Episode Transcript
Hosea 10, God willing, we'll be expounding verse 11 this morning.
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It's good to see Sister Becky Shepard back with us this morning.
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Yes, thank the Lord.
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The tile of the message this morning is heifers in the house of God.
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Dad, I did not make that connection.
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Y'all did.
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The timing there just wasn't good, was it?
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Man, that's a blooper right there.
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That had nothing to do with Sister Becky Shepard.
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Sister Becky has children, she can't be a heifer anyway,
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which we'll learn about here in just a moment.
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I promise that did not mean to come out that way.
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Hosea 10, verse 11, heifers in the house of God.
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In verse 10 last week, we learned that Israel had tied herself to two furrows,
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meaning she's playing two different rows in two different directions
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for two different masters at the same time, and we all know it can't be done.
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Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters."
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Jesus said, "No man putting his hand to the plow."
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Plows in front of him, and looking back in the opposite direction,
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the direction that plows going, is not fit for the kingdom of God.
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So God was going to judge Israel because their hand physically and outwardly
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may have been on God's plow, but their heart was looking to the gods,
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the nations around them.
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Continuing with the theme of plowing in verse 11 now, God says,
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"And Ephraim is an heifer that is taught."
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Let's pray.
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Father, we thank you for your precious word.
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Thank you for the good singing this morning.
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Thank you for the truth behind the songs.
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Thank you for those who are tuning in online this morning,
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those who came here in person, encouraging our hearts,
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seeing each and every one.
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And I pray, Father, Lord, that your word will go forth
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in the power of your spirit this morning.
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You'll open our eyes to see your word, to understand it,
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to grow therein, and to obey it, Father.
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Receive all honor and glory, we pray, in Jesus' precious name.
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Amen.
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And Ephraim is an heifer that is taught.
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You probably can tell already that the Scripture verse this morning
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is a rather difficult verse.
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It's not one that you just read and say, "Oh, what a blessing that is."
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It's not one that Brother Doug would pick out for a memory verse
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and bring to us because we'd be reading it,
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and most of us probably wouldn't be understanding it.
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It's a difficult verse.
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But as we go through it, God will open it up,
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as he so faithfully does.
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God said, "Ephraim," that is the northern kingdom of Israel,
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"was like a heifer, and a heifer is a female cow that has not had a calf yet."
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A heifer is a female cow that has not yet given birth to a calf.
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Now, a cow that has not yet given birth to a calf,
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and I'm going to put it on my terms so you can understand it.
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It'll help me understand it because I have chickens, all right?
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A cow that has not yet given birth to a calf
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is like a chicken that hasn't yet laid an egg
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or a duck that hasn't yet laid an egg, all right?
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Because we've got someone here who's got some ducks
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or about to get some ducks.
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But until that chicken lays an egg, I'm feeding it,
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I'm caring for it, I'm doctoring it,
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and man, you ought to watch if you want some good entertainment.
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I'm catching it when it gets out.
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I'm doing all the work for the chicken,
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and the chicken's doing nothing for me.
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You get it?
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A cow is like a chicken in that regard, but on a much larger scale.
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If I have a heifer, and the heifer's eating my grass,
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and you wouldn't have a heifer this morning, anybody have a heifer in here?
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Used to. Well, that doesn't count.
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What kind of counts?
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Was it on your land?
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All right.
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Did you feed it?
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Did you care for it?
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What did you get out of that heifer?
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Yeah, that's about it.
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But God had been caring for Israel.
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I mean, if I've got a heifer, it's eating my grass,
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it's eating my feed, it's receiving my care,
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but she's not increasing my herd,
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and she's not giving me any milk.
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God had been caring for Israel, providing for Israel, protecting Israel,
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and blessing Israel, yet Israel wasn't living for God.
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Just a heifer.
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Soak it all in and give nothing in return.
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A lot of people are like that.
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She was like a heifer toward God, always taking from God,
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but not giving to God what rightfully belonged to him.
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They were heifers in the house of God.
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We have heifers in God's house today, too.
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People who think that the Christian life is all about God taking care of them.
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God bless me, God help me, God rescue me, God pay my bills,
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God fix my problems, God take care of my health,
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God get my kids out of trouble.
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And listen, God wants to bless you and help you and rescue you and fix your problems,
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but God created you to serve him and not the way around.
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If we don't think about serving God as long as our needs are being met,
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if that's the only time we think about serving God, we'll just meet my needs.
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I'll serve you if my needs are getting met, then we're a heifer.
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If that's all services to us, just getting our needs met,
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and we don't think about really serving God, we're a heifer.
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And now a heifer can be used for manual labor.
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Not like a bull now.
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Bulls are much stronger than heifers.
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But a heifer can be used for some manual labor.
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And in this case, God had trained Israel how to work.
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Not like a heifer, though he trained her how to work like a bull.
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He said Israel was like a heifer that is what?
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Taught.
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Taught.
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Now, I want you to listen to how this Hebrew word translated "taught" here
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is used in Deuteronomy 4, verse 1.
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Deuteronomy 4, verse 1.
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"Now therefore, hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes
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and unto the judgments which I teach you."
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Same word. "For to do them that ye may live and go in
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and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers give with you."
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So what did God teach Israel?
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The statutes and his judgments.
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Israel was a heifer that had been taught by God
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to do God's statutes and judgments.
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To pull the plow, to break up the fallow ground,
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to do the hard work, to do his commandments,
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but instead she was like a heifer that had been trained to do a bull's work.
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God had a great arrangement with Israel.
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"You do the statutes that I teach you,
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and I will bless you in the land that I give you."
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God had taught Israel well,
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but they weren't doing as they had been taught.
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They were a bunch of lazy heifers.
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Lazy heifers, and look back at your text,
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and loveth to tread out the corn where I work.
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There's a certain duty that's very pleasant to do.
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I won't tell you all about it, but I'll give you a little idea.
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When you're doing this duty, now my wife knows all about it.
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She knows about this duty.
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We talk all the time about it.
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When you're doing this particular duty,
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you have time to sit down in a comfortable chair.
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You have time to relax,
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and have some quiet time all to yourself
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when you're manning this particular post.
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And since the post is so nice and cozy,
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the men want to make sure that they all get their fair share
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manning that post throughout the day.
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I mean, it's pathetic.
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They'll break it down, divide it up into the little bits of minutes
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and everything like that to make sure they get their fair share of time
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at that comfortable post.
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And there's one particular man
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who's always willing to help out his co-workers, Miss Ann.
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I mean, he wants to help them out.
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He's a stand-up guy.
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He's always willing to help his co-workers out.
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I mean, he's always willing to lend a helping hand
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that he might serve them
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by taking their time working that comfortable post.
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I'm not making this up.
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He'll show up early to relieve them at that post.
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He came up to a man the other day.
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He came down there.
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Now, understand you're sitting in a chair.
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You're relaxed.
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You're the most comfortable you could possibly be at work.
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And he shows up early and he says,
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"I thought you might need a breather."
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"Need a breather, Brother Doug."
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Always a stand-up guy, always trying to make sure
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that the other guy doesn't get too worn out
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sitting in that comfortable chair.
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He's always willing to help
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as long as the help is helping him.
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You see?
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That's the way Israel was.
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You see, treading out the corn, that is that nice, cozy post.
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Treading out the corn was the best job you could get
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if you were in the bovine category.
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Deuteronomy 25, 4 tells us why.
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"Brother Doug, you will relate to this, Brother."
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"Brother Doug, I've heard him say it once.
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I've heard him say it a hundred times."
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"I like groceries."
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I mean, that could be on his epitaph.
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"I like groceries."
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Doug Sexton.
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He loves to eat.
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Just watch next Sunday.
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Watch it.
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How many of y'all have seen his plate on Sunday?
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You're going to understand this.
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You're going to understand why
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treading out the corn was such a cozy job.
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Deuteronomy 25, 4, "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox
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when he treadeth out the corn."
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Why do the ox like treading out the corn?
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Why do the heifer enjoy treading out the corn?
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She got to stuff her face when she was eating that corn.
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You see, if you were an ox,
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you wanted the job of treading out the grain.
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When an ox treaded out that grain,
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they pulled a threshing instrument behind them
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that separated the grain from its shuck.
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But the good part was the ox got to eat.
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All she wanted, all he wanted.
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The law specifically forbade the Jews
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from putting a muzzle on the oxen's mouths
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when they treaded out the corn.
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That's why Israel loved treading out the corn.
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They loved manning the cozy posts.
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They always happened to serve their master
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as long as it was serving them,
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which isn't serving your master at all.
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If we're always willing to volunteer
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for the easy stuff that benefits us,
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but we're unwilling to serve God
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when sacrifice is required,
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then we are heifers in the house of God.
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You get it?
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It kind of stings, maybe, huh?
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You know, there's a lot more to do in God's kingdom
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than simply treading out the corn.
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There's burdens for us to bear.
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You know how you get that corn?
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You get the corn because some oxen
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have to be hooked up to a plow.
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They got to be hooked up to instruments
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to drag along and break up the clods
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and plow the furrows and all the things
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that have to be done for that seed to get put in there.
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And then men have to plant the seed,
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and then men have to harvest the seed,
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and then they bring it in here,
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and then suddenly here's that heifer.
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Well, I'll tread out the corn.
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He goes up and tells those oxen,
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they've been out there sweating and working
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and breaking their backs all season long,
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and finally harvest time comes in,
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and then the heifer goes up and says,
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"You guys may need a breather.
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I'll tread the corn out for you."
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That's the way a lot of church people are,
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what a lot of Christians are.
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They're more than willing to watch everybody else
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do the hard stuff, more than willing.
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And when something easy comes along,
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they can benefit them.
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Well, I'll do that.
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But there's burdens for us to bear.
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There's plows for us to pull.
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There's fallow ground for us to break up to
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in the kingdom of God.
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Praise God for the times when God sets us
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in front of that corn,
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and we get to tread out the corn.
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Thank God there's some times when we get some rest
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while we're serving the Lord,
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and we get our bellies full,
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and things are going great.
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I love those times.
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But those times have to be tempered
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with the harder times, too.
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All the service has to be done.
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Our service to God includes hard labor, too.
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You can't eat corn when you're bearing burdens.
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You got something on your back,
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you're an ox, and you get this load on your back,
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and you're having to walk this load
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and carry it for your master.
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There's no time to eat corn.
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You've got to get moving.
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You can't eat corn when you're plowing up fallow ground.
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There's no corn on that ground to eat in front of you.
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But if all we do is tread out corn,
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and that's all we do, you know what we become?
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We become fat, lazy heifers in the house of God,
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spiritually speaking.
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We get fed treading the corn,
00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,840
but we get strong bearing the burdens
00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,840
and plowing the field, and we get rewarded, too.
00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:58,840
Heifers love to tread out the corn.
00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,840
God says, look back in your text,
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:03,840
"But I passed over upon her fair neck."
00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:08,840
"I passed over upon her fair neck."
00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:14,840
Now, if you would underscore the words "passed over."
00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:19,840
"Passed over."
00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,840
And in the margin of your Bibles or in your notes,
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if you don't like writing in your Bibles,
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write down outside of this verse here,
00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:30,840
Exodus 12.23.
00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:34,840
Exodus 12.23.
00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:37,840
"I passed over upon her neck."
00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,840
Now, don't get confused with the words "passed over," okay?
00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:46,840
And don't confuse "passed over" with "pass over."
00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:53,840
They're two different things.
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Now, in Exodus 12.23, we're going to see both of these used.
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Then I think this is going to explain this clearly for us.
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Exodus 12.23, this is on pass overnight.
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Listen to what God told Israel.
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"For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians,
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and when he seeeth the blood upon the lentil
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and on the two-side post, the Lord will pass over the door."
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So there were two things going on on pass overnight.
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One, God's going to pass through the land of Egypt,
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and he's going to judge Egypt.
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He's going to pass through the entire land,
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and he's going to execute judgment
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on all the firstborn in every house.
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When he comes to the Israelites' house
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that have blood on the doorpost,
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he's not going to pass through there.
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He's going to pass over that.
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See the difference?
00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:50,840
Pass over literally means to hop over, to skip over.
00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:54,840
So the word "pass through" here,
00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,840
when God passes through the land of judgment,
00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:01,840
that's the same Hebrew word translated,
00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,840
"passed over" here in Hosea.
00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:09,840
So with that in mind,
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God's not talking about skipping over Israel,
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but he's saying, if he would,
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"but I passed over upon her fair neck."
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What he's saying is, "I passed through her fair neck."
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That makes sense?
00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:26,840
"I passed through her fair neck."
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So when God said he passed over upon Israel's fair neck,
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he's saying he passed through Israel's fair land.
00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:39,840
Just as he passed through Egypt's fair land
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when he judged it on the night of Passover,
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God is passing through the wonderful land of Israel
00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,840
that he had blessed, and now he's going to judge it.
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Makes sense? Why?
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:54,840
Because she's a fat, lazy heifer.
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And so he's going to come in,
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he's going to say, "I've got something for you, fat, lazy heifer.
00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:04,840
I'm passing through your land,
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and I'm going to judge you."
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How's he going to judge Israel?
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Well, Israel didn't want to pull a plow for God.
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Israel didn't want to break up fallow ground for God.
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All they wanted to do is tread out and eat God's corn.
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So what did God say?
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He was going to--he's going to pass through their fair land,
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look back in your text now in Hosea,
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"I will make Ephraim to ride.
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Judah shall plow, Jacob shall break his clods."
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Take your pens and underscore these three verbs.
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Ride.
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What's the next one?
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Plow.
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What's the next one?
00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:51,840
Break.
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Ride, plow, and break.
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The Hebrew word "ride" here, don't get the idea of Ephraim
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getting on a horse and riding away.
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The Hebrew word translated "ride" here,
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it has the idea of placing something on the back of an animal
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that it may ride on it.
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One modern translation words it this way,
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:16,840
"I will set a rider on Ephraim."
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Or you could have the picture of God setting a burden on Ephraim.
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So instead of a fat, lazy heifer treading out corn,
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you've got one that's going to be bearing burdens,
00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:34,840
a burden riding on its back,
00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,840
plowing up fields and breaking up ground.
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Riding, plowing, breaking.
00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:48,840
The yoke and burden of our God is easy to bear,
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but our enemy's burden never is.
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God did not, I mean, Ephraim did not want to plow God's field.
00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:06,840
So Ephraim is going to bear the burden of her enemy instead.
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:11,840
That's what's going to happen.
00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:13,840
Last Sunday was Palm Sunday,
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the day Jesus rode that donkey into Israel.
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And they cast down palm branches in front of that donkey
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as he bore the burden of the weight of Jesus upon him.
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Church, I don't know all the burdens that donkey bore in its lifetime
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:42,840
after it bore Jesus.
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But I know one thing,
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and it's that that bearing Jesus on his back was the happiest time
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,840
that donkey ever had.
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:56,840
The best time of that donkey's life
00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:58,840
was bearing the burden of Jesus Christ on his back.
00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,840
God said, "I will set a rider on Ephraim."
00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,840
Church, we are oxen.
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We were created by our God to bear burdens,
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to plow fields and to break up new ground,
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to bear fruit to the glory of God.
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We're going to bear a rider.
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:21,840
We're going to have a burden on our back.
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That's why Jesus says, "My yoke is easy. My burden is light."
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:30,840
We're going to serve somebody.
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,840
Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters."
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But you know what he never said?
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Some men serve no masters.
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He never said that.
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We're going to bear the burden of someone,
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the God who created us or the devil who wants to destroy us.
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One burden's going to take us up.
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,840
The other burden's going to bring us down.
00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:57,840
When Jesus rode that donkey into Jerusalem,
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,840
he sent two of his disciples in Mark 11,
00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,840
verse 2 through 3,
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"And saith unto them,
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:08,840
Go your way into the village that is over against you,
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and straightway as ye enter into it,
00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,840
ye shall find a colt tied whereon no man ever sat.
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Loose him and bring him."
00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:22,840
Two things. Loose and bring.
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The colt was bound.
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The colt was separated from Jesus.
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Jesus is about to free the colt
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and bring the colt to him.
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:41,840
And he said, "And if any one say unto you,
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Why do ye this?
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:46,840
Say ye the Lord hath need of him,
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and straightway he will send him back ever."
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:52,840
Before that donkey came again, it was tied.
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When Jesus came, though it was loosed and it was brought to him,
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whoever you are, just like that donkey,
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,840
the Lord hath need of you.
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He has a job for you to do.
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:07,840
There is a purpose he created you for.
00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:11,840
You weren't just born into this world, into America.
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,840
You just weren't born to the family you were born into,
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just by happenstance.
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:19,840
You were born with purpose and with God's providence.
00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,840
Whoever you are, like that donkey the Lord hath need of you,
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,840
the Lord wants to loose you from your bondage
00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,840
and give you a glorious purpose in the kingdom of God.
00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:34,840
But if we won't bear the burden of our Lord,
00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,840
the Lord has had another rider on our back.
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:41,840
And that rider will weigh us down in sorrow.
00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:45,840
Here's a kingdom truth for you today.
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,840
To be loaded with the burden of Christ
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:53,840
is a glorious blessing.
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,840
To be free from the burden of Christ is a heavy load to bear.
00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:02,840
We'll say that again.
00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:04,840
To be loaded with the burden of Christ is a glorious blessing.
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:10,840
To be free from the burden of Christ is a heavy load to bear.
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:17,840
It's better to be a strong ox than a fat, lazy heifer
00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:23,840
in the house of our God.
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:25,840
With that, we'll go ahead and close.
00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:27,840
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,840
Thank you, Father, for its convicting power upon our lives.
00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:37,840
Thank you, Father, Lord, that you told us with your word
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:41,840
to rebuke, reprove, and exhort.
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:46,840
It's wonderful to be exhorted.
00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:48,840
It's great to be encouraged.
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,840
And sometimes, Lord, because of our fallen nature,
00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:54,840
we have to be rebuked.
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:56,840
We have to be reproved.
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:58,840
We have to be reminded, God, that our nature is to leave the field
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:05,840
and to tread the corn.
00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:07,840
But, Father, I pray that we will be the beasts of burden
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:15,840
that gladly slip our neck beneath the entirety of your yoke.
00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:23,840
Because when it's fully on our backs, when it's fully around our necks,
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:29,840
that is the happiest, lightest blessing of all.
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:36,840
In Jesus' precious name we pray, Lord. Amen.
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:40,840