(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. Okay, the title of the sermon this morning is which camp do you want to be in? Which camp do you want to be in? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord so much for this wonderful day. I pray that you just bless your word as it's preached forth and I pray you fill me with your spirit and power and boldness as I begin to preach Lord and help me to edify the people in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Okay, well in our text verses here we're going to stay in Exodus chapter 14 but we're going to flip to a lot of verses and if we go over a little bit, I'm sorry it's the announcements that went extra long. So anyway, Egypt is in the Bible a picture of the world, right? Egypt is a picture of the Christian that's in bondage to sin. And so when the Egyptians set the people, it's actually God that set the people free but Pharaoh wanted to keep the people in. See bondage and sin wants to keep you there. The devil doesn't want you to get saved. The devil doesn't want you to go and live your life for Christ. Look at this verse right here where it says, nevertheless the foundation of God stand is sure having the seal that the Lord knoweth them that are his and let everyone that name with the name of Christ depart from what? Iniquity. God wants us once we're saved to be free from that sin and to go back to Egypt no more. He doesn't want us to turn back our eyes to go back to Egypt and want the things that kept us trapped into bondage and servitude to the devil and to sin. And so what camp do you want to be in this morning? Because sometimes Christians begin to look back at their old life and desire it, don't they? They desire sometimes when they shouldn't to go back and live in Egypt where they shouldn't want to live. God said, hey, depart from iniquity, go forward, move forward, serve the Lord. But we can get to the point where we start looking at things we shouldn't look at, looking back at our life and wanting and desiring those things that used to be so much fun. Like ending up puking in the toilet at the end of the night. That's a lot of fun, isn't it? No, it's not a lot of fun, but see, people forget that part of it, see? And we shouldn't want to desire to go back and be under bondage and sin, but a lot of people do. There's a lot of people that used to go to this church that don't go to this church anymore. And do you think it was always for a good reason? They always come up with a good reason, don't they? It's always the pastor's fault. It's always what I preach. It's always, you know, it's always something that somebody else has done wrong. It's never anything that's inside their own self. See that's what I've learned being a pastor now for almost three years and being in the ministry for almost five years. I've learned that when people want to quit, they're going to make all kinds of excuses as to why it's not their fault. And then they go back to Egypt to go back to the puke pile that they used to like. They go back to like a hog wanting to go, a cleaned up pig that wants to go back and wallow in the mire. But they never want to blame themselves. It's always somebody else's fault. But what camp do you want to be in this morning? Because you should want to be in the camp of the Lord. Who's on the Lord's side? You know, we're supposed to be on the Lord's side and not on Pharaoh's side, not on Egypt's side, not on the world's side, not on your mom's side, not on your dad's side that aren't saved. We're supposed to be on the Lord's side no matter what. That's home team. You know, a lot of people are fans of sports today, aren't they? And most people want to be a fan of the sporting team that's in their own area. And you know, a lot of people, of course you've got the bandwagon jumpers that always want to be the Yankee fans even though they've never been to New York in their life. They want to be San Francisco 49ers fans or whatever team is the Chicago Bulls because they had Michael Jordan, the best player that ever played the game. You know, but most people are home team fans, aren't they? You know, like brother Justin loved the Seahawks, why did he like the Seahawks so much? Probably because he grew up in the area where the Seahawks played. Why do we like the Seahawks? Because they're in the same state that we live in, right? Why does Temo like Pittsburgh? Because he's wicked. Why does he like Green Bay? Because he's a... No, I'm just kidding by the Temo. Just joking. But my point is that, hey, what's our home team? God's our creator. God is the one that saved us, so whose side should we always be on? We should always be on the Lord's side. There's two types of camps in these scriptures. You have the camp of the Egyptians that are pursuing after the children of Israel and you have the camp of the Lord, the children of Israel. One represents the world and wickedness and slavery. One represents salvation and being God's people. So that's the question I have for you today. What side do you want to be on? Because a lot of people start thinking, oh, the Christian life is too hard. And you know what? Being saved is easy. Being saved is only believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's what the Bible says. It's really easy to be saved, but to live the Christian life is a lot harder. And so some people start to think the Christian life is so hard that they'd rather go back to the other life. But what they don't realize is once you're saved, you're not going to enjoy it like you used to. Now it doesn't mean you can't get back down to the depths that you once were, but you're not going to enjoy it like you used to because you know what? First of all, now that you're God's child, you're going to get chastised by God for going back and doing those things. Before when we weren't God's children, God doesn't punish people that aren't His children in that way. He's going to punish and chastise His children so when you go back, it's not going to be enjoyable like it once was. And all you're going to do is feel worse than you did in the original times when you were already there. So some seem like they're in this camp, but really their heart is in the camp of Pharaoh. Really their heart is back in Egypt. Lot's wife left her heart in San Francisco, didn't she? She left her life in Sodom. She wanted to still be part of that life. That's why God said we're not supposed to look back and put our hands to the plow. He said, don't go back to Egypt. Don't go back. And so as Christians, we shouldn't go back either. So I have some statements, four or five statements today. And statement number one is when you get saved, the world wants you back. When you get saved, the world wants you back. The devil wants you back. You know, I always found it funny that the Freemasons were trying to get me to come be a part of them even after I was saved. And I always thought, well that's really weird that they'd want me back. But there are duped Christians that are Freemasons today. And you know, maybe they're not the 33rd degree, but maybe they're 32 and under. And so they think it's just a good works, terrible organization, but really what they're doing is putting themselves in the wrong camp because the Freemasons are wicked. And I happened to go see the Georgia Guidestones when I was gone and looked at that blasphemy and that wickedness. But also I was, there was churches there, one was 1785. That church, a Baptist church from 1785. That's a pretty old church. But you know, down there they have graveyards next to their church buildings. It's really something, you know, I think it's actually pretty cool. I think we should be able to, just like Ananias and Sapphira got buried right in the backyard or whatever. I think that we should have places where we can bury people that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and you have to pay $10,000 to bury somebody. It might even be more than that, I don't know. But it's, cremation's really cheap, but being buried is expensive. But the point is, is that in some of those gravestones, one was like a Masonic, it had like all the Mason symbols. And like, how do you, how are you a Mason and a Christian at the same time? You shouldn't be. Because they worship Lucifer. They don't realize it, but that's who they worship. But anyway, I'm getting off track. I want to point you to verse number one in our text here. When you get saved, statement number one, when you get saved, the world wants you back. It says, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdal and the sea, over against Baal's Ziphon, before he shall encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say to the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land. The wilderness hath shut them in. So notice that word entangled. And you think about that word, and you think about the Bible verses where it says that people that get saved, they get choked, right? They get choked by the things of this life, and the desire for riches. And I'll get to that verse here in just a minute, but Pharaoh is going to say about the children of Israel, they've been entangled in the land, and the wilderness has shut them in. They're entangled in the land. And so when the world wants you back, they're going to try to get you entangled into the things of this life. And Pharaoh said the wilderness shut them in. And you know, there's a couple of Bible verses that allude to this, and that's why I think that it's really important that we understand this concept of being entangled in the land. We don't want to get choked after being saved. But a lot of people, a lot of Christians, they get saved, and immediately the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and they become unfruitful, don't they? And they never get started. They get entangled before they ever get started, don't they? And that's why you see, we'll get people saved, they won't come to church. But of course, you have the critics that are like, well, did they really get saved if they didn't come to church? Yeah, they really got saved, but not everybody that gets saved goes to church. There's a lot of people that we knock on their doors and they're saved, but they don't go to church. So you don't have to go to church to be saved. That's not the gospel we preach, right? You should go to church, you should do good things, but turn to Galatians chapter, keep your finger there, turn to Galatians 5, 1. Galatians 5, 1. Galatians 5, 1 says, stand fast. Isn't that what Moses said to the children of Israel? Stand still for the salvation, because God's going to bring that salvation to them. But look what it says, stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Do you think that that's in there for no reason? Does that allude to the chapter that we're in, do you think? Absolutely it does. We're not supposed to be entangled in the land because that's where we get back into bondage. It says, be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. See, we're not supposed to go back to Egypt and get entangled back again with the yoke of bondage. But you know what? The world wants you back. Your unsaved relatives, they want the old you back. They want the old brother Bill back, the old brother Bill that was so much fun and carefree and non-judgmental. That's who they want. But you know what? You're not that person anymore. But they want that person back, and they'll do anything to get him back. But what they don't understand is that you're changed. You're a new creature in Christ Jesus. But that doesn't stop them from wanting you back. And they'll pull out all the stops, won't they, to try to get you to, oh hey, why don't you come to the birthday party? It's that Sunday at 11 o'clock. Isn't that a way that your family tries to get you back, planning things during your church times? Do you think that's an accident? It's not an accident. The world wants you back. Your old, unsafe family members, they want you back. They want back the old Alex. They want back the old Owen. They want back the old brother Joe. They want back the old person that you used to be, but that's not who you are anymore. They want to entangle you again in the yoke of bondage. They want you to come and drink at the Christmas thing that they have going on. They want you to continue to do the things that you used to do. Hey, let's go to the football game on Sunday. And look, I'm not against you if you enjoy sports or whatever, okay? But if you enjoy sports so much that you always miss church to enjoy those sports, then that's where it is wrong. That's where it becomes idolatry. Because you're worshiping sport. I mean, what do people do when someone scores a touchdown? Woo! What do people do at the community church? Down the street right now, woo! You know, it is worship. You know, I mean, obviously it's, if you're a Christian and you're just happy that they scored a touchdown, okay, that's different, but like not everybody thinks that way. You know, your mind's been changed, but maybe the guy next to you hasn't. Some people, it becomes a thing of worship, and we should not be entangled again in the yoke of bondage. Brother Justin talks about how he burned all of his Seahawks stuff and broke, and the kids smashed the Xbox into a million pieces. That was a bondage that he wanted to get out of. And so how do you get out of that bondage? You've got to burn your bridges. Let the bridges you burn light the way, you know, or whatever. You want to burn those bridges that kept you in bondage. And some people can't dabble a little bit in something. You know what, if I started smoking cigarettes again, guess what, I'd be hooked again just like that. I'm all or nothing. I can't just enjoy a Stogie at the end of a meal or something, which obviously is going to hurt your body. But anyway, I'm all or nothing. I'm a smoker or I'm not a smoker. And some people are a Seahawks fan or they're just, they can't be a Seahawks fan. Talk a lot about the Seahawks this morning, sorry, but that's not the point. The point is there's some things that we have to let go of, and you can't go back to them because you're going to get entangled again, and the world wants you back, and they want you entangled again so they can enjoy you like they used to. So let's look at 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 20, and we'll hear some of the same language in this verse too. 2 Peter chapter 2 verse number 20, the Bible says, for if after they have escaped the pollutions of what? The world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again what? Entangled therein. And overcome. The latter end is worse with them than the beginning. Now this is obviously talking about false prophets in this chapter, but you know what? False prophets can fool Christians. False prophets can say, oh, you know, it's okay to just have a beer every once in a while. That's what they'll say. That's what most Christian churches teach is it's okay to drink. And you know what? Their church is filled with drunkards. Their church is filled with drunkards, and you know, they have a responsibility to teach the word of God right. But you know, false prophets are going to teach you to do all kinds of things that you shouldn't be doing. And you know what? What's the worst thing you can tell an alcoholic that used to be a drunk? Oh, it's okay to have a beer every once in a while. It's fine. Yeah, and then that person's entangled again in the same yoke of bondage that they were in before. Some people, if they had one sip of booze, they're all back in it again. Let me tell you something today, alcohol is wicked, and you shouldn't be drinking it. I don't want to preach my sermon from tonight, but that'll be tonight. But look, the same language is there. You're entangled again. You can get entangled. You can go back to the world. It's just not going to be as enjoyable. And you know what it's going to do? It's going to ruin your life. You know, it's harder to get back into the things of God after you go back again than it was the first time when you set aside all that garbage. Don't go back to Egypt. Stay in the Lord's camp. Look at verse 21. Yeah, it says it's going to be worse than it was before. But look at verse 21, it says, For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they had known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it has happened unto them. According to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. You see how it's like unto going back? And you're vexing yourself. You're entangling yourself again with the things of this world. Look at Luke chapter 8 verse 14. Luke chapter 8 verse 14. Matthew, Mark, Luke chapter 8 verse 14. This is the verse I've been alluding to. Luke chapter 8 verse 14, it says, And that which fell among thorns. What happens when you fall on the thorns? Do you get entangled? Yeah, you get, and some of those thorns, those thorns, they have barbs that stick into you. You know, you go back to some of the things that you used to be into in the world, you're going to get entangled with thorns also. They which fell among thorns are they which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection. That doesn't mean that they're not saved. That means that they just got choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. That's what I'm talking about this morning. We can't go back. The world wants you back. They want you to get entangled in these things. So statement number two, when you get saved, the world will turn against you. So once they realize, say you're strong enough and you don't go back to those things, once they realize you're not going to, once your family members realize that you're not going to carve pumpkins with them on Halloween anymore, you know, I bring the family up a lot. You know why? Because it's a huge snare to Christians. It becomes a thing where they're just like so concerned about their family that they would rather just ride off the cliff with that family member than to stay in the things of God. The reason why I bring up family so much is because they're the ones that always have their hooks in you. They're the ones that have the thorns in you. They're the ones that you feel, I feel bad, you know. Even though they're drinking alcohol in front of your kids and watching the television, you're just like, oh, it's okay. It's Christmas. It's not okay. If they cared about you, they wouldn't do those things. But they don't understand because they're not saved. But statement number two is when you get saved, the world will turn against you. Look at back in our text in Exodus chapter 14, it says in verse five, and it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was what? Turned against the people. So Pharaoh was ready to let him go and he was okay with it. But then what happened? He turned against the people. And they said, why have we done this? That we have let Israel go from serving us. See, the world wants you back. The world wants to choke you. The world wants to bring you back to them and you know what? When you won't do that, then they'll just completely turn against you. Oh, you don't like your sodomite cousin anymore? I'm turning against you. Oh, you don't like, you know, you don't like doing Halloween anymore? I'm turning against you. Oh, you don't like drinking anymore? I'm turning against you. And they come after you and they ridicule you and they try to get you and browbeat you. Oh, I love you so much. I wish you were just like you were before. You don't want to be like you were before. That's the whole thing. So the flesh and the old man wants to war against the spiritual man, the new man that's within you, doesn't it? It's an everyday battle. And sometimes we lose, don't we? Sometimes we lose the battle, but you know, you don't have to lose the war. You rise up again, you get up again, you do better the next day. Morning by morning, new mercies we see, right? See and the world wants, you know, our flesh wants to depart from God, doesn't it? Our flesh, you know that song, Come Thou Fount, prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. But we want God to take and seal our hearts and stop us from going astray. But our hearts are prone to wander, aren't they? They're prone to try to go back to the old life that we used to be in. The world loves its own, and once they discover that you're not with them, they will turn against you. They will hate you. They hated Jesus, and you know what He said? They're going to hate you too. You'll be hated of all men for My name's sake, the Bible says. But if you're not living godly in Christ Jesus, then they might not hate you. But you know what they will do? When you, you know I preached a sermon last week at Steadfast, you know, when they see that you begin to build, and you're not able to finish, what are they going to do to you? They're going to mock you. They're going to make fun of you. Oh, I knew this was just a Christian phase you're in. You tried that little Christian thing for a while, didn't you? That's the things they'll say. If you're ready to have that mocking, then go ahead, just leave. Go back to what you wanted to do. I don't think anybody in this room wants to do that. You know what? Those people that you love, those family members, those friends, those co-workers that you love so much, when they know that you are with team Jesus, they're going to go against you. They're going to turn, and they're going to hate you. Turn to Matthew chapter 10, verse 32. Remember Peter, remember he denied the Lord three times? Look what the Lord says about this, though, about this situation. Look at verse 32 in Matthew chapter 10, it says, whosoever therefore shall confess be before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven, but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Now, that's not saying you're going to lose your salvation, that's not what it's talking about, but it is saying that he's going to deny you before the Father. So maybe the things that you want, the things that you asked for, those types of things, he's going to deny you. So we shouldn't deny that we're saved in front of other people, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. But look what it says in verse 33. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I'm come to send peace on earth, I came not to send peace but a sword. What does that mean? Well, what does a sword do? Divides things, doesn't it? It cleaves them, it chops things up, doesn't it? And so Jesus said, you know, he's the prince of peace, isn't he? But you know, sometimes when Jesus speaks, you know, he speaks things for peace but they're for war. And sometimes when we speak things for peace, they become for war too because you know what, the Word of God divides people. The sword of the Lord divides people and it's going to cause you problems in your relationships on this earth because hey, if you think you're the only Christian in the world that's just going to get through without being hated by other people, you're wrong. You're in the wrong camp. You know, if you want to go back to that camp, that's a lonely road too because it's going to be worse for you than it was in the beginning. So really, why don't you just stay with the Lord and stay with God's people, stay in church, stay on the right path instead of going back to something that's going to be worse than it was in the beginning. But see, people don't ever get that. They're just like, I'm just going to leave anyway. Once someone's made up their mind to go, they're just going to go and I've really learned that. You know, it's sad to me when people leave. It really is. And I think, what could I have done better? What could I have done differently? Because they'll tell me all the things I could have done better and all the things I could have done differently. Well look, if your faith in Christianity is based on what I do and decisions I make and things I say, I'm going to offend you from time to time. I'm probably not going to be perfect. Last thing I checked, the qualifications of a bishop were not to be perfect in every single way, shape, or form. I'm not Jesus. So don't base your Christianity based off of me. That's ridiculous. And don't base whether you're going to serve the Lord on me either. Because this is not some popularity contest of who can be the best guy. Hey, you be you. You do you. You know that saying, you do you? Hey, you're responsible for your own actions. Don't try to blame them on somebody else. Excuse me, I came not to send peace but a sword, for I am come to set a man at variance against his father. That means against them, arguing. It becomes an argument, doesn't it? And the daughter against the mother and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law. Look, there's not going to be peace in your family when it comes to the things of God because even if someone is a Christian in your family but they don't believe the things you do. Because maybe they just need to pick up a Bible and actually read it for once instead of just listening to everything the pastor says. Hey, the Bereans were more noble than they which were in Thessalonica, right? Because they searched the scriptures daily, didn't they? Don't just listen to everything, you know, just base your Christianity off of something a pastor says all the time. Hey, look at what the Bible, you know, that's why I give you Bible verses to look up. You can read it for yourself and you can take these home and study and just show yourself approved. Look at verse 36 back in our text, it says, a man or, no, I'm sorry, stay where you're at. A man's foe shall be they of his own household and he, excuse me, he that love a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that love a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. If one of your kids says, you know what, you've either got to pick me or Jesus, who are you going to pick? You've got to pick Jesus. If your wife, if your wife says, you know what, it's either me or Jesus, it's Jesus. That's what the Lord's saying. Hey, if you can't live up to that, you know, maybe God's never going to make you live up to that. But if he did, what would you choose? Are you going to choose to go off the cliff with your spouse or are you going to choose to serve the Lord like you know you're supposed to? Now turn back to Exodus chapter 14. See if you love your son or daughter more than you love Christ, you're not worthy of them. That's what it says. Like it or lump it. That's what the Lord says. And kids, don't ever make your parents make that decision. It's a weird thing. I know someone that actually said to their dad, you're going to have to choose me or Jesus. You're going to have to choose me. They had to choose Jesus. Look at Exodus 14 verse 6. And he made ready his chariot and took his people with him and he took 600 chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt and captains over every one of them. So Pharaoh takes his chosen chariots and captains over every one of them. And you know what? The devil is going to send his best after you too. Because isn't Pharaoh a reprobate? Doesn't Pharaoh represent like the antichrist? So when the world hates you, they're going to send their best after you, aren't they? And Pharaoh is no different. When he went to go back to the children of Israel and to go and reclaim them. And actually he's just trying to kill them at this point because he hates them. The devil is going to do the same thing. The devil is going to try to shoot holes in everything that you do. So why is it so important to follow the Bible? Because then there's less holes to shoot you with, right? There's less hooks to hook you back with. And so that's why we should just forsake that old life and follow after Christ. But the devil is going to send his best after you. The best person at your work to challenge your beliefs. The best person in your family to challenge you at your beliefs. Your best friend from high school to challenge your beliefs. The devil is going to send his best. And he's also going to send the things that he knows that you were into to try to hook you back. It is hard to live the Christian life because there's all this stuff that's against us. But you know what we have? We have Christ to help us. We have God to help us get through this. And hey, when you start thinking you can do all this on your own, guess what? You need God to help you. Hey, if you're having a hard time in this Christian life, ask God to help you. He's your father. When you were a kid, or as a kid, don't you ask your parents for stuff? Don't you ask your dad, he'd get me something to eat. Or mom, get me something to eat. Dad, can I get one of these? Can I play some video? Whatever you ask your dad for, you know, obviously dad's got to say no. Mom's got to say no sometimes. But you know what God's going to do when you ask him for help? If your parents ask you for help, do they usually help you? I mean, if you ask your parents for help, do they usually help you? Yeah, because they love you, and they want to help you. Your Heavenly Father's going to help you when you ask him for help also. He knows what your flesh likes, though, the devil. He knows what your pitfalls are. He knows your weaknesses, and he's going to use that to his advantage for the rest of your life, for the rest of your life, till we see Jesus. And so it is a battle, but what camp do you want to be in? Do you want to be in the Lord's camp, or do you want to be in the devil's camp? And so we need to be willing to be steadfast, forsake that old life. You know, if you don't do that, he's going to win. He's going to come back with the things that you've forsaken, and he's going to put those things in front of your face from time to time. And we need to be willing to forsake him. Look at verse eight. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel. And the children of Israel went out with a high hand. So that's a very interesting saying. So when we get saved, we also, we leave that sinful life. We get out of Egypt with a high hand, don't we? And what does that term mean? Well, it's basically kind of like an open rebellion against that sin. You know what sin, you basically just, the picture is you're leaving that life. You're leaving that life of sin. You're leaving Egypt. You're leaving the bondage. And so think about these millions of people that were slaves in Egypt. You know, they're freed finally. And they spoiled the Egyptians, didn't they? They borrowed things from them, didn't they? That they were never giving back, by the way. They spoiled them. Their whole place was destroyed. You know what, and God will destroy that whole life for you too. But look, that's why we can't go back to it. God's given us the victory, he saved us, and we are not to go back to it. But look at what it says in verse, actually, yeah, in verse eight again it says that he pursued after the children of Israel. You see what I'm saying? The devil's always gonna be pursuing you. The world's always gonna be pursuing you, and hating you, and trying to overthrow you, and get you back into Egypt. They wanna bring you back into bondage. But we need to go out with a high hand, and that high hand is like an open rebellion to the power of the devil. And you know who gave us that? That power is God. God's the one that saved us with the right hand, right? That's what the Bible talks about, the right hand all the time. Now turn to 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17, 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. When you get saved, you go out with a high hand. You become a new creature. And does that mean that you're never gonna sin again? No, it doesn't mean that. But it does mean that you're a new creature, and all things have become new to you. You have a new nature, that creature that's in you, that new thing cannot sin. But there is a power struggle that goes on for the rest of your life. It's the flesh versus the spirit. Actually, the spirit versus the flesh, right? I'm gonna go with the right hand here. Anyway, the spirit is gonna battle with the flesh for your whole life. And you're like, that sounds really hard, Pastor Thompson. Well, I'm sorry that you have to do something hard in your life. In this day and age, nobody wants to do anything that's hard. Everybody wants the easy way out, the back door, the fastest directions to the point. We just have become a society that's so comfortable with everything that we have, that nothing ever can be hard for us. But sometimes life is hard. Actually, every day life is hard, isn't it? But we don't wanna become the servants of sin. Christ has freed us from those things. We don't have to be there anymore. We don't have to live in that life anymore. It says in John 8, 34, it says, Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth forever. If the son, therefore, shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Christ has made us free not to be the servants of sin. Look back at Exodus chapter 14, verse 9. It says, but the Egyptians pursued after them, excuse me, and the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and the horsemen and his army, and overtook them, encamping by the sea beside Pehi-horoth and before Baal-zephon. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold it, the Egyptians marched after them, and were sore afraid. And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. So what happened? And so we don't wanna be overtaken by Pharaoh's army. We don't wanna have, when Egypt and when the world is pursuing after us, we don't wanna be overtaken by that army. But that leads me to my next point, which is statement number three, which is, when things get hard, don't be in the complainer camp. When things get hard, don't be in the complainer camp. Cuz what have I been saying? That the Christian life is hard. Salvation's easy, but the Christian life can be hard. There's challenges. The world's gonna try to get you back. The world's gonna pursue after you. The world's going to hate you. Things are gonna get tough. We preach big families. Well, in big families, it gets harder to babysit your own children when you have a big family, doesn't it? If you have six, seven, eight children, it gets a little difficult, doesn't it? And so people start to think, well, my old life would be easier. Well, again, God forbid you should do something hard. But you don't have to be miserable when you have children. If you train them up in the way that they should go, they're not gonna depart from that way. So train your children early. Don't let your children train you, you train them. And I'm gonna be stepping on some toes for just a second here. But let me just tell you something. If you wanna enjoy your kids as they get older, chastise them B times. Chastise them, B times means early, early on. If you don't wanna be bailing them out of the jailhouse later on, chastise them early and deliver their soul from hell. That's what the Bible says. Cuz if they never have that picture that God's gonna punish them for something, then you know what, they're never gonna believe in God. And if they do, they're not gonna worry about how bad he's gonna spank them because they never got spanked. They don't understand what that concept is. It's important that we spank our children. And yeah, I know CPS doesn't approve of this message, but you know what? God does. God said, he that spared at the rod, hated his son. Do you wanna hate your children? Well, just don't spank them then. It just proves that you don't even care about them if you're not spanking them. You might think, I'm being merciful. I'm being good to the, they didn't mean it, they're so cute. Hey, they're cute, but they can cause problems. They're a few days old and full of trouble, aren't they? They start crying immediately, don't they? Like the moment they're born. But obviously it's because they're hungry or whatever. They just got born into a world of sin, I'd be crying about that too. But maybe that's why they cry. I'm sure somebody is gonna email me, Pastor Thompson, you're so dumb. Don't you know the reason why they cry is shut up. I was kidding. Okay? So, but look, kids will train you if you don't train them. And I just have to admit that I see this, you know I'm a pastor, right? I see the people that are trained by their children. So I'm gonna look up right now. Don't let them train you. I see people run out of the services as soon as their child starts to make a pee. You know what? They've trained you. And I'm not saying don't take them out. If they're screaming, take them out. But you have to train them before you get here. Don't just train them at church. This isn't your training ground. You should train them at home, and then when they come to church, then you can enjoy them at church too. You can enjoy the church services. You know, when you can just look at them like this, and they know that they're dead as soon as they get home, then you have them trained. How many times have you seen me spank my kids at church? You know why I don't have to spank my kids at church? Because I've already spanked them before, right? So you train them at home. And I will spank them still. At least Josh, he's the only one living at home. I can't spank my older kids anymore, but I can still give them a look. They still know I mean business. So don't let your kids train you. Look, if they're training you, then you've lost. And you're never going to enjoy your children. Enjoy your children. Children are heritage of the Lord. You know, and so we should enjoy our children, but train them. Don't let them train you. And look, I know that people are going to run out with their kids after the service, or even after this. Usually they start squealing right when I say something. But look, I'm not going to judge you, okay? I'll look away. But I'm just trying to help you. I'm not trying to like say you're a bad parent. I'm just trying to say that if you want to enjoy your children, train them early. I don't know what that had to do with the sermon, but let me get back on track here. Don't be the complainer in the camp, because God hates this. God really gets irritated about this. So look at statement number three is when things get hard, don't be in the complainer camp. Look at verse 11. It says, they said unto Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? I mean, that's a dumb question, isn't it? But this is the kind of things that people will complain about. People immediately, when things get hard, when we had sodomites lined up out here for a couple different weekends, nobody said a peep. You know, why? Because we're like a battle-hard army here. But I'm sure that there are people that didn't like it, you know? Whatever. But our church went through it like gold. But what if that would have been longer? What if that would have been every service? What if they would have started trying to get violent? You know, things can get different when the persecution happens. But look, we don't want to be that complainer. Oh, Pastor, you're so mean. Why do you so always preach about the sodomites? Why do you always preach about this? Why do you preach about that? Why do you tell us how to train our children? Why don't you just mind your own business? Because my job as the pastor is to get up and thunder forth the word of God. That's why. Why don't you just tell me what you want? And maybe I'll work on it. Everybody just fill out like a little card at the end of the service and just tell me what you want. I can be like Rick Warren, the seeker-sensitive pastor. Pastor, I think you're just too mean. Well, you know what? The Bible is two-thirds negative, just so you know. Read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. I mean, if you're not depressed by the time you get through those books, then Isaiah is not depressing, but it can be in some parts. But you read Jeremiah and Ezekiel back to back, you might have to just start, after you read the Bible over and over again, you might have to split those two. Because it gets really negative, doesn't it? But sometimes things need to be negative so that you can have a positive. You need to be torn down so you can be built back up. You ever heard that before? Well, God likes to do that. He likes to tear us down because we need it, because we're not good. We're not perfect. We've all sinned to come short of the glory of God, and we need help. But you know what God doesn't want us to do? He doesn't want us to be whining complainers about everything that he wants us to do. He doesn't bless us so that we can just complain about it. Look at what it says. Has thou taken us away in the dying of the desert? Wherefore, hast thou dealt with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? Some people get carried out of their sin. They get carried into salvation, and then they start whining about the fact that they have to live godly in Christ Jesus. Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt? 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. And this is just the type of complaining that just really angers God. Now he doesn't go full freak out right here, because God's long suffering. God wanted to show that he could take them into the promised land. He wanted to lead them out with a high hand. But later on, they start complaining. Later on, they start complaining about the free food that they've been getting every single day. But look at, I'm just gonna turn to Numbers chapter 11. Numbers chapter 11, and then I'm gonna read Matthew 13, 21. Matthew 13, 21 says, yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while, for when tribulation, or persecution, ariseth because of the word, by and by he's offended. See, some Christians, they get saved, and then once there comes some kind of tribulation, some kind of persecution, like Pharaoh coming after them, then they start whining and complaining about the persecution. And you know what, they dureth for a little while, but by and by they're offended, and then they drop out because they got persecuted. Well guess what, the Bible promises us persecution. But see, that's why as a pastor I have to tell you things, because not everybody knows these things. New Christians don't even understand this concept. They don't understand why all this warfare is coming against them. We have to be prepared for battle, folks, especially in 2021. Especially in this kind of church where persecution comes and you just never know when it's gonna hit. You never know when the other shoe's gonna drop. It happens, but hey, people always talk about how they're soldiers for Christ, but then they're not even in the battle. I'm a soldier, I got both my ARs, I'm ready to go to spiritual warfare. And then they're the first ones to drop out when persecution comes. They get weak, they get scared, and they don't understand that it's gonna happen. And then we just have to endure that persecution like Job did, and then we're gonna come forth as gold. Look at Numbers 11, verse 1, it says, and when the people complained, what did it do? It displeased the Lord, it displeased the Lord. And the Lord heard it, and his anger was kindled. And the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. You know the backslidden seats, that's not in our church. But in a lot of churches, those people used to sit up in front. That's why pastors like to preach about that and say, yeah, you're in the backslidden row or whatever. Because really, the closer, you wanna get close to God, and you wanna get close to the things of God. But what I've noticed is that I start to see people slip out of church before they ever even, before they know that I realize it. I watch people, I'm a shepherd, I'm a pastor, that's what pastors do. They watch the sheep. It's not like I'm looking into your life at all. I'm not Googling you when I go home or something like that, okay? It's not like that, I'm just saying I see who shows up for church and who doesn't three times a week. I see the people that stop going soloing. I see the fact that people aren't into the things of God like they used to be. They're not in the battle, they're here. They might even be here three times a week, but they're checked out spiritually. And so we don't wanna be those people that are checked out and just kind of going through the motions. Yeah, you go for duty. Yeah, you battle for duty, but you know what? You gotta get your heart right and love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength. That's the first commandment, isn't it? Isn't that the first commandment that we're supposed to follow is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, with all of our mind, with all of our soul, with all of our strength, with all of our understanding, right? So why are you worried about all the other stuff? Right. If you love God, you're gonna just, we're gonna go through funks. We're gonna go through problems. We're gonna go through temptations. We're gonna go through the world wanting us back. We're gonna go through all this stuff. But if you keep your focus on the Lord, then you're gonna keep going. And even if it's just out of duty, hey, you're gonna get that love back. And if you keep going soul winning, you're gonna keep that first love. But if you stop going soul winning, then you're gonna lose your first love. And then guess what? You're gonna be on the outside of the camp getting consumed by the Lord. That's a picture, right? Of us just getting, why was it the outermost parts of the camp? Cuz they were already on their way out, that's why. And I know when people are on their way out. I know when people are about to quit. You know why? And it's not because it's some magic thing. It's just because I've just seen it happen over and over again. And so don't be that person. Don't be that person that is the complainer, the one that's sitting in the back of the seats waiting to fade away. Look at verse two. And the people cried unto Moses. And when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched. And he called the name of the place, Tabirah, because the fire of the Lord burnt among them. And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a-lusting. And the children of Israel also wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, we did eat in Egypt freely, and the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and garlic. And you know what this should represent to you? Whatever it is that you're so lost after all. Just fill in the blanks. What is it that you want to go back to? Because once you start complaining about that stuff, God's gonna get angry with you. God's gonna get angry with you. When they cried, they'd be like, oh, sorry, don't cry. Come here little baby, let me take care of you. No, he burnt them up. Why? Because they fell a-lusting. They were crying because they wanted the things back of the world that they left behind. But you know what? God doesn't care about your little alligator tears, about your Xbox 360 that you smashed into oblivion. He doesn't care about that. He wants you to serve him. He wants you to love him. You know, look, does God want us to keep his commandments? Yes or no? Yes, he does. But he also wants us to love him with all of our heart. You can't have one without the other. So if you say you love God and you don't keep his commandments, you're a liar. You're a liar. So it says they fell a-lusting. They remembered the fish. They remembered all this stuff. They ate it freely. Isn't it funny how it uses that word, we ate in Egypt freely? Were they free? No, they weren't free. They were enslaved. They were in hard, rigorous, go get your straw now too, because you're going to make exactly the same amount that you used to make before we provided the straw for you. They were in hard bondage. It wasn't like, you know, and I'm sure it's hot there. Do you think that they had like air conditioning that they were working in or something? No. We're talking about hard bondage, but they're talking about the food that they ate freely. Big whoop. You know, if they would just ask God for the things that they wanted, don't you think he would have gave it to them? Hey God, would you let us slaughter some cattle so we could have some ribeye tonight? Sure. But the thing is, the difference is that they were complaining. They had a complaining spirit. They had a complaining, and really what were they complaining about? They were complaining about Christ. Look at verse number six. But now our soul is dried away. There's nothing at all besides this manna before our eyes. What did the manna represent? The manna represented the Lord Jesus Christ, and that daily he provides our needs for us. He provides the word of God for us, and he provides provision for us. Our sustenance is from the word of God. Our sustenance is from Christ, and they're complaining about it. Saying that their soul is dried away from it. See, some people, some Christians, they start going to church, they forget the reason why they got into it in the first place. And even Christians in our church can get to this point, and look, we need to realize what the main thing is. The main thing is Christ, and our soul should not feel dried away because we want to serve Christ. If you're there, look, if you're there, we don't have an old-fashioned altar for you to come up and pray at. Because the altar is in the Old Testament, folks. But you know what? You can get your heart right sitting right where you're at today. You don't have to come tell me about it. You don't have to tell anybody else about it. But you know what? You can just get your heart right today and say, you know what? I realize that I've been looking back at Egypt. I realize I've been trying to look and do the things of the world and the things I used to do, but you know what? I want to move forward, and I want to turn back to the plow, and I want to follow Christ. You can make that decision today. We're not supposed to love the world, the Bible says in 1 John 2.15. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If a man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And you know what? Moses, who was their leader, he was one of the best men ever in the whole Bible, wasn't he? And he had a bunch of crappy church members though, didn't he? So you can be the best pastor in the world and still have crappy church members. It's your own heart. You've got to have your heart right with God, and you're going to serve him well. But Moses, Joshua was the one that had the good church, didn't he? Joshua, they all obeyed. They all loved the Lord for that generation. But Moses' generation were wandering in the wilderness. You know what it says about Moses? Turn to Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, verse 24. And Moses, even though he was good, even though he did, for the most part, serve the Lord with all of his heart, he had a couple mistakes that he made that cost him dearly. But look at Hebrews chapter 11, verse 24, it says, By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He was the prince of Egypt, wasn't he? And he had it made. He had all the learnings of Egypt. He probably had all the money he wanted. He was rich. He could have been anything in the world that he wanted to be. Look what it says in verse 25, Choosing rather to suffer affliction. What is that? Tribulation, right? With the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. And let me just tell you something. People say sin is not pleasurable. That's not true. Our flesh really likes the pleasures of sin, doesn't it? And so that's why the Bible says, instead of enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season, yeah, he could have enjoyed his life in Egypt. He could have enjoyed his prosperity and his clout as the prince of Egypt. But what did he do instead? It says, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. Moses said, you know what? I don't care about all that stuff. You know what I care about? Following Christ. And that's the way we need to be. But is that you today? Is that you this morning? Are you willing to take the reproach of Christ and continue on following the Lord? Or do you want to go back to Egypt to that stinking fish and the stinking rotten watermelons that they got and whatever else that they thought was so great? See, it's just a memory and an implant in our brain that we want that, but it's not good for us. It's not what we really need. It really shouldn't be what we want. And we should not be complaining about the children we have, about the spouse we have, about the life we have in Christ, about going so when it's too cold, it's too hot. Hey, enjoy yourself. Be a joyful Christian. Because what we have now, is it perfect? No, it's not perfect. Is your life perfect? Is your marriage perfect? Are your children perfect? Is this pastor perfect? No. Is our church members all perfect? Look, it's an imperfect church. But you know what, we can do our best. We can do our best to enjoy our life in Christ and our life in this world and not wax wanton against Christ and go back to the weak and beggarly things of the law. You want to be back under bondage? Nobody wants that. An alcoholic would rather just... I know most alcoholics, when they get pickled and their nose gets all big and purple and they're, you know, they can't even stop drinking or they'll die. You know, I guarantee that they'd rather not be alcoholics. But you know what, they're in the bondage of that sin. And as a Christian, we've been freed from that. And so as we start to get those things out of our lives, we shouldn't want to go back to them. Now, I know that I need to quit here, but I wanted to read one last verse. It says in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness? What concord hath Christ with Belial? What part hath he that believeth with an infidel? What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are all the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Wherefore, for this reason, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord. And what's it say? Touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you. So God wants us to come out from among Egypt. What camp do you want to be in? You want to be in the camp of Egypt? Because you can't be in both camps at the same time. It's just, it's not optimal, is it? You can be in them both at the same time. It's kind of like the Civil War. I was down in the south and there was all this stuff about the Civil War down there. But, and I don't know, I think I saw this on Can't Hoven or something like that, but where there's this guy and he wanted to be peace on both sides. So he had like the blue top, you know, how they had the blue and the gray. The blue, you know, the northern coat and he had the southern pants on. And when they found him, this guy, whoever he was, I don't even know if it's the real guy, but it just, it makes a good picture, right? He's on both sides. But they found him dead with southern and northern bullets in him. Because you can't be in both camps. It's not going to work out. You know, you're going to be destroyed. And so we don't want to be in the world and we're not supposed to be of the world. We're supposed to be out of the world. So just want to encourage you. If you're not free, get free. If you're not saved, get saved. If you are free, stay free. You know, we don't have to go back to those things. And if you're free, stay free, don't quit. Don't go back to the world. And if you're going through persecution and affliction, endure hardness as a good soldier. And if your children are persecuting you because you haven't trained them, then train them. It's not too late. Even if they're 18, whoop them. If they're 14, if they're 13, hey, it still stings. They might get really mad at you. But hey, you want to enjoy your family? You want to enjoy your children? Look, as a husband, be who God made you to be. You know, don't let your wife turn you into a skinny jeans, pink tea, lemonade, total and... Don't let her pick out your pink ties. Be a man. Lead your house. Say, hey, you know what? We're on the Lord's side. We're going to church today. I don't care what you want to do. Pick up your wife and put her in the car. Carrier. Throw your kids in the car. Strap them in with the seat belt. Get them to church. And as a wife, follow your husband. Be who God made you to be. And don't, you know, don't be desirous to go be under bondage by some other man. I want to go back and be a nurse so that I can wear pants and do what the doctor tells me to do. You don't want to do what your husband tells you to do. Don't get mad. It's true. Everybody has desires to go back and do things, right? That's what's more important, raising a godly seed or going back to work for some doctor so that you can give vaccinations to people or get vaccinations that they're going to force you to take. See, there's pitfalls for everything, isn't there? But if you're a woman, be who God made you to be. Raise your children. Love them. And you know what? It's hard to love them when they're running you into the ground. So, hey, just because your husband spanks them, I don't know why I'm hitting on this. Maybe someone's just having trouble here. But let me just say this. If your husband's got to come home and spank the kids every time and you never do, then you're not doing your kids a service. You can tan their hide just like, maybe not just like, but you can tan their hide too. You can make it sting. And hey, if your children don't fear you wives, you know, they should. They shouldn't be, you know, every time dad's away, you know, they're going to be, they're like, oh, mommy, give me this. Mommy, give me that. You know, you're going to raise a sissy. Who wants to raise a sissy? Or just kids that run over the top of you whenever your husband's not home. And then dad has to come home from a hard day's work and beat the kids every time because you're too lazy to do it. So the Bible says to be chaste keepers at home. Doesn't say for the husband to keep the home while he's at work too. Obviously, we have our own duties to keep the home. I'm just saying the wives are supposed to take care of business at home while the man's working outside the home. Okay, so and to the children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. Quit being such a pain in the neck. You know you're supposed to obey your parents. Obey them. If there's a rule that you're breaking at church that you wouldn't normally break at home because you know your parents are just busy talking or whatever, don't break that rule. The rules still apply whether they're paying attention or not. So you shouldn't be looking for every opportunity to disobey the rules just because your parents are talking and looking the other way. All right, so you obey the Lord for this is right. All right, so and then you know obviously the Bible, I'm just going to close with this last verse. Romans 6 16. Just go ahead and turn there with me and we'll be done, I promise. Romans 6 16. It's only been an hour, quit whining. All right, Romans 6 16. Know ye not that to him or to whom you yield yourself servants to obey his servants? Ye are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be thanked that you were the servants of sin but you have obeyed from your heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when you were servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. So we weren't able to be righteous before we were freed from being servants of sin. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? See, not only should we be, you know, we should turn away from that, but we should be ashamed of what we once were. We should be ashamed. See, that's the problem today is that nobody has any shame. Hey, be ashamed of those things. You know, maybe if you hate sin a little bit more, if you hate that and you're ashamed by it, then maybe you won't go back to it. What fruit did you have then? That's what it's saying. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. Amen. Amen. So look, don't go back to that. The world's got nothing for you. All it has is more pain. All it has is more sin and it's going to destroy you. Keep serving Christ. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for the scriptures and we thank you so much for this lesson and what camp should we be in. And Lord, we want to be on your side in this church. And Lord, I pray that every person here that's under the sound of my voice would continue in the things of Christ. And Lord, not go back to Egypt. And Lord, not go back to that time of being in bondage to sin. Because Lord, we can get back there. I just pray you'd help us not to go back there. Lord, when we need your strength, I pray that we would be praying for that strength, Lord. And let not ourselves be waxed, wanton against Christ. And Lord, I pray that you just help us to, Lord, to appreciate that manna that we get every single day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.