Let's open our Bible's day to the book of Exodus chapter 14. The title of the message today is expressions of a slave mentality. Expressions of a slave mentality. Exodus chapter 14 and let's begin reading there with verse 10. Exodus 14 verse 10, 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. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? 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 that we should die in the wilderness. Have you ever noticed that most people do not think for themselves? And have you ever noticed that those who do not think independently somehow all fit into the same mold? Does not matter where you travel in America, most people think the way the news commentators, the propaganda experts, the TV and the Hollywood film directors lead them. And it's not something new, it's something that is very, very old. it is evidence of a slave mentality. Now the slave mentality expresses itself in many and varied ways. There are very few things over which slaves really genuinely concern themselves. They're really more interested in their comfort, provision, and rest than anything else. They do their work, they eat, they drink, and rest, and anything over and above that is beyond them and they do not concern themselves with it. All they simply want to do is exist. May I submit to you that is where most Americans really are. They're just trying to exist and they really just want to exist. Years ago, I preached a message on the slave mentality from the book of Judges. That message is in my second book and I'm not re-preaching that message. This message is totally, completely different from that. But it's amazing to me that as I read through the Bible so many times, you find a slave mentality and always, no exceptions, that slave mentality is always condemned. Now the children of Israel had been slaves. They had been enslaved by the Egyptians for hundreds of years. Consequently their thinking had been conditioned and they basically thought as slaves think. So it's not unique then to find the children of Israel when they first come out of Egypt thinking as slaves think. What is unique about this situation to me is simply this. that the average American today thinks exactly the way the Israelites did when they first came out of Egypt. They were in bondage and they knew it. We're in bondage and we don't even realize it. We are equally enslaved as Israel was of old, and it is evidenced by a slave mentality. Now, before someone objects and says, but wait a minute, I don't have a slave mentality. May I remind you of Romans chapter 12 and verse 2, where the word of God says, now listen carefully, and be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now the word conformed literally means to be pressed into a mold. And in the context, it specially refers to the mold of thinking as the world thinks. So God says, be not conformed to this world, don't be pressed into the mold of worldly thinking, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So anyone then who is pressed into a mold and thinks as the world is thinking as a slave thinks because May I point out that Romans chapter 6 teaches that those who are unsaved are already slaves to sin. That's why Romans chapter 6 talks about the domination or the dominion of sin and how we who are in Christ Jesus have been freed from the dominion of sin and we are now under dominion to the Lord Jesus Christ. So there is a slavery that exists just by virtue of the fact that people are unsaved and just by virtue of the fact that people think the way the world thinks now the bible teaches us in second corinthians chapter 3 and verse 17 now the lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the lord is there is liberty so where the spirit is not there is no liberty so if the Holy Spirit then is the one who produces liberty and freedom where he is not there can only exist bondage and slavery that's why in Romans 8 in verse 9 the scripture says therefore if any man be in Christ or therefore let me quote it again now if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's done of his. What does that mean? That means if you do not have the Spirit of Christ, you do not belong to Christ. If you do not belong to Christ, then you're still under the dominion of sin, and you're lost, and you're unsaved. That's why in John 8 in verse 36, the scripture said, If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed. And it's only after we're regenerated, only after we're converted, that we understand what real freedom really is and that's why in Galatians 5 in verse 1 scripture says stand fast therefore in the liberty or in the freedom wherewith Christ hath set you free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage so Christ then has freed us but not only is there a bondage to sin by nature and a bondage revealed by worldly conformity and worldly thinking, there's also a bondage that attends a misconception of reality. We perceive and think sometimes that we really know what freedom is and that we are free when we are hopelessly bound by the laws and the traditions of men. It was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who said this, none are more helplessly enslaved than those who falsely believe that they are free. You're hopelessly enslaved when you just simply falsely believe that you're free. Now, simply saying that we are free does not make us free. simply believing that we're free does not make us free. It would be an interesting poll to find out the definition that most Americans today give to freedom. How many of you have heard people say, well, we're the most free country in the world? Well, We say we're free and yet we have to be licensed and regulated and controlled and spied upon and manipulated by our own government. I never will forget how horrified I was, and it had to be nearly 40 years ago, 35 to 40 years ago, when I was up in Virginia in Fairfax County, Virginia, which by the way, was a seat of religious and political liberty and freedom back in the 1700s. But when I was in Fairfax County, Virginia, nearly 40 years ago, and I found out that you could not cut a tree down off your own property without having a permit from the local government. I couldn't believe it. I just could not believe it. And yet it was true that long ago. You see, the evidence that we are actually slaves comes forward in our slave mentality. We do not know how to think as free men. We do not know how to think as free individuals. Practically everywhere you look, you can find expressions of a slave mentality. So let's ask this question. How does a slave mentality express itself? Well, I'm going to look in Exodus chapter 14, and I'm going to show you four evidences of a slave mentality. So first of all, I want you to look at verse 10. The Bible says, Exodus 14, 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. First the slave mentality expresses itself in cowardice. Cowardice. Notice if you would what the scripture said that these individuals were sore afraid. Why were they afraid? Now you could say well some of the Israelites may have been unarmed They may have been, but you've got to remember this, that in all probability, the Israelites outnumbered the Egyptians that were marching after them. Moreover, you could say, well, those Egyptians were disciplined military fighting men. Well, that may have been true and Israel may have been inferior militarily speaking, but however, I taught yesterday and I demonstrated yesterday how Israel was organized as a militia and they marched out of Egypt as a militia. If you would look in Exodus chapter 13 and verse 18 right there. Exodus 13 verse 18. But God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. Now the word harnessed is a very interesting word. It is translated as armed twice in our Bibles. It is translated as armed men once in our Bibles. And it refers to the fact that Israel went up out of Egypt in battle array in ranks of five. So they were marching out as a militia. They were not defenseless. They were not helpless. Moreover, you've got to remember this, the Lord had already revealed to Moses exactly what he was going to do to Pharaoh and the Egyptians and how that God would give him honor from the destruction of Pharaoh and his army. Moreover, you've got to remember this, that Israel had just been miraculously delivered out of Egypt by the hand of the Lord. The blood had been applied and they were now being led by the pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. You would think that under such a situation and such circumstances, The children of Israel having been miraculously delivered and miraculously led, they would have been saying, if God be for us, who can be against us? But they weren't saying that. Instead of lifting up their faith, look what the scripture says, and they lifted up their eyes. What they saw terrified them. What they looked at was very disconcerting. Why? They were not operating in the realm of faith. They were operating in the realm of sight. And the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7 says as Christians, listen carefully, for we walk by faith and not by sight. You see, sight always looks at situations. It looks at circumstances. It looks at fleshly observations. Faith always looks to the Lord and to his word and to his power and to his promises. Since the Israelites were not looking by faith, here's what they saw. The sea before them. the Egyptians behind them and being walled in by the wilderness. They basically saw no escape. So to the natural eye, looking by sight, escape was impossible, captivity or death absolutely certain. But don't you look back at verse 10 again. Here's another interesting thought. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes And behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they were so afraid. Now look, and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. Wow. You know, David said in Psalm 3 and verse 4, I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me and delivered me out of His holy hill. But may I point something out? There is a vast difference between a cry of faith and a cry of desperation and fear. The children of Israel here did not cry out in faith. They cried out in fear. Their crying out was only from their troubles, only from their observations, only from what they saw. It was only a result of their despair and their upcoming defeat. They cried to the Lord, but they had absolutely no confidence in Him. They did not trust in Him. They did not believe in His help, notwithstanding all the previous manifestations of His mercy and His grace that had been given to them. How do we know that their cry was a cry of desperation and fear rather than a cry of faith? The answer is very easy. Read the next verse. Look at verse 11. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? They did not believe God, nor did they believe Moses. They had no faith. They were afraid to fight. But I want you to notice something. They were certainly not afraid to criticize God or Moses. Isn't that interesting? When men fear men, they're not afraid to criticize God or his preacher. Hmm. Let me give you a quote from John Calvin. It's very interesting. He said this, although there is an appearance of two contrary facts being here reported. Number one, that they cried out to the Lord. and number two, that they mutinied against his minister, yet we may easily gather that this cry neither arose from faith nor from serious and well-ordered affections, but it was extorted by a confused impulse, since the natural sense impels all men in their adversity promiscuously to offer their prayers to God, although they neither embrace his mercy nor rely upon his power. So what did Calvin just say? It is only natural for men when they see themselves in a very serious situation to cry out to God for help when they neither really trust Him nor believe Him. They were cowards. They were afraid to fight. They were afraid to believe the Lord. They were afraid to trust Him. They were afraid to believe His promises. It must be an awful, awful thing to all of a sudden realize how impotent, how helpless, how weak you really are and you see your enemy advancing in power and strength and you have nowhere to turn and no one in whom to trust. Sight, situations, and circumstances, and looking without faith will make cowards out of everyone. If you and I are to ever conquer, we must learn to be children of faith. You know what the Bible says in Daniel 11 in verse 32? The people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits. the people that know their God. The little word know refers to an intimate personal relationship and intimate personal knowledge that has been acquired through trust and teaching. You know ancient Israel was just like modern-day Christendom. They had the teaching But they didn't listen, nor did they believe. And consequently, when they got in a tight, their cowardice was revealed. Where were their courage, their faith, and their fortitude? Why did not these Israelites lift up their eyes and say, It's better to die on the field of honor than to die in Egypt as slaves. Why did they not say, it's better to live as God's free men here in the wilderness than to serve Pharaoh and the brick kills and the sweatshops in Egypt? But they didn't say that. They said none of those things. And you know why? Because they were cowards. They are afraid to fight for their lives, for their families, for their freedoms. Slaves are fearful beings. And those who possess a slave mentality are always in fear. And their fear is furthered by man. What? The Bible tells us in Proverbs 29 and verse 25, the fear of man bringeth a snare. But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. The more you fear man, the more you are ensnared by the fear of man. Thankfully, in the New Testament, in 2 Timothy 1 in verse 7, the Bible tells us, For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. So if you and I are afraid, mark it down, it didn't come from God. It had to come from sin, or from self, or from some other source. For God does not give us a spirit of fear. And the very fact that men are afraid, shows that they're ensnared in bondage and in slavery to the extent that we are cowards to the extent that we're fearful and afraid and unbelieving to that extent we will always express a slave mentality secondly I want you to look in verse 11 because a slave mentality also expresses itself in compromise. Notice verse 11, and they said unto Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Compromise is a word that is on the lips of every politician, usually every bureaucrat, and businessmen, and unhappily, it is also on the lips of the average professing Christian. We have forgotten principles. We have forgotten truth. And we have forgotten that there are some things that are worth fighting for and worth dying for. I just got a message yesterday, someone sent me a little simple statement. It said this compromise is defeat on installments. I want you to look at this situation. Here's this whole body of people, probably 2 million at a minimum. And they taught Moses with a very bitter taunt. When they lift up their eyes and they see the Egyptians behind them and the sea in front of them and the wilderness on each side of them, they said, what's wrong with you? Was it because there was not enough room in Egypt to bury all of us that you had to bring us out here in this wilderness? We could have stayed in Egypt. We would have been more comfortable there and we would not be experiencing all this fear and this bitterness that we're experiencing now if it had not been for you. You just brought us out here so that we could be buried in this stupid wilderness. I want you to note what they're doing. Here's what they're saying. They're taunting Moses as if God and Moses were both accountable to them. They were boastful, they were petulant, and they were indeed reproaching Moses and God for not listening to them. They were smarter than God. They were smarter than Moses. And had God and Moses listened to them, surely things could have been worked out. Surely there would have been a compromise that could have been acceptable to them and to Pharaoh as well. In fact, you've got to remember, Pharaoh offered them three compromises. When they kept coming to Pharaoh, and Moses kept saying, thus said the Lord, let my people go. At first, of course, he refused. And then God began sending those plagues. And finally, the first compromise is found in Exodus 8 in verse 25. When he told the children of Israel, all right, all right, I've sinned. I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to let you sacrifice in the land. Just don't go far away. Don't go out of the land. Moses said, no, sir. No, no, God's told us where to go. And moreover, we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians. No, no, no, we're not going to do that. The second compromise came in Exodus chapter 10, verse 11, when Pharaoh said, all right, all right, I've sinned again. I've had enough of these plagues. I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I want to let all you men go out of the country and sacrifice, but your wives and your children have to stay here. Moses says, no, that's not going to happen. No, we're not going to do that. When we leave, we're taking our wives and our children with us. Finally, here's a third compromise in Exodus chapter 10 in verse 24, when Pharaoh said, all right, all of you may go, but your cattle has to stay. Children of Israel, through Moses said, no. No. When we leave, everything is going with us. Now, I want you to note something. It was Moses who had rejected all three of the compromises. And now the children of Israel are taunting Moses and they're saying, you just brought us out here to die. You brought us out here because there's not enough graves in Egypt. We could be back in Egypt enjoying ourselves if you had not been so stubborn and hard-headed and so principled. But no, you brought us out here to die. Besides, listen to this, what kind of God would bring you out in the wilderness to suffer and to perish? Either God didn't love them enough or God didn't have wisdom enough or foresight enough to know what was going to happen. They believed that they should take care of themselves. They could work things out. And the way they were going to work things out, here is their remedy. We'll return to Egypt. What? Oh, turn over to Numbers chapter 14. Look in Numbers chapter 14. And let's begin reading there with verse 3. Numbers 14, verse 3. Here's the remedy. Look at what they say. Numbers 14, verse 3. They ask, And wherefore hath the Lord brought us out unto this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Wereit not better for us to return unto Egypt? And they said one to another, let us make a captain and let us return unto Egypt. Hey, we don't have to die out here. We can go back home. And I want to tell you something else. This just kind of blows my mind. The children of Israel falsely believed that they were also better provided for in Egypt than in the wilderness. What? Don't you remember that God gave them manna? By the way, the word manna just simply means, what is it? They didn't know what it was, that's what the word means. But God gave them the perfect food that would nourish them and sustain them. And if you look back in your Bibles to Numbers 11 and verse 5, look what these wicked, rebellious, faithless people say to Moses. We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. And now our soul is dried away. There's nothing at all before us besides this manna before our eyes. What? Oh, I remember those leeks and those garlics. Oh boy, that was delicious. Eating raw onions out of the field. Well, we'd rather have the leeks and the garlics and everything that stink rather than the manna that God has provided for us. What kind of God would bring us out here and feed us this stupid bread? That was their attitude. Let me tell you something, folks. The truth of the matter is this. If we compromise We can have a lot of things. I want you to think about that. Do you realize if I wanted to cut corners, if I wanted to compromise, I could have a huge church building with hundreds of people. I would never ever have to study another day the rest of my life. Listen folks, I've got more messages that you can shake a stick at and all I have to do is take one message and cut it down into about thirds or one quarter and water it down. One message would last me a month in the average church. Do you understand that? And I could say, look at what I've got. I've got a church and I've got 500 folks in it. You know, to get people, all you have to do is trim the message and give a little bit of entertainment. That's it. Make people feel good about themselves. What have you got when you do that? I'd rather preach to 10 people that genuinely want the Word of God than 10,000 who would care less about it. If you look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 4, I want to just show you. You can get a lot of things by compromising. Look at Matthew chapter 4 beginning in verse 8. Here our Lord is being tempted of the devil. Here he's being offered a compromise. Matthew chapter 4 verse 8. Watch carefully. Again, the devil taketh them up to an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said unto them, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. What did Satan offer him? All the kingdoms of the world. Let me ask you a question. What does Jesus Christ now have? He now has all the kingdoms of the world. What Satan is saying is this, you just worship me. I'll give you this and you don't have to die. You don't have to suffer. You don't have to go through the cross. No, no, no. You just worship me. I'll give you everything. I got news for you folks. We may compromise and get everything the world has to offer. But we would never have everything that God has to offer. We would never have His blessings. We would never have His power upon us. And we would never be in a position where we could truly, genuinely honor and glorify Him. You see, the truth of the matter is this, folks. Compromise is only for those individuals who do not want the perfect and blessed will of God in their lives. Compromise will be for people who want things instead of truth and righteousness and liberty and freedom. Do you know why the children of Israel were griping and grumbling and complaining and taunting Moses? So I'll tell you why. Because they did not understand what God had done for them. Here it is. Don't turn there. Let me just read it. Psalm 106 verse 7. Listen to what the scripture says. David wrote, Our fathers understood not by wonders in Egypt, They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea. What? Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They didn't understand anything about God or God's salvation. They did not remember his mercies, everything that he'd done. And so they taunted and provoked him and wanted to compromise. The reason we have a slave mentality today is we don't understand the wonders and the work of God. And we don't really consider his mercies and his compassions. I've thought of this a hundred times. I'm 66 years old. I'm not as old as some of you. But I'm going to tell you something, the only reason I'm alive today is because of God's mercies and God's compassions. And I've already lived longer than a whole lot of other people have lived. And we need to stop and consider, Lord, if it's not for you, we will have nothing, we are nothing, we can do nothing. Everything we have, everything we are, is only because of God's mercies. and the slave mentality is ready to compromise all of that. Just stop and think. A slave mentality expresses itself in cowardice, in compromise, and thirdly, I want you to look The slave mentality expresses itself in complacency. Oh, look in verse 12. Look what the children of Israel said. Exodus 14 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 we should die in the wilderness. I want you to note what they said. Let us alone. Slaves are satisfied in their serfdom and in their slavery. They have no desire to be upset, to be disturbed, or to have the boat rocked. They're satisfied with the status quo. Listen to what they said. Let us alone. Slaves do not want to be bothered with the facts. They don't want to be bothered with the truth. They're not concerned about those things. The children of Israel, by the way, when they were in Egypt were even upset with the fact that Moses was attempting to deliver them. What? Yes. Look back in Exodus chapter 5 and verse 21. Of course, Pharaoh has made it a little rougher for them because of Moses. And in Exodus chapter 5 and verse 21, look what the elders of Israel say to Moses as they come out of the presence of Pharaoh. Pharaoh's already told them now they're going to make the same number of bricks and yet without straw, they'll have to get the straw themselves. Verse 21, Exodus chapter 5. In fact, let's read verse 20. And they met Moses and Aaron who stood in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh. And they said to him, the Lord look upon you and judge because you've made our saver to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh and the eyes of his servants to put a sword in their hand and slay us. What, Moses? What are you doing? You said you were going to come down here and deliver us. All you've done is made things worse. That's all. You haven't delivered us. Quit talking about that stuff. In fact, look in your Bibles now to Exodus chapter 6. Here's an interesting thing. Exodus chapter 6 and verse 9. Notice Exodus 6 and verse 9. Now wait a minute. They said to Moses, did we not say unto you, let us alone? Let us alone is the cry of all the slaves. We do not wish to be free. Freedom involves responsibilities. It involves thinking. It involves planning. It involves work. It involves taking care of oneself and one's family. Freedom involves preparation, education, and a willingness to fight. They said, let us alone. Now I want you to look at this. I'm fixing to tie these two thoughts together for you. But I want you to notice what they said in Exodus 14. Go back over there. This is absolutely amazing. Exodus 14 verse 12. Now watch. Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt? Here's what we told you Moses. Let us alone, watch, that we may serve the Egyptians. What? One minute in Exodus chapter 6 and verse 9 they're groaning and screaming and crying because of the cruel bondage and oppression and the next minute they're saying, we've got it good here Moses, just let us alone. Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians. In other words, we're content. We're willing to stay here and be slaves to these Egyptians. They did not want to be the slave of the one true and the living God. They did not want to serve him. They wanted to serve the Egyptians. Do you understand that according to the New Testament, we're to be God's free man. He tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, now listen to this, what? Know you not, you are not your own, you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are His. And in 1 Corinthians 7 verse 23, he says again, you are bought with a price, be not ye the servants or the slaves of men. How do we become the slaves of men? I want you to turn over in your Bibles Deuteronomy 28. I'm going to let the Bible answer that for you. I want to show you. Deuteronomy 28. And let's begin reading there with verse 43. Deuteronomy 28 and verse 43. Look what the scripture says. Deuteronomy 28 verse 43. This is part of the curses of God's law. when we disobey that law. So watch what he said, Deuteronomy 28 verse 43. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high and thou shalt come down very low. Deuteronomy 28, yeah that's it. That's it. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high, and thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee, thou shalt not lend to him. He shall be the head, thou shalt be the tail. Watch, moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee and overtake thee till thou be destroyed. Why? Because thou hearkenest not to the voice of the Lord thy God to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee, and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder and upon thy seed forever. Watch. Because thou servest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things, therefore thou shalt serve thine enemy, which the Lord shall send against thee. What? What did God say? You can either serve me or you can serve your enemy. I don't know about you, but I think I'd rather be the slave of God than the slave of man. you know this is just absolutely astounding to me I want you to understand this is from the mouths of God's covenant people in the Old Testament they said let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians that blows my mind let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? What? Servitude and slavery and suffering were preferred over living and dying as free men. Are you listening to me? This is exactly what is happening in America today. Slavery and serfdom and suffering is preferred over living and dying as free men. It is time to turn off the TV set. It's time to get up from the couch and forget the controlled media. Forget the newspapers and magazines and begin to search and study for yourself. It's time to get past football and baseball and every other sport of its kind. If we do not get a little backbone and intestinal fortitude and just plain old everyday country guts, we will continue to serve the Egyptians. They will use us. pillage us, steal from us, break us and destroy us. It's better to live and die as free men than to live as slaves. And I don't agree with better read than dead. It's better dead and free than suffering and living under Marxist dictatorship. There's a poem. I'm only going to quote just a few stanzas of it. It's from Revels. The author is anonymous. Just one paragraph. For although life is dear, yet free men born and free men bred, we'd rather live as free men dead than to live in slavish fear. Then call us rebels if you will. We glory in the name for bending under unjust laws and swearing faith to an unjust cause. We counter greater shame. It's time to shake off. the slave mentality of complacency. There's one last point. A slave mentality always expresses itself not only in cowardice and complacency, yeah, it also expresses itself in convenience. If you go back to our text in Exodus chapter 14 and look at verses 10 through 12 again, let me just read them. I want you to look at this. Exodus 14 verse 10. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold, the Egyptians marched after them and they were so afraid and the children of Israel cried out into the Lord and they cried into Moses. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in this wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? 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 we should die in the wilderness. The whole passage reeks of a lust and desire for convenience. Their cries, their complaints, and their anguish, listen carefully, was all brought about by their inconvenience. Are you listening? It was not convenient to leave Egypt. It was not convenient to travel in the wilderness. It was not convenient to do without food they were used to eating. It was not convenient to travel and live by faith. It was not convenient to be temporarily deprived and to suffer. It was not convenient to be boxed in and faced with overwhelming odds. It was not convenient to trust in the Lord, nor in Moses. The whole cry of Israel is based upon their inconvenience. Surely, surely they thought God could have discovered and found a convenient way to deliver them out of Egypt. Why did they have to suffer? Why did they have to fight? Why did they have to go through all of this? Surely God knew how upsetting this whole episode was for them. Surely he knew how inconvenient it was. What's wrong with God? How could such a loving God be so inconsiderate? Wow! Whining, complaining, belly aching and groaning had to be stopped. Look in verse 14. I love this. Verse 14. Here's what Moses said. Let's read verse 13. Moses said unto the people, Fear you not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace. Let me paraphrase this. Here's what Moses said to the children of Israel. You shall contribute nothing to the victory by your words or by your deeds. So If you will excuse me for saying this, just shut your whining, complaining, griping mouth and watch God do what you're afraid to do. That's basically what he said. Just shut up. Just shut up. You're not going to have to lift your little finger. You're not going to have to get your clothes dirty. God will take care of it. Now folks, I'm going to tell you, the scripture does tell us there is a time to keep silence and a time to speak. Ecclesiastes 3 and verse 7. David understood that for in Psalm 38 and verse 13. He said, But I as a deaf man heard not, and I was a dumb man that opened not his mouth. He said, I understand there's a time to keep my mouth shut. And these people had belly ached and complained so much that Moses finally said, Just hold your peace, shut your mouth. The God whom you do not trust in and whom you do not believe will deliver you again. And maybe you will listen and maybe you'll learn. The problem that we're facing in this country, one of them is the monster of convenience. We do not want to be inconvenienced. We do not want an inconvenient truth. Not Al Gore's inconvenient truth, but God's inconvenient truth. We just don't want to be inconvenienced. If the average American was around in 1776, we would still be colonies of England. The average American today, if we were around, we'd still be controlled by England. There'd been no fighting, there'd been no resistance, because it was inconvenient. Instead, our founding father said, we pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. They were willing to be inconvenienced for their children and their grandchildren. and future generations. I'll tell you, I had rather be inconvenienced and live with God in the wilderness than with Pharaoh in Egypt or Obama in Washington. It's time to cast off a slave mentality. and learn to think biblically and scripturally and as free men. Now, let me point something out. By way of application, you say, but we have all these programs that our government is giving us. You have to understand folks that slave masters had much rather keep their slaves sufficiently well fed and clothed and housed and occasionally entertained in order to keep their mind and their thoughts away from their slavery and their bondage. And we can also think this way. Our slave masters want us to think of the great beyond. the paradise that awaits us in the sky, we can all look for that. What? Well, what about the injustice? What about the corruption? What about the fraud? What about the deceit? What about the dishonesty? Oh, don't worry about that. Just think about what it's going to be in the future. What? I've got news for you folks. If all you're concerned about is the future, you will never be concerned about the present tyranny, despotism, totalitarianism, corruption, fraud, and wickedness that exists today. We have to fight a slave mentality. Why did he say be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind? It is a fight to think biblically. It is a fight to think scripturally. No one likes to fight all the time. No one likes confrontation. No one likes to be constantly and continually arguing. But we cannot give in, and we cannot give up, and we cannot give out, and we cannot think as slaves. We must think as free men, God's free men. And what did our Lord say in Psalm 94 and verse 16? Let me just quote it. Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers and who shall stand for me against the workers of iniquity? And then he said in Psalm 97 verse 10, you that love the Lord hate evil. May I tell you, you cannot love God without at the same time hating everything that is contrary to him. If you love the Lord, you will hate everything that's contrary to Him. You'll hate it, you'll expose it, you'll fight against it, and by God's grace, you'll overcome it and destroy it. How does the slave mentality express itself? It always expresses itself in cowardice, compromise, complacency, and convenience. We want truth above all and freedom first in Christ and then in life above all. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We ask you to help us not to have a slave mentality, not to think in terms of cowardice, compromise, complacency and convenience. But help us to think Lord in terms of what is right and what is our responsibility and what is our duty before thee and before man. Help us Lord to bow to thy truth and bow to thy word and make us holy and godly in the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen. This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, you may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 Abercorn, that's A-B-E-R, C-O-R-N, Street, Suite 705, P-M-B, 175, Savannah, Georgia, 31406. Or give us a call at 912-833-7000. You can also visit our website at www.dominionministry.com