APPROACHING YOUR YEAR-I— Exodus 12:1-13
•For the subject at hand—The New Year—God’s people must approach it within an exclusive worldview.
Need:
The coming new year, should & can be approached with confidence!
God established a novel way for Israel to approach their calendar year.
God’s people should have a particular approach toward understanding their calendar year.
How are we to approach our new year?
5 paths/trajectories for approaching the new year.
Rom. 14:7-8—“For none of us lives to himself, & no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; & if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
1—A proper approach toward your year is found in...
Your GOD(:1)
Explanation:(:1)
:1—“Now the LORD spoke to Moses & Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,”
“Now the LORD spoke...”
Ex. 3:13-15—“Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel & say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ & they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, & the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, & this is My memorial to all generations.’”
The God of the Bible, being the God of reality, is the Trinitarian God. He has ‘revealed’ Himself to mankind thru His acts of creation. He has revealed Himself to mankind thru many ages, & thru many people, & thru many actions.
YHWH is the God who “speaks” to His people, AND to those who are NOT His people.
He speaks to His people thru his Holy Spirit who indwells those who trust Him with their lives.
?Is your God YHWH—The Father, Son(Christ), & Holy Spirit?—the God of the Bible?
Argumentation:
Ex. 6:6-7—“Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, & I will redeem you with an outstretched arm & with great judgments. I will take you as My people, & I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”
Isa. 44:6—““Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First & I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.”
Rev. 1:8—“I am the Alpha & the Omega, the Beginning & the End,” says the Lord, “who is & who was & who is to come, the Almighty.”
Rev. 21:3, 7-8—“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, & He will dwell with them, & they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them & be their God.”.... ““He who overcomes shall inherit all things, & I will be his God & he shall be My son. “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, & all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire & brimstone, which is the second death.””
Rom. 9:25-26—“As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved. ““And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”
Jn. 14:6—“Jesus said to him[Thomas], “I am the way, the truth, & the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Acts 4:12—“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”
Col. 3:2-3—“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, & your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
2Cor. 6:16-18—“And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”[Lev. 26:12]. Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord.[Isa. 52:11] Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you”[Num. 16:26]. “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons & daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”[Lev. 26:12; Ex. 6:7].
Illustration:
Gang members. Their ‘god’ is themselves! Their ‘church’ is their gathered membership. Their ‘moral truth’ is limited to themselves. They approach their year very differently than Christians do. They approach it by self-ordained beliefs. Your GOD
Businesses. A Chick-Fil-A began with the distinction that they would never be open on Sunday! Nay-sayers in the secular ‘business world’ derided them, saying that Sunday closings would never allow them to grow or be financially stable. Non-Christian businesses base their year on ‘financial’ decisions, that arise from themselves, despite God’s moral revelation.’ Your GOD
Church members. We have both an ‘Active Church Membership’ list as well as an ‘Inactive Church Membership’ list? WHY? Why do we gather together? Why do some NOT gather? Your GOD
Application:
?Who is the ‘GOD’ that guides Your approach to the upcoming year?
?Does Your ‘GOD’ focus upon Your life in Christ!
?Are You using God’s proper approach toward the upcoming year?
2—A proper approach toward your year is found in...
Your SPOKESMEN(:1)
Explanation:(:1)
:1—“Now the LORD spoke to Moses & Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying”
Moses’ call—
Ex. 3:16-22—YHWH to Moses—“Go & gather the elders of Israel together, & say to them, ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, & of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you & seen what is done to you in Egypt;” & I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites & the Hittites & the Amorites & the Perizzites & the Hivites & the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk & honey. Then they will heed your voice; & you shall come, you & the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; & you shall say to him, ‘The LORD God of the Hebrews has met with us; & now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ “But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand & strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; & after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; & it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, & clothing; & you shall put them on your sons & on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.””
Aaron’s call—
Ex. 4:10-16—“Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech & slow of tongue.” bSo the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? Now therefore, go, & I will be with your mouth & teach you what you shall say.” But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, & He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Now you shall speak to him & put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth & with his mouth, & I will teach you what you shall do. So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, & you shall be to him as God.”
Concerning YOUR Spokesmen...
?Are they God-called, OR are they entertainers, telling the world what it wants to hear?
Argumentation:
Ps. 119:11—consider those who penned what God desired of them—“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!”
Mal. 2:5-7—“My covenant was with him, one of life & peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace & equity, And turned many away from iniquity. “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.”
•Today on this side of the Cross of Christ—His people are a ‘priesthood of believers.’
1Tim. 2:5—“For there is one God & one Mediator between God & men, the Man Christ Jesus,”
Eph. 2:19-22—“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers & foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints & members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles & prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
1Pet. 5:1-4—of apostles—“The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder & a witness of the sufferings of Christ, & also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; & when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.”
1Tim. 3:2-7—of pastors—“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach & the snare of the devil.”
1Tim. 3:8-13—of deacons—“Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children & their own houses well. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing & great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
Illustration:
Coach Harbison(from high school). Talking of a debate & particular stance of a Lutheran Synod. His Dad was a Lutheran pastor. Coach Harbison said, Good thing my dad is dead, because this upset in the church would have killed him.’ YOUR SPOKESMEN?
Congressmen. Senators. President/Eloquent speakers. ?Are they your Representatives, OR... are they the Determiners of your ideals? YOUR SPOKESMEN?
Music. Draw out deep emotional attachments-either right or wrong. Record industry preaches the goodness of human nature. ?Are they your Representatives, OR... are they the Determiners of your ideals? Are they...YOUR SPOKESMEN?
Movies. Can draw-out deep emotional attachments-either rightly or wrongly. Hollywood preaches the goodness of human nature. ?Are they your Representatives, OR... are they the Determiners of your ideals? Are they...YOUR SPOKESMEN?
Books. Can draw-out deep emotional attachments-either rightly or wrongly. The book industry preaches the goodness of human nature. ?Are they your Representatives, OR... are they the Determiners of your ideals? Are they...YOUR SPOKESMEN?
Application:
?Who are the ‘SPOKESMEN’ that guide Your approach to the upcoming year?
?Do those trusted ‘SPOKESMEN’, focus upon Your life in Christ!
?Are You using God’s proper approach toward the upcoming year?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Concerning our entering A New Year—God’s people must approach it within an exclusive worldview.
The coming new year, should & can be approached with confidence!
Action:
A proper approach toward your year is found in...
1. Your GOD(:1)
2. Your SPOKESMEN(:1)
Pt#s 1-2 only! Presented 12/31/2023am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC 29512
Pnt#s 1-3 Presented 01/03/2010am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
Pt#s 1-4 Presented 01/01/2006am to:
Richland Baptist Church
40510 Stewart Rd.
Zephyrhills, FL 33544
