WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:08.160 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:13.279 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:15.759 Father, that's a bold request. 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:20.480 We ask that your presence would fill the atmosphere. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:24.079 It means that we are asking that it fills all of us. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:35.679 When we say show us your glory, we're asking your glory to come to bear on everything that we encounter, every responsibility we have, everything we do. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.240 And it will change the way that we parent, it will change the way that we do our job. 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:43.119 It will change the way that we relate to our parents. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:46.320 It will change the way that we relate to unbelievers. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:51.840 Saying, God, bring your glory and your presence to bear on my life. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:56.640 Changes the way that we see the life in which we live. 00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:02.560 It changes the way that we see things that happen, like happened this week in Charleston. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:07.200 As we cry with them and we grieve with them and we pray with them. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:12.159 More than that, we ask for your presence and your glory to land on that place. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.680 And Father, we say that we know that you are a speaking God. 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:26.640 And we say that we're listening. 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:30.159 And we trust you. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:31.840 And we praise things your name. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:32.640 Amen. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:33.280 Amen. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:34.799 You can have a seat. 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:41.200 Well, my name is Wade Collier, and I'm the missions and outreach pastor here at Grand Parkway. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:49.200 Normally, our lead pastor Neil McClendon is up here teaching from God's Word, but this week he is uh doing a youth camp. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:53.359 If you have been here for any amount of time, you know that Neil used to do that quite a bit. 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:57.760 I remember my first year here, um, I think he had something like 10 camps that summer. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:00.959 Um and so now he is down to one. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:11.759 And so if you've been around Neil when he gets in summer camp mode, um I'll just say this pray for the children that are getting all of his angst and compression in one week. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:19.039 Um But no, we we're praying for him and um and praying that God uses him in big ways as he is at camp this week. 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:22.719 Um we are continuing on this morning um in the book of Exodus. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:26.719 So if you have your Bible, let me uh ask you to turn with me to Exodus 2. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:32.000 If you don't have a Bible, if you look to your left and your right, you'll probably see a hardcover pew Bible. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:33.360 Uh feel free to use that. 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:37.840 If you don't have a Bible, if you came here today and you don't have one, take that Bible with you as a gift from us. 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:39.120 We want you to have that. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:42.319 Um we are walking through the book of Exodus. 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:46.879 Last week Neil left us um Exodus 2, verse 10 is where he finished. 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:51.120 So this morning um we'll pick up in verse 11. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:55.199 Exodus 2, verse 11 says this. 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:04.080 One day when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and he looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:09.680 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian, and he hid him in the sand. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:13.840 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:18.319 And he said to the man in the wrong, Why do you strike your compan your companion? 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.280 And he answered, Who made you prince and judge over us? 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:24.000 Do you mean to kill me as you killed that Egyptian? 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:28.319 Then Moses was afraid, and he thought, Surely this thing is known. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:31.120 And when Pharaoh heard of it he sought to kill Moses. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:36.800 But Moses fled from Pharaoh, and he stayed in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:43.919 Now the priests of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and they drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:49.439 And the shepherds came and they drove them away, but Moses stood up and he saved them, and he watered their flock. 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:54.800 And when they came home to their father Raoul, he said to them, How is it that you have come home so soon today? 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:00.960 They said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and he even drew water for us, and he watered the flock. 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:03.439 And so he said to his daughters, Then where is he? 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:04.719 Why have you left the man? 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:06.879 Call him, that he may eat bread. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:18.079 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah, and she gave birth to a son, and he called him Goshom, for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:25.519 And during those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery, and they cried out for help. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:35.519 Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God, and God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:39.839 God saw the people of Israel, and God knew. 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:41.680 This is the word of the Lord. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:54.720 This is my second opportunity in three years to get to preach on Father's Day, and it is interesting in God's sovereignty how he ties his word together, um pointing to him as Father. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:05:01.199 A couple years ago, we were going through a series of parables, and I got to preach the parable of the prodigal son. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:15.680 And today I have this opportunity to preach this passage that is this great representation of one, our Heavenly Father, and two, what our posture should be before the Heavenly Father, what it can be, what it should be. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:22.480 And so this morning, we're gonna look at just that in this sermon titled Posture Before Your Father. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:24.639 Posture before your father. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:31.040 You hear that word posture, and your immediate thoughts maybe go to, hey, sit up straight, don't slouch. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:33.040 Um obviously posture. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:38.000 Um this week as I tried to think of the best and most tangible illustration for posture. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:47.120 I kept striving and trying to be a creative pastor and think of something, some, some neat and innovative way to talk about posture, and then it landed on my lap this Friday. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:52.240 Uh went to the woodlands, took my kids with me, um, and we ended up going to a pool there. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:55.360 And my daughter, my oldest, wanted to ride the big slide. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:58.879 And so for the first time in her life, she had to go pass a swim test. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:02.959 Um, and so um I said, You want me to go with you to take the swim test? 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:04.720 If you met my daughter, this will be no surprise to you. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:05.759 She said, No, I got it. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:09.360 I'm six years old, I'm taking on the world, so she's marched off without me. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:14.319 Um, with two little companions behind her and followed the lifeguard and went to take the swim test. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:18.959 Um, in about five minutes, they returned, and I didn't even have to ask how it went. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:23.920 Um, my daughter came walking, barely touching the ground, so full of joy and confidence. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.199 Um, and the two girls behind her crying their eyes out. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:33.680 Um, without even asking a question, I could tell by their posture that my daughter had passed the swim test and the other girls had not. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:48.480 Um I share that because uh I believe in the same way our posture before our Heavenly Father is not only telling, but it's also representative of if we trust him and as well as how we see ourselves as his children. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:54.720 And so as we continue on in Exodus this morning, we see three postures that most of us can relate to today. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:59.680 Whether we are in one, we are coming out of one, we're trying to figure out where we are. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.920 The first one we see in this text is the posture of running. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:05.759 Is the posture of running. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:07.680 What do I mean by a running posture? 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.160 Look back to the beginning of our passage in verse 11. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:13.120 I want to read this again with the theme of the posture of running. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:20.879 It says, One day when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and he looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:26.079 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian, and he hid him in the sand. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:29.839 And when he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:33.120 And he said to the man in the wrong, Why do you strike your companion? 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:36.079 He answered, Who made you prince and judge over us? 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:38.720 Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:42.800 Then Moses was afraid, and he thought, Surely the thing is known. 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:45.360 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:50.079 But Moses fled from Pharaoh, and he stayed in the land of Midian. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:08:02.800 For many of us in here, if we have taken the posture of running, if we are in this season of where we are trying to run from God, most of us it's because we've decided that we're just burnt out on being good. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.040 We're burnt out on doing the right thing. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:07.519 We're burnt out on listening to God. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:08.639 And Moses felt this way. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:09.519 How do we know? 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:21.360 Because instead of waiting for God to make him prince over his people, which he would, instead of waiting for God's timing to make him judge over their affairs, which he would, he took it into his own hands. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:26.560 It says when he grew up, he went outside, he sees this Egyptian beating an Israelite. 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:32.559 He says he looks left and right, he takes the Egyptian, he strikes him down, he kills him, and he buries him in a shallow grave. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:34.480 And you might be thinking, what's the big deal? 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:35.120 Right? 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.159 He saw injustice, he acted. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:44.720 Don't turn there, it's going to be on the screens behind me, but Stephen represents this in the book of Acts. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:47.279 This is Acts chapter 7, verse 23. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:48.559 It'll be on the screens behind me. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:55.279 It says this When he was forty years old, it came into his heart, Moses, to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:01.600 And seeing one of them being wrong, he defended the oppressed man and he avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:02.799 Hear this. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:10.000 He supposed that his brothers would have understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:11.279 Did you hear that? 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:14.159 Salvation by his hand. 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:17.840 Moses decided that it was his. 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:19.600 It's not the killing of the Egyptian. 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:28.480 And know that theologians for years and will continue for years to debate whether or not this was sin and Moses was wrong for killing the Egyptian. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:30.799 It's not that act of doing it. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:37.200 It's Moses' posture of deciding that his justice and his wisdom is right. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:39.840 And it trumps that of his heavenly father. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:44.159 And that's what begins this posture of running that we're looking at. 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:48.480 And so the question is, how else do you identify your posture of running? 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:51.200 We talked about the fact that maybe you are just tired of being good. 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:54.399 You've been good, you've done the right thing your whole life, and you're just done. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:55.360 You've been burnt. 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:59.440 You haven't been rewarded like you think you should be rewarded for doing the right thing. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:05.440 And so then, either subconsciously or consciously, you take on this posture of running. 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:09.679 You find yourself always hiding or having to make excuses for what you're doing. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:11.759 What do I mean by hiding or making excuses? 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:13.360 Look at verse 12 again. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:19.919 It says, He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and he hid him in the sand. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:24.480 If what you're doing is okay and your posture is right with God, why do you have to hide it? 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:26.799 I'm going to talk to this side. 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:34.080 If your posture is right and what you're doing is correct and honoring to God, then why do you have to hide it? 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:37.600 But yet we see Moses in this posture of running. 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:38.399 And why? 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:43.600 Way back in the dawn of creation, when Adam and Eve lived life in the garden, they had a pretty sweet deal, right? 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:46.720 Until until that was a good accent. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:53.120 Until they they began to make mistakes and begin to think that they knew better than God. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:58.159 But before that happened, if you read in Genesis 2.25, it says that they felt no shame. 00:10:58.320 --> 00:10:59.039 Remember that? 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:01.440 It says they were naked and they felt no shame. 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:07.279 But look how the tables turn once they be think they once they begin to think that they are in control. 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:16.320 Genesis 3.8, it says, Toward the evening they heard the Lord God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:18.080 Basically, God's coming. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:20.080 Quick, go hide in the trees. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:27.120 I remember even as a really young believer, one of the first things I was ever asked to teach was Genesis 3. 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:35.759 And I remember teaching Genesis 3, and it was ludicrous 20 years ago, and it is ludicrous today that you could actually convince yourself that you could hide from God. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:36.399 Right? 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:42.480 Quick, go run in the trees and hide from omnipresent, all-seeing, all-knowing God. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:50.159 But the sad thing is, is this incident begins and it marks the beginning of humankind's tendency to try to hide from God. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:52.879 We're still trying to hide from God today. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:12:00.480 What we have to remember, church, is that whatever is done in secret is not really secret at all. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:02.480 I'm gonna say that again. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:06.480 We have to remember that what is done in secret is not really secret at all. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:12.559 If you look left and you look right and no one's looking, and you bury your sins in a shallow grave, it's not secret at all. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:19.840 Even if we've been able to fool our family and our friends, which some of us have become really good at, God is not fooled. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:25.919 It says in Job 34 that he carefully watches the way people live, he sees everything they do. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:34.000 So what you have to realize in this posture of running is our attempts to hide our sin amount to nothing more than trying to hide among the trees. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:49.519 I was having coffee with a friend of mine uh this week whose name rhymes with Neil McClendon, and he said something to the effect of if I was preaching this passage, I would ask how many people have buried some sins in the sand, and now we fooled ourselves into thinking we could run from them. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:51.919 I spared you my Neil McClendon impression. 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:53.200 You're welcome. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:59.600 So, in honor of Father's Day, if you really want to know if you're running, fathers, let me challenge you to do this. 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:01.200 Ask your family some questions. 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:03.279 And you're thinking, dude, it's Father's Day. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:06.000 All right, give me a three-point sermon about how fatherhood is hard. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:08.480 Convince my family how awesome I am. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:13.679 Let me go home and get my tie and golf balls, get free lunch and a nap. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.000 I guarantee you I'm gonna go home and get some sweet swag. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:21.840 I'm gonna get a nap, and I'm gonna convince my family I'm so awesome they should take me to Rudy's. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:22.240 Amen? 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:22.960 Amen. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:30.879 But at dinner, here's the questions I I'm gonna promise you that I that I want to ask my family, and I and I want to encourage you to do the same. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:32.399 Fathers, mothers. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:37.120 Um if you want an odd if you want an honest answer, ask the people that spend the most time with you. 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:40.000 Ask this. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:41.759 What's most important to me? 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:44.799 And here's the deal, here's the rules on these. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:51.679 You can't frame the question, you can't manipulate them and try to I love you so much. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:53.200 What's most important to me? 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:55.120 The Lord is so good to us. 00:13:55.360 --> 00:13:56.000 What's most important? 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:56.879 You can't do any of that. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:58.879 Just what is most important to me? 00:13:59.200 --> 00:13:59.519 God? 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:01.120 Money? 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:02.559 Stuff? 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:04.320 Food? 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:05.759 Alcohol? 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:07.360 Sports? 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:09.759 Here's another fun question. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:10.720 You guys excited? 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:11.360 I can tell. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:12.960 You guys are excited. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:14.799 Am I teachable? 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:17.440 Do you experience me as teachable? 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:19.679 Here's a follow-up question for that one. 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:22.080 How do I handle instruction or rebuke? 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:25.440 I'm just having it here. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:26.240 Did you feel that? 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:27.200 That was good. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:34.879 If you're not gonna ask anybody any questions, let me let me just follow up on that one because I think there's there's a there's a reason that one lands heavy. 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:36.159 You should have been in here in the first service. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.159 You could have cut it with a knife in here. 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:40.559 Here's how you know that you're not very teachable. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:48.799 You are easily offended when uh those who are in leadership or used to be in leadership of you question what you do because you feel like you don't owe them any explanation. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:53.360 That's how you know you see, and you feel we felt it in here now, too. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:55.200 That's how you know you're not teachable. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:56.639 Here's a good question. 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:58.720 When's the last time we prayed together? 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:03.840 I offered myself on the altar in the first service, I'll do it in this one too. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:08.000 So my wife went out of town for a couple days and um doing the nighttime routine. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:10.399 I know I'm the only sinner parent in here that would do this. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:13.759 Um, but it was a late night, we've been going, going, going. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:16.960 And I had this thought and I acted on it. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:19.759 Reading to my daughter, and I thought, you know what? 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.320 I know mom will pray with her tomorrow when she gets home, so I'm just gonna go ahead and shut this thing down for the night. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:26.480 I know I'm the only sinner in here. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:28.399 You guys would never do such a thing. 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:30.639 When was the last time we prayed together? 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:34.480 Lastly, do you think I trust God and his word? 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:38.399 Do you think I trust God and His Word? 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:43.440 Because when we're running, here's the deal. 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:56.960 Whatever the outcome, whatever, if you're running and you're done running, if you're coming out of a season of running, if you're like, that's me and I'm running, here's the reality you can live in, as you can give thanks to God that he allows you to see yourself for what you really are. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:00.639 Weak, prone to sin, and utterly dependent. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:02.879 Because that's what you find at the end of the run. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:07.200 But here's what you also find at the same time, you can praise him for who he proves to be. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:09.279 He's your all-sufficient father. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:11.360 Because that's what you're gonna find at the end of running. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:16.080 You're gonna find an all-sufficient father when you recognize the fact that God is all-sufficient. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:20.799 And let me just take a minute, I want to insult your intelligence here, but let me unpack that all-sufficient. 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:24.320 That means that God is good enough in everything. 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:27.200 And he's good enough for everything. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:30.399 Being a father, all sufficient. 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:33.279 Being a mother, all sufficient. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:35.840 Infertility, all sufficient. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:39.840 Running, all sufficient. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:50.960 When you recognize your father as an all-sufficient God, it causes the blinders to fall off and allows you to see that you're running and allows you to see your sin in perspective. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:56.159 And bigger than that, it allows you to see your sin in light of your father's grace. 00:16:56.240 --> 00:17:05.279 And here's why I bring up grace, because in this season of running, grace is it's it's it's not just simple leniency when you sinned. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:07.759 If it was, it would just be one more excuse. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:10.000 It'd be one more excuse to keep running. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.240 One more step in your posture of running. 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:17.839 John Piper puts it this way he says, Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:19.759 It's before the sin, right? 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:22.640 It's the enabling gift of God not to sin. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:26.240 Grace is power, not just pardon. 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:31.759 Which is why the next posture we see Moses take is not only possible, but it's necessary. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:33.359 And that's resting. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:36.160 We've looked at running and now resting. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:44.960 A lot of you in here know the story, know that soon after this, Moses is going to find himself returning back to Egypt, back to Pharaoh's court. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:49.440 He's gonna have to face his posture, his past postures of running. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:54.319 He's gonna have to face his bodies buried in shallow graves in the sand. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:18:00.640 He's gonna have to face that his belief and his will and his effort trump that of his heavenly father. 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:07.680 But before that, in preparation for that, God delivers him into this season and this posture of rest. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:16.720 It's in this posture of rest that if you trust God, you'll see that his grace isn't only amazing, but it's necessary. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:27.839 It's when you rest in the arms of your all-sufficient father that you realize that his grace isn't only amazing, but that it's necessary. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:37.440 Look back in verse 15 of Exodus 2, it says, But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:43.359 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and they drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:48.240 And the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them and watered the flock. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:53.359 And when they came home to their father Raoul, he said to them, How is it that you have come home so soon today? 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:59.440 And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and even drew water for us and watered the flock. 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:02.079 And he said to his daughters, Then where is he? 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:03.599 Why have you left the man? 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:06.079 Call him, that he may eat bread. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:11.039 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:17.839 And she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gorshom, for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:24.319 And I think what God does is he gives us this passage and he shows us what rest can be and the benefits of it. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:30.400 But before that, I think we also have the opportunity to look at some obstacles, and for the sake of time, I just want to look at two of each. 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:35.359 I want to look at two obstacles and two benefits that come from this posture of rest. 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:48.960 The first obstacle that we see from Moses' example, the obstacle for us for embracing rest, as Neil says time and time again to us sitting down on the inside, is we misunderstand the posture of rest. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:51.519 We misunderstand the posture of rest. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:52.640 Here's what I mean by that. 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:55.680 If we're not careful, we take this opportunity to rest. 00:19:55.759 --> 00:20:04.240 And instead of just leaning in to what God has as he is calling us to rest, what we do is we just tack it on to our posture of running. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:05.599 Here's what I mean by that. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:07.279 Look at Moses in verse 15. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:12.559 It says, Moses fled from Pharaoh and he stayed in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:15.920 Moses wasn't resting, he just ran out of gas. 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:18.319 He was just tired and he crashed. 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:19.680 That's not resting. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:25.279 For many of us, when we hear verses like Psalm 62, we have no frame of reference. 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:30.720 Psalm 62, where David says, Truly my soul finds rest in God. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.200 My salvation comes from him. 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:36.799 Truly he is my rock and my salvation. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:38.240 He is my fortress. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.079 I will never be shaken. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:49.680 Or we hear Jesus' words in Matthew 11, 28, where he says this, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 00:20:50.160 --> 00:21:00.000 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and um and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:02.480 We read these and we can't relate. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:04.720 We can't relate because we're not resting. 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:13.599 We're just sucking air from all of our running, and we want God to come alongside us and deliver us, deliver for us on demand just because we're gassed. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:22.400 I was preparing for this and I was reminded of about 10 years ago when Sally and I were first married, we went on a ski trip with some college friends. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:26.160 And there was about 10 of us, and we caravanned up in three cars. 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:27.599 And we were taking off for this trip. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:35.920 A giant blizzard was blowing in from the northeast, which promised great snow, but made our drive up and the prospects of the drive-up a little bit tricky. 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:41.680 And so we started heading north, got to about Dallas, and we started seeing signs that they were closing roads. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:49.839 And I had a buddy of mine who was an army pilot, and I knew he was sitting in front of a radar up in Colorado Springs, and so he was uh we were just kept talking on the cell phone. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:51.680 He'd go, Okay, you can go north now, run west. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:56.160 And so then we take off and we go west and try to avoid the storm, and he'd find us a path north. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.759 And as the hours went on, it became very clear that we needed to just shut. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.960 This thing down and not try to keep going north. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:15.759 And so, as the leader of the group, always reasonable and sensible, as we pulled up to a road that had some construction barriers in front of it, as as the responsible leader, I thought, man, those those barriers are optional. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:23.279 Those are for people who don't feel confident driving on a country road covered in ice with no shoulders. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:25.359 I feel confident. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:35.279 And so I led my friends in three cars, and we kept going, and I'm running out of gas, and I can see it I'm past the E, and now I'm past the red on the E, and we keep thinking, next town. 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:41.680 Well, they weren't really towns, and then we find ourselves completely out of gas with a blizzard bearing down on us. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.640 Cars spun out into pastures. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:52.400 And so we hiked over and found a pig farmer and uh begged him to siphon out some gas out of his truck into my truck. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:23:02.640 Um, and he did, and we found our way back and ended up spending the night in a Red Cross shelter that had been set up in an elementary school in Las Vegas, New Mexico. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:04.000 Let me repeat that. 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:05.839 Las Vegas, New Mexico. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:10.400 No flashing lights in buffets, my friends, in Las Vegas, New Mexico. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:16.640 And we woke up in the morning, the roads were clear, and we were on our way. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:24.319 And it was this great reminder of just giving up, of just letting it go. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:30.400 Because taking every route I could put together and try to make it happen wasn't working. 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:35.920 It wasn't until I just gave up, put my hands up and gave up control. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:40.319 And so if you want to define, if you want to get one thing from this today, what is rest? 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:41.680 Giving up control. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:45.599 We're an honest bunch in here. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:47.440 For some of us in here, we've just stopped. 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:48.319 We've just checked out. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:50.240 We're like, all right, I'll see you at Father's Day lunch. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:51.519 I'm not giving up control. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:53.839 Hang that sermon. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:56.480 You can't find rest if you're in control. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:58.400 Because who's in control of the rest? 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:00.960 It doesn't say all sufficient Wade. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:03.359 All sufficient Ronnie. 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:06.880 It says all sufficient God, right? 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:08.880 So here's our other obstacle. 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:12.880 We misrepresent rest, but we also misrepresent God and we misunderstand God. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:13.759 What do I mean? 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:15.279 Look at verse 21. 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:26.559 It said, Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah, and she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gorshom, for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land. 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:35.680 Back in that Acts chapter 7 passage that I referenced earlier, Stephen tells us that Moses was in Midian for 40 years. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:47.119 So he ran, and for 40 years before God brought him back into Pharaoh's court, he spent 40 years in Midian, and during those forty years of God given rest, Moses marries Zipporah, and he has a son. 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:59.519 But Moses so misunderstands God, and he so misunderstands rest and he must so misunderstands God and what he's doing that he names his son after his misunderstanding. 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:00.880 What do I mean? 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:02.640 He names his son Gershom. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:05.599 Gershom literally means banished. 00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:10.000 He names his son banished. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:13.200 Moses has completely missed it. 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:15.920 The Midians are followers of the one true God. 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:18.559 They were worshipers of Yahweh. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:31.119 God had taken Moses out of this idolatrous Egyptian culture and put him in a community of God followers and given him a wife and given him a son and given him community and family. 00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:37.680 And what he has done in turn is he has then put his posture of running right onto his son. 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:43.759 So much so he named his son after his running posture from God and names and banishment. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:49.440 So since it's Father's Day, I'll continue on with my happy clappy message and ask you a couple more questions. 00:25:51.200 --> 00:26:07.519 Dads, if you want to know why I asked you the questions before, is because God has given fathers this mantle of leadership to set the standard for what our posture towards God should be, what our wives' posture towards God should be, what our children's posture towards God should be. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:11.759 So, in light of that, here's a question just for my dads today. 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:13.279 Where do you find rest? 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:16.880 Where would your kids say you find rest? 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:20.319 Where would your wife say you find rest? 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:26.079 Is it in your recliner with a six-pack in Sports Center? 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:30.640 Or is it in the hands of the all-sufficient God? 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:34.640 Before you check out on me, I'm not saying that you can't have a beer. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:38.319 If you're of legal age, the Bible says, just says don't get drunk. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.839 It says, don't watch the fourth repeat of Sports Center. 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:46.079 It says it right there in the Bible. 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:53.759 It says, don't watch that fourth repeat to avoid intentionally engaging with your kids and your family. 00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:57.920 To then show them the posture of rest. 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:05.599 Because if you truly seek to take the posture of the all-sufficient father, you're going to reap the benefits. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:06.720 Here are the benefits of rest. 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:07.680 You still with me? 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:11.599 You get to trust in God's provision. 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:13.519 You get to trust in God's provision. 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:15.119 Here's what I mean by that. 00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:16.799 Moses, he's sitting at the well. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:18.160 Remember, he's gassed. 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:22.240 And the last time he got in trouble, the last time he saw injustice, he acted on his own. 00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:28.480 He decided he was prince, he decided he was judge, he was jury, and he killed a guy and buried him in a shallow grave. 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:30.400 This time he sees injustice. 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:35.920 And instead, he goes and he provides water for Jethro's daughters and their sheep in the wilderness. 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:37.599 Why is that important? 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:38.799 Why is that a big deal? 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:44.799 Because it's oftentimes in these seasons of rest that God begins to build these patterns of trust in you. 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:51.119 Because fast forward 15 chapters from here, and God is going to use Moses to provide water for his people. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:57.599 He's going to use God to provide, or he's going to use Moses, rather, to provide water for the animals and for the flocks. 00:27:57.759 --> 00:27:58.799 Why is that a big deal? 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:04.720 Because God is building this pattern of trust in the fact that he is the provider and it's his provision. 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:06.400 And that's found when we rest. 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:08.640 It's not found when we're busy. 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:12.799 It's not found when we're trying to fool everybody and make everybody think that we're we got it all together. 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:14.880 It's found in rest. 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:20.240 And we also reap the benefit of living in blessing. 00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:28.799 It says in verse 21 that Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Sepporah, and she gave birth to a son. 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:36.559 It's amazing when we cease running and take on this posture of rest that our Father blesses us with what he knows that we need. 00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:42.640 Community, family, and rest. 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:50.799 As we close, this last posture that we see in the text is the posture of responding. 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:53.200 The posture of response or responding. 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:54.640 Look at verse 23. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:29:02.720 It says, During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery, and they cried out for help. 00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:11.680 Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God, and God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:15.839 God saw the people of Israel and God knew. 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:18.000 Why is this a big deal from response? 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:19.839 We don't even hear about Moses in here. 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:26.240