Good evening. I'm thankful for those old clear gospel hymns. Okay, so this evening my teaching is gonna start with like a big picture of God dwelling with his people and in different fashions and ways throughout time, but then to move to a sort of hop, skip, jump through exodus, making, learning about God's work with his people in the wilderness, but also personal application to us throughout it. So, let me pray and then we'll move on from there. Dear Lord, Thank you for your work in our lives. Thank you for your spirit that enables us to please you because in just ourselves, Lord, there's nothing that is satisfying to you apart from you. And God, I ask that you would help me to teach your word and that you would Help me to be calm and comfortable and to speak clearly and that you would help everyone to be edified and to have ears to hear what your spirit is saying through your word. In Jesus name, amen. Okay, so let's quick jump to the end. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. This is out of Revelation 21. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. It's always been an ultimate purpose of God to have a people for himself and to dwell with them. From the beginning in creation in the garden, there he dwelt with Adam and Eve. to the final consummation here at the end where God is dwelling with his people. And that dwelling place there at verse three is, another word for that is tabernacle, and that will be a focus this evening as we go through Exodus. But to see God's heart in that, you know, he doesn't need us. But he wants to be with us. And yet we fall short in so many ways to be able to be with him, just like how Adam and Eve had to be removed from the garden with him, separate from his presence. But he provides a way for it to work out, for it to be the relationship reconciled, and for us to dwell with one another. So dwelling place in this, like I said, refers to a tabernacle, which is a holy place, a sanctuary, just to talk about tabernacle for a second, a place where his very presence can be with people. And throughout redemptive history, there have been many different types of tabernacles. Like I mentioned, the garden, the tabernacle of Moses, the temple, what David desired and Solomon built, and then an ultimate tabernacle, his son Jesus, who came and dwelt among us, and his people and heaven itself. So John 1.14 says, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Again, Jesus came, the living Word of God, and tabernacled. among us in human form. And we have seen his glory, glory as the only son from the father, full of grace and truth. As we go through and see the mercy of God and his desire to dwell with man, it's even more unfathomable to take into consideration the fact that he would send his son Jesus to dwell among men. So this here is like the great transition in tabernacles in redemptive history here. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. So not only is the fullness of God in Jesus, he's fully God, fully man, but through his redemptive work, You know, we can be reconciled to God, making peace by the blood of his cross. And in him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. So, we're reconciled to God through faith in his son Jesus, as we've all heard the gospel many times. It was no longer did God have to have a earthly tent or temple to dwell in of holies, but now God, by his spirit, through the work of Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit, he's able to dwell in man through faith in his son Jesus. And so we, too, are individually and corporately being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit. I'm going to jump back into Exodus. And we're going to, like I said, walk through their walk out of Egypt and into the wilderness to where at the end we'll see a complete tabernacle where the presence of God can dwell with his people. But as we go through that, I want there's just so much personal application in different things that we can learn. So the word of God is given for our instruction, our edification, and even in Corinthians it refers specifically to how that history of the Israelites is given as an example for us. learn of God's mercy for his people, his faithfulness to his promises, and establishment of the earthly tabernacle of Moses that points to the greater tabernacle of Jesus. Exodus 1. These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. All the descendants of Jacob were 70 persons. Joseph was already in Egypt. Then Joseph died, and his brothers, and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly. They multiplied and grew exceedingly strong so that the land was filled with them. Don't worry, I'm not going to read all 40 chapters. Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply. And if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land. Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pitim and Ramses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work, they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. During those many days, the king of Egypt died and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God, and God heard their groanings, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel, and God knew." It's staggering to me, I mean, just the statement that God knew, you know, He is so aware of what is going on in the lives of His people. And He hears the cries of His people. And He remembers His promises. And specifically there, this covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. when Abraham was concerned for the fulfillment of the promise, because he still had not had an heir. And so how is my people, how is my offspring gonna be as many of the sands as the seashore, the stars of the sky, if I haven't even had a kid yet? And how will they inherit this promised land? But God, you know, God made covenant with Abraham, And so then God put a sleep on Abraham and said, as the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they are to serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. So God remembers his covenant with Abraham, and God is going to deliver his people from this enslavement that they are in, and that's what we see that God does. So God raises up Moses. We see that they're enslaved, that they're greatly multiplying. The kings of Egypt are concerned. Yet God remembers his promise, hears the cries of his people, and he raises up Moses to deliver his people. And then, so in Exodus 6, 5 to 7, just for your, if I don't say all the Bible verses, they are on the bottom for anyone that wants to jot down and take notes or anything. So Exodus 6, 5-7, Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel, whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say, therefore, to the people of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. So here we see that God is wanting to make it known from the beginning with his people that I'm going to deliver you, I'm going to be your God, and you will be my people. But like Israel, getting into this personal application as we go through here, we see these pictures that are pictures, too, of what goes on in our life. And for one, I mean, when we come into this world in Adam, apart from Christ, we, too, are enslaved and oppressed and in need of spiritual freedom. And so it's... And it's by the grace and mercy of God and his desire for us to be free that he sets us free, that he works in our lives and we hear the gospel and we respond by his grace. So looking at Romans 6, for when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness, but what fruit were you getting at the time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you've been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and to its end eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Colossians 1, 13 to 14 says, he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin. So like the Israelites oppressed and enslaved by the Egyptians, we are oppressed and enslaved by sin and the bondage of this world. But in Christ, through faith in him, we're delivered from that bondage. We're set free. We're brought into his kingdom. and we receive the forgiveness of sin and we're reconciled to God. Amen. Moving on in Exodus chapter 14. So we continue with the deliverance of his people. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians and saw Israel and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. So this is right after they've come through the sea. just a great powerful act of God. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and His servant Moses. So God has, I mean, He has made His power known to Egypt and Israel. in this time of judgment upon the Egyptians and deliverance across the sea and into the wilderness. He shows his great might, and in response they believe him. They believe in the Lord and in his servant Moses, and appropriately too, they feared the Lord. Throughout Exodus, there's different acts of God in which it shows his greatness and it instills fear and obedience to him, which is appropriate. But moving on, this, and just to give an idea, too, this, So another part of the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham was that they would come out with great possessions. And I didn't put the verse up here, but as they were leaving Egypt, Moses told them to inquire of the Egyptians for things, and the Egyptians gave them great possessions. They left, like, not... with just the bread in their sack. I mean, they left with treasures of things. And it's interesting, later we'll see that God uses these things that he supplied for the establishment of his tabernacle. And then, and two, like the amount of people, I mean, we're talking like, this is probably a million people. I mean, it was 600,000 men, not including women and children. I mean, this is like more than all of Western North Carolina that he has delivered out of Egypt, out of slavery, and across the sea. So this, I mean, this is against a great army. I mean, this is amazing stuff that God has given in his word. So this is where it gets interesting, because God has, Amazingly delivered his people they believe in him. They fear him. They've seen his great acts and They know what he can do and yet like right after that it gets into how They begin to grumble against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and the people of Israel said to them Would that we have died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the meat pots? And ate bread to the full for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill the whole assembly with hunger So they're accusing Moses and Aaron for doing this, that this is their intention, to bring them out, to starve them and kill them with hunger. And it just shows how quick we are to not be at a place of trusting and submitting to God. And there was an interesting quote, and this always stood out to me when I listened to it, but in A.W. Pink's book called The Sovereignty of God, He was talking about even the sovereignty of God and inanimate objects and the weather. And how even, the quote was, when we complain about the weather, we are in reality murmuring against God. Like God is so great and sovereign over all things. And when we, it's so easy for us to just whine and complain, and even about things like the weather. But when we're doing that, we're, it's not that we're just, whining to ourselves or to others, but we're complaining to a holy God that's sovereign over all these circumstances. And we do it so quickly. So let us not be a people of complaint, but trust and praise in the Almighty. So when Moses said, when the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him, what are we? Your grumbling is not against us, but against the Lord. So Israel wasn't, it wasn't just to Moses that they were complaining, but it is to the actual sovereign God that delivered them out of Egypt. So, and then from there, God miraculously provides for them with the manna, the quail, the water, just all that they needed, and this went on. That provision that they had was for 40 years as they were in the wilderness, but God was faithful to provide for them for all that they need. From there, this congregation travels through the wilderness, and God leads them to Mount Sinai where they camp, and where God will descend upon the mountain. begin to reveal his law to them, make himself further known, establish more covenant with them, and eventually the establishment of the tabernacle where he will dwell with his people. And he, let's see, so. In Exodus 19 now, so you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples. For all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And note what, you know, they've seen what he did to the Egyptians and how he brought them out to himself. And now, therefore, their part to obey his voice, keep his covenant. And these are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do so. You know, they're in agreement. They're going to keep his word. They're going to obey his commands. They will be his people, his treasured possession, his kingdom of priests. Moving forward in Exodus 19, and then on the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up." God begins to lay out his law to Moses to share with the people what they would obey and keep covenant with. But this, what I'm making bold is like, I mean, this is God that we're talking about that created the heavens and the earth, that dwelt with Adam and Eve in the garden, that is delivering his people out of Egypt. This is the God that desires to be with his people and makes a way to be with his people for eternity. But at the same time, this is a God who is so powerful and almighty that can make mountains tremble. And the mountain was wrapped in smoke. I mean, it's not like the pretty smoky mountains. I mean, this mountain is like the earth is quaking. And his presence is wrapping this mountain in smoke and thunder and lightning, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. I couldn't imagine what they felt like as they're standing at the base of this mountain. and an appropriate fear that to even, you know, come too close that they would die because of the greatness and holiness of God. But this is the very God that is making a way to dwell with his people and to dwell with you and I. So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules and all the people answered with one voice and said all the words that the Lord has spoken we will do. So Moses went up received the instruction of God's law, the Ten Commandments and further laws, and comes back down from the mountain, shares it with the people, they agree. Okay, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. So, let's see. Then from there, Moses goes up again, receives more instruction. Let's see. And jump in at verse 25. On this part, after receiving the law, now Moses goes back up the mountain and here God begins to give instruction for the sanctuary that he desires to be constructed so that he may dwell with his people. And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst, exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and all its furniture, so you shall make it. So this is the tent structure that God would have them create and establish. what is a portable sanctuary, you know, it's got the outer courts, it's got the tent structure like 45 by 30, I think, and within it, it's got the holy of holies and the most holy place, and that is the place that God wants them to create so that can be his sanctuary where he may dwell with his people. and go with them through the wilderness. It's a portable tent, just like out there at Rattler Ford, but much greater, with much more fire. All right, let's see, so exit is 29. All right, so this was interesting to me because this is in God's instruction to Moses on the construction of the tabernacle. And it's not just the tabernacle. I mean, it's all the detail in the furnishings, in the veils, and just there's extensive detail here. many chapters and then even details about the priests and the consecration of the priests. But in that section in chapter 29 he says, there I will meet with the people of Israel and it shall be sanctified by my glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will concentrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God and they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God, and he's making it very clear that the reason I brought you and delivered you from Egypt is so that I can dwell with you. I am this great almighty God, but I want to be with my people. And so I'm delivering you and making a way. So this provides us great insight into his nature, that he desires to deliver his people, even you and I. It wasn't just Israel, that you and I as his people today, that he wants to deliver us from the enslavement of sin so that he can be with us. Again, not because he needs us, but because he created us. And he loves us, and he wants to be with us, and he wants to provide the means for that reconciliation. So this is amazing. All right, so and then, lo and behold, They disobey again. So, I mean, right after this instruction of the, I mean, he's up there for 40 days getting instruction based on the pattern that God gives him. And, you know, he's making it known that he wants them to be his people. But what are they doing down there about this 40th day? They're creating a golden calf to worship. So the Lord said to Moses, go down for your people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, these are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said to Boaz, I have seen this people and behold, it is a stiff necked people. Now, therefore, let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them in order that I may make a great nation of you. So we may think that this seems outrageous, you know, that God has shown such great mighty acts and that they would agree to his covenant, but then that they would so quickly disobey. But how often have we been so quick to disobey God ourselves after he has made things right with us through his son Jesus? And this all the more shows the need for man's heart to be changed by the indwelling spirit of God. And all the more need for that ongoing perpetuation that we have for the forgiveness of our sin and the right standing that we have with God through the son Jesus that he once and for all made for his people. So, you know, it seems, insane to us or outrageous, you know, that they would be so quick to do such a terrible sin by just creating a false idol and worshiping it, like that just seems insane to us. But how quick are we too to covet something and create our own idols or to, you know, you know, to be an adulterous generation that goes after other things of this world when he is a wholly jealous God that would have us all for himself alone, yet we will quickly turn to other things and put our trust and hope in other things, and maybe not even aware that we're doing it, but we are. But thanks be to God for that spirit of his that he gives us to change us, to convict us of sin, to sanctify us and make us walk in obedience to him by his grace. But though they were fully deserving of his full judgment and wrath, God renews his covenant with them. And so Moses, this is Exodus 34, Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first, because the two tablets had God's moral law. He broke when he descended the mountain and the golden calf was being worshipped. And so Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him and took in his hand two tablets of stone The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation And Moses quickly bowed his head towards the earth and worshipped and he said if now I found favor in your sight O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us for it is a stiff-necked people and Pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us for your inheritance so the the Lord makes himself known, you know, like I And as we grow in our knowledge of who God is through his word, that we see that so often we fall short, but God is merciful and gracious, that he's slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. So many times, in so many ways, we are not deserving of God's love, but he is so loving, so gracious, so merciful, and so patient. And it's not because of us and what we've done, but it's because of who he is. It's because of his nature and character and his love for his people. that he just, and he's established this ongoing new covenant, you know, that we're reminded of when we partake in the Lord's Supper, you know, that continuously we're falling short, but the broken body of Christ and his blood shed, you know, is an ongoing reconciliation in him through faith. And, but at the same time, who will by no means clear the guilty, like it just, God doesn't just like, you know, you know, like, oh, I'm just going to brush that aside, that disobedience. No, I mean, it's every sin is, receives, there's just punishment for every sin. And for his people it was the suffering and punishment, the wrath of God that was poured out on his son Jesus. All the sin that I deserve to be punished and die for was laid upon him. So it's not like, I fall short and God just lets it go. No, he is a just God and everything is made right. And so by no means does he clear the guilty. And then the appropriate response to their quick disobedience, God reveals his character, his name, and Moses quickly bows his head towards the earth and worships him. Let that be an ongoing attitude in our heart towards him and his great mercy and grace. Okay, so reestablishing this covenant, God now moves forward with the construction of the tabernacle where he'll dwell with his people. Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses, and they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. Then Moses said to the people of Israel, see, the Lord has called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And he has filled him with the spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, and cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood for work in every skilled craft. And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamec of the tribe of Dan, he has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen or by a weaver, by any sort of workman or skilled design. The reason I include this in here is because God is now moving forward with having them construct the dwelling place where he will be with them daily. the construction and establishment of this tabernacle. God is at work in each of the individual lives. He is giving skill. He is giving the great possessions when they came out of Egypt. That provision was even being used for the construction of the tabernacle. And you see that everyone whose heart stirred and everyone whose spirit moved and brought the Lord's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting for all its service and all the holy garments. But all those things, it's listed, even like the jewelry that they give and stuff to be broken down for the material. You know, God is sovereignly providing the means that is necessary for his dwelling with his people. I mean, he's at work throughout all of it. And that goes like, I mean, even to like who he's giving skill to lead and teach. You know, you think about like our individual lives and how Like, there's so much detail that God has put into the influences around us, and even into, like, our local church, you know, who he is working in in this way to help serve one another, to build up his dwelling place. There's so much that his hand is involved in, and, you know, we can think through our own experience, testimony of what God's done even in our own salvation, who he's used to bear influence and teach and, you know, friends that he's put in our lives, co-workers, you know, and how all of this has shaped us and God has used to prepare us to be his dwelling place but also to be shaped into the man of Christ that we, you know, are together in him. So it's just seeing that detail in the construction of the tabernacle, you know, where he would dwell among his people and his hand would be involved throughout the midst of it. So, you know, and even too, like, you know, like you may feel like God is moving in your heart now to provide in some way or maybe to be even God is moving in your heart to be submissive to him in some way where you know maybe you're not even right with God you know maybe you're living in sin and you know you are standing under that judgment and that you need to repent and trust in Jesus and, you know, receive his grace and mercy and be made right. You know, there's so much at work in each of our lives from, you know, being oppressed and in bondage to trusting and believing in him and being set free and being used by him in the lives of others. But wherever we are, we need to be in submission to him and be trusting in his sovereign hand and seeking to do what's right and walk in obedience to him. And at the same time, when we're falling short, you know, to continue to trust in that ongoing sufficient sacrifice of Christ Jesus and his shed blood that continually washes us and keeps us in right relationship with him. Now moving on to the completion of the construction of the tabernacle. So then Moses said to the people of Israel, so this is Oh, sorry, I already read that. So at the end of chapter 40, then the cloud covered the ten of meeting, so the final, you know, whatever piece has been laid to the puzzle of the tabernacle. And the cloud covered the ten of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the clouds settled on it. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle throughout all their journeys. Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. So once it was complete, God's presence filled the tabernacle, I mean so much so that Moses could not even enter into it. And this is the same God that delivered them, the same God that descended upon the mountain and made it tremble, the same God that you know, judged Egypt and rightly judged his people, but also, you know, desires to be with them and creates this means through which he can dwell with his people. And so this tabernacle, this portable tent, continued to be with them as the Lord lifted from it. They would, you know, pack up and move on to the next place. For the 40 years wandering in the wilderness, before they crossed the Jordan into the promised land, this is what was going on, where God was meeting with them and dwelling with them. And then even for years beyond the Jordan, where it was set up. At a few different places there until one day Solomon would build a temple Which two would be destroyed because of their breaking of the covenant, you know in God's judgment but then one day, you know God himself would come and tabernacle among his people in his son Jesus and provide the sacrifice that was necessary for them to Be made right eternally and dwell with him eternally and and and be of comfort too because you know, as it was for them that God was always dwelling with them through all their journeys, know too that God is with us through all our journeys, all our ups and downs, no matter where we're going. I mean, He's the eternal, amazing God that dwells within His people and that, you know, omnipresent, But at the same time, individually with us, on our walk, there for us to convict us of sin, to correct us, to teach us, to cause us to change into the likeness of his son Jesus, to be a comfort for us, you know, and a guide throughout all our journey. So, you know, it's, you know, my hope that that from this teaching you guys would know the nature and character of God more, that you would, you know, humbly submit to God and worship and, but know the, the great sacrifice that his son Jesus has done for his people, and the reconciliation that we can have with Jesus, and to be encouraged knowing that he is trustworthy and faithful, and even to the point where you know, if there are those that have wronged us, that need to receive mercy and grace from His people, you know, to be encouraged, to be merciful and gracious to those that have done wrong towards us. You know, be changed by the Spirit of God into the likeness of His Son, Jesus. Amen. All right, let me pray. Dear Lord, I thank you for this opportunity to learn from you, to be aware of who you are, and to know your name more, and to share this with your people. Help us, God, to be changed in our hearts. just convicted of sin and to a point where we confidently and boldly come to you knowing that the work of your son Jesus is sufficient to forgive us and change us and make us new in you. that we can walk confidently in the freedom from the bondage of sin because of the great sacrifice of your son Jesus. Lord, help us to walk in that light and to be your light to this dark world that is going on in slavery and in need of you. So help us, Lord, to walk boldly before you and boldly before others for your glory, in Jesus' name, amen.