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All right, amen. Exodus chapter number three, keep your place there, but go to Acts chapter number seven real quick. Acts chapter number seven. What we're gonna talk about tonight is church history from the Bible. Church history from the Bible. And a lot of people, I'm sure everybody's heard this, you know, a lot of people like to talk about church history and things of that nature, make videos about church history, quote church fathers and things like that. You know, there's obviously some good, there's obviously some bad, there's obviously some unknowns and all of that, but the question I always have for these people is how much do you know about our church history, not Shield of Faith Baptist specifically, but just the Christian church in general? How much do you know about that from the Bible? And of course, if you're a dispensationalist, you're gonna say, well, there's no such thing as church in the Old Testament. It was only the Jewish synagogues. So of course, you know, that crowd, this is gonna go right over their heads. But I figured I'd title this Church in the Wild, Church in the Wild. Now you're there in Acts chapter number seven, look at verse 37. So this is the passage here where the deacon Stephen is basically, he's been apprehended, he's been brought before a Jewish synagogue, a council, if you will. And he's been told to basically explain why he's doing the things that he's doing. And so he's giving a rundown, trying to prove Jesus Christ from the Old Testament. He starts with Abraham and he's working through Moses where we're gonna pick up here in verse 37. So look what he says here, look what the Bible says. So as he begins to mention Moses, and he's in this part of history here, he says this. This is that Moses which said unto the children of Israel, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren. Like unto me, him shall ye hear. And of course, this is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's where we get into the history part here. Look at verse number 38. So Stephen says, this is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel, which spake to him in the Mount Sinai and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us. So right there in that verse, there are several things that we're gonna talk about here right off the bat. And the first thing is, I guess we should define what church is. A church is a congregation or a gathering, if you will. It's a gathering. And so Stephen here, before these Jews, before these people that don't believe on Christ that are questioning him, he brings up a very important thing. And he talks about Jesus and says that Jesus was in the church. He was with the church in the wilderness, which by the way, is a very bold statement, which is basically him saying that he's from everlasting, that Jesus is God, which I'm sure definitely infuriated these people, which was probably just more fuel as they were stoning him right after he said these things. And so I would say the first thing to bring up about church history is if there's no Jesus in the church, then it's not really a church. I mean, that should be pretty simple, right? That should be pretty obvious. The problem is you have thousands and thousands and thousands, and I don't know how many, but I know in this part of the world where we're out here at the Treasure Valley, there's probably thousands of churches, and the vast majority of them don't have Jesus Christ. You go talk to these people. You go look up their websites. You go talk to their pastors. You go talk to their ministry leaders. They have no idea how to get saved. They have no idea. They don't really care too much about that. Their attitude is, oh, Christ will figure it out. He'll sort out all that doctrine in the end, okay? But there is a problem. We see right here in this verse Christ was in the church. Okay, he was in the church in the wilderness. This is our history. It's always been like that. So there's another thing that I wanna bring up here. So we've got obviously that church is a congregation. Okay, we'll get deeper into that here in a minute. Obviously, in order to have a church, to be a legitimate church, the Lord Jesus Christ, God has to be in that. Now, God is not going to be in Egypt. He is not going to be in a place that doesn't have what we're gonna talk about next, which is the threefold division that is mentioned here. Okay, so verse 38, look at the third word. This is he, okay? Well, we know that to be Christ. Well, who is that specifically? Well, he's the word, the word of God. Okay, John chapter number one. So you have he, which is the word. Then you have Moses, because that's who he's talking about. Moses is a picture of the law, okay? And then what does he say towards the end of the verse there? Well, he says, let's look at it again. It says, this is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel, which spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received, now look at this next phrase, the lively oracles to give unto us. So you see that picture there, Christ in the church. And what do you see surrounding that? You see the three here, this threefold division, the word of God, you have the law, and then you have the oracles, all pertaining to scripture. These three are one, okay? That's what I'm trying to say. We have the law, we have the prophets, we have the New Testament. This is all one word of God. It is lively, meaning it is alive and well, okay? But what do we have today? We have people that call themselves church. I go to church, but however, I'm a textual critic because I'm so smart. No, you're not a textual critic. What you are is a person that goes around from gas station to gas station eating urinal mints. And I know that's not very nice, but that's all I can see when I hear these people criticizing the Bible. But yet out of the other side of their mouth, they're talking about, oh, the church fathers and church history and church this and church that. It's like you have no idea what the Bible even says about church history, but you have no problem looking to other books and other things to try to prove your points. Absolutely disgusting. Now go back, if you would, to Exodus chapter number three. We'll continue on here, okay? So even history right off the bat tells you the ingredients that make up the local church, okay? It's obviously Christ who's in the church, the savior, God, and it's his word. Very simple to understand. However, you don't have that understanding today and that's a big, big, big problem. So let's go and kind of back up for a second here and talk about who these people really are so that we have a very clear understanding of that. Who is it that Stephen is saying was the church and the wilderness? And before I go any further, I'm not saying that all of those people were saved or anything like that. They were God's people, they were chosen, we're gonna look at that, but they weren't all automatically saved. So it's not like in the Old Testament God said, all right, I've got this group of people right here, okay? They're gonna be Hebrews and I'm just gonna save them all. Okay, yeah, I'll discipline them, I'll chase them, but they get a free pass because I said so, okay? No, they still had to call upon God. They still had to be saved the same way that we do today, only obviously they didn't call upon Jesus because they did not know him by that name back in Exodus. So who were these people? Well, obviously this is the 12 tribes of Israel that Stephen was referring to, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Let's pick it up here in verse number three. So Exodus three, verse number three, the Bible says, and Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. So notice how the Bible records what Moses says to himself, how he says, I will now turn aside and see this great bush. Now look at verse four, look at what happens next. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses, and he said, here am I. Now I just wanna bring this up because it's a principle that's taught throughout the Bible. A lot of times God puts things in our lives to get our attention, and when we wake up and finally grab ahold of those things, whether it's a certain passage in the Bible, or just, I mean, anything, you say you're not reading the Bible, you start reading the Bible, okay, and you take that next step of faith, because we're a people that walk by faith, not by sight, God then notices that, and that's when he typically responds to his people, and that's exactly what you see here. Moses says, you know what, I'm gonna go ahead and check out this bush here, and then look at what the Bible says again in verse four, and when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see. So just a quick principle there for you guys, look at verse five, he says, and he said, draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Verse number six, now of course, there's denominations out there that would say certain parts of their church building or what they would call a sanctuary are holy, and we have holy water, and things that are physical are still holy, okay, that's taking this grossly out of context, look at verse six. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father. Okay, well obviously, what is he saying there? It says, I am present tense, meaning what? Meaning his father is not dead, the body might be dead, but he's still very much alive, and he is still very much the God of Moses' father. He says, moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. Verse seven, and the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So, what do we see here? There's a lot going on here. Go to Exodus chapter number six. Exodus chapter number six. So we see this people, the church which is in the wilderness, which obviously is after this point in time here, but this church in the wilderness, the Bible says that Christ was in that church. He was with them, meaning Christ is here in this time period, and there's something that God is doing here to this church. He's calling them out of a place, and it's a picture of something that we really need to understand. Now, before I get there, what I wanted to do is answer that question that I asked at the beginning, well, who are these people? Okay, well, these people are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, okay? So, we understand that the church is a gathering of people. Okay, it's a gathering of people, that's what it is, but it's more than that. A biblical church is, what, it's Christ-centered. It has the word of God, it has Christ. It doesn't have somebody up there saying, you know what, this is the best that we have today, as far as this is, you know, as I can see, or as far as this is translated correctly, that's false, that's not a church, that is something else, that is another group. It's my mission in life to hopefully someday make a lot of people understand that, you know, make a lot of people see that, understand that. You know, it's kinda like I said on Sunday, you know, I think we need to step up to some of these guys that were getting saved in these churches out here and let them know what you're attending, and I'm not trying to be rude, but it is not a church. It calls itself a church, but it absolutely is not. Christ would never dwell in a place that twists and contorts his gospel message, what he died for. It's absolutely absurd, and it is not true. And so, again, even in this passage here in Exodus chapter three, where God's telling Moses, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, okay, well, what is church? A church is a group of people that could be said about them, I am the God of, and insert your name here, okay? So a church is what? It's made up of people that are saved, it's believers, okay? And God is doing what in the early days here? Well, he's calling his people, he's calling this church out of Egypt, why? What's so significant about Egypt? Well, look at verse number six. So the Bible says, Exodus six, look at verse number six. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel? So obviously God giving Moses further instruction here. So verse six, wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord. Okay, now look at these next three, I wills. He says this, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgment. So what does this picture here? Well, this picture's the doctrine of sanctification here, because when you do study the Bible, what you'll see is that Egypt is a picture of the world, and God clearly does not want to leave his church in the world, in Egypt. Now, why is that? Well, because his people are different, we are different. We don't get to live by the same laws and the same rules as the world. If you're a child of God and you try that, you will find yourself under constant chastening and just absolute trouble. But according to this verse here, what is the best that the world, what is the best that Egypt has to offer the church? Well, you got your two Bs here, right? Burdens, burdens, that is what the world will do to you. That is what the world does to God's people. It burdens us, it vexes our souls, okay? Next one, look what it says there on that third, I will. And I will rid you out of their bondage. So the world, what it does is it places its standards and its expectations on you, which are burdens, because they almost always go against the wisdom of God. And then what do they do? That in and of itself keeps you in bondage, okay? It keeps you in bondage, it keeps you down, and it makes it so that you cannot thrive as the child of God. And God knows this. God knows that while they're in Egypt, there's not a whole lot that they can do. There's not a whole lot of good that they can do to the world, because the world has them, okay? But what do we see today? We see the exact opposite. We see, well, you know, you're fundamentalists, you guys really are pretty extreme, you're nothing but terrorists. Maybe if you weren't so extreme, you'd have more people in your church. Doesn't matter, we have more people in our church than you do any day of the week, any day, because all of our people are saved, okay? How about that? See, nobody ever thinks to say or to really bring up the true facts about what a real church is. A real church is made up of saved people. Go find for me 10 saved people at Tree City Church of the Nazarene, and I'll bet you cannot do it. Go to Eagle in Franklin, the Life Church, find me five people, I'll bet you cannot do it. Seriously, just go, and I've wanted to do this, just go in like on a random day, like on a Tuesday, and just, you know, just ask a bunch of people, just say, man, we're saved, you know? You're gonna find no one practically that's saved. Maybe one or two people, but that's about it, and that's only if you're lucky. That's only if we got them saved, because I'll be honest with you, usually what happens when you get somebody saved that goes to one of these places, they might continue there for a little while, and then they just quit going to church altogether. Seriously, there's just something, where I think God just often just removes them and just takes them out and is like, I'd rather have you out here than inside of this place. I'd rather have you, you know, maybe go over to, I don't know, one of these other nations than playing around in actual Egypt in the center there, okay? So, again, God doesn't want his church in the world, but again, what are we often attacked for? Well, we're attacked for our standards and the things that we stand for in the Bible. We're attacked for calling things out and saying, well, this is why we dress the way we do. This is why we have the church services, because we don't wanna look like the world, and of course, the world doesn't see that. They think, well, you're just hindering the cause of Christ because you don't wanna reach out to people like we are, okay? It's like, no, we're following the Bible. This is our history here, okay? Maybe if you weren't such a Zionist and just looked at the Old Testament as just for Jews, maybe you'd actually learn something and be able to apply that to your life and get your thinking straight. Go to John chapter number 15. John chapter number 15, but keep your place there in Exodus 6. And by the way, in that verse there, there was three I wills, right? What does that point to? Well, the fact that God's the one who saved. God's the one that pulls us out. Not God plus man, not man. No, it is always God doing the saving. It's always God lifting the burdens. It's always God lifting the bondage, and it's always God redeeming people. John 15, verse 19. This is, of course, Jesus speaking here, and look what he says. If ye, okay, talking to the saved, talking to his disciples, if ye were of the world, the world would love his own, but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. The reason why Egypt hated the Hebrews was because they knew instinctively that they were different, that they were of God, that they were a people chosen by God, and God was blessing them. God was multiplying them, and they were keeping to the standards that they knew for the most part, and so, of course, God said, I'm gonna have to rescue these people. I'm going to take them out of bondage. So, again, I'll say this. If a group of people calls itself a church, but they live and act like the world, meaning you walk into their building, and you've just got, I mean, it looks like, I don't know, it looks like a rock and roll concert, or like a rap concert or something like that, okay? It's pretty obvious where they stand on biblical doctrine. It's pretty obvious where they stand on things. You're not gonna have that guy get up there and say hard things and preach hard truths and tell you, hey, there's only one way to heaven, and it has nothing to do with you turning from sins. It's a free gift, okay? You know why you're not gonna find that person saying that? Because he can't say that, because they're not saved. They are Egypt, okay? It's a bunch of little pharaohs running around town, basically opening up shops, saying, oh, hey, we're gonna try this Christianity thing out for a while. Pastor Pharaoh leading all of these churches out here, and it's nothing more than a cycle to get people to stay in the world, to stay in Egypt, and to boost Egypt's population. Egypt is still bitter. They've been bitter all these years. You know, ever since God overthrew their government, they've been trying to get it back. They've just been doing it in a different spirit. So go back to Exodus chapter number six. So the main thing I wanted you to see here is that we see separation between the people of God and the people of the world. So we see a separation between the Hebrew people and the Egyptian people, okay? And we've got that picture. Now look at verse number seven. So verse seven, God says, and I will, so there's another I will, and I will take you to me for a people, okay? This is God's doing here. Now please understand, what he's not saying here is I just randomly chose all you guys because there's just something super special about your DNA, and it's just great, and that's why I chose you, okay? That's not what he's saying there. He's simply saying, I'm going to pick for me during this season of the world a nation made up of 12 tribes, and they are supposed to be the beacon of light to the world. They are supposed to be a light that the world sees to point to me. So he says, I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God, and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. Now keep your place again in this neighborhood because we're going to come back to Exodus, but go to 2 Timothy chapter number one. 2 Timothy chapter number one. You don't have to turn there, I'm going to read for you one verse out of Hosea chapter 11, and it's verse number one, very familiar verse. It says, when Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt, and of course, that has a dual fulfillment. That happened, obviously, as God's calling the Hebrews out of Egypt, but it also was fulfilled one God called Christ out of Egypt when they fled down to Egypt to flee Planned Parenthood, which I brought that up just to basically say, if you're not a son, well, if you're not the son of God, I mean, you're the son of Egypt. You are the world. That is what the Bible tells us. So very clear, okay, everybody's got that, super easy. Hey, God calling his people, and keep in mind, this physical people that he chose in the Old Testament was eventually based off of, obviously, these 12 tribes are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they were chosen to be a nation, and they were God's people. Now, they still had to be saved. Everybody in here should understand that. On an individual level, they still had to call upon the Lord, and it's even written in the Psalms that David would go around and ask people if they knew the Lord, and there are several examples in the Old Testament of people going around saying, hey, do you know the Lord, and things of that nature, okay, but by and large, the picture is God chose for himself out of the world a people that is supposed to be separate, and Stephen refers to these people when they were in the wilderness as the church, and the church had Christ in it. The church had that three-fold division. It had the Word of God. It had the law. Obviously, Christ was with them, and they had the lively oracle. Now, obviously, they didn't have the New Testament. Come on, we get that, we understand that, but they had prophets, and they were getting more and more of the Word of God as time increased. Now, I wanted to have you kind of go here because part of church history is understanding a couple of these phrases which are often very misconstrued, which is a lot of times a Bible will refer to us that are saved as the called or chosen, and of course, you have a very large section of Christianity today called Calvinists, and they'll say, oh, you know, we're the chosen or we're the called because what God does is he goes around and says, you're saved, you're lost, you're saved, saved, lost, and he just does that just like a random lottery, okay? Like he chooses whom he will. You have to be chosen. Like it's nothing that you did. Like they take that to the way, you know, extreme. They say, well, you're just chosen because God chose you, and then he, of course, gives you the power to turn from your sins. Don't forget about that part, okay? Obviously, false doctrine. But what does church history actually teach us about that phrase, the called? Where did that come from? What does that mean? Well, I mean, you could go to Hosea chapter 11 because God clearly says that he called, right, his son, meaning Jacob or the nation of Israel, out of Egypt, okay? So that's one reason. You're in 2 Timothy chapter number one. Look at verse number nine. So the Bible says this. Who hath saved us? Who hath saved us and called us with unholy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now this verse here could really, I mean, this verse here could be broken up into an entire sermon series, if you really think about it, okay? So of course, the Calvinists look at this, and I've had them do this to me, which is why I bring this up, okay? And says, oh, see, well, it says called there, because we're the called, meaning God calls some people and he doesn't call others. And if you didn't, you know, if you didn't win the lucky draw, well, unfortunately, you just weren't one of the called. There's really nothing you could do about it. Pastor Mendez tells a story about somebody he was trying to give the gospel to. And this person said, well, I've been going to such and such Baptist church. And because, this is what she said. She said, because I've smoked in the past, and my pastor told me that I wasn't one of the called, and there's really nothing that I could do. And so therefore I'm not saved, and I just have to live with that. And that seed germinated, that seed basically blossomed, and he couldn't even get a word in, could not get her the gospel. Okay, so that's kind of why I bring these things up, and why our church, I think, is very harsh against the Calvinist doctrine, because it's damning. It damns people to hell, is what it does, okay? But back to this verse here, okay? So Paul communicating to Timothy, and he says, who hath saved us, we know that to be Christ, he saves us, right? And called us, remember Ephesians chapter number two. Yes, we're saved by grace through faith, we know that, but we're saved unto good works. So in the Old Testament, God chose for himself a physical nation of people, which obviously was given the promised land, and became its own, you know, ethnicity, if you will, had their own geography. Well, in the New Testament, that's all done away with. And God's people are no longer identified, or bound by ethnicity or geography. Your identity, I mean, the way that you get into the kingdom is by being saved. So whether you're in China, North Korea, the United States of America, it doesn't matter. The moment you hear the word of God, and you call upon the name of the Lord, and you are saved, you are in the kingdom of God, you are in the Israel of God, and therefore you are the call, okay? It's just a term, or a reference, that God uses to describe his people. Now, obviously, everybody has free will. You have the choice. You have the choice to hear the word of God, and to believe it, and to call upon the name of the Lord. Once you do that, you are part of the call. Now go to Romans chapter number eight. Romans chapter number eight. And again, all of this stuff is what you see in the early church, back in Exodus, okay? Exodus 6, 7, you don't have to turn there, but God said, I will take you to me for a people. Okay, God called a specific group of people. Not because they were super righteous, not because, again, they were just so holy, and they turned from all other sins. No, actually, you're gonna see here in a little bit, they were exceeding sinful, even as God's trying to save them. Even as God's saying, hey, today's the last day in Egypt. They're still murmuring, they're still complaining, they're still upset, and they still don't get it. But back to the subject of the called or chosen here. Romans chapter eight, look at verse number 28. Paul telling the Romans, he says this. He says, and we know that all things work together for good, now here it is, to them that love God. Now, if it was just automatic where God says, okay, I'm gonna make it so you guys on this side of the room, you're just gonna be saved, you're just gonna love God, okay? You don't get a choice, I just ordained it that way. Well, this probably wouldn't read like this, would it? So it says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. So again, when you read the whole chapter there, I mean, come on, let's just be honest here. By the time you got to Romans chapter eight, you've read Romans chapter number three, you've read Romans chapter number four, it's crystal clear that the individual has the responsibility to hear the word of God and to call upon the name of the Lord, okay? Verse 29, look what it says. For whom he did for no. And then the Calvinist goes, wow, oh, wow, see? He foreknew, he foreknew, meaning he forechose you to be saved, that's not what it says. Obviously God knows who's gonna be saved before they even get saved. So for whom he did for no, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of a son, that he might be the first born among many brethren. And so God is simply saying there that he obviously foreknew who would call upon him. He already knew that he was gonna be done with the physical nation of Israel and he was gonna choose for himself a people that would span the globe, that would speak different languages, but yet collectively make up the body of Christ. And he's saying that that group of people there is the called, they are chosen for a purpose. What's the purpose? Well, to edify themselves and to evangelize the lost. That is the calling, that is the purpose there. Now go back to Exodus chapter number three. So I just wanted to kind of bring that up. Hopefully that makes sense. We'll have to do a deep study on Romans chapter eight another time, but the point being that, you know, since we're talking about church history from the Bible, I mean, you see this, that the nation of Israel was called, they were chosen, they were selected from Egypt, from the world, they were rescued, they were taken out of there. And it's the same thing today, okay? The Israel of God. Once you're saved, God takes you out of the world. He makes a new person inside of you and desires that we would stay out of the world as much as possible. Of course, you don't have to turn there. Matthew 22, 14 says, for many are called, but few are chosen. Of course, the Calvinists love to go off on that one, but we understand what that means. When you answer the phone, so to speak, okay, you are now the called. It just sounds better than the answer, okay? Wouldn't sound too good if we were just called the answer. It'd be kind of weird. No, it's the call. Exodus chapter three, look at verse number eight. The Bible says this. This is God speaking to Moses, says this. And I am coming down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land unto a good land and a large unto a land flowing with milk and honey unto the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites, the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. So obviously the church in the wilderness, they got a physical, it was a physical people that got a physical promised land. And we obviously, as the Israel of God, now we're physical people, but this body, we understand to die. And what is important now is the new man inside of us. And we are promised the promised land, but that is heaven. So you can kind of see the connection. Now go to Exodus chapter number 14, because really what church history is also gonna teach us, obviously it's gonna show us a picture of salvation. That's obvious, but it will show us the reprobate doctrine. A lot of people say, well, the reprobate doctrine is a new doctrine. It's a doctrine that old pastor Anderson made up. You know, he's the one that made that up. It's not true. Actually, even if you study the church fathers, you go buy a book, you can find that they talked about the reprobate doctrine. It's only the new evangelical lovey everybody, you know, all the time type person that says that type of stuff, because they're too coward to face these freaks is what it is. They're too cowardly. They don't have any guts. Nobody wants to stand up for anything anymore. Nobody wants to say the hard things and go against culture. Nobody wants to preach things that are not in season anymore. And so what they do is say, oh, well, we just gotta love everybody because that keeps the cash flowing in and that keeps the Egyptians rolling into their churches. And of course they're all mummified, but that's part two. Exodus chapter 14, look at verse number 10. So the Bible says, and when Pharaoh drew nigh, so obviously we're skipping way ahead after the plagues and such in this story here. It says, and when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold, the Egyptians marched after them and they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. Obviously a great thing that we do when we are in distress. Verse 11, and they said unto Moses. Okay, so you got some of them crying out unto the Lord and it says, and they said unto Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, has thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? I don't know about you, but I've been through some situations in my life where I've felt like this and I'm saved. You know, I've been like, you know, God brought us out here to die. God brought us this far just to take all this away. I've felt like this before. Look at what it says next. Wherefore has thou dealt us with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? You know, keep in mind, this is the church that is about to be in the wilderness. Okay, it's the church about to go to the wilderness and before their physical salvation from Egypt. Okay, this is the attitude. They're complaining, they don't understand, but God has mercy. Look at verse 12. Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. Verse 13, Moses said unto the people, fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you today for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, you shall see them again no more forever. Now, obviously this is a physical salvation of the children of Israel leaving Egypt. Jump down to verse number 16. The Bible says, but, okay, and this is God speaking to Moses here. Moses cries out to God and God's like, do your job. Do what I told you. He says, but lift up thy, or lift thou up thy rod and stretch out thine hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And we'll come back to the reprobate part here in a minute. Go to Matthew chapter seven. We're gonna come right back to this chapter, but go to Matthew chapter number seven. And so we're at the point in the story, Moses reaches out his hand like God told him, okay? God gave him that instruction to do that. He reaches out his hand with the rod and the Red Sea, the sea is divided, okay? The sea is divided. There's, so what does that mean? Picture this, okay? The children of Israel getting ready to finally leave all the Egyptians behind. The world is upset. Egypt's mad. So they wanna come back after their people. They wanna bring them back into bondage. Of course, that's what the world is always trying to do. Okay, even after you're saved, the world's gonna keep trying to come after you and keep trying to rope you in. They never quit. They never give up, okay? So visualize this. You've got this wall of water on either side of you, okay? There's only one way that you can go. There was only one way that the children of Israel could go, and that was through that narrow path that God had made through the Red Sea on dry ground. Well, what is that a picture of? Obviously, salvation. Matthew 7, look at verse 13. Jesus says, enter ye in at the straight gate, okay? Straight as in narrow. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Verse 14, because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Okay, and that's what you see in the story in Exodus. If you go back to Exodus 14, it's more people lost their lives that day in Egypt than found their lives in amongst the Hebrews whom God saved. So jump down to verse number 26. So Exodus 14, 26. So obviously you see that picture there which points to salvation one way through the dry ground of the Red Sea, but of course they, again, what do churches say? Well, yeah, there's one way, but, right, then they do the Billy Graham. They do the old buck dancing Billy Graham dance and say, well, but, you know, the guy who's never heard the gospel, but all he has is all over the Middle East. You know, God loves him and God's giving him light and he's gonna be saved. False doctrine, man, there's one way. Church history teaches you that. And so if anybody comes to you, oh, well, the church fathers taught and believed also that people could be saved a different way, they're lying to you. That's not church history. That's church apostasy is what that is. It's not true. Real church history, which comes from the Bible, teaches the same thing throughout. Exodus 14, now let's look at verse number 26. And the Lord sent it to Moses, stretched out that hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen. Now, hold on, wait a second here, okay? Wait a second here. We're talking about church history. We're talking about church history. We're told so often, oh, well, in history, in the church, they used to let the Sodomites in and it was all lovey-dovey. And people were just, they love people to Christ. That's how they did it. That's how we got here today. People didn't go around and act like a jerk and just knock on doors and say mean things like if you were to die today, are you sure you're going to heaven? Apparently they did. Okay, I mean, we just got done reading Exodus chapter three, which said what? That God was gonna give the Hebrews the land of the Hivites, the Jebusites, the Canaanites and all these other rights. Think about that. What does that gonna entail? That means that God's gonna get rid of those people and put his people in there, okay? But you've got the bleeding hearts today. Oh, I don't like that. That's harsh. That's mean. Maybe the God of the Old Testament, he was a little more angry back then. Wait a second. Who was in the church in the wilderness? Who was there giving them these lively oracles? It was Jesus Christ. It was the word of God because he's from everlasting, okay? See why it's important to understand church history in the Bible, okay? That's a hard saying. That's a harsh reality. But here's another harsh reality. What is God telling Moses to do here? Send a couple guys back and run and get as many of them saved as possible. Try Pharaoh one more time. Surely he'll believe. No. He's like, no, guess what? We're gonna smoke these guys. I'm drowning them. Look at verse 27. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared and the Egyptians fled against it and the Lord overthrew. Look at this. The Lord, capital L-O-R-D. That is God, okay? These three are one, meaning Jesus Christ is here. The word of God is here. And the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. You don't understand church history. How can we expect these people to understand Jesus Christ? People, oh, Jesus, when he doesn't believe in the reprobate doctrine, only these new IFB type people do. That's who believes in him. No, it's part of history, man. They've been believing it for a long time and they lived it. Here's a perfect example of it. God said, no, you're done. And the Lord overthrew the Egyptians. The Lord destroyed the world, verse 28. And the waters returned and covered the chariots. Now it's getting specific here, the chariots. Well, what's attached to the chariots? The horses, okay? Oh God, if Jesus was alive today, he would be part of these animal rights protests in PETA. I've heard people say stuff like that. I've heard people say that. You are out of your mind. Look at this. And he covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. There remained not so much as one of them. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter number five. Getting close to being done. 2 Corinthians chapter number five. So obviously this was Israel's physical salvation. Again, I gotta keep saying this. I'm not saying that they were all spiritually saved this day. They were physically saved, okay? Like Moses said, you are no longer going to have to worry about Egypt. Hey, after today, there ain't gonna be a problem anymore. They're gonna be done. Something's gonna happen to them. They're gonna get covered up, okay? We'll put it like that. They're gonna get covered up. Here's what this is a picture of though. 2 Corinthians five, look at verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is present tense right now, is a new creature. Now look at this. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. And that is what was, this situation here, basically pictures, okay? It's just a picture of that. Old things, that old part, the old world is what we're supposed to allow to drown and to be buried. Not supposed to be looking back like, oh, but Egypt had the onions and the leeks and the garlics and all of these sweet smelling things, okay? We're supposed to march forward. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter number nine. Now, I heard this a long time ago. I had a pastor many years ago bring this up and I thought it was good and I figured I'd just share it since you guys are turning to 2 Thessalonians chapter number one. You know, in this story here in Exodus, you know, the people are murmuring, you know, and they're just complaining. They're like, you brought us out here because there weren't enough coffins in Egypt. It's like, listen to the irrational mind, but sometimes, you know, we find ourselves in that situation. And so basically they're asking the question, you know, why would God bring us through these troubled waters? What is the point? Well, when you read the conclusion, the point is this, because God knows that your enemies cannot swim. And that's what he would tell the Hebrews back in the day. And sometimes that's what he tells us in today's day and age because sometimes people wonder like, you know, why does God allow these freaks to come out our church all the time and to do this and to do that? Well, for that reason, because he knows they can't swim. Look at verse number three, 2 Thessalonians chapter number one. And what you're gonna see now is that the early church was shown an example of the reprobate doctrine and believed it because they saw it. Look at this here, verse number three. The Bible says, we are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly and the charity of every one of you all toward each other about it. So that goes back to the, what I say every service practically, is the mission of the church to edify. How do we accomplish that? How does our faith grow? By how you treat your brother and sister in Christ. That's how your faith grows. And Paul commends them for that, verse four, so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure. So instead of adopting the mindset that the Hebrews had there as they were being pulled out of Egypt, right? This is the mindset that we should stay at. So when persecutions and tribulations come at us, come at you personally, you know what? We glory in those things because there's a purpose behind it. And God's allowing that for a reason. Look at verse number five. And here's that reason, which is a manifest token, okay? A manifest token, a token, meaning a down payment, a deposit, a token that is made seen. He's like, this is God showing you, okay, that he is in this situation, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God. Remember at the beginning of the sermon, okay? What do we look at there? Well, God said, I will redeem you. And then he said, and with great judgments, meaning God was gonna teach them how to properly judge and give them wisdom through the lively oracles. It's exactly what you see here, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which ye also suffer. So how we respond to trials and tribulations should be a testimony to Egypt, should be a testimony to the world, which is why we never say we should take up arms and go physically out there and attack. This is why we don't go to abortion clinics and why we don't get involved in political things, in rallies. Yeah, we all have our opinions and we have our prayers and we have these types of things, but we don't go out and actively get involved like a lot of these other groups do. Why? Because we understand trials and tribulations. Because we understand when people come at us and they attack us and they attack our church, that that's a manifest token. It means we're doing something right. That God's saying, hey, this group of people, they've chosen truth. They've chosen to stand upon righteousness and I'm blessing them for that. That's the reason why. But it's also the heap of damnation on those people, okay? Look at verse six. Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense, okay? Or to repay is what he's saying. Seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. Okay, this is the Jesus. This is the God that your new evangelical does not know. Okay, I guarantee if you go up to, I'd say 85 of these Christians out there just read that and say, is this from the Bible or the Quran? They'd say, oh, that's gotta be a Quran verse. Jesus would never want to pay somebody back for that. That's not turning the other cheek. No, that's you not reading the word of God. That's what it is. That's you having Pastor Pharaoh teaching you once a week in your little small groups. Verse seven. And to you who are troubled, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, verse eight, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. And that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, okay? Now he's not saying, people read that and they're like, okay, see, you gotta follow the 10 commandments. That's not what he's talking about. What is obeying the gospel? Well, it's hearing the word and believing the word and calling upon the Lord to save you, okay? Now, obviously we should obey other things in the gospel. That's a topic for another day, okay, we get that. But look at what it says in the beginning of that verse there, verse eight, in flaming fire. So back in the early church, they got a physical example of this with the waters coming down and covering the enemies of God's people and drowning them all because of Pharaoh's hardened heart. And obviously these people, a lot of them had the same heart. But here we see an eternal vengeance, this flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God. This is why we do what we do. This is why we get so fired up and why we knock on people's doors and tell them the truth about their eternal destiny because we know this is what the word of God says. This is what they are facing. This is a serious matter. Look at this, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We're gonna end right here, verse nine, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. And we'll do a deeper study on this someday but I do wanna mention a couple things here. So verse nine says, who shall be punished? Okay, these people that obey not the gospel, these Egyptians, so to speak, the world that just keeps trying to come at us and keep trying to get us. Remember, just because you're saved doesn't mean the world's gonna leave you alone, right? Even as God rescued and showed the children of Israel, hey, you have to walk down this path. You have to go through the Red Sea on dry ground, okay? Guess what? The enemy still sees it. Wow, we're gonna keep going after him and keep going to get him. Okay, the only way to deal with those people, according to God, was to drown them. It's the same thing today, only they're gonna be drowned in hell fire. And that hell fire comes from the present, okay? So what I wanna say here is that hell is not separation from God like so many people. Somebody just told me that the other day in random conversation. They're like, oh, I was told that you're a pastor. I'm like, you know, I don't know why people keep telling me that. I thought we were trying to keep that a secret but it's just like, you know, I told your pastor, you know, and you know, he's talking and all this stuff, talking about different things and I used to go to a hell fire and brimstone church. You know, I was told that's kinda like how your church is. Like, oh yeah, well, maybe that's, I don't know. Yeah, whatever. And he's just like, yeah, you know, you know what the worst part about hell is? And I was like, separation from God. You know, that's what I was thinking, man. He's like, it's that you're just separated from God. He's like, it's just dark. I mean, he's like, I was like, well, what about the fire and the flames? Like, well, I think that's just to really like kinda put fear into people. It's like, okay, I really gotta go. I don't have time for this. But you know, I'm thinking about this here and looking at what it says, verse eight, inflaming fire, a little flaming darkness, a flaming fire, taking, now obviously it is out of darkness and there's some truth to that, okay? But the fire's real. Go read Mark chapter nine. But inflaming fire, taking vengeance. You know Jesus is gonna take vengeance out on people? You know he's gonna get revenge for us? And that's the comforting thing that we get to rest on when we realize, oh, this is why this is happening. This is why people mail us trash all the time and send stupid things, you know? Because this is their fate. God is allowing them to do that so that he can one day collect them all up, so to speak, in the center of the Red Sea and cover them. Only it won't be water this time, it will be fire. But it's just so clear what it says here. Inflaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse nine, who shall be punished. Yes, God punishes people. Christ will punish these people. For all eternity, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction. That's destruction that never ceases, never stops. 24 seven, that's what this is. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, if I could use that terminology just to explain this, okay? Punishment with flaming fire. And where does that come from? Well, if hell's separation of God, God's like over here, like, ah, I can't look at it, I'm just over here and you guys are just gonna have to be, you know, in your own separate spot. No, this everlasting destruction, this flaming fire comes from, meaning Christ is the source. He's the one issuing this punishment out. He is giving this punishment out and it's known, right? From the presence of the Lord. So his presence is causing this everlasting destruction and this flaming fire to drown, to torment, to punish those that hate us, the Egyptians of today. The world of today that clearly hates the gospel, that does not want to obey the gospel. And then of course it says, from the glory of his power. So in closing, I'd say this, the church in the wild teaches us no Christ, no church, okay? I don't care if they've got a sign, come worship with us. Come worship, we're Christ, we believe in Christ first. Okay, does your statement of faith say that you gotta repent of your sins to be saved? Well, guess what, Christ isn't over there, okay? No Christ, no church. Even the early church teaches us that, it's consistent. No oracles, no church. What are the oracles? The oracles are the word of God, the scriptures. So if your church says, well, in the original manuscript, bop, you're done, you're not a church. I don't know what you are, but take church, C-H-U-R-C-H. Take it off your sign, get it off your diagrams, get it off your bulletins because you are not a church. Call yourself a congregation of something, I don't care, but take it off. No Christ, I'm sorry. Church in the wild teaches us no Christ, no church, no oracles, no church, and obviously this, no one way, right? No right salvation, no church, it's not a real church. Church history teaches us that. And again, the importance is very clear. We have millions of people today that go to church or think they're saved, think they're Christians, but the problem is the deception is real and they really are not. And so we need to understand what real church history teaches us and what it's about and get people to wake up and understand you are not going to a church. Oh, but I go to the, no, to definitely end a church. Mormon, I don't think so. That's more like Masonic, whatever. But we're gonna stop right there for this evening. It's been a long week and we're gonna pray and we're gonna have one more song and we will be dismissed. So let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, for everything that you've done for us and everything that you do for us. We truly are thankful and we just pray, Lord, that you bless the fellowship after the service and bring us again safely tomorrow for our Thanksgiving meal and of course we thank you for all of that. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.