WEBVTT - Not Dead Yet 0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:04.240 Hey, we're starting a season today also that I wanted 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:06.080 to make you aware of all over the world for 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:14.040 our year end offering. That is exciting. When someone is 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.239 new to our church, they're often surprised that we don't 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:18.560 put a lot of pressure on people to give, and 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:21.599 yet God has blessed us so much. The reason for 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:25.200 that is because we have built into this church people who, 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:27.880 because of their love for God and because of their 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:31.520 commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they give consistently. 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:37.400 Not to build buildings, we build buildings, not to make videos. 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:41.480 We make videos, but so that people who are far 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:43.960 from God can be raised to life in Christ, and 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:46.760 so the Kingdom of God can come on earth as 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:51.879 it is in heaven. It is an exciting time. I 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:54.600 always get a chance during this year end offering where 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:57.160 many will begin to tithe give that first ten percent 0:00:57.200 --> 0:00:58.760 to God. And that's not what I'm going to talk 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.080 about in my sermon today yet, So don't make up 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:04.120 an excuse to leave, all right, I have a very 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:10.440 important meeting that is so important that ten percent belongs 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:14.399 to God, that tide belongs to God. Thousands of families 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.400 in this church used this time in the year to say, 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:18.800 you know what, I haven't been honoring God with the 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.080 first fruits of what He gave to me. And I 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:22.919 don't want to spend the rest of my life acting 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.600 like I did this by my own hands. I need 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:29.120 God and I honor God. And that's been a practice 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:31.399 in my life since age eighteen. And I'll tell you 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:33.520 the story one of these weeks about how that happened 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:35.679 for me, not this week, but I'll share it with you. 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:39.679 And then there's the above and beyond, where you say 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:42.200 God has been good to me out of all that 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:44.400 He's given me, I want to bring him an offering, 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:46.880 a gift above and beyond. And we set aside this 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:49.880 time of the year, on December the eleventh, would do 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:51.560 a big offering as a church. You like that day? 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:56.160 Is that your birthday? Happy birthday? So on your birthday 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:59.640 December eleventh, we're going to be bringing our offering. We're 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:01.800 going to be bringing it online throughout now in the 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.280 end of the year. But you can go to Elevationchurch 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:06.160 Dot or a click you're in offer and find out 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:10.320 about that. It'll be amazing. And we use that offering, 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:13.280 that expansion offering, that above and beyond in order to 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:15.680 do the outreach ministries that we do in this church. 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:19.040 This church is incredibly active in all the communities that 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:24.639 we serve. This is not some performance based church. We 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:28.600 have hundreds and hundreds of outreach partners meeting the needs 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:31.160 of people who need medical assistance, people who need food, 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:34.120 people who have never had the Bible translated in their language. 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:35.640 We'll show you some of that over the next few 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:37.880 weeks so you can see what you're given to. But 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:40.840 I'm expecting by faith for thousands of you to join 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:43.240 Holly and I in what we've done through the entire 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:45.720 existence of this church. Give till it hurts a little bit, 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:49.000 and then expect God to move in your life, because 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:51.720 I refuse to just let you in this year just 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:55.160 putting on ten pounds and running up credit card debt 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:59.120 and not focus on Jesus. We've got to end strong, 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:04.320 no matter how we started. So we will do that, 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:06.600 and I know that I can count on you in 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:12.160 that way to pray and ask God. Now, let's go 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:17.000 to the Word of God. Remain standing for a moment 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:20.760 and turn to your favorite book of the Bible, Leviticus, 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:27.160 the one you have memorized. I have been seeking God 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:31.080 this week, like walking in the woods, praying out loud, 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:35.440 wondering if the neighbors think I've lost it, Finally seeking God, 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:40.360 like reading Leviticus and finding a sermon in it. That's 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.120 how crazy I've been seeking God this week. And he 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:47.120 spoke to me. Everything he teaches me, I want to 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.760 try to teach to you, and he taught me something 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:58.400 amazing here. Leviticus chapter eleven. Leviticus chapter eleven, Full disclosure. 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:02.840 I'm reading through the Bible with Elijah, my oldest, and Kelsey, 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:05.640 and we started coming up to Leviticus, and I was like, 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:09.320 uh oh. Usually when people started by reading plan at 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:10.960 the beginning of the year, they get through Genesis, they 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:14.080 get through Exodus, and then when they get to Leviticus, 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.080 it's a lot of lists and dietary restrictions, which you'll 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:19.400 see in a moment. So when they get to Leviticus, 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:25.120 they leave it and cuss Leviticus. I gotta get y'all 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:27.760 back tuned into my humor frequency. You know, I got 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:32.000 to bring your expectations now, all right, But I got 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:33.760 to that. I said, okay, we're going to do this different. 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.920 We're gonna love Leviticus. When we get done with it. 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:39.360 So I got us some different books and things, and 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:41.839 as we were studying, we came upon this, and the 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:47.360 Lord spoke Leviticus, chapter eleven, verse twenty nine. Of the 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:51.960 animals that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:59.560 The weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, the gecko, 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:08.240 the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink, and the chameleon. Pastor, 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:10.200 we are sending you back out on the west coast. 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:12.159 If you're going to come back with scriptures like this, 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.560 this is weird. Trust me, do he'll trust me? Trust me? 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.600 Trust me. This is the scripture we need today. Now 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:21.320 look at verse thirty one. Of all those that move 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:26.080 along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:30.799 them when they are dead will become unclean until evening. 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:34.000 Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:36.880 till evening. When one of them dies and falls on something, 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.680 that article, whatever its use, will be unclean. Whether it's 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:44.239 made of wood, cloth, hide, or sackcloth, put it in water. 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:47.800 It will be unclean till evening, and then it will 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:50.680 be clean. If one of them falls into a clay pot, 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:54.040 everything in it will be unclean, and you must break 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:57.080 the pot. Any food you are allowed to eat that 0:05:57.120 --> 0:05:59.960 has come into contact with water from any such pot 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:03.280 is unclean, and any liquid that is drunk from such 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:08.360 a pot is unclean. Anything that one of their carcasses 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:13.920 falls on becomes unclean. An oven or cooking pot must 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:17.719 be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:21.600 regard them as unclean. A spring, however, or a cistern 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:25.320 for collecting water remains clean. But anyone who touches one 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:30.320 of these carcasses is unclean. Verse thirty seven. If a 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:36.200 carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:45.520 they remain clean. Good. You got a new favorite passage 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:50.640 of scripture. Now drop down real quick to verse forty four. 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:54.440 I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves and be 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:58.560 holy because I'm holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.760 any creature that moves along the grid. I am the 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:05.479 Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:13.320 your God. Therefore be holy because I am holy. This 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:19.520 message today is called not dead Yet. Shout it out. 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:26.280 Say not dead yet one more time, say not dead yet. 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:28.320 Now look at somebody next to you and say, God 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:36.720 is not finished with me. I'm not dead yet. Let's 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.040 clap our hands for the Book of Leviticus, for the 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:43.200 living Word of God. You may be seated, Be seated, 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:49.600 Be seated, be seated, be seated. Of all of the 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:54.920 times to preach a text with dietary restrictions, it seems 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:58.000 strange that the spirit would illuminate for me and for 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:02.840 your edification a dietary restriction chapter of the Bible at 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:05.720 a time of the year where everybody is starting their 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:13.200 diet next year. Of course, people are very arrogant about 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:17.280 their diets at times. You know, I do paleo, I 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:21.520 do keto, i'd do vega, and i'd do macros, I 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:26.320 do micros. I eat clean. One guy said that to 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.240 me the other day, he said, I eat clean. I said, 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:33.120 what does that mean, because I hear all kinds of 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.960 people say I'm trying to eat clean, and I don't 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.920 know what that means. Because, you know, one guy told 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:40.920 me one time, I only eat brown rice when I 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.319 go to the Chinese restaurant, I eat clean. But he 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:49.240 was talking about the fried rice. He heard brown rice 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.440 was better for you than white rice. So he ate 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.319 the brown rice and thought he was eating clean. Wow, 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:58.040 we need to learn. They brought a nutritionist over to 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:01.560 me the other day because my cholesterol was and we 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:03.600 got it down so you could take me off your 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:07.920 prayer list for now. But the lady started fussing at 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.600 me the moment she walked in the door. She was 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.760 fussing about my diet cox, she was fussing about my 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:16.880 quest cookies. And I'm like, hey, lady, this is the 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:21.439 wrong approach for you to take. You need to teach 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:24.560 me what I need to do. Don't just lecture me. 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:27.600 And how can you start lecturing me? She started dropping 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:31.720 f bombs in the meeting, cussing at me. Didn't even 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.199 take time to think, this is a preacher that I'm 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.520 talking to, and if he says the effort, he certainly 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:44.280 doesn't say it much or admitted faith. Faith faith. I'm 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:49.840 talking about faith. That word now, Well, we're seeing in 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:53.040 Leviticus eleven. You got to come at it a little 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:57.440 bit differently to understand the distinctions that God is making 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.840 for his people. He is not really teaching them to 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:06.480 eat clean. He is teaching them to be clean, holy 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:11.560 like he is. He's teaching them to be like he is, 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:14.600 and he has to take them through stages and doing 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:18.040 that because of where they've been. Let me give you 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:20.640 a quick review of this, because I believe God wants 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:24.560 to teach us to be clean, not perfect, but clean. 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:28.320 Not that we just go around showing off how many 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:32.440 Bible verses we can quote. But to be clean and 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:35.320 to be clean is really not about eating clean. Jesus said, 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:38.040 it's what goes into a man's mouth that defiles him, 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:42.440 but what comes out. So we're not really here today 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:46.560 to talk about eating clean. We're here to talk about 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:52.080 thinking clean, thinking clean. He's teaching his people. God is 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:56.800 teaching these Israelites to think clean. In other words, he's 0:10:56.800 --> 0:11:00.360 purging them from the past that they've been through so 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:02.280 that he can bring them into the land that he's 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:06.640 promised them. He has promised them a place, but they're 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:12.640 not there yet. And yet they're not in Egypt anymore. 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:17.520 But they're not there yet. And a part of him 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:20.600 teaching them what to do in the process of their 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:26.880 transformation starts with these laws or regulations about eat this, 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:30.480 don't eat that. You can't eat the animal that moves 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:33.800 along the ground unless it has a divided hoof and 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:36.840 it choose the cud. So no rabbits because they don't 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:38.840 have a divided hoof and chew the cud. You can't 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:41.600 eat the rabbit. You can't eat the pig. You can't 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:44.840 eat these birds. You can't eat these birds. You can't 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.720 eat these insects. You can't eat these insects. So apparently 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.360 there are some insects that were on the menu. Thanks 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:53.000 a lot, God, I'm really glad about those insects. But 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:55.640 you can't eat shrimp because you can't eat any animals 0:11:55.720 --> 0:12:01.800 that move along the sea that don't have fins and scales. Y'all, 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:03.920 I don't want to live in that world where there 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:07.080 are no shrimp. Lord, why did you save me? If 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:08.800 you weren't gonna let me eat shrimp? Just take me 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:13.200 to heaven. Now. Of course, these dietary restrictions change, and 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:14.920 we see in the New Testament that God tells Peter 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:17.160 Rise killing and it was never really about the food. 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:23.720 It was about their faith. It was about their minds, 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:28.400 not their menus. It was never about these exact things. 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:32.439 But he needed to use these things. Why because they 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:38.520 are his people walking into his promise. But they are 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.160 in between where. Let me show it to you in 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.200 four different stages. I put this together where I think 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.160 we can all get it. How God is guiding his 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.800 people to teach them who they have been all along. 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:53.600 These people that he's speaking to who are in the wilderness, 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:58.840 they are people who have been brought from a place. 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.240 Put that up on the screen and maybe write that 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:07.640 down if you would. They are brought from a place. Everybody, 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:11.040 under the sound of my voice say, I'm brought from 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:14.880 a place. I don't know where God brought you from, 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:17.280 but I know that all of us who have the 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:19.600 hope of Heaven and the Holy Spirit inside of us, 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.880 we have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and sin. 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:27.600 That God reached into the pit of our sin and 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:31.000 the pit of our past and brought us from a place. 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:33.800 Now you may have prayed a prayer to receive Jesus 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:35.920 Christ as your Lord and savior when you were seven 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:39.160 months old, but you were still brought from a place. 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:42.880 Because even in sin and iniquity did my mother conceive me. 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:46.400 Because there is none righteous, no not one. So for 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:48.240 God to bring me into his kingdom, he had to 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:52.000 transfer me out of another kingdom. In the text, there's 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:54.880 this group of millions of people who have been brought 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:58.240 from Egypt where they were slaves under Pharaoh. But we 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.920 have been brought from a place too, not necessarily a 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:05.320 physical place of slavery, but we were slaves to sin, 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.480 we were slaves to shame, and we were brought when 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:14.160 we accepted Christ. If we have accepted Christ from a place, 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:16.720 say it again, now that you know what it means. 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:20.640 I'm brought from a place. So if I asked you, 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:22.640 where did you come from? You say Brazil, But it's 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.240 really not Brazil. You came from You came from sin, 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:29.480 You came from shame, you came from mistakes, You came 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:31.760 from the ground, you came from the dirt, you came 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:34.400 from a mess, you came from a pit. Where you 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.040 came from Today it's not so much of a physical 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.920 issue as it is a spiritual issue. And they are 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:44.600 brought from a place. Say it again, I'm brought from 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:48.160 a place. And they got out of there quick. They 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:50.600 had to get out of Egypt quick. Do you remember 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.160 the Red Sea, how they're running through the Red Sea 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.800 and Pharaoh's chariots are coming up close behind them, and 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.600 they're running from the chariots in the waters, and God 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:03.080 does this big, huge thing where he parts the waters 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:06.840 and kills the Egyptians. And he said, the Egyptians that 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.160 you see today, you will see no more. The thing 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:13.320 that was tormenting you the night before is gonna be 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:16.840 dead tomorrow morning. The thing that cracked its cruel whip 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:20.400 across your back and said, get back here. I'm bringing 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:22.880 you out of that. I'm snatching you out of that. 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:25.960 I'm taking you out of that. I'm delivering you out 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:29.400 of that. I am rescued because the hand of God, 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:33.440 when he heard my cry, reached into my situation and 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:36.320 gave me a new heart and a new mind, and 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.520 a new attitude and a new possibility. And He is 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.480 making me what He created me to be. I'm not 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:44.800 staying in the image of what I came out of. 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:48.280 I am brought from a place. I've come a mighty 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:51.720 long way. I'm not what I'm gonna be, but thank God, 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.520 I'm not what I used to be. You should see 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:57.600 what God delivered me from. You should see what God 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:00.480 snatched me out of. You should see what the blood 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.680 of Jesus covert, which brings me to point number two. 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.160 Not only am I brought from a place, but I'm 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.880 bought with the price. It's not the blood of a lamb. 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:14.240 It's the blood of the lamb who was slain from 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:18.880 the foundation of the world, the pure, spotless lamb of God, 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:22.680 the only one who is able and worthy to open 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:26.480 up the skull. I've bought with the price, not five dollars, 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:30.480 not ten dollars, not a million dollars. One drop of 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:35.200 his blood cost him his perfect life. I'm bought, I'm brought. 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:41.240 I'm bought. Let's shout twenty two seconds about that. I'm 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:49.160 not worthless, not nothing. I'm not prish, I'm not done. 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:59.800 I'm bought because the lamb that was slain for my sin. 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:03.720 So it's perfect and eternal. Now, these people, they when 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:06.560 they were leaving Egypt, God had to kill every firstborn 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:09.040 in Egypt to get them out. When God wanted to 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:14.200 bring you out, he allowed his firstborn son. You see 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:17.000 the parallels. So we think, like Leviticus, this has nothing 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:21.480 to do with me. I'm eating shrimp. I don't even 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.000 want to eat insects. Why are you telling me? I 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:26.120 never in my life thought I want to eat a weasel? 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:28.760 Why did you preach me a scripture when I got 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:32.760 real bills and real health issues and real challenges and 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:43.119 real side chicks. I want to bring this text into 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:47.439 our time so we don't see this as a list, 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:53.680 but a lens of the God who brought me from 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:58.119 a place and bought me with the price. Because the 0:17:58.200 --> 0:17:59.959 truth is, as much as I love to shout out 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:02.480 about that I'm brought from a place and bought with 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:11.880 the price, but I am caught in a pattern. Can 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:15.200 you tell I've missed you. I've been studying ever since 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:17.040 the last time I saw you, just to give you 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.280 something of value, because I know that sometimes you feel 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:22.399 trapped in that past that you were shouting like you 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:28.440 got out of it, that you know the blood of 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:34.240 Jesus bought you, but you still feel worthless sometimes that 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:36.160 you know He brought you out of sin and shame, 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:37.920 but you still do things that make you a shame. 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:42.040 I always like to give a moment where even if 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:43.880 you yelled at your kids on the way to church, 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:48.320 God can still speak to you today. Some of you, 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:50.399 something that happened on the way to church is keeping 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:53.520 you from even hearing what I'm saying. Right now, you 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.239 see that exit sign. Tell the devil to point his 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.359 big long Pinocchio and Lion knows in the direction of 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:03.800 that exit and get out of here, because we are 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:09.880 all caught and conflicted in something. Even though we are 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:15.400 in Christ, we are in conflict the patterns of this world. 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:18.280 Romans will call it the New Testament, Scripture will say, 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:21.840 or first Peter's even better one. He calls it the 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:26.040 empty way of life that was handed to you. Wow, 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:29.960 we have hand me down habits, we have hand me 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:34.040 down hang ups things that we learned. And God is 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:37.560 teaching his people in Leviticus eleven, They're in the wilderness, 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:44.080 not the promised land, not Egypt, the wilderness. And God 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:52.119 works in your wilderness. He does. God works in your weakness, 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:57.560 God works in your waiting. It's not the promise, it's 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:02.480 not the past. It's the wilderness. The Lord sent me 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:07.400 to somebody today who has been in a wilderness, not physical, 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:11.240 because he brought me from a place Egypt. But I'm 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:15.480 not already all the way to the place heaven, and 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:18.520 I'm still here. And I think this might be the 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:23.919 best way to say it. I'm out of Egypt, but 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:32.399 I'm not sure Egypt is out of me. I'm in 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:36.679 the world, I'm not of it. But there are some 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:40.960 patterns because one day I'm gonna be with Jesus said 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:42.639 I'm gonna sing around his throne and said to his 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.520 feet forevermore, and I'm gonna play harp. But I'm not 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:51.160 there yet, because I'm not dead yet. And the only 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:55.240 time I'm gonna be free from this conflict is for 0:20:55.359 --> 0:20:58.920 me to be free from this body. But as long 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:02.679 as I'm in this body, yeah, I'm brought from a place. 0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:09.320 I'm rescued, I'm bought with a price, I'm redeemed. But 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:15.000 I'm caught in a pattern. I'm wrestling. I'm wrestling between 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:17.800 this is where I came from, this is where I'm going, 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:20.480 this is what I've done, this is what he's doing, 0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:23.919 and I'm caught in a pattern. So this is what 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:27.280 I needed to tell the nutritionist. Okay, stop cussing at me, 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:31.320 stop criticizing me, Stop acting like I don't exercise six 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:35.040 days a week. I work really hard at this. I 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:42.960 need to be taught through a process. Flap your hands 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:49.359 and brace God for his process. That God doesn't drop 0:21:49.400 --> 0:21:51.800 an F bomb on you just because you messed up again. 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:56.760 That he could, but he didn't. He is taking his 0:21:56.920 --> 0:21:59.960 people through, and he is taking you through a wildern, 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:04.560 this experience where there's not much water and there's same 0:22:04.600 --> 0:22:08.200 old scenery and it's not exactly my home. And here 0:22:08.240 --> 0:22:12.200 I am living this life and he's teaching me. He 0:22:12.840 --> 0:22:15.480 brings them, Okay, the book Leviticus is actually amazing, y'all. 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:19.640 That's why it's love Itacus. I love it. I love 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:21.639 it now. I love this book of the Bible. He 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:24.200 gives them the offerings that they need to make. Whether 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:27.359 it's a thanks offering, whether it's a fellowship offering, whether 0:22:27.400 --> 0:22:30.399 it's a peace offering, whether it's a sin offering, whether 0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:33.320 it's a guilt offering, any of those five offerings. He 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:35.719 shows them how to do it. Hey, here's how you 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:38.160 do it. Hey, here's how you cut it up. Hey, 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:40.560 here's where you offer it. Here's how you offer it. 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:44.000 Here's who offers it. Here's the priest. Here's what they wear, 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:46.800 Here's what they do, here's when they do it. All 0:22:46.840 --> 0:22:53.199 of this is not to limit them, but to liberate them. 0:22:53.240 --> 0:22:57.440 He's a liberator. He brings me into places, he brings 0:22:57.480 --> 0:23:00.919 me into spaces, he brings me into challenge, he brings 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:05.640 me into dilemmas to set me free from my flesh, 0:23:06.000 --> 0:23:10.000 to set me free from my feelings, to show me 0:23:10.440 --> 0:23:14.840 this is how you do it. And I need him 0:23:14.880 --> 0:23:19.080 to teach me. I need God to teach me a 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:22.639 different way to do it, because honestly, the ways that 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:26.560 I tried without him do not work for very long. 0:23:27.480 --> 0:23:29.879 Oh they can get me what I want right now, 0:23:30.800 --> 0:23:33.720 but they actually leave me in greater bondage than I 0:23:33.840 --> 0:23:39.920 was before. And I love the Lord because he's a teacher. 0:23:41.119 --> 0:23:47.639 He's been teaching me lately. Not about shellfish, definitely, not 0:23:47.720 --> 0:23:53.719 about monitor lizards and wall lizards. And what did it say? 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:58.199 You can't eat the skink? What is a skink? I 0:23:58.240 --> 0:24:00.280 heard of the Get Go. I see his commercial during 0:24:00.320 --> 0:24:06.600 football every single Saturday while I'm studying, And uh, but 0:24:06.720 --> 0:24:09.200 the skink he said, Nah, don't eat that? And what 0:24:09.440 --> 0:24:13.240 if you see it now? Not about eating clean because 0:24:13.240 --> 0:24:17.439 we know those dietary restrictions were for that time. But 0:24:17.560 --> 0:24:22.639 the way that you think about you, the way that 0:24:22.680 --> 0:24:26.879 you think about God, and the way that you think 0:24:27.400 --> 0:24:32.440 about your life, isn't this What God is always teaching 0:24:32.480 --> 0:24:37.320 me is how to think like He thinks about what 0:24:37.400 --> 0:24:41.800 I'm going through, about how to think like He thinks 0:24:42.520 --> 0:24:45.399 about what is best for me? One of my favorite 0:24:45.400 --> 0:24:49.240 scriptures says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, says the Lord. 0:24:49.920 --> 0:24:53.240 That means there's a big gap between great, big God 0:24:53.760 --> 0:24:57.280 and little bitty Stevie. That means what he thinks and 0:24:57.320 --> 0:25:00.399 what I think are not automatically aligned. Every morning, I 0:25:00.440 --> 0:25:04.320 got to get in sync with God so I can 0:25:04.440 --> 0:25:10.000 think like he thinks. And he says, don't eat the skink. 0:25:11.840 --> 0:25:16.080 Don't eat the skink. Why because I want to teach 0:25:16.119 --> 0:25:20.000 you to discern, so that when you go into these 0:25:20.119 --> 0:25:23.760 neighboring nations in Canaan, you won't do what they do. 0:25:24.240 --> 0:25:27.119