I Need a New Moses

Good morning summa church. I have not had a chance yet to personally celebrate with you all the things we saw God due over Easter weekend here. We had right at our different campuses around the triangle right at about 13,000 people. We had over 100 professions of faith that we can and last week he and 82 of those people were baptized and we believe that a bunch more are going to join that number today when we put our hands together and celebrate saw God do, maybe, maybe even more exciting is the summa church or the church is that we have planted in the United states over the last years we set about 250 or so of our people to plant these churches around the US in different cities and they had a combined attendance of 10,000 people, which is up 44% from the previous year. Maybe best of all hundred and 62 churches that we planted, internationally celebrated Easter with us. Some of them for the very first time. These are churches that did not exist until by God's grace and in the power of the Holy Spirit you planted them.

Many of them in unreached people groups in Muslim people groups around the world where previously there had been little to no gospel witness at all. I hope it is amazing and I hope we never take for granted how God is multiplying this church around the world. Amen. Amen. Put your hands together one more time. Thank God for these these things as I mentioned at the end of this message a minute give many of you a chance to be baptized this weekend. I shall give all of you the chance to baptize as we give many of you will take me up on it, right here on the spot. If you never have before. We have all the stuff that is required for we are ready for you even if he did not come this morning ready for it, I will give you more instructions at the end of the service, but I just wanted to give you a heads up on that.

Have a Bible I like you to take it out now and opened it to Deuteronomy 18 or turn it on and scroll Deuteronomy 18. If you are seated. You'll have a Bible but maybe her sit around somebody that looks like they have one at they look friendly to say, can I look on with you so that you can follow along with us as you're turning there had never had the experience of meeting some kind of celebrity and when you met them in person you were surprised at how small they were compared to what they seem like on screen Tom Cruise is kinda famous for being like that the first image I have of Tom cruises. Of course in Top Gun where he just looks larger than life. You looks like you about 6 foot five essay. You know when reality this is more what he is actually like.

He's pretty small fellow I am no celebrity, obviously, but sometimes when I meet people at other campuses who have only seen me before the screen, they will say, oh I've never met you in person your so and I can tell you're thinking disappointing discipline. I know that's what they're thinking and then there are people who just don't recognize me at all other campuses. I visited one of our campuses. Not long ago, in a very friendly lady I think she was on the first impression steam.

She came up and said are you new here and I said well sorta Joe got a wedding ring and she said she does you know if you have kids, we have the most awesome kids ministries here that I've heard that before that one of our campuses. These two teenage girls came up to me and they said when you take a picture of all this is so sweet. These two high school girls want to get a picture of their pastor.

They can put on their Facebook wall and talk about how meaningful my messages are to them. And so I said all I would be honored to and I kid you not. She hands me her camera and says just get the two of us over here by the summit logo if you would mind it all right. I'll be happy to do that for for Jewish people. Moses was more than a celebrity.

Moses was larger-than-life, but he was, not just a celebrity was the delivery was their national founding father. He was the lawgiver in many ways, he was the architect of their faith, he was George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Billy Graham, and Martin Luther King Jr. all wrapped up in the one he was revered in life and even more so after death when he died, God had to hide his bone so that the Israelites did not dig them up and worship them so there is no doubt that Moses really shot them surprised them in Deuteronomy 1815, when he said in his final sermon to them, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your brothers is to him that you will actually listen. You see, Moses ends his life in its final sermon, pointing to a new profit a better profit. He is saying who would do for the Israelite people what Moses had been unable to accomplish himself. Moses you see in many ways, have been a failure.

He had given the law to the Israelites faithfully, but he had been unable to get the people to actually obey the law, the history of Exodus through Deuteronomy. If you been reading along with those you just gotten to Deuteronomy it reads like one long continuous list of failures in Exodus 32 right after God gave the wall.

The cement was still wet on the tablets.

Moses got delayed on the mountains of the people panic and they take off their jewelry make meltdown to make a replacement God which they start the dance around and jump over the fires and do all these pagan sex acts.

The scene look like what Franklin Street would have looked like on Monday night had things gone slightly differently, but by the way, I did everything I could jump little campus up in a RAM on the stage of… Nothing more than I thought I could but the people fail they broke the wall no sooner than it had been given then that was the incident at a place called Masada where they were running short on water, and so they said God you forsaken us. They hatched a plot to kill Moses and go back to Egypt. Keep in mind this is after they seen God's with the Red Sea for them in and provide manna every morning from heaven, but there like yeah yeah guy we know that you just ended for centuries of slavery, you miraculously split an ocean in half and every morning you drop 500 metric tons of bread out of the sky to feed us.

What have you done for us lately. They were fearful nonbelieving last week pastor. Jason showed us other people doubted God when he told them that he would drive the Giants out of the land, even though we prove that he could do it. Moses had been able to deliver Israel from their slavery in Egypt but not from their slavery to idolatry and unbelief. The Giants of Canaan were not nearly as fearsome as the Giants of sin and fear in their hearts. Furthermore, Moses had been unable really to bridge the gap between them and God. Even with all the complex system of sacrifices are gigantic curtain remained between the people and God that they could not go behind lest they be struck dead. So Moses says the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you another one from your brothers. It is that him you shall listen, just as you desire the Lord your God in her RAM on the day of the assembly when you said well let me not here again the voice of the Lord. My daughter see this great fire anymore, lest I die. Lord said to me to write what they spoken, they can't see me.

They can hear my voice because they're so simple. I would tell them I will raise up therefore for them a prophet like you another one from among their brothers see the people in problem. Even with Moses and a perfectly given law, the people could not stand in the presence of God because they had simple hearts, and what God had always wanted what he had created us for was for us to be in his presence for us to be closer to him.

Then we were to anybody else on earth to be his cherished sons and daughters to be his friends. Furthermore, Moses turns out to be a deeply flawed leader himself. Moses had himself been simple and I'm believing in Numbers 20, the Israelites ran another one of their complaining fits again about whether to find water. So God tells Moses go out and speak to the rock in the presence of the people and I'll make water flow out of the rock for them. But Moses is ticked off so he walks out there and he says you foals you hardhearted heathens and instead of speaking to the rock like God had said he hits it twice with his staff.

Instead, you say what's the difference it communicates something different. Every parent knows that if one of your kids comes down and says hey my brother won't give me my ball back and you say will go back up to him and tell him that I said to give it back in your kid goes up and says hey this is for mom and punches him in the mouth.

That's not the same thing. God said that it was more than just frustration and impatience on Moses as part it was unbelief and it was a failure of love. Moses had failed them as a leader you see Moses love had his limits, so Moses said I'm not the final profit that you need is another. One common and he is much greater than me as big as I've been to, you have not been big enough this coming prophet will do what I've never been able to do, I could explain the law accurately to you, but I have not been able to lead you to obey it. So let me stop before we go any farther and tell you why that is so important for us is he just like with Israel. Number one, we need a law that can change us for most of us.

The problem is not that we don't want to be different or semi-prime is not that we don't know that we should be different. Our problem is that we can't make ourselves be different. We know you may not believe in the 10 Commandments but we all have a wall that we kind of ascribes it, which we know we should be more honest, more moral, more diligent, more loving more courageously be better suited for better dad. The problem is not that we don't know these things. The problem is we can't convince our hearts to act that way all the time.

The law is like railroad tracks. Railroad tracks can lay out for you exactly where you're supposed to go. But say you got several tons of coal that you're trying to move along this tracks. The tracks even perfectly laid out are not able to move the coal down the tracks. The law gives us the way to go. It doesn't give us the power to get there is what Martin Luther called the dilemma of the great commandment the great commandment is that Dwight Jesus that you sum up all the commandments is a love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. Luther said the dilemma of that commandment is that if you don't love something, then you can be commanded a lot right and submit when you're dating if if your parents commanded you to love somebody that you can love no command of theirs ago but love in your heart for them.

The flipside of that is if you do something you don't need to be commanded to love it told you before you never have to command me to eat a steak or take a nap or hug my kids are just my wife. I love those things I do the naturally Luther said that's the dilemma. The dilemma is if you don't love God you can't be commanded to love them, and if you do love them you'll need to be commanded to do what Luther said is what the law requires is freedom from the law.

Law has an inherent contradiction in this wall requires freedom from the law is a missense mechanism I could make sense. I haven't told the story in a while. I have told you before but it's been at least 18 months and that's my statue of limitations on stories meant I can tell our stories get on when I was in high school I dated, I started to date a girl and she was great awesome but you know I hadn't dated her enough that it will in order status of our relationship was and I was too cowardly to actually have a conversation so we can coffee me to go to college. She was still senior in high school so I just left about that's easiest way to do this. I just left went to school up in upper state New York now. We wrote a few times, it was friendly and we agreed to get together and went home. I was on Christmas break, so December 22 was the day that we were supposed to meet and she was about an hour away from me and so the morning of December 22. I had this horrible thought. I thought I'm going to see her three days before Christmas. I'm not sure the status of our relationship, am I supposed to get her Christmas present because if she gets me a Christmas present and I'll get her one that I look like a total dirt bag bites I want to drop 70 bucks and some girl of gotten her future with you can understand my dilemma right and so I driving on the way to her house and I run into the mall.

I go into a sporting goods shop and there I see it I see the resolution to my dilemma. It was an Adidas neck warmer. It's an Adidas in real big letters. You were when you were skiing. It cost seven dollars. I thought that is perfect because if she gives me a gift I'll give this to her and if she doesn't give me a gift. I've always wanted one of those that puppy is going to be mine. So I bought it I took it down to Nordstrom's downstairs and I asked them to wrap it. They said did you buy here.

I said sure and so they wrapped it up and I put in the back of my car beautifully wrapped in the back of my car underneath the seat and drive out the rest away to see her and a knock on the door she opens the door. Google :-) second thing out of her mouth. After hi how are you is I got your Christmas present. And I'm thinking you seen this on. I got your Christmas present to so she runs quickly grabs under the tree, grabs the big beautiful box with my name on it and I open this thing up, and I'm telling you I'm not including connoisseurs you guys can pretty easily tell, but I picked up his jacket.

I could tell because about like more than $100 will look like to make and I literally panic. I was like something out of my car for this girl and she says no you said you had a gift for me like I left your gift at home, thinking it's an hour away.

I got days to be able to rectify this time.

She says she's as well. She's as you know my parents are here tonight so we can hang out here. I haven't seen your parents in a while. Why don't we drive back to your house and then you can just give me to give their and I thought the judgment of God and so we drove an hour back to my house.

I go in that the house and I was little and you will hear moving in for a minute and would like a marathon mama minimum amount you have anything that you really give my sister Chrissy is real, here is your reading your to give to her that she didn't know about yet. And mom said wise and don't ask any questions, please so we go under the Christmas tree we take out a president that has my sister's name on we take her name off of it.

We put this girl's name on it and I handed to her and I say here's a gift I don't even know what it is much easier start open the presents know what is it, hopefully just open it and so I was curious to see is pulled out of this letter and insolent sweater vest that is beautiful and it looks like an equivalent gift. I was like I live to see another day. Now here's the question. My tell the story. If not, girl. To my knowledge, she still did marry her that's not Veronica but she would mind hopping sexual still is knowledge of how that gift went down if she had the knowledge at the time you think she would've been flattered to receive that gift know she would be insulted because she knows I'm not giving it to her because I care about him giving it to her because I don't want to look back.

Why do you think that God wants people to obey him because they feel like they have to in order to get something from him or because obedience to him is to keep them from something that they don't want, like cursing or hell.

God doesn't want people who obey him because they have to. He wants people who obey him because they want he wants people who seek after him because there's nothing in life rather seek after more than him who do righteousness, not because somebody is waving a stick out and save you don't do this, throw you in the hell because they love righteousness more than they love sin and the law is able to tell us we should be like that. The law is unable to actually put that desire in us. So number one. The walk-in changes. We need a law, the J number two because our greatest enemies like Israel are within us, not outside of busy just like with the Israelites. We think the problem is out there. If the giants of disease or debtor divorce with the Pharaoh of a bad boss or a bad marriage or low self-esteem are more like God.

We need deliverance we need another Moses. We may not say that literally, but we need some kind of change in situate.

We need a political or economic deliverer to come and save it.

We need somebody who can bring hope and change, or somebody you can make America great again or we need somebody will find a cure for cancer. I need a new house or I need a new spouse running a new job or I need new kids or whatever you want to put in somebody to make us all prosperous that that's what I need.

That's what the people were still looking for when Jesus came when Jesus came in John chapter 1, they started to see the miracles that he was doing okay. You know Moses, are you the one that's going to come and get rid of the Roman oppression. All the debt the disease. I'm doing a better life that Moses is always when talking about, they still did not understand this lesson that Moses was trying to teach them your greatest enemies are inside of you, not outside of you. That's the deliverance you need. First medial nerd moment here for minute for you Hampel nerds in the room and early 20th century those a group of socialist in America and Great Britain who believe that man's problem was oppressive government structures man's problem with poverty or lack of education. Socialism taught that man was basically good that his environment had just messed them up why after World War II. All the atrocities forward to a bunch of them totally and radically change their outlook. One of them. The British philosopher David Cecil said McKenna captured that the thought the philosophy of progress, the philosophy of the Enlightenment had led us to believe that the savage and the primitive was behind us.

It turns out that it was actually still within us all he did was discover what Moses illustrated 3000 years before there is no law, no liberation, no external or circumstantial change that can transform the heart of man you need something different you need something more powerful something that even a perfect law cannot supply to you. Number three. We need somebody who will love us unconditionally in order for real love for God to grow in us.

We need a leader who also was perfect and unconditional love all of our life. We crave that unconditional love. We look for first and our parents. Then we look forward in the spouse and until we find in our hearts are fearful and distressed told you couple weeks ago about Martin Luther that the Catholic moment to rediscover this idea that God's love is a gift that he gives us unconditionally when we receive in Christ. The church of Luther's day was like Luther, if you remove the threat of punishment and people will lose all their will to obey. If they're not afraid that God will punish them and put them in hell if they disobeyed and what motivation will they have to obey said it's actually the exact opposite being afraid of judgment will produce a surface level, adherence to God's laws. But underneath that thin veneer of obedience is gonna rush this river of fear and pride and self interest. You parents see this right if I beat my kids mercilessly every time they disobey.

I might curb their behavior at least around me, but underneath that conform behavior.

They're going to grow up with hate and fear and rebellion in their hearts is only in the context of unconditional love that they will learn to love me and trust me, and grow up to be healthy, mature, loving adults. So yes I discipline them, but I may clear as I do that nothing they can do whatever change my love for them. That's all we need in a deliverer, because that's the only way that true righteousness will ever grow in our hearts. That's where the desire for righteousness rose from true virtue grows only in the soil of security.

It is only in the security of God's love for me that love for God grows in me. Here's number four. We need somebody you can actually bridge the gap between God and us. We need somebody who can bridge that gap. Moses law was effective at showing us how simple we were.

There was a bedroom at showing us how terrible our sin was, but he couldn't change last week my wife and I were on a trip with our our daughter just turned 13 rounds special trim something this cheap little hotel. My wife we walked to the hotel room says what she always says we go to hotel room. Don't touch that the bedspread why because she seen that Oprah special limited to blue light in you still fill the contaminant the bodily fluids.

It's disgusting right law is like that blue light, it can reveal the filter of our hearts by showing us how warped and to form the desires of our heart are, but it cannot change our hearts want to clean the hotel room you don't use the blue light. You gotta take life so you Lysol the room or you can take out the bedspread or in my case, you can just ignore it and be happy in life. Okay.

But the question is how you clean your heart. How do you cleanse the filth of your heart.

So what Moses promises is extremely relevant to us as well. The Lord your God will raise up a prophet. He says like me from among your brothers. Another one is to handle actually listen, there's a couple important characteristics that he gives us in that one verse right there about this coming prophet.

First he says is going to be from among your brothers. Muslims always try to say that Mohammed is this prophet that Jesus was talking about the Mohammed is the revenue, give them better law, but Mohammed was not a Jew in Jesus and God clearly says that this of the profits can be from among your brothers from among the Jewish people.

So give me vomit that other characteristics is to be like me. Let me consider this. Like Moses, Jesus was a Jew, like Moses, Jesus was born during a time when Israel was oppressed, like Moses, when Jesus was born a local leader try to kill all the Hebrew boys a Moses case, it was Pharaoh in Jesus's case, it was Haran like Moses, Jesus chose to leave his royal family to identify with his people, like Moses, Jesus spent time in the wilderness before his ministry began for Moses, it was 40 years Jesus it was 40 days like Moses, Jesus delivered his people from great danger when Israel stood between a gigantic body of water and the angry Egyptian army behind them. That threatened to destroy them.

Moses stretched out his hands and made a safe passage through the Red Sea.

When we were pinned between the sea of our Santa, wrath of God that was coming to destroy us. Jesus stretched out his hand and made a safe passage to the waters of God's judgment. Like Moses, Jesus, table all except Moses gave his law from Mount Sinai with the warning. If you do this consistently you live but if you disobey, it shall die. Jesus law.

By contrast, was given from a mountain. It was called the sermon on the Mount, but he told his people. You can never keep this law sloppy before you, and I'll suffer the penalty for you breaking it and then I'll give you the power to keep it by keeping it in you Moses told them to sacrifice a llama Passover with the blood of the doorpost of their home, so that the death Angel would pass over their home, Jesus sacrifice himself and put his blood on the doorpost of our heart, so that the wrath of God would pass over us. Moses had them bring a land each years of saps substitutionary sacrifice to atone for their sin. Jesus gave himself as that substitutionary lamb whose blood once and for all satisfy the penalty against our sin. Jesus was the scapegoat sin into the wilderness bearing our guilt on his head. He was the bronze serpent lifted up so we could be healed. The rock struck by the anger of God so that we could drink the water of life Amana. The drop from heaven, so that we could be filled with the bread of life. Everything that Moses gave in shadow. Jesus fulfilled in substance, and unlike Moses, Jesus blood actually cleanses us to that we can be safe again in God's presence.

Moses left the curtain in place.

Jesus poured into every religion leaves the curtain in place. No religion is yet figured out how to tear the curtain between us and God. You know I used to live as a missionary among Muslims and said one afternoon a group of students trying to explain to them why Jesus had to die. Tell me why you didn't have to die and writers were in the middle of this discussion: prayer goes off the modem go to prayer five times a day. This happens on they'll get out your wash come back.

You pray this in depth. Every time a friend of his vigorous washing process so they came back and said now is I will tell me why you do all the washing. Not what we gotta be clean before all we clean every part of us. We go for a lower clean. I said okay what is the filthiest thing that you can touch like tank pork, bacon bacon, you're just defiled.

Mike really like the filthiest thing in the universe. Yeah, like if you touch port, you gotta watch 7×17 I got you stand water soap is this big process. My cerulean all the universe. The filthiest thing is a pig that God created and I like well.

One says he says well you know to be honest, it's probably filter to God is when we have sin in our hearts and we love other things more than we love all law or when we do things we know are contrite as well. Michael called on that section. Where does that fill the word as it was odd not what it's in your heart. Is it okay so how do you clean your heart for you when you go before law, when I say so well we we don't we just repent and God forgives us and is enlightenment. You can't just repent of touching the pig of repent and watch. So why would God have you watch seven times for touching a pig, but the thing that's filthiest to him. There's no cleansing forwarded all now they didn't fall to their knees and I'll get gloriously saved but it connected with them. At that point because he Jesus blood does what no religious observance and do it's not water that we need to wash the filth of our bodies is something that we need to watch the filth off of our souls, and there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Sinners plunge beneath that fly lose all their guilty state. Most importantly, unlike Moses this new profit never grows were weary with us and he never falters in obedience he lived without sin.

There was no guile or deceit that was ever found in his mouth. Jesus did not get mad and strike the rock in frustration like Moses did in love. He took the stroke of justice so that we could escape it. Jesus is the truer and better. Moses he's going that came it was like Moses when he was better than Moses and he gives us what Moses did, never gives us what no law can ever give us to see now that you know that we can spend our last few minutes here looking at the actual sermon that Moses preached the whole book of Deuteronomy is one long sermon. After he's given you to deftly fail the law.

This is his final words to them under two primary themes in the sermon to print which you and I can listen to even better than they listen to because we know the actual profit he was talking about. The sermon is, summarize in chapter 6 of Kubota chapter 6 meet pickup just a couple things in their two things in the sermon. The first thing is remember, remember, you will repeat this command.

Some 24 times in Deuteronomy. At least that's how many we counted Israel's spiritual wondering is always going to be marked by time of spiritual forgetting is amnesia that leads to idolatry nuts, but they physically could not remember like they had a mental problem which is that these things lost their prominence in their minds. So what is he command them to remember verse 12. Take care lest you forget the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery would give you three things are supposed remember from that verse. The first one.

A. The slavery of sin. Remember the slavery that Santa had led you into you need to stop and remember where your sin and taken you something you can look back at your own life and remember that tension you can remember where you were without God continue. Remember the emotional turmoil. The anxiety that you live with your member what your life was like you really want to go back there. Some of you are young you been raised in Christian homes, and you don't have a life that's been scarred by sin. Yet, thank God you need to think about where simple choices can take you because you had a choice right now that you can take a life of freedom and blessing, and goodness that leads to eternal life or one of bondage and bitterness and dissatisfaction and strength that leads to hell and you need to stop and remember where these choices are to lead you. He says secondly B you need. Remember that you been delivered to careless you forget the Lord who brought you out. Don't just forget that you were in slavery. Also, don't forget that God brought you out. You see God's deliverance process listen to God's deliverance process is not just taken you out of bondage is taken, the spirit of bondage.

You and sometimes lasting is harder than the first thing.

Imagine an infant boy taken in the foster care system was placed into a home where the father abuses him and the boy spent the first seven or eight years of his life in that home. This dad never tells the boy that he loves them. He called him names and demeans him one day this daddy comes home drunk and he kicked open the door did not swing the boys teeth out this little boy don't have a bed. Yes, asleep in the corner of a room even sleep in pajamas because his dad will barely buy them enough food, much less buying pajamas. This little boy never gets toys or games when he's at school yes to bar food from his friends and he shoved in his pocket so that we get home. He's got something to eat. Then one day when is about seven years old child protective services takes this child away and he's adopted by a good family with a good father.

This dad starts to speak love and life into the boy.

He says things like son, I'm proud of you or I love you. This boy is never in his life heard those words, he's never experienced unconditional love this father cleans them up buys a new close gives him a bed and toys and lots of things to eat. One night the father walked in the kids bedroom and the little kid is curled up in the corner sleep on the floor was the father nearly walks over to pick them up and says you'll have to sleep on the floor anymore. You can sleep in the bed that was your own family. This is your know when I'm your daddy now you are logged in your cherished ear sometimes and the father comes home a little boy hides in the closet and the daddy says you'll have to do that anymore either never hurt you I love you one night at the dinner table to dad sees the little boy taken food and 70 into his pockets and the dad says you'll have to be that anymore either never let you go hungry.

This is your new family time your dad always provide for you see, that's the story of every single Christian sin has damaged us so that we live in our souls with a sense of fear and under the dread of condemnation and simply saving us is not take that spirit out of us. But in Christ, God has made you part of a new family. That means you'll have to live under this cloud of condemnation where you expect to keep suffering for past mistakes. So your divorce you messed up all you got pregnant. Oh you got fired. Things are over for you.

Your daddy says no there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The old is gone. The newest calm. We don't have to live with the fear that we are going to be abandoned, end up in poverty because I know that my God shall supply all your need. He knows every hair this on your head got them all counted not one falls about his knowledge of course he's not gonna let you go hungry. I can lay down every single night with the assurance that surely goodness and mercy of follow me all the days of my life and will follow me all the days of my life because I know that he that did not spare his own son for me when I was his enemy into not abandoning now that I'm his child. You want to feel shame, because God's chosen you he is cleansed you and changed you and you are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that he is appointed for you. You have to compete any longer for the approval of others, to prove to yourself or anybody else that you have worth because in Christ you got the absolute approval of the only one whose opinion really matters anyway. Your new person adopted into a new family with a new father you are a cherished son or daughter who will never be forgotten. Moses says now live that way. Never forget it because it will change everything C says you gotta remember the graciousness of the God who saved you see that they careless you forget the Lord himself. Remember, the character of this God is when you forget this character that obedience becomes drudgery. It's when you forget this God that you lose your joy, his grasp. Brett grasping the trustworthiness of God that enables you to obey with freedom and joy that led us to verses later, Moses anticipates a conversation that can take place one day between daddies who salt God do the Red Sea thing and boys you're their sons who did verse 20 when your son asked you in time to come is the meaning of the testimonies in the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God has commanded you what will I will bail these rules limiting what I would say instinctively uncivil son.

The reason I gave us the rule about adultery is because it's better in marriage to have one partner for life.

It leads to lifelong intimacy.

Sex is the best sex and keep things like STDs, gives us from a lot of heartbreak. God's way is better. And the reason he told us that one day off a week is because psychologist have proven that you need at least one day a week at your heart rate slows that you're not doing thing that a normal pace leads to a healthier and happier life. And so ultimately it's better if we take out the Sabbath. That's why God told us that his way is always the best. That's what I would've said that is not gossip is what got us next verse you shall save your son why we obey when we were slaves in Egypt, the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and then he gave us the statues to fear him for our good always but he might preserve us alive, as we are this day the why we are based on because the God who gave us these rules is a God who saved us and we know that if you say this is thinking about our good and so I want to sit around and try to figure out if I agree with him because I know that a God who did not abandon me in slavery is a God that I can trust with my life I supposed to let me ask you this. If you believe that Jesus Christ died for you, which I know that the majority of you sitting here listening to me. Do if you believe that Jesus Christ died for you. Do you honestly think that you can't trust him when it comes to things like sex and marriage. How schizophrenic is that that you would believe that he cared enough to die for you, but you got a better plan that he does know about with marriage and sex and friendship.

You can't really trust him with your life that is absolute and total insanity. You see, they only had the Red Sea we have now Calvary hi know that the God who gave me every single role. The God who beckons me to give me my give him my life is a God that I can trust with my life because he proved it at Calvary. All of our trust in God is founded on what we saw him do for us at the cross saw movie couple weeks ago called miracles from heaven. Great movie little girl gets deathly sick. Her mother really struggles with faith in some amazing things happen in her. The mother Jennifer Garner learns to believe again. Now it's an amazing movie based on a true story, but the one thing that it leaves out all these movies like this out. I guess Hollywood just doesn't have the capacity to communicate this question never answers is why why would I trust God in the middle of. Why would I trust God when somebody that I love is hurting. Why would you trust God in the midst of the world like the one that we live in the answer for the Christian is very simple because of the cross because that's where I see the depths of God's love because I see that regardless of what else is happening in my life.

It's not because God has stopped loving me. It's not because God has lost his power because I know that a God who did not give up on me when I was his enemy is certainly not to give up on the now that I am his child, and so the old proverb says it like this, even when I can't trace God's hand. I can trust his heart because I learn who we years from how he delivered me and I based the rest of my life on what I saw there. You see, as you get older in the faith.

The cross needs to grow larger in your life you need to get more dominant in your life to the point that it becomes a filter through which you see everything because when the cross is large in your life.

Your obedience will have joy because you will trust God and will be able to persevere through trials and will confidently because you'll know that the God who didn't abandon you with the crosses and abandoning you now. So Moses says remember these things and if you remember them, then you're going to live joyfully commendable.

One is to remember command number two is to cling to the word as you go to cling to this word. Whatever sex these words that I command you today, the need to be in your heart. Teach them diligently to your children talking them when you sit in your house and wall. By the way, works in family life around the dinner table work life. Thanks for your work in light of these things when you lie down your eyes all morning and night by them as a sign in your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. Your your hand will be looking toward your actions. The frontlets of your eyes are and how you think you shall write them on the doorpost of your house and your household on your dates that your political thinking needs to be guided by Scripture cling to this word he says because these promises. These promises are everything. Deuteronomy 3247. This is not a nifty word. These words are life itself is a byword, God spoke the world into existence by the word. God give sight to the blind.

He made the lame walk, it's byword that God raised Jesus from the dead.

It's by his word that God brings salvation to the believing heart is byword that he breaks the chains of addiction in your life is byword that he pieces back together the broken shards of your marriage is byword that he renews and transforms your children. This word Moses said is light is light is salvation.

It redeems reconciled restores renews it is not an empty word.

It's your life.

Don't you want to know, don't you want to know what you want your kids to know. That's why some a church overdoing the whole story this year year. We just walked to the Bible in our messages each weekend every week in our small groups.

We go deeper into what we read the Bible with individual. Some of us for the first time we take our kids through the Bible as well say this because some of you have started off strong but you have you, fallen off the wagon here.

It's time for you to get back in. This is not an idle word.

It's not curiosity at your life and live your family. Some of you haven't joined up with this yet.

Maybe to start to come to church years. You can jump right in to spend the rest of this year just going deep into God's word. Let this be the year of the Bible for you.

First things first notice of beginning of the message.

For some of you. You never taken this step to get into the Christian life or talking about is how you go deeper in the Christian life.

I you really become alive again somewhere where begins is something that we call baptism. Not very clear. The gospel is that Jesus Christ died for your sandpaper all your sin in the office.

It is a free gift to all who will receive an you don't receive it by being baptized, you'll receive about raising her hand don't receive it by filling out a card walk and I'll wait you receive God's offer of salvation as you believe it with your heart and you just take it as a gift. He offers it to you. He says whosoever will make on that if you will, if you will surrender to him and to see Jesus or the Lord, and you'll receive his offer salvation will save after you do that however you were supposed to declare that publicly by baptism.

Baptism is the public ceremony of salvation. It's where you go public and Jesus said it is to be the first act of obedience.

After you trust in Christ.

Now there's a number of you here that have never taken that step of obedience and over the years I've been given lots of reasons why and so always writing down and then I bring back a time like this.

Okay so here they are one I get is I just don't see this being that important. I mean differences are going to make and it's a little inconvenient and it's, humiliating getting wet in front of a bunch of people in our response that is always who are you to tell Jesus which of his command, you think are important and which ones are not. That is not the way to start out your Christian life. It's almost like getting married and telling your wife on your honeymoon night that you can go hang out with the boys. That's not the way to start a marriage ways that you start surrender to the Lordship of Jesus is not about picking and choosing which commands you can obey which ones are not as important as he said it was important.

The second thing that I have a lot from people more practical is also why I wrote the people may want to wait for me to get baptized little trade secret here. The reason they invited you this morning was because they were open, this would happen okay so don't wait.

Secondly, if it won't wait you cannot sponsor Chuck to discuss what you call number if not want this drivers we have in the audience. Right now you are a son of Robert plus that we had six okay saucy summer out here. If you hit over and the person like I'm right here in the noon is not over them and you turn in the receipt and will pay for it will pay for it. You got it or I don't write you say well, people say well here's one say what I was baptized as a baby because of the baby. Listen will be very careful with this one because under different churches do things in different ways and there are major things in their minor things every time. Listen, hear me out every time we see baptism in the Bible. It's always, always, no exceptions. Not one exception. It's always a profession of your faith. You do it after you have made a decision to follow Christ. There is not one example anywhere of somebody was baptized and have somebody else faith. Actually, if you believe you need out as I think you believe you… Succeed you believe you got is always in that order. When you get baptized as a baby. That was the faith of your own to declare of your parents. That was been declared innocent. Thank God for your parents faith right they were hoping the reason I baptize you as they were hoping that when you got older he would follow Jesus and now you are. So when you get baptized as a profession to your faith that is not a repudiation of their faith is touching affirmation of their faith. You are ratifying a decision that they made for you, 10, 15, 30, 60 years ago to call them up afterwards. I was a mom and dad. I got good news, then you are hoping for me. When you baptize me when I was a baby. It happened on following Jesus now and I just ratified what you did when I was a baby out of ratified and said I agree with what my mom and dad were open for me and I'm fulfilling all their dreams for me. It will be a glorious day will be a glorious day for you and for them to not people say things like, you know, this is what spiritual with a likewise is messy in my error to the reality mired on if we have here coverings we do, we got deodorant. We got Combs different kinds of cones we got close like the US Library of Congress when it comes to baptism needs nothing you need to win thought of nothing so you come and will take care of now so well, no, I we said yes or no, I'm like you have suggested.

Are you happy having right is no middle ground. No, no, I haven't said yes, I did not yet listen to this delayed obedience is disobedience is disobedience and rebellion for you to put off until tomorrow what God has told you to do today. For many of you this is the moment God is saying is time to go public is something equip witness off is time for you to start disobeying because delayed obedience and disobedience and I want you to do what you know I want you to do. We had 80 some people who did this last week we've already had dozens of one of the exact number are different services before this one. It's time for you to join want to bow your heads all of our campuses by your heads listed first things first. If you're not sure that you receive Christ you know that you have received Christ in you can do it right now. I pray a prayer that sounds like this do in your own words from your heart.

Jesus I know here the Lord, I surrender to you. I received your gracious offer to save me now for those of you who never been baptized.

Whether you prayed that prayer with me just now for the first time, whether it happened last week or two weeks ago at Easter 20 years ago. She never been baptized after making a profession in your faith, what you say to God, God give me the strength in just a minute when JD stands up strings to obey to step out into the aisle like you invite me to do this route take the first step you give me the strength from their got pray for those who are right now the hearts beating the know that this is about them preaching.

Given the faith to take the first step in the Holy Spirit you fill them astray from that point on and you take it from there. I pray in Jesus name, amen. Look about me all campuses you have just a moment about 45 seconds all our campuses and mustangs. All non-campuses understand one time when we do that I want you in one motion to Cicero slip out to the aisles, somebody will greet you there and they'll take it from there you have any questions you can ask them to have some questions and ask you if either of you us decide like it's not the best time then we'll talk about that and we can just we can plan it for a while. We always get the conversation started. Don't delay, as soon as we stand up. He does move on the out now. Right now this is happening your heart beating you like a things on the I am 70 okay so the person next to you right now is proceeding that your like in the Discovery Channel right now, with her elbow like that. Okay. And that means I'll go with you. You want to walk alone on the if they didn't do that just now in their heart of hearts and rebellious and I want you to come look at them and just be like right because I want to go alone and you guys come together, come together and just the person. The will grab you and will take it from there. Okay, don't delay everybody at all campuses was do this together as one was standard Marcy stand our feet. If you need to comes make your way to the aisle you come you, some I'll take it from there