Podcasts about exodus moses

St.Patrick's day, Exodus-Moses, serpent symbol

Exodus 3:5-10

Exodus 3:1-4

Exodus 2:15-25

Exodus 2:11-15 11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. Numbers 12:3 3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) Numbers 20:1-12 1 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried. 2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4 Why did you bring the Lord's community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” 6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” 9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord's presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” FAILURES OF MOSES Exodus 2:11-15 Exodus 3 Exodus 4:24-26 Numbers 20:1-12 ON PRIDE AND HUMILITY C.S. Lewis: “The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility...According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.” Jesus in Luke 14:11: “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ICE BREAKER Share a time where either you failed, or you witnessed a memorable failure. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Glance over chapters 1 and 2 of Exodus. How does scripture set the scene so that the reader might expect an immediate heroic victory? Consider some of Moses' failures that scripture records (2:12-14, chapter 3, 4:24-26, Numbers 20:1-12). Which ones stand out to you? Does our culture punish certain types of failure differently than others? Numbers 12:3 tells us that Moses was the most humble person alive in his day. How can failure contribute to someone developing humility? Jeremy said "a more accurate understanding of the battle for our souls is the battle between our pride and our humility." C.S. Lewis called pride "the essential vice, the utmost evil." What makes pride so dangerous? How does humility counteract pride? What are some positive ways humility can be displayed... ...in our homes? ...at Southside? ...by our leaders? ...in our community?

On the shores of the Red Sea, God performed his final act of judgment against the Egyptians and his most powerful act of deliverance on behalf of the Israelites. While the Egyptian armies rushed to slaughter their recently released slaves, God parted the waters of the Red Sea and commanded the Israelites to cross on dry land. The very path that offered the Israelites their freedom turned into a watery grave for their enemies when the Egyptians raced into the middle of the sea only to have the walls of water collapse around them. From the Red Sea, God led the Israelites through the wilderness, performing one miracle after another. Instead of trusting God, the Israelites constantly complained when faced with challenges. Moses was receiving much of their disgruntlement, largely because he was their visible leader. Despite all his challenges, however, Moses remained faithful to God and cared for the Israelites as tenderly as a shepherd caring for his sheep. 

In this episode of the Alabaster Jar, Dr. Lynn Cohick and Dr. Carmen Imes discuss Miriam's role as a worship leader, drummer, and moral guide in the Exodus story. They highlight her agency and affirmation of God's actions while acknowledging the cultural context of women's drumming and dancing in ancient times. They also offer a nuanced understanding of Miriam's leadership and moral responsibility in the Hebrew Bible. Key Takeaways: Miriam was a drummer, not a tambourine player, as often depicted in art.Miriam played a crucial prophetic role, leading the Israelites in worship after crossing the Red Sea.There are parallel rescue stories in Exodus - Moses' rescue as a baby and the Israelites' rescue from Egypt - with Miriam playing a vital role in both.Miriam is recognized alongside Moses and Aaron as a leader of Israel during the Exodus, as mentioned in Micah 6:4.God treats Miriam as a moral agent with responsibility, as seen in her punishment for challenging Moses' authority.Studying lesser-known biblical figures like Miriam can provide deeper insights into Scripture and Israel's history. Episode Resources: Exodus (Westminster Bible Companion) by Dr. J. Gerald Janzen  Bearing God's Name: Why Sinai Still Matters by Dr. Carmen Imes  Being God's Image: Why Creation Still Matters by Dr. Carmen Imes  Torah Tuesday (YouTube Series by Dr. Carmen Imes)  Exodus (New Cambridge Bible Commentary) by Dr. Carol Myers  Exodus (Teach the Text Commentary Series) by Dr. T. Desmond Alexander  The Visual Museum of Women in Christianity  Episode Sponsor:  The Alabaster Jar is brought to you by The Center for Women in Leadership, a newly formed 501©3 nonprofit organization whose purpose is to equip women in a context that is biblically rooted, theologically robust, and ethnically diverse to thrive as leaders in the academy and the Church. Follow them on Instagram @leadershipwithoutapology. Learn more about The Center for Women in Leadership at https://www.leadershipwithoutapology.org/.

Atascadero Bible ChurchTom Ferrell

Speaker - Tony Thompson

Audio Transcript:This media has been made available by Mosaic BostonChurch. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston,or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com. Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us your holy word, and we thank you for sending us your holy Son. We thank you that your son came as a savior to save us from our sins, but you also came as Lord. And Jesus, we thank you that you went to the cross and you paid the penalty for our law-breaking, our transgressions of the law. And Jesus, you bled. The holy Son of God, you bled on that cross in order to cleanse us, in order to save us, and then also to give us grace. And you came back from the dead as the conquering king and you gave us marching orders to go and make disciples of all nations and to take dominion of this world, to take it back from the usurper, back from Satan, back from the enemy. And I pray, Lord, that you empower us by the Holy Spirit. Baptize us with the Holy Spirit. Send each one of us a special anointing to proclaim your word everywhere we go. To know your word, study your word, meditate upon your word, and to testify to the greatness of our God. Lord Jesus, show us what it means that you are our king. And that when you tell us to follow you, that is a command. Those are marching orders. And wherever in our lives we are not following you, I pray, give us grace. Transform our wills, transform our minds, transform our hearts. Lord Jesus, we pray that you bless the sermon series. We pray that you anoint it and I pray that your holy church will be built up. And I pray those who are far from you will be redeemed and regenerated and transformed from being rebels to being your children. And I pray, Lord, in this season that you send us the gift of evangelism, a passion for evangelists to proclaim the gospel of the king. The king is here. We deserve His wrath, but He came to extend mercy and grace and call us to follow him. I pray that you bless our time in the holy scriptures. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're beginning a sermon series through the Gospel of Mark that we are calling Kingdom Come, the Gospel of Mark and the secret of God's kingdom. And Jesus Christ, when He came, His very first words were the kingdom of God is at hand. So He's established the kingdom, the king is here, and then the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us to pray. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And that prayer is not just a prayer, that's our purpose. Yes, we cry out, Lord, may your kingdom come. But what we're saying is, Lord, give me the power to establish your kingdom. The title of the sermon today is Tremendous News: The King Loves You. And it's tremendous news because we don't deserve that love. It's a shock that He comes as a loving savior. Why? Because we deserve the wrath of God for our law-breaking. And just to give you perspective on this, I take an example from history from Fyodor Dostoevsky. Before he wrote Crime and Punishment, before he wrote The Idiot, before he wrote The Brothers Karamazov, he was actually sentenced to death by a firing squad by Tsar Nicholas I. For what? Listening to stories, criticizing the armed forces, owning an illegal printing press in order to create anti-government propaganda, and contributing to plot against the Tsar. So he was part of a group of rebels. There were 21 members in the circle and Dostoevski is 27 at that time. And they were brought into a public square and they were forced to kneel, kiss a cross, and then undergo a symbolic beheading where swords were broken above their heads. They were tied to pillars in the town square, blindfolded and then they started awaiting their execution. But immediately before they were shot, an envoy from the Tsar arrived with the stay of execution saying, don't shoot. And the men were pardoned by the king from execution and forced to serve in hard labor and a labor camp for four years. And you say, how would that change a man knowing he's about to be executed and all of a sudden there is a stay of execution? Dostoevsky, after the averted execution said, "Today I faced death for three quarters of an hour. I was a hair's breadth away from death, and now I am living again." He wrote his brother after the event, "I'm being reborn in another form." In the same way that the brightest dawn follows the darkest night, the best and the greatest, the most tremendous news always comes right after the deepest realization of the most terrible news. Well, what is the terrible news? That you and I, we have broken the law of God, the holy law of the holy God. This is the ultimate act of insurrection. And God created you with eternal soul. He breathed his spirit into you. We have eternal souls created by an eternal God. So what's the punishment for insurrection against the holy God of the universe? It's banishment from God's kingdom. That's what we deserve. Exile. And how long is that exile? Eternal because God is eternal and so are our souls. We deserve execution. We deserve eternal damnation for rebelling against the holy God. So when the king of kings comes, it's surprising that He doesn't come with execution and eviction notices. When the king comes, the king comes with pardon and amnesty and forgiveness and mercy, but also grace. This is what the gospel is all about, that God is offering to us today, mercy. Mercy is you don't get what you deserve, but He also gives us grace. And grace is we get what we don't deserve. God has mercy on rebels and He gives us grace in adopting us as sons and daughters because of the sacrifice of king Jesus on the cross. Jesus came as a Jewish man, but He's not just the king of the Jews or just the king of Israel. He's the king of everyone and the king of everything. And there's only two kinds of people, children of God or rebels. Soldiers of King Jesus or soldiers of king Satan. And if you turn from your sin and you submit to the king, if you believe in His gospel, something incredible happens. The miracle of the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you are regenerated from within. God gives you a brand new heart with brand new desires and your mind is renewed by the power of God. And God now can look at you as He looks at His son Jesus Christ and say, this is my child in whom I'm well pleased. And grace also is a power source. God gives us grace as energy to become kingdom builders. Jesus Christ said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else shall be added onto you." St. Paul said, "I am what I am by the grace of God, but the grace of God was not in vain in me. It wasn't given to me in vain. Instead," he says, "I worked harder than the rest of them. "And he's talking about the other apostles. So God gives us grace to do what? To follow Him, build His kingdom. And it all starts with the tremendous news that He's willing to forgive us if we repent. And this news does change us, it rivets us and it changes your whole perspective on reality. Would you please look at the text with me today? We're in Mark 1:1-15, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God as it is written in Isaiah the prophet. Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight." John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now, John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached saying, 'After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie. I've baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved son with you, I'm well pleased.' The spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness and he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan and he was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to him. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, 'The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.'" This is the reading of God's holy and inert, infallible, authoritative word, may it write these truths upon our hearts. Four points to frame up our time. First, the king has come. Second, the king is anointed. Third, the king declares war. And fourth, the kingdom has come. First, the king has come. Mark 1:1, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God written by Mark, who was probably an associate of Peter and Peter at that time was serving in Rome when this gospel was written. So this gospel is written to city dwellers and it's written in such a way where busy people can understand the gospel, understand who is Jesus, understand His person and His work. We see that Mark emphasizes action over teaching, it's very vivid. One of his favorite words is the word immediately. And what he's doing, he's writing to busy people. He's trying to get to the point as quickly as possible. And if you're new to the city, what you recognize is after a while here you realize you know who's from Boston because they walk fast and they talk fast. Fast walkers, fast talkers. And that's kind how I preach. I talk really fast, people tell me they can't 2X me on our podcasts or et cetera, but I want to get to the point as quickly as possible. And the point is, Jesus Christ, He's the point of everything. And here we see the freshness of discovery of who Jesus is. That's what Mark is trying to do. Over 150 times, he uses the historic present tense, putting past events in the present tense. Why? To increase the vividness. That what Jesus did, He's continuing to do today in and through the church as empowered by the Holy Spirit. It begins with the word the beginning. That's the very first word, and it's alluding to Genesis 1:1, that in the beginning God created everything and God created man and it was all beautiful. It was all wonderful, but we rebelled against God and Satan usurped dominion from Adam and Jesus Christ has come as a new Adam, as a new creation, as a new beginning for human beings. His name is Jesus in the English. In the Greek, it's Yesus, and Yesus is a transliteration of the Jewish word, Joshua. So Jesus is named after Joshua. In the Hebrew, His name, what it means is savior or literally Yahweh is salvation. So even in the name, what we see is that God is saying what Moses couldn't do, Joshua did. Moses could not take the promised land, could not bring the people of God into the promised land. Joshua did that. What Moses couldn't do, Jesus is going to do. Moses gave the law, but he couldn't transform hearts to obey God willingly. God can force His kingdom upon us and one day He will come with a flaming sword and He will judge. But the first time Jesus Christ comes, He doesn't come with a sword of power or physical sword. He comes with the sword of the spirit, wielding the word of God so people are transformed from the inside out. Moses gave the law, Jesus gives grace, which leads to heartfelt obedience, which empowers us to fulfill the law out of love for God and neighbor. Jesus Christ, a lot of people think that's His last name. That's not His last name. It wasn't Mary and Joseph Christ. This is a title, a kristos. It's from the Hebrew marcia or an anointed one. He's anointed to do what? He's anointed to be a royal figure. He's anointed to be king. So Jesus Christ actually just means is king. Sometimes they drive by churches and they're named Christ is king. I'm like, that means king is king. It's Jesus is king. That's the point, that He's come in order to establish the kingdom of God. He's the son of God. Son begotten of the Father. The Son of God is God as much as the Father is God, but the Son submits to the father's will. So we see right in the center of the faith, the faith is patriarchal with the Father up top and hierarchal, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. When Jesus took on flesh, He was male. Jesus was a man, a Jewish man who lived under the law. And Jesus is the Son of God and the son of man, that's His messianic title. And the Holy Spirit is not an it. It's not just a force. The Holy Spirit is a person, the Holy Spirit is a he. And just for clarity's purposes, God's pronouns are He/Him. And I say that because confusion has come from theological schools. I remember taking classes at BU School of Theology and I realized that's not going to go well because the very first prayer I heard was a prayer to mother God. Well, that is not true. God is father. The gospel, the word gospel means good news or literally an announcement of something good associated with a military victory. It's good news of victory from the battlefield. And the nuance of military victory is extremely important for Mark who presents Jesus' ministry as triumph over Satan, over the demonic forces and over their human agents. In Isaiah, the announcer of good news or the one that brings the good news proclaims the victory of Yahweh Israel's true king over hostile forces. And this is just the beginning. It's the beginning of what Jesus taught and what He began to do and He continues to do today. In Mark 1:2, "As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." As it is written, it says. This is typical Jewish formula for citation of scripture. And the Greek, it's a perfect tense, has been written, implies past action with permanent results and suggesting that the ancient scriptures, it's not just a dead letter, but it's a living force in the present. As it has been written through the instrumentality of Isaiah, and then God speaks in the first person, meaning God inspired Isaiah by the spirit and he speaks to us through the word of God. And Mark affirms that what happened in Jesus followed the plan of salvation laid out by God and the prophecies of scriptures in the first 39 books of the Bible. Jesus came and His Bible were the Hebrew scriptures, the first three fourths of the Bible and this is why Mark quotes it in the very beginning. It was all promised. And He says, "I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way." So John the Baptist comes and John the Baptist is this voice and he's in the wilderness. And the word for wilderness or desert is érimos, is used three times in our texts today. And at the outset, all the action is in the wilderness. You say, why is that important? Because Adam was placed on the garden. The garden of Eden and everything was in bliss and everything was perfect. They walked in the presence of God, but he traded that garden for a wilderness by disobeying God. So the second Adam enters the wilderness to turn it back into a garden. Jesus is also the faithful son of God who unlike Israel, obeyed God completely. Israel disobeyed God. They were faithless and they walked in the wilderness for 40 years. But even there in the wilderness, God met them and He gave them the law and he cared for them and He provided for them. So in a sense, Jesus here is presented as the new Joshua, as the one who's going to lead the new exodus out of the wilderness to bring us into the presence of God. And what's the voice of one crying in the wilderness? What's he proclaiming? He's saying, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Prepare. God is here, the Lord is here. Prepare the way of the Lord." So Jesus is called Lord right from the outset. Who is John? John comes as an Old Testament prophet in the spirit of Elijah. He was a cousin of Jesus so he knew Jesus, he knew his life. In many ways he was a wild man, but the Lord used that. And what was his message? His message is the king is here, the king is coming. Prepare. Prepare. And what's the assumption? Is that we're not ready, that we need to do something to become ready. The king is coming and we need to present ourselves as best we can for the king. And John's not calling for just a coat of paint. No, we've got structural issues. We need an overhaul, a full gut down to the studs. I remember I took a trip to Sochi, Russia in 2013. It was before the Olympics and I wanted to see what they're doing in preparation for the Olympics and I was doing some missions work. And then we're driving up into the mountains of Sochi and I just noticed that everything's beautiful, everything's tremendous. And then I realized I don't see any houses. There are no houses. All I see is a beautiful fence on both sides. And they realized that if we're going to bring people to the Olympics, we have to make everything presentable, but we don't have time to make the houses presentable or the villages presentable so we're just going to cover it all up with a beautiful veneer. Well, John's not calling us to do that. John is saying, "No, no, no. It's not a veneer, not a facade change, not just your behavior must change. No, no, no. We need a regeneration of the heart." And how does that happen? What does he say? He says, "Repent and be baptized." Mark 1:4. "John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." So John here, he comes baptizing, and this is the Greek word vaftízo, which means to dip, plunge, immerse, and can be used of dipping a cup in water, et cetera. So John is called the baptizing one. A lot of people think he's baptist, because John the Baptist, there were no Baptist denominations at that time. And by the way, if we're going to call him any denominations, he's definitely not Baptist. He'd get ex-communicated from most Baptist churches. No, he's probably more Pentecostal than anything, but he comes baptizing and you're like, why is he baptizing? What is baptism? Well, baptism at that time was something that the priest did. They washed themselves in ablutions before taking part in sacrifices. And then the latter practice was when Gentiles wanted to become part of the people of God, what was the practice? How did they purge themselves of uncleanness of their pagan life, so to speak? Well, they were immersed in a ritual bath and that became a requirement for their conversion. So what John here is doing is he's going to Jewish people and he's saying, "You have not lived as the children of God. You have not lived as the people of God. You have not lived a life of love and obedience to God and people in submission of God's holy law. You are not saved through genealogy." And so he's calling them to faith in their own God, faith in their own scriptures and says, if he's saying you have lived as Gentiles, you have lived as pagans now through baptism, you are becoming the children of God and it's all started with the heart first. There's a passage in Zechariah that's used extensively in the New Testament that shares several motifs from our text, water imagery and repentance and confession, forgiveness of sins and even reference to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And what this passage emphasizes is even repentance, even asking God for forgiveness, even asking God for mercy and grace, that's a gift in and of itself that it starts with the spirit of God working in our lives. So Zechariah 12:10, "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day, the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land shall mourn each family by itself, the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Levi by himself and their wives by themselves, and the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves and all the families that are left each by itself and their wives by themselves. On that day, there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness." So John's baptism departed slightly from the baptism practice in the day. In the practice of the day, the Gentile convert would baptize themselves. They would go down to the water themselves. But here there's a second party, John is doing the baptizing, which is a symbol that we cannot save ourselves. We need someone from the outside and that's only Jesus Christ. And also John's baptism was only anticipatory of cleansing from sinfulness. It wasn't until the blood of Jesus Christ that we can truly be ransom from our sins. He comes proclaiming and the message is a message of repentance. What is the word repentance? It's literally a change of mind, a turning a direction of life, a returning. Like in the Old Testament, the prophets would come and they would say, repent. Repent. What they're saying is people of God, people of God turn back to God. Turn back to the word of God, implies a total change in spiritual orientation. And when repentance comes, we are forgiven of sins. It literally means ascending away or release, the release from guilt before God. Verse five, "And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem, were going out to him and we're being baptized by him in the river Jordan confessing their sins." And the phrase here for we're going out to him, it's a word that's applied in the Old Testament to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt under Moses. And what Mark is doing is deliberately invoking Exodus Moses typology. Why? To show us that the new Moses has come, the new Joshua has come, the new exodus is here. In verse six, "Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey." I've always thought that he just did that because he's kind of a nut and this is the way that you attract a lot of attention to start a movement, but actually it's a picture of the primal back to earth reminiscent of the garden of Eden. Remember in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve they sinned and God promised that the day that you sin you will die. That day began their spiritual death, but God pardons them and there's a blood sacrifice. He takes two animals and there's bloodshed and he creates clothing out of skins of the animals. This picture here is as if John is standing outside of the Garden of Eden. It's as if he's standing in that presence of the angel with a flaming sword that blocked the entrance and he's saying this is the way that we get back into the Garden of Eden. This is the way we get back into the promised land, into the presence of God himself. Here the description presents John as an Elijah figure, Elijah in 1 Kings 18, if you remember this is the great battle between Yahweh and Baal. And in the same way Elijah was preaching the same message, 1 Kings 18:21, "Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'how long will you go limping between two different opinions?' If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word." John's clothing is similar to that of Elijah. Elijah preached a message of repentance and so does John. Elijah was associated with the wilderness, so is John and with the Jordan. And then also Elijah, when he was taken up to heaven before going he gave a double portion of his spirit to his disciple Elisha, doubling his power. So Jesus here similarly is presented as one greater than John, greater than even this great prophet of God and one that supersedes John. In verse seven, "And he preached saying after me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie". He's mightier than I am, mightier in every sense. He's stronger than I am, and also he's more honorable. He's saying, "I'm not even worthy of taking the leather strap that holds his sandal on his foot and unstrapping it." And in rabbinic sources, the untying of the master shoe is the task of the slave, not of the disciple. One rabbi even wrote a pupil does for his teacher all the tasks that a slave does for his master except untying his shoes. So for the rabbis, this is the lowest of the low. The disciples would not do this And John the Baptist, he's saying Jesus is so much more worthy than I am, so much greater in every sense than I am I'm not even worthy of doing the slave like service. And we got to stop here for a minute and we got to meditate on the implications of the meeting behind Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. If John isn't even worthy of doing this, for that's how great Jesus is. Jesus, why would you wash the disciples' feet? You're the king of the universe, why are you stooping down? Why did you take a basin of water? Why are you doing that? And John 13:12-17, "When he had washed their feet and put on His outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, 'Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord and you are right for so I am. If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet for I have given you an example and you also should do just as I've done to you. Truly, truly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.' If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." What kind of king is this? This is the king that came to build a kingdom of hearts. This is a king that came to save us from our sins, to wash us from our uncleanness and stark in contrast to any other king. In Mark 1:8, "I've baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." So Jesus is the anointed one, anointed with the Holy Spirit. That's what makes Him of the Messiah and the spirit endowed Messiah is the spirit endowing Messiah. And in the New Testament there's a linkage of spirit and water. 1 Corinthians 12:12, "For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body. Jews and Greeks, slaves and free and all were made to drink of one spirit." Titus 3:4-7, "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our savior appeared, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Ezekiel 36, "This was promised, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols I will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart. And a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." This is the promise of God that when we come to Him, when we repent of our sins and we beg Him for grace and mercy that He sends us the Holy Spirit. And I wonder, do you have the Holy Spirit? Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit? Is the power of God, the indwelling power of God within you? And if you're not sure, look to the cross of Jesus Christ, ask for forgiveness of sins and say, Lord God, send me the spirit. Make me a person that is filled with the spirit of God to do the work that the Lord has for us. Second is the king is anointed and we see the baptism of Jesus in verse nine. "In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan and when He came up out of the water immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on Him like a dove and a voice came from heaven. 'You are my beloved son. With you, I am well pleased.'" Here we see again the word immediately, it's Mark's favorite word. The word is used 51 times in the New Testament, and Mark uses it 41 times and what he's showing is that the spirit is at work and he can't be stopped. It says that the sky, the heavens were being torn open, being ripped apart. It's harsh words and not the one for opening of heavens in a visionary context, but it's literally the heavens tore open and all of a sudden we see the presence of God descending on Christ. Isaiah 64 cries out for this day, "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil. To make your name known to your adversaries and that the nations might tremble in your presence." Mark uses this verb to tear apart twice in his gospel. Here he uses it and then he uses it that one time where Jesus is on the cross and He says it's finished, He's completed the work of redemption and then says that the veil in the temple was torn, ripped apart from top to bottom. What Mark is giving us is a glimpse into the very heart of reality, the meaning of life, the essence of the universe. According to scripture, it's the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit they are at the center of everything. And it's more as though invisible curtain right in front of us is pulled back and God reveals His person and His will. Christian life is like this, learning to differentiate between physical reality, which is not all there is and spiritual reality. And by God's grace we can walk by faith and not by sight. And we see the spirit descending upon Christ like a dove. It says why the dove? Well, the dove is an appropriate symbol for the spirit as it can cross the barrier between heaven and earth. And also, it's an echo of Genesis 1 where the spirit soars bird like fluttering over the waters. The trinity created the world. It was God and God's spirit and God's word, and here the Trinity is restoring the world. We see the Father speak, He is the voice, the son who is the word, and the spirit fluttering like a dove. And what does God say? God speaks and He says, "You are my beloved son." It's a near exact quotation of Psalm 2, which is a messianic psalm. Psalm 2:7 says, "I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you." Psalm 2 was interpreted messianically in Judaism and in the Psalm the kingship of the anointed one is congruent with that of God. He says, you are my son. And then he includes the word beloved. And where have we heard this before? This is Genesis 22 where God says to Abraham, "The son, your beloved son whom you've been waiting for, I want you to bring him as a sacrifice to me." That's when God tested Abraham and obviously God stopped the sacrifice of Abraham, but that was typology. That was an example of what God the Father would not stop from doing. God the Father would bring down the sword of God's wrath upon his own son in order to redeem us. You're the beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. This is the good pleasure of God revealed, and the first time that was revealed was His delight in creation where He said is very good. So His life giving conviction that is very good that my son is baptized in the Holy Spirit and He's prepared to do battle against the evil one. At the center of the Godhead is a father delighting in His beloved son. And fathers, we are called to be godly and we are called to delight in our children. And children we're called to be godly and to be a delight to our fathers and mothers. And the whole Christian gospel can be summed up like this, when the living God looks at us at every believing and baptized Christian, He says to us what He says to Jesus here. The gospel promises us an imputation of the righteousness of God. The very second that you repent of your sins, your sin was transferred to Christ on the cross and His righteousness is transferred to you. So in a sense, the moment you're justified, God looks at you and says, no matter how you lived, no matter how many commandments you've broken, it says, you are my dear, dear child, I'm delighted with you. And then it begins the process of sanctification where we grow to become a greater delight to our father so that one day we can hear from God the Father. "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your father." The king is here, the king is anointed, the king is God's son. And what does the king do? Immediately after His anointing, He challenges the opposing king, which is Satan, and this point three, the king declares war. Verse 12, "The spirit immediately drove Him out into the wilderness and He was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan and He was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to Him. The spirits that drove Him out, ekballei it's the same word that Mark uses to speak of exorcism. It's like a forceful ejection. On the one hand, the Holy Spirit is like a dove gently descending on Christ, but then the Holy Spirit sends Jesus immediately into battle against the enemy. It's the same spirit. And the king here goes on the offensive. Satan means adversary and he's the prince of the fallen angels, the supreme enemy both of God and man. When God created Adam and Eve, He told Adam, "Work and guard the garden, take dominion." And he didn't take dominion of Satan. They obeyed the lies of the evil one and Satan, usurped power, he took dominion of this world. And Jesus here immediately goes to fight the king of this world. And Matthew 4 gives us an explanation of what happened. Jesus in the fasted state for 40 days and Satan comes to Him and tempts Him, Jesus fought Satan with the word of God over and over and over. But what was the temptation? The temptation was Jesus, do not obey the will of the Father perfectly. Jesus join my team. Jesus, you can rule with me. The only thing you have to do is fall down and worship me. And Jesus Christ at that point He understood what Satan is saying. Satan is saying, do not go to the cross. Jesus, you're going to die for these people. Don't die for these. You can rule over them the way I do without dying for them. And he promised Jesus the crown without the cross. And Jesus Christ, the first time he came, He knows that his greatest battle which began here, but his greatest battle will be fought on the cross where Satan through everything he had at the Son of God, but the Son of God conquered Satan's sin and death. 40 days like Elijah, who was also sustained by an angel's provision of food. And it says here He was with the wild animals. And that's generally a sense of close friendly association that the animals were kind to Him, they were nice to Him. And this shows us that Jesus when he came, he came to restore the distortion of the original harmony in the world. And the eschaton, the enmity will be reversed between humanity and the wild animals as promised in Hosea. But Jesus here is presented as the new Adam, that He is the son of man which is a messianic title, but also in a sense Jesus was the son of Adam. Adam was not a son of man, Adam was the son of God and that's made clear in Luke chapter 3 in the genealogy. But Jesus uses this phrase as a messianic title, son of man over and over in Mark 8:31. "He began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days, rise again." Adam was tested by God's adversary, the snake, which is Satan personified and he lost. Adam lived at peace with the wild animals before the fall and he lost that shalom. Adam was raised by God to a preeminent position to be a son of God, but he lost that as well. That's why Jesus when He uses this title that He is the son of man and why that is so significant because in Daniel chapter 7, this was prophesied. "I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and He came to the ancient of days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people as nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." He's the son of man, but He has an everlasting kingdom to show us that he's not just the son of man, He's also the son of God. And this is the only way that this could happen, the only way that we could have redemption is we need to be represented by someone, someone who is like us, someone who is human, but someone who can also bridge the chasm between us and a holy God. So he would have to be a son of God and he would have to be a son of man, and all that came to culmination on the cross where the son of man takes our penalty for sin upon Himself. And the reason why He came back from the dead was because He's truly the son of God. And here at the end says the angels were ministering to Him. It's from the Greek word to serve, to serve on a concrete level as a waiter serves food and drinks. So most likely after his fast of 40 days, angels came and brought him a feast. Fourth is the kingdom has come. Verse 14, "Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel." John was arrested by Herod's agents for calling out the sin of Herod to calling him to repentance. So Jesus continues the ministry and He says the time is fulfilled. What He's saying and this is the Greek word kairos, "The old evil age of Satan's dominion is over." It's now fulfilled. The new age of God's rule is about to begin and God's rule enters our lives when? The first moment that we repent of our sin and believe in the good news of Jesus Christ, that the law was fulfilled by Christ and he bore the burden for our law-breaking to extend to us the blessing of His law-abiding. This king came to rule, but first initially He came to rule in our hearts. And this is why He doesn't come here with a crown, but He does go to a cross. And on that cross He allows himself to be wounded, allows himself to be fatally wounded. Why? Because that's what it took to heal us. It took the blood of the Son of God and the son of man. He was tempted by Satan to know our temptations, to give us power to overcome our temptations. He experienced suffering to know our suffering and to give us strength to overcome our suffering. He was rejected, mocked, beaten and crucified. He fully understands our pain, and He is able to help. 1 Peter 2:21-25, "For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, He did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds, you have been healed for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd, an overseer of your souls." Back to Dostoevski, and the idea that if you truly understand the mercy and the grace that God has given you, we are not to use that grace in vain, but we are to follow King Jesus. Dostoevski later in life he wrote this, "When I turn back to look at the past, I think of how much time has been wasted. How much of it lost in misdirected efforts, mistakes and idleness and living the wrong way. And however I treasured life, how much I sinned against my heart and spirit. My heart bleeds now as I think of it. Life is a gift. Life is happiness. Each minute could be an eternity of bliss." And then in his work of fiction, The Idiot, the main character's named Myshkin, and Myshkin talks about an acquaintance who was sentenced to be executed and then pardoned. And one of his friends asked him and he said, how's he doing now? Whatever happened to that friend who told you all his horrors? His punishment was changed, which means he was granted that infinite life. Well, what did he do with so much wealth afterwards? Did he live reckoning up every moment? And Myshkin's response was, "He didn't live that way at all and lost many, many minutes." I pray that the grace of God in your life is not in vain. Let us stop trusting in our own agendas. Let us stop building our own kingdoms. Let us turn from living as if we are our own king. Let's believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and live for God. Jesus is king, accept His pardon, enter His kingdom, do His will and worship the king. This is how we enter the kingdom, repent and believe in the gospel. It's good news because it's for everybody. Anyone who turns from sin is welcome in and it's good news because you're welcome to live under the kingship of the greatest king ever. And why did Jesus do this? Why did He do all of this? Why did He become God incarnate? Why did He live amongst us? Why did He obey the will of God perfectly in fulfilling the law? Why did He go to the cross? Why? Because He loves us. And when you understand what his love cost us, that gives us power to follow the king. Let us pray. Holy God, we thank you for your holy word, for your holy scriptures, and we thank you Holy Spirit that you're with us. I pray Holy God give us your power to follow you on a daily basis. Give us your power to be agents of kingdom change. Give us your power to seek first above everything else, the kingdom of God. Jesus, we thank you that you came and you went to a cross. And we thank you that now you're seated at the right hand of God and you are wearing a crown. And I pray, let us never forget that vision that Christ is king and let us be a people who would joyfully follow. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

Audio Transcript:This media has been made available by Mosaic BostonChurch. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston,or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com. Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us your holy word, and we thank you for sending us your holy Son. We thank you that your son came as a savior to save us from our sins, but you also came as Lord. And Jesus, we thank you that you went to the cross and you paid the penalty for our law-breaking, our transgressions of the law. And Jesus, you bled. The holy Son of God, you bled on that cross in order to cleanse us, in order to save us, and then also to give us grace. And you came back from the dead as the conquering king and you gave us marching orders to go and make disciples of all nations and to take dominion of this world, to take it back from the usurper, back from Satan, back from the enemy. And I pray, Lord, that you empower us by the Holy Spirit. Baptize us with the Holy Spirit. Send each one of us a special anointing to proclaim your word everywhere we go. To know your word, study your word, meditate upon your word, and to testify to the greatness of our God. Lord Jesus, show us what it means that you are our king. And that when you tell us to follow you, that is a command. Those are marching orders. And wherever in our lives we are not following you, I pray, give us grace. Transform our wills, transform our minds, transform our hearts. Lord Jesus, we pray that you bless the sermon series. We pray that you anoint it and I pray that your holy church will be built up. And I pray those who are far from you will be redeemed and regenerated and transformed from being rebels to being your children. And I pray, Lord, in this season that you send us the gift of evangelism, a passion for evangelists to proclaim the gospel of the king. The king is here. We deserve His wrath, but He came to extend mercy and grace and call us to follow him. I pray that you bless our time in the holy scriptures. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're beginning a sermon series through the Gospel of Mark that we are calling Kingdom Come, the Gospel of Mark and the secret of God's kingdom. And Jesus Christ, when He came, His very first words were the kingdom of God is at hand. So He's established the kingdom, the king is here, and then the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us to pray. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And that prayer is not just a prayer, that's our purpose. Yes, we cry out, Lord, may your kingdom come. But what we're saying is, Lord, give me the power to establish your kingdom. The title of the sermon today is Tremendous News: The King Loves You. And it's tremendous news because we don't deserve that love. It's a shock that He comes as a loving savior. Why? Because we deserve the wrath of God for our law-breaking. And just to give you perspective on this, I take an example from history from Fyodor Dostoevsky. Before he wrote Crime and Punishment, before he wrote The Idiot, before he wrote The Brothers Karamazov, he was actually sentenced to death by a firing squad by Tsar Nicholas I. For what? Listening to stories, criticizing the armed forces, owning an illegal printing press in order to create anti-government propaganda, and contributing to plot against the Tsar. So he was part of a group of rebels. There were 21 members in the circle and Dostoevski is 27 at that time. And they were brought into a public square and they were forced to kneel, kiss a cross, and then undergo a symbolic beheading where swords were broken above their heads. They were tied to pillars in the town square, blindfolded and then they started awaiting their execution. But immediately before they were shot, an envoy from the Tsar arrived with the stay of execution saying, don't shoot. And the men were pardoned by the king from execution and forced to serve in hard labor and a labor camp for four years. And you say, how would that change a man knowing he's about to be executed and all of a sudden there is a stay of execution? Dostoevsky, after the averted execution said, "Today I faced death for three quarters of an hour. I was a hair's breadth away from death, and now I am living again." He wrote his brother after the event, "I'm being reborn in another form." In the same way that the brightest dawn follows the darkest night, the best and the greatest, the most tremendous news always comes right after the deepest realization of the most terrible news. Well, what is the terrible news? That you and I, we have broken the law of God, the holy law of the holy God. This is the ultimate act of insurrection. And God created you with eternal soul. He breathed his spirit into you. We have eternal souls created by an eternal God. So what's the punishment for insurrection against the holy God of the universe? It's banishment from God's kingdom. That's what we deserve. Exile. And how long is that exile? Eternal because God is eternal and so are our souls. We deserve execution. We deserve eternal damnation for rebelling against the holy God. So when the king of kings comes, it's surprising that He doesn't come with execution and eviction notices. When the king comes, the king comes with pardon and amnesty and forgiveness and mercy, but also grace. This is what the gospel is all about, that God is offering to us today, mercy. Mercy is you don't get what you deserve, but He also gives us grace. And grace is we get what we don't deserve. God has mercy on rebels and He gives us grace in adopting us as sons and daughters because of the sacrifice of king Jesus on the cross. Jesus came as a Jewish man, but He's not just the king of the Jews or just the king of Israel. He's the king of everyone and the king of everything. And there's only two kinds of people, children of God or rebels. Soldiers of King Jesus or soldiers of king Satan. And if you turn from your sin and you submit to the king, if you believe in His gospel, something incredible happens. The miracle of the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you are regenerated from within. God gives you a brand new heart with brand new desires and your mind is renewed by the power of God. And God now can look at you as He looks at His son Jesus Christ and say, this is my child in whom I'm well pleased. And grace also is a power source. God gives us grace as energy to become kingdom builders. Jesus Christ said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else shall be added onto you." St. Paul said, "I am what I am by the grace of God, but the grace of God was not in vain in me. It wasn't given to me in vain. Instead," he says, "I worked harder than the rest of them. "And he's talking about the other apostles. So God gives us grace to do what? To follow Him, build His kingdom. And it all starts with the tremendous news that He's willing to forgive us if we repent. And this news does change us, it rivets us and it changes your whole perspective on reality. Would you please look at the text with me today? We're in Mark 1:1-15, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God as it is written in Isaiah the prophet. Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight." John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now, John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached saying, 'After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie. I've baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved son with you, I'm well pleased.' The spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness and he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan and he was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to him. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, 'The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.'" This is the reading of God's holy and inert, infallible, authoritative word, may it write these truths upon our hearts. Four points to frame up our time. First, the king has come. Second, the king is anointed. Third, the king declares war. And fourth, the kingdom has come. First, the king has come. Mark 1:1, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God written by Mark, who was probably an associate of Peter and Peter at that time was serving in Rome when this gospel was written. So this gospel is written to city dwellers and it's written in such a way where busy people can understand the gospel, understand who is Jesus, understand His person and His work. We see that Mark emphasizes action over teaching, it's very vivid. One of his favorite words is the word immediately. And what he's doing, he's writing to busy people. He's trying to get to the point as quickly as possible. And if you're new to the city, what you recognize is after a while here you realize you know who's from Boston because they walk fast and they talk fast. Fast walkers, fast talkers. And that's kind how I preach. I talk really fast, people tell me they can't 2X me on our podcasts or et cetera, but I want to get to the point as quickly as possible. And the point is, Jesus Christ, He's the point of everything. And here we see the freshness of discovery of who Jesus is. That's what Mark is trying to do. Over 150 times, he uses the historic present tense, putting past events in the present tense. Why? To increase the vividness. That what Jesus did, He's continuing to do today in and through the church as empowered by the Holy Spirit. It begins with the word the beginning. That's the very first word, and it's alluding to Genesis 1:1, that in the beginning God created everything and God created man and it was all beautiful. It was all wonderful, but we rebelled against God and Satan usurped dominion from Adam and Jesus Christ has come as a new Adam, as a new creation, as a new beginning for human beings. His name is Jesus in the English. In the Greek, it's Yesus, and Yesus is a transliteration of the Jewish word, Joshua. So Jesus is named after Joshua. In the Hebrew, His name, what it means is savior or literally Yahweh is salvation. So even in the name, what we see is that God is saying what Moses couldn't do, Joshua did. Moses could not take the promised land, could not bring the people of God into the promised land. Joshua did that. What Moses couldn't do, Jesus is going to do. Moses gave the law, but he couldn't transform hearts to obey God willingly. God can force His kingdom upon us and one day He will come with a flaming sword and He will judge. But the first time Jesus Christ comes, He doesn't come with a sword of power or physical sword. He comes with the sword of the spirit, wielding the word of God so people are transformed from the inside out. Moses gave the law, Jesus gives grace, which leads to heartfelt obedience, which empowers us to fulfill the law out of love for God and neighbor. Jesus Christ, a lot of people think that's His last name. That's not His last name. It wasn't Mary and Joseph Christ. This is a title, a kristos. It's from the Hebrew marcia or an anointed one. He's anointed to do what? He's anointed to be a royal figure. He's anointed to be king. So Jesus Christ actually just means is king. Sometimes they drive by churches and they're named Christ is king. I'm like, that means king is king. It's Jesus is king. That's the point, that He's come in order to establish the kingdom of God. He's the son of God. Son begotten of the Father. The Son of God is God as much as the Father is God, but the Son submits to the father's will. So we see right in the center of the faith, the faith is patriarchal with the Father up top and hierarchal, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. When Jesus took on flesh, He was male. Jesus was a man, a Jewish man who lived under the law. And Jesus is the Son of God and the son of man, that's His messianic title. And the Holy Spirit is not an it. It's not just a force. The Holy Spirit is a person, the Holy Spirit is a he. And just for clarity's purposes, God's pronouns are He/Him. And I say that because confusion has come from theological schools. I remember taking classes at BU School of Theology and I realized that's not going to go well because the very first prayer I heard was a prayer to mother God. Well, that is not true. God is father. The gospel, the word gospel means good news or literally an announcement of something good associated with a military victory. It's good news of victory from the battlefield. And the nuance of military victory is extremely important for Mark who presents Jesus' ministry as triumph over Satan, over the demonic forces and over their human agents. In Isaiah, the announcer of good news or the one that brings the good news proclaims the victory of Yahweh Israel's true king over hostile forces. And this is just the beginning. It's the beginning of what Jesus taught and what He began to do and He continues to do today. In Mark 1:2, "As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." As it is written, it says. This is typical Jewish formula for citation of scripture. And the Greek, it's a perfect tense, has been written, implies past action with permanent results and suggesting that the ancient scriptures, it's not just a dead letter, but it's a living force in the present. As it has been written through the instrumentality of Isaiah, and then God speaks in the first person, meaning God inspired Isaiah by the spirit and he speaks to us through the word of God. And Mark affirms that what happened in Jesus followed the plan of salvation laid out by God and the prophecies of scriptures in the first 39 books of the Bible. Jesus came and His Bible were the Hebrew scriptures, the first three fourths of the Bible and this is why Mark quotes it in the very beginning. It was all promised. And He says, "I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way." So John the Baptist comes and John the Baptist is this voice and he's in the wilderness. And the word for wilderness or desert is érimos, is used three times in our texts today. And at the outset, all the action is in the wilderness. You say, why is that important? Because Adam was placed on the garden. The garden of Eden and everything was in bliss and everything was perfect. They walked in the presence of God, but he traded that garden for a wilderness by disobeying God. So the second Adam enters the wilderness to turn it back into a garden. Jesus is also the faithful son of God who unlike Israel, obeyed God completely. Israel disobeyed God. They were faithless and they walked in the wilderness for 40 years. But even there in the wilderness, God met them and He gave them the law and he cared for them and He provided for them. So in a sense, Jesus here is presented as the new Joshua, as the one who's going to lead the new exodus out of the wilderness to bring us into the presence of God. And what's the voice of one crying in the wilderness? What's he proclaiming? He's saying, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Prepare. God is here, the Lord is here. Prepare the way of the Lord." So Jesus is called Lord right from the outset. Who is John? John comes as an Old Testament prophet in the spirit of Elijah. He was a cousin of Jesus so he knew Jesus, he knew his life. In many ways he was a wild man, but the Lord used that. And what was his message? His message is the king is here, the king is coming. Prepare. Prepare. And what's the assumption? Is that we're not ready, that we need to do something to become ready. The king is coming and we need to present ourselves as best we can for the king. And John's not calling for just a coat of paint. No, we've got structural issues. We need an overhaul, a full gut down to the studs. I remember I took a trip to Sochi, Russia in 2013. It was before the Olympics and I wanted to see what they're doing in preparation for the Olympics and I was doing some missions work. And then we're driving up into the mountains of Sochi and I just noticed that everything's beautiful, everything's tremendous. And then I realized I don't see any houses. There are no houses. All I see is a beautiful fence on both sides. And they realized that if we're going to bring people to the Olympics, we have to make everything presentable, but we don't have time to make the houses presentable or the villages presentable so we're just going to cover it all up with a beautiful veneer. Well, John's not calling us to do that. John is saying, "No, no, no. It's not a veneer, not a facade change, not just your behavior must change. No, no, no. We need a regeneration of the heart." And how does that happen? What does he say? He says, "Repent and be baptized." Mark 1:4. "John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." So John here, he comes baptizing, and this is the Greek word vaftízo, which means to dip, plunge, immerse, and can be used of dipping a cup in water, et cetera. So John is called the baptizing one. A lot of people think he's baptist, because John the Baptist, there were no Baptist denominations at that time. And by the way, if we're going to call him any denominations, he's definitely not Baptist. He'd get ex-communicated from most Baptist churches. No, he's probably more Pentecostal than anything, but he comes baptizing and you're like, why is he baptizing? What is baptism? Well, baptism at that time was something that the priest did. They washed themselves in ablutions before taking part in sacrifices. And then the latter practice was when Gentiles wanted to become part of the people of God, what was the practice? How did they purge themselves of uncleanness of their pagan life, so to speak? Well, they were immersed in a ritual bath and that became a requirement for their conversion. So what John here is doing is he's going to Jewish people and he's saying, "You have not lived as the children of God. You have not lived as the people of God. You have not lived a life of love and obedience to God and people in submission of God's holy law. You are not saved through genealogy." And so he's calling them to faith in their own God, faith in their own scriptures and says, if he's saying you have lived as Gentiles, you have lived as pagans now through baptism, you are becoming the children of God and it's all started with the heart first. There's a passage in Zechariah that's used extensively in the New Testament that shares several motifs from our text, water imagery and repentance and confession, forgiveness of sins and even reference to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And what this passage emphasizes is even repentance, even asking God for forgiveness, even asking God for mercy and grace, that's a gift in and of itself that it starts with the spirit of God working in our lives. So Zechariah 12:10, "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day, the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land shall mourn each family by itself, the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Levi by himself and their wives by themselves, and the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves and all the families that are left each by itself and their wives by themselves. On that day, there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness." So John's baptism departed slightly from the baptism practice in the day. In the practice of the day, the Gentile convert would baptize themselves. They would go down to the water themselves. But here there's a second party, John is doing the baptizing, which is a symbol that we cannot save ourselves. We need someone from the outside and that's only Jesus Christ. And also John's baptism was only anticipatory of cleansing from sinfulness. It wasn't until the blood of Jesus Christ that we can truly be ransom from our sins. He comes proclaiming and the message is a message of repentance. What is the word repentance? It's literally a change of mind, a turning a direction of life, a returning. Like in the Old Testament, the prophets would come and they would say, repent. Repent. What they're saying is people of God, people of God turn back to God. Turn back to the word of God, implies a total change in spiritual orientation. And when repentance comes, we are forgiven of sins. It literally means ascending away or release, the release from guilt before God. Verse five, "And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem, were going out to him and we're being baptized by him in the river Jordan confessing their sins." And the phrase here for we're going out to him, it's a word that's applied in the Old Testament to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt under Moses. And what Mark is doing is deliberately invoking Exodus Moses typology. Why? To show us that the new Moses has come, the new Joshua has come, the new exodus is here. In verse six, "Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey." I've always thought that he just did that because he's kind of a nut and this is the way that you attract a lot of attention to start a movement, but actually it's a picture of the primal back to earth reminiscent of the garden of Eden. Remember in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve they sinned and God promised that the day that you sin you will die. That day began their spiritual death, but God pardons them and there's a blood sacrifice. He takes two animals and there's bloodshed and he creates clothing out of skins of the animals. This picture here is as if John is standing outside of the Garden of Eden. It's as if he's standing in that presence of the angel with a flaming sword that blocked the entrance and he's saying this is the way that we get back into the Garden of Eden. This is the way we get back into the promised land, into the presence of God himself. Here the description presents John as an Elijah figure, Elijah in 1 Kings 18, if you remember this is the great battle between Yahweh and Baal. And in the same way Elijah was preaching the same message, 1 Kings 18:21, "Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'how long will you go limping between two different opinions?' If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word." John's clothing is similar to that of Elijah. Elijah preached a message of repentance and so does John. Elijah was associated with the wilderness, so is John and with the Jordan. And then also Elijah, when he was taken up to heaven before going he gave a double portion of his spirit to his disciple Elisha, doubling his power. So Jesus here similarly is presented as one greater than John, greater than even this great prophet of God and one that supersedes John. In verse seven, "And he preached saying after me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie". He's mightier than I am, mightier in every sense. He's stronger than I am, and also he's more honorable. He's saying, "I'm not even worthy of taking the leather strap that holds his sandal on his foot and unstrapping it." And in rabbinic sources, the untying of the master shoe is the task of the slave, not of the disciple. One rabbi even wrote a pupil does for his teacher all the tasks that a slave does for his master except untying his shoes. So for the rabbis, this is the lowest of the low. The disciples would not do this And John the Baptist, he's saying Jesus is so much more worthy than I am, so much greater in every sense than I am I'm not even worthy of doing the slave like service. And we got to stop here for a minute and we got to meditate on the implications of the meeting behind Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. If John isn't even worthy of doing this, for that's how great Jesus is. Jesus, why would you wash the disciples' feet? You're the king of the universe, why are you stooping down? Why did you take a basin of water? Why are you doing that? And John 13:12-17, "When he had washed their feet and put on His outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, 'Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord and you are right for so I am. If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet for I have given you an example and you also should do just as I've done to you. Truly, truly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.' If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." What kind of king is this? This is the king that came to build a kingdom of hearts. This is a king that came to save us from our sins, to wash us from our uncleanness and stark in contrast to any other king. In Mark 1:8, "I've baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." So Jesus is the anointed one, anointed with the Holy Spirit. That's what makes Him of the Messiah and the spirit endowed Messiah is the spirit endowing Messiah. And in the New Testament there's a linkage of spirit and water. 1 Corinthians 12:12, "For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body. Jews and Greeks, slaves and free and all were made to drink of one spirit." Titus 3:4-7, "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our savior appeared, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Ezekiel 36, "This was promised, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols I will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart. And a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." This is the promise of God that when we come to Him, when we repent of our sins and we beg Him for grace and mercy that He sends us the Holy Spirit. And I wonder, do you have the Holy Spirit? Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit? Is the power of God, the indwelling power of God within you? And if you're not sure, look to the cross of Jesus Christ, ask for forgiveness of sins and say, Lord God, send me the spirit. Make me a person that is filled with the spirit of God to do the work that the Lord has for us. Second is the king is anointed and we see the baptism of Jesus in verse nine. "In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan and when He came up out of the water immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on Him like a dove and a voice came from heaven. 'You are my beloved son. With you, I am well pleased.'" Here we see again the word immediately, it's Mark's favorite word. The word is used 51 times in the New Testament, and Mark uses it 41 times and what he's showing is that the spirit is at work and he can't be stopped. It says that the sky, the heavens were being torn open, being ripped apart. It's harsh words and not the one for opening of heavens in a visionary context, but it's literally the heavens tore open and all of a sudden we see the presence of God descending on Christ. Isaiah 64 cries out for this day, "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil. To make your name known to your adversaries and that the nations might tremble in your presence." Mark uses this verb to tear apart twice in his gospel. Here he uses it and then he uses it that one time where Jesus is on the cross and He says it's finished, He's completed the work of redemption and then says that the veil in the temple was torn, ripped apart from top to bottom. What Mark is giving us is a glimpse into the very heart of reality, the meaning of life, the essence of the universe. According to scripture, it's the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit they are at the center of everything. And it's more as though invisible curtain right in front of us is pulled back and God reveals His person and His will. Christian life is like this, learning to differentiate between physical reality, which is not all there is and spiritual reality. And by God's grace we can walk by faith and not by sight. And we see the spirit descending upon Christ like a dove. It says why the dove? Well, the dove is an appropriate symbol for the spirit as it can cross the barrier between heaven and earth. And also, it's an echo of Genesis 1 where the spirit soars bird like fluttering over the waters. The trinity created the world. It was God and God's spirit and God's word, and here the Trinity is restoring the world. We see the Father speak, He is the voice, the son who is the word, and the spirit fluttering like a dove. And what does God say? God speaks and He says, "You are my beloved son." It's a near exact quotation of Psalm 2, which is a messianic psalm. Psalm 2:7 says, "I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you." Psalm 2 was interpreted messianically in Judaism and in the Psalm the kingship of the anointed one is congruent with that of God. He says, you are my son. And then he includes the word beloved. And where have we heard this before? This is Genesis 22 where God says to Abraham, "The son, your beloved son whom you've been waiting for, I want you to bring him as a sacrifice to me." That's when God tested Abraham and obviously God stopped the sacrifice of Abraham, but that was typology. That was an example of what God the Father would not stop from doing. God the Father would bring down the sword of God's wrath upon his own son in order to redeem us. You're the beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. This is the good pleasure of God revealed, and the first time that was revealed was His delight in creation where He said is very good. So His life giving conviction that is very good that my son is baptized in the Holy Spirit and He's prepared to do battle against the evil one. At the center of the Godhead is a father delighting in His beloved son. And fathers, we are called to be godly and we are called to delight in our children. And children we're called to be godly and to be a delight to our fathers and mothers. And the whole Christian gospel can be summed up like this, when the living God looks at us at every believing and baptized Christian, He says to us what He says to Jesus here. The gospel promises us an imputation of the righteousness of God. The very second that you repent of your sins, your sin was transferred to Christ on the cross and His righteousness is transferred to you. So in a sense, the moment you're justified, God looks at you and says, no matter how you lived, no matter how many commandments you've broken, it says, you are my dear, dear child, I'm delighted with you. And then it begins the process of sanctification where we grow to become a greater delight to our father so that one day we can hear from God the Father. "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your father." The king is here, the king is anointed, the king is God's son. And what does the king do? Immediately after His anointing, He challenges the opposing king, which is Satan, and this point three, the king declares war. Verse 12, "The spirit immediately drove Him out into the wilderness and He was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan and He was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to Him. The spirits that drove Him out, ekballei it's the same word that Mark uses to speak of exorcism. It's like a forceful ejection. On the one hand, the Holy Spirit is like a dove gently descending on Christ, but then the Holy Spirit sends Jesus immediately into battle against the enemy. It's the same spirit. And the king here goes on the offensive. Satan means adversary and he's the prince of the fallen angels, the supreme enemy both of God and man. When God created Adam and Eve, He told Adam, "Work and guard the garden, take dominion." And he didn't take dominion of Satan. They obeyed the lies of the evil one and Satan, usurped power, he took dominion of this world. And Jesus here immediately goes to fight the king of this world. And Matthew 4 gives us an explanation of what happened. Jesus in the fasted state for 40 days and Satan comes to Him and tempts Him, Jesus fought Satan with the word of God over and over and over. But what was the temptation? The temptation was Jesus, do not obey the will of the Father perfectly. Jesus join my team. Jesus, you can rule with me. The only thing you have to do is fall down and worship me. And Jesus Christ at that point He understood what Satan is saying. Satan is saying, do not go to the cross. Jesus, you're going to die for these people. Don't die for these. You can rule over them the way I do without dying for them. And he promised Jesus the crown without the cross. And Jesus Christ, the first time he came, He knows that his greatest battle which began here, but his greatest battle will be fought on the cross where Satan through everything he had at the Son of God, but the Son of God conquered Satan's sin and death. 40 days like Elijah, who was also sustained by an angel's provision of food. And it says here He was with the wild animals. And that's generally a sense of close friendly association that the animals were kind to Him, they were nice to Him. And this shows us that Jesus when he came, he came to restore the distortion of the original harmony in the world. And the eschaton, the enmity will be reversed between humanity and the wild animals as promised in Hosea. But Jesus here is presented as the new Adam, that He is the son of man which is a messianic title, but also in a sense Jesus was the son of Adam. Adam was not a son of man, Adam was the son of God and that's made clear in Luke chapter 3 in the genealogy. But Jesus uses this phrase as a messianic title, son of man over and over in Mark 8:31. "He began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days, rise again." Adam was tested by God's adversary, the snake, which is Satan personified and he lost. Adam lived at peace with the wild animals before the fall and he lost that shalom. Adam was raised by God to a preeminent position to be a son of God, but he lost that as well. That's why Jesus when He uses this title that He is the son of man and why that is so significant because in Daniel chapter 7, this was prophesied. "I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and He came to the ancient of days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people as nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." He's the son of man, but He has an everlasting kingdom to show us that he's not just the son of man, He's also the son of God. And this is the only way that this could happen, the only way that we could have redemption is we need to be represented by someone, someone who is like us, someone who is human, but someone who can also bridge the chasm between us and a holy God. So he would have to be a son of God and he would have to be a son of man, and all that came to culmination on the cross where the son of man takes our penalty for sin upon Himself. And the reason why He came back from the dead was because He's truly the son of God. And here at the end says the angels were ministering to Him. It's from the Greek word to serve, to serve on a concrete level as a waiter serves food and drinks. So most likely after his fast of 40 days, angels came and brought him a feast. Fourth is the kingdom has come. Verse 14, "Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel." John was arrested by Herod's agents for calling out the sin of Herod to calling him to repentance. So Jesus continues the ministry and He says the time is fulfilled. What He's saying and this is the Greek word kairos, "The old evil age of Satan's dominion is over." It's now fulfilled. The new age of God's rule is about to begin and God's rule enters our lives when? The first moment that we repent of our sin and believe in the good news of Jesus Christ, that the law was fulfilled by Christ and he bore the burden for our law-breaking to extend to us the blessing of His law-abiding. This king came to rule, but first initially He came to rule in our hearts. And this is why He doesn't come here with a crown, but He does go to a cross. And on that cross He allows himself to be wounded, allows himself to be fatally wounded. Why? Because that's what it took to heal us. It took the blood of the Son of God and the son of man. He was tempted by Satan to know our temptations, to give us power to overcome our temptations. He experienced suffering to know our suffering and to give us strength to overcome our suffering. He was rejected, mocked, beaten and crucified. He fully understands our pain, and He is able to help. 1 Peter 2:21-25, "For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, He did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds, you have been healed for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd, an overseer of your souls." Back to Dostoevski, and the idea that if you truly understand the mercy and the grace that God has given you, we are not to use that grace in vain, but we are to follow King Jesus. Dostoevski later in life he wrote this, "When I turn back to look at the past, I think of how much time has been wasted. How much of it lost in misdirected efforts, mistakes and idleness and living the wrong way. And however I treasured life, how much I sinned against my heart and spirit. My heart bleeds now as I think of it. Life is a gift. Life is happiness. Each minute could be an eternity of bliss." And then in his work of fiction, The Idiot, the main character's named Myshkin, and Myshkin talks about an acquaintance who was sentenced to be executed and then pardoned. And one of his friends asked him and he said, how's he doing now? Whatever happened to that friend who told you all his horrors? His punishment was changed, which means he was granted that infinite life. Well, what did he do with so much wealth afterwards? Did he live reckoning up every moment? And Myshkin's response was, "He didn't live that way at all and lost many, many minutes." I pray that the grace of God in your life is not in vain. Let us stop trusting in our own agendas. Let us stop building our own kingdoms. Let us turn from living as if we are our own king. Let's believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and live for God. Jesus is king, accept His pardon, enter His kingdom, do His will and worship the king. This is how we enter the kingdom, repent and believe in the gospel. It's good news because it's for everybody. Anyone who turns from sin is welcome in and it's good news because you're welcome to live under the kingship of the greatest king ever. And why did Jesus do this? Why did He do all of this? Why did He become God incarnate? Why did He live amongst us? Why did He obey the will of God perfectly in fulfilling the law? Why did He go to the cross? Why? Because He loves us. And when you understand what his love cost us, that gives us power to follow the king. Let us pray. Holy God, we thank you for your holy word, for your holy scriptures, and we thank you Holy Spirit that you're with us. I pray Holy God give us your power to follow you on a daily basis. Give us your power to be agents of kingdom change. Give us your power to seek first above everything else, the kingdom of God. Jesus, we thank you that you came and you went to a cross. And we thank you that now you're seated at the right hand of God and you are wearing a crown. And I pray, let us never forget that vision that Christ is king and let us be a people who would joyfully follow. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

Christ Church Buzzsprout-13521401 Wed, 06 Sep 2023 16:00:00 -0500 1832

Moses, as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron, as Moses' prophet, were instructed by YeHoVaH to perform miracles before Pharaoh. The miracles demonstrated the power of the Most High in the sight of Pharaoh, his magician's, sorcerers, and wise men. Instead of yielding to the power of the Most High, performed through Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh's heart became unyielding. This resulted in hardship and extra labor for the Egyptians in order for them to survive. Join us as Moses and Aaron are instructed to perform miracles, signs, and wonders in this seemingly fruitless saga in the message, Moses & Aaron Work Miracles. 

The back-and-forth saga between Moses, Pharaoh, YeHoVaH, and the Children of Israel is interrupted by Moses reflecting on his family tree. Moses focuses on Israel's first, second, and third sons born of Leah, the older sister of Rachel, Israel's favorite wife. What are Moses' reasons for only focusing on three of Israel and Leah's sons and not the rest of the sons of Israel? Join us Thursday for Searching the Scriptures as Moses reveals the revelation of YeHoVaH embedded in Moses' Family Tree. 

In last week's Teaching, we discussed the implications of Moses asking YeHoVaH to state who He is. Exodus 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? The conversation between YeHoVaH and Moses on Mt Horeb continues after YeHoVaH revealed His name to Moses and gave specific instructions on what the Children of Israel should call Him. However, Moses' question reveals an internal resistance of not wanting to return to Egypt. After several attempts by YeHoVaH to show Moses that he has nothing to be concerned about, YeHoVaH's love, patience, and longsuffering with Moses turn to anger. Moses' reluctance to believe YeHoVaH is rooted in a hidden fear and a strong desire not to return to Egypt. Join us as Moses' reluctance and resistance to receive His assignment, as deliverer for the Children of Israel, angered The Mighty One of Israel in the teaching, Moses Angered YeHoVaH. 

Are you and I able to look upon God's face? Why or why not? What about when we're in Heaven - will we be able to look upon God then? In today's text, we'll consider Moses' request to see God's face. And we'll also consider God's response, and how He safely tucked Moses into the 'cleft in the rock.'Questions That We'll Answer:A) What did the 'cleft in the rock' typify? What was it all about?B) Why did God say He would not go with the Israelites in Exodus 33?C) Why was Moses so concerned by this? Why did they need God's presence?Speaker: Rev. Dr. Toby B. HoltChurch Website: www.fpcgulfport.org

Are you and I able to look upon God's face-- Why or why not----What about when we're in Heaven - will we be able to look upon God then-- In today's text, we'll consider Moses' request to see God's face. And we'll also consider God's response, and how He safely tucked Moses into the 'cleft in the rock.'--Questions That We'll Answer--A- What did the 'cleft in the rock' typify-- What was it all about---B- Why did God say He would not go with the Israelites in Exodus 33---C- Why was Moses so concerned by this-- Why did they need God's presence----Speaker- Rev. Dr. Toby B. Holt-Church Website- www.fpcgulfport.org

Are you and I able to look upon God's face-- Why or why not----What about when we're in Heaven - will we be able to look upon God then-- In today's text, we'll consider Moses' request to see God's face. And we'll also consider God's response, and how He safely tucked Moses into the 'cleft in the rock.'--Questions That We'll Answer--A- What did the 'cleft in the rock' typify-- What was it all about---B- Why did God say He would not go with the Israelites in Exodus 33---C- Why was Moses so concerned by this-- Why did they need God's presence----Speaker- Rev. Dr. Toby B. Holt-Church Website- www.fpcgulfport.org

Are you and I able to look upon God's face? Why or why not? What about when we're in Heaven – will we be able to look upon God then? In today's text, we'll consider Moses' request to see God's face. And we'll also consider God's response, and how He safely tucked Moses into the … Continue reading Exodus: Moses In The Cleft Of The Rock →

Are you and I able to look upon God's face? Why or why not? What about when we're in Heaven – will we be able to look upon God then? In today's text, we'll consider Moses' request to see God's face. And we'll also consider God's response, and how He safely tucked Moses into the … Continue reading Exodus: Moses In The Cleft Of The Rock →

Are you and I able to look upon God's face? Why or why not? What about when we're in Heaven – will we be able to look upon God then? In today's text, we'll consider Moses' request to see God's face. And we'll also consider God's response, and how He safely tucked Moses into the … Continue reading Exodus: Moses In The Cleft Of The Rock →

Are you and I able to look upon God's face? Why or why not? What about when we're in Heaven – will we be able to look upon God then? In today's text, we'll consider Moses' request to see God's face. And we'll also consider God's response, and how He safely tucked Moses into the … Continue reading Exodus: Moses In The Cleft Of The Rock →

Are you and I able to look upon God's face? Why or why not? What about when we're in Heaven – will we be able to look upon God then? In today's text, we'll consider Moses' request to see God's face. And we'll also consider God's response, and how He safely tucked Moses into the … Continue reading Exodus: Moses In The Cleft Of The Rock →

Are you and I able to look upon God's face? Why or why not? What about when we're in Heaven – will we be able to look upon God then? In today's text, we'll consider Moses' request to see God's face. And we'll also consider God's response, and how He safely tucked Moses into the … Continue reading Exodus: Moses In The Cleft Of The Rock →

Are you and I able to look upon God's face? Why or why not? What about when we're in Heaven – will we be able to look upon God then? In today's text, we'll consider Moses' request to see God's face. And we'll also consider God's response, and how He safely tucked Moses into the … Continue reading Exodus: Moses In The Cleft Of The Rock →

As the adopted son of the Egyptian Pharaoh's daughter, Moses was nursed and raised by his Hebrew mother. After Moses was weaned, he was delivered to Pharaoh's daughter's house. Moses grew up knowing he was Hebrew, even though he had an Egyptian name, and was raised in an Egyptian household by an Egyptian woman. Moses' Hebrew brothers and sisters were slaves to the Egyptians and were under harsh bondage as foretold by YeHoVaH to Abraham, the patriarch. When Moses was grown, his Hebrew identity conflicted with his Egyptian upbringing leading him to making a decision that branded him as a murderer. This caused Moses to flee to Midian away from both his Hebrew brothers and sisters and the Egyptians he was raised amongst. Join us this week on this intriguing journey intertwining the Hebrew, Egyptian, and Midianite cultures as we follow a conflicted Moses in the message, Moses the Murderer. 

Are you and I able to look upon God's face? Why or why not?What about when we're in Heaven - will we be able to look upon God then? In today's text, we'll consider Moses' request to see God's face. And we'll also consider God's response, and how He safely tucked Moses into the 'cleft in the rock.'Questions That We'll Answer:A) What did the 'cleft in the rock' typify? What was it all about?B) Why did God say He would not go with the Israelites in Exodus 33?C) Why was Moses so concerned by this? Why did they need God's presence?Speaker: Rev. Dr. Toby B. HoltChurch Website: www.fpcgulfport.org

Read along with the story. Today we're looking at Exodus 13-14.Today we see Pharaoh pursue the Israelites to the Red Sea before Yahweh fights for Israel to defeat their enemy. The Exodus is complete.Thank you to our generous patrons who makes this show possible. The Bible Brief is listener-supported and brought to you by the Bible Literacy Foundation, dedicated to helping people like you learn the Bible. Looking for more? Check out our website at biblelit.org. Support the showSupport the show: Tap here to become a monthly supporter!Review the show: Tap here!Newsletter: BibleLit Newsletter Sign-UpWebsite: biblelit.orgInstagram: @biblelitTwitter: @bible_litFacebook: @biblelitEmail the Show: biblebrief@biblelit.orgSearch Tags: bible, beginner, bible verse, god, verse of the day, prayer, jesus, bible study, scripture, learn, bible introduction, introduction, intro to the bible, introduction to the bible, podcast, beginner bible, bible overview, how to read the bible, what is the bible about, what is the bible, bible study, walkthrough, bible walkthrough, walk-through, bible basics for beginners, bible podcastCopywrite Bible Literacy Foundation 2023.

Exodus - Moses on Sinai, The Lord Visits Sinai, The Ten Commandments. Matthew - Jesus is Mocked, The Crucifixion,

Exodus: Moses tells Pharaoh that God has declared "Let My People Go." Pharaoh's heart is hardened and the plagues begin to be poured out upon Egypt. Matthew: Jesus tells the parables of the ten virgins and of the talents.

God has a plan to answer the pain of the world and his plan includes people like you and me; and people like Moses.

God delivers his message from the top of Mount Sinai… with trumpet and fuckin' thunder bolts and lighting… like the end of GhostBusters turned up to 11. Then he sends Moses on this journey in a flying cloud to Heaven to deal with ANGELS OF TREMBLING, ANGELS OF HORROR and ANGELS OF TERROR! We take some side detours into stories of Cain and Abel, the Angels Metatron and Sandelphon and a grimey old video game arcade in North Ridgeville, OH in the 80's.Featured Books: BibleLegends of the Jews - Ginsburg***Credits***The voice of The Abracast – Hila Assor https://hilaassor.com/Theme Song “Red Horse Rising” by X-Proph3t: http://www.reverbnation.com/xproph3tWritten / Produced / researched / Performed – Jon Towers www.abracast.com***Contact***Visit Website: www.abracast.comEmail Jon: Towers113@gmail.com Find Jon on Twitter: @jonnyaxx https://twitter.com/JonnyAxx Find Jon on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jon.towers.925Find Jon On Instagram: http://instagram.com/stigmatastudios***Storefront*** If you enjoy the show, learned something new, or was inspired you might consider supporting the show! https://abracast.com/store-front***Support*** If you enjoy the show, learned something new, or was inspired you might consider supporting the show!Become a subscriber: www.subscribestar.com/abracast Just wanna buy me a drink?: paypal.me/stigmatastudios ***Advertise*** Got a book, Product or Podcast? Would you would like to get your message to The Abracast audience?Advertise on The Abracast: https://www.advertisecast.com/TheAbracastAdvertise on The Abracast: https://intellifluence.com/influencer/jon-towers-61030

God delivers his message from the top of Mount Sinai… with trumpets and fuckin' thunder bolts and lighting… like the end of GhostBusters turned up to 11. Then he sends Moses on this journey in a flying cloud to Heaven to deal with ANGELS OF TREMBLING, ANGELS OF HORROR and ANGELS OF TERROR! We take some side detours into stories of Cain and Abel, the Angels Metatron and Sandelphon and a grimey old video game arcade in North Ridgeville, OH in the 80's.Featured Books: BibleLegends of the Jews - Ginsburg***Credits***The voice of The Abracast – Hila Assor https://hilaassor.com/Theme Song “Red Horse Rising” by X-Proph3t: http://www.reverbnation.com/xproph3tWritten / Produced / researched / Performed – Jon Towers www.abracast.com***Contact***Visit Website: www.abracast.comEmail Jon: Towers113@gmail.com Find Jon on Twitter: @jonnyaxx https://twitter.com/JonnyAxx Find Jon on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jon.towers.925Find Jon On Instagram: http://instagram.com/stigmatastudios***Storefront*** If you enjoy the show, learned something new, or was inspired you might consider supporting the show! https://abracast.com/store-front***Support*** If you enjoy the show, learned something new, or was inspired you might consider supporting the show!Become a subscriber: www.subscribestar.com/abracast Just wanna buy me a drink?: paypal.me/stigmatastudios ***Advertise*** Got a book, Product or Podcast? Would you would like to get your message to The Abracast audience?Advertise on The Abracast: https://www.advertisecast.com/TheAbracastAdvertise on The Abracast: https://intellifluence.com/influencer/jon-towers-61030

Introducing Moses and the time of the Hebrews in Egypt. 

As we continue our Bible study, deep delving into deliverance, this week we look at the injuries of soul wounding - which can hinder your deliverance if you are unable to face the giants in your life that were not killed by previous generations. In colloquial terms, generational curses / hereditary. What if I told you that you can deliver your family from these giants? That you were created for a time such as this? While our giants may no longer be the defeated Philistine champion Goliath (I know that's an oxymoronic statement) or the Amalekites ravaging crops ready for the harvest, anxiety, depression, replay of past mistakes, fear, sickness, disease, broke-ness, brokenness and so many other unseen (invisible) hindering forces are giants in many peoples' lives today. The children of Israel's failure to slay all the giants in the land God promised them for their inhabitance would later be the descendants that the Psalmist, King David would meet in battle in the Valley of Elah. In the first part of this week's lesson, we open with a recap of Deliverance episodes 1.1 & 1.2, which requires the core-work of intimacy with GOD, obedience to GOD and being rooted in the Word of God so that it is an immovable anchor in the time of storm. Building upon these, we recount the different needs for deliverance in Exodus (Moses and the Hebrews vs. Pharaoh & the Egyptians), in Judges 6 (Gideon and Israelites vs. Midian & Amalekites) and in John (Jesus vs. Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes and Sanhedrin council). Study: Hebrews 4 and Ephesians 6 to understand how God's Word operates on our souls and defends His people (Jews and Christians).

This message was given by Pastor Steve DeWitt.

This message was given by Pastor Steve DeWitt.

This message was given by Pastor Steve DeWitt.

Introduction to Exodus- Moses' Birth and Calling

When Pharaoh's daughter drew Moses from the Nile River, she provided hope in a hopeless situation. God can work the good in everything, even if we think we know best. He draws us towards Him to work with Him and follow Him from captivity to sin to find freedom in Jesus.

When Pharaoh's daughter drew Moses from the Nile River, she provided hope in a hopeless situation. God can work the good in everything, even if we think we know best. He draws us towards Him to work with Him and follow Him from captivity to sin to find freedom in Jesus.

Exodus 32:1-35; 1 Kings 12:28-30 - Sunday, November 21, 2021 - Evening Worship - Daniel Ausbun preaching through the book of Exodus #Moses

This is week 2 in the sermon series, Exodus! Pastor Cody will be going through Exodus chapter 6 verses 1-13! Visit our website: https://thetablephx.com/​

Exodus 14:15-31 - August 15, 2021 - Evening Worship - Dr. Daniel Ausbun preaching through the Book of Exodus #Moses

- Press the PLAY button to listen to the catechesis of the day and share if you like -+ A reading from the Book of Exodus +Moses turned and came down the mountain    with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands,    tablets that were written on both sides, front and back;    tablets that were made by God,    having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God himself.    Now, when Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting,    he said to Moses, "That sounds like a battle in the camp."    But Moses answered, "It does not sound like cries of victory,    nor does it sound like cries of defeat;    the sounds that I hear are cries of revelry."    As he drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing.    With that, Moses' wrath flared up, so that he threw the tablets down    and broke them on the base of the mountain.    Taking the calf they had made, he fused it in the fire    and then ground it down to powder,    which he scattered on the water and made the children of Israel drink.    Moses asked Aaron, "What did this people ever do to you    that you should lead them into so grave a sin?"    Aaron replied, "Let not my lord be angry.    You know well enough how prone the people are to evil.    They said to me, 'Make us a god to be our leader;    as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt,    we do not know what has happened to him.'    So I told them, 'Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.'    They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out."    On the next day Moses said to the people,    "You have committed a grave sin.    I will go up to the Lord, then;    perhaps I may be able to make atonement for your sin."    So Moses went back to the Lord and said,    "Ah, this people has indeed committed a grave sin    in making a god of gold for themselves!    If you would only forgive their sin!    If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written."    The Lord answered, "Him only who has sinned against me    will I strike out of my book.    Now, go and lead the people to the place I have told you.    My angel will go before you.    When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin."The Gospel of the Lord.

- Press the PLAY button to listen to the catechesis of the day and share if you like - + A reading from the Book of Exodus + Moses turned and came down the mountain with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, front and back; tablets that were made by God, having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God himself. Now, when Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, "That sounds like a battle in the camp." But Moses answered, "It does not sound like cries of victory, nor does it sound like cries of defeat; the sounds that I hear are cries of revelry." As he drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. With that, Moses' wrath flared up, so that he threw the tablets down and broke them on the base of the mountain. Taking the calf they had made, he fused it in the fire and then ground it down to powder, which he scattered on the water and made the children of Israel drink. Moses asked Aaron, "What did this people ever do to you that you should lead them into so grave a sin?" Aaron replied, "Let not my lord be angry. You know well enough how prone the people are to evil. They said to me, 'Make us a god to be our leader; as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I told them, 'Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.' They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out." On the next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a grave sin. I will go up to the Lord, then; perhaps I may be able to make atonement for your sin." So Moses went back to the Lord and said, "Ah, this people has indeed committed a grave sin in making a god of gold for themselves! If you would only forgive their sin! If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written." The Lord answered, "Him only who has sinned against me will I strike out of my book. Now, go and lead the people to the place I have told you. My angel will go before you. When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin." The Gospel of the Lord.

- Press the PLAY button to listen to the catechesis of the day and share if you like - + A reading from the Book of Exodus + Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord swept the sea with a strong east wind throughout the night and so turned it into dry land. When the water was thus divided, the children of Israel marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left. The Egyptians followed in pursuit; all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and charioteers went after them right into the midst of the sea. In the night watch just before dawn the Lord cast through the column of the fiery cloud upon the Egyptian force a glance that threw it into a panic; and he so clogged their chariot wheels that they could hardly drive. With that the Egyptians sounded the retreat before Israel, because the Lord was fighting for them against the Egyptians. Then the Lord told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and their charioteers.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea flowed back to its normal depth. The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward the sea, when the Lord hurled them into its midst. As the water flowed back, it covered the chariots and the charioteers of Pharaoh's whole army that had followed the children of Israel into the sea. Not a single one of them escaped. But the children of Israel had marched on dry land through the midst of the sea, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians. When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore and beheld the great power that the Lord had shown against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord and believed in him and in his servant Moses. Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord: I will sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea. The Gospel of the Lord.

- Press the PLAY button to listen to the catechesis of the day and share if you like -+ A reading from the Book of Exodus +Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,          and the Lord swept the sea          with a strong east wind throughout the night          and so turned it into dry land.When the water was thus divided,          the children of Israel marched into the midst of the sea on dry land,          with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.The Egyptians followed in pursuit;          all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and charioteers went after them          right into the midst of the sea.In the night watch just before dawn          the Lord cast through the column of the fiery cloud          upon the Egyptian force a glance that threw it into a panic;          and he so clogged their chariot wheels          that they could hardly drive.With that the Egyptians sounded the retreat before Israel,          because the Lord was fighting for them against the Egyptians.Then the Lord told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea,          that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians,          upon their chariots and their charioteers.”So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,            and at dawn the sea flowed back to its normal depth.The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward the sea,          when the Lord hurled them into its midst.As the water flowed back,          it covered the chariots and the charioteers of Pharaoh's whole army          that had followed the children of Israel into the sea.Not a single one of them escaped.But the children of Israel had marched on dry land          through the midst of the sea,          with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.Thus the Lord saved Israel on that day          from the power of the Egyptians.When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore          and beheld the great power that the Lord          had shown against the Egyptians,          they feared the Lord and believed in him and in his servant Moses.Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord:          I will sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously triumphant;                    horse and chariot he has cast into the sea. The Gospel of the Lord.

Join us as we continue our new sermon series "Exodus"

This is the third installment in our series on The Exodus. Bree Stroupe is the Children's Ministry Director at The Gospel Tabernacle.

This is the second installment in our series on The Exodus. Brooke Witterman is a Campus Leader at The Gospel Tabernacle.

This is the second installment in our series on The Exodus. Kiarra Thorne is a Campus Leader at The Gospel Tabernacle.

A new MP3 sermon from DTBM, International is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: FTGC#5d EXODUS, MOSES & HOW GOD LIBERATES HIS PEOPLE FROM SATAN_S FALSE GODS OF EGYPT Speaker: Dr. John Barnett Broadcaster: DTBM, International Event: Sunday Service Date: 5/26/2021 Length: 35 min.

FTGC-06a 951122WE Short Clip Ancient Egypt at its Zenith fifteen centuries before Christ was awesome. The Pyramids were over a thousand years old and stood towering ominously over this proud and powerful people. The ‘God-Kings’ or Pharaohs as we call them, were sons of Khnum, descendants of RA, and the bearers of divinity to the [...] The post FTGC#5d EXODUS, MOSES & HOW GOD LIBERATES HIS PEOPLE FROM SATAN’S FALSE GODS OF EGYPT appeared first on Discover the Book Ministries.

Moses is best known from the story in the biblical Book of Exodus , as the lawgiver who met God face-to-face on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments after leading his people, the Hebrews, out of bondage in Egypt and to the "promised land" of Canaan. This story is adapted from " Children Bible" by Bible Society of India

In this episode we make some comments on miracles in the Bible. The Bible says that God occasionally breaks forth into human history with miracles as evidence and confirmation that indeed, the God of the Bible is involved in the affairs of humankind. Humankind is to know that “this is Yahweh God” by the miraculous event. = Sometimes the miracles are confirmation and evidence that Yahweh, through a messenger or prophet has spoken. See Exo. 7:5, 17; 10:2, Deut. 4, etc. - In Deuteronomy 13, however, Israel was warned that sometimes a person may come performing miracles, but he is a false prophet. How was Israel to know? If the person doing the miracle was trying to draw Israel away from the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, then Israel would know he was a false prophet. Yahweh allowed the false prophet and the miracles only to test Israel, to see if Israel wholly loved and followed Yahweh his God- There were three pairs of historical periods when God broke through into humankinds affairs with the miraculous: 1. a) Exodus (Moses) and, b) Conquest (Joshua) 2. b) Elijah and, b) Elisha 3. a) Jesus and, b) the apostles. - The miracles of Jesus were unique, but also consistent with the way the God of the Hebrew Scriptures worked and promised to work: 1. The overall purpose of the miracles that Jesus performed was the same as previously in Israel’s history: the miracles confirmed and were evidence that Jesus spoke for God, was authorized by God and sent by God. Jesus did not perform miracles because he was God, but because God was with him and Jesus was empowered by God (John 10:24-25, 14:10; Acts 2:22, 10:38). 2. Some of the miracles that Jesus did were unique, reserved for the Messiah and the messianic age. The miracles are evidence that the one performing the miracle is the Messiah (Isaiah 35:5-6; Matt. 11:5). - We discuss how there were efforts to discredit Jesus and the miracles he did during the time that Jesus was on earth. But in general these efforts failed because there were so many eyewitnesses and evidences that the miracles happened. - For different reasons, efforts to discredit the miracles of Jesus in modern times also fail. In the end, we are left with real good reasons to believe that the miraculous deeds of Jesus occurred, and that these miraculous deeds are evidence that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.

Derrick talks about what the Red Sea and Forest Lake share in common.

Men's Breakfast - Ken Needham - Exodus: Moses and Aaron

Exodus Wednesday Night Series

Today in Exodus Moses gets water from a rock, and the Israelites come face to face with God!

Hello my name is: Wonderful CounselorDave Riddle - 12/01/19Key Passage: Isaiah 9:6Counselor- ya’ats (Hebrew: יָעַץ) - to advise, counsel, admonish, direct, resolve, decide, plan and/or purpose. To counsel together; to be advised.- Isaiah 9:6 - “counselor”- First usage: Exodus - Moses meets with his father-in-law to seek advice.Wonderful- pele’ (Hebrew: פֶּלֶא) - a miracle, a wonder; a wonderful thing or deed.- Isaiah 9:6 - “Wonderful”- Other than a single time in the book of Lamentations, it always appears in the context of God’s acts or words. 37 of the 84 occurrences of pele’ are found in the Psalms.What kind of Wonderful Counselor?Other-worldly- John 12:49 - He came with divine wisdom from Heaven itself- John 14:10 - He spoke with authority of GodAuthoritative- Mark 1:21-22 - He taught with an authority unlike anything the world had seen.- Luke 4:32 - The people were amazed... slack-jawed- ekplēssō (Greek: ἐκπλήσσω) - to be struck with amazement, astonished, amazedPiercing & Gentle- Piercing- Matthew 16:23- Matthew 23:27- Gentle- John 8:7-11Inviting & Challenging- Mark 1:17 - “come, follow me”- Not just a call, but a purpose.- “And I’ll show you how to fish for people”- Mark 3:13-14- With Him, and Sent OutTruth- John 14:6 - “I am... the truth”- John 1:14 - truth in the fleshLife-giving- John 14:6- The truth AND the life.- John 4:4-14 - living water!Infinite- Luke 21:33 - His words will never pass away.- 1 Peter 1:24-25 - the Good News remains forever.

Four Truths About the Bible:   1) The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Bible. Written by men (Law, Prophets, David, Moses)  Written by God (4x in vv. 44-49)  We know from elsewhere that the Scriptures were inspired by the Spirit... 2 Peter 1:21 —“For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”   2) God’s Glory is the Goal of the Bible. It’s the Sabbath day, they’re gathered at a synagogue and Paul is asked to preach an encouraging message from God’s Word  Notice how God-centered Paul’s sermon is (vv. 16-22) God . . . Chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob God . . . Made Israel great in Egypt God . . . Led them out of Egypt God . . . Put up with them in the wilderness God . . . Destroyed seven nations in Canaan God . . . Gave the Israelites the Promised Land God . . . Gave them judged God . . . Gave them Samuel the prophet God . . . gave them King Saul  God . . . Removed King Saul God . . . Raised up  King David The Bible is not first and foremost about you!! 3) Jesus is the Hero of the Bible. Paul talks about the fathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), the Exodus (Moses, Aaron, Joshua), the judges (Gideon, Samson, etc.), the prophets (Samuel, etc.) the kings (Saul, David, etc.) but NONE of them are the hero!!!   Read vv. 23-37   What is the message of the Bible? Not about morality, not about Israel, not about America, not about being fulfilled, not about being happy, not about good works, etc.    4) Salvation is the Message of the Bible. Read vv. 26 We need to be saved!!! Why?!?! Because God is HOLY and we are sinful!  Read 38-39 Forgiveness!!! Everyone who . . . Prays a prayer? Walks down an aisle? Joins a church? Does good works? NO!!! Believes!!! Notice it’s in present tense—keep believing!!! Freed!!! How will you respond to the Bible? What is Your Response to the Bible?  

Exodus Old Testament Bible

Today we push past Genesis and look at a familiar story at the beginning of the Book of Exodus: Moses' encounter with God in the burning bush. This story asks the fundamental question: How do we see ourselves? Do we view ourselves as weak, limited, unimportant? Or do we see ourselves as God sees us [...] The post Exodus: Becoming God’s Champions appeared first on St. Andrew's Episcopal Church.

The story of Exodus is the story of a loving God rescuing his people out of oppression and slavery. He sets them free not so they can live for themselves, but so that they can live out what they were created for. In Christ, God is doing the same for his people. He is setting them free not to live for themselves but to love and be loved by the one who created them. True liberating freedom doesn’t come through our agency to choose something for ourselves. It comes through loving and serving the one who chose us in Christ. Preacher: Jackson Crum

Through Moses’ conversation with God, we learn about prayer and the character of God.

Difficult circumstances provide opportunities to trust God.

In this session we examine the world setting and context for the end of Genesis (Joseph's death) and the beginning of Exodus (Moses birth and calling). We also answer some questions related to our Sunday sermon series on Baptist beliefs that cover; baptism and infant baptism, religious liberty and communion. We hope to have the maps and study notes available online at the churches website this week. Thank you for following along and for your emailed questions.

Chad Mansbridge The post Exodus: Moses, Man with a Mission appeared first on Bayside Church.

Chad Mansbridge The post Exodus: Moses, Man with a Mission appeared first on Bayside Church.

Moses grows into a man, and walks through a difficult, transformative journey that shows us how God not only wants to heal the injustice around us, but also the sin that dwells inside of us. Exodus 2:11-25Support the show (http://www.summitdenver.org/give)

Exodus 34:29-35 1. Not everything in the Bible is about us 2. Moses has been with a glorious God Psalm 8 3. Moses speaks with authority, v. 31-35 vv. 31-35 Hebrews 1:1-3 Questions for reflection… 1. In your worldview are you the moon or the sun? 2. Who’s name is majestic when it comes out of your mouth? 3. Who do you submit to? 4. Who or what has authority over you?

Delivered on 1st June 2014 at King's Church, Cockermouth.

From genetics to ultrasound, fetoscopy to fetal surgery, modern science has granted us an unprecedented look into the development of a pre-born child. http://abortionmatrix.com For example, only eight weeks after conception – around the time many women find out they're pregnant – the baby's heart – which has already been beating for two weeks – now has two chambers. Though less than an inch in length, she has started practicing movements, her face has begun to take shape, teeth have begun to develop, along with the legs, arms, feet, hands and eyes. It's obvious that the developing fetus is no mere “blob of tissue,” as the abortion industry would like us to believe, but rather a remarkably well-developed baby boy or girl. It's no wonder that on the basis of the scientific evidence alone, many experts in the field will echo the opinion of renowned geneticist Dr. Jerome LeJeune: “Life has a long history but each individual has a very neat beginning: the moment of its conception.” But while genetic and other medical evidence certainly support the idea that human life begins at conception, the Bible, the very word of God – and not science – is our ultimate source for Truth. And the scriptures make it very, very clear that human life begins – and is sacred – from the very moment of conception. In fact, it's a fascinating though little known fact that one of the very names of God points to the sanctity of life from the time it begins in the womb. In the 34th chapter of Exodus Moses appears before the LORD and intercedes on behalf of His people, asking God to reveal “His glory.” Part of the LORD's response was to reveal to Moses the divine Name as well as key aspect of His nature: The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord….“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious.” Exodus 34: 5 George Grant: “The Hebrew word that we translate here as “merciful” – rachuwm – has as its root racham – meaning to love or have compassion. That word also serves as the root for rechem – the word that is used in the Hebrew Scriptures for womb – for example in the famous passage describing God's foreknowledge of Jeremiah and the manner in which he was lovingly knit together inside his mother: Before I formed you in the womb (in the rechem) I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. Jeremiah 1:5 The womb then, in its original Hebrew context, was not only the matrix, the sacred place where a new human, an image-bearer of God was conceived, formed, nurtured and then born, it also was – and should be treated – as a place of mercy. Jesus declared in Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” But the converse must also be true. When people, for their own convenience, send their swords into that place of life and mercy, defiling the sanctuary of the rechem – the womb – they would do well to consider Christ's sober warning concerning the wages earned by those who use violence to accomplish their own ends: “Those who live by the sword, shall die by the sword.” Matthew 26:52 Among the most profound, world-changing truths we can ever contemplate is that Jesus, the promised Savior of the world, God Incarnate, was: “conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary” (Apostle's Creed). When Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to conceive and give birth to the Messiah, she naturally asked how this could be — seeing that she was yet a virgin. The angel replied: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) Gabriel graciously went even further, citing the incredible pregnancy of her cousin Elizabeth as proof that supernatural pregnancies are no problem for God. The once barren and old beyond-her-child bearing years woman was at this point six-months pregnant with her son John – who would later be known as the Baptist. Mary responded with perhaps the purest expression of faith to be found anywhere in Scripture: Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. (Luke 1:38) But it is what happened next that provides us with the most powerful and irrefutable argument for the personhood and sanctity of pre-born life. In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. (Luke 1: 39-44)