No. 08 - COMING OUT OF SIN By: Randall Ricker Wednesday, April 03, 2002 Last Day Of Unleavened Bread The last time we talked about the Apostle Paul and how he discussed the Days of Unleavened Bread in I Corinthians. Let’s turn there. In I Corinthians we, of course, read about the spiritual meaning of leaven. We read how leaven pictures sin and how unleavened bread pictures sincerity and truth; or in other words, the opposite of sin, which is keeping God’s commandments. In I Corinthians chapter 10 we also read from the Apostle Paul about Israel coming out of Egypt, which occurred during the Days of Unleavened Bread. The Apostle Paul had timed his writing of I Corinthians to reach the Corinthian congregation sometime, apparently, shortly before the Days of Unleavened Bread. Because remember he told the people to “keep the Feast.” To give meat in due season, it had to have been written shortly before the Feast or at least allowing time for the mail to get there. I Corinthians 10:1 - “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud...” Now remember in Exodus there was a cloud that they followed by day and the pillar of fire by night, and this is what is being referred to here. “...all passed through the sea...” (referring to the Red Sea) “...all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea...” At times we compare the Israelites passing through the Red Sea to our baptism. “...all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” That brings us to the end of verse 4. Verse 4 is one of those basic scriptures that we use to show that Jesus Christ was the God of the Old Testament. Some think that was the Father, but actually this verse is proving that it was Jesus Christ who was having the direct relationship and direct contact with the Israelites. Verse 5: “But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.” Yes, we are to be learning from the Old Testament examples - learning from the ancient Israelites as they came out of Egypt. The Bible talks about lust, sin and that sort of thing, and we can learn to avoid these from these examples. Verse 11 says, “Now all of these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” Yes, we are to be instructed by looking back to the Israelites coming out of Egypt and see what we can learn. We can learn about the meaning of the spring holy days by comparing our situations to the situation of the Israelites. So let’s see that the Days of Unleavened Bread picture our coming out of the slavery of sin. The faith chapter is Hebrews 11. Let’s turn there because the Israelites are mentioned there. Hebrews 11:24 is where we start talking about Moses. “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.” I am reading from the New King James Version and it has a footnote here which is accurate in verse 26. Instead of the “reproach of Christ,” which really does not make a lot of sense (Christ was not reproaching Moses), it is also translated as “reviling because of Christ.” In other words, he received reviling from the Egyptians because of Christ. He considered that to be “...greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” We have Moses no longer having what is called here “the passing pleasures of sin” that he had in Egypt. So it is comparing Egypt to sin. Here, spiritually, Egypt of that time was a symbol of sin. When the plagues occurred, there were ten (the last one being the death of the firstborn). Many, if not all, of the plagues were based on what the false gods of the Egyptians were. They worshipped just about everything it seems. So many of the plagues had to do with that. Here their false worship was, in effect, turned against them. The false worship being a sin, of course. Turn to John 8. The Egyptians held the Israelites, and the Israelites were not the only ones in sin. Later on it says that others were enslaved to sin as well. John 8:30 this is Jesus Christ speaking. “As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed ‘on’ Him...” This would be a better translation as both in the Authorized and in the Interlinear because they believed ‘on’ Him not ‘in’ Him. They did not believe what He was saying. “‘...If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ Then they answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, “You will be made free?”’ Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.’” Yes, we are slaves to sin aren’t we? We have been slaves to sin. We are still, to some extent. It is hard to quit. Like a person who is trying to quit drinking and someone offers him a drink and he says, “No, thanks, I am trying to quit.” The same thing with a cigarette - they offer him a cigarette and he says, “No, thanks, I am trying to quit.” Satan tempts us. “No, thanks, I am trying to quit!” But just as Egypt was holding the Israelites and just as Israelites were slaves to Egypt, we are slaves to sin. There are so many similarities between our situation and theres. We have to come out of sin just as the Israelites had to come out, but we need God’s help just as they did. Satan pursues us just as Satan pursued the Israelites. We are going to read about that a little bit later. There are times we may want to go back into sin just as the Israelites wanted to. They were saying, “Oh, we should have stayed in Egypt. We should go back.” Turn to Luke 9. Sometimes we do not count the cost and we want to go back. In fact, when we are baptized the ministers in our counseling often will tell us this is just the beginning. It may have been hard to get to this point, but it is going to be harder from now on. We think sure, okay, he is saying that but I cannot imagine that. I think everything is going to be just rosy from here on. Of course, it becomes more difficult in many ways. Luke 9:62 - “But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’” Some strong words about wanting to go back into sin. Yes, the Israelites were slaves and we are too. I would also like to turn to Romans 7, and I am going to read it this time in the New King James Version. In our sermonette we had it in the Authorized King James Version. Romans 7:14 - “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Like buying and selling a slave. They were seldom given away. Usually there was a price for them, and we are sold under sin as a slave. Verse 15: “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then , I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” Verse 19: “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.” Verse 23: “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” What we are seeing here is a man, just like us, who is doing things he does not want to do! In other words, he does not want to sin but yet he finds himself doing it. That is what we do too at times, and we did more before baptism and receiving God’s Spirit, but we still fall occasionally. We still do the things we do not want to do. If a person does things he does not want to be doing, he is enslaved. In this case, we are at times a slave to sin. Let’s go back to Romans 6:16 - “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?” That word, “slave” also translated as a “bondservant” is the lowest form of a slave. That is what we are when we obey sin - the lowest form of a slave. It is a word in Greek similar to “doulos” and there is a French word “douleur” which means pain, and they must be associated. There is nothing but pain when you are a slave. Verse 17: “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” Verse 20: “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.” In other words, you had no righteousness at that time. “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” Oh, the effects of sin now - such sorrow it causes in the world! We hear about the wars every day in the news and more and more going on - wars in the Middle East, wars elsewhere. There is hopelessness, the hopelessness of poverty and disease, and it just keeps going on. It causes frustration for people and unfulfillment. There is frustration for people who are living under sin, and for people who are not putting God first in their life, for example. Anything else is going to be unfulfilling. Then we wonder why, at times, we have unfulfilled lives. It is because, at times, we do not put God first. Much of the world does not either. There is another effect of sin, as well, besides the immediate effects of such misery. Verse 23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So the ultimate result of sin is death, eternal death. It should be noted here that eternal life is a gift. We do not earn it. We are not going to earn our salvation - eternal life is a gift. This term “slaves to righteousness” is discussed four times in this passage. Instead of being slaves to sin, be slaves to righteousness. Let’s go back a minute and look at that. This is again in Romans 6:16, the second half of that verse. “...you are that one’s slave whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?” In other words, slaves of obedience to righteousness. The second time, verse 18: “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Paul is saying this four times in slightly different ways. Verse 19 in the second half of the verse: “For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” Verse 22: “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” Here we have, “slaves of God.” We are going from slaves of sin to becoming slaves of God. That is what we want to be. I Corinthians 6. Remember, I talked about a slave having been paid for? If we are going to be slaves of God, there is a payment here too. I Corinthians 6:19 - “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Yes, we were bought with a price - the price of Jesus Christ’s blood. We have become His slaves and our body is a temple where His Holy Spirit dwells. We have to take good care of that temple, don’t we? He is not going to live in a temple that is dirty and allows all kinds of bad things to come in. Our little temple is part of God’s whole temple - the spiritual temple, the Church, that Jesus Christ will be coming back to soon once the temple is made ready. Of course, as you know, right now it is in a sad state - all divided up and not nearly ready. It needs to be cleansed. Some day we will all come together, and it will take a miracle from God. I am going to turn to just a few verses here where this is mentioned, at the beginning at the salutation by the person writing it as in James 1:1. “James, a servant…” (or slave) “…of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” II Peter opens the same way. Verse l: “Simon Peter, a servant…” (or bondslave) “…and apostle of Jesus Christ...” Jude 1 where we read from earlier today: “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James...” Servant or slave is the same word. Revelation 1:1: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.” So the apostles knew they were servants, or slaves, of God just as we are. Turn to Matthew 11 because one might think that going from a slave of one thing to a slave of another - is that necessarily good? Believe me, it is better! Jesus Christ is speaking Himself in Matthew 11:28: “‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.’” Yes, we are slaves but it is such an easier way of life without the misery of sin compared to what we had before! One more verse in Romans 1:1. Again, it is talking about being a bondslave. This is where Paul opens up Romans. “Paul, a servant…” (or bondslave, someone bought and paid for) “…of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.” Now just as God led the Israelites out of Egypt to freedom, God leads us from sin to repentance. While we are in Romans here let’s go on a few pages to Romans 2:4 and we will see that God leads us to repentance. This is one of the basic scriptures we use, in fact, on the subject of repentance. Romans 2:4: “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” We did not start the process. Often we were not the least bit interested in repenting and learning about God! But, He started working with us. God started that process. He led us to repentance. Turn to Acts 11 where Peter was talking about the repentance of the Gentiles. Remember how the story went: Peter had gone to pray and fell into a trance, if you will. He saw a vision of a great sheet coming down from heaven with all kinds of unclean animals in it. Each time a voice told him to kill and eat. This happened three times. Each time, Peter said, no, I have never eaten anything unclean. I cannot do that. Peter wondered what it meant. Some people incorrectly assume this means we can eat anything we want. Bring on the lobster! It says, Peter wondered what it meant. Later on he explained he should not call any man common or unclean. In other words, the Jews at some point were not to be having contact with the Gentiles. This was opening it up where they could preach the gospel to the Gentiles. The Gentiles could come into the Church. Sure enough, some did at this point. So Peter was relating this story. Acts 11:18 - “When they heard these things, they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, ‘Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.’” See God grants repentance. That is what has happened to us too. God has granted us repentance. When Israel was coming out of Egypt, everything was not done for them. They had to do something too. They were not just miraculously transported into the Promised Land. They had to walk out. Just as we come out of slavery to sin, we have to do something too. We have to strive to obey God. Now Paul said we have not resisted to bloodshed striving against sin, but we are to be striving. Maybe it has not come to blood yet. With most of us, it has not, but we are to be resisting and striving against sin. Luke 12 talks about many parables Christ gave, indicating we are supposed to be doing something. They are not just nice things to read but we are actually supposed to be doing something as we come out of sin. Luke 12:42 - “And the Lord said, ‘Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant...’” (or slave) “‘...whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.’” Yes, there is a reward there. “‘But if that servant says in his heart, “My master is delaying his coming,” and begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.’” So it talks about him beating the other menservants and maidservants, mistreating people in other words. Maybe mistreating other people who have offices in the Church. It talks about being drunk. In the Bible, being drunk often means being drunk with false doctrine. Things we would have to definitely avoid and we would not want to be in that situation. Verse 47: “‘And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know yet committed things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.’” We are to be a faithful servant, a faithful slave with much to do; and if we do it, we will have a reward. Another parable in Matthew 25 is the parable of the talents. Matthew 25:14 - “‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.’” In Mystery of the Ages Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong said this was delivering portions of the Holy Spirit to people. “‘And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.’” Verse 17: “‘And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, “Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look I have gained five more talents besides them.” His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”’” Yes, we are to be faithful servants or faithful slaves using God’s Holy Spirit that we are given to develop more and more character. When Christ does return, here it says, “after a long time,” and it has been a long time, He will be able to see that character in us and reward us accordingly. Turn to Luke 19 and here we have the parable of the pounds. In the New King James it is called the parable of the minas and it is called the “pounds” in the Old King James Version. Luke 19:11 - “Now as they heard these things, he spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. Therefore He said: ‘A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, “Do business till I come.”’” These minas are units of money. “‘But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, “We will not have this man to reign over us.” And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom…’” (referring to Christ receiving His kingdom) “‘…he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.’” Again, in Mystery of the Ages Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong refers to these pounds as a measure of God’s Holy Spirit. Verse 16: “‘Then came the first, saying, “Master, your mina has earned ten minas.” And he said to him, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.” And the second came, saying, “Master, your mina has earned five minas.” Likewise he said to him, “You also be over five cities.”’” So, again a reward for being a good and faithful servant or slave. Just as we are to be - slaves of Christ. Go back to Luke 17 where it talks more about how a slave of Christ is to be behaving. Luke 17:5 - “And the apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’” Now often we read these verses, and we see it looks like He is about ready to give a formula for increasing our faith. Then we start reading the next couple of verses and we might not have the answer. Maybe we quit too early. We are going to read on to verse 10 to get the answer. Luke 17:6 - “So the Lord said, ‘If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, “Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,” and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, “Come at once and sit down to eat?” But will he not rather say to him, “Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink?” Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.’” Verse 10: “‘So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, “We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.”’” In other words, we are not just supposed to do what is commanded. We are supposed to go above and beyond the call of duty, if you want to think of it that way. That is how our faith is increased, which is in verse 5, which was the beginning of this whole discussion. So we increase our faith by going above and beyond as profitable servants. I think the Apostle John remembered that discussion. I John 3:22 - “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” Again, we are doing the requirements and keeping the commandments and we also are doing things that are pleasing in His sight. We are going above and beyond. In fact, once we do that our prayers will be answered. Yet, we are not to earn our own salvation, as I mentioned before. Turning back to Romans 3:25 “...whom God set forth to be a propitiation...” (or payment) “...by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.” (or sins that are past in the old King James). In other words, Christ was the payment for those sins. We do not pay it ourselves. We do not pay our own penalty - Christ did. Then again, we do not keep sinning either. Moses can be compared to Christ. As we are talking about the similarities between the Israelites coming out of Egypt and us coming out of sin, Moses was leading the Israelites and can be compared to Christ, who is leading us. Turn to Acts 7:37. This is an address by Stephen. “‘This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.”’” Moses here was prophesying about Jesus Christ. Turn to Acts 3:20 - “‘...and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to the fathers, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.”’” You see it is talking about Jesus Christ and immediately in verse 22 Moses is talking about this Prophet like Moses. In other words, we have Christ being compared to Moses in these verses. Moses was sent by God to deliver physical Israel from physical bondage. He was a forerunner of Christ whom God sent to deliver spiritual Israel (the Church) from the spiritual bondage and penalty of sin. So we have Moses taking physical Israel out of physical slavery and Christ takes spiritual Israel (the Church) out of spiritual slavery. Also He pays the penalty besides. In Numbers 33 we look at the reaction of the Israelites coming out of slavery, and we can compare it to our own reaction as we began our trek out of sin. Number 33:3 - “They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians.” In the King James it says they went out with a “high hand.” Think how we felt. I can remember when I was baptized and received God’s Holy Spirit I thought at that time there was a sense of relief. I was finally baptized and had been wanting it for months. I had studied, examined myself and tried to see what it was I needed to repent of. Of course, before you are baptized you have to know what to repent of so it takes some amount of studying just to know what to repent of. You are supposed to believe the gospel, of course, and we have to do some amount of studying to know what the gospel is. Well, I had gone through all of that. I felt extreme relief. At least, I thought it was relief at the time. Later on I realized, well, no, actually it was more likely peace. Peace is a part of the fruit of God’s Spirit. I think that was really what I was feeling at that time. The Israelites had a feeling too - a feeling of jubilation and happiness as they were coming out of sin. It is not all rosy is it? Turn to Exodus 14. They were not out of Egypt very long and some problems began. Exodus 14:1 - “Now the Eternal spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, “They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.” Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue, them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Eternal.’ And they did so.” Verse 5: “Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, ‘Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?’ So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. And the Eternal hardened the heart of Pharaoh King of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness. So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.” So they were being pursued. The Israelites were being pursued by Pharaoh, just as Satan pursues us! Satan would like to have us believe that the Christian way of life is too difficult. It is too difficult to keep God’s commandments, and you just cannot do it and just quit. He will broadcast attitudes. Remember, he is called the prince of the power of the air. He broadcasts bad attitudes, specific thoughts at times, temptations and he also manipulates events. All of these things he can do to try to discourage us to make us want to quit. So Satan pursues us just like Pharaoh was pursuing Israel. Have you ever felt like Satan is really after you? I know people who have and they have talked about it. I remember one woman years ago who said, “I feel like Satan has got me and please pray about this.” I did and I think others did too. I hope she is in one of the many scattered branches of the Church today. Hopefully we will see her again. Satan is compared to a lion in the Bible - pursuing us. Turn to I Peter 5. Being pursued by Satan the devil is not something to be taken lightly. I Peter 5:8 - “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” He will eat us alive if we give him the chance! This is a warning but there are also instructions here on how to overcome Satan. Let’s look at verse 6, and look at some of these instructions on how to overcome Satan and how to come out of sin. Verse 6: “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time...” Yes, we are to humble ourselves. We humble ourselves by fasting at times and just by realizing how small we are compared to God. In fact, we can realize how weak and small we are compared to other humans. God chose the weak and the foolish of the world. Not to say we are supposed to remain that way, but we have to admit we are not the great of the world - the multibillionaires of the world or the superstar models. We are just plain ordinary people and we better realize it at times. We are not any better in character than the person sitting next to us in services or anything like that. In humbling ourselves, we have to remember we are not supposed to be keeping our mind on ourselves all of the time. Part of being humble is not to be obsessed with ourselves either, for that matter. There are all kinds of meaning to that word which help us in our growing and overcoming. Verse 7: “...casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober...” When I think of the word “sober” normally I think of it as just meaning serious. Yes, we are to take things seriously. We should take it seriously that we are coming out of Egypt and that we are being pursued by Satan, but there is even more to it than that. I looked it up in the dictionary. It also includes: dedication to a purpose, be circumspect (which means to be looking around and being aware of what is going on), self-controlled. Dedication to purpose - this is important. Our purpose is to be developing God’s holy righteous character, and as the opportunity arises, help others to develop that character too. That is our purpose. We are not supposed to be letting other things interfere with that. As we go about our daily lives and doing our daily duties, we must, as some have said, “Think about what you are doing while you are doing it.” It does not mean we daydream, allow ourselves to have sinful thoughts, to start worrying and that sort of thing. If we start doing that, Satan can start injecting additional thoughts in there that we do not want to have. Verse 8: “Be sober, be vigilant...” Yes, we are to be watching for Satan’s broadcasting for his attitudes, ideas and even watching for events. Sometimes it is just too much to be a coincidence, isn’t it? We know we are under attack. “...because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him...” Yes, we are to resist Satan the devil. “...steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” Turn to James 4 where these instructions continue. We talked about humility and that is repeated here. James 4:6 - “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” In I Peter it says resist the devil, and here it says resist and “...he will flee from you.” It sounds like a promise or a natural effect! If we resist the devil, he will flee. Therefore, we must resist the devil. Pray to God for strength to resist the devil and for God to intervene when it is just too much for us. Verse 8: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” How do we draw near to God? As we heard in the sermonette, prayer and study. There is also meditation and fasting. These are all ways of drawing near to God, and He will draw near to us. Continuing in the same verse, James 4, verse 8: “Cleanse your hands, you sinners...” We look at the Bible spiritually. Of course, it is not talking about physical hand washing here, and that is obvious to anyone who reads this. “Cleanse your hands” it says. Remember, your hands have to do with what you do. What we do ought to be clean, if you want to think of it that way. In other words, stop sinning. That is what it is telling us to do. “...and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Our hearts are to be pure. Our hearts or our motivation, what we think - we are not to be thinking of sin. Some of the sin we commit is what we actually do. Others is what we think. We sin both in thought and in action. We are not supposed to be doing either one of those, and that is what it is telling us here. Also we are not supposed to be doubting because here it says “you double-minded.” That is implying doubt. We are not supposed to be doubting God. We are supposed to be having faith in God and in His promises. So that is quite a bit of instruction on growing and overcoming in those verses in James 4 and I Peter 5. We might be concerned that God might be giving us more than we can handle. But we do have this verse in I Corinthians 10 that can be very comforting to read. Verse 13: “No temptation...” (or trial) “...has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” He is not going to make it more than we can stand, just as He did not make it more than the Israelites could stand. He rescued them and He will rescue us too! He does not want us to fail. Turn to Galatians 5. We are supposed to be slaves of Christ and we are not to go back to being slaves of sin. Galatians 5:1 - “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,” (free from sin) “and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” We are not supposed to go back into slavery to sin. As we continue to compare the Israelites coming out of Egypt with our coming out of sin, we realize that just as it was humanly impossible for the Israelites to escape Pharaoh, it is also humanly impossible for Christians to overcome Satan’s influence. Matthew 19 is the answer. Matthew 19:25 - “When His disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” Yes, with God all things are possible. With God’s help we can grow, overcome, come out of sin and we can be saved. God through His Holy Spirit makes obedience, overcoming and growth possible. Let’s pick up the account in Exodus 14 where we left off. Remember we had gotten to the point in Exodus 14 where Pharaoh had just decided he was going to start pursuing the Israelites. Exodus 14:10 - “And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Eternal. Then they said to Moses, ‘Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, “Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?” For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.’” That is, sad to say, a typical reaction when you are scared. You start blaming people and accusing people. Moses was accused of taking them to die in the wilderness. They were saying it would have been better to die in Egypt. They were saying it would have been better to go back. I think sometimes we might have those feelings ourselves. They are natural emotional reactions, not a right thing to have, but that is just the way humans are sometimes. It reminds me of a factory I know of that is in the process of closing over the next few months. Instead of all banding together to try and work hard and get a bonus that they could get for getting out production, you have people blaming each other and attacking each other. People are saying, well, if so and so would have done something different this would not have happened. The same human reaction the Israelites had here. Let’s read verse 13 of Exodus 14: “And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.’ And the Eternal said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea’” Yes, we are to go forward in obedience and trusting in God just as the Israelites were told to do that. That is what we are supposed to be doing too. We are not to be afraid, but we are to stand still and see the salvation of God when we are in a trial. Let’s skip on to verse 19: “And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.” The cloud guided them and then protected them from the Egyptians for a time, just as God’s Holy Spirit works for us. God’s spirit guides us and also protects us, strengthens us to resist the temptations of Satan the devil. We are going to go on to Psalm 78 which talks about the Israelites coming out of Egypt. Remember we had read that they were very fearful? They were verbally attacking each other irrationally (if you want to think of it that way). Moses told them not to fear and they listened. Psalm 78:51: “And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, the first of their strength in the tents of Ham. But He made His own people go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock; and He led them on safely, so that they did not FEAR; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.” So they did overcome that fear and then the Red Sea overwhelmed the Egyptians - their enemies. We are not to fear either. Let’s go back to the faith chapter again. We need to have faith. Hebrews 11:29 - “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.” Yes, there was faith involved. Now back to Psalm 106. One of the similarities between the Israelites situation and ours is that they had someone who hated them, the pharaoh and his army; and we have someone who hates us and that is Satan the devil. Psalm 106:7 - “Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, but rebelled by the sea - the Red Sea.” Yes, they rebelled until Moses got them all calmed down. Verse 8: “Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake, that He might make His mighty power known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up; so He led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. He saved them from the hand of him who HATED them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. The waters covered their enemies; there was not one of them left Then they believed His words; they sang His praise.” So they were rescued from someone who really hated them - the pharaoh. We can be rescued too, and we are often rescued from someone who hates us - Satan the devil. Why does he hate us so much? Remember, Satan in the Bible is described as the god of this world. He tempted Christ. One of the temptations was to offer Christ rulership over the world at that time instead of having to die for us and wait about 2,000 years and eventually be given the kingdom later. According to Satan, He could have had it right then, but who knows under what terms. It would have been under Satan’s terms, certainly. The point is the world was Satan’s to give, and his demons are ruling under him. Our potential is to rule this earth ourselves. The human potential is to become part of the God family and to rule on the earth! We will be replacing Satan and the demons! That is why they hate us so much! They would love to have every one of us fail. Now I do not know whether their thinking is so warped that they think that somehow they can keep God’s plan from occurring and that they will be able to remain in power, or if they are just so bitter that they want as many of us to fail as possible. They will have had, at least, some victories even if they cannot rule anymore. I do not know what they are thinking. All I know is that they want us to fail and we cannot let it happen! I would have stopped right here in verse 12 but let’s read a little further. Verse 13 of Psalm 106: “They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel...” The Israelites crossed the Red Sea and probably within days they were already forgetting God’s miracles, becoming fearful and sinning again. We have to be careful too because we will have miracles in our lives, and then the next day we forget what God has done for us. We start doubting again, fearing again and sinning again. We do at times trip and fall and stumble in sin. Let’s go back to Exodus 14. There is one more parallel between their experience and ours. What has happened here is Moses has stretched his hand over the sea and the Red Sea had parted. The Israelites went across the Red Sea on dry land! There have been people at times who have tried to minimize this saying basically they went out through a swamp and the tide went out! They say something ridiculous like that. Actually the Red Sea was about eight miles wide at this point. This was a major miracle - to move millions of Israelites through eight miles of dry land across a sea. Exodus 14:23 - “And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Eternal looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, ‘Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.’” God frustrated the Egyptians. He made their wheels fall off of their chariots! It would be an extremely frustrating situation. This was to slow them down. At times, I think, God frustrates Satan and the demons to keep us from being overwhelmed, as well. So many times things could have happened and did not, and we know God does protect us. We, in fact, pray that God will set His holy angels around us to protect us from all that is outside that could harm us. Now if you go through the timing of the events in Exodus, it would make sense that they were coming through the Red Sea before dawn on the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. Traditionally, that is what we, and in fact the Jews, have believed. The Israelites went through the Red Sea sometime before dawn on the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. That, of course, is what we are observing today, today being the Last Day of Unleavened Bread of the year 2002. Now there are seven days of unleavened bread. Seven is God’s number of completion in a number of places in the Bible. What we have to remember is, as we observe this Last Day of Unleavened Bread, that we are to be coming “completely” out of slavery to sin.