Taking the boy out of hte country & the country out of the boy
Taking tHE Boy out of the Country & the COuNtry out of the Boy
TEXT: 1 Corinthians 10:1‑6
INTRODUCTION: You have heard it said “You can take a boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of a boy.” It is a whole lot easier to get the people out of Egypt than it is to get Egypt out of the people. It is a whole lot easier to get people out of sin than to get sin out of them!
Believers lead defeated lives because they are still carrying the baggage of sin with them!
Old power struggles
Old habits
Old attitudes
These things have been around for years
Mammon
They have hindered your spiritual life!
Isn’t it time to receive your deliverance!
Isn’t it time to move on in God!
Isn’t it time to cut away the past!
Steps to Deliverance!
I. TURNING FROM THE OLD WAYS!
A. Confronting Old Powers!
1. The great PLAGUES OF EGYPT before the EXODUS Exodus 7:14‑‑12:30
a) Struck at the heart of Egypt's religion.
b) Their fertile land was struck with plagues; their sacred river was turned to blood; their glorious sun was darkened; and even the son of the "divine" Pharaoh was killed.
c) The wonders that God brought against Egypt clearly demonstrated that their gods were powerless before the true and living God of Israel.
Exodus 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
2. Identify Them!
a) The god of self gratification (The act of giving oneself pleasure or of satisfying one's own desires)
b) The god of Mammon (Riches, avarice, and worldly)
c) The god of power and control
3. Let God help you defeat them!
2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;
a) What are those weapons?
(1) Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God!
Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
(2) Prayer!
Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
b) These were the same weapons that Jesus used to defeat these powers.
(1) The god of self Gratification (Man shall not live by bread alone!)
(2) Power and control (Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.)
4. God wants you to have victory over old powers in your life! Confront them by the Word of God and prayer!
B. Confronting old attitudes!
1. Attitude of grumbling and complaining!
2. Attitude of discontentment!
3. Attitude of self pity
a) That’s just me!
(1) You have to accept me just the way I am!
b) No it is time to change!
(1) God wants you to change!
(2) He is standing ready to help you change!
c) Christ has come to change you!
(1) His power will make a difference if you will let it!
d) If you don’t let His power work in you then Christianity is nothing more than just another philosophy!
1 Corinthians 2:4‑5 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
C. How?
1. Not only the Word!
2. Not only Prayer!
3. But obedience of walking in the Spirit!
a) Walk in the Spirit or the NIV says Live in the Spirit!!
Galatians 5:16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.(NIV)
Galatians 5:22‑25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self‑control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (NIV)
II. CLOSING THE DOOR ON THE PAST! (v2) They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
A. Baptism‑Signifies Washing Away the Scars and Sin of the Past!
Colosians 2:12‑15 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
B. The Cloud Leads You into the Future ‑ walking Away from the Threat of the past
1. The Egyptian army was destroyed and they saw them dead on the shore.
Exodus 14:28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.
Exodus 14:30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.
2. The fear of the past struggles are all gone!
a) The enemy has been defeated!
b) Walk away from him!
3. Paul continued in Colossians with this thought.
Colossians 2: 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.(NAS)
a) TRIUMPH
b) The figure of speech is drawn from the ceremony that greeted a Roman general who had won a decisive victory over a foreign enemy. This ceremony usually featured a display of captives and spoil following the general's chariot.
c) The apostle Paul used such a triumphal procession as an analogy of Christ's victory on the cross. By His triumph He conquered supernatural foes and "made a public spectacle of them" Col. 2:15.
4. Through Christ we also can claim the victory:
2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
a) Rejoice in the parade of the defeated enemy instead of the threat of his past power!
III. PERSONALLY APPLY DEPENDENCE ON THE LORD!
A. The Problem with the Children of Israel They Did Not Personally Apply God’s Deliverance from Egypt to Their Lives.
1. They took for granted their deliverance and did not personally get Egypt out of their lives.
2. That caused their ultimate downfall. (Vs 5,6)
3. We had better not take our salvation for granted either!
B. We must personally depend on the Lord for our lives.
1. Partaking of Spiritual food and drink!
a) Reading the Word!
2. Being led by the Spirit!
a) Waiting on God in prayer and obedience!
3. Being accountable to the Lord’s Body!
a) Depending on each other for our own personal growth and development!
Ephesians 4:12‑16 To prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (NIV)
b) We need each other for growth and development!
CONCLUSION:
I. Turning from the old Ways!
A. Confronting old powers!
B. Confronting old attitudes!
II. Closing the door on the past!
A. Baptism‑Washes away the scars and sin of the past!
B. The cloud leads you into the future.‑Walking away from the threat of the past
III. Personally applying that dependence on the Lord!
A. Partaking of Spiritual food and drink!
B. Being led by the Spirit!
C. Being accountable to the Lord’s Body!