Introduction:
Three Choices Faith Makes (Hebrews 11:23-31):
- “I Fear God , not Man .” (Heb 11:23)
- “What God offers me is Better than what the world offers me.” (Heb 11:24-27)
- “I obey God even when it doesn't make Sense .” (Heb 11:28-31)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:48-00:50
Turn with me please to Hebrews chapter 11.
00:51-01:10
And as we approach the word of God, I would just ask, please, if we could just pause, and I'm going to ask that you would pray for me to faithfully communicate God's word, and I will pray for you to have your hearts open to receive God's word, all right?
01:10-01:10
Is that a deal?
01:11-01:12
Do we have a deal?
01:13-01:14
All right, thank you.
01:15-01:15
Let's pray.
01:19-01:26
Father in heaven, this is, what we're about to do right now, Father, we believe this is something supernatural.
01:28-01:34
That your spirit works with your word and transforms our hearts.
01:35-01:38
This isn't some sort of a pep talk.
01:42-01:48
This isn't just some shot in the arm, go team kind of thing, Father.
01:48-01:56
This is, according to you, this is where change comes from.
01:58-02:16
And I pray, Father, that you would minister to every heart here, everyone who's watching the stream, people who are going to be watching this video online later or listening to the podcast later.
02:17-02:19
Father, let your word be clear.
02:20-02:29
Let your name be glorified and use this Father as you will, we pray in Jesus' name.
02:29-02:32
And all of God's people said, amen.
02:34-02:44
We're in Hebrews chapter 11, and it's sort of a series within a series kind of thing, because he's been talking about faith, right?
02:45-02:45
What is faith?
02:47-02:58
And listen, this is so important that we get this right, because it's a word that we use all the time, and we attach very heavy significance to that word, right?
02:59-03:00
We're like, you gotta have faith.
03:00-03:01
You have to be a person of faith.
03:02-03:04
Righteousness comes from faith.
03:04-03:07
We are saved by grace through faith.
03:07-03:09
And we just throw that word around a lot.
03:09-03:12
What does it mean to have faith?
03:12-03:21
Well, he tells us, but I think something that's really beneficial about Hebrews 11 is he shows us.
03:21-03:23
This is what faith looks like.
03:23-03:30
If you are a person of faith in Jesus Christ, this is how it shows up in your lives.
03:32-03:36
All right, so I want you to be asking yourself, do I have faith?
03:38-03:46
And as we go through Hebrews 11, you evaluate by asking yourself, does my walk with Christ look like this?
03:47-03:54
All right, so quick review, and I told you last week, I was kind of kicking myself 'cause I didn't realize these would all be Ws, right?
03:55-04:02
But we learned able, Faith worships, right?
04:02-04:04
And in Enoch, faith walks.
04:04-04:06
And in Noah, faith works.
04:06-04:08
And in Abraham, faith waits.
04:08-04:12
And then last week we saw Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and we saw faith wins.
04:13-04:17
And now we have a major chunk of the Old Testament that's going to be covered.
04:17-04:24
We're going from Moses, that's Exodus, to Deuteronomy 34.
04:25-04:33
And then we're going to go to Joshua in his self-titled book, where he leads the Israelites into the promised land.
04:33-04:35
And what does faith do here?
04:37-04:42
If we're sticking with the alliteration thing, wisely chooses.
04:44-04:46
Are you okay, you do it.
04:52-04:54
But here's the thing, we're gonna talk about choices today, right?
04:55-04:56
That's the theme here.
04:57-04:58
We're gonna talk about choices.
04:58-05:00
you're gonna see it very clearly in the text.
05:00-05:07
And the reality is, church, our lives are marked by the choices that we make.
05:10-05:14
Every single day of your life is made up of choices.
05:16-05:21
Every single day, you have to make the choice on how you're going to spend your time.
05:24-05:27
What are you going to do with the 24 hours that God gave you today?
05:29-05:32
Every day you have the choice on how you're going to spend money.
05:35-05:39
Every day you have the choice on what words you're going to say.
05:41-05:42
Is it to build up?
05:43-05:44
Is it to tear down?
05:44-05:44
Is it to be crass?
05:46-05:47
Is it to share God's word?
05:48-05:51
Every day you have the choice on what attitude you're going to have.
05:52-05:56
Am I going to be thankful and joyful in Christ?
05:57-05:58
or am I going to be negative?
06:00-06:01
Am I going to be complaining?
06:03-06:07
What is the driving force behind every choice that you make?
06:08-06:10
It's what you really believe.
06:10-06:12
Your faith makes your choices for you.
06:13-06:19
What you really believe, your faith makes your choices.
06:20-06:22
And we've been saying this, we're gonna say it again today.
06:23-06:39
Look, if you're calling yourself a Christian, If you're saying that I am a born again believer in Jesus Christ, that necessarily means this, that there are things in your life that you can point to and say, because of my relationship with Jesus, I have to do these things.
06:39-06:42
Like I have to, that's not legalism.
06:42-06:48
It's my faith compels me to do these things and I can't help but do them because of Jesus.
06:49-06:54
And there should be things in your life that you can point to and say, I absolutely will not do that.
06:55-06:56
Why? Because of my faith in Jesus.
06:57-07:02
Your faith should drive your decisions in every area, right?
07:05-07:06
Excuse me.
07:11-07:13
So you'll see it here.
07:14-07:15
Three choices faith makes.
07:16-07:17
Hebrews 11.
07:18-07:20
Three choices that faith makes.
07:21-07:25
Number one, I fear God, not man.
07:26-07:27
That's where it starts, right?
07:27-07:28
I fear God, not man.
07:29-07:29
Look at verse 23.
07:31-07:32
Look at verse 23.
07:32-07:49
It says, "By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw that the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king's edict." Okay, stop right there for a second.
07:50-07:54
The first choice that faith makes is, I fear God, not man.
07:54-07:56
I'm gonna give you a chance to say that.
07:57-08:00
All right, and see if by faith, you can say it with great conviction.
08:01-08:01
Can you?
08:02-08:03
I'm gonna give you a chance.
08:03-08:05
I'm gonna say it, and then I want you to say it right after me.
08:05-08:05
Okay, you ready?
08:06-08:08
I fear God, not man.
08:09-08:10
I fear God, not man.
08:11-08:12
That was fantastic right out of the gate.
08:12-08:13
Gotta tell you.
08:14-08:22
But the first example we have here of people whose faith made a choice for them is Moses' parents.
08:24-08:25
You remember their names?
08:27-08:29
I had to look it up, I forgot to.
08:31-08:32
Abram and Jacobed.
08:33-08:34
That sounds like a power couple, right?
08:37-08:39
Well, we're going back to Exodus chapters one and two.
08:40-08:50
The king of Egypt, fearing this rapidly growing Jewish population, He made an edict for population control.
08:51-08:56
Remember Pharaoh was like, wait a second, these Jews that are living here, this population's growing.
08:56-09:03
And if we get attacked by like an outside nation and the Jews might be like, hey, we're joining the attackers.
09:03-09:08
And now we're really sunk because we got attacked from the outside, attacked from the inside.
09:08-09:23
So the Egyptians made them slaves ultimately, but part of the population control is, we're gonna kill the male babies, throw them in the Nile to control this population growth.
09:25-09:35
While Moses was hidden in a basket on the Nile and through God's providence, he was discovered by Pharaoh's daughter.
09:36-09:43
But wait, the plot thickens because Moses' sister was keeping an eye on what was gonna happen to baby brother in the basket.
09:44-09:46
And she saw he was found by Pharaoh's daughter.
09:47-09:51
So Moses' sister runs up to Pharaoh's daughter and is like, "Hey, what you got there?
09:51-09:52
"Oh, a Jewish baby.
09:53-09:53
"You know what?
09:54-10:05
"I can probably find you a Jewish woman "to nurse this baby." And she took Moses right back to his own mother.
10:06-10:08
That's an awesome work of God, right?
10:09-10:09
Awesome.
10:10-10:12
Now, I do get to clarify something here.
10:14-10:18
It says here that they saw the child was beautiful.
10:20-10:21
Like, what does that mean?
10:21-10:22
This is very important, actually.
10:23-10:29
Now, every parent thinks that their child is beautiful, right, every parent does.
10:31-10:34
And the rest of us don't have the heart to tell you if your kid's ugly.
10:43-10:43
(audience laughing)
10:44-10:45
You're like, so what does that mean?
10:45-10:51
It's very significant because in Acts chapter seven, we see a little further clarification.
10:52-10:55
What that means is beautiful in the sight of God.
10:55-10:57
You're like, well, doesn't God think every child is beautiful?
10:58-11:00
Yes, what it means is very specific.
11:00-11:03
It means God has a purpose for this child.
11:03-11:04
That's what that means.
11:04-11:09
When they saw the child was beautiful, it was God has a plan for this baby.
11:09-11:10
That's what that means.
11:10-11:11
Very, very important, okay?
11:12-11:17
So what was the choice that Moses' parents had to make?
11:18-11:19
It was just simply this.
11:20-11:22
Am I going to fear God?
11:24-11:25
Or am I going to fear man?
11:26-11:39
Because they're like, hey, this child, God has a special plan for this child, but the government is demanding that we kill all the male Jewish babies.
11:42-11:43
So what do we do?
11:44-11:47
And I know right now, right now you're thinking, I know what you do.
11:48-11:50
You just resist the government, right?
11:51-11:53
That's what the Jews should have done, right?
11:53-11:56
The Jews should have resisted the government, right?
11:58-12:05
They should have just said, hey, if the government's saying to do something outlandish and outrageous, then we should just resist, right?
12:05-12:07
Right, isn't that what the Jews should have done?
12:07-12:08
They should have just resisted.
12:09-12:16
And some people think it's just that easy.
12:17-12:18
Just resist the government.
12:21-12:22
Do you remember?
12:23-12:25
I'm really gonna test your memories here.
12:26-12:30
Some of you I can, I think are old enough to remember this.
12:32-12:34
Do you remember COVID?
12:35-12:36
(congregation laughing)
12:38-12:39
Do you remember COVID?
12:40-13:05
Do you remember when the government was like, "Don't have Thanksgiving, don't see your family, don't leave your house, don't have church." We saw with our own eyes that no matter what outrageous nonsense the government is demanding, people were all too ready to obey.
13:08-13:12
Now listen, do not misunderstand me.
13:12-13:14
I am not calling for insurrection.
13:15-13:17
I'm not even sure what that word means anymore.
13:19-13:24
I'm not calling for revolution or lawlessness, not at all.
13:24-13:29
I'm not calling for that at all, because the Bible is clear that we should submit to the governing authorities, right?
13:29-13:32
Romans 13, one, but I am saying this.
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When God says to do something and the government says not to, or vice versa.
13:41-13:41
God says, don't do that.
13:42-13:43
And the government says, you must do that.
13:44-13:45
We have a question.
13:46-13:47
Who are we going to obey?
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You're like, oh, that's a tough one.
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No, it's really not.
13:55-13:57
Because faith makes that decision for me.
13:59-14:00
I have to do what God says.
14:01-14:02
I have to do what God says.
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You're like, oh no, but I hear what you're saying, Jeff, but what if there's consequences for disobeying?
14:12-14:14
And I would say, well, there always are.
14:17-14:20
But I have to ask you, whose consequences would you rather face?
14:21-14:24
The government's or God's?
14:27-14:39
You're gonna be put in situations where the line is drawn And you're gonna have to ask yourself, who do I really fear?
14:42-14:52
It could be the next ungodly government edict, or it could be at your workplace, or it could be at the school board, whatever.
14:52-15:04
You're going to be put in a situation where you're going to say, am I going to go along with man, even though I know this is clearly wrong, or am I going to stand up and do what God wants me to do?
15:04-15:06
you're going to be put in that situation.
15:09-15:11
Your faith makes that decision for you.
15:12-15:13
I fear God, not man.
15:13-15:15
That's the Hebrew writer's whole point here.
15:16-15:17
Moses' parents were like, yeah.
15:20-15:23
I hear what the king of Egypt is saying, but yeah, I hear what God's saying.
15:24-15:25
This child means something.
15:26-15:27
So who do you fear, God or man?
15:29-15:30
That's a choice that faith makes.
15:30-15:31
I fear God, not man.
15:32-15:36
Secondly, what God offers me is better than what the world offers me.
15:37-15:40
This is a conviction that is stated by faith.
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I'm gonna say it again, and then you're going to say it with great conviction back to me.
15:45-15:45
You ready?
15:46-15:49
What God offers me is better than what the world offers me.
15:49-15:50
Say it.
15:50-15:54
What God offers me is better than what the world offers me.
15:55-15:55
Amen.
15:56-15:56
Amen, look at verse 24.
15:58-16:11
It says, "By faith, Moses, when he was growing up, "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, "choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God "than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin." Stop there.
16:12-16:15
Moses had to have known his story, right?
16:15-16:25
As he was growing up, you know, raised in his very early years by his mom, he had to have known how they hid him and the way God worked all of that out.
16:25-16:27
And Moses had to have known his purpose.
16:29-16:40
But you know, the Bible tells us that young Moses was taken from his mom back to Pharaoh's daughter to be raised as her son.
16:41-16:43
He was raised as a prince.
16:44-16:55
And eventually, eventually Moses refused this position of being the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
16:57-17:05
And instead he chose to identify with his blood who were now slaves in Egypt.
17:06-17:15
All right, at some point Moses was like, I'm not going to live as royalty, I'm gonna live with my bloodline here.
17:16-17:17
Do you know when he drew that line?
17:19-17:19
Do you know when he drew that line?
17:19-17:22
I'll tell you, he drew the line in Exodus chapter two.
17:24-17:29
When Moses was 40, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew.
17:30-17:41
The Bible says, I'm paraphrasing here, but the Bible says Moses looked around, nobody's looking, and gah, gah, gah, gah, he struck down the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.
17:43-17:43
Right?
17:44-17:45
And it sounded just like that.
17:46-17:52
And then Moses went to Midian for 40 years because now Pharaoh wants Moses dead.
17:54-17:54
Right?
17:55-17:56
Because murder is still illegal.
17:58-17:59
Look at verse 26.
17:59-18:16
It says, "He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward." Do you realize Moses could have had anything and everything?
18:20-18:22
And we can't gloss over that.
18:22-18:29
Growing up as Pharaoh's daughter's son, he would have been absolute royalty.
18:32-18:33
He would have had a Hollywood lifestyle.
18:35-18:38
I was gonna put this in my notes, but I wasn't sure how to spell it.
18:39-18:42
But Moses would have been like the Kardashians.
18:44-18:45
Right?
18:47-18:48
Did you ever see that show?
18:48-18:49
I hope not.
18:49-18:50
I've never seen it, but I've heard of it.
18:51-18:51
What would you call it?
18:52-18:53
What would you call it for Moses?
18:54-18:57
Like not keeping up with the Kardashians, was it like Moses smell the roses or something like that?
18:58-18:58
I don't know.
19:00-19:20
But think of what he would have had in the royal family, houses and chariots and clothes, women, drugs, anything and everything that he could have wanted.
19:21-19:26
But your Bible says that he considered, that word considered is huge.
19:26-19:28
It literally means he made a judgment.
19:29-19:35
That Moses was like, okay, here's what I could have living the Kardashian lifestyle.
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Again, just to paraphrase, he didn't know the Kardashians, you know.
19:40-19:44
But he's like, here's what I could have as a prince.
19:44-19:49
He's like, but on the other hand, Here's what God's offering me.
19:49-19:51
He's like, you know what?
19:51-19:54
What God's offering is a whole lot better than even that.
19:58-19:59
Look at verse 27.
19:59-20:12
It says, "By faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible." Okay, so now we go to Exodus chapter five.
20:13-20:15
Remember Moses, he went to Midian for 40 years.
20:16-20:18
He returned to Egypt.
20:19-20:29
And again, I think sometimes we can gloss over these stories in our Bible and not really, not really like let it soak in the impact of this.
20:29-20:43
But here Moses returns to Egypt and he walks into the office of the monarch of the greatest empire of the day and says, hey, you know all these Jewish slaves that you have?
20:44-20:44
You're letting them go.
20:46-20:47
because God said so.
20:51-20:54
It's pretty gutsy, right?
20:56-20:59
But you see here, Moses' faith made a choice for him.
21:01-21:14
Moses' faith made him go after what God offers because he said, "Eh, that's a lot better "than what the world offers." And we're told exactly why Moses' faith motivated him quickly.
21:14-21:16
I'm gonna go just back through these very quickly.
21:16-21:20
In verse 25, it says, "He chose God's will over pleasure." Why?
21:22-21:24
Because sin's pleasure is fleeting.
21:25-21:26
There's his motivation.
21:28-21:29
Do you see that in verse 25?
21:30-21:37
Look again, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
21:37-21:42
Or maybe some translations say, sin is pleasurable for a season, right?
21:44-21:45
Let me tell you something.
21:47-21:49
Sin is fun.
21:51-21:55
You're like, I don't think you're allowed to say that in church, Pastor Jeff.
21:57-21:58
Sin is fun.
21:59-22:02
Like, what kind of a church is this?
22:03-22:04
Listen, I didn't make that up.
22:04-22:06
It says, doesn't your Bible say that?
22:07-22:08
Sin has pleasure.
22:11-22:11
I mean, come on.
22:12-22:13
That's not a news flash.
22:13-22:14
Some of you look shocked, come on.
22:15-22:15
Come on.
22:15-22:16
"Not me.
22:19-22:21
All I do is fast and watch the Waltons." Like, come on.
22:23-22:23
Come on.
22:24-22:25
Sin is fun.
22:27-22:29
Otherwise, nobody would be doing it, right?
22:32-22:33
Ah, but there's a problem.
22:34-22:37
The problem with sin's pleasure is it's only passing.
22:38-22:39
It's only for a moment.
22:40-22:42
It's, you see, that's the problem.
22:43-22:44
That's the problem with the pleasure of sin.
22:46-22:50
Sin is the high on drugs.
22:51-22:52
Yeah, that feels good for a minute.
22:54-23:05
And then what follows is the years of destruction and broken families and financial woes and health issues.
23:05-23:10
And all that's not advertised on the front end of the drugs brochure, right?
23:12-23:14
People do it because it feels good for a minute.
23:16-23:20
You know how it's affected my family, some of you.
23:23-23:24
Feels good for a minute.
23:24-23:27
What about like sexual sin?
23:28-23:34
Do you know how many people have ruined their lives and destroyed families for a few seconds of pleasure?
23:36-23:38
Like, yeah, sin is pleasurable for a season.
23:38-23:43
It's passing, and it's so not worth it.
23:45-23:49
But on the other hand, the pleasures, the joy that God gives to people of faith is eternal.
23:50-23:50
That's eternal.
23:53-23:54
And see, that's the contrast there.
23:54-24:08
Moses is like, oh yeah, I could have the best of everything for 15 minutes, of everything of the earth, that is, to clarify, I could have the best of everything the earth has to offer for 15 minutes, or I can have what God offers for eternity.
24:10-24:12
Moses is like no contest here, right?
24:13-24:16
Secondly, in verse 26, says he chose poverty over treasure.
24:17-24:18
Again, we're looking at the motivations.
24:18-24:19
Why?
24:19-24:20
He was looking to the reward.
24:20-24:22
Again, the world offers rewards.
24:22-24:23
It's here, it's now.
24:23-24:24
God offers rewards.
24:24-24:26
It's in heaven, it's forever.
24:29-24:29
Same principle, right?
24:30-24:30
Which one's better?
24:31-24:32
What God offers forever.
24:33-24:39
And then verse 27, Again, just like the first verse we looked at, he chose courage over fear.
24:39-24:40
Why?
24:40-24:41
I love this phrase.
24:41-24:53
I had to read it a few times because I'm like, "Is that really what it says?" It says, "He saw him who was invisible." I thought if you were invisible, you couldn't be seen.
24:55-24:56
Like, what does that even mean?
24:57-24:59
He saw him who was invisible?
24:59-25:00
Do you know what that is?
25:01-25:02
That's faith.
25:03-25:04
That's what faith is.
25:05-25:08
Faith is seeing an invisible God.
25:11-25:13
The ability to see what can't be seen.
25:14-25:20
I mean, the world may not see God right now, but he is an infinitely greater authority than any on earth.
25:20-25:21
Moses got that.
25:22-25:23
Here's the bottom line.
25:23-25:24
Moses didn't take what he saw.
25:27-25:30
He went after what he couldn't see because he believed in it.
25:31-25:36
And all through life, people chase money and power and status and fame.
25:37-25:41
And Moses, he wasn't chasing those, he already had them.
25:41-25:48
And he gave them up for God's will.
25:49-25:54
Because Moses believed that God would reward with things greater than what he could have now.
25:56-25:59
There's such an interesting phrase in verse 26.
25:59-26:04
It says he considered the reproach of Christ, greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, the reproach of Christ.
26:04-26:05
You're like, what is that?
26:06-26:08
Like, are you saying that Moses knew Jesus?
26:08-26:11
No, that's not really what that means.
26:12-26:13
What is the reproach of Christ?
26:15-26:26
You see, Moses, as we see here in this passage, he gave up everything to identify with his people so that he might deliver them.
26:27-26:27
Does that sound familiar?
26:29-26:40
Jesus Christ gave up everything so that he could come down and be with his people so that he might deliver us.
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That's the reproach of Christ.
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Jesus Christ in heaven, holy God, had every, literally had everything.
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And he made himself nothing.
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He emptied himself for the purpose of God's salvation.
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That's the reproach of Christ.
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that Moses chose for himself.
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You know, Jesus calls us to deny ourselves.
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Deny ourselves, Matthew 16, 24.
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That's saying no to pursuing what my flesh wants and instead pursuing him.
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And listen, when we talk about denying yourself, that's not some special kind of faith.
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That's the only kind of faith.
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That's bare minimum.
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You know, I could invest my life in getting every single thing that I want and being world renowned, but this life is gonna end.
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And in the end, what did it really matter?
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See, Moses took the long view.
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When I stand before God someday, all that matters is his kingdom and what I did to advance that.
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That's what matters.
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And if I make that my life purpose, I will discover reward far greater than anything that I can get from the earth.
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So three choices faith makes.
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I fear God, not man.
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What God offers is better than what the world offers.
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One more, number three, I obey God even when it doesn't make sense.
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All right, I'm gonna give you a run at that one.
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I'm gonna say it, and then you're going to say it with great conviction.
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You ready?
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I obey God even when it doesn't make sense.
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Say it.
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I obey God even when it doesn't make sense.
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Amen.
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What are we talking about?
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Look at verse 28.
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It says, "By faith, he kept the Passover "and sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer "of the firstborn might not touch them." That's Exodus 12, that's the 10th plague.
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This was how God was going to get Pharaoh to not only let the Israelites leave Egypt, But hey, we'll pack your bags and give you some travel money on the way.
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And you had to put the blood of a spotless lamb on your doorframe so that when the destroyer came through, he would pass over any home that wasn't covered under the blood of the spotless lamb.
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That's where the name comes from, Passover.
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If you were not covered under the blood, your firstborn would die.
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Do you see the picture of the gospel?
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We are safe from death when we're covered by the blood of the spotless lamb.
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Verse 29 says, "By faith, the people crossed the Red Sea "as on dry land, but the Egyptians, "when they attempted to do the same, were drowned." Now we're jumping to Exodus 14.
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Remember the Egyptians were like, after the death of the firstborn in the 10th plague, they're like, "Leave, go, here you go, "here's spending money, get out of here." And then they changed their minds and they pursued Israel.
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And do you know what God did?
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God led Israel to a dead end.
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God said, here's exactly, if you study your Bibles, God says, here's exactly where I want you to go.
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And when you look at it on a map, God was saying, Israel, I want you to go to a dead end.
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He led them right to the Red Sea.
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God, why would you do that?
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because then God parted the waters for Israel.
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But when the Egyptians followed, God unparted the waters and drowned them all.
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Right?
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Verse 30, it says, "By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days." Jericho, now we're fast forward to Joshua 2 and Joshua 6.
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You're like, "Hang on, hang on." You're like, "Hefei, you're telling me that we went from the Red Sea to Jericho.
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That's quite a jump.
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We went from Exodus 14 to Joshua 2.
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Like, why don't we have anything in the middle there?
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Do you know why?
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What's in the middle?
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Israel wandering through the wilderness for 40 years.
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Are you familiar with that story?
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Was there much faithfulness then?
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Was there anything that you could point to during that time, aside from like Joshua and Caleb?
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Was there anything you could point to and say, yes, by faith this happened.
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Those years were marked by complete lack of faith.
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That's why the Hebrew writer just skips right over them.
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Next big faith exercise by Israel was Jericho.
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So Joshua led the Israelites into the promised land, the first obstacle, this walled city of Jericho.
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And they are given the most brilliant military strategy of all time, Joshua six.
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March around the city once a day, every day for six days.
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And then the seventh day, march around the city seven times.
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And then, (imitates trumpet) blow your trumpets and scream.
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I'm sorry, can we start over?
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You lost me somewhere.
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Who's doing what now?
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That was the plan.
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And do you remember what happened?
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God took the walls down.
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Then in verse 31, this is our last verse for today.
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It says, "By faith, Rahab the prostitute "did not perish with those who were disobedient "because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies." What's going on here?
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Actually, quick flashback to Joshua chapter two.
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Remember the Israelites spied on Jericho and as they were spying out Jericho, they found a very unlikely ally, a prostitute named Rahab.
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Interestingly though, here's another word that strikes me.
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It says that she did not perish with those who were disobedient.
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And you're like, hang on a second.
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How were they disobedient?
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I mean, did they know God?
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Absolutely they did.
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We're not gonna look it up and write it down.
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Joshua 2.10.
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The Jericho residents knew all about God.
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They knew all about the Red Sea.
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They knew all about the kings that were defeated along the way.
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And they rejected God.
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See, that's why Rahab stands out.
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She did not, she believed.
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She believed in the living God.
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And our proof of that is she hid the spies.
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So when the walls came down, the Bible tells us that Israel charged in and slaughtered the Jericho residents, but Rahab and her family were spared.
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Isn't that amazing that in God's word, we're having a list of all of these faithful people and on the list is a prostitute?
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That's a whole other sermon.
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Here's the sermon we're doing today.
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In this chunk, we have three things.
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Ready?
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Passover, the Red Sea, and Jericho.
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What do those three things have in common?
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You're like, three places I've never been.
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Three things not in my refrigerator.
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What do these three things have in common?
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(congregation laughing)
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Here it is.
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Passover, Red Sea, Jericho, here's what they have in common.
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Faith made God's people obey God in very strange ways.
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So, they could see God do something that only he could do.
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That's what those have in common.
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I mean, from a human perspective, I'm talking purely from a human perspective, doesn't this stuff sound kind of nuts?
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Like Passover?
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Paint your doorpost with blood so that your firstborn doesn't die?
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That sounds a little strange.
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But God was right.
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What about the Red Sea?
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Hey, everybody, we're being pursued by the greatest empire of our day.
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So let's all run to the beach.
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I'm just saying it doesn't make sense from a human perspective.
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Or what about Jericho?
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We're going to seize this land that God promised Abraham and we're gonna do it by tooting our horns?
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Really?
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But God did all of that so that after the fact, everybody's like, "God showed up!" And nobody was like, "Yeah, that was totally me.
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"That was totally me.
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"It was my trumpet that took the wall down." Like, nobody thought that because God got the glory.
36:20-36:30
And He's calling them and He's calling us sometimes to obey Him, sometimes in very strange ways, to see if we really believe Him, that he's gonna show up and do something glorious.
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See, their faith made their choice.
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And your faith is gonna make your choice too, if you have it, if you have faith, because God's gonna call you to do something crazy, something that's contrary to the culture, something that's contrary to the natural way that you think.
36:54-37:04
And you're gonna get to a place in your life where faith is gonna make a choice for you, where you say, you know what, this makes no sense to me at all, but I have to do this because God said so.
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We see that all the time, don't we?
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Like people getting baptized.
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Isn't that strange?
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Like what happened at church today?
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Oh, it was awesome.
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We grabbed this dude and there was like this hot tub.
37:21-37:30
It wasn't bubbling, but there was like this tub and the pastor like totally just like jammed him under the water, (gurgling) and like, doesn't that seem strange?
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But it's an act of obedience because of God doing something glorious.
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What about giving, right?
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We talk about giving as an act of worship.
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You're like, do you mean to tell me that God needs my money?
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Yeah, God doesn't need your money.
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God doesn't need your money.
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God has a trillion dollars in the cup holder of his Lamborghini.
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Okay, he doesn't need your money.
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(congregation laughing)
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Like, so why do I have to give?
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Because it's an act of faith, it's an act of worship.
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You're saying, God, you gave this to me, and this is my way of saying thank you, and I'm trusting you for the rest.
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But it's a strange thing when you think about it, but it's an act of faith.
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Faith calls us to obey in strange ways.
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For some of you, you're considering, not considering you're doing it, I'm sorry.
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Some of you are adopting and fostering other kids.
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Do you realize there's like a trillion kids in our kids area, like we got plenty, but you have a heart that says, I wanna reach out to less fortunate kids.
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That makes no sense, unless God's calling you to do it because he's going to do something huge, right?
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Whatever it is for you, there are going to be things in your life that you're like, I know God's calling me to this, and my neighbors think I'm nuts.
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And I can't deny that this is what God told me to do.
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And faith says I have to do it.
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Oh, the biggest one, by the way, is turning from your sin and receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
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A man who claimed to be God in the flesh and proved it by resurrecting from the dead, he died for you about 2000 years ago.
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And God's word tells us that when we believe in him, and we receive Him, our sins are taken away.
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That's a command to be obeyed, and we obey even when it doesn't make sense.
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So Passover, Red Sea, Jericho, do you know what else they have in common?
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You know what else they have in common?
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They were all victories for God's people, and they were all destruction for those who didn't have faith.
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I think we have to mention that, right?
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Faith has consequences.
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Faith has consequences.
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You know the consequences of faith?
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You get to see God show up and do something God-sized, God do something huge.
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And there is nothing more glorious in this life.
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There is nothing more glorious in this life than when God shows up and does something and you know it was God because there's no other explanation.
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And you're like, that was all God.
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There is nothing more glorious in this life than experiencing that.
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And that is why church, listen to me, you will never, ever, ever regret obeying God, even if in a moment it seems pretty crazy.
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And I've been doing pastor ministry now for two and a half decades.
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I've never, I've never heard the guy say, or the gal say, you know what?
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I trusted God and I believe God in that.
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And boy, that was the worst decision I ever made.
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I've never heard that.
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But I can tell you what I've heard plenty is I didn't do what God said to do.
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And boy, was that a mistake.
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I ruined everything because I refused to believe.
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Faith has consequences, and so does lack of faith.
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Rejecting the word of God always has consequences.
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Ask Egypt if no faith, lack of faith has consequences.
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Ask Egypt at the bottom of the Red Sea.
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Ask Jericho if you can dig them up from under the rubble.
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Ask those in hell who in this life refused to heed God's word.
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Here's the bottom line, church, if our worship team would come forward as we prepare to close.
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Church, I don't need to tell you what choices you need to make.
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I'm simply telling you to believe God's word.
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And your faith is going to make your choices for you.
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And in the end, you're going to see, and the whole world is going to see, it was worth it.
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Faith makes my choices.
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You bow your heads with me, please.
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Our Father in heaven, what an incredible string of testimonies.
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And it's so easy to point at people on a page and criticize lack of faith.
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But Father, we are people who need to believe You, even when it doesn't make sense.
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when people in positions of power are saying to flagrantly disobey you.
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Father, I thank you that we don't have to get the elders of this church together to try to figure out what is the choice that we need to make.
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Our faith makes the choice for us, God, as we seek to honor your word and as we walk by your spirit, Father. Your truth is what determines our choices. So, Father, may we never shrink back out of fear or lack of faith. But whatever's ahead, whether it's this afternoon, tomorrow, next week or next year, God, this church is going to be, metaphorically speaking, the beach of the Red Sea. And I just ask, Father, that you would give us the faith to always choose to trust you wherever you're leading us. For this church, Father, for every home, every individual. Father, glorify your name by letting the world see choices being made because of faith. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Hebrews 11:23-31
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
The Bible says we should submit to the governing authorities (Romans 13:1). But in this passage, we see 2 instances where people did NOT submit to the government (Hebrews 11:23,27). How do you know when and how to disobey the government?
What specifically motivated Moses to walk away from being royalty to identifying with his people Israel? How can you allow these things to motivate you?
Tell of a time you obeyed God when it didn’t make sense to you, and you saw Him do something only He could do.
Breakout
Pray for one another.