If I remember right, this is the first time we’ve been able to have the curtains open because the sun usually shines in and washes out, and today we’re worrying about getting our voices drowned out by lightning and thunder. Jason just pulled up the radar on his iPhone and its solid yellow and green back to Kansas City. So, I think if you have a garden in, it’s a good time to have one.
I’d also like to say hello to all those on the west coast. It’s good to see you. We look forward to seeing most of you at the fall Feast, but then let’s don’t wish the year away. Anyway, it’s a privilege for us to be here together to appear before God, and also to have brethren from other places. So, welcome to all of you.
Please turn to Matthew 28. I’m going to approach this sermon a little differently by giving you my final scripture first, and the reason is that there are some points I want to bring out. Usually a final scripture is something you want to leave in people’s minds, but there are issues of this one and I would like to make a point and accentuate it. For that reason, it’s difficult to have it as the last scripture.
Our tradition, at least here in Worden on the Night to be Observed, is to read some of the scriptures relating to the events surrounding that night and some of the pertinent scriptures. Actually this scripture is one that we read that night. At first, it doesn’t seem to have a lot of relevance to what we’re doing today, the Days of Unleavened Bread, but I’d like to take a closer look. We’ll see it has a very close association with both the meanings of the Days of Unleavened Bread as well as being very pertinent to us in this end time on our Christian walk, our journey out of Egypt and toward the Promised Land. Matthew 28 and let’s start in verse 18.
Matthew 28:18. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Verse 19. "Go therefore and make disciples …"
Remember these were some of the last words He uttered if you look at the companion scriptures. These were the last words Christ uttered on earth before He went back to the Father; so, just the fact that He’s saying these words is very important. It would be sort of if you were going to part from a very dear friend for a long time, and whatever those words were, encouragement or whatever, you would want to make sure they had a lot of meaning. It wasn’t just, "Well, I’ll see you in the funny papers" or something. It would be something very pertinent. So again, as we read this, let’s think about the moment. Here was Christ, just about to ascend to the Father and He was trying to leave His disciples with some encouraging words because He knew what they were going to face in the short years ahead.
Verse 19. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; (Here’s what I want to accentuate) and lo, I am with you always, [even] to the end of the age." Amen. (NKJV)
The word that is translated "lo" is Strong’s 2400, and it means "to behold, to see, or lo". I’ll just read what it says. This is second person, singular imperative middle voice of another word. Zodiades says, "It’s a demonstrative particle, ‘lo and behold’, serving to call attention to something external or exterior to one’s self, usually used at the beginning of a clause or only with kai, and that’s word 2532, "and", so the word "and" before it." Well that is the case here, he says, "and lo". So it is recorded here and it’s used in this way. Then he says, (I’m quoting again) "Before words that are to be particularly noted." If we were to put this in today’s terms, it would be, "Don’t ever forget what I’m about to say. Take special note of what I’m about to tell you." Then he says, "I am with you always even to the end of the age." Here was a promise from God, who cannot lie and He said, Look, what I’m going to tell you, don’t ever forget. I’m with you always, even to the end of the age."
If you want a title for today’s sermon, it is, "I am with You Always". You know Brethren, concerning this journey that we’re on today, I look around and some of those I observe, and I realize there was a time when we had a lot fewer wrinkles, a lot smaller bellies, and we walked straighter. This journey has taken a lot longer than, I think, any of us imagined. It has taken turns on our course that we could have never considered. It has and will continue to be an arduous, very narrow path, and while I think we can all read about and academically understand, the reality of it is, it tests the very core, the very fiber of our being.
You know, if we rely on our own selves, our strength, our wisdom, our strategy, our plans, we’re going to be frustrated to the point that we’ll give up and return to Egypt just like some of our forefathers did. Sadly Brethren, over the last twenty years, some of those who were among us did.
Who can we rely on? Humanly speaking Brethren, we can rely on no one. The promise that was made to Christ’s disciples just before His ascent back to the Father, has been made to everyone God has worked with. It was made to physical Israel actually before, during and after their journey to the Promised Land, and more importantly, Brethren, it is made to every spiritual Israelite that God has or will work with. One of the powerful lessons of these days is to understand that we are not on this journey alone. Also, we need to understand that our moving forward to that goal is absolutely contingent on moving forward and following God’s lead as we make this journey.
Today I’d like to closely examine some aspects of our calling, the journey we are on, and the relationship we have been called to be a part of. I think you will find it to be encouraging and will give us a renewed sense of dedication for what is ahead of us, and none of us know that. Only God knows what’s ahead.
First, let’s look at this journey we are on. You know, if we look at our own selves and our calling and put a time line to it, at some point in our past, we were faced with the fact that we had to make a choice. That came to every one of us at some different time, at some different point, under some different circumstances, but the sovereign God that created everything, offered us a relationship with Him. That relationship required that we take a different direction in our lives than we had previously been traveling. Turn over to Genesis 17. Let’s go back and look at one of our forefathers.
Genesis 17: 1. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I [am] Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless."
Verse 2. "And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."
Verse 3. Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:
Verse 4. "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations."
Verse 5. "No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations."
Verse 6. "I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you." (NKJV)
You know, not only was that the promise of the Messiah, but we also know, looking forward, that kings and priests, spiritual kings and priests will come out of him.
Verse 7. "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
Verse 8. "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
Verse 9. And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
Verse 10. "This [is] My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised;
Verse 11. "and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. (NKJV)
Here was Abram, ninety-nine years old and God appeared to him and entered into a covenant with him. Now here’s the question: Was this the first that God had any dealings with Abram? Did God just wake up one day, see Abram and enter into a covenant? We ask, why is that important, and I will tell you; it tells us a lot about our selection and our calling today.
Let’s go back to Genesis, Chapter 11, and let’s take a look at some additional information. This is much earlier. We don’t know exactly when this took place. Abram at this point could have been as young as thirty-five to perhaps fifty years old, but when this was written it says,
Genesis 11: 26. Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Verse 27. This [is] the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot.
Verse 28.. And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
Verse 29. Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife [was] Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah.
Verse 30. But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Verse 31. And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. (NKJV)
The Chaldean Empire at that time was what was Babylon. That’s where they were raised up. Although the city of Ur is not specifically known; there’s not a stake in the ground, it was known that that was one of the major trade cities at the time and it was one of the major cities of the region. So, it wasn’t just a back water town. It was one of the major cities of Babylon.
Verse 32. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran. (NKJV)
Now again, Haran was a city that was somewhere between the Chaldean Empire and the land of Canaan. In other words, somewhere between those two, Haran is a place where they had settled on their journey. It doesn’t specifically say how long they dwelt there, but this is where Abram’s father died, in Haran.
Continuing on in Chapter 12 of Genesis,
Genesis 12: 1. Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you."
Verse 2. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
Verse 3. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Verse 4. So Abram departed as the Lord has spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram [was] seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. (NKJV)
Now it’s interesting because here it says God appeared to him in Haran and said, "Leave." Yet there are earlier indications that God had also appeared to him in Ur of Chaldees. Go over to Acts 7, (hold your finger in Genesis 12). You see, by the time God appeared to him, they had already left Ur of Chaldees. So it almost seems like it was Terah, but we know from Acts 7, that is not true. It’s called in a lot of the titles of the Bible, Stephen’s apology. I think if you read those words, it was anything but an apology. He was indicting them.
Acts 7: 1. Then the high priest said, "Are these things so?"
They just brought that he was speaking blasphemous words.
Verse 2. And he said, "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
Mesopotamia means the land between the rivers and Mesopotamia was the Samarian, the Acadian, the Babylonian and the Syrian Empires. That was one big area.
Verse 3. "and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’
Verse 4. "Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.
Verse 5. "And [God] gave him no inheritance in it, not even [enough] to set his foot on. But even when [Abraham] had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. (NKJV)
Several of the commentaries say that God appeared to him in Ur of Chaldees. That is not recorded in the Old Testament, but the New Testament seems to indicate that; that it was not just a single one. God appeared to him and said, "Come out of Ur of Chaldees." They moved to Haran and God appeared to him after his father died and said, "Come out of there" as well.
Okay, back to Genesis 12 and verse 5. The only reason I mention this is, God was dealing with Abraham for a long time before and multiple times did He have dealings with him. Again, we don’t know in the Old Testament or in the New Testament how long he dwelt in Haran, but we just know it was sort of a way point between the two major places where he was actually traveling.
Genesis 12:5. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran,
So again, it seems like it wasn’t as if, "We’re just going to spend a week there." They had actually been there long enough to acquire servants and workers and had built an estate.
Verse 5b. and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
As we read in verse 4, Abram was seventy-five years old at this point when they left Haran.
Verse 6. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. (NKJV)
It’s interesting, the terebinth tree supposedly lasts for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, even up perhaps to a millennium. It’s a marker in the Old Testament when they say "a terebinth tree"; it was there long enough that other people could come back and say, "Ah, this is the spot", because a particular tree was there. Anyway, Abram had passed through the land to the place of Shechem as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh
Verse 6b. And the Canaanites [were] then in the land.
Verse 7. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. (NKJV)
You know, God made a covenant with Abram when he was ninety-nine, but God had been dealing with Abram for many years. We know at least twenty-five years, and not knowing how long they had dwelt there, it’s probably close to forty to fifty years that He had dealt with Abram.
For the sake of time, I’ll let you read about Abraham’s journey, but it was exactly like his offspring if you continue reading. There was a severe famine in the land and they went to Egypt, and you can see that in chapter 12:10. Pharaoh sought to bring them in to make them a part of the Egyptian system. You can read about that in verses 14 through 16, but God was with Abram, and by a series of great plagues, caused Pharaoh to expel them from the land. You can read about that in verses 17 through 20.
Does that sound familiar? Fast forward almost a half a millennium and consider the Israelites. Consider Noah; how long did God work with Noah? You see Brethren, every one of us that goes through the same exact journey, from our calling to God’s family.
Tomorrow is a Sabbath and we’re not going to meet together; perhaps you could do a little meditation. Consider your past and at some point, think back as to when God started dealing with you. You might be surprised when you start to think about it. God was involved in our calling long before, I maintain, we realized it. God was there. You know, everyone of us could tell our own story about getting out of Ur of Chaldees, out of Babylon and going to a land we didn’t know to inherit a promise that we will not inherit in this lifetime. That’s the only guarantee we have in life. We’re not going to inherit the promised land while we are still breathing. Yet, that should be the goal that is foremost in our minds.
Go to Hebrews, Chapter 11. How could I say that and not go over there and read about it. When I try to go back into my life, there were certain decisions I could have made when I was young that would have set me on a course that would have been totally in a different direction and it didn’t. I personally believe even when I was a young person, that (even though He had not shown and not revealed Himself) God was dealing with me in ways I didn’t understand or appreciate. I have to honestly say today that I don’t think any of us appreciate it fully because we’re not aware of it; we’re limited to what God has done for us even to bring us where we are today.
Hebrews 11: 1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, (do we have a hope? You bet we do) the evidence of things not seen.
What do we have? We have promises. Brethren, we have promises from the God that created everything we see out there. We have promises from the God that created, not only when you look at the earth, when you look into outer space, or when you look through a microscope at the intricacies of creation. That is the Being that has made it all.
Verse 2. For by it the elders obtained a [good] testimony.
Verse 6. But without faith [it is] impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and [that] He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Verse 7. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (NKJV)
Verse 8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (NKJV)
Hold your finger and go back to John, Chapter 14.
John 14:2. "In My Father’s house are many mansions;" if [it were] not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
Verse 3. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, [there] you may be also."
Verse 4. "And where I go you know, and the way you know."
Verse 5. Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"
Verse 6. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (NKJV)
You see Brethren, we don’t know where we’re going, but we know who we’re following. We know who we must follow. We know the only way to successfully complete the journey is to follow Christ, and remember, He was the one who lead the Israelites, the pillar of fire and the cloud to the promised land. Turn back to Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11:9. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as [in] a foreign country, (remember he was there, but he hadn’t inherited it yet) dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
They were in Canaan and God said, "I’m going to give you this forever." They dwelt there in tents. They didn’t put down roots, here’s why…
Verse 10. For he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker [is] God. (NKJV)
Verse 12. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born [as many] as the stars of the sky in multitude – innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
Verse 13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced [them] and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Verse 14. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
Verse 16. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly [country]. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (NKJV)
Verse 17. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten [son].
Verse 39. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise.
Why? Here’s the reason.
Verse 40. God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. (NKJV)
You see, God wants His first fruits, His bride to inherit it all together. You know every person God has called has been called to leave their comfortable, familiar surroundings, to literally give up control of their lives and follow His lead. No exceptions. God wouldn’t bring us out and start us on a journey and then abandon us.
Set a marker in Hebrews 11. We’ll come back to it and read another portion. Turn to
II Corinthians, Chapter 5. Brethren, we are just sojourners on a journey. We’re not living in mansions and permanent homes. We don’t put our trust in what we have and, frankly, we don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring, other than we need to be committed to where God leads us.
II Corinthians 5: 4. For we who are in [this] tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
Verse 5. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing [is] God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
You know, God didn’t just make the promises. God gave us a guarantee. He gave us His spirit. He gave us His Son.
Verse 6. So [we are] always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.
As long as we are mortal, we are not sharing that spiritual experience to what God fully intends. It says…
Verse 7. For we walk by faith, not by sight. (NKJV)
Again, I don’t care what your profession is. Put the numbers to it. Try to figure it out humanly speaking and there’s nothing that will come out that it’s the proper thing to serve God now. You give up things. You lose things. Again, you’re on a very difficult journey, a very perilous journey.
I will ask you in your own meditation again to just consider your lives and your calling and think back to when God first started working with you. It might have been an encounter with someone, a miraculous intervention, maybe a small and almost forgotten incident. Ask God to help you see how He’s been involved in your life, even before you knew it. I think you’re going to find it very inspiring and, brethren, most of all I think you’re going to find it very humbling when you start to consider the great God working with ________ (put your name there).
Again, we are all on a journey. We knew what we were familiar with and we knew we had to leave that behind. Those were the things we were comfortable with. We set out not knowing where we were going and even when (what is the first thing a human wants to know?) are we there yet? When are we going to get there? I leave my daughter’s house a half mile up the road and the first thing little Rose wants to know is, "Are we at Mimi’s yet?" It’s only, what, two minutes if I drive slowly. But brethren we have confidence that God has been with us from the beginning and He’s going to see us to our destination, if, and that’s contingent, because we have to continue moving forward and we have to continue following His lead.
You know, the children of Israel were in terrible bondage to a system that, at first, promised them peace and prosperity and security. They were given the land of Goshen when they first went in, and that was the most fertile and productive region in Egypt. Look over in Genesis 47 and verse 3.
Genesis 47:3. Then Pharaoh said to his brothers (talking about Joseph’s brothers, if you look in context) "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants [are] shepherds, both we [and] also our fathers." (NKJV)
Verse 4. And they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."
Verse 5. Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.
Notice this…
Verse 6. "The land of Egypt [is] before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know [any] competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock." (NKJV)
You know, they immediately said, "Look, this is the best." If we could put it in modern terms, "You’re in this country of America, the land of opportunity. Whatever you want. We dig gold out of the hills and the grain in the fields is up to a horse’s bridle. It’s everything you could want." A person could be what a person wanted to be. Not only was Joseph chief over agriculture and eventually, as we know, only second to pharaoh, he said, "Look, if your family is good at this, put them over all the livestock. They’re going to be the head of the USDA. They’re going to oversee my livestock." So again, God gave favor to Israel, the best of the lands and everything.
Verse 7. Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
Verse 8. Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How old [are] you?"
Here, I think, are some key words as I read this and I want you to think about them.
Verse 9. And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage [are] one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." (NKJV)
That word pilgrimage is Strong’s 4033, "maguwr", and it means a sense of lodging, a temporary abode, that they were sojourners, to be a stranger. So he didn’t say, "You know, I left what I knew and now I’m here and now I’m on my pilgrimage." He said, "For all of my life, I’ve been on a pilgrimage, I’ve been a stranger, I’ve been on the move, I haven’t had anything all of my life." Again, he had just moved to Egypt to Canaan, which was the promised land and yet he considered his entire life to be a pilgrimage. Like us brethren, he realized he was just passing through. Can anyone read this and not think about the scripture that we just read? Let’s go back to Hebrews 11:13. With that in mind though, think about the meaning of this.
Hebrews 11:13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced [them] and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (NKJV)
Again, we are just passing through. We don’t belong here. This isn’t our heritage. This is not our government. This is not our system. We’re just pilgrims passing through. Brethren, if we forget that and want to settle in, we will forget and we will want to return and settle down and put down roots and become involved in the world and the system and get distracted from our calling and give up and, more importantly, devalue the vision and the promises that were made.
Hebrews 11:14. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
Those that said, "We’re strangers and pilgrims,"
Verse 15. And truly if they had called to mind that [country] from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. (NKJV)
If we forget it and like the Israelites, when the going got a little tough, and forgot that God was on that trip with them, they forgot the pain of bondage and started longing for a system that they left behind. They also became dissatisfied with what God was doing for them and what He had provided.
Numbers 11: 4. Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat?" (NKJV)
I remember, this is totally off the subject, but it just hit me as I was saying this; in the ‘60’s I spent a bit of time in the middle east. One of our favorite things was, we’d be out in the middle of the desert and it would be, I don’t know, 114 degrees outside. We were in the back of what they call a deuce and a half truck and we would be stopped and it was sweltering. One of us would say, "Boy, if we had a beer, we could have beer and pretzels … if we had some pretzels!" I think that’s the way they were, "Oh! Those leeks and onions" and, well, let me just read it. I don’t want to have to say it!
"We remember the fish that we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. But now our whole being is dried up and there’s nothing at all except this manna before our eyes."
You see, they sold out. They failed to esteem what was being offered to them. They had already forgotten what God was doing and where He was leading them and what He was offering. They devalued their calling. "Well, God didn’t come back when we thought He would! You know, what is this? I used to have a job! I lost it over this Sabbath. Woe is me!" Blessed are you.
Hebrews 12, let’s see how God views this.
Hebrews 12:16. Lest there [be] any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. (NKJV)
Verse 17. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. (NKJV)
I want to read that out of two other translations.
Hebrews 12:16. (The New Jerusalem Bible) And be careful that there is no immoral person or anyone worldly minded like Esau, who sold his birthright for one single meal.
He was wrapped up in the world. He was wrapped up in himself. "Well, what good is this birthright if I’m starved? I’m hungry!"
Hebrews 12:16 (The Bible in Basic English) And that there may not be any evil liver or any man without respect for God like Esau, who let his birthright go for a plate of food.
It’s interesting that both a disregard for what God has promised and sexual sins are viewed the same by God. He has contempt for it. Go over in Revelation 14. We understand that fornication is a grave spiritual sin since it is strongly condemned in Revelation 14 through 19. It’s becoming involved in the Babylonian system, the worldly system. Look at how the bride of Christ is described in Revelation 14, as not being defiled with the harlot and are virgins.
Revelation 14:4. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.
They’re not fornicators. They haven’t committed spiritual adultery with the system. They have stayed separate; they’ve stayed pure.
Verse 4b. These are ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes,
They are on a journey and it’s interesting because even at this point in the future, they’re still following. It’s not, "Let’s just follow Him until we get to be in God’s family." Christ said, "I’m with you always, even to the end of the age." Do a little study on that because it means forever and ever. There’s not a point that we’re not going to be following Him. After the resurrection when we’re spirit beings, we’re still going to be following Him.
Verse 4c. These were redeemed from [among] men, [being] firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. (NKJV)
Psalm 84. Our journey to God’s house is one that we have to seek, we have to value and we have to desire, just as those who were mentioned in Hebrews 11. To get there, we have to take a journey of some length we don’t know, but on it, we know that God is our provider and He’s our companion. This is a psalm that we sing.
Psalm 84: 1. How lovely [is] Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts!
Verse 2. My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; (NKJV)
I’m looking forward to it. I’m longing for, I strongly desire.
Verse 2b. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Verse 3. Even the sparrow has found a home. And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young. [Even] Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God.
Verse 4. Blessed [are] those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You. Selah
Verse 5. Blessed [is] the man whose strength [is] in You, (and take note) whose heart [is] set on pilgrimage. (NKJV)
"Blessed is the man whose strength is in You" who trusts God and whose heart is … I’m just passing through. I don’t belong." You know, one thing we will all do while we are on this pilgrimage, and I think we shared it with our forefathers and therefore, if you will, it’s sort of in our DNA. Look over in Genesis 15 and start in verse 1.
Genesis 15:1. After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I [am] your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
I’ll just read that out of the Tanakh.
Genesis 15:1. Some time later, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. He said, "Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great." (Tanakh)
It’s interesting again, the two words used there, exceedingly great; two separate words.
One is Strong’s 3966, and it says that it is either with or without a preposition, that it means to vehemently express something. It’s what they call an intensive superlative. In other words, when you put "very" in front of the next word in this Hebrew, it magnifies it. As someone would say, "It multiplies it times millions" or something. But it means diligently, especially, exceedingly. Then the other word is Strong’s 7235, rabah, which means also exceedingly. So it’s exceedingly exceedingly, and the fact that those two words are used together means almost unimaginable in scope. When he said, "I’m your exceedingly great reward;" He could have said, "I’m your great reward; I have given you a big reward", but He’s saying exceedingly great, which magnifies it.
Verse 2. But Abram said, "Lord God, what will you give me seeing that I go childless, and the heir (the King James says the steward) of my house [is] Eliezer of Damascus?"
Now the Bible doesn’t specifically name Eliezer as the one Abraham later sent to find Isaac a wife. In Genesis 42, it refers to the oldest servant of the house and the oral tradition was it was Eliezer of Damascus. And again, when we hear of a servant, we always think of someone with an apron on and maybe pouring wine, but a servant was a steward. They managed the affairs. There was a lot of trust that was given. There was a relationship of trust and a friendship and loyalty to one another. It wasn’t just, you know, "I pay your wages, so you’re going to do as I say." Eliezer was a very trusted, very loyal steward over his affairs.
Verse 3. Then Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!" (NKJV)
So God made him this promise and He said, "Look, I don’t have any kids." So if I can put my own words on it, he was basically saying, "Well, Look God, I know you made this promise and I know you’re going to follow through, here’s how I propose You solve this problem. Here’s Eliezer." In other words, God makes a promise and then we’re going to try to figure out how to bring God’s promise about. Here’s the sovereign God that created everything, and we’re going to try to solve His problem so that He can keep it.
Verse 4. And behold, the word of the Lord [came] to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir."
Verse 5. Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."
Verse 6. And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Hebrews 11, Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6 all quote this scripture that he believed God and he knew God would follow through on His promises and he lived his life and directed his steps with that promise in mind.
Verse 7. Then He said to him, "I [am] the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it." (NKJV)
Again He reminded Abram that He had been with him on that journey directing him since he left his original homeland. Since he originally came out, God was with him on that journey.
First Abram reasoned that God was going to fulfill it with Elieser. This was the only way humanly he could see that God was going to fulfill it, not that he doubted God, but, "Here’s the way you’re going to do it." And God said, "Well the heir is going to come from your body. Of course, you know the rest of the story.
We won’t take the time, but when Abram was 85, he had Ishmael by Hagar because he knew it was going to come from his body, still wanting to solve the fact that he was childless. He knew God was going to fulfill His promises, but he was still trying to bring about God’s promises perhaps in his way, and even tried to talk God into accepting the solution, if you will read through it. God made him wait another fifteen years because he even said, "Well God, what about Ishmael?" and God said, "No, your Sarai is going to bear him."
You know, Moses was born and his survival was miraculous because, remember, Pharaoh had issued an edict that all the male Israelite babies would be killed. God was already intervening and Moses was not only saved, but Moses was prepared for the job that God had in mind eighty years in the future. The only problem, if we read, is Moses about forty years into it, decided to take it into his own hands and you can read about it. Exodus 1:11. It seemed like he was going to free the people by eliminating those who opposed him. He killed the Egyptians. So what did God do? He prepared him for another forty years before God’s time was right.
Go over to Exodus, Chapter 2. My point here, brethren, is we know God has made promises to us, yet we spend a lot of time perhaps trying to figure out how we can help God come through with those promises. Perhaps we even worried about how he’s going to do it.
Exodus 2:23. Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
Verse 24. So God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Verse 25. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged [them]. (NKJV)
It’s interesting because I think it’s easy to get a misconception when we read that. The Jewish people today see God obviously as the Creator; God is sovereign, but they see Him as sort of having lost interest in things. He has gone off maybe with some other interest. They see Him as perhaps a little old and forgetful, being uninvolved, and remember, they have to do that, otherwise why would He let them, the chosen people, suffer through time like they have? After all, as they see it, they had Him in their pocket. You know, it’s almost written that way, that you could conclude something triggered a thought in God’s mind and then He remembered. Brethren, nothing could be further from the truth. Again, let’s look at this word where it says God "remembered". It’s Strong’s 2142; it is "zakar", and it means to mark. I think Steve mentioned this in a sermon, so as to be recognized and if you look at the way it’s translated and do an Englishman’s search on that, it means to keep or to put in remembrance. It means God continually kept them in remembrance. It wasn’t like, all of a sudden He realized, "Hey, I kind of lost track of time. I’d better go get them out of there!" This was the focus of God’s attention that entire time. It’s present tense, it’s not past, it’s present tense. Steve went over it the first day, but I just want review it again.
Look in Exodus 12:39. Just to emphasize this, because I think if we can understand this, it will give us absolute confidence in God, because remember, they groaned and they were in travail just like we are today. We are oppressed. I say we’re oppressed; we’re still in this country and we complain because, well, I complain because milk is going up, and gas is going up. You know, we’re in bondage because of this. But we are. While I’ve been giving this sermon probably (I don’t know what the death rate is of children starving today) but this world is in terrible bondage.
Exodus 12:39. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves. (NKJV)
Verse 40. Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.
Verse 41. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years – on that very same day –
Now God didn’t go, "Hey, I just realized something!" God was marking time to the day when He was going to do something, and you know when He started it? … back in Abraham’s time. He was on a schedule. Again, I hope I don’t minimize God, but He had a Gantt Chart and it had…
There are certain activities that God did as He went down to that.
Does that sound like a being that just sort of forgot and something jarred him awake and He went, "Ah! I forgot to turn the beans off! Oh, I got to get these people out of here! They’re suffering!" Brethren, don’t believe it for a minute. True, God didn’t fulfill His promises to Abraham as soon as Abraham thought or the way he thought. God didn’t free the Israelites in the time frame that Moses thought or in the way; in fact, it was a full forty years. God didn’t just zone out for forty years.
We should do a little counting and this is not significant, but sometimes it helps to chuckle at ourselves. Forty years ago in 1972 it was going to end. Here we are in 2012. Did God just forget to set the alarm? Don’t you believe it. You know, we tried to help God. We had these huge media pushes and we filled the skies with jets and flew everywhere so we could do all of this, so that (and we even said this, and I hope we’ve all repented. I have.) God is waiting on me to get something done! God can’t bring this to an end until I do something. It was as if we were calling the shots and we were going to say this was all going to come down, just like Abraham, just like Moses and many others.
Again, I find it interesting that God’s time was forty years after Moses thought it was time. I’m not saying that forty years and now He’s doing it. Forty years seems to be a long time and yet those of you remember when it was all going to be over in 1972. We were going to be spirit beings by 1975. Boy, I’ll tell you, I get up in the morning with my back and I sure know I’m not a spirit being yet. We look at the prayer list and we know we are not only still human, but we are aging humans and we are breaking down and getting old, and even like in the case of Velma, we’re going to die. We aren’t going to get to that promised land while we are alive.
Brethren, we need to see that God is focused. What He is doing is at the center of His activities. He’s focused on it. We don’t know His time frame and thankfully we don’t know His time frame, because God has a view and a concern that we as humans don’t even have the capacity to understand and we need to accept that. Also, we need to appreciate it and we need to thank God that we are not the ones calling the shots because I’ll guarantee you, we would just make a mess of it. Matthew 24. If we forget that and we think otherwise, we are going to miss out. All you have to do is look at the most turned to section of your Bible and you can find Matthew 24, just look at the edge of your Bible.
Matthew 24:42. "Watch therefore, (and I’m breaking into this) for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming." (NKJV)
You know, this is the scripture and of course, leading up to this, He was giving them events that would point to the end. We’ve used this for justifying keeping an eye on the Pope, the Fuhrer, the Illuminati, Barak Obama, Congress, whatever we have, we’ve used this to focus on everyone but me. If we continue reading, the stern warning is about our behavior, not there’s … how we act and react. Does God want us to watch everyone so we will know when to cut and run? Is that the whole purpose or does He want us to watch ourselves and our behavior and make sure our relationship with Him is correct?
Verse 43. "But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into."
Notice that, our house, the things I have control over, the things that you have control over, not whose going to be the next president, not what is happening over there; my house, those things that are under my control. It’s not what they are doing, brethren, it’s what I am doing. It’s how I’m reacting; it’s how I am learning.
Verse 44. "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Verse 45. "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?"
Verse 46. "Blessed [is] that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing."
You know the parable of the talents clearly says (we’re not going to go there for sake of time) that those who are faithful over a little will be made to rule over a lot. In fact, Luke 19:7 says "Faithful over very little".
If we are trying to change anyone else but ourselves, we are going to be frustrated and we’re going to be taking on more than we can do. We need to be changing ourselves and setting a proper example. If what happens to us is in somebody else’s hands, then we could say that God is not fair. Our outcome is not in somebody else’s hands. Brethren, God never leaves our relationship with Him and the outcome of that in anybody’s hands but us and Him. It is a relationship directly.
Verse 47. "Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods."
Verse 48. "But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ (He didn’t come back when we thought; didn’t do it the way we thought)
Verse 49. "and begins to beat [his] fellow servants, (to devalue the calling; to devaluethe trip) and to eat and drink with the drunkards,
To go back to Egypt.
Verse 50. "the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for [him] and at an hour that he is not aware of,
Verse 51. "and will cut him in two and appoint [him] his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (NKJV)
The hypocrites are those that say, "Look what they’re doing! Look what he’s doing! Look at his sin! Look at the speck in his eye." That’s what a hypocrite does. Christ directly said it. This scripture is very clearly talking about us and how we behave and how we act and how we approach God.
John 5. Brethren, God is very actively involved in working with us and on this very small planet that could almost be lost in the cosmos, even dwarfed by almost all other galaxies, but right now, this is where He’s chosen to perform His work.
John 5:17. But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."
He hasn’t been out playing golf. He hasn’t been out doing something. Again, God has a time line that we don’t know … thankfully and He’s working in it and He’s going to bring it about.
Brethren, as these Days of Unleavened Bread come to a close for 2012, let’s remember and come away refocused about what’s really important in our lives. Let’s see that God is always involved in our lives, involved in what’s taking place on this earth, that His plan is on schedule and it’s going to be completed when and how He chooses, thankfully. Our part is to respond to that calling and to be very circumspect in our walk.
Just as our forefathers left Egypt, leaving behind the leaven that was there, we on our journey and our walk were told to leave things behind and also told to bring some things with us.
Romans 13: 11. And [do] this, knowing the time, that now [it is] high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation [is] nearer than when we [first] believed.
Verse 12. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, (NKJV)
In other words, leave them behind because they’re going burden us down and drag us off the path.
Verse 12b. and let us put on (In other words, carry something with us) the armor of light.
Let us pick up and carry the armor of light. Let us walk properly. That’s our Christian walk, brethren; that’s how we behave. It’s not what we say, it’s not our words, it’s our actions, it’s our walk, it’s our path, it’s our journey.
Verse 13. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
And, notice this..
Verse 14. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, (NKJV)
Just as we refocused Passover night of we’re to take in and become. Let’s imbibe of Him and make Him part of our body.
Verse 14b. and make no provision for the flesh, to [fulfill its] lusts.
Brethren, as we go from here, let’s never forget the great truth and the promise that was made by Jesus Christ as He left this earth …
"I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Transcribed by RV 07/15/2012