WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:08.720 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:13.759 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandProkway.org. 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:16.640 Let's pray together. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:19.519 Lord Jesus, we've come to confess the fact that we need you. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.199 We never outgrow needing you. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:26.960 We never grow up to the point, spiritually, where we're beyond uh what we need you to do in our lives. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.399 And so we don't need you, we don't relate to you just out of need. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:33.679 We relate to you uh because you're God and you're the truth. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:42.719 And so if we just relate to you out of need, then once things get better, we we we we we stop looking to you and we start looking to ourself and our stuff. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:49.039 And so when we say we need you, we don't need you like sleepy people need caffeine for stimulation. 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:52.719 We need you like birds need seed uh for nourishment. 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:54.240 That's what we were created for. 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:56.560 We were made by you for you. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:01.520 As Augustine said, our hearts were made for you and they're restless until they find their home in you. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:03.520 And so, Holy Spirit, speak to us today. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:06.239 Say something that has our name on it from the Bible. 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:10.400 We did not get up today and shave our legs just to hear a man give a religious speech. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:12.400 That is not what Christ died for. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:13.840 That's not what the church is about. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:15.200 We're the people of God. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:20.640 Give us a deeper, fuller, juicier understanding of what it means to be your people today. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:24.319 From your word and by your spirit, we ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.319 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:27.120 You can have a seat. 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:30.879 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to open it up and uh to Exodus chapter 33. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:34.959 Exodus is the second book of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus chapter 33. 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:36.319 We're going through the book of Exodus. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:40.400 We've got about seven more sermons, uh, and we'll finish the book of Exodus. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.439 And uh today we're gonna eavesdrop on a conversation. 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:44.799 Matter of fact, I want to talk to you. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.760 The title of the sermon this morning is Eavesdropping on Friends. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:51.760 Uh, you all heard the phrase, you know, hey, I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. 00:01:51.920 --> 00:02:00.400 There's conversations, ask yourself, start this morning by asking yourself, of all the conversations you've ever heard about uh in history, which one do you cave you wish? 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:03.439 Hey, I wish I could be a fly on the wall for that conversation. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:13.919 Like, for example, in 1957, there were eight young, brilliant engineers uh that worked for a company in California, and their boss was kind of an insecure, insecure jerk. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:18.879 And so all eight of these men got together, met at one of them's house, and they said this, hey, we could go get jobs. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:21.120 These are whiz kids, these are brilliant men. 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:24.240 They said we could all go get jobs, but it's not about having a job. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:25.759 We like working together. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:30.159 So in 1957, these eight guys made a pact in one of them's living room. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.560 They said, We're all gonna work together. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:34.639 What that's what we want to do for the rest of our lives. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:40.400 And so they began to seek out people that would finance them uh working together, starting a company. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:45.840 So in 1957, it was the first uh example of what's called nowadays venture capitalism. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:49.120 They said to people, hey, we think we could build some incredible stuff. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:50.800 Would you put some money behind us? 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:55.439 And they sought out uh different different investors, and 30 people told them no. 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:58.479 Finally, the 31st person said to them, You know what? 00:02:58.639 --> 00:02:59.520 I believe in you guys. 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:01.759 I'm gonna put 1.5 million dollars. 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:09.439 Now, in 1957, that is a colossal amount of money behind you guys, and they started a company called Fairchild Semiconductor. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:11.439 Now, at this point, you're thinking, so what? 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:12.240 Who cares? 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:20.159 Well, Fairchild Semiconductor, out of that one company, those eight men, that one conversation, they spawned over a hundred companies. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:26.960 And now, if you trace it back, most people will tell you that is the birthplace of what we now call Silicon Valley. 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:28.879 That's a conversation. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:32.159 I wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall when it took place. 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:38.560 Or the conversation in 1975 between two baseball players, Andy Mesher Schmidt and Dave McInally. 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:40.560 Two people you've never heard of, probably. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:49.199 1975, Andy Mesher Schmidt and Dave McInally, they back then, when a baseball team drafted you, they basically owned you for the rest of your career. 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:52.560 But they they thought, hey, we're not getting paid enough money for what we do. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:04:00.080 So they sought out a third-party arbitrator and they got to meet with this guy, and he and they convinced him, hey, they're not paying us what we're worth. 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:03.520 And now that became the birth of what's called free agency. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:15.439 And so, though you've never heard of them, some of you have heard of a man named Alex Rodriguez who signed the largest contract in baseball history 10 years, this was years ago, 10 years,$252 million. 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:26.079 And all that started back in 1975 when a conversation between Andy Mesher Schmidt and Dave McNally and a lawyer in the lawyer's office. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:28.959 Or let me give you another example of a conversation I would like to be on. 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:31.680 There's a man named Bob Dillon, you may have heard of him. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:37.439 Uh Bob Dillon was notorious for being a straight shooter at a dinner party, over coffee, in an interview. 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:41.199 He didn't mince words, he wasn't mean, but he wasn't phony, okay? 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:44.399 And so this reporter asked, and he said, What do you think about the Beatles? 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:48.160 And he said, I find John Lennon's lyrics a little fluffy. 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:57.839 The reporter made a beeline to John Lennon and said, Hey, hey, this Yahoo over here, Bob Dylan, said that he thinks your lyrics are kind of fluffy. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:04:59.519 And John Lennon said, You know what? 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:02.800 I wasn't mad, I was convicted because he was right. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:08.399 We were writing just teeny bop ballads, and it made me think deeper and write on a deeper level. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:16.240 And out of that conversation, he wrote the albums, the album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road, and the White Album. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:18.800 All because of a conversation. 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:20.240 Now, why do I tell you that? 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:27.199 Because we're gonna start reading the Bible here in a minute, Exodus chapter 33, verse 12, and we're gonna read down to verse 23, and I'm gonna do something different this morning. 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:31.040 I'm gonna read and just kind of tell you historically what happened in the text. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:42.879 But what we're gonna read today is us eavesdropping on a conversation that is indicated in verse 11 where we left off last week, where the Bible says this, and God met with Moses face to face in this tent of meeting. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:47.600 God met with Moses face to face and he spoke to Moses as a man talks to a friend. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:53.920 We're gonna eavesdrop on that conversation because starting in verse 12 of Exodus 33 is a record of what they talked about. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:01.120 The Bible says it like this Moses said to the Lord, See, you say to me, Bring up this people, but you've not let me know who you will sin with me. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:05.360 You have said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:12.480 Now, therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:14.959 Consider too that this nation is your people. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:20.800 And he said, My presence, God speaking now, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:26.000 And he said to him, If your present will presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:29.680 For how shall it be known that I found favor in your sight, I and your people? 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:36.079 Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth? 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:44.160 And the Lord said to Moses, This very thing that you have spoken, I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name. 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:46.560 And Moses says, Please show me your glory. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:56.720 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord, and I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I'll show mercy. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:00.879 But he said, You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:16.240 And the Lord said, Behold, there's a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by, and then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:20.879 Now, when you read the Bible, and it's easy to kind of read it and kind of lose sight. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:21.920 So here's what I want to do. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:25.519 You kind of get like what's going on, who said what, and why'd they say that? 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:26.800 Here's what I want to do this morning. 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:28.000 I want to answer two questions. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:30.240 Number one, what do we see in the text? 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:39.839 What happens in this conversation that we're eavesdropping on between God and Moses as they're speaking to each other, as men as a man speaks to his friend. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:42.480 And then secondly, what do we take away from the text? 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.680 And so we'll get to that towards the end when I say, what do we take away from the text? 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:50.399 And I'll give you four things that, hey, this is how this applies to us in 2016, okay? 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:56.399 So I want to just go back, first of all, and just look at the text and ask the question: what do we see in the Bible today? 00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:00.480 One of the first things you see is a man that wants a deeper knowledge of God. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:02.480 A man that wants a deeper knowledge of God. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:03.839 Look at verse 13. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:06.720 Moses says, Hey, or excuse me, verse 12. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:12.000 Moses said to the Lord, See, you say to me, bring up this people, but you've not let me know who you will send with me. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:15.759 You have said, I know you by name, and you've also found favor in my sight. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:23.040 Now, therefore, if I found favor in your sight, therefore, show me your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:33.519 Now, what what is happening here when when Moses says, Show me your ways, he's not just saying to God, hey, show me how you did that magic trick with that quarter or that card trick that my grandpa always did. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:35.360 You know, he's not, that's not what he's talking about. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:39.600 When he says, show me your ways, he's saying, God, I want to understand your moral character. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:46.879 I I don't want to just see what God does, but I want to understand why he does it and what motivates him to do it. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:58.159 What he's saying is, I want a deeper relationship, but there's also something here I don't want you to miss because Moses kind of he says, Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:02.799 And then in verse 13, he says these two words, now therefore, now therefore. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:10.240 Moses kind of says back to God, uh, hey, this is what you've said to me, and I am blessed by that, and I'm humbled by that, okay? 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:12.799 I found favor in your sight, okay? 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:15.440 And you know me by name, that is great. 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.399 But Moses uses that to say, now therefore. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:20.080 Now listen carefully to me. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:23.519 He's not manipulating God, he's not backing God into the corner. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:26.639 Uh some people refer to this as the logic of intercession. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:28.159 The logic of intercession. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:29.919 Can we think a little bit at church this morning? 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:30.879 You good with that? 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:31.679 Hello? 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.039 Some of y'all are like, decaf, okay? 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:35.759 Decaf. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:39.360 Uh when the logic of intercession, what I mean by the logic of intercession, here's what I mean. 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:47.919 It's a request that is based on a truth that God has already established in the Bible, in his word, or a principle that he's demonstrated in his character. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:48.799 Let me say that again. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:56.720 The logic of intercession is a request that is based on a truth that God has already established in his word, or a principle that he has demonstrated in his character. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:00.480 All through the Bible, God always says this to his people, hey, put me in remembrance. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.440 Not that God's forgotten, but that's what Moses does. 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:07.759 Moses says, Okay, uh, you know me by name, and I found favor in your sight. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:17.600 Okay, now because of that, or in verse 13, now therefore, if I found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:19.440 And he goes on to say, consider this nation. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:22.480 But what he's saying is, hey, he's not just praying for guidance. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:30.320 You can go through your entire Christian life and pray for guidance and never have a deeper, fuller knowledge of God because guidance is rooted in our need. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:34.799 What Moses is talking about is God's character, which is an expression of God's nature. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:41.840 And so the first thing we see in the text, uh, that it's in the logic of intercession, is a man that wants a deeper knowledge of God. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:44.480 You never want to get to the point where you just kind of coast. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:50.960 You get in this rut where you're kind of like, hey, I'm 58, I've been going to church my whole life, I got it, I know the stories. 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:55.840 You realize you can know the stories in the Bible and not have a deep, intimate relationship with God, right? 00:10:57.120 --> 00:10:58.799 You don't want to get to that point. 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:01.840 Because knowing the stories is in your head. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:04.720 This kind of a relationship flows out of your heart. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:07.039 It's not information, it's intimacy. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:10.080 Second thing we see in the text is redemptive leadership. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:17.039 Redemptive leadership, verse 14, he said, My presence will go, and God's speaking, and God says to Moses, My presence will go with you. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:17.919 That's singular. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:19.440 He's not talking about all the people. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:22.000 Now there's a reason I'm telling you this, so just stay with me. 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:24.960 He says, My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:31.200 And he said to him, This is Moses now, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:35.200 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I in your people? 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:43.519 See, what Moses does is Moses connects, hey, it's it's great, God, that I found favor and you'll go with me, but I don't want you to just go with me. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:44.799 I want you to go with us. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:48.320 Redemptive leadership, and we say this a lot around here as a staff. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:52.159 Those who lead should be the first to sacrifice for the sake of those that they lead. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:12:00.559 Like one Sunday I was walking out to the parking lot over here because the most inconvenient place to park here at Grand Parkway, if you're our guest today, we have this building here. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:05.519 We have our student ministry building we call the warehouse way back in the distance, and then our children's building right here. 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:09.200 The most inconvenient place to park is way out there. 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:11.279 That's called staff parking. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:13.279 That's where the staff parks. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:15.440 And I was walking out one Sunday and one guy stopped me. 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:17.679 He goes, Why do you guys park way out here? 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:19.360 I said, Because we're the staff. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:20.639 We should lead by example. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:25.519 He said, Our last church, the pastor had a parking space with a sign on it said reserved for pastor. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:27.039 I don't want to disparage that. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:28.159 That's your business. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.440 I know, but here the staff park's the furthest place away. 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:35.679 And we got to walk across the parking lot that ladies don't like to walk on with their dress shoes. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:37.120 And he goes, How do you know? 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:38.720 I said, Because they email me. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:42.000 Pastor, can we get this thing paved or something? 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:43.919 This is this tears my shoes up. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:48.159 Hey, for that and all your first world problems, keep them emails coming, okay? 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:51.440 And so I said, Hey, we park out there because we're not better than anybody. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:54.399 Well, those who lead should be the first to sacrifice for the sake they lead. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:56.159 So do you make the staff park out here? 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:59.679 I don't make them, but I suggest to them it's a good idea. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:02.240 Oh, oh, oh, oh, okay. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:03.360 I I see what you're saying. 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:03.840 Why? 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:06.159 Because redemptive leadership is not about yourself. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:10.159 It's not, it's about, hey, I want to do what's best for the people I lead. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:16.320 And God said to Moses, hey, I you found favor in my sight, and I'm pleased with you, and I'll go with you. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:21.200 And Moses says, That's not enough for me, because I'm not just Moses, I'm the mediator of these people. 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:23.600 Now, what God does, look at verse 17. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:25.039 I don't want you to miss this. 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.879 What God does for Israel is based on how he feels about Moses. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:30.399 Look at verse 17. 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:38.639 He said to Moses, This very thing you have you have spoken, I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name. 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:42.639 You want to be led by men and women that have found favor in God's sight. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:46.399 And by the way, that's not a statement about me and the staff, as you'll see in just a minute. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:47.679 So just what do we see? 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:49.360 We see redemptive leadership. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:52.159 Third thing we see is how God thinks about his people. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:53.600 What do you mean? 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:55.120 Still in verse 14. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:56.080 Look at what he says. 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:58.799 And he said, My presence will go with you, and I'll give you rest. 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:02.480 And he said to him, If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:06.399 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:12.639 Is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth? 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:15.919 Now, one of the things the Bible tells us is how God thinks about his people. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:17.600 Now, let me just acknowledge this. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:21.840 There's a big difference in how God thinks about us and how we think about ourselves. 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:23.440 You know that, right? 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:24.960 Let me say that again. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:30.320 There's a big difference in how we think about how God thinks about us and how we think about ourselves. 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:34.240 The way God thinks about it is because Moses says this, he uses the word favor. 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:38.799 When is the last time you use the word favor to describe your relationship with God? 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:44.399 Some of you are like, uh, I'm uncomfortable for you even saying that once. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:49.039 Now the word favor is the Hebrew word hain, hain, and it means acceptance. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:49.919 Acceptance. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.799 It's not tolerated, not tolerance, but accepted. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:58.559 And by the way, it's not this conditional because it's as certain as the means that secured it. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:06.000 And so when he says, Hey, you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name, and God is saying, Hey, this is how I think about you. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:09.759 I I think about you as an accepted child of God. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:14.240 And my acceptance of you is not conditional, it's not based on your behavior. 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:16.559 When you do good, yay, I accept you. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:19.200 When you do bad, go over there and stand in the corner. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:21.039 You're an embarrassment. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:22.320 You're an embarrassment to me. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:28.159 You're just just just go stand over there because we act as if our depravity somehow catches God off guard. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:32.480 The second word he uses is the word distinct in verse 16. 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:36.080 Is it not for your is it not you're going with us so that we are distinct? 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:38.879 I and your people from every other people on the face of the earth. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:41.120 Now, when he says distinct, that's the Hebrew word pala. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:46.000 Palah, it means marked out, distinguished, separated, to be wonderful. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:47.279 Hear that again. 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:51.759 Marked out, distinguished, separated, to be wonderful. 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:53.679 Now, how does God think about his people? 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:58.720 Well, if you got your Bible and you're in Exodus 33, turn to the New Testament, to the book of 1 Peter. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:15:59.679 I want to show you something. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.559 This is not just a one-off kind of deal. 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:05.759 And so there's a reason the Bible tells us these things. 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:07.120 1 Peter chapter 2. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:08.960 I'll start reading verse 9. 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:10.879 The Bible says this. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:17.600 He says, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:18.799 Let me just stop right there. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:23.679 In verse 9, when God says, But you are a chosen race, who chose you? 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:28.799 That's some of y'all like, well, I don't want to say it out loud. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:29.679 That's exactly right. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:30.799 See, he chose you. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:42.320 He says, You're a chosen race, you're a holy priesthood, you're a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:45.679 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:49.600 Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:56.879 Beloved, I urge you, as sojourners and exiles, to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against the soul. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:03.759 Now, sometimes you read things in the Bible and you think, yeah, God's trying to tell them to act like they're sojourners and they're exiles. 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:08.000 Sojourners mean they're just they're just passing through, they're just pilgrims. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:09.680 They're just, they're not here forever. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:12.160 They're just kind of somewhere for a short time. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:18.000 Now, when he says in 1 Peter, hey, I urge you as sojourners in exile, uh, he's not making that up. 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:19.759 You say, Well, what do you mean? 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:21.119 They are in exile. 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:26.640 If you got if you opened your Bible actually to 1 Peter, just look back to 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 1. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:28.240 If not, it'll come up on the screen. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:29.680 Look at how he begins this letter. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:30.480 He writes these words. 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:41.200 He says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithania, according to the foreknowledge of God. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:44.559 Now, the dispersion is they were scattered because of persecution. 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:50.559 And then he lists all these cities that they were sent to, Pontus and Galatian, Cappadocian, Asia, Bithynia. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:18:00.799 And then he says, This is where you went to, and this is why you went, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:02.240 Now hear that again. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:05.119 He says, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:06.880 In other words, now let's think a little bit. 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:08.079 Are you with me this morning? 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:15.519 He says, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, that means that God knew beforehand this was going to happen, and God did not stop it from happening. 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:21.519 But that also means God is not morally culpable for what happened just because he knew. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:23.920 How can he not know he's God? 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:27.039 Let me say that again. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:29.200 God has foreknowledge of everything. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:34.160 And so something happens, and oh well, why wouldn't God keep that from happening? 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:35.759 I I don't know. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:40.480 But but but God had knowledge of that before it happened, otherwise, he can't be God. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:43.519 And so God has foreknowledge of stuff. 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:46.480 He says, Hey, you people are scattered out of all these other places. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:54.720 This dispersion has come up, persecution has rose up, and you've been scattered to other cities, so now that you're sojourners in exiles, and guess what? 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:58.319 God knew beforehand it was going to happen, and he didn't stop it. 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:02.160 And he's not morally responsible for it. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:12.880 You can't point to things that happen, either by man's sin or the fact that we live in a sinful world that's under the fall. 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:16.079 You can't look at stuff and kind of go, because we all want a free will. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:23.039 Everyone wants a free will until something happens you can't manage, and then you want to look back and go, Well, why would God let that happen? 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:27.359 You're the biggest hypocrite in the room right now. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:31.680 No, see, this happened uh according to the foreknowledge of God. 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:34.799 Second thing he says is in the sanctification of the Spirit. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:42.160 In other words, this happened and God knew before, and he didn't stop it from happening, but he also can use that to sanctify you. 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:44.720 That means to make you look more and more like Jesus. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:47.119 Now, lest I sound like I got it all together. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:58.400 This past week I had a sanctifying experience with my 18-year-old daughter who's off at college, who texted me like on Wednesday and said, Dad, my car has a flat tire and the check engine light is on. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:01.920 And I was like, Okay, flat tire got check engine light. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:03.759 I mean, I just start thinking of all these scenarios. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:07.680 I can imagine my 18-year-old daughter pulling to a car repair place in Waco, Texas. 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:09.440 Hey, my check engine light is on. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:11.359 Their eyes light up with dollar signs. 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:12.480 Cha-ching. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:14.079 You need a new motor. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:17.200 And so I'm like, well, you need to, hey, hey, let's get that tire changed. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:20.880 And she texts, I said, get the tire changed, and I'll find somewhere to take it. 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:22.240 She writes me back, I can't. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:23.440 I said, Where's your car right now? 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:24.720 It's in the parking garage. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:26.480 It's flat, it's sitting on the rim. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:30.480 I don't have time today, and I'm so busy, I'm not gonna have time tomorrow. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:34.880 What? 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:36.960 What did what? 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:39.839 And so, and then I said, Hey, you don't want that thing? 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:40.799 You need to get that change. 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:49.680 And she said, Well, my friends Weston and and and Trevor said that they could change it for me because Weston has a tire repair kit in his truck. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:56.799 No, not for a nanosecond do I want two rednecks fixing a tire my kids gonna drive around on. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:59.279 And by the way, girls, this is free. 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:03.440 Don't go off to college and text your dad the name of some punky boy. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:05.279 I haven't never met. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:07.279 This is why you should pray for me. 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:15.759 In like two minutes, I'm fantasizing about riding around the Baylor campus on my moped with a bullhorn and an axe and a clown mash. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:19.599 Trevor and Weston coming out, coming out wherever you are. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:23.920 Like, that's gonna give me peace. 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:29.599 And then that liberal woman I'm married to in the kitchen, she's like, Oh, you just gotta let her go. 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:31.039 She's gonna get this sorted. 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:33.599 She can't even change the tire. 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:36.559 She's like, I'm so busy eating lunch and studying. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:41.599 I in my mind I had to say, we're gonna have to replace the whole motor, and oh my gosh. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:43.599 And I called a friend of mine, he goes, Oh, yeah, take it here. 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:44.799 These people are great, they're believers. 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:45.680 I called the lady. 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:47.519 And so my wife interceded. 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:52.880 She interposed between the two of us because she could see her redneck husband getting lathered up. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:59.759 I was like, Whoa! Here, my wife said, You know, when when our kids don't do what you want them to do, you start thinking. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.880 About white ways to punish them. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:04.400 I said, not punish them. 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:05.440 Teach them a lesson. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:06.720 Like this went through my thought. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:09.119 About minute number three, this went through my head. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:21.359 I will take my old beat-up 2002-4 pickup, drive it up to Waco, go up to her parking garage and her dorm, change the tire, back her car out, put my truck in there and white shoe polish right on the window. 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:22.640 Dad was here. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:25.359 And then underneath it, right? 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:27.440 Weston, call me. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:32.240 And my wife just in there cooking, just smiling like, You done? 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:33.599 No, I'm not done yet. 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:38.960 Give me another minute, and I find I told my texting my daughter, hey, just tell me the hometown these boys are from. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:40.319 I'll take it from there. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:43.039 Oh, you're gonna go to their hometown and find them? 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:43.599 Yeah. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:47.279 It's not hard to find a kid who had his leg cut off with a chainsaw. 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:51.920 Looking for a kid named Weston that walks with a limp now. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:54.880 Here's why. 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:55.759 Don't miss this. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:57.039 I'm not just being funny. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:57.759 Look at me. 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:08.079 Because the Bible says, hey, according to the foreknowledge of God, in the sanctification of the Spirit, sometimes I so want to control everything that has anything to do with my kids. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:12.319 And if I'm not careful, they're gonna look more like me than they look like God. 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:16.079 And you don't want that. 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:17.920 I know some of you are like, what's wrong with that? 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:18.880 You don't want that. 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:23.279 You don't want your kids depending on you in a way they're supposed to depend on God. 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:25.920 You don't. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:28.799 I know it feels good right now to be savior, Dad. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:31.759 I know it feels good to jump in there and go, I got this. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:34.240 You don't want that. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:41.039 You you you there's situations and circumstances that happen, and God says, I'm gonna use this to make your kid look more like Jesus. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:44.240 Third thing, he says, for obedience to Jesus Christ. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:50.720 That means that in the midst of being sojourners and exiles, you they can still obey God. 00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:52.720 They can still do what God said to do. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:54.880 See, this is how God thinks about his people. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:24:00.640 So when he says back here in Exodus 33, when he says, Hey, you're distinct, that doesn't mean we're better than. 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:09.440 That means that we have an opportunity in whatever circumstance we're in to respond in a way that conveys to everyone around us, hey, my God's a great God. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:15.599 I you can't just say, hey, I'm distinct and I'm marked out and I'm separate and I'm wonderful. 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:17.359 That's easy when things are going great. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:20.880 But when your boyfriend breaks up with you, say the same thing. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:28.559 Say the same thing because that's when the distinct nature of the believer needs to manifest itself. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:32.960 Last thing we see in the text, and we'll get to the application, is that goodness is enough. 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:34.960 Verse 18, you still with me? 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:37.839 I lost you there talking about your kids. 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:38.720 You feel that? 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:42.079 Some of you are kind of like, I'd like to, I want my kids to be. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:46.480 Hey, my wife is like, hey, you, you, she's a big girl. 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:50.000 I yeah, my kid texted me, Dad. 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:50.799 I'm an adult now. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:51.839 I can handle this. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:53.279 No, you're not. 00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:55.599 You are 18. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:59.200 Because here's the thing this is the way I roll at my house. 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:03.759 As long as I'm paying your bills, you have a moral responsibility to me. 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:06.400 That's just the way it is. 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:09.119 Yeah. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:15.599 You're not gonna get my money and then go off to Baylor, like, well, you know, Dad, I'm an adult now. 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:18.640 Because I will come down there and set the kingdom down. 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:24.240 Yeah, I'm here to enforce the will of God. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:27.359 Where these boys are gonna fix your tire. 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:29.440 Uh, I'm gonna patch you. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:32.160