Coming out of Sin Is Step by Step

Happy Sabbath, everybody! Good to see you. I'm moving a little slower today, as I mentioned to the elders in the kitchen prior. We worked out this week. I worked out this week, and my muscles are saying, don't! But I've got to keep after it, and hopefully I'll get better at it. But anyway, I'm not the only one working out. I think Mr. Roerum is working out, too. So we're all trying to keep fit for you. Of course, we all have seen the Boston Marathon information that has come out this week, and it's certainly such a tragic affair, and of course something that has just gripped the whole nation.

It's amazing that that event has sort of overshadowed what happened in West Texas, where five to fifteen people were killed by an explosion of a chemical plant. Practically, the entire city of West Texas was blown off the map, by the way, but we haven't heard as much about that. The only thing I would say, brethren, is we ought to be praying for God's protection. Because, you know, the terrorism that is happening in places like Boston and New York are coming soon to a theater near you. And I think, of course, we can't ever know when it's going to come.

So we have to pray that God will always, not only protect you, by the way, but all of you, brethren, wherever they may be. Because so far, we're all having to live here, aren't we? And you can't just pick up and move to the mountains and do that. You've got to live where you live and work, you know, so it's just the way it is. You know, it's amazing. All of this man violence that we see in the world, in the midst of so much beauty that God has created here upon the earth.

How beautiful it is, God's creation. It's a beautiful day today. You know, the Sabbath that we're able to observe with the beautiful clear skies and the blue waters out here, the bay, and all of the greenery, and all of that. It's just a beautiful creation that God has made. You know, I was thinking about this fact of the beauty that God has put in the physical creation. And, you know, the great painters of the world have famous artwork which is valued into the multiple millions. I mean, some of it is into the hundreds of millions of dollars that some of this artwork is.

I don't have to educate you on art. If I use the word Rimbrenth, all of you here know Rimbrenth. All of you know the artist Michelangelo or Picasso. You may not necessarily care for what Picasso paints, but it certainly does garner, again, a high value among art collectors. Leonardo da Vinci, Van Gogh. All of these have certain ways of painting, sculpturing, or whatever artwork they may do. And if someone is an expert, and I'm not, and probably you're not, you can actually see the strokes on a canvas that a master painter, how he does it every time.

And the artists paint, you know, these men, those that have become well known for what they do, have painted masterpieces. And who knows, again, how long they will be around? Very possibly these things may actually go on over, if there's not the paganism in it, go on over the millennium, the work that was done in that manner. Have you ever thought of the fact that God the Father and Jesus Christ are artists?

They are artists. And not just artists, but they are master artists. In fact, they are creators. God and the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son, are creators. And let me tell you, brethren, everything they do is a masterpiece to behold. No matter what it is that they do, it is a masterpiece.

I'm amazed by the fact that mankind is still exploring the depths of the world that is unseen, the molecular world. And every glimpse into the incredibly small and infitesimal world reveals God's genius of creativity. It's like the more he looks into it, he realizes the less he sees. He hasn't seen it all. They have the supercollider now over in CERN that they are trying to unlock the very building blocks of the creation.

I suspect that they will not see those building blocks that are there. And frankly, the foundation of everything eventually would be something they can't see, and that is God's power, God's Holy Spirit. But man is looking into God's creation, and he sees the incredible genius in God's creativity. And this is why, brethren, everything that God does not only is creative and beautiful, but it is symbolic. Everything he does is symbolic.

I don't know if you've ever thought about that. The genius of God is that not only does he do a masterpiece, but what he does is symbolic. Everything ties together. His creation comes into a continuity, a harmony. When God created the earth, it was created in a beautiful and yet efficient way. Think of all the aspects of God's creation here upon the earth. We're just a little tiny planet, by the way, on the arm of a Milky Way galaxy, a small galaxy at that, by the way.

And we, in fact, would shrink down to insignificance. I'm talking about the galaxy, by the way. The galaxy would shrink to insignificance compared to the entire universe. The billions upon billions, as Carl Sagan used to say, of galaxies that are out there and all of that. But think about it. I'm just talking about the earth, the things that God has created upon the earth that are so beautiful and that are so efficient.

Think of all the aspects of the earth, the flowers, the multiplicity of flowers. Look at these flowers here that God has made and created. Over in Hawaii, by the way, our friends James and Florence Lum. James is then to orchids. And if you ever go over there, let him show you the orchids in his backyard.

Talk about the variety of just that one species of orchids. It is just mind-boggling. It broadens your mind to see what God has done. The variety of trees, the kinds of grasses, the types of bushes, the kind of fruit trees. Think about that, the kind of fruit trees. There are even fruit trees whose fruit, brethren, you can't stand. Over in Thailand, what is that fruit called? Well, all of you know what it is, don't you? I was in Thailand, and I just would not bring myself to eat that few fruits.

In fact, the hotel where we were saying that, aside, this is do not bring this fruit into the hotel. It smells so bad. But it is an interesting fruit. There are myriad kinds of grapes. Think about Concord. You can name all the different kinds of grapes, many kinds of vegetables.

Again, this is God's creation, the masterpiece that God has made. Everything He has done and made is a masterpiece. That's, again, the plant world. Then we can get into the animal world, the myriad varieties. It seems, in fact, that the earth itself is filled with infinite detail. We know it's not infinite, because it's finite, isn't it? But to us, it might as well be infinite.

And yet, it's all thought out so well in advance by the creators, by the master artists, so that everything works together in a symbiotic relationship, so that everything can dwell together and thrive. Everything can survive. You and I can sit down to a good meal, and we can eat. And the birds eat, the multiple billions of birds. I saw a report that how the cats actually eat into the billions of birds.

I don't know what the next report will be, you know, that there'll be an open season on cats. I don't know. But I think you need cats, don't you, to control the birds. So the birds get to eat, the cats get to eat, and other animals also are in that symbiotic relationship, so that all dwells together and thrives. And this is how God, by the way, creates all things. He's a perfectionist. He's a perfectionist. Now, when God thought about calling the nation of Israel, he set out, he started with very little with Israel, by the way, he set out to make Israel an example nation to the entire world. You know, a masterpiece, if you will, for all nations to follow after the example of Israel.

And, of course, we know history proves that that did not happen, but that was God's desire. Let's go over here to Ezekiel 16, because here we have a story of the very seminal beginnings of Israel. But here, down in verse 6, notice how God puts it in an allegorical way here.

He said, when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, you live. Yes, I said to you in your blood, live. God wanted to give life to Israel. This is symbolic, by the way, of Israel here. Again, Ezekiel 16, verse 6, if you're still looking for this. But in verse 7, it says, I made you thrive like a plant in the field. It's like God wants all of His brethren to be productive, fruitful fig trees.

And as we were hearing a little bit about that in the first message, and it says, you grew, you matured, and you became very beautiful. So here, he again allegorizes it, showing how that Israel was like, you know, not very much. And God began to work with her and develop her.

He wanted to give life to her. And she began to mature. And it says, and you became very beautiful. You were a beautiful young lady. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare. And when I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was a time of love. So I spread my wing over you and covered your nakedness.

Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became mine. And so God again took Israel. We know the story is that God married Israel. And he intended to make of her something very great.

And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of linen. Verse 13 here, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate pastry of the fine flower, honey and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful and succeeded to royalty. So God made her into a queen, His queen. And so this is what God does. Like I said, God is a creator. He's an artist.

And brethren, He took Israel, and He made her into someone before she was nothing. And it was God who made Israel into someone. And you know what, brethren? God wants to make us into someone. We're called the weak of the world in the Bible. I'm not going to go to the Scriptures, but you can read them. We're the base in the meek things of the earth. But remember, Christ said the meek are going to inherit the earth.

And so God is going to make us into something, if we'll allow Him to. God would have made Israel into the greatest nation of all time. And she would be great today, in fact, if they had only followed God. But you can read on here, and you see what happens with Israel.

Israel basically prostituted herself. And in a way, the United States has done the same thing. We could have been so much greater than we have been. But we've prostituted ourselves, too, to the world. And we bought our lovers. And look how it comes back to haunt you. It seems like all the money we invested in Iraq is probably going to come back and bite us in the future.

And Afghanistan, some of these places, Vietnam, of course, all of these nations that we thought we could buy, we could not buy. And in the end, the Bible indicates that they're going to turn their back on us.

Right now, they're sort of hanging on. The Muslim Brotherhood, by the way, is sort of hanging on to us, and they're clinging to us because they need the money from the International Monetary Fund. They need the support from the United States on that as well. And the United States is pivotal in some of those things.

So we see this in Egypt, and it's certainly true elsewhere as well. So God beautified Israel and performed miracles to do it. And He made her into someone, and God wants to do the same for us. He wants to make us into His masterpiece. And hopefully we will not prostitute ourselves. God is wanting to make us into spiritual masterpieces, by the way. Would you agree, brethren, that when Christ came, that He was a spiritual masterpiece?

I think it would be easy to make that link, that Christ was a spiritual masterpiece. And God is making us into spiritual masterpieces. And I was thinking about this and meditating on this last night. That if we are in the first resurrection, you and I, at the end of the millennium, will have been ruling with Christ for a thousand years.

Can you imagine that? Being a king for a thousand years? David was never so fortunate in his life. Obviously, he reigned for, what, forty-some-odd years? Very few reigned, even fifty years. I can't remember off the top of a man.

Whether Solomon reigned for fifty years. But we're going to reign for a thousand years. And when, brethren, our relatives come up in that second resurrection, imagine this. We'll have a thousand years of experience under our belts. The world's going to be different at that time.

Quite different. And hopefully then we will be able to welcome our family members into the kingdom of God. And boy, we'll have a lot of experience, won't we, at that. But only if we allow God to complete his masterpiece work in us.

And we're there in the first resurrection, when Jesus Christ returns. Let's go to 1 John and notice here why I know, brethren, that you and I are going to become masterpieces, like Jesus Christ. Over in 1 John chapter 2, here in verse 1, John says, My little children, these things are right in you. I'm sorry, chapter 3. Did I say chapter 2?

I'm sorry. We are little children, aren't we? But in verse 1, behold, in chapter 3, verse 1, behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God. We are the children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us. The world is not cognizant of who we are. It is not aware of what God is doing in us. We shouldn't be dismayed by that because John goes on to say, because it did not know him.

The world has not known Jesus Christ. Now, that's a shock to professing Christianity, I'm sure. With a billion people upon this earth that claim to be Christians, God's Word says through the Apostle John, the world does not know Jesus Christ, the true Jesus Christ. But in verse 2, let's go on here. Beloved, now are we the children of God.

We're already the children of God. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed this is we're talking about Jesus Christ, that we shall be like Him because we will see Him as He is.

So, in other words, just as Jesus Christ was a masterpiece of God's creative ability, you and I are going to be a masterpiece as well. An incredible masterpiece, brethren. It's unclear, as John says, to know exactly what we're going to be. But one thing is very clear, brethren, our way of thinking will be God's way of thinking. This will be the ultimate fulfillment, by the way, of the work that God is doing in us right now, when we get to that particular point. So, each of us, let's understand this, brethren, is a separate masterpiece. The church is a masterpiece in the sense that we're going to marry Christ, but each of them individually are a masterpiece in the hands of God.

Like I said, God wanted to do that with Israel, though. He wanted to make her into a masterpiece of His creative ability. Let's go to Exodus 14. I want to sort of go back here. We have come through the days of Unleavened Bread and the Passover, of course. And we all have been able to review the fact that we need the Passover because that depicts, of course, our sacrifice, Jesus Christ, and the fact that we can avail ourselves of God's forgiveness through His shed blood, and that the seven days of Unleavened Bread, which we observe, involve coming out of sin, putting sin out of our lives, overcoming.

And not just, by the way, overcoming during those seven days, but overcoming throughout the year. In other words, it's to emphasize on our minds that we are to come out of the world, come out of sin all during the year. But in Exodus 14, let's notice here, I was talking, should have been turning. But Exodus 14, God was again bringing Israel out of Egypt.

And as you know, they came out with a high hand. But in Exodus 14, in verse 1, it says, Speaking to the children of Israel, verse 2 here in Exodus 14, For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they are bewildered by the land. The wilderness has closed them in.

In verse 5, Because, as you know, they spoiled the Egyptians. They took gold and silver and precious things from Israel, and livestock, and all kinds of things that they were given, actually, by the Egyptians. Remember, the Egyptians gave it to them because they said, you know, here, take this and be gone. But, of course, when they were gone, of course, in their minds, they probably changed their tune. These people robbed us! How did they do that?

I'm reminded of the fact that, you know, in World War II, you know, the Germans had this idea that Jews had a hypnotic effect on people. As foolish as that sounds. You know, to us, of course, it's a racist type of thing. And, of course, during the Nazis' time, they were very much the racist in their mentality. But there were foolish ideas that they had, you know, about the Jews. But anyway, it was told the king of Egypt, and they turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this? That we have let Israel go from serving us. These were our servants, and we'll let them go! We'll let them off scot-free. So God began to call and work with Israel, and we see again these things as He begins to bring them out of Egypt. Now, let's go down in verse 21 down here. And it says, Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. And I can still see Charlotte Heston, by the way, with his staff, you know, in the Ten Commandments. And it says in the people of Israel, you know, went in the midst of the sea in verse 22. So he stretched his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. And Israel went over, it says dry shot, they walked over on dry land. You know, and you've heard, you've probably seen all the documentaries showing how they did that. And it was a sea of reeds, and the water was probably two inches deep. And anyway, a little boy says, isn't that a miracle of itself? God made all those Egyptians drown in two inches of water. Amazing. But you have the miracle, and of course I'm being facetious. It was a wall of water, the Bible says, on each side when they walked over. But this miracle of saving Israel at the Red Sea, by the way, took place during the days of Unleavened Bread. And which day did it happen? Anybody? The last day? The seventh day of Unleavened Bread is when it took place. Of course, there are seven days, and God was bringing them out of Egypt during those seven days. Remember, they came out, they observed the Passover in haste, and they came out. And on the first day, they began the journey out. But they were not out of Egypt until they came to the Red Sea. And on the seventh day, God delivered them. But think about, the first six days, they were still going out of Egypt. And the full seven days, we should be reminded, depicted Israel's physical deliverance from bondage. Remember, they were slaves in Egypt. They were made to serve with rigor.

You know, they had the...every day of their lives was in bondage.

Now, what I want to talk about, brethren, in this sermon is in the effort God has of making you into a masterpiece, you and I, brethren, have to come out of sin step by step.

You can't do it all at once. Now, we live in a world where everything has to be instant. Instant coffee. There was someone from another country came over to America, and he was amazed at all the instant things that we have in America. You've got instant chocolate, you've got instant...you can make an instant drink. And he says, you crazy Americans. He says, I came and I saw on the shelf was the baby powder. You know, I guess you mix it with water and you get a baby. No, but you crazy Americans.

But these things, brethren, cannot be done instantly. What God is going to do and is doing with you and me and making us into a masterpiece cannot be done instantly. It takes time. For Israel, the first six days they were coming out of Egypt, and the seventh day they were out of Egypt. Now, we find that this particular miracle that occurred on the seventh day, though, if we apply it in our personal lives, brethren, our spiritual lives, and it all does tie in together, brethren. Like I say, God doesn't do anything in terms of His creation that is not symbolic. What happened to Israel, brethren, is symbolic for you and me as well. And what it means when God brought Israel out, and you've got seven days here, and on the seventh they came out and they were on the other side of the Red Sea, and the Pharaoh's armies were beneath the sea, then and only then, brethren, were they out of Egypt.

And, you know, when God called you, you know, He called you and you learned enough that you could be baptized. And by the way, none of us can be baptized unless we know something. You know, and we need to understand basically the plan of God and what God is doing, at least on a superficial level. I'll say that because I know when I first learned about the Holy Days, I didn't understand the Holy Days. I thought I did. It's amazing how much you think you know, isn't it? It is amazing to me sometimes we can have some come into the Church, and they are novices at the Word of God, but they can think they know a lot. The best thing to do, brethren, when we come into the Church is listen, because we might find that we don't know as much as we think we know. And, you know, I... but we need to realize, brethren, there's a certain amount of humility that needs to be in us in God's creative work in making us into a masterpiece. But what the seven days of the living bread depict to us, brethren, is God's one step at a time deliverance for us out of sin that has kept us in bondage. You know, Israel was out of Egypt on the seventh day when they went on the other side of that Red Sea. They were out of Egypt, but the problem is Egypt was not out of them. And you and I, brethren, when we come out of the world... We may be out of the world, but the world's not out of us.

It's very much in us. And that's why, you know, when we first come out of the world and into the Church, we need humility to find out what it is we don't know. Because we don't want to speak too soon, do we? But again, this shows, again, the one step at a time type deliverance that God, utilizes to bring us out of sin. And, brethren, we will not be a masterpiece until we have come out of Egypt, the world. We will not be a masterpiece until we have been able to come out of sin and put sin out of our lives. And, frankly, we're not going to be that masterpiece until we're changed at the time of the resurrection. That will be the ultimate cap off of what God's creative ability will be for us.

And even though, brethren, the Bible speaks very positively that you and I are going to be there in the kingdom of God, the only way we're going to be able to make it, brethren, is through the miracles that God is going to perform. And the one last miracle He's going to perform, He's going to change you and me in the spirit beings at the time of the resurrection. That will be the pièce de result resist... I'm not French, but you know what I'm saying. It will be the icing on the cake. And, boy, what an icing that's going to be. And I look forward to that icing, by the way. No more pain, no more suffering. The former things will be gone and we will be new. See, everything God did with Israel was symbolic. When they went through the Red Sea, what was that a type of? Anybody? Baptism. And, brethren, we're baptized, aren't we? But when you were baptized, was God done with you? No, He was just starting with you, right? Just starting! And that's why we have to have a certain amount of humility, because we're novices, we're babes, and we have to grow and mature. And you know what happened immediately? After the other side of the Red Sea, God says, Okay, I want you to go up this way, the way of the Philistines, and you'll be in Canaan, you know, in a few days. Pops. Is that what He did? No, He didn't do that. You know, God did not take them the short way. And the reason why is because Israel was not ready. God wasn't done painting His picture on Israel's canvas, as it were. He was going to make them into a great physical nation, and God was not done. And so He was afraid, not that God is fearful, but He knew what Israel was like. And because, you know, after all, they were farmers, they were shepherds, they were, you know, they were good with maybe rakes and, you know, working with animals. But they were not warriors. And you know what? The Philistines were a very adept warrior people. And God knew that if they went that way, which would have been the shortest way for them to go, He said they'd get discouraged and they want to go back. I mean, it's interesting that even though that was not the case, that God did not take them that way, wasn't it what they wanted to do many times to go back? They wanted to go back. And so it just delayed it a little while. Didn't happen that early on, in other words. But because later on, God would have to cope with that with Israel wanting to go back to the world. So God, brethren, for us does not, you know, give us the shortest route. You know, they could not see the obstacles, you know, that were ahead of them. And oftentimes, brethren, we cannot see the obstacles ahead of us either. Of why it would not be a good thing for us to just go from being baptized right on into the kingdom, you know. You know, wouldn't it be wonderful, though, if you get baptized and zip, you disappear?

Wouldn't accomplish much in our lives, though. The only thing is, you know, what would happen is you'd be, you'd just be wet. When you got there, you might have a better attitude, at least wherever it was that you'd been taken. And I'm, of course, being just, you know, facetious with that, but because that's not the way it works. But God allowed Israel to wander in the wilderness, you know, for 40 years. 40 years. And you could go over and you could read it. Why did God allow them to wander for 40 years? Anybody remember the magic word? What's that? To humble them. That's right. Somebody's reading their Bible out there. I know you're out there. I hear you breathing. But, you know, to humble them. God wanted to humble them. They were very cocky, proud people. It's a good thing we're not that way.

No, we are that way, aren't we? And God has to put some humility in us. And He will. He will. Because He's painting His masterpiece on us. Because He's beginning to build that masterpiece of a creation, brethren, that is going to rule with Jesus Christ, His Son, for a thousand years. A thousand years. I better not keep pontificating. Okay, I'm getting near the end of this, or at least I should be. Let's go to Matthew 19. Matthew 19.

And you know what, brethren? God is calling us as His people.

And the Bible indicates that we're going to be scarcely saved.

We're going to be, God is going to be able to say, well, I think we can bring them on into the kingdom. You know, they're scarcely going to be saved. Where does that leave people who are not being worked with of God? God is especially working with us, teaching us, instructing us, leading us. Let's go to Matthew, again, 19, verse 22. Here this young man came to Christ, and he said, what must I do to have eternal life? And Christ told him, remember, well, keep the commandments. And the young man said, remember, I'll just recount the story for you. Well, I've done that ever since I was a young person, since I was a youth. I've done that. And then Christ said, well, if you want to be perfect, if you want to be perfect, go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and you come and follow me.

And he says, and you will have treasure in heaven. And he said, come and follow me.

And it says the young man heard that, and he went away because he had great possessions. Very, very great possessions. But notice what Jesus said to his disciples. Assuredly I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And, brethren, I hate to tell you, you and I, compared to the rest of the world, are rich. Physically. I'm talking physically. I know you don't think you are, but you are rich.

Compared to the rest of the world. Believe me, I know. I know, because I've been to Mapocco Zambia. I've been to places. And I've seen the way people live. With mud huts and dirt floors, and delivering babies and mud huts, and with dirt floors and things like that, which we would never dream of. Going to the restroom, and I'll basically get a hole in the ground with bees flying around in it. And it doesn't flush afterwards. But anyway. And it says again, I say to you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Some have said, well, it didn't really mean a needle as we thread a needle. Talking about the camels getting through this gate. They had to get down low to go through it.

But it doesn't really matter, does it? They still couldn't go through the gateway if that is indeed what Christ is specifically talking about, which he probably is. They couldn't get through it without making special effort. And going on, when the disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, well, who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said to them, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

And so, we can read on down here, Peter then asked, in verse 27, and said to him, see, we've left all of the follow you, therefore what shall we have? And of course, Jesus went on to tell him that in the regeneration, in the resurrection, this is what's going to happen. This is what's going to occur. So he's very definitely talking about the resurrection, brethren. And the other thing, I think that is undeniable here, brethren, is without the miracles of God, you and I ain't going to make it. Forgive my Oklahoma vernacular. We're not going to make it, brethren, without miracles from God, like Israel. Could not have gotten across the Red Sea without a miracle from God and what God did for them.

And, you know, we need to realize that in the interim, though, just like God allowed Israel to go through trials for 40 years to humble them, your life and my life, when we're baptized, from that time forward, the teaching begins. The masterpiece is being painted on the canvas of your life. And without miracles, you're not going to be delivered, and I'm not going to be delivered either. We just won't. We'll get to the Red Sea, and it will have been for naught if we don't continue in this... ...travel through the wilderness before we enter on in to the Promised Land. With ancient Israel, brethren, there was a period which passed between... ...an interim period that passed between freedom. When they came out on the seventh day of Unleavened Bread, and when they entered the Promised Land, there was an interim period of trial and testing. And brethren, I submit to you that you and I spiritually are in that spiritual wilderness right now. And we are wandering as Israel did. And unfortunately, things happen to us. Sometimes folks want to uproot and go somewhere else. So we have situations where one group goes this way and the other group goes that way. But brethren, we've got to keep barreling ahead toward the kingdom of God. It's like Israel. They had to follow the cloud that led them by day and the pillar of fire by night. And God was always there with them, remember. He was a pillar of fire by night to keep them warm in the wilderness there. And it was a cloud during the day to keep them cool during the day as they were wandering through the wilderness. You wonder how the world could they make it in the wilderness, brethren. That's how they did it. That God was covering them by day and by night. He was watching after them. And God, brethren, is always with us. When we're baptized, we have the blood of Christ administered to us, brethren. We have been freed from the sin of the world and from the penalty of eternal death. He no longer hangs over our head like the sword of Damocles. But we're still not freed yet completely until we are changed in the time of the resurrection. But the attitude, brethren, that we need to have as we're coming out of the world and out of sin, brethren, is that God is working with us. He's painting a canvas. And we can't be discouraged. We can't be complainers like the children of Israel were. God hated the murmuring, by the way, of Israel. He hated it with a passion. And especially, remember, right after Pharaoh began barreling down in them, they saw the billowing dust of the chariots and all of that. And they said, oh, Moses, what did you do? Because there were no graves in Egypt. You brought us out here to die. And that Pharaoh was going to kill us.

And, of course, we know what God told them. Look, you know, through Moses, look, God's going to fight your battles for you. All you've got to do is move forward. And that's what we have to do, brethren, move forward as God's people. Let's go over to Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews 3. Hebrews 3.

You know, here in Hebrews chapter 3, you know, Paul, who is the author of this, he says here, down in verse 7, he says, Therefore, God's speaking to us, by the way, in the New Testament, Christians today, therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the day of rebellion with Israel. Talk about ancient Israel. In the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me and tried me, therefore, I was angry with that generation. They kept testing me, God would say, and said, they always go astray in their heart. They have not known my ways, so I sworn my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. And so, you remember the story about how those who were the complainers, the murmurers, that didn't move forward, they didn't get to go into the Promised Land. And so, brethren, we need to be submissive to God, we need to be yielded to Him, and we as God's people need to do as God told Israel through Moses to stand still and watch the salvation of God and what God does. In other words, He was saying to them, okay, you keep your peace, you keep your doubts to yourself. You know, God is telling Israel through Moses, and you watch God work miracles. Brethren, and move forward, God told them through Moses. Move forward in faith. And brethren, we've got to do the same thing. Let's go down to verse 13.

And it says, And exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. That's what hardens us. That causes us to be stiff-necked, that we don't respond. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold, it says, the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. If we do that to the very end, brethren. And over in chapter 4, let's do read these couple of verses here. Therefore, since a promise remains of entering is rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed, the gospel was preached to them. They heard of gospel too, by the way. They heard the good news. Look, you can be delivered. You can be in the Promised Land. And brethren, we hear the same message, don't we? Except our Promised Land is the kingdom of God that's coming ahead of us. And it says, but the word which they heard did not profit them. Why did it not profit them? Not being mixed with faith in those that heard it. So, brethren, we've got to have faith in what God is doing. Faith means enduring, brethren, to the end, and the trek that has been set before us. Faith means moving forward, regardless of what we see. Faith, of course, was lacking with the Israelites. And what happened when they had trials? They said, oh, that we had the good old days. We had the leeks, we had the melons, and we were there. It was heaven. It was heaven. And sometimes we can have the same approach, by the way, from what we've come from. I've heard people say, oh, that we had the worldwide church of God back. Some want to have a worldwide church of God, too, by the way. Like Israel said, let's appoint as a new leader. And that's where, when Korah stepped forward and Nathan and Byron, boy, that was a big mistake on their part. They learned to eat dirt real fast. But, again, longing for the old days. Well, brethren, the old days are gone. They're gone. They did it. They're gone, brethren. And the church is still here. And we are still moving forward, preaching the gospel. We want to go to the world with the gospel. It's going to take miracles to do it. It's going to take every one of us, brethren, with our hearts and minds, having faith in God that can be done.

And we cannot ever have the attitude, well, the way is getting too long. And we're in well-doing, but we have to move forward, you know, and keep our eyes off of obstacles and see what we need to do. Because God is painting a masterpiece in your life, and His church is going to be a masterpiece as well, brethren, when it's all said and done. I think I've said enough for this message. But, you know, God told the Philippians, He said, one thing I do. He said, forgetting the things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. That's what I press toward. And remember, God, brethren, is painting a picture in your life. And realize this, it will not be done until the last trumpet is sounded, and you and I are raised from the dead, or we're changed if we're alive, into that masterpiece that God is creating in each of us. And I'll tell you, you know, we are all God's handiwork.