This sermon emphasizes the importance of not rejecting the voice of God, highlighting the need to obey His commands and surrender to His will. It discusses the rejection of God's truth, the consequences of turning back to worldly ways, and the loving nature of God's sacrifice through Jesus Christ. The message challenges listeners to stop rejecting obedience, surrender, and the work of the Holy Spirit, urging them to embrace God's love and guidance.

Don't reject the voice of God. D.L. Moody said, There will be no peace in any soul until it's ready to obey the voice of the Lord. I thought about that being the sermon and just going into worship because that is so true. There will be no peace in any soul until it's ready to obey the voice of the Lord. We had an interesting memorial here yesterday. A lot of people from North Hollywood came and I'm sure you know that area. And they're caught in a certain lifestyle. And I preached the Gospel and I told them there's no peace. There's no peace until we listen to God's voice of truth. But it also applies to us because I see so many people caught in misery, depression, I don't really want to be here today, can't the game be starting now? And just this lack of passion for God. We can see it in our worship. We're not meant to be statues during worship. Bored to death. There's something that should be engaged in our heart. And as we were singing that last song, Lorne Daigle, and that's why God, I believe, gives people new voices for every generation. Those truths in that song are powerful. It reminds me of a person, their house is on fire, their leg is stuck, and the fireman runs in, grabs them right before the roof caves in, and this saves their life. It's like the person saying, oh, thanks for that, whatever, and they go eat lunch. Is there a problem with that picture? I love you. What can I do for you the rest of my life? That's what Jesus did for us. But sometimes we come in like, thank you. It's okay, it's hard. We need to hear the hard things. There are turning points in our lives. Abraham had a turning point. Moses had a turning point. The children of Israel could have took a turning point. I think this council that is interviewing Stephen is given the opportunity to turn to God, but instead of turning to God, they reject him. And there will be turning points in our lives as well. The older I get, the more I realize that when I first came to the Lord, I thought I was looking for that lightning bolt in the sky. Lord, just make it crystal clear what You want me to do. Come on, guide me so I know for certain it's You. Now, the more I realize, there are critical times in our lives where it's the little choices sometimes. Or it's the turning points. Don't do that. And He guides us as we listen to His voice. Because that's trust. If God just said, Shane, go start a church here. Oh, okay, that's you. There's not a lot of faith involved. So stepping out and looking back at my life, there were critical junctions. There will be critical junctions in your life. And it's important that we listen to the voice of God. And obey it. Right? There's that word people don't want to hear. Obey. Oh, here you go again. And as I was talking about obeying God's word, a few people did get up and walk out yesterday. You know, it usually happens. You guys are gracious here. But there have been times when people don't want to hear certain things. And when you get to that word obedience and obeying God's word and His truth, it seems to set something off in us that we don't want to hear. However, there are a group of people that love that word. Because they know it draws them closer to God. So let me set the framework for those of you who have not been here in the last few weeks. And I would encourage you to listen to the last few messages on this topic. But Stephen was a man full of faith, full of power. When you've got the Holy Spirit all over you, and I'm not talking about weirdness, I'm talking about people can sense the Spirit's power. You're going and you're praying for people. You're pulling down strongholds. You're taking strong, loving stances. And you're filled with faith and with boldness. The world and many around you will not like you. He was standing up for God. And so they accused him of blasphemy. Blasphemy. And the council, the religious leaders, pulled Stephen from the crowd and said, what do you say about this? So Stephen is about ready to lay out the nation of Israel. Their history. And he began with Abraham last week. And as he gets to the end, he's going to call them out and challenge their stiff neck and their hard hearts, and they're going to kill him. I mean, of all the ways to die, I don't think stoning is up there on the top of my list. Because what they would do often, they would throw you down. Maybe even something like this further down you'd be down there. And these big rocks. And they're just throwing, all these people are throwing rocks at you. It has to be often the accusers who are accusing you. Jesus, whoever cast the first stone. And they're throwing these. Whatever you could find. Boulders, rocks. There's nothing you could do. That's stoning. That's how they would stone a person to death. Man, this guy. This story just touched my heart. Because I see me down there trying to catch the rocks and throw them back. And Stephen said, Father, hold this knot against them. And he saw God. He saw Christ sitting on the right hand of the power of God as He was dying. He said, Father, don't hold this ignorance against them. See, that's a person filled with the Spirit. Mightily filled with the Spirit. So, back up a little bit. Stephen is addressing the council. He's still addressing the council. And this is a whole chapter in the book of Acts. And a lot of theologians are divided. Why did Stephen spend this much time going back over their history? Why did he do this? And the point I believe that he's getting at is look at Abraham. God called Abraham. He called Moses. He called the children of Israel. But when they were with Moses, they wanted to go back to Egypt. They were rejecting Moses. The Holy Spirit has been calling you people. Look out through all of your history and you've been rejecting the voice of God. And then he said, you stiff-necked people. Always resisting the Holy Spirit. And that did it. That's it. That's all it took to kill him. So I think he's showing them this history of rejecting God's voice. A little grace in there right now. Let me just infuse a little grace. All of us have rejected God's voice. You, Shane? Yes. And that's a daily challenge sometimes when God says to go and do something. God wants your heart redirected. See, that's the wonderful thing about realizing we've been rejecting His voice. That's why I told the audience yesterday. Okay, now what are you going to do with the knowledge you have? See, you've been rejecting it, rejecting it in this confrontation, speaking the truth in love. It should cause something within us to say, that's right. According to God's word, I have been rejecting His voice. Lord, I'm turning to You now because of it. So something that was meant for evil can turn into something that was very good if it repositions us in the center of God's will. Through most of my life, here's how I've walked in God's will. Here's God's will. Here's where Shane's going. Oh, that's right. I love Your will, Lord. Here's where Shane's going. Oh, that's right. Lord, that's the path we take often is getting us back on path and following His will. So on one hand, the word of God convicts, it rebukes. Paul told Timothy, rebuke, exhort, challenge, but also understand that God's loving grace comes in and helps to direct. It's an interesting combination there of truth and love. And that's how God directs us to listen to His voice. So Acts 7.17 But when the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, what was that that God told Abraham many, many years from now, your descendants will go into a foreign nation and they will actually go into bondage and become slaves because Joseph had wonderful favor with the Pharaoh. You remember Joseph? Put into prison and then came from the prison to a palace? That's God's will. That's God's sovereignty. So if you're in the prison right now, don't worry. Don't worry. Often, God is just positioning there for the palace. Jane, you're becoming one of those TV preachers. Blessings. No, I believe when God repositions you and you're sometimes in a downward spiral and you've done all you can do, that God is using that and will use that to propel you up. Our past often helps to propel us into our future. So when the time of the promise drew near, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people, the children of Israel, I might add some things in here just to help you understand where the story is because really the Bible is meant to be read not chapter and verse necessarily. It's written as an entire book. The chapters and the verses were added about 500 years ago. So anytime you read the Bible, we thank God for them because now it would be like, what did he say? Where's that at? But back then they just said, Thus saith the Lord, It is written. Jesus said, It is written. It is written. So if you just read this, I would encourage you to go home, read Acts, actually up to Acts 7 and Acts 8. So the people of Israel grew and they multiplied in Egypt till another king arose who did not know Joseph. So Joseph was highly favored with the Pharaoh, second in charge. Joseph dies. Another Pharaoh comes in and says, I don't know this Joseph person. I don't know about the children of Israel, but they're growing strong and we don't want an enemy growing strong. Or we don't want a different group of people growing stronger than us. So they put the children of Israel into bondage and slavery. And God said, For 400 years, your people will go through this. This man, the Pharaoh, dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers making them expose their babies so that they might not live. He killed the children. Pharaoh did. As the males were being born, they killed the children by throwing them into the river. The Old Testament is brutal. Right? We say, oh, that's so brutal. What's any difference today from the abortion industry? I mean, if we think about it, and I tell people, oh, the Old Testament, I don't know how you believe that. Well, why is it okay today? Oh, it's different. No, it's not different. No, it's not different. As soon as that heartbeat is beating, that's life. Pharaoh rejected Joseph's family. And what happened? The favor dried up. And I wanted to bring this point up because this is a difficult part for many Christians. Are you ever walking in the favor of God? I mean, most of you are if you look at your checkbooks. Right? I mean, we are so blessed. I've talked about it before, and I'll talk about it again, but to go in your house and set a little thermostat to 72, and you have a little thing in your garage that keeps your water nice and hot. I mean, that is a luxury. We are so blessed. And we walk often in the favor of God, and when the favor has dried up, we start crying. And God will... Elisha. I remember reading about Elisha who was fed by the ravens. And he sat by a brook, drinking water. Wonderful place. And then the brook dried up. And God said, okay, it's time to go. Often the favor... God will remove that favor to test our hearts. So when that favor dries up, don't run away from Him. Run to Him. When it dries up, don't get bitter. Get better. I've got a lot of good sayings this morning. So get ready. Right? So don't... If it's His will, it's His bill. Right? All those things where He guides, He provides. But it's all true. The favor. When the favor dried... That's what happened. The children of Israel came into this wonderful land. Joseph's in charge. We're the man. We're second in command. We're known to Pharaoh. And then all that favor dried up, and they went in bondage. Because it was part of God's will. And basically, Pharaoh wanted to extinguish the threat. That's why he killed the male children. To extinguish the threat. And another good point on this, the devil doesn't want you to hear God's voice. He doesn't want you to listen to God. So he will also attempt to extinguish that threat. When you decide to threaten Satan's kingdom, often all hell will break loose. He'll use certain things so you don't hear God's voice anymore. So look at your life right now. What is threatening your pride? What is inconveniencing your flesh? Those are usually where the enemy is going to come in and try to stop you from hearing God's voice. Well, how does pride work? Pride works in everything. I don't want to hear God's voice. And what about the flesh? When God wants to work in certain areas of our flesh, you hear His voice. Most of us right now in this room, God is wanting us to crucify certain areas of the flesh. Are you sure? Yeah. Because if it's this hard for me, I can imagine how everybody, the flesh wants to eat too much. It wants to drink too much. Right? It wants to do this. It wants to do this. And the flesh, watch this area because the flesh, and the enemy will use the flesh against you to pull you away from hearing God's voice. Verse 20, At this time, Moses was born and was well pleasing to God, and he was brought up in his father's house for three months. But when he was set out, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. Now, Moses was born, and he was in his father's house for three months. What happened after that? They were worried that he was going to be killed, so they put him in the little thing, in the reeds, and put him out into the water. Pharaoh's daughter saw this little cute baby. If you've ever seen a little cute baby, you're not going to just push it away in the reeds again. You're going to grab that little baby and say, Oh, isn't that so cute? Can it be mine? That's what she did. That's what she did. She took that baby, raised him in Pharaoh's court. See, this is all part of God's will because you can't leave people where you've never been. So God took Moses the Israelite and put him into Egypt to learn the customs of Egypt, to be groomed in the area of Egypt because he was going to deliver his people from Egypt. Don't ever despise your past. Learn from it. There's a lot of regret, but God will use your past to help you in your future. Because before I planted the church, I'm like, why in the world did I waste my time in construction? Why in the world did I waste my time in this? Why in the world did I waste my time in this? And I could break it all down for you. Now I know why. But God will use all of that, the learning experience, what you went through. You know, those who have had an abortion can minister to those who've had one much easily. Those who have been through a divorce, an adultery, and what was that about God? They're usually the best people that can point people in the right direction. Those who have overcome a difficult marriage, while they're ready to walk out, you get that couple hooked up with a couple that's going through the same thing. But you get somebody in there, well, I don't know, I went through seminary. I don't really know anything. I've never had any challenges. I don't know what you're going through. I can't relate. My dad left me a million dollars in a trust fund. I don't really know. What can I do? You can't do much. You can't relate. Not only can you not relate, you don't have a broken heart towards what they're going through. Because those who can weep with you and feel the pain, they're the best comforter. So God will often use your past. I hope that's for somebody this morning, because that point was really in my spirit, in my heart this week. Because this whole group yesterday, they're regretting their past. Well, let me tell you how God can use your past. Let me tell you how God can use your challenges. Let me tell you that God can use that brokenness. And often, our past, God, look at this. I'm so broken. I made so many mistakes. Right. Now, those who have been forgiven, much love much. Now run to your Savior. Not away. So don't regret your past. Don't repeat it. Don't repeat it. I talked to a man yesterday who's interesting. He said he really doesn't have a testimony. He knew the Lord at a young age. And I told him, good, good. The Bible encourages us not to have a testimony. A big one. It says, walk in these ways. Serve the Lord with all your heart. But if you become the prodigal son, there's still hope. So you want to have that testimony. You don't want to have that testimony of falling from God and living in sin. You want to walk with God all of your life. But stay humble and broken. Because that's another problem I've often seen. Those who cannot relate to a lot of what we went through become very prideful. How could you? Just obey the Bible. And there's a sense of superiority. And Phariseeism. And they look up instead of equal. Or they look down at you instead of equal. So that's why I think brokenness is so important. Because it gets us in a right position to hear from God. Now when he was 40 years old, it came into his heart. Listen to this. Moses is with Pharaoh. The children of Israel are outside of that area. So it came into Moses' heart to go visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by His hand, but they did not understand. So Moses, huh, I have this great idea. I'm supposed to deliver the children of Israel. So I'm going to go down to them. I go down to them. I see an Egyptian fighting with one of them. And I'm going to kill the Egyptian. Surely they'll see that I'm the deliverer. And they didn't. They did not at all. And the next day, he appeared to two of them as they were fighting. And tried to reconcile them. Saying, men, you are brethren. Why do you wrong one another? But he who did this to his neighbor pushed him away saying, who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you also killed the Egyptian yesterday? Then at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian where he had two sons. So this is interesting. Did God call him to be the deliverer? Which of course He did. Moses went to do it. What happened? Guess what? He doesn't come back for 40 more years. Something happened. Well, I have a thought here. Moses should have rejected his feelings. It came into his heart, it says. It came into his heart versus if you look at King's Jeremiah Revelation, you'll often read that God placed it in his heart. When God places something in your heart versus something came in my heart. You know what came in my heart this morning? I don't feel good. I'm not going to church. That must be God, right? No, no, no. Now, if you cross-reference verse 35, it does say that the people... Let me read it so you have the context. This Moses whom they rejected saying, who made you a ruler and judge? So Stephen is showing that they rejected Moses, but also we have here that I don't think it was God's timing. It came into Moses' heart to go down and go ahead of God's will but God did not place this in his heart just yet. Again, paraphrasing my interpretation, this of course is all according to God's sovereign plan. Maybe He had him go there and get rejected, go back and come back 40 years later. But it's interesting because you'll see when it came into his heart, it's not always a good thing. It came into David's heart to number the children of Israel. And God plagued them because of it. It just came into my heart. You know, you hear people say that. God just wants me to be happy. It just came into my heart. Well, here's what comes into people's hearts. I feel like eating that. I feel like doing that. I feel like saying that. I feel like leaving that. I feel like giving up on that. So feelings often take the course of least resistance. So it could have been the more Moses, little arrogant, 40 years old. Oh, God's called me to be delivered. I'm time. I'm ready. I'm ready for this. And whenever you say that, be careful. Be careful. If you say, I'm ready for this, you could fall, and God will humble you very easily. To truly hear God's voice, you will need to stop listening to the flesh. Get that sentence in your head. If you leave here with anything, it's that if you want to hear God's voice, you need to stop always listening to the flesh. I mean, perfect example. I want to hear from God, Shane. I want to hear from God. Right? I'm sure I want to hear from God, but then we'll go lay down on the couch for four hours, eat 3,000 calories later today, drink a six-pack of IPA, and watch Lady Gaga do her thing. And we wonder, I don't hear the voice of God. Shane, are you saying I can't go watch the Super Bowl? What I'm saying is if it's a pattern of worldly lifestyle that you keep following, you will not hear the voice of God clearly. See, I've learned that God will not compete, necessarily, for our time. It's the still, small voice you have to listen for. Because if God wanted to compete, he could be the loudest voice, he could be the most powerful voice, he could rock, your car could shake like you're in an earthquake. Thus saith the Lord. And you have to listen, but God wants you to hear that still, small voice. And I'm not joking. I see these people get so crazy over football and sports and all these different things, but how crazy are you over God? I mean, think about, just think about it. You're sitting, here they go, here they go. I don't really know who's playing. Brady and, right, Patriots? Okay, and somebody else? Okay. Falcons, all right. What happened to Seahawks? Got beat. Right, obviously. Now, they stumbled, okay. Now, what it is, of course, we're gonna, I might even, I mean, I might even watch the last half when it gets interesting after Lady Gaga does her thing. And you know, the commercials, you've got the nachos commercial, all these different things that are just ridiculous. Now, will that in and of itself, one day of course not, but it's a reflection of a worldly lifestyle. So that simply reflects often what's going on in the heart. Here comes Monday, the things are repeated. Here comes Tuesday, the things are repeated. I love the things of the world. I don't have time for God. And they wanna hear the voice of God. So you can't let the flesh dominate. The flesh has to be crucified. That's why I'm gonna keep preaching fasting until the day I die. And somebody's gonna get it someday. Because you, oh, that's, nobody's gonna clap on that one. Because we're starving, what you do is you starve the flesh, you starve the flesh, and you get better direction from God because you're not feeding the very thing that's trying to destroy you. That's all what starving the flesh means. If I would just give everything over to the flesh, right, give everything over to the flesh, I would be disqualified within a week. Who wouldn't? Just give everything over to the flesh. Because it's constantly, remember the good old days, Shane? Remember Egypt? It's funny, when God delivers the children of Israel out of bondage and slavery, oh, if we were just back in Egypt, if we were, all the leeks and the onions, if we were a bit, but you don't remember the chains on your ankles and the 12-hour days, and you're praying and you're petitioning to God, God, get us out of Egypt, get us out of here, here comes the deliverer, now I'm taking you to the promised land, and you're sitting there complaining, oh, if we could just go back to Egypt, but that's what the devil does. All the good old days. If I could just be single again. Right? As soon as you have marriage, oh, if I was just single again. And he'll taunt you with those, because he presents the bait, not the hook and the bait. That's why it's called temptation, that's why we fall, oh, that hook looks really good. Right? I mean, as soon as I throw a little fly out on the lake, the fish gets it, oh, he thought I was a little mosquito. Not a hook, where you bring him in, that's what the enemy does, so be careful in this area. Don't let the flesh guide you. Well, Shane, I don't know if I should watch the game, enjoy the game, I don't care. Don't eat 3,000 calories and a six-pack of IPA, though. Like, oh, darn it, you just ruined my night. Well, it's okay. Here's the key with things like this. Does it build me up spiritually, or doesn't it? You can sit down with your family, watch a game, have a nice entertaining time. Of course, I'm trying to show you an entire lifestyle, so ask, does something build me up spiritually? Or does it pull me down? Certain things you're gonna do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Because what happens, you won't hear God's voice clearly if you're being distracted and deluded. So now it's God's timing. 40 years later, Stephen jumps ahead. Verse 30, And when 40 years had passed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire and a bush in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. And when Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. And as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses trembled and dared not look. Then the Lord said to him, Take off your sandals on your feet, for this place where you stand is holy ground. I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt. And I have heard their groanings. I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt. So see, he hears their groanings. He hears their crying. God, send us a deliverer. And he sends them, then they start complaining later. A turning point. People speculate on the burning bush a lot. Why this? Why that? It represents a fiery angel. It represents all this. Probably God wanted to get his attention. It's okay to tell people, you know what, I'm not sure. I don't know why it's a burning bush other than it's a bush not consumed. There's a fire. You can relate the fire to the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, the all-consuming fire, who God is, His nature, and that He spoke to Moses. So Moses clearly knew this was His call. So it's a turning point. The turning point. Now, he had 40 years. Most of you, like me, probably think, why did he wait 40 years? Well, timing is crucial. The waiting time is crucial. So if you're in a waiting time, here's what God does. God puts you in the waiting time to what? To wait. To grow. To wait on Him. To turn to Him. To seek Him. In this waiting time. The enemy will use that to reverse. Come on, rush ahead. Come on, go, go, go. What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Go. Write that letter. Send that email. Go do that. Get started now. And the enemy will push. And God says, no, wait for my perfect timing. And how do I know if it's God's timing? You'll know. Because there's peace. There's assurance. God opens the door. He makes it clear. You've waited. You've put your flesh in submission. And when God says go, like He did to Moses, you go. And then, interesting, take off your sandals. This is holy ground. Well, obviously, you approach God with reverence. You ever have kids jump on your bed with their shoes on? Here's what I say. Get your feet off my bed. Get those stinky shoes off of my bed. Go put those outside the house. Same thing. The sandals were really dirty back then. You think you are flip-flops now. That's all they wore, basically. Out in the desert. They're standing this reverence before God. It's almost like when you come before God, there's a reverence. And that kind of concerns me about some churches. I hope sometimes not here, but you just kind of come in with that, you know, somebody got convicted last time I said this a year ago, but it's impertainsome. But you kind of come in with that baseball hat, chewing gum, you know, flip-flops, whatever attitude. There's no reverence for the house of God. There's no respect for the house of God. There's no God. Your presence, the fear of the Lord is not in this place. You want the fear of the Lord to be in that place. When you walk in, that God's Word is going to be preached. Prayer is going to be pronounced. Worship is going to descend from the portals of heaven and pull down God's favor and God's blessing. And you walk into that with a holy fear and reverence. I think it's biblical and I think it's important. Later we're going to read that the church walked in the power of the Holy Spirit and the fear of the Lord. That's the two things. That's the two things. Why is that? Because when you walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, if you fear the Lord, you won't do dumb things. Let's try this. Let's do this. Let's get the crowd in here. Let's give away $20 in a big raffle. Let's do these crazy things. Are you against raffles? No, guys. Maybe the church is just not fitting, but if you do it at your community center, that's great. You would not believe the emails I get sometimes from people taking things out of context. God says, I see the oppression and the pain. God's telling these people, let them know I've heard their groanings and I've come down to deliver them. So God sees the oppression and the pain. He says, don't reject me. Run to me. Anytime you're going through pain and oppression, God says, don't reject me. Run to me. I hear it. I hear it. And here's the dichotomy in the Christian life. God says, I hear your groanings and your pains. I hear it. And I say, then do something. Do something right now, today, this hour. Do it now, God. That's the dichotomy. And we're like, okay, he's not a genie in a bottle. And I don't understand all of it. I don't know. I don't know. God, please, do something now. But as I'm waiting, that relationship builds stronger. That assurance is stronger. That faith is stronger. And I wonder, if God just did it then, I don't think we'd be very strong spiritually. Stephen recaps Israel's rebellion in verse 37. I won't be able to get through all this today. I knew I wouldn't. Verse 37, this is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear. This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai. This is talking about Moses. Stephen is bringing them back. With our fathers. The one who received the living oracles to give to us whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. See where he's going with this? Rejection. Rejection. He's saying this same Moses, who said, I will raise up a prophet from among you, Jesus Christ, not Joseph Smith, down the street. That's what they'll use this verse for often. That's not proof text for a different prophet. This is Jesus Christ coming. The people are rejecting this other Moses, this other prophet. They're rejecting him. The fathers rejected Moses. These people are rejecting Christ, and it's a pattern of rejection of hearing God's voice. They're rejecting God's call. The fathers would not obey. What are the living oracles? The Ten Commandments. God spoke. Here's how I want you to live. Whom our fathers did not obey, but they rejected. And in their hearts, they turned back to Egypt. So it's funny. Moses goes up to get the Ten Commandments. He's gone too long. So the people say, Oh, this guy Moses is gone. Let's build a golden calf and worship it. We'll leave it at that. That's what they did. A golden calf and worshiped it. Moses hears this. He comes down, and Aaron's making excuses, but their hearts are turning back to Egypt. See, as soon as God's going to start saying, Do this. I want you to do this. When our heart doesn't want to obey God, we want to turn back to Egypt. That's why many people go back to their old ways is they don't want to follow in God's ways. That's what happened here. They turned back to Egypt in their hearts. They turned back to the bondage, to the oppression, and to the slavery. This is very important in the area of addiction. You might not need this, but somebody else will. You can get them the CD or something, but this is why people stay in addiction. They get out of it for a day or a week or two weeks or three weeks. Guess what? Withdrawals hit. The attack of the enemy coming. The body's craving it. All kinds of hell is breaking loose. I want to go back to Egypt. If I could just take that ounce of whatever. That's why they'll go back to heroin because the pain's gone temporarily. And then the cycle of hell starts over again. They'll be doing good for months, and then they'll go back to that drink that's been beckoning. Oh, remember then. Isn't it so funny? You remember the hour or two buzz, and you forget the three-day hangover and the DUI and your family leave. You forget all those things, but remember Egypt. Remember the good old, if I could go back. So that's how he keeps people in bondage. You start to get out. Things get difficult. Let me go back to the thing that temporarily relieved me. The temporary relief is over. Now I'm depressed. Now I can't believe I got, and the cycle goes again, back to bondage, back to Egypt, the mental cycle of the mind. And it's not easy. I have tons of compassion for people in this area, but as a believer, you can seek God, be filled with His Spirit, and with His help, with His grace, He can pull you from that. Yes, it's challenging. That's why it's called a battle, a spiritual battle. It doesn't say your weapons of your warfare are cotton balls and pillows. He uses the strongest imagery you could ever use back then. Warfare, the weapons of your warfare, the sword. What was a sword for? A sword for cleaning their teeth? It killed. They killed men with their sword. And Paul brings the highest level of warfare and puts it into a Christian parallel. It says, the weapons of your warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty through God, for they're pulling down as strongholds. Watch out for the wiles of the devil, the trickeries of the devil, and having done all, stand there with your waist girded about with truth and the breastplate of righteousness. And he goes over all the warfare elements because it's war. The sooner you realize that, the better. Because we think it's patty cake with the devil. It's like, he's kind of against me, but he's kind of just, this little spooky thing. No, he's sent to kill, steal, and to destroy. That's the plan. That's the agenda. It's to kill, to steal, and to destroy. They rejected Moses, which was the law and obedience. They rejected Christ, and they rejected the work of the Holy Spirit. That's what he's showing them. You rejected Moses. They did earlier on. You rejected the law. You rejected God's command. You rejected God's call to a holier life. You rejected the voice of truth. You rejected Christ. And you're rejecting now. These people are now rejecting the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. So, personal application. Are you rejecting obedience to the Father? Are you rejecting a surrendered life to Christ? Are you rejecting the work of the Spirit? How long will you keep rejecting? I talk to people. How long will you keep rejecting? You know what they say? Well, when God does this. Anytime I cringe when I hear that. Listen guys, He's not going to do anything. He's going to love you. Unconditionally. I mentioned it yesterday. I said God's love must be embraced. God's heart is not to condemn. Wait a minute. I hear all the condemnation, judgment. I hear all this. The heart of God is not condemnation. John. I wrote it down for you. John 3.17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. So the heart of God is not condemnation. It's to save the world. When you reject that gift of salvation, then comes a condemnation. That's how it works. And if you could, this impression, I want to really help people understand, yes, a holy God, but a loving God. A loving God. I mean, the greatest mystery, and we talk about how many stars are out there, how many billions of galaxies. The greatest mystery, the greatest mystery to me is John 3.16. For God so loved the world, you, you, you, you, you, that He gave His only Son on a cross for the sins of the world. That's a loving God. That's not a condemning God. That's a loving God who says, come back to me. Give me your life. Let me rebuild. Let me restore you. But you listen to the wrong voice. I heard David Jeremiah tell a story, and I had, I pulled over, wrote it down. It was about a mother who kept praying for her son, or for some of you, it could be put into your picture, praying for a daughter in their 20s. They came home drunk and high and passed out on their bed, and the dad heard the mom get up, said, finally, finally, we're gonna get that guy out of here. Finally, she's gonna let him have it. And then five minutes went by and the dad didn't hear anything. What's going on? So he went in there, he saw the mom on the bed with the child, holding the son, and just caressing his hair as he was passed out. And the dad said, what are you doing? And she said, he would not let me love him while he's awake, so I will love him while he's asleep. Guys, that's the heart of God. I just can't believe what he's brought me through. And I look at the audience even yesterday, and they're so guilty and shame-filled. And I told them, it's because you're made in the image of God. We're all made in God's image. So when that image becomes marred and corrupted, and not used for what it's supposed to use, the shame and the guilt are the result of that. But God demonstrated His own love toward us. And that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Wait a minute, wait a minute, God. Are you saying that my drunken binges and Palm Springs and my crystal meth use in Vegas, you died for me? Do you realize the power? Only somebody tuned out to the things of God will not be affected by these verses. While you're in your sin, and your depravity, and your rebellion, there's a sacrifice that still stands. Isn't that amazing? While you're living in sin, mocking God, cussing at God, living however you want, rebelling against God as if He doesn't care. And I don't care what God says, God says I still have a sacrifice when you're ready, when you're open. God, I sent my son, he died for you while you're still living in that sin. It's not God saying, let me watch your life for 30 years and then I'll give you the cross. The cross came 2,000 years ago on Calvary, a bloody mess, because Christ loved us that much. The love of God should compel you to share the truth. It should change your worship. I'm tired of hard-hearted people who don't know how to worship a loving God to die for them. As if we're waiting in line at Dunkin' Donuts. I was just so broken yesterday seeing people reject His truth. And on Sunday mornings, it happens, people rejecting His truth. What could be more clear? I need a Savior. I can't manage this. I'm a mess. God, thank you for not only saving me, but then will fill you with the Holy Spirit if you just obey and submit. He'll say, I'll lead you. So the God of the universe is going to say, Shane, I'll lead you when your son or your daughter is sick. Hold on to me. You don't know what to do. Hold on to me. I will lead you through life. I will guide you. I will be your shelter. I'll be your rock. I'll be your high tower. I'll be everything. I'll be your rear guard and your front guard. Just trust in me. What kind of God is going to do that? That's a scandalous love. That's a love I can't even comprehend. I don't know how many of you caught what we sang, but let me just read it for you in case you didn't. I am guilty, ashamed of what I've done, what I've become. These hands are dirty. I dare not lift them up to a Holy One. You plead my cause. You right my wrongs. You break my chains. You gave your life to give me mine. You say that I am free. How can it be? How can it be?