We have been studying the book of Exodus on Sunday mornings and we come today to look at two amazing types that are given to us in this passage in chapter 13 and again in chapter 14 and several other places in Exodus as well as throughout the Bible. In chapter 13 and verse number 11 He says, and it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he swear unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee, that thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that open the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of the beast which thou hast, the males shall be the lords. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb. And if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck, and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. The very first message that the Lord commanded Moses to deliver to Pharaoh is found back in chapter number 4 and verses 22 and 23. And that message was this, it says, And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord of Israel is my son, even my firstborn. I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. The Lord said that Israel is his firstborn son. And he says, if you don't let my people go, then you're going to lose your firstborn son. And here in Exodus chapter 13, he gives us an analogy and a type of this firstborn. In fact, the end of verse 13, he says, the firstborn of man among the children shalt thou redeem. Pharaoh didn't believe the message that Moses brought to him and told him to let the people go. and he suffered the consequences of it. Throughout the New Testament, the Lord's message has been to us, except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Pharaoh didn't repent. He and his people perished as a result of it. And the Lord says to us, unless we repent, There's consequences that come as a result. For the most part, the divine warning of God has fallen on deaf ears. Thank the Lord. Many of us have trusted the Lord, repented of our sins, and been born again into the family of God. But the vast majority of people do not believe that God means what he says. Amen? It is true that God is slow to anger. It is true that God is long-suffering, that God is merciful. But even God has His limits, doesn't He? Israel had been in Egypt for 430 years. It was not until the blood of the lamb was shed that redemption was provided for them. And the next morning after that lamb was killed and the blood was put on the doorposts and on the lintel, that Israel marched out of Egypt a free people. They were free from Egypt. They were free from Pharaoh. But they were the Lord's. They belonged to him. They were purchased just as you and I are purchased if you're saved and a child of God. In fact, the Bible says we are bought with a price. And Peter tells us it's not with corruptible things as silver and gold. but with the precious blood of the Lamb. Just as they sacrificed that Lamb in Egypt, Jesus became the Lamb of God that was sacrificed on the cross at Calvary that takes away the sins of the world. There's a couple of things about that that I want to say just as an introduction this morning. But first of all, let me say that a redeemed people become the property of the Redeemer. When we get saved, God redeems us by the blood of his son, and we belong to him. We're bought with a price, he says. 1 Corinthians 6, 19, and 20 says, you are not your own, for you are bought with a price. Romans 12, 1 tells us, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. A redeemed people become the property of the Redeemer. Secondly, redemption by the precious blood of Christ demands that we separate ourselves from all evil. When we're redeemed, we belong to the Lord, and because we belong to the Lord, He wants us to be separate from all evil. We live in a wicked, evil world, don't we? But God doesn't want us to be like the world in which we live. He wants us to be separated from all of that. And when we become careless in our walk and allow evil associations and worldliness and fleshly indulgences into our lives, all of that will hinder our fellowship and our walk with the Lord. We cannot truly fellowship with Christ while we have any area of doubt in our life about our own salvation. There's an interesting picture of redemption that's given here in this 13th verse again of Exodus. He says in chapter 13, verse 13, every firstling of an ass, or a donkey, thou shalt redeem with a lamb. God said you take the donkey and you redeem it with a lamb. And if thou will not redeem it, then thou shalt break the neck, break his neck, and then he goes on and says all the firstborn of man among the children shalt thou redeem. Now, as he gives us this example of the donkey to be redeemed by the Lamb, the donkey is in many ways a picture of us. The donkey was to have his neck broken if he was not redeemed. That is, he was to be destroyed unless he was redeemed. Now let me ask you a question. What happens to the sinner if he rejects the Lord Jesus Christ and is not redeemed? When he dies, he faces the destruction of hell for all of eternity. So I want us to look at this picture for a moment about the donkey. First of all, the donkey pictures the sinner. He pictures the sinner. The donkey is an unclean animal. We as human beings in the sight of God before we get saved are unclean before our salvation. We are shapened in iniquity, David says in Psalm 51 verse 5, and he says we are conceived in sin. Before we get saved, we are unclean beings. The donkey is a very stupid and senseless animal. Ask Brother John Bowers if you don't believe that. He's got some of them out there on his farm. They're stupid and senseless. And could I say kindly that unsaved people are the same way? Conceited as we may be, proud and boast of our powers of reason, our intellectual achievements, the truth is that before we're saved, we are void of any spiritual intelligence. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4, verses 17 and 18, walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them. 2 Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4 says, if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. And then he goes on and says, in whom the God of this world, that is Satan, hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. Before we get saved, Satan blinds our mind. And it is when the truth of the gospel and the light of the gospel is shed on our hearts and minds that that blindness is lifted. The songwriter Fanny Crosby said, at the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, she was a blind lady. But that blindness spiritually was lifted at the cross, and she saw the light. It was there by faith, she said, I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day. Spiritually speaking, before we get saved, we are blind. We cannot see. We are unclean before the Lord. And then also, I want you to notice the donkey is stubborn and hard to move. Now, I know none of you are like that. But all of us were like that before we got saved. Just the same, the lost sinner is rebellious and defiant against God if we're not willing to listen to him and do what he tells us to do. In John 5 and verse 40, it says, you will not come to me, that's Christ speaking, that you might have life. He said, you're stubborn, you won't come to me. Job 11 verse 12, for vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt. God says, we're stubborn like that donkey is. And then thirdly, the donkey is a beast of burden. He's a beast of burden. A number of verses tell us that the first mention of the donkey in the Bible is in Genesis chapter 22 and verse three. And the law first mentioned means what is told about that particular thing there carries truth throughout scripture. In Genesis 22 and verse three, it says an Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass or saddled his donkey. The donkey is not a free animal. He is a burden bearing beast. Genesis 49 and verse 14, it says, Issachar is a strong ass crouching down between two burdens. So to the lost center is under the burden of our sin, just like the donkey would carry those burdens. And you've seen them many times on television programs and so forth of them going through mountainous terrain and the donkey and the two big heavy burdens on either side of them. And that's the picture that we have before we get saved. We are carrying the heavy burden of our sin. And the fact that we don't know the Savior, when we open our heart and life to him, that burden of sin is lifted, amen? And we're set free from that burden of sin. In Matthew 11, 28, the Lord said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Just like that donkey carrying that burden of our sin, he says, come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The Lord wants to lift that burden of our sin and give us rest. Here's an interesting verse in Genesis 22 in verse 5. It says, and Abraham said unto his young men, abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. Abraham's getting ready to take Isaac up on the mountain. He's going to offer him as a sacrifice. God has asked him to offer his only son as a sacrifice to God. And when he goes and gets ready to go up the mountain, he says to them, he says, you guys stay here with the donkey and I and the lad, me and Isaac, we're going to go yonder and worship and come again to you. Now, what does that have to do with what we're talking about this morning? The donkey did not accompany Abraham and Isaac to the place of worship. And neither can the lost sinner truly worship God until he has been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And then also God forbade his people to plow with the ox and the donkey together. Deuteronomy chapter 22 and verse 10 says, thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Now what does that represent? The plowing represents our service. The sinner is shut out from service to God just as he is shut out from worship with God. You cannot truly serve the Lord until you have been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's only those who have been saved and born again that can truly serve the Lord in the proper way. And then also the donkeys of Saul's father, Kish, were lost. And of course that picture is that we, before we get saved, obviously we are lost. First Samuel chapter nine in verse three says the asses of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said unto Saul his son, take now one of thy servants with thee and arise, go seek the asses. Though Saul and his servant had sought for a long time to find the donkeys, they did not find them or recover them on their own. They had to seek help. And so the sinner who is lost and away from God has no human power of himself to restore himself to fellowship with God. He needs help. He has to seek the help of the Savior, of the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to be born again into the family of God. And until and before we do that, we are lost and in a condition of loss from God. And then another interesting thing is the donkey was buried outside the city. He was buried outside the city. Jeremiah 22, 19 says, he shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. The carcass of the donkey was cast forth outside the gates of the holy city. He was not to be buried inside the city. And so it is with every sinner who dies outside the Lord Jesus Christ. He cannot enter into the heavenly city, but will be cast forever outside the city into the lake of fire forever and forever. And then the donkey entered into Jerusalem only under the controlling hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 9 says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon the colt, the foal of an ass. The sinner's only hope of entering into the new Jerusalem, into the new holy city, heaven if you please, is to submit to the controlling hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. What marvelous grace is provided by the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ. It's like the firstling of the donkey who is redeemed. Romans 5, 8 says, but God commended or God showed forth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ was. died for us he died for us the lamb was slain we were redeemed just like that donkey had to be redeemed by a lamb we the sinner has to be redeemed by the lamb the blood of the lamb of the Lord Jesus Christ so now we have the picture of the sinner the donkey there's a second type that's given to us In verse number 20, and the Bible begins to talk there about the pillar of the cloud, which pictures for us the Holy Spirit. You see, when we get redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, what happens? The Holy Spirit of God comes to live within us. He gives us his Holy Spirit. And in chapter 30, in verse 20, he says, and they took their journey from Succoth and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. Just as the lamb without spot or blemish was slain and the blood applied is a picture of the Son of God, So the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud given to Israel for guidance and protection speaks to us of God the Holy Spirit. The pillar was a visible sign to the people of Israel of the presence of God. So let's look at some things about this cloud. First of all, the cloud was not given until they had been delivered from Egypt. You don't get the Holy Spirit until you've been delivered from sin. and been born again, been redeemed. And we read that in verse number 20. They took their journey. They encamped in Etham and the edge of the wilderness. Verse 21, the Lord went before them by the pillar of the cloud. So they've come out of Egypt. Now they're on the edge of the wilderness and now they have the pillar of cloud. They have been redeemed by that blood that was put on the doorposts and the lentils. And they're brought out of Egypt. Egypt is a picture of the world. They're getting ready to enter the promised land and God gives him his Holy Spirit. The cloud is not given until they've been delivered from Egypt. First, there was the slaying of the lamb. Then, there was the giving of the cloud. In the New Testament, first you have the death of God's lamb. Then you have the resurrection and the ascension back to heaven. And then you have the public descent of the Holy Spirit of God on the day of Pentecost. It is on the ground of Christ's shed blood on the cross, not because of any goodness in you or in me, that the Spirit of God comes and seals us until the day of redemption. We are given the gift of His Holy Spirit. So the cloud was given after they were delivered from Egypt. Secondly, the cloud was God's gracious gift to Israel. It was His gift. You can study through the Old Testament and you will not find any place in the Old Testament, no word that is ever given about the children of Israel asking God to give them this pillar of cloud to guide them through the wilderness. They didn't ask for it. He came to them unsought as a tender provision of the mercy of God. And when you and I get saved, God gives us his Holy Spirit as a gift to us, his tender provision for us as we go through the wilderness, you might say, of our Christian journey. John 14 and verse 6 says, and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. It's interesting that verse starts out, Jesus is speaking and he says, I will pray the Father. It was Jesus that asked for the comforter to come. People get all wrapped up in praying and pleading for the Holy Spirit. You don't have to pray or plead for the Holy Spirit. The moment you get saved, God's Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you. And if you're a child of God, in fact, Romans chapter 8 says if you don't have the Spirit of God, you're not one of his children. Every child of God receives the Holy Spirit when we get saved. And the Lord Jesus Christ prayed and asked the Father to send that Spirit. And then thirdly, the cloud was given to guide Israel. It was a guide. In chapter 13 again, in verse number 21, he says, And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud. It wasn't, and don't miss this, it wasn't the pillar of cloud. It was the Lord that went before them in the pillar of cloud. And in our lives, we have the Holy Spirit of God, who is a part of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. We have God living in us. If you're saved, God lives within you. I'm so glad He's with us. And if you're a child of God, He's with you today. And He's there to help us. He's there to guide us, just as that cloud guided the children of Israel. In the same way, the Holy Spirit's been given to us to direct our steps You know, sometimes in our life we struggle with the will of God. What does God want me to do about certain things as a Christian? God's given us His Holy Spirit. And if we'll be sensitive to Him, He'll use His Word and He'll use various other things, but the Holy Spirit of God will prompt us and He will guide us to do what He wants us to do. Romans 8 and verse 14 puts it this way. It says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. If you're saved and a child of God, the Bible says you will be led by the Holy Spirit of God. Every day, we ought to get up in the morning and start out our day by saying, dear God, would you lead me today? It's not what I want to do today. It's not what I want to accomplish today. Lord, what do you want for me? Would you lead me today? And he will lead us. And the cloud also gave light. In verse 21 it says, by day a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way, by night a pillar of fire to give them light, to go by day and night. That pillar of cloud gave light. Isaiah 11 verse 2 says, And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. The Holy Spirit is that Spirit. He lives within you and He lives within me. He's the Spirit of wisdom. He's the Spirit of understanding. He's the Spirit of counsel. He's the Spirit of might. He's the Spirit of knowledge. He's the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. And He will lead us. And He will give us guidance and He will give us light. John 16, 13 says, He will guide you into all truth. He'll give you light. God gives us light through His Word and through His Spirit. And as God speaks to us and gives us light as to what He wants us to do, He shows us the way. At night time when you get out here and get in your car and start to drive home, You turn on your headlights so that you can see where you're going, right? I know some of you don't drive like you can see where you're going, but most of you do. But here's an interesting thing I want you to notice. When you get in the car and turn on the headlights, you can't see your house from here, can you? Unless you pull up the GPS and got the satellite view, and then maybe you can see it on your, but you can't see your, you can only see about 200, 300 yards, I'm not sure exactly what it is, but you can only see a certain distance. Now, how are you going to see beyond that? If you just sit here, you're never going to see any farther than that. So what do you do? You follow the light that you have, and what happens as you go along, you get what? More light. The light goes farther. And you follow farther and the light goes farther. And you go farther and the light goes farther. In our life as Christians, as we follow the light that God gives to us, He will then give us more light. But any point in my Christian life when I say no to God, when I refuse the light, then God doesn't give me more light. I've got to be willing to follow the light that He gives and then he'll give me the next step, and the next step, and the next step. We walk by faith, the Bible says, we don't run by faith, we don't leap by faith, we take one step at a time. And as you and I take each step in our Christian life, God gives us light for the next step, and light for the next step. I don't know everything God has for me tomorrow, and next week, and next month, or through the rest of this year, I don't know, but God will give me light as I go each step of the way. I must not say no to God, because when I say no and rebel and refuse, the light stops. Just like your car, as you're driving along, when you stop at a red light, you can still see a certain distance, but you can't see any farther than that. Light changes green, if you just sit there, you're not gonna see any farther. You've gotta go. Life as Christians, we must follow the light and obey the light that God gives to us. He gives us the light, the cloud, the Holy Spirit to give us light. And then the cloud was given for a covering. In Psalm 105, verse 39, it says He spread a cloud for covering and fire to give light in the night. The cloud was Israel's protection from the scorching heat of the sun out in the sandy deserts where there was no shade. God gave them that cloud for protection. That cloud must have been a welcome sight for those ex-slaves that were used to working out in the heat and laboring in the fields of the sun in Egypt, making the bricks and gathering together the straw. It was a proof to them that their God was an almighty and an all-powerful God. The God that could give them protection from the heat of that sun. He could give them a cloud where there was nothing in nature to form clouds. He could furnish shelter for his people when there was no way that they could have shelter. And so too the Holy Spirit of God is our protector. Ephesians 4 verse 30 says that we are sealed until the day of redemption. When I got saved, God's Holy Spirit came to live inside of me and he sealed me. And he who sealed me, he says, until the day of redemption, until the day that I am in heaven with the Lord, God has sealed me. He's guaranteed that I'm going to arrive there safely. And what a wonderful truth that is. I don't have to fret. I don't have to worry. I don't have to struggle. I just trust in the Lord. He's already sealed me and guaranteed my arrival. In fact, the Bible talks about Jesus being the anchor that is already in heaven. He's like the anchor of a ship. When ships come in and the tide is out, oftentimes they have smaller boats will take the anchor on in and anchor the ship at the shore, and as the tide comes in, the ship will go on in. Jesus Christ is that anchor for you and I, and He's already in heaven. And when the tide comes in of the rapture or the death of the believer, he's already guaranteed that we're going to arrive safely at the shore. I'm sealed, I'm protected by the Holy Spirit of God. And then I want you to notice something else about that cloud. God spake from the cloud. God spake from the cloud in Psalm 99 verse 7. It says, He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar. They kept His testimonies and the ordinances that He gave them. Numbers 12 verse 5 says, And the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Mariam, and they both came forward. Exodus chapter 33 and verse 9, it says, And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. Can I say to you this morning that in like manner the Holy Spirit of God He's the spokesman for the Trinity, and He speaks to us today. God speaks to us. You may not hear an audible voice, but He speaks to us through our heart and in our mind. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 3 says, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. God's Holy Spirit speaks to us. You read your Bible, and as you're reading it in your daily reading, there's a verse that just reaches out and gets ahold of you, and God speaks to you. He gives you direction. He tells you what He wants you to do. God speaks to us. His Holy Spirit speaks to us. And I'm glad that we have that Holy Spirit living within us. And then also notice the cloud was darkness to the Egyptians. It was darkness to the Egyptians. Look at chapter 14 and verse number 20. Exodus 14 verse 20 says, And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. And it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these, so that the one came not near the other all the night. God not only reveals, but there are also sometimes when God conceals. He speaks to us but sometimes God does not allow other people to hear. Jesus oftentimes spoke in parables and they asked him why. And he said, because there's some of you that are supposed to hear this and some of you aren't going to understand it because you don't know the Lord. In Matthew 11 verse 25 it says, At this time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hath revealed them unto babes. God reveals to us, but to others it's blindness and darkness. I've had people say to me sometimes, I read the Bible, but I just don't understand it. I can't comprehend or grasp or understand what it's saying. Most of that is because they've never been saved and they don't have the light of the Holy Spirit living inside of them to help them. John 14, 17 says, even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him. But ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." The Holy Spirit of God speaks to us, and He is light to us, but He is darkness to those who don't know the Lord. Don't ever forget, the world doesn't understand all that you understand about God. They're not going to understand a lot until they come to know the Lord and open their heart and life to him and the Holy Spirit comes to live within them. And then also notice the cloud rested on the tabernacle. It rested on the tabernacle. Go over a few more pages to Exodus chapter 40 and look at verse 33. Exodus chapter 40, last chapter of the book of Exodus, and look at verse number 33. Exodus 40 and verse 33. And it says, And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. And notice verse 34, Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Wow, what an amazing thing. What is that glory of the Lord? It's His Holy Spirit. His Shekinah glory. And His Holy Spirit lives within us. And His glory rested on that tabernacle. And the glory of God, His Holy Spirit rests on us. We are the tabernacle, aren't we? He dwells in us. He lives within us. And His Holy Spirit rests upon us. This was a picture of the coming of the Holy Spirit who rested on Jesus. and who now tabernacles arrests on us. John 1.14 says, we beheld his glory. Acts 2 and verse 4 says, And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Acts 1-8, And Yeshua received power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, when He comes into our heart and life, when we get saved, the glory of God rests on us. And the world ought to see there's something different in us. There's something different about us. Because we have the Holy Spirit of God resting on us and living within us. All through Israel's wanderings in the wilderness, that cloud never was taken away from them. It was never taken away from them. The Bible tells us that in a number of places. He tells us in Nehemiah 9, verse 19, he says, Yet thou, in thy manifold mercies, forsookest them not in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud departed not from them by day to lead them in the way, neither the pillar of fire by night to show them the light and the way wherein they should go. Despite of all Israel's failures and despite of all their murmurings and grumbling and complaining, in spite of all their rebellion, God never took the cloudy pillar away from them. John 14 verse 16 says, He shall give you another comforter that He may abide with you forever. Forever. God never takes His Holy Spirit away from us. David prayed in Psalm 51. He said, Take not thy Holy Spirit away from me. But David was in the Old Testament before the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. We don't have to pray for God not to take His Holy Spirit away from us. He's promised He's with us forever. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 5 says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. In the end of Exodus chapter 40, he said in verse 36, and when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journey. But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and the fire was on it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. He never departed from them all the way through the journey, and he will not depart from us all the way through our journey until he delivers us safely with the Lord in heaven forever. I don't have to worry about losing my salvation. He saved me forever. He gave me eternal life. Everlasting life. Some folks were traveling on an airplane. They got into a big storm. And the lightning and all was crashing around them. They were told first of all, everybody buckle your seatbelt. You know how they tell you when you're going to get turbulence. And then they said, we're not going to be serving the beverages on the plane because of turbulence. We're going to have to wait. The plane's bouncing, people are praying, they're all nervous, but there's a little girl on the plane, she kind of had her feet folded up underneath her, sitting in the seat, and she was reading a book. One preacher on the plane said he noticed that she didn't seem to have any care about the storm they were in, and she read her book for a while, she looked up, looked around, looked out and saw the lightning, went back to reading, read everything, just nothing seemed to bother her. Preacher said, when the plane landed, he said, not the runway but the way, what do they call that, on the way out to the plane. And he got up there to the waiting area and the little girl came out and he said, can I ask you something? And she said, what? He said, why were you not afraid on the plane? Everybody else was praying and scared to death and you're sitting there reading the book and nothing seemed to bother you. And she said, sir, she said, I wasn't afraid. She said, because my daddy's the pilot and he's taking me home. and our Heavenly Father is our pilot, and he's guaranteed us a home. He's gonna make sure we get there safely and securely, and he's given us his Holy Spirit as the earnest, the down payment, the guarantee that one day he'll deliver us safely with him in heaven. Remember the donkey, don't forget him. He's a picture of the sinner. He had to be redeemed. If he wasn't redeemed, his neck was broken and he was destroyed. If we don't get redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, we'll be destroyed. We'll suffer in eternity forever without God, in hell forever and ever. But when we get redeemed, then that pillar of cloud, the Holy Spirit, comes to live within us. He guides us. He gives us light. He guarantees that we have a place in heaven, that we'll get there safely. not because of me, but because of him. Let's bow our heads together in prayer. Lord, thank you for your word today. Thank you for the picture of the donkey, which was what all of us were before we were saved, unclean, rebellious, not able to serve you, not able to worship you. But oh, how I thank you when the blood of the Lamb is applied, everything changes. We become a child of God. We're guaranteed a home in heaven and you give us your Holy Spirit to lead us, to guide us, to protect us, to deliver us safely home when our journey in this wilderness of life is over. I pray this morning that you'll help us to examine our lives and make sure we know for sure we've been redeemed. by the blood of the Lamb. Not through anything that we do, not through joining the church or getting baptized or living a good life, but we've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And then help those of us who are redeemed to listen as you speak to us, to follow the light. As the children of Israel, when that pillar of cloud moved, they moved. When it stopped, they stopped. May we be so sensitive to You, Lord, that as You speak to us, we say, yes, Lord, and we follow You, and we get more light, and we follow that light, and You give us more light. May we never say no to You and stop the light. And if we've come to a point in our life where we have said no and the light has stopped, would You help us to say yes, to surrender, and to do what You want us to do? and to receive that light again. We don't lose the Holy Spirit, but we can lose that light that guides us. It stops. We don't get more light. Help us to listen, to follow and to obey. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen.