[0:00] One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor.
[0:14] He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that, seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
[0:25] The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew? The man said, who made you ruler and judge over us?
[0:39] Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid and thought, what I did must have become known. When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses.
[0:52] But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock.
[1:08] Some shepherds came along and drove them away. But Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock. When the girls returned to Raul, their father, he asked them, why have you returned so early today?
[1:24] They answered, an Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock. And where is he? He asked his daughters. Why did you leave him?
[1:35] Invite him to have something to eat. Moses agreed to stay with the man who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, I've become an alien in a foreign land.
[1:53] During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out. And their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God.
[2:05] God heard their groaning. He remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
[2:19] So we're in Exodus and chapter 2, verses 11. And following, if you'd like to find that passage, that will be a help. As you're looking and turning there, I'm going to read briefly from Hebrews and from chapter 11.
[2:34] Hebrews 11 and beginning at verse 24. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
[2:49] He chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God, rather to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his rewards.
[3:09] Back to Exodus 2. I wonder what you dreamt of becoming when you were a young child. What did you want to be when you grew up? If you were of a certain age and you were a boy, almost certainly you wanted to be a steam engine driver or perhaps a pilot.
[3:29] Or if you were a young girl, perhaps you wanted to be a ballet dancer or a doctor. Well, when I was growing up, when I was particularly very young, even younger than I am now, I was greatly influenced by the films that I used to watch.
[3:44] And so that meant I wanted to be either a cowboy like John Wayne, or because I was growing up as a Catholic, as a boy, I thought I might like to become a priest.
[3:57] Seems that as Moses was growing up, he had a dream as well. A dream that one day he would be the deliverer of his people, the Hebrews. That he would be the one who would rescue them from the slavery that they had been in for hundreds of years in Egypt.
[4:12] It was a big, big dream. Between verses 10 and 11, we have 40 years taking place.
[4:26] 10, he goes to be the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 11, we're told, he's grown up. But surely in those 40 years as he's growing up, he learnt about who he really was.
[4:41] He wasn't really the prince of Egypt, but he was just the son of a Hebrew slave. He heard the stories about the amazing adventures he's had as a baby when he had been kept safe for three months by his parents and then put into a sort of a little boat on the riverside.
[5:01] How Pharaoh had adopted him, taken him to be her son. How he was the only one who had been saved out of that generation of boys who Pharaoh had called for their death.
[5:16] And surely he thinks to himself, why did all these things happen to me? What's my destiny? What's my goal in life? Isn't it to make the lives of my people better?
[5:29] Isn't it that they might shake off the yoke of slavery and bring them to justice? Now as I say, we don't know what happened in those intervening 40 years.
[5:40] Something like the life of our Lord Jesus in his infancy and childhood. Very little is told us. But there are two places in the New Testament which give us an insight into what happened there.
[5:51] One of them I've already read from Hebrews in chapter 11. But the other is in Acts in chapter 7. It's where Stephen is recounting God's wonderful dealings with his people and showing how all of history was leading up to the coming of the Lord Jesus.
[6:09] This is what he says about the incident in Exodus chapter 2. When Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being ill-treated by an Egyptian.
[6:22] So he went to his defense and avenged them, avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them.
[6:33] But they did not. They did not. See, we learn Moses' age. He was 40. Long time into his adulthood.
[6:45] And we learn the reasons for his actions. In going down and looking and seeing what was happening amongst the Hebrews. It was that he thought himself to be God's rescuer.
[6:57] And hoped and expected that the people would look to him and see him as such as well. And then, as I said, Hebrews 11, we read there. That tells us of Jesus' attitude to his privileged upbringing.
[7:08] For there we're told that he refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Choosing to be ill-treated along with the people of God. Rather to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.
[7:22] Regarding disgrace for the sake of Christ. As of greater value than the treasures of Egypt. And so in both of those passages, we understand the background to what's happening here in Exodus chapter 2.
[7:35] We understand that Moses is walking away from his Egyptian way of life. He's preferring to be counted as one of God's people. Even though he knew it would cost him dearly.
[7:46] He knew that it would cost him the privileges of being in the palace. He knew it would cost him the favour of his grandfather, the king, the pharaoh. Moses was facing a deliberate choice.
[8:02] Continue as he was. Continue with the palace lifestyle. With the comfort. With the power. With the prestige. With the favour. Continue with an easy life.
[8:16] Or turning his back on it. He could continue as he was. But he'd be ignoring the truth. Ignoring the truth of who he really was.
[8:29] Or would he turn. See himself as one of God's people. Associate himself and alongside God's people. And turn his back on all that he'd known before.
[8:42] There's a challenge to us here immediately. Isn't there dear friends? Am I willing to lose all to gain Christ? Do I see that knowing the Lord Jesus Christ and being part of his people, one of his body, is more important to me than anything else in the world?
[9:03] Than all the popularity of my friends? Than all the power and opportunity of my career or my job? Am I willing to give up the comforts of things just going my way?
[9:17] Me just pleasing myself? That I might have the Lord Jesus Christ. That I might have that which is worth much more than all the world has to offer.
[9:28] See sadly it seems to me that there are many people who hope that they can keep the two together. They hope that they can have something of the Christian life.
[9:40] Something of the blessing as it were of knowing God's forgiveness and knowing his love and knowing eternal life. But also they'd like to keep another foot in the other camp of the world and like to just continue just as things are.
[9:53] Don't want to ruffle the feathers or as it were rock the boat. Can I sit on the fence maybe? Can I just be one and the other at the same time?
[10:05] And the clear and absolute message of the Bible is no you can't. It was impossible for Moses to stay the son of Pharaoh and also be part of the people of God.
[10:18] It was impossible for him to walk a line which kept the two sides together. He was juggling if he tried to do that. A juggling act that was bound to fail and lose both.
[10:29] And one of the sadnesses is that if we try to live holding on to both then it will pull us apart and we'll lose all.
[10:41] You see you can't do it. You can't be a Christian and a non-Christian at the same time. You can't be somebody who follows Jesus and follows the world at the same time. You just go in opposite directions.
[10:55] There's a decision to be made. A choice to be made. And you've got to take it and make it just as Moses did. See the only way to be a Christian, the only way is to do what Moses did.
[11:11] The only way is to follow Christ. To let go of all that we hold on to. That's exactly what the disciples did when they spoke to Jesus in Mark 10.
[11:21] Peter says, Lord, we've left everything to follow you. And this is where Jesus responds. I tell you the truth, Jesus replied.
[11:32] No one who's left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age.
[11:44] Homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields. And with them persecutions. That's the way we forget. And in the age to come, eternal life.
[11:57] Jim Elliot, the missionary who was martyred in the Amazon 60 years ago, said something like this.
[12:07] Moses, it's no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Moses knew that. It's no fool who gives up what he cannot keep.
[12:19] Everything in this world that we live for. All the palace of Egypt. All the treasures of Egypt. All the treasures and the pleasures of this world. They're just passing. They're just temporary. They're here today and gone tomorrow.
[12:31] But the things of Christ are eternal and everlasting. The riches are those things which go on and on. Again, back in Hebrews in chapter 11, that's exactly what Moses figured.
[12:43] He chose to be ill-treated with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. Regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he's looking for his reward.
[13:01] Every Christian is somebody who's made that decision and has to keep making that decision every day that I will follow Jesus because I know it's better than anything the world can offer me.
[13:20] Maybe you're at that point in your life. I don't know. Maybe you need to remake the decision that you made a long time ago. Moses did it. Let me encourage you to do it too.
[13:31] So knowing what we do about Moses, the motivation behind his actions, let's look at them and try to apply afresh what they teach us. They teach us who seek to follow Christ, who turned our back upon Egypt as it were.
[13:46] Well here as we get to verse 11, again as we've already recognized, Moses feels that sense of destiny. And he's decided to reject Egypt to help his own people, God's people.
[13:59] And so he goes down. He goes down. He got there and watched them. Really he went to look, to see what he could do. He went to see what was happening. He went to see if there was a way that he could make a difference.
[14:11] And almost immediately of course, there's an opportunity that presents itself for him to do something meaningful. As he sees them working, as he sees them being treated as slaves, he sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
[14:26] Again, just as an aside, can I say dear friends that when we follow Jesus, there is one of the truest signs that we really are a Christian and it's this, that we love God's people.
[14:38] They are my people. They belong to me. This is my church. These are my brothers and my sisters in Christ. There's a love for God's people. It's a true sign of the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
[14:51] It's not that we love them because they are lovely, though some of you are, some of you are not. No, no, you're lovely. It's not because they're perfect, not because they're the best people in the world, not because they never get anything wrong and never tread on your toes or never make a mistake.
[15:08] It's because they're mine. His own people. Is that how you feel about God's people? Is that how you feel about the church, the local church?
[15:19] They're my people. It's not mine that I own, the church, or anything else, but they're my people. So Moses goes down. What does he do? He sees one of his own people.
[15:30] He has a concern and care for him and he sees him being beaten by an Egyptian. And what does he do? He looks this way and that.
[15:41] Is anybody watching? Can I get away with it? Bang! Strikes the Egyptian dead. It's his first act as a self-appointed savior of God's people.
[15:54] Hides the body in the sand so nobody will know about it. It seems to have gone well. He started. The revolution has started. The work of rescuing God's people has started.
[16:05] Oh, it's just one Egyptian, but it's a start. But his dreams are beginning to take shape. Now, surely all the rest of the Hebrews are going to say, there's Moses, our deliverer.
[16:17] He's come from God. They're all going to appraise me and applaud me. They're all going to think what a great guy I am and I can lead them out to slavery. So, bolstered by his success in his eyes, he goes down the next day.
[16:32] What else can I do? It's going to take him a long time if he just kills one Egyptian a day, but we've got to start somewhere. Next day, he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. That's not right.
[16:43] He shows a bit of restraint. He doesn't immediately go bish, bash, bosh. But rather, he speaks to them. Who are you? What are you doing? Hitting your fellow Hebrew, your brother.
[16:55] The response he gets is unexpected. In one sense, it's expected because like all guilty men, the man answers, who do you think you are bossing me about? When somebody challenges you and you've done something wrong, that's how you respond, isn't it?
[17:09] Who are you to tell me that I'm a sinner? Who are you to tell me that I've done something wrong? Who made you my judge and my ruler? Natural response. But, but, but, what is much worse than that, not only is he rejected as being the saviour of God's people and the deliverer, he's also viewed with great suspicion.
[17:33] And more than that, he says, are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian? Ow! The cat's out the back. The secret that he had kept is gone.
[17:47] Obviously, the other Hebrew who he had rescued had gone around telling everybody. Moses did this and Moses did that. But instead of everybody saying, well, what a great guy Moses is, they clearly have rejected him.
[18:02] They clearly don't want him. They clearly think he's just going to cause more trouble. Suddenly, his plan is not going as it should do. Suddenly, he's in deep, deep trouble.
[18:15] What I did has become known, he says, there in verse 14. But worse yet, Pharaoh hears about it. His adopted grandfather.
[18:25] When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses. Clearly, Pharaoh concludes that this Hebrew adopted grandson of his is nothing but trouble.
[18:38] Possibly, he's got wind of the hopes that Moses had. Possibly, he's got the idea that Moses used to speak about the fact that Pharaoh shouldn't treat the Hebrews that way.
[18:48] Now he knows he's got to get rid of him before he really starts a revolution. And so the order goes out to the soldiers and the police and everybody else. Just get Moses, bring him here and cut off his head.
[19:04] But Moses gets wind of it. Don't know how. Maybe somebody tells him. But Moses hears that Pharaoh is after his blood and so he runs away.
[19:17] He leaves all behind him. He goes with just the clothes that he's standing up in. He heads out into the desert, into Midian. He's gone from hero to zero in two days.
[19:31] He's gone from the prince of Egypt to an outlaw with a price on his head. Where's all your great dreams now, Moses? Where's this great deliverer now, Moses?
[19:45] All his dreams are shattered. Can you sympathize with him?
[19:59] More than that, can you empathize with him? Do you know something of that for yourself? You've set out to do something with good intentions. You've set out to make a life for yourself or a career for yourself or whatever it may be.
[20:14] You've gone out. Perhaps even you've gone out to do something and you thought it was God's will that you should do it. That's what he wanted you to do. And you've gone out. And it's all gone wrong.
[20:25] It's all fallen apart in your hands. It's all become just a jumbled mess. People have rejected you or attacked you. Or you've just made a complete pig's ear of the whole thing.
[20:39] Perhaps even worse than that, you've become to believe that you failed God. You failed him. You let him down. Well, just hang on.
[20:52] Hang on to find out what happens next. Just don't lose the plot. Far away now, Moses, from his home. Midian to the east in the desert, in the wilderness.
[21:09] Seems like he sits down by a well. Considers what's he going to do now. Considers his problems.
[21:21] Considers. But, before he can think too long about it, he witnesses some shepherds bullying some young girls who are trying to get some water for their flock.
[21:35] Moses isn't standing for that. He hates injustice. So, he jumps up before he engages his brain, as most men do. And he enters into the fray. Fists fly.
[21:48] The shepherds scatter. And he draws the water for the flock. For a change, he's appreciated. For a change, his actions are not rejected.
[22:01] For a change, he's a hero again. Things are starting to look up for him. Things are going right for a change. Now he has a new home. Raul and his daughters take him in.
[22:13] And one of them catches his eyes, Zipporah. Before long, he's married. Before long, he's forgotten Egypt.
[22:24] His past failures are behind him. His shattered hopes are no longer concerned to him. But are they? But are they? Look at what he calls his firstborn son.
[22:37] I don't know what name you're going to give to your children. That's between you and your husband or your wife. But I don't think you'd want to call your son alien. That's what he calls him.
[22:50] Alien. Not because he'd seen the film or anything like that. But because he felt like he was an alien. He felt like he was a man who was cut off from his people. He felt like he was an outcast.
[23:01] He was a broken man. That's why he calls him alien. Because I'm an alien. Because I'm in this foreign land. I'm away from everything that's familiar.
[23:12] I'm away from where I should be. I'm in a mess. So he hasn't forgotten. It's still there.
[23:25] The broken heart. The sense of disappointment. The sense of failure. The sense of grief. The sense of anguish. Perhaps you're some years on from that time.
[23:38] When your dreams were shattered and broken. Perhaps you're down the road a few years. But in reality you know that there's still a lot of heartache.
[23:49] There's still a lot of sadness. There's still a lot of why did things go so badly wrong. And there's still that attitude. That question that keeps unbugging you.
[24:01] Why God did you allow this to happen to me? Why God did you allow this to happen to me? Why God did you allow this to happen to me? Now there's some answers for that.
[24:14] Some answers certainly in Moses' situation. Answers to why his attempt to fulfill his own dream failed. And maybe they may be the reasons why our dreams have failed too.
[24:30] But let's look at Moses'. The reason that his dreams failed. That he should become the deliverer and rescuer of God's people. Was that first of all he went out. He went to fulfill the purposes and plans of his heart.
[24:43] In his own strength. Rather than in God's power. Now clearly Moses wasn't a weakling was he? He kills one man. And he sends several others.
[24:54] Scattering. He's clearly a bit of a handy man. But though there's nowhere in the Bible that says what he did was wrong.
[25:06] The rest of the Bible does condemn the taking of life. God does not want murder to be carried out on his behalf. God is the one who takes life and gives life.
[25:18] It's not our place to do that. See Moses went out in his own strength thinking that he could do it. But you see God's plan and purpose was to deliver his people.
[25:29] Not with human strength but with supernatural power. God's purpose was to rescue his people so that everyone would see that it was God who was doing it. It was God's love and care that was fulfilling his plans for his people.
[25:43] God does not share his glory with man. And unfortunately it seems to me that Moses went out. God's purpose. From what we understand from Acts and as we see his actions afterwards.
[25:55] He went out with a sense of self glory. The ego. He didn't go out trusting in the power of God.
[26:05] He didn't go out looking to the Lord to work through him. But he looked to do it himself. We will always fail when we trust in our own natural gifts. God has gifted you wonderfully.
[26:18] And he wants to use the gifts he's given us for his glory. But if we go out and we seek to serve him or do anything for our own glory. Or with trusting in our own strength or power.
[26:29] Then we'll always fail. The Bible tells us that salvation is of the Lord. He's the one who saves. He's the one who changes.
[26:40] He's the one who works. Yes he wonderfully marvelously chooses to work even through us. And he will do if we are willing and allow him to work through us.
[26:53] But as long as we trust in our own power and strength we'll fail. That goes for us as a church as well. If we think that God will bless his church because we have certain gifted people.
[27:05] Or because we have certain great ideas. Or good ways of doing things. Or because we have a nice building. Or because we have money.
[27:16] Or because of anything that we have which is material. If we trust in any of those things or in anybody here. Then we will fail. And fall flat.
[27:27] And we shall not see God working in glory. In the saving of souls. He uses all the gifts we've got. But it must be his power. So that it might be his glory.
[27:41] Did you try to do it in your own strength? Did you get a great idea about how you could reach the lost? Or how you could do this? Or how you could move up the ladder? Or how you could...
[27:52] And you went off. Zoom. Like Moses. Not waiting on God. Not looking to him. And now it's all fallen apart.
[28:06] The second problem of course with Moses. This. He not only went out in his own power. But he went out in his own time. It wasn't God's timing. It was his timing. When Moses saw the injustice of the man who was being beaten.
[28:19] He acted there and then with haste. Clearly he was an impetuous sort of man. We see that as well. As he rescues the flock. Of Royale's daughters. He's not.
[28:30] He's not. He's not. He's not. Now it's good that we should be responsive. It's good that we should see a problem and seek to put it right. It's good that we shouldn't just sort of look and sort of gaze open mouth and not do anything.
[28:43] It's good that we are proactive and in one sense reactive. But it doesn't follow that our time is God's time. It doesn't follow that God has to as it were come in line with what we think he should be doing.
[28:58] When we think he should be doing. The problem is of course is that we think we know better than God. We're in a hurry.
[29:10] The Psalms are full of God's people crying out. How long oh Lord? How long oh Lord? How long oh Lord? How long oh Lord?
[29:20] How long oh Lord? How long oh Lord? How long oh Lord? Before you do this. Before you answer this prayer. Before this situation changes.
[29:32] And we become impatient. Remember Abraham. And Hagar. The promise was given. You shall have descendants as numerous as the stars. Abraham says I haven't even got one yet.
[29:44] And so Sarah says to him well go and lie with Hagar my maid. And perhaps God can fulfill his promise through her.
[29:54] That wasn't God's plan. That wasn't God's timing. He was to wait upon God. He was to trust in God who had promised that he would give him that son.
[30:06] And he did. In his time not in Abraham's time. Yes God had promised his people back in Abraham's time. That he would deliver his people out of slavery. He promised Jacob as well.
[30:17] And he was going to do it. But Moses thought it had to be now. In fact it was going to be yet another 40 years. See God doesn't work according to our schedule.
[30:34] Our calendar. Our timing. Thank God he doesn't. Thank God that he doesn't. Jump when we click our fingers and pray. Here's 2 Peter and chapter 3.
[30:48] Passage you'll know very well. Do not forget this one thing dear friends. With the Lord a day is like a thousand years. And a thousand years are like a day. In other words God stands outside of time.
[31:02] We're locked into time. And into history. He stands outside. He sees the end from the beginning. He knows what he's doing. Look at this. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise.
[31:12] As some understand slowness. He is patient with you. Not wanting any to perish. But everyone to come to repentance. God is at work in this world.
[31:25] In his way. Sometimes he acts with tremendous speed. But more often than not. He acts with tremendous care. Slowly.
[31:37] Slowly. Carefully. Fulfilling. And bringing his purposes to plan. God doesn't work according to our schedule. Perhaps you thought it was your time.
[31:53] Perhaps you thought it was about time. That God did this or did that. But it's about God's time. So what does that mean for us now?
[32:06] Like Moses. Perhaps we feel like we've completely blown it. We've gone out in our own strength. We've tried to fulfill our dreams. We've tried to bring things about when we wanted them to happen.
[32:18] And we feel now like Moses. Cut off. Alienated. A failure. Now you've blown it. Now there's no way back. Now. You've blown it now.
[32:29] You're an alien. You're cut off. There's no way your dreams can be fulfilled. There's no way that God's promises can be accomplished in you. That's the end. Do you look back on your life in that way dear friend?
[32:42] Then let me assure you and encourage you not to do so. Not to do so. What was happening with Moses was this.
[32:53] That God was equipping him for the future that God had for him. God was preparing him for what God had in store for him. That's why we read from that passage in Acts where Stephen explains what was going on.
[33:11] Moses was equipping. Sorry. God was equipping Moses. That's why he was brought up as Pharaoh's daughter. For he's reading verse 22 of Acts 7. Moses was educated and all the wisdom of the Egyptians was powerful in speech and action.
[33:27] And then when we find him in Midian, a foreigner with two sons. Verse 30 says, When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight.
[33:43] He went over to look more closely. He heard the Lord's voice. I'm the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses trembled with fear and dare not look.
[33:54] Then the Lord said to him, Take off your sandals. The place where you are standing is holy ground. I've indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free.
[34:08] Now come, I will send you back to Egypt. This is the same Moses whom they rejected with the words, Who made you ruler and judge?
[34:18] He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself. Through an angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led him out of Egypt and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt.
[34:28] At the Red Sea and for 40 years in the desert. God was preparing him. In the first 40 years of Abraham, of Moses' life rather, He was prepared in all the understanding of the Egyptian court.
[34:43] Of understanding to speak Egyptian. And how the Pharaoh thought. And he understood and was educated in all the ways of the Egyptians. He failed and blew it. But for the next 40 years he was being prepared to shepherd a people in a desert.
[34:59] How on earth was he going to be able to lead 2 million or more people through a desert? Except that he knew the desert. He knew where the watering holes were. He knew how to live and survive in that harsh environment.
[35:13] No experience is ever wasted. Even our failures. Even our mistakes. Even our cuck-ups. God can and will use to prepare us for what he has yet for us to do.
[35:30] We may make mistakes. We do make mistakes. God never does. Whatever you've been through, dear friends.
[35:41] Whatever heartache you've experienced. Whatever dream shattering you've known. That's not the end with God. It's not the end with God.
[35:54] See, Moses is exactly where God wants him to be. And now he is preparing him and training him. For where he is to be.
[36:05] In the future. All your struggles, dear friends. All your disappointments. All your sadnesses. All your failures. Are all the tools with which God fashions you into the person you are now.
[36:19] And are yet to be. He has a purpose for you. A purpose for his glory. A purpose for the blessing of his people. A purpose which will fulfill.
[36:32] And make you know fulfillment. But you're not ready yet. You see, even the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
[36:42] Christ himself had to go through the pains of disappointment. And suffering. And hardship. And hardship. To be the savior of sinners. He who was perfect as a son of God.
[36:53] Had to be trained. Here's Hebrews 5. Verses 8 and 9. And although he was a son. That's Christ. He learned obedience from what he suffered. And once made perfect.
[37:05] Complete. He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. If Jesus had to go through those things. You and I will have to go through those things.
[37:16] If Jesus had to learn obedience through what he suffered. Then so must you and I. But it's through those things that we are made complete. It's through those things that we are refined.
[37:31] It's through those things that we become useful. The worst event in Peter's life. The apostle Peter's life. Was the foundation for his greatest ministry.
[37:44] His worst experience was when he betrayed the Lord Jesus. When he denied him. Sorry, I didn't betray him. That was Judas. When Peter denied him. But here's what Jesus says to him.
[37:55] Simon, Simon. That's Peter's name as you know. Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. To test you. But I've prayed for you. Simon. That your faith may not fail.
[38:07] And listen to this. When you've turned back. Strengthen your brothers. Strengthen your brothers. Peter went through the failure.
[38:19] The humiliation. Of denying the Lord Jesus. But Jesus had a purpose in it. To strengthen the brothers. Whatever you've been through.
[38:31] Whatever you're still going through. It is not out of the loving. Powerful. Sovereign hands. Of your heavenly father. Commit it all to him.
[38:43] Ask him. To work in and through it. That you might be. Or that he has in store for you to be. And give yourself afresh to his service.
[38:54] That he may fulfill his dreams for you. His purposes and plans. Let's take just a moment in the quietness of our hearts. And respond to God's word.
[39:05] In prayer. Before him. Failed us. No you haven't. You've never failed us.
[39:18] But we feel failed. And we feel failures. And Lord we thank you that you have a plan. And a purpose. And in and through the things that we have experienced.
[39:32] In our own failing. Our own sins and disappointments. In our own sins. In our own sins. We thank you Lord. That you have been at work with us. To prepare us.
[39:43] And to make us. All that you choose for us to be. Lord give us that willingness. To accept. What has passed. Is past. Give us that willingness and desire.
[39:56] To. Place ourselves afresh. In your hands. In your service. To do your will. Where we've strayed Lord.
[40:08] And tried to go. Two directions at the same time. Bring us back. Onto that narrow path. On that wonderful way. The king's highway.
[40:20] That we may oh Lord. Walk where you would have us to walk. And Lord work in us. Your plans and purposes. For our blessing. Joy. And your praise and glory.
[40:32] Amen. Eight hundred and five. ORCHESTRA PLAYS ORCHESTRA PLAYS
[41:35] ORCHESTRA PLAYS Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, power and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages, now and forevermore.
[42:31] Amen.