First, this morning of Exodus chapter four will begin in verse number 14. Exodus chapter number four, looking at verse number 14. The Bible says in the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well and also behold, he cometh forth to meet thee. And when he see it, the he will be glad in his heart. and thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth, and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people, and he shall be even, he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. And Moses went and returned to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace and let's pray. Father, we thank you for this short portion of scripture this morning. Thank you for the folks that stood in respect for the reading of thy word. And I pray this morning that we would continue with our attentiveness this morning. to the word, and I ask now that you would just bless and guide in each word that is said here in Jesus name. Amen. And you may be seated. We're talking of this morning. Our main thought is a prophet that's like Moses, yet a prophet that's quite unlike him. The last thing God spoke to Moses while he was in front of the burning bush was this little statement here where he gave in to Moses. desire that he would give him somebody else to speak for him. And it's a few verses later that we see God speaking to Moses again. But what we understand is that it's probably been some time elapsed between this and the next time that God speaks to him. He went back home to his father-in-law, Jethro. He probably had to drive some sheep home and get them put away and take care of things of this nature. He had to explain to his father-in-law Jethro what he was doing. He had submitted himself to this man for many years, 40 years to be exact, and now he's telling his father-in-law, I'm going to go. I'm going away now and I'm going to see if our people are alive. Now, why he didn't tell Jethro all of the details at this point of what had just transpired, we're not told right now and we'll explore that a little later. But suffice to say that at this point, Moses was finally obeying God's command and he is going to take the message of deliverance to the people of God. He's not going to do it just like God had originally commanded him to do it. He's going to do it with the help now of his brother Aaron. He's going to come with him and Aaron is going to act like his mouthpiece. Moses will hear from God. He will tell Aaron. Aaron will tell the people. Now, that is not the way that God had originally laid it out to be done. And what we see here is an example of our lives so many times when we know what we're supposed to be doing for the Lord. And when we continue to backpedal and not do what we know we ought to do and the eventual suffering that can come into our life as a result of not obeying God finally and completely. The first thing we want to look at this morning is that you never lose when you fully obey God, when you fully do what God has commanded. You just don't lose. Moses argued with God there in verse number 14. And and God, God's anger was kindled against him. And so he said, that's fine. He said, I'll make air in your mouthpiece, because here's something that you don't want to forget. God is going to deliver his people. I mean, that's it. He's promised that all that the father gives to him, he would raise them up at the last day. Now, that is the promise of God. And somebody can say, no, I'm not going to be a preacher. I'm not going. I'm not going to do what you tell me to do, Lord. I'm not going to witness to this individual. I'm not going to do that. Well, God's going to deliver his people. He will do it and he's going to do it, whether it's by Moses or by another. But he is going to do it. And here God is saying that's OK, then Aaron will be your mouthpiece. And he even tells him. You know, Aaron meets the qualifications that you set. You said that you couldn't speak. You said that you weren't eloquent. And guess what? Aaron can speak. Aaron's eloquent. He can do that. So I'm actually giving you somebody that meets the qualifications that you say. Bottom line is, though, Moses, you're still going to go. You're still going to do ultimately what I'm commanding you to do. Now, we're going to see what incomplete submission can do. and the trouble that incomplete submission can do to us and to those around us. We're going to move through the Bible pretty quickly today, so you'll have to keep up with me. I'll watch for you. And when you're looking up at me, I'll believe you found the scripture and I'll begin to read it. Turn over to Exodus 32, Exodus chapter number 32 and verse number one. Incomplete submission many times causes problems. And it is Aaron, the mouthpiece of Moses, that went with him, that ends up being at the head of idol worship for Israel. They were going off into the woods when they were freed from Pharaoh. The ultimate thing that was told to Pharaoh is that my people are going to worship God in the wilderness. They get to the wilderness. Moses goes up into the mountain to receive the law of God, and within just a few short days, the people forsake God and they begin to turn to idol worship. We see it here in Exodus 32. It says, And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the Mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, Make us gods which shall go before us, for as for this Moses, The man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not what has become of him. And Aaron said unto them, You can't do this. That would not be right. That's not what he said. You see, he wasn't God's man of choosing there. He wasn't the man standing before the burning bush. He wasn't the man who was receiving the oracles of God. But this is the man that Moses said, OK, I'll go if I can take him along. Now we have God's mouthpiece here and it's supposed to be speaking for Moses, and this is what he says, and this is difficult. Break off the earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people break off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool after he had made it a molten calf. And they said. These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." And when Aaron saw it, it didn't repulse him. This is what he did. He built an altar before it, a place that they could bring sacrifice. And then he did something that we find ourselves part of sometimes and don't even realize it. We begin trying to blend the things of the world with the things of God. He says, And Aaron made proclamation and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. Today, we're going to sacrifice to a false God, but tomorrow we're going to worship the Lord. This is what happens so many times. So here's the man, Moses, that I'm not going to go. I'm not going to deliver this message and then in short order. The man that God says, OK, you're not going to do what I said fully. You're not going to obey me fully. I'm giving you Aaron then and you're going to go on and do what I've told you. But Aaron will do the speaking for you. The man that he goes with him, Aaron ends up involved in idol worship. Go over to Numbers chapter 12. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, then Numbers. It's part of the law that Moses wrote. It was Aaron who participated in rebellion against Moses. Moses is God's man, he was God's choice. And here we have someone that God said will help you, Moses. What we don't understand is when we don't fully submit to the Lord, there's always something that goes along with that lack of full submission. It's the Aaron that goes along with you sometimes. Sorry, son, nothing direct or intentional there. And here is Moses participating in this rebellion with his sister. Numbers chapter number 12 and Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses. But wait, this is this is your mouthpiece, Moses. This is the man that was said in Exodus chapter number four was going to he was going to look at you as a person should look at God. Well, many times this is exactly what happens. with people that look to God, they speak against him, don't they? And here we have it happening in his sister as well. And they spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us? In other words, is Moses the only person that can do service under the Lord? Is he the only one who can do these things? Of course not. We can do them, too. And that's really not the point, though. It's not the issue of whom the Lord has spoken through and spoken to. It's who God has appointed. It is the man who is God's man. And Moses and excuse me, Aaron and Miriam are missing this. The Lord heard it, the Bible says, and don't think he doesn't hear these things. Jump down to verse number nine. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against him and he departed and the cloud departed from off the tabernacle. And behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow. And Aaron looked upon Miriam and behold, she was leprous. So here we've got Aaron, the man going with Moses, and he's a man who was a great help to Moses so many times. But in Moses lack of complete submission and complete surrender to God's will, his unwillingness to say yes, Lord, and go directly on, he said that I'm going to give you somebody that's going to go with you. I'll accomplish my purpose. But what's what you're going to see here is that when you have to take something along with you to be a crutch, something to lean on other than me, there can be some problems. And so we go to Leviticus chapter number 10. Leviticus, chapter number 10, it was Aaron's sons who first participated. Apart from the. Original time at the when they made the molten calf. These two sons now Aaron's sons are working in the ministry, they're assisting their earthly father, helping in the ministry, laboring as they were going to be the priest that would come after Aaron and at the cost of their life, they now shame not only the priesthood, but they shame their father's name and they shame the position that Moses holds. Leviticus 10 in verse number one says, And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer and put fire therein and put incense their own and offered strange fire before the Lord when he commanded them not. So God didn't command that this is what they were supposed to do. As a matter of fact, he had given clear commandment as to what they were supposed to do. Now they've come in and added something to it. They said, you know, we know a better way. We've got a neater idea. We have something that we think would be really neat. This is something that would enhance our worship of God. This is something that might make us look better. This is something that maybe God needs some help. Maybe we need to stir some people up and do things a little bit different. Maybe we need to live on the ragged edge. Maybe we need to be on the razor's edge. And you've probably heard all sorts of statements like that concerning modern worship. And this is exactly what happened. They offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded him not in verse number two. And there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. You wonder what Aaron was saying when this happened, when he was standing there and he saw the fire of the Lord rush out and devour them. He might have been saying, what's happened? Why has God done this? I don't know what he's saying. We can speculate all sorts of things. But the man of God, Moses, looks at him and said, listen, the Lord said he made it clear that he was going to be sanctified or excuse me, that he would be sanctified in them that come nigh me and ultimately before all the people that he was going to be glorified. In other words, you're going to they're going to do what they're supposed to do in full obedience. before me." Well, Moses was one to be saying that, isn't he? Moses didn't in full obedience immediately do what God had commanded him to do, but he wrestled with the very commands of God until God gave him Aaron. And Moses did not want to obey God right away. And now we see what incomplete submission can look like. It can hurt us. It can give us trouble. It can cause us to have sorrow that follows us. for many days and even many years. But no, this full submission to God's plans brings great blessings, not just to us, but even to those around us. Listen, dear one, maybe you haven't always been fully submissive to God. And I can say that about my life as much as anybody on this planet. I know there are things that the Lord has commanded me to do that I have been partly submissive in. And I've repented of all those that I'm aware of. And I've told the Lord, Lord, no more. I want to be fully submissive to your plan for my life. I know that I have taken jobs in the past that looked good because financially I thought that it would help me, knowing full well that it would hinder me spiritually. And I paid a price. There was something that hurt me along the way as a result of it. Oh, yes, financially, I did OK. And oh, yes, I was able to get a few things that helped me out. But in the end, I saw that giving over to my own will instead of giving over to the father's commands ended up costing me something. Well, we know the story of Esther. You can be turning over there to Esther, chapter number four, Esther, chapter number four. We know the story of Esther, and I'm not going to go through all three chapters working this out because we just don't have time this morning. But she was a woman that was willing to sacrifice everything, even to her own life, to see her people saved. Through some evil, cunning and conniving, the enemy of God's people convinced the king that all of the Jewish people should be destroyed in the land. He even did it in such a way that the king made a promise that according to the rules of the land, he could not reverse without losing his own life. And once he'd made that plan and set it into motion, it had to be carried out. And the plan that he agreed to was that all of the Jews would be killed in one day. You would think, how could anybody fall for such a plan? Well, through flattery and cunning and subtlety, that's exactly how Satan works to destroy you and me. He will flatter us. He will be sly. He will be so slick. And the next thing you know, you are doing something that you had said one time before. I'd never do that. And there you are in the midst of it because the old devil is is no newcomer on the block. He is someone who knows exactly how we respond. And so he plays to that very well. Well, knowing that the only way to save her people was to go before the king, Esther was taking a risk. For you see, to stand before a monarch without being invited was sure death. To go before the king without him calling you to him, particularly for a woman Even if she was the wife of the king, which she was, it didn't matter if you were a woman and you just walked on in to see the king. He could immediately have you killed on the spot. The only way that it wouldn't happen is if he were to hold a scepter out to you, which would say basically you can come before the throne. And so in the midst of all this, her uncle. Mordecai spoke to her and he told her that somehow, someway, God was going to deliver His people. If it wasn't through her, it would be through another. I mean, you can just bet God is always going to deliver His people. He's promised us He would do that. And you may be in some very dark moment in your life right now. There may be a shadow over you. You may look out your window and only see gray skies, regardless of what color they are, because you think things aren't going so well right now. The fact is, God has promised good to you as his children. And that is something that you and I can rejoice in and thank God for. Well, look at Esther 4 and verse 14. This is what her uncle told her. Because you know she must be wondering if she should go before the king and risk losing her life to save the people. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place. So Esther, if you're not going to say anything, if you're going to keep quiet, you mark it down. God will save his people. He's going to do it. I'm convinced of it. And then he goes on to say, but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. And who know it, whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this. So he was looking at her probably dead in the eyes and saying, Esther, you listen to me, God's going to deliver his people. If it's not by you, it'll be by somebody. If you choose to keep your mouth shut, not say anything. Hey, that's your business. But I want to tell you. It's not going to go well for you. It won't go well for your family. It won't go well for your entire father's house. As a matter of fact, they're going to suffer. When we don't obey God, you can just bet we're not the only ones that suffer in it. Those around us suffer as well. Ask any man that has turned to the bottle in defiance to God's command and become a drunk. He is not the only one that is affected. It's the wife in that household. It's the children in that household. It's a mama that's praying for him somewhere miles away. It's a daddy that's concerned for him. He is not alone in his disobedience before the Lord. It affects many people. And he said, I want you to know something, Esther. You keep your mouth shut. Deliverance is going to come to God's people. You can bet on it because God's going to save his people. But here's the thing. It's going to bring sorrow. It's going to bring trouble to you and your house. He said, besides all that, don't you think God's brought you to the kingdom for such a time as this? Do you think it's an accident, Esther, that you're where you're at right this second? Do you think it's a mistake that you are privy to this information? Do you think it's just some fluke that you come across the news that your people are about to be destroyed and if there's anybody that can do something about it, you can? And that's our situation. We hear about someone that's lost in their sins. Someone may even come to us and say, will you go see this one? Will you talk to this one? Well, it's probably not for me to do that. What do you think, that you've come to the kingdom by some accident? Do you think that you are part of the king's household because of a fluke? Esther, you were a Jew. Do you know how you got in the king's household? All the beautiful women of the land paraded before the king and out of all of them he chose you. You who are sitting here saved in the king's household right now, you think that it was some strange accident that you found your way into the kingdom of God? No, he chose you. You belong to him. It's no accident that you're in the kingdom right now. You're in the kingdom for such a time as this. And knowledge has come to your ears that there are souls about to perish. And you say, well, if God's going to raise up deliverance some other way, I'd rather him do that. OK, Moses, we'll give you Aaron to help you out. And in the process, God's people could be led into idol worship. We'll give you Aaron to help you out in the process. What you're going to see is rebellion. We'll give you Aaron to help you out in what you're going to see in the process of the shaming of the office of the priesthood by his own offspring. And Esther, listen, you may be fearful right now to go before the King of Kings, but you forget that he chose you one time before. He put a special affection upon you one time before. He particularly chose you one time before. Do you think That he is not going to remember that you're in the kingdom for such a time as this. And we know the story. It's really good. She goes in to see the king and he holds the scepter out to her. He welcomes her in and she goes before him and says, oh, King, there's something that's happened and you've made a promise to kill all of our people. And he said, you know what? I can't change something that has been decreed, but I can certainly do something else. Well, what a picture of prayer. What a picture of prayer. People say, well, God's already decided what's going to happen. Why in the world should we pray? Well, I just make a whole lot of sense. The truth of the matter is, is God has decreed all that's going to happen, even prayer. He has decreed that prayer would be the means to the end of his plan. And Esther went and she prayed to the king. She said, oh, king, I'm praying to you. I'm calling out to you. I'm requesting something from you. And he says, then it's going to be done. And he cares for it. And only the way that a sovereign can and her people are delivered, but delivered in such a way. Now, this is the beauty of that story. They're delivered in such a way that all of the enemies of God are destroyed. Not only do God's people survive, but the enemies of God's people are destroyed in the process. That's beautiful. Where are we at? Esther 4.14. Is that where we're at? And this is happening. Go to Exodus 4.14. We're in Esther 4.14. Go to Exodus 4.14. This is the most amazing thing. It's that same chapter and verse, but in a different book. Now imagine for a minute, Lord, I can't do this. I can't go before Pharaoh and tell him these things. The elders of Israel are not going to listen to me, Moses says. Verse 14, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee. And when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. Listen, I'll tell you what. I'll raise up a deliverer from somewhere else if you don't go. I'm going to raise up a deliverer from somewhere else. Somebody is going to go and speak into the ears of Pharaoh and into the ears of the elders. I'll raise somebody else up. But it won't go well with you because my anger is kindled against you. I'm upset that you will not obey me fully, Moses. Don't take this business of God's anger being kindled against him as though God went, OK, I'll send Aaron. Oh, no, no, no, no. God's anger doesn't get kindled lightly. It's kindled because somebody won't surrender. It's kindled because somebody refuses to submit. Moses, if you won't do my will the way I'm telling you, I'm going to raise up another. But along with it, there will be some trouble. I'm going to save my people. My people are going to be saved. Exactly what Mordecai was saying when he reminded Esther what would happen to her father's household and even her. I'm going to do it and I'm going to have glory from it. It's not going to go easy on Moses. Aaron helped him, as I said, in so many places, but there was grief and there was sorrow many times. Now, most assuredly, Moses was God's prophet. Don't you get it wrong? And when you sin, listen, you who are saved, when you sin, you're still God's child. It's not like you sin and you stop being God's child. Moses will steal God's profit. Do you understand? Yes, we stumble. Yes, we do think. Yes, we're not in full submission. It doesn't change us positionally with God. But what it does change is many times the blessings that come from God's hand. You know something? God told Israel. At one point, you can turn over to Deuteronomy 18. While you're turning there, I'll tell you this. There was a point that it happened that God told Israel, listen, actually told them through Moses. He said, I am going to raise up another prophet. I've raised up Moses among you, but I'm going to raise up another prophet. But I want to tell you something about this prophet. He is going to fully obey me. He's going to do everything I tell him. He's going to be different than Moses. He'll be different than every other prophet I will ever raise up. There's going to be a prophet raised up that is the perfect prophet. He'll do all that I say. Deuteronomy 18, 18. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall. command him, and it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." There's going to be a prophet raised up. He's going to be like you, Moses, in the fact that he's going to deliver my people. He's going to be like you, Moses, in that he's going to come in the form of the flesh. He's going to be like you, Moses, but he's going to be very different from you, Moses. He's going to do everything I tell him. And guess what? If the people don't listen to him, I'm going to require it of them. They'll have to answer for what they don't listen to when it comes from his mouth. Clearly, this speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ, the translators of the King James Version didn't have any problem in believing that. That's why the word prophet is capitalized there and isn't capitalized in other places in that chapter. It's speaking of our Lord and Savior, and we know it's speaking of our Lord and Savior because of what our Lord and Savior said of himself. Go over to the New Testament quickly. We're going to move through several verses here in just the next couple of minutes. John, chapter seven, the New Testament. John, chapter number seven, go to verse number 16. John, chapter seven, verse number 16, this is what the Bible says, Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but he is that sent me. Now go over to John, chapter number twelve, John, chapter number twelve, just a few chapters over verse number forty seven. John, twelve and forty seven, and if any man Hear my words and believe not, I judge him not. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judges him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself, but the father which sent me, he gave me a commandment what I should say. and what I should speak, and I know that his commandment is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." I'm only going to say what God has told me. And if you've got a problem with the doctrine I'm giving you, it's not my doctrine. It's God's doctrine. And I'm only going to speak what He commanded me to speak. That goes right back to Deuteronomy 18 where He clearly said, He will speak all the words that I command Him to speak. He's going to be fully obedient to me in every way. And that's what Jesus told him. Look, I'm not saying anything apart from what God has commanded me to speak. I'm going to say those exact things. Go over to Acts chapter number 3. Peter went ahead Proved that it's the Lord Jesus Christ as he related directly back to Deuteronomy 18 right here in his sermon. As he's preaching in Acts, chapter number three. Verse number 18, look there. But those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets that Christ should suffer, he had so fulfilled. Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers," and here's where he begins to quote Deuteronomy 18, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me. He's going to be one of your brethren and he's going to be like Moses. That's what he said was going to happen. Him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you and it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. Yes, Moses was. Like Jesus, Jesus was like Moses, but there was a distinct difference. Go to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews now, chapter number two. This is definitely the one that Moses was talking about there in Deuteronomy 18, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews, chapter number two, we read something else. The Bible says in verse 17 of Hebrews, chapter number two. Wherefore, in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Go to Hebrews chapter number 10. So, yes, it was God's plan to make Jesus like unto his brethren. Jesus was like Moses in that he came to deliver his people from their sins. And all those that heeded Moses' message were delivered. And dear one, all those that received the words of Christ will be saved. Now, Hebrews chapter number 10, the difference is here between Moses and Christ. And this is it in Hebrews 10, 7, Then said I, Lo, I come and skip the parentheses there. Lo, I come to do thy will. Oh, God, this is the statement from him, he says, Lo, I come to do thy will. Oh, God, and what's in that parentheses? Deuteronomy 18. And numbers, Leviticus, Jeremiah and Psalms, Proverbs, everything that had been written is in that parentheses. Look what it says in the volume of the book. It is written to me. You can't go anywhere. Peter said it as he preached in Acts 3. All the prophets, all of the holy writings spoke that he would come like his brethren and he would suffer and he was going to command things that come straight from God. Jesus himself said, the only thing I'm going to speak is the very things that God has told me to speak. Those things I'll speak and it will be those words that will hold me accountable on the day of judgment. In the book of Hebrews, he says very clearly it was made like unto his brethren so he could come and be merciful and faithful and that man could be reconciled from his sins. Then right here in Hebrews 10, 17, he said, I came because I come to do God's will. Don't believe it. In parentheses, he said, check the volume of the book. The volume of the book, it's just there, the whole the main content of the book says this man came to do God's will, all his holy will, not a halfway obedience, but a complete obedience. His cry was finally not my will, but thine in the garden of Gethsemane. And dear one, if Christ is our savior here today. If we have truly trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ and we must be willing to say to the one who saved us, I will do all your holy will. I will be faithful. I will be faithful as a daddy. I'll be faithful as a wife. I'll be faithful as a husband. I'll be I'll be faithful as a mommy. I'll be faithful as a child to my parents. I'll be faithful as a member of your church. I'll be faithful as an employee on the job. I'll be faithful as a teacher to my children. Whatever you put your hands to do, God, I will submit fully to you. I love you and I'll obey you. And not some one moment commitment in a service like this right here where you say, yes, I need to do it. I mean, Moses wouldn't do it. It cost him trouble. He had trouble. And boy, we see the blessings of Esther when she did it. And Jesus was fully obedient. And now he is on the right hand of the Father. And yes. And then I walk out of here and it just drifts away. Commitments like that aren't very helpful. It's making a commitment, yes, this morning, and then it's making that commitment again as we sit down to eat our meal. And as we rise from our meal. And as we spend our afternoon reflecting on the things of God, and then as we return to services this evening and as we lay our head on our pillow tonight, we were at the couples retreat and there was a little card on our bed that talked about when you lay your head on your pillow. And the things that you need to consider about that pillow. And how great it was and how comfortable it is and how you ought to buy one from Holiday Inn. Did anybody read theirs? No, y'all were busy reading the word while you were at the couple of treats, weren't you? Okay, whatever. I was reading the card on the pillow. And it was talking about, and then I was thinking, you know, that's the focus. Think about your pillow when you lay down at night. Most of us are barely able to think about anything when we lay down on our pillow at night. When you rise in the morning. When you head out the door tomorrow to go to work, am I fully committed to God and his holy will? Am I willing to talk to others about the deliverance that they need from Satan, their enemy? Am I willing to live in such a way that the rest of the world might say, why are you acting that way? Why would you live like that? Why would you do that? It's strange because no one around you is living this way. Why don't you run and do the same things we do? Peter said the question is that they would be curious as to why you don't run to the same excess of riot. Why don't you do all the crazy things that the rest of the world is doing? Don't you want to have fun? I want to be obedient, and guess what? It's a lot more fun being obedient than not being obedient. If you didn't learn that as a child, your mom and daddy didn't spank you. That's the truth. If you didn't get something laid across your backside a few times and you don't know what it is to enjoy obedience. Because when we're obedient, there's no chastisement. And we rejoice in that, if you're not his here this morning. The interesting news is that you still have to obey. I've had people say, well, you know, I'll start obeying the Lord when I decide to, you know, follow him in salvation, I'm sorry. You've got to obey him anyway. Matter of fact, in Act 1730, the Bible says that God winked at times of ignorance like that. But now he commanded men everywhere to repent because he had appointed a day into which he will judge the world by righteousness in righteousness by that man whom he had ordained where he had given assurance unto all men. That he has raised him from the dead, he said, when Christ was raised from the dead, this was the guarantee that one day you're going to be raised from the dead and judged. You see, that's for saved and lost alike. If you're not saved in this morning, if you're not sure of your eternal destination, you think you're going you may go to hell, let me just tell you, you're going to be raised from the dead one day and you're going to stand before God in judgment. And he's going to question you on your righteousness. That's the only righteousness you're going to be able to lean on is how well you obey. And guess what, it's going to come up short, I don't care what good things you've done or how good you plan to be, it's going to come up short in the day of judgment. But those who have leaned solely on the righteousness of Christ and committed themselves to be obedient under his words. They're the ones that are going to be able to say it's not by anything that I've done, but it's because of what Christ did that I'm standing before you. I'm saved here today because I repented, believed the gospel. And now I'm saying. And boy, I'll tell you what, I rejoice in that because that means nothing I did, I'd mess it up, I'd mess it up royally. So this morning, I would call you who are believers to be obedient to the word of God, be obedient to the things that you know you need to be doing daily. before the Lord and for those that are not converted, I would say to you, repent this morning, call upon the name of the Lord for salvation. Let's stand to our feet as we prepare to sing just a couple of verses of a song. If you need to speak to me concerning this and you think there's more to it than what you can say to me right this moment, then you grab me by the arm and we'll stop and we'll talk about this today. I don't want you to put it off. any further, be obedient to the things of God as a believer and rejoice at his commands are not grievous. They're not something that's burdensome. Let's bow for a word of prayer. Father in heaven, thank you so much that you've given us your word today. It is my prayer, Father, that you would just bless these dear folks. Some of these folks here today are going to talk to people about their souls or they've already told me they're leaving and they're going to see someone that needs salvation. So, Lord, my prayer is for them. I pray that they would be able to speak the words of life into the ears of these that may not be converted, where some of these folks are going to go and they're going to sit with family today that need encouragement. There are some people here that have some family members that are struggling right now, and they're going to go and they're going to try to minister and they're going to try to be an encouragement to them. I pray for them, Father. I ask you to help them, Lord, every one of us. Have something today that we need to be obedient to you concerning or help us today to be obedient. Help us to do what you've commanded us to do fully. I ask you now that you would just bless in Jesus name.