51.280 She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her servant woman, and she took it. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:54.960 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.719 She took pity on him and said, This is one of the Hebrew's children. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:05.439 And then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call you a nurse for the from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you? 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:07.520 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:16.639 So the girl went and called the child's mother, and Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse him for me, for and I will give you weight I will give you your wages. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:19.120 So the woman took the child and nursed him. 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:23.439 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:28.159 She named him Moses because she said, I drew him out of the water. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:30.879 Now this is one of those passages kind of like last week. 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:33.520 The momentum of the book of Exodus hasn't picked up yet. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:38.319 And it's easy to read this part and kind of go, Uh, what exactly is going on here? 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:39.680 I'll tell you what's going on here. 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.000 The smiling hand of Providence. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:44.000 And and you see it in three ways. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:47.680 And the first way is simply this God is always at work. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:49.840 God is always at work. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:55.919 Now, when I say that, and that sounds like things preachers say when they don't know what else to say, I'm I I said this to the first service. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:00.000 Let me just say it to you, and hopefully I'll remember to say it to the third service. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:08.000 Even when things are not going your way, even when things are hard or difficult, or you're like, this is not the outcome I wanted, God is always at work. 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:12.800 Just because we don't get our will, doesn't mean that God's will is not being worked out. 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:14.240 You understand that? 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:15.039 Hello? 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:16.720 It's not always so. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:24.639 Because see, if you kind of link God being at work with you getting your way, then what you really want is you want to be in charge of the world. 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:31.759 And so even when things aren't looking like going like the way you think they should, you gotta learn to see that God is at work. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:36.240 And probably one of the greatest expressions of this is a hymn by a man named William Cooper. 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:40.319 William Cooper struggled with debilitating depression his entire life. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:50.160 And one of the things that that really helped and kind of redeemed, Cooper said it redeemed his life from the pit of grayness was his friendship with John Newton. 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:53.439 John Newton was a slave trader who wrote the hymn, Amazing Grace. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:55.040 He and William Cooper were neighbors. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.639 There was an orchard between their houses, and Cooper would go, they spend time together. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:06.560 Matter of fact, at one point, Cooper got so depressed, he moved in with John Newton, and John Newton befriended him, cooked his meals, and just loved on him. 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:17.199 John Newton said at one point, I would spend the first six hours of my day working on my pastoral ministry and writing, and the last six hours walking to the valley in the shadow of death with William. 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:20.240 He wrote a hymnal called The Only Hymnal. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:24.879 He and Cooper were writing together, and Cooper went into this deep dark depression, and he couldn't write. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:27.040 It was of no help to Newton. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:34.720 And but in the preface to the hymnal, John Newton says, This is not just a collection of hymns, this is a monument to a friendship. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:41.199 And so he just said to William Cooper, he said, I'm never gonna get tired of you because Cooper would always like, I'm just wearing you out. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:41.920 I'm so sorry. 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:44.720 Why do I tell you that before I read this, the words for this hymn? 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:45.680 Here's why I tell you that. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:46.399 Look at me. 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:50.639 I don't care how dark it gets, how gray you feel, or how hard it gets. 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:55.040 Don't just get let yourself get depressed and just hold up and close the door and just check out. 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:58.639 When you feel yourself going there, call your John Newton. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:05:59.759 Pick up the phone. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:03.759 Don't put some innocuous message on Facebook and kind of hope that people get a hint. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:04.720 No, no, no, no. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:06.560 Don't cloister yourself in. 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:15.680 Take yourself out, call somebody and say, hey, I'm starting to believe things and think things about myself that I know aren't true on a good day, but I hadn't had a good day in a long time. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:17.439 So it starts to feel what's right. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:18.560 Can we get coffee? 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:22.079 That was a friendship of John Newton and William Cooper. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:26.000 William Cooper wrote this famous hymn called God Moves in Mysterious Ways. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:28.399 When I say God is at work, this is what I mean. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:29.759 Listen to these lyrics. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.439 God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:37.519 He plants his footsteps in the sea and he rides upon the storm. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:46.800 Deep and unfathomable minds of never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign will. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:50.000 Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:57.279 The clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:02.000 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:06.560 Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:18.160 This frowning providence, because Pharaoh said, Hey, Shifhr and Pua, you two Hebrew midwives, if it's a baby boy, I want you to kill it. 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:19.360 If it's a girl, let it live. 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:21.360 They disobey, I can't trust them. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:29.040 So he makes an edict to everybody and says, Hey, if there's a boy, a male baby born, a baby boy, throw it in the Nile. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:31.439 This frowning providence, it's really dark. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:32.879 And chapter 2 opens. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:37.360 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife, a Levite woman. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:41.519 You say, and then it says, and then the woman conceived and bore a son. 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:46.720 By the way, that phrase, and the woman conceived and bore a son, appears 16 times in the Old Testament. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:48.160 And this is the last time it appears. 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:49.920 And you say, What's the big deal about that? 00:07:50.079 --> 00:08:00.240 Because each time the Bible goes out of the way to say, and she conceived and bore a son, or she conceived and gave birth to a daughter, it's announcing something that these are 16 people that God used. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:01.680 Why is this the last time? 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:07.680 Because with the birth of Moses, God has somebody who can lead and give birth to a nation of Israel. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:13.279 And so 16 times the Bible has kind of said, but one of the things that you say, what do you mean God's always at work? 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:14.079 How do you see that? 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:19.360 And in verse 1, when it says, a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife, a Levite woman. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:29.279 More than any decision that you make in this lifetime, apart from your relationship with Christ, the most important decision you will make in this world, in this life, is who you marry. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:30.319 Can I get an amen? 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:35.679 And I married way above my head, and my wife and kids are in Florida right now. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:38.240 They left on Thursday, they don't want to get back till Tuesday. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:39.679 So I'm kind of batching it. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:43.279 And my wife is kind of working, we're having radio silence. 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:45.200 We're not talking, and I'm great with that. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:49.039 I'm like, because I I'm on a bad roll a couple weeks ago. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:58.240 My wife and I were talking, and she was like, Well, I just feel like, and I know it's not true, but, and I think in my male mind, if it's not true, why we gotta talk about it? 00:08:58.559 --> 00:08:59.919 Because we got to talk about it. 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:15.360 And so she said, Well, I know this is not true, but it just feels to me like, and I said in a moment of male lucidity and crisp logic, I said, your insecurity sometimes creates unnecessary conversations for me. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:18.240 Shut up. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:22.480 I thought, this is a pearl of self-awareness. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:24.559 She's gonna say thank you. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:26.159 She didn't. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.320 She looked at our kids and go, go to your rooms. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:31.919 And my kids just got out, just walked to their bedrooms. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:39.360 And I was like, Wha! And all of a sudden, click, the TV got turned off. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:41.440 And in my mind, I'm like, am I getting a whipping? 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:42.639 What's going on here? 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:45.919 She goes, Let's talk about what you just said. 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:52.639 I see, well, well, see, I uh I'm not are you saying that that I'm it's unnecessary? 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:53.440 No, no, no. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:56.080 I'm just, I mean, I this is how I think as a man. 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:58.320 I don't think, I don't know if all other men think this way. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:09:59.360 I think we do. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:05.919 Uh, but when you say to us, I know this is not true, then why are we fixing to talk about it? 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:18.159 And I'm like, uh, so I'm like, uh, okay, uh, uh, oh, oh, oh, oh, okay, whatever. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:23.919 See, and when I say God's always at work, and God's at work in these people, I'm I'm a better man. 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:27.120 My life is what it is because I married the woman I married. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:28.879 But sometimes she makes me crazy. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:32.000 Been married 22 years, been 17 of the best years of my life. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:32.639 I'm telling you. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:33.840 It's awesome. 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:38.879 Uh called me yesterday from Florida because my wife gets in the van and she's a great woman. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:42.080 She thinks about two things the speedometer and the gas gauge. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:43.840 And we went on a date the night before. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:45.360 Our kids had an event here at the church. 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:47.840 We went to dinner, and I said, Your van's kind of loud. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:48.480 Do you listen to that? 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:50.320 She goes, No, I don't I don't listen to that. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:51.840 And next day they're backing out the driveway. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:53.120 I'm like, your tires are almost bald. 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:54.159 You're driving to Florida. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.559 Get new tires when you get there on the front of this van. 00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:58.879 Okay, gets to Florida, no new tires. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:01.279 I'm like, hey, got tires, got no, we went shopping. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:02.399 No, we went out to eat. 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:05.360 No, my parents want to take the girls to the mall and get them something. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:07.360 Yesterday I get this panic phone call. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:11.039 I was pulling up a parking place and the tire popped off the rim. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:15.360 And you can't say, What I tell you. 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:18.480 No, because that's mean. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:23.679 And in my mind, I'm thinking, if telling the truth is wrong, what we got going on here? 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:24.879 But I didn't say anything. 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:30.000 And she's like, but I did say on the phone, and you're not supposed to say this, it's hard to fix these things over the phone. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:33.360 Because I said, Hey, you got a donut spare in the van. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:35.840 And she goes, I don't know where the where the spare tire is. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:41.039 And I said, How big is the van? 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:42.320 How hard is it to look? 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:44.960 And she said, I said, look under the seat. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.039 She goes, Well, my mom and dad and the girls are in the van. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:49.440 I said, Y'all got to get out of the van and change the tire. 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:51.039 We got to get out of the van. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:56.080 I said, look in the glove box and get the little owner's manual. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:57.279 Oh, I took it out the other day. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:01.840 I was reading something about the headphones for the DVD player, and I left the owner's manual at the house. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:04.240 Can you find it and talk me through this? 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:14.399 And because I said a minute ago, hey, when you things are going your way, don't think God's not worried. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:17.519 Because I'm talking to my wife and I can feel myself getting frustrated. 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:18.480 That's not okay. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.600 Sometimes our frustration is circumstantial. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:22.960 It's not personal. 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:23.600 Okay? 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:26.799 Crazy stuff cannot happen. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:29.759 And you look at us, ladies, and go, don't be frustrated. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:31.360 Too late. 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:34.879 It's two o'clock. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:39.039 I'm making a sandwich, having a late lunch, and my wife's like, I don't know where the tire is. 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:40.879 I left the owner's manual. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:45.600 And I and I'm like, and I said, I was thinking, Lord, I need some people. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:46.799 I've helped a lot of people. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:49.360 How about a little return on that investment right now? 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:53.120 And my wife, I mean, not a minute later, she goes, Hey, hang on a second. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:54.960 Yeah, yeah, we can do some help. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:59.120 Two Navy guys were riding by mopeds, and one of them said, Should we help them? 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:00.399 And then we're going, Yeah, we need to go back. 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:02.399 And she goes, I think they're gonna change the tire. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:03.600 I hung up the phone. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:07.120 God moves the mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:08.960 They got the thing changed. 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:13.759 And then she called me on the way back to her parents' house to tell me everything that happened and everything they said. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:17.840 And my mother-in-law invited them over for dinner and we'll buy you lunch if you come to church. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:19.840 And I said to my mother-in-law, thought this was funny. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:20.480 It wasn't. 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:23.679 Hey, you're too old to be hitting on two young Navy guys. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:25.919 I'm so glad you're not here. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:27.759 Not as glad as I am. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:30.960 No. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:33.759 So hey, hey, hey, come back to it. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.799 One of the most important decisions you'll make is who you marry. 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:38.799 Lady came to see me about two or three weeks ago. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:42.240 Her engagement, her fiance broken off the engagement. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:43.759 And I thought I was being helpful. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:47.120 I said, I think, I said, where do you see God at work in this? 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:48.879 I don't think this is God at work. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:49.600 This is horrible. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:50.480 I want to get him back. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:53.840 And I said, I see God preparing you for who your husband's gonna be. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:55.279 Clearly, it isn't this guy. 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:56.320 Move on. 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:58.559 That's not what she wanted to hear. 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:00.000 You don't understand. 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:02.399 And so I said, No, you don't understand. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:06.559 You gotta respect yourself enough, and this is not about respecting yourself. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:14.159 This is about respecting God enough to know that God is the work of God in your life is not controlled by some stupid guy. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:16.159 But he's my soulmate. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:17.200 Shut up. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:20.000 Stop saying that. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:22.399 God is your soulmate, okay? 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:23.600 Not some guy. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:30.159 Okay, you're gonna waste your life waiting for this guy to come back to you and you're gonna miss what God's trying to do. 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:32.720 It's just, I mean, this is not what I want to hear. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:34.080 I got nothing else to say. 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:35.919 Let me pray, and you can go. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:38.080 No, I want you to talk till I feel better. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:40.159 I ain't got that much life, lady. 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:43.200 Why? 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:48.720 Because, hey, sometimes when it hurts the most, God is working the most. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:52.960 Sometimes when it, I mean, it just stings. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:54.960 And I'm not, I'm not a heartless person. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:56.399 I wasn't like, oh, this doesn't matter. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:58.320 I'm like, hey, I I I get it. 00:14:58.559 --> 00:14:59.200 I understand. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:00.720 I'm sorry that happened. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:05.039 But you think this disqualifies and keeps God from doing anything? 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:13.759 You want to reserve the right to look at your daughters when they're 17 or when they're 14 and go, hey, I want you to know God's at work, so hold your head up. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:18.720 He's always at work. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:22.399 A man from the house of Levi and took it as his wife, a Levite woman. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:24.159 What's that got to do with anything? 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:30.559 Because Moses is of the tribe that will be designated by God to provide spiritual leadership to his people way down the road. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:33.519 God, you have been pre-qualified for a home mortgage? 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:36.960 He God pre-qualifies Moses for leadership. 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:38.159 And you say, What do you mean? 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:40.720 This is Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 8. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:45.120 It's at that time because the Levites were the people that God said, You belong to me. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:53.919 When they got in the promised land and they divided up the promised land, God gave all the other tribes land and he came to the Levites and He goes, You don't get anything, you get me. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:56.720 And they weren't like, oh man, we got ripped off. 00:15:56.799 --> 00:16:02.879 They were like, Bingo! Whoa! We are the champions, my friends. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:04.399 Everybody else had lamb. 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:05.679 They got God. 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:09.200 And Moses was a Levite. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:13.919 Because his mom and dad married each other. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.960 A Levite man and a Levite woman. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:20.559 So he was pre-qualified to be used of God. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:25.200 Hey, the type of person you marry produces the kind of children you get. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:30.320 Some of you need to not be led around by your homes so much. 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:33.840 Uh-oh. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:36.000 You feel that? 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:51.279 Some of y'all like the type of person you marry is determined by the type of children you get is determined by the type of person you marry. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:57.279 This is Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 8. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:00.240 This is what God spells it out about the Levites. 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:09.119 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord, to minister to him and to bless his name to this day. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:13.599 Therefore, Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:15.359 The Lord is his inheritance. 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:19.039 As the Lord your God said to him, I myself stayed on the mountain. 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:26.400 This is Moses talking, as at that as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and the Lord listened to me that time also. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:29.200 The Lord was unwilling to destroy you. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:38.319 And the Lord said to me, Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their forefathers to give them. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:46.400 When Exodus chapter 2 opens up and it's just an innocuous little phrase, now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife, a Levite woman. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:49.839 God is pre-qualifying Moses for leadership. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:52.160 He's other Levitical priesthood. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:53.599 He's from the tribe of Levi. 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:56.000 So God said, hey, it's going to be the Levites. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:18:01.359 He's like, hey, Moses, I already been at work in your life for a long, long time. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:10.000 One of the things, Mom and Dad, you need to do is you need to keep a record of all the ways God's worked in your kids' life before they ever have a frame of reference for it. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:17.839 Because there will come a day you need to look them in the eye and say, when you sin, you're sinning against all this spiritual legacy. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:22.720 Not to shame them, but to invite them to think big picture about their life. 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:24.720 God's always at work. 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:31.039 Secondly, the smiling hand of Providence in Exodus 2 tells us God works in your enemies' hearts as well. 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:33.359 Remember how chapter 1 ended? 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:38.160 God said, I mean, Pharaoh said, hey, throw all the male babies in the Nile. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:45.920 See, when we stop believing that God works in your enemies' hearts as well, what we do is we take matters into our own hands. 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:49.680 We kind of think, hey God, you feel about them the way I feel about them. 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:52.079 I want to read to you from the 109th Psalm. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:53.200 You don't have to turn there. 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:54.160 You can if you want. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:55.599 It'll come up on the screen. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:57.839 I'm reading this because it's in the Bible. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:00.319 This is what's called an imprecatory psalm. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:13.279 That means that this person, in this case David, a man after God's own heart, is so angry at these people who've been talking about him that he tells God with exclamation point after exclamation point after exclamation point. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:15.359 This is what I want you to do to these people. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:17.599 I want you to lay the wood to them, God. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:21.119 And he uses flowing biblical language to do it. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:25.839 You ever been so mad at somebody that you wished ill upon them? 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:30.480 I see you look down at your Bibles. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:32.240 Don't look up, honey. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:33.359 Yeah. 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:33.839 Yeah. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:34.960 Look at what the Bible says. 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:36.960 This is the 109th Psalm, verse 1. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:42.799 Be not silent, O God of my praise, for wicked and deceitful mouths have opened up against me. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:49.119 Speaking against me with lying tongues, they encircle me with words of hate, and they attack me without cause. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:53.759 In return for my love, they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:57.519 So they regard me evil for good and hatred for my love. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:59.920 David says, God, this is what they've done to me. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:03.599 Now this is what I want you to do to them, starting in verse 6. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:05.839 Appoint a wicked man against him. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.160 Let an accuser stand at his right hand. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:10.720 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:12.799 Let his prayer be counted as sin. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:14.480 May his days be few. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:16.319 May another take his office. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:19.759 May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:20.559 Hello. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:22.480 Verse 10. 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:28.400 May his children wander about and beg, seeking food afar from the ruins they inhabit. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:30.960 May the creditor seize all that he has. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:34.000 May strangers plunder the fruits of his toil. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:39.440 Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:41.920 May his posterity be cut off. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:44.880 May his name be blotted out in the second generation. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:48.079 Translation, I don't want this cat to have grandkids. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:55.599 Verse 14, may the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:57.200 He's talking about the guy's mama. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:00.480 He doesn't stop there. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:05.599 Verse 15, let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:11.680 For he did not remember to show kindness, but he pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted to put them to death. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:14.640 He loved to curse, let curses come upon him. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:18.000 He did not delight in blessing, may it be far from him. 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:21.119 He clothed himself with cursing as with a coat. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:31.359 May it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones, may it be like a garment he wraps around him, like a belt that he puts on every day. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:38.160 May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord and those who speak evil against my life. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:42.880 Some of y'all don't have a Bible like, where was that? 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:44.319 What psalm? 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:46.960 I need to send a Facebook message later today. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:49.759 The Lord gave me a word for you. 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:52.960 Be careful. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:54.400 Now that's in the Bible. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:55.039 Look at me. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:55.759 Look at me. 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:56.799 That's in the Bible. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.440 That doesn't mean that God did what David wanted him to do. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:01.359 You realize that, right? 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:02.640 What are we saying? 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:06.319 God is at work in the hearts of your enemies as well. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:12.160 And one of the things that we would do well to remember is that, hey, God doesn't just limit himself to us. 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:13.839 So here's what I want you to do. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:15.839 I want you to learn to pray for your enemies. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.640 Let me give you three things that will help you pray for your enemies. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.680 Number one, remember that you were once God's enemy. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:24.000 Remember that you were once God's enemy. 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:26.559 It is the height of hypocrisy for you. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:34.400 Because the Bible says in Romans chapter 5, verse 10, for if while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:36.799 It goes on to say, how much more now? 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:38.160 But just hear that. 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:44.000 For if while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him by the death of his son. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:47.359 You and I, by nature, were not born Christians. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:49.599 That's why the Bible says you've got to be born again. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.559 Stop thinking or saying you've been a Christian your whole life. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:53.279 You haven't. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:55.920 You were born an enemy of God. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:02.720 Lost, incapable of doing anything to save yourself, to change yourself. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:07.839 We by nature, Ephesians 2 tells us, are objects of God's wrath. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:13.200 You have a bullseye tattooed on your soul, and God has a big bow and arrow. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:16.240 That's seeker-friendly, isn't it? 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:25.839 But see, you have to say what the Bible says, or else mercy has no breathtaking ability to buckle your knees. 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:27.920 You were born God's enemies. 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:30.000 So, so how'd you get changed? 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:31.680 Someone had to die. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:35.359 And you were reconciled to him by the death of his son. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:38.079 You didn't pull yourself up by your bootstraps. 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:40.640 You didn't one day think, oh, you know what, this makes sense. 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:42.400 I'm going to choose to believe this. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:42.880 No. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:45.200 No, he revealed himself to you. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:48.799 Remember, you were once God's enemies. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:53.039 When you think about praying for your enemy, secondly, ask yourself what you need to let die. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:57.200 Ask yourself what you need to let die between you and your enemy. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:23:58.079 See, why? 00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:01.119 Because death is what makes reconciliation possible. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:05.599 Jesus died so I could be reconciled to God. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:11.440 He died on my place, in my place, on the cross to make reconciliation possible. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:18.799 So if you've got an enemy, ask yourself today, hey, what do I just need to let die between me and this guy or me and this woman? 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:21.119 What do I just need to be done with? 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:28.160 Third thing, and then under the banner of praying for your enemies, pray for mercy, not just justice. 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:31.039