February 23, 2020
Sunday AM Service
Exodus 32:1-6 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” 5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” 6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
This chapter is a picture of the church today. We do not want to be like it. This is not who we are called to be. Most people don’t know the difference. They can sit in a church and think it’s God when it’s not. It’s deception. This teaching is to help you recognize the difference so that you can refuse to accept what man is offering. You don’t serve God on your terms. You serve God on His terms.
Aaron took the people’s money, and fashioned their god like he wanted to. Not like God said. You can create any kind of church you want to. Most preachers give into the pressures of the people, just like Aaron. They make a church/worship experience that ministers to the peoples wants.
After Aaron made the calf, the people responded with “This is god” They woke up early to have a church service. They brought their offerings and praised this golden calf. After, they feasted and drank and celebrated with sexual immorality. They had a church service and then went on to live like the world. Whatever happened that day, didn’t have enough God in it to separate them from the world.
Our church is no good if it doesn’t separate us from the world. We’re not called to fit in the world. Jesus says, if you get it right the world will hate you! Because we are not of this world. This is not our home! You’re a new creature in Christ. God is your father now.
If we don’t make adjustments down here in the church, God won’t send what’s up there.
In the last few years, our nation came to the place where we needed to make some adjustments. We got away from God and off course. Now, we’ve got to turn our eyes to the church. Just like we needed to make adjustments in our nation, we need to make some adjustments in the church. Here’s why: The nation is a reflection of the church. Even if you’re not in the church, there needs to be adjustments to your home. Because the church is a reflection of our homes. Everything comes out of the home. The one basic thing we are focusing on right now is simple. Attitudes.
What was the result of the people making their own choice not to wait on god, what he had to say, and what he wanted? Moses was taking longer than they wanted to wait. They were too impatient to hear what God had to say. The Egyptians were saying, “give us the god we want, the church we want and the life we want. So we can worship how and when we choose. Then we can go eat and play, live like the world until we decide to do it again.” Do you see the picture of that?
God didn’t call us to live part time christians! God don’t want us just on the weekends. He wants full custody!
Exodus 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
Jehovah is a jealous God. A God who claims absolute loyalty and exclusive devotion. If he’s just your God on Sunday Morning, he’s not really your God. He wants to be your only one.
God is calling us to get our lives, homes, cities, and nation in order. We are to turn aside from our own ways, consecrate and dedicate our lives, turn back to what God has said to us. REPENT. RETURN. Get back to God. The one who never changes. Loyalty and devotion to Him is something that never should change.
Turn aside while the space of grace is presenting itself. It’s not a time to be luke- warm. Anything in you that don’t want God, you better get it out.
Exodus 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.4 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I.
Notice that Moses had a job. He was the shepherd of those sheep. He had an everyday responsibility. He had a wife and children. Just like us. If Moses had not chosen to turn aside, God would not have spoken to him. That’s where we all are. If you don’t choose to turn aside and seek God, He’s not going to speak to you. Moses would have remained a shepherd and lived a natural life. It didn’t mean he was a bad person, but God had more in store. He would have never known the supernatural plan God had set before him. We read about the greats. Abraham, David, Sampson, Moses, and we think God don’t choose just anyone. That’s a lie. God has a supernatural plan for EVERY ONE of his children. You will never find that unless you take time to turn aside from your everyday responsibilities and let Him speak to you. God wants to change your life and turn you into a totally different person. He wants to make your life into what He wants for you. If you’ve given up on that, you’ve given up on God. That’s a bad place to be. He’s got something better for you.
Then, what must we do? What do you mean set our lives, and house in order? How do we prepare? How do we consecrate and dedicate ourselves? What adjustments need to be made?
One simple attitude adjustment. It’s doable. Focus on this one thing.
John 15 “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
FOR WITHOUT ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING. This is what has to get in us. When you wake up every morning. The first thing that has to be on your heart and your mind is, without God I can’t do anything today. This is the attitude adjustment that needs to take place. This is what heaven is saying to us right now. It’s not overwhelming. It’s simple adjustments. If you want to change you have to do something. This is one thing you can do. Focus on this: I refuse to go into this day without God going with me. Every day you have the opportunity to advance your life. And If God is going with you, you will succeed. You can only accomplish what a human is capable of. We want to step out of human capabilities and over into God’s capabilities. It’s called grace! Jesus Christ said 3 times in the Gospels,” I can of my own self do nothing.” If Jesus can’t do anything without Him, we certainly cannot. Humans are capable of good things, but it’s all in vain if God isn’t in it. We must trade our human sufficiency for God’s sufficiency. You do that when you turn aside and pray.