God is Faithful to His People

One of my favorite pastimes, when I actually have free time, is to go hiking. I cannot hike presently, but I look forward to the day when, Lord willing, I can hike again. I love it because it's the adventure, seeing new land I haven't seen before. But most of all, I always choose a hike that has a view. I want to get to the peak and I want to be able to look out. I don't really care about waterfalls, if they're there, great. But I want to get to a place where I can look out over the valleys. I want to see the rolling hills and the other summits and the peaks and the ridges. Because I feel small. I look out and I see how great the valleys are. I see how great the creation is. And it gives me a sense of awe and wonder. So I believe we were created to enjoy a sense of awe and wonder. The reason I believe that is because I experience it and we long for it. That's why the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls and the Redwood Forest, that's why those are so popular destinations. You go not to feel great about yourself. You go because you see how great they are and you realize how small you are. And you get a sense of all. We were created to enjoy all we were created to be overwhelmed. I know that it's not just one experience it, but I know from Scripture because God tells us he created us to worship. He created us to be overwhelmed by his holiness, by his glory, by his power. We were created to worship. Specifically, we were created to worship God. The problem is, is we all worship something else. We worship other people. We worship our spouse. We worship our children. We worship our jobs. We worship everything but God. We're called to love our spouse. We're called to love our children. We're called to see our vocation as a duty and an obligation in which we put forth our best effort. But God alone is worthy of our worship. It's a tragic irony that we put the affections that belong to God on other things because that actually keeps us from enjoying those other things or those other people properly. It keeps us from truly being satisfied in our marriages, in our families, in our work. God alone is worthy of worship. We have been created to be satisfied by worshiping God alone. The message this morning is from Exodus, as we continue to walk through. This is the second of a three-part series, really, on the plagues. We've been looking at chapter 6 through chapter 10. Last week, our message was we were created and redeemed to worship God alone. This week, our message is we were created and redeemed to worship God alone. Yes, it's both repetitious and redundant. Last week, we really focused more on the former. We looked at the primary purpose of the plagues, and that is to prove, to demonstrate to Egypt that Yahweh alone is God. He mocked, he belittled, he humiliated their gods, their false gods, and he demonstrated he was the one true God. He was proving to the nations, he was proving that he was the one creator. He was sovereign over creation. And that's why he is worshiped. He is worthy of worship alone. This week, we're going to be looking at the other half of that more focus. Yes, we were created to worship God alone, but as Christians were redeemed to worship God alone. To summarize the message last week, it's helpful if you're not a Christian. If you're not a Christian here this morning, I want to summarize the message from last week because it really is more for you. God alone is worthy of worship. We were created to worship him, but we have rebelled against him. Instead of offering him worship, we fight against him. We resist him. God, who is holy and just and righteous, necessarily then is wrathful towards us. He will judge us for every rebellious act, every rebellious thought, every rebellious deed, every rebellious word. We, who are supposed to worship him, have refused him and are therefore under his wrath. And we see the wrath and the plagues. But the wrath that is to come for those who resist God is much worse than those plagues. It's an eternity of judgment. Here's the good news, friends. God alone can forgive you. The God who is to be worshipped alone, the God who is to be worshipped is the same God who can forgive the same God who shows us his forgiveness by the father sending his son to die in our place. The wrath of God that we deserve, the wrath of God that should be upon us. God, the father, put it upon his son, God himself, who took on human flesh, lived the perfect life without any sin. He suffered as if a sinner. So if we place our faith in him, the wrath of God is satisfied. The wrath of God has been poured out. Therefore, we are no longer under the wrath of God. If we believe in Christ, the wrath of God is no longer upon us because it's been placed upon Christ, and then we have life because we share in the life of the risen Savior. To ground a Christian. I want you to listen to the rest of the sermon, but if you just want to meditate on that, please do so. This week, we're going to be looking at how God is faithful to his people, his redeemed people. Last week, I went through the plagues, I gave a big overview and we read the first three and I'm going to read the second set of three. If you weren't here last week, the nine plagues, it's nine plus one. The nine are set up in a pattern. You've got three, three and three, and the pattern is the first of the three always happens in the morning by the river. The second of the three happens in the court and the third of the three. There's no warning of the plague. It just happens. This particular three, the middle three that we'll read this morning. Really focuses on the distinction made between Israel and Egypt. He doesn't put the plagues that are going to happen on Egypt in the land of Goshen. He sets his people apart. He creates a wall so that they do not suffer like the Egyptians. So listen for that distinction being made. Finally, listen for the repetition, which is one of the things we're going to be focusing on this morning. Let my people go that they may serve me. Let my people go. that they may serve me. Read with me, beginning in Exodus eight, as we'll read the fourth through the six plagues. Then the Lord said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh as he goes out to the water and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Let my people go that they may serve me. Or else you, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people and into your houses and the house of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies and also the ground on which they stand. But on that day, I will set apart the land of Goshen where my people dwell so that no swarms of flies shall be there. that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. Thus, I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow, this this sign shall happen. And the Lord did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants houses throughout all the land of Egypt. The land was ruined by the swarms of flies. Then Pharaoh called to Moses and Aaron and said, Go sacrifice to God within the land. But Moses said it would not be right to do so for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God or an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? We must go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he tells us. So Pharaoh said, I will let you go to sacrifice the Lord your God in the wilderness. Only you must not go very far. Plead for me. Then Moses said, behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord did, as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, from his people. Not one remained, but Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go. Then the Lord said to Moses, go into Pharaoh and say to him, thus says the Lord, the God of Hebrews, let my people go that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, the hold, the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock. They're in the field, the horse, the donkey, the camel, the herds and the flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die. And the Lord set a time saying tomorrow. The Lord will do this thing in the land. And the next day, the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. And Pharaoh sent and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he did not let the people go. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of soot from the kiln and let Moses throw them In the air, in the sight of Pharaoh, it shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and become boils breaking out and sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt. So they took soot from the kiln and stood before the Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air and it became boils breaking out and sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils. For the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. But his Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not listen to them as the Lord had spoken to Moses. This morning, we're going to be focused on a few verses, a few phrases, particularly those we've already read and heard. Let my people go that they may serve me. God is calling out his people for his purpose. We'll be looking at that distinction he made between Israel and Egypt and what the ramifications, what the implications of that are. There's two main points this morning. First, God is faithful to his covenant people. God is faithful to his covenant people. And then we'll see four parts of that covenant faithfulness that God has. Secondly, the second main point of our sermon this morning will be, we are called to be faithful worshipers. The first is declaring God's faithfulness, and the second one is our responsibility, our calling to serve God. So first, God is faithful to his promises and his people. The first thing we need to see is that God's promises are permanent. God's promises are permanent. They never fail. God is not surprised that his people are in Egypt. God is not surprised that his people are enslaved. God sent them there. We could go back to Genesis 15 verses 12 through 16 and see that as part of the covenant with Abraham, he was already telling Abraham who the people of Israel should have known they're going to go into a foreign land. They're going to go there to multiply. We can easily see in chapter one of Exodus that was fulfilled. They're going to be enslaved. Moses emphasizes how this was all planned in Genesis 15, God says you'll be there for 400 years in Exodus 12. After the Passover, in the midst of the deliverance, Moses recites after 430 years, he's saying it has been fulfilled, as God has said. It has happened. Listen to the purpose and the plan of God in Genesis 46, beginning of verse two, he's speaking to Jacob, even he's he's encouraging him and explaining this is all part of my plan. This is happening for your good because I have purposed it. And God spoke to Israel and visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here I am. Then he said, I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt and I will also bring you up again. And Joseph's hand shall close your eyes. He's making it clear, I'm intending you to go down. We know he's going to intend the slavery and he's going to bring about a mighty redemption. In Genesis 50, Joseph. And he has his brothers. Make a promise. Don't leave my body in this foreign land. Take me out into the promised land. He knows God is going to deliver them. See, in this slavery, in this foreign land, God never left his people. He was always with his people. He was always hearing them, seeing them, knowing them and loving them. What's really amazing about God's promise is not the fact that he already intended to send them. His purposes are being done, though they saw a few weeks ago, he's faithful to his promise, even while his people are rejecting him. What did Israel do as soon as Pharaoh was told? You've got to let these people go, he he made their burdens harder and the people of Israel started grumbling, they started complaining. They rejected the plan of salvation. They mocked the chosen deliverer. That chosen deliverer, Moses, even goes up to God and says, have you only intended evil? You have not delivered your people at all. That's chapter five, verse twenty three. Even while God's people are faithless, he is faithful, even while his people are kicking and fighting against him, he keeps his promise. Parents can can appreciate this. How often are we intending something good for our children while they are fighting against us? No, you need to brush your teeth. You need to go to bed, you need to eat your vegetables. All the while, we're trying to do something good for them, they're they're fighting. That's all we can appreciate the fact that God in one hand has a carrot, another hand has a stick. He gives us the good things we need. He blesses us abundantly and he disciplines us accordingly. We first have to realize that we are a rebellious people and God is faithful. The second thing we need to see about God's faithfulness to his promises and his people, that God's people are his treasured possession. God's people are his treasured possession. There are special people. We see this over and over. We saw in chapter four, verse 22, he called Israel his firstborn son. And that's a very technical term. It shows how much he loved them. It shows that they're a special people. They're not just a contracted people. They're his beloved people. He cares for them. In other places in scripture, he calls Israel his bride. He uses strong language to make it clear that he loves us. His affection is for us. He uses the most intimate of metaphors to make this clear to us. So he delivers his people to be with him. He delivers his people to be in a relationship with him. This was always the plan. God is redeeming Israel to go back to the original plan. He created Adam. That's the height and the glory of creation. The very last day, the very last being created was the height and the glory of creation. He created Adam and Eve in his image. There's two things we need to know about what it means to be in the image of God. One, we were created to be in a personal relationship with God. We're created as image to know him, to speak with him, to be loved by him and to love him. Secondly, we're creating his image so that we can reflect him. That's what exercising dominion is. We're creating his image so that we can reflect him, we can be his ambassadors to all the world. Well, as we know, Adam failed. And then when he recreated, when he began a new humanity with Noah, he failed. When he began a new humanity with Abraham, he failed. Here, what he's doing with Israel is creating another new humanity. And of course, they fail. They were supposed to be in a personal, intimate relationship with God. They were supposed to love him and be loved by him, but they refused to worship God alone. They refused to have a wholehearted, single hearted love, they refused to obey him because they did not love him. This is why a few weeks ago I said Jesus replaces Israel. See, Israel was supposed to be a new Adam, a new people. They're supposed to know God and reflect God, but they failed. And that is why Jesus replaces and that's why God always intended for Jesus to come. All these other new humanities, they were intended to fail to show how great and glorious that new Adam was going to be, who perfectly knows the father and who perfectly represents the father. We now get to be God's new humanity if we believe in him, the new human race, the new chosen race. It takes faith and faithfulness. As we look at these plagues, we need to realize that all this is done over a battle, it's a battle for his people. If you continue to refuse to let them go, I'm going to continue to bring these plagues to the point where he's saying the whole land is in ruin. His magicians, his counsel, are eventually going to say, would you please stop resisting God? He's ruining Egypt. Let his people go. The battle is over, who gets to say they're my people? Over and over again, my people, who has the right claim over them? Pharaoh wants them to be his slaves for his selfish ends. God wants them to be free to be the people he created them to be worshipers. They both want Israel for their own glory. Pharaoh and God want his want the people of Israel for their own glory. Pharaoh wants them for the glory that's going to break their backs. God wants them to be glorifiers in the way they were always intended to be and the only way that they will ever truly Be happy. When you think about this repeated phrase, let my people go so that they may serve me, the command to let my people go happen six times. We first see the implication of this or the idea of this in chapter seven, verse four. He says, my people, the children of Israel, I will deliver them. Then the first and the second plague, the fourth and the fifth plague and the seventh and the eighth plague, he begins it by saying. Let my people go. Now, he does not repeat this in place 3, 6 and 9 because those get no warning. There is no warning that precedes them. We have to think about this repetition. Why is it repeated over and over again? I think when Moses started walking in the door, Pharaoh knew what the message was. It's repeated for us. It's repeated for the people of Israel because that repetition, every time you hear it, it's supposed to remind you. God is for us who can be against us. I am one of God's children, he is calling me out, he has called me out, he has a purpose, he is able to accomplish it. Let my people go, it's supposed to be a great care, an assurance, a comfort for us. The command, let my people, really goes back to Exodus 6 verse 7. What I call the covenant formula where God says, I will take you to be my people and I will be your God. We looked at how that begins in Genesis, that covenant formula, that theme throughout scripture, it ends in Revelation a few weeks ago. We can turn to Jeremiah 31. And we can see this new covenant formula, the same formula, but in the new covenant, I will take you to my people and I will be your God here. Jeremiah is contrasting the new covenant with that of Moses. There won't be an external law. There'll be an internal law in our hearts. There'll be a people who are not just the nation of Israel, but all peoples. We will not stand in fear, but we will go boldly in. As the author of Hebrews tells us in chapter eight, reflecting on this, so we are God's people. That's our assurance, that's our new identity that helps us to know that we are his treasured possession. The same sentiment is found in the words of Jesus. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know my voice. That's the beautiful promise of Jesus Christ. Those of us who know Christ, who believed in him and his work that we spoke of the very beginning of the sermon. He knows us, we are his sheep and we know his voice. See, his power, the power and the love of God are demonstrated on the cross. If we ever want to question, if we ever have a question, does God love us? We need to look to Christ. We need to look to the cross. We need to look and ask if God would not hold back his son. What would he hold back from me if God loved me so much that he would send his son to die for me? What could ever cause me to doubt his love? The third thing we want to look at. Under God's faithfulness to his promises and his people that God that God promises to make his people holy. God promises to make his people holy. Here we're going to be thinking about the setting apart of the land, the making a distinction between Israel and Egypt. The swarming flies stopped on the line where Goshen began. Have you ever been out in the rain or you've been out and you see rain right across from you, but where you are, there's there's sunshine. There's like a wall that really, really kind of well, it's somewhat creepy feeling. Because you don't understand how you're not dry, you're not wet, but right across the street, it's raining. This is what it would be like for the Israelites. They're standing on this side of Goshen and they're looking out and they just see a wall of flies that's ruining the land. They have not been hindered. The ultimate distinction is in the final play, where the firstborn of Israel is not killed. The firstborn of Egypt is. What makes Israel unique and distinct is that God declares them to be. Israel isn't unique in themselves, they're just like any other Semitic, ancient, Near Eastern people, they're sinners. There was nothing more beautiful, more glorious, nothing better about Israel than every other nation. They were unique and distinct only because God said, I love you. They're unique and distinct because they receive the recipients of God's unique love. He chose them to be the people by which he would reverse the curse of Genesis three, and he would choose them to be the recipients of his blessing. And to be the blessing to all nations. Now, oftentimes we think we're set apart because we're special. Oftentimes we think we're set apart to be a special people, but when we say special, it's not that we're called out to be God's people for God's purpose. There's a misconception that when you're set apart by God, then you're set apart from any frustration, you're set apart from any danger, you're set apart from suffering. There's nothing more opposite, more contradictory. That's taught in scripture. See, there's the misconception that when we're set apart, we're set apart from suffering as if God safeguards us. The opposite is taught in Scripture. God calls us out to be persecuted. If the one we believe, Jesus Christ, suffered, how much more are we to suffer? We will participate in Christ's suffering. As we look at the fact that we are God's people. We're caught up to serve. We're caught up to serve God. We're caught up to serve one another. We're caught up to serve the world. The final thing I want to point out here in that God is faithful is he's judging Egypt. He doesn't call Israel to raise up arms and begin a revolution. He doesn't call Israel to be their own vindicator, to be their own judge, to to hurt the Egyptians. He takes it upon himself to be the one who vindicates and judges the enemy of his people. As Christians, we're supposed to trust God to be the one who is the righteous judge, who protects us and who will vindicate us. When we are wronged, we're commanded to turn the other cheek. When someone is presenting themselves as our enemy, we're told to love them. And the only way we can do that is if we truly trust that God is a righteous and just judge and that he will bring judgment upon our enemies and that we do not have to. Our second main point, we are called to be faithful worshipers, we are called to be faithful worshipers, we are called out to serve, let my people go that they may serve me. We're a special people, whereas treasured people, whereas people who are defined by his love. And now we see our purpose that they may serve me. The word for serve, there is a VOD. It's the same word we can find in Genesis 215. Adam was put in the middle of the garden to guard and serve it. The same word for serve is in both passages. Adam was a priest in the garden. He was there to protect it because it's holy ground, it's holy space, it's sacred space, and he's there to serve in it. His service was meant to be worship. We see this because in Numbers 18, 7, the priests are told to do the same things in the temple. The priest is told to guard the temple. To serve in it. We can see that in numerous places for the priest. Guarding God's sacred space, serving in God's sacred space, is what God's people do. Service is tied up with the idea of worship. You already knew that because you're at a worship service. The word service here is the word ceremony. It necessarily is tied to the concept of worship. Here, Israel is called to serve. They're called to serve God, not Pharaoh. They're called to serve God, we'll even see this more in Exodus 19, 6, where the entire nation is called a kingdom of priests. Every person, male and female, is called to be a representative of God, serving him and worshiping him with all their lives. God's purpose for Israel is to free them and to be obedient to them. But what Israel is going to have to see, what Israel is going to have to learn is that they weren't just freed from slavery. They were they were freed to a new life. They were freed to be obedient. They were freed to become a nation who would have a law that they now have to obey. That's how they are called to serve. It's not just salvation from wrath, it's salvation to a new life and a new truth. We see this in the New Testament after one of the greatest passages on God's grace, which we'll be studying for Reformation Day, Ephesians 2, 10, after Paul is declared, we were dead, but now we're alive by God's grace. He declares, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. We're saved from death to live. In order to do this, the first thing we have to see are that God's laws are good. His commandments, his precepts, his warnings, they're all good. God's law is good. Anyone who does not look at the law and see that it is good, if you look at the law and you say it's too restricting, your problem isn't the law. Your problem is that you love sin too much. Because the law is keeping you from sin. If the law is restricting you from living the life that you want to live, you're loving sin too much. The law is meant to protect you from sin and to show you the way that God has intended you to live. God's law is good because it's telling us how God intended us to live and how to truly enjoy life. Secondly, We worship by knowing the power of his salvation. To know God is to know him as Savior. Yes, we can acknowledge there is one God, but to truly know God, to truly know Yahweh, we have to know him as the Savior. If we don't know him as a Savior, then we do not know him personally. We see this in Exodus 6, verse 7. That covenant formula again, I will take you to be my people. I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord, your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. Israel will know that Yahweh is their God because he saves them. Even more so, we can see this in Exodus 20, the very first word of the 10 words. I. and the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You're not to have any other God before me because I'm the one God who saved you. You're not to lie anymore because I'm the one God of truth and I'm the God who saved you. We obey God because he saved us. We know God because he saved us. We're supposed to have a single minded affection upon that one God who loves us. We're supposed to be worshippers. This is why Jesus declares the greatest commandment is this. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the only way we can love God is to first know he loves us. And there's no way for you to know he loves you. Unless you believe in the cross of Jesus Christ, where his love is demonstrated. To be more single minded. To really love the one God more. Is to focus and know the cross of Christ more. If you want to grow in your worship, grow in your knowledge of what Christ accomplished in the cross. Worship begins at the cross. Thirdly, I want to think through with you what keeps us from worshiping? What keeps us from worshiping? I've got three things, one, our self-worship. You see, God is actually accusing Pharaoh of this. In chapter 10, verse three, he asked, how long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? There's a boasting up of himself saying, I am worthy of worship. Yahweh is not. I am not going. To listen to him. We don't worship God because we worship ourselves. See, we think we have the right to make choices. We have the right to sinful pleasures. We have the right to do what we want and all along we're refusing God the right to rule us. God created us to rule us and that rule is good. We refuse his worship. Because we refuse to acknowledge that his law is good, it's good for us and we must obey. The second thing that keeps us from worshiping. It's our own guilt about sin. Our own guilt keeps us from worshiping, we realize that God is worthy of our worship, we realize we do not worship him and what can keep us from worshiping God is that we're overwhelmed with our guilt. If you're overwhelmed with guilt, you go to the cross. You trust the power of God's word that says, I forgive you. You trust God's powerful declaration. Finally, and this was the most dangerous. What keeps us from worshiping? It's our deception. Our self-deception that where we think we're good enough. We don't worship God when we we think we're already good enough. We think we don't need forgiveness. We think God's law is too high. I can always find someone I'm better than. We deceive ourselves in thinking we're more righteous than we really are. So the only way to really know God is to know him as the forgiver. The only way to truly worship God is to recognize your sin. See that it keeps you from God and see that he has not let it keep you from him by sending his son to die for you. Fourthly, and finally, we worship by telling of his power to save. We worship by telling of his power to say, look at Chapter 10 with me. Verse one. Egypt is coming to ruin, Egypt is all but ruined. And God is giving a warning for the eighth plague, then the Lord said to Moses, go into Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show the signs of mine among them and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them. that you may know that I am the Lord." The primary purpose of these plagues is to bring judgment upon Egypt. He didn't need to bring these plagues after plague after plague to free Israel. He did it to make sure that Egypt and Israel knew that he alone was God. Over and over again he is demonstrating a power over the false gods and demonstrating that he is the one God. Here we see Moses receiving one of the few commands for the people of Israel in the midst of this section. Tell about this. Tell your sons, tell your grandsons, tell about the mighty and awesome way that God delivered you, the way I treated Israel harshly so that you may know that I am the Lord. If we've experienced the power of God, if we've experienced the gospel of Christ, we've experienced the truth. We're going to tell about it. We're going to tell God stories. We're going to tell of what God has done. We're going to tell of what his mighty acts have done. We're going to tell others those who are closest to us, our sons, our grandsons. We should tell our neighbors. We should be talking about what God has done. That's what the conversation should be in the fellowship hall. We're fellowshipping, we're talking about Christ and what he's accomplished. Here's the real the hard part of this, though. If Israel is going to tell their sons and their grandsons about how great God was to really tell the story, they're going to have to confess their fear. Their failure. They're forsaking the promise. They're going to have to confess their sin and their weaknesses. See, that's the only way you can really tell a God story. The only way you can really talk about God in a meaningful way is to talk about how weak we are. And how mighty God is. The only way you can really talk about God in a proper way is to talk about how sinful we are and how mighty he is to save us. The only way to truly talk about God So let people see our sin to stop hiding it so that God is magnified in our weakness. God's grace is made great in our sin. Yes, God is worthy to be talked about. God is our greatest thought we could ever have, as we've already meditated upon and be that my vision. But if we really want to tell God's stories, the right God stories, the good God stories, they have to begin with our sin and end with a cross. That's how we magnify God. Friends, are we worshiping God? Are we loving sin? Are we loving God and his law? Do we recognize that we are God's people? You are my people. I have taken you out of the bondage of slavery to serve me. Or we keep thinking, well, this little sin can't hurt too much. Friends, every sin is deadly and dangerous. God has called us out to enjoy him. God has called us out to glorify him. God has called us out to be who are meant to be. And that's the only way we'll truly be happy. And that is to be worshipers of the one true God. To be worshipers, we have to confess our sins, trust Christ to forgive those sins and seek to live the life that he has foreordained for us. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. God, help us to think. Of you. Help us to know you, help us to know you. And your power to forgive. Help us to have a desire, as Moses had, to see your face, to see your glory. Help us long to see your glory. Help us, Lord, to see how our sins keep us from truly enjoying and delighting in your glory. Help us to be obedient servants. Helps be slaves of Christ. Who love him and loves you, our father. Because we stop loving our sin. Thank you for calling us out to be your people. Thank you for renewing us so that we can live the life you created us for. Teach us to do that as a body. So that we can glorify you together. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.