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The Counterfeit and the True God 0:01 Welcome, and thanks for joining us for this new series in the book of Exodus. We're gonna be capturing the major themes of the book of Exodus and applying what we discover about0:13 God to our personal relationship with God. And today, we're gonna be talking about plagues and Passovers, and to get us thinking in the right direction when it comes to this particular session. I wanna talk to you about0:25 the single greatest art forgery ever the art world has ever experienced. And the picture, and we're gonna put it up on the screen, is called The Supper at0:36 Emmaus by Han van Meegeren that he attributed to the famous Dutch painter named Vermeer who lived in the 16 hundreds. And it depicts, as you can0:48 see it, a resurrection encounter, a post resurrection encounter with Jesus by a couple of disciples. It's recounted in Luke 24. They're walking, down a road1:00 and they're headed to the village of Emmaus, and this guy starts walking with them as they talk about the death of Jesus and the crucifixion of Jesus. And this this man who's walking with1:12 them, starts asking them questions and starts pointing them to scripture. And so they have such a good conversation, they invite him to stay for dinner or this supper at Emmaus.1:24 And the scripture says that as Jesus breaks bread with these 2 disciples and he gives it to them, their eyes are open and they recognize it's him. So this is a very1:36 famous passage of scripture, that is depicted in this supposed original work by Vermeer, but it's actually a forgery1:48 by Hahn Van Meegeren. Now why is this given the label, the greatest art forgery in the history of all artistic works. Well, number 12:00 is The Masterful Deception by Van Meegeren. He figured out some sophisticated techniques to make both the canvas and the paint look old. K? So2:12 he did good on that that front, making it appear old. Secondly, he fooled an expert. So there was a man in the thirties who actually was the world's2:23 foremost expert in this particular artist, Vermeer. And when it was presented to him, he authenticated that it was an original work2:35 by Vermeer. So that's the second reason it's the greatest forgery. But the third reason why it's the greatest forgery ever is is is the money. The painting was acquired2:47 by a major art museum in Rotterdam for 4500000.0 daughter dollars, and and see that would never be2:58 revealed until after World War 2. So the painting was acquired for 4.5 mil by a museum in Rotterdam in 19 37, and it stood3:11 until after World War 2 when Han van Meegeren was accused of being a collaborator with the Nazis after the war in Germany. And to get out3:22 of his sentence, he said, okay. I'm gonna confess to something. And if I confess to something, you'll mitigate my collaboration charge, which is what they did. But at3:34 that moment, after World War 2, he confesses to the Supper, Adamias, being a forgery, and that rippled around the art world. So, again,3:46 why is this forgery so great? Masterful deception, fooled the expert, what he sold it to this museum for, but that's not even the main accelerator for why it's the greatest forgery. Alright?3:59 More importantly, it's the desire of the art world to believe in a lost masterpiece. Their desire to believe that there was a lost Vermeer4:12 centuries old that was now gonna be revealed really is what what drove the willingness of the authentication and the price. And that4:24 desire to believe made them susceptible to the counterfeit at the expense of the true original. You know, in scripture, the Bible says that4:35 god has planted eternity in the human heart. And what we want to recognize from scripture is the same dynamic that was going on4:47 with this Vermeer forgery by Van Meegeren. Alright? God, who is the true original, right? Every man is created with a4:59 desire to believe. K. That's how God created us. Number 2, every man is tempted because we're created with a desire to believe in the counterfeits.5:12 Right? Just like those folks were tempted to believe that this was the original, and they didn't really go through the process of authentication. That's true in the spiritual realm. We're created with a desire to5:22 believe, and that desire gets exploited and every man is tempted to accept counterfeits to the 1 true original creator. And here's what we also learn and5:34 where the parallels overlap. Every false god will be exposed as a fake by god5:46 himself. And that's what we're gonna see playing out in the book of Exodus, that we're gonna study today. Every person God ever created, right, they5:58 know there's something more. We're gonna see this in the Egyptians. We see it in every culture even today. But instead of relating to and following and worshiping and giving our lives6:10 to the 1 true original god, it's sort of like man kinda proudly displays just like this museum did. They proudly display, and they6:22 adopt as the real thing something that's fake, and they're displaying a forgery, a false God. And can I just6:34 say, as a pastor for 30 years, even the smartest people get duped spiritually? They they they proudly display,6:46 the gods of this world, the materialism of this world, the hedonism of this world, the narcissism of this world, and they proudly put these false gods on display while actually6:57 naming the name of Christ. And in our study of the book of Exodus, we're gonna see god rise up. We're gonna see God expose the counterfeits7:10 as the 1 true original creator. And in the process, he's gonna show a couple of things. 1, we're gonna address today, and the second thing he's gonna show, we're gonna address in the second7:22 part of the Exodus series. But today, we're gonna see in the process of God reveal rising up and revealing the 1 true original. Today, he's gonna reveal his power. Now let's let's get7:34 some context for where we're gonna join this journey in Exodus. God's people have been enslaved for 400 years. Now in in the in the7:46 near east, when when another people conquers their enemy, it is not just a a physical military victory, it's a7:58 victory for their god. So in this instance, Pharaoh, a god, right, and the gods of Egypt have conquered8:10 the god of Israel. Right? So Pharaoh and the gods of Jiva, Egypt are perceived, right, as true gods. And into this historical8:23 culture and into that historical mindset, trots Moses, right, into Pharaoh's court saying, let my people go. And8:34 pharaoh's response reflects the confidence of his current history, his current mindset, and his current culture, and he's confident. He's like, no.8:46 We conquered you. Therefore, me and all the gods of Egypt were the real deal. We conquered the god of Israel, which is displayed in his response to Moses in Exodus 58:58 2. It says this, but pharaoh responded, who is the lord that I should obey him by letting Israel go? I don't know the Lord,9:10 and besides, I will not let Israel go. In other words, Moses, I hear what you're saying with my ears, but in9:22 my heart, your god is irrelevant. Woah. And that comment, it's like, showdown at the Okay Corral.9:34 We have Yahweh, the God of Moses, having a showdown with Pharaoh and the God of Egypt. And what we see happen is the creator of9:46 all things, including pharaoh, he's going to expose the gods of Egypt and reveal himself as the 1 true original, listen, in9:58 a language that pharaoh and all of Egypt will understand. And that language is pure, unadulterated, unpolluted,10:10 unmistakable power. Alright? And this is what God says to Moses. He says, this is what I'm gonna do. In Exodus 3 19 to 22, listen to God speak10:22 here in the moment before the showdown. He says, however, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, even under force from a strong hand. But10:34 when I stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles that I will perform in it, after that, he will let you go. And I will give these10:46 people such favor with the Egyptians that when you go, you will not leave empty handed. Each woman will ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver10:58 and gold jewelry and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters so you will plunder the Egyptians. Imagine having that conversation11:10 with Moses. He walks into the house and palace of the most powerful man on earth who thinks he's a God and who thinks that his Gods are11:22 the original and true gods, little g. And then God says, here's what's going to happen, and God sets the tone with some fighting words. When God says, I'm going to stretch out my11:34 hand, that is divine warfare language. It's not just that God is going to rescue his people, he's going to spike the ball in this11:46 little encounter. And the plan is plagues. Okay? Now some of you might be asking, alright, what sounds like a a funny plan to to get plagues,11:59 to do the trick. Right? Now when you when you see this strategy and you ask why plagues, I just want you to to say 2 words, and that's release and revelation. Number 1, plagues are12:11 are a tool to liberate God's people from Pharaoh's grip. Right? They will the the power of those plagues are a tool for12:22 release and liberation. And then number 2, plagues reveal God himself, right, as the 1 true12:34 God in this in this culture of wannabe counterfeits. So white plagues, they release God's people, and it's gonna reveal the I am12:46 God of Moses as the 1 true God. Now in this in this Exodus account, you can read in Exodus 10, you can read throughout this whole exchange12:58 between Moses, Pharaoh, Egypt, the people of Israel, the creator of the universe. God says it multiple times. He'll say, the Egyptians will know. The Egyptians will know that I'm the13:10 Lord when I stretch out my hand. That is a that is a clash of gods. But in this instance, it's the clash of the actual god with13:22 counterfeit gods. And to show that he is the 1 true creator, He's actually, as the creator, gonna unravel creation. He'll actually13:34 uncreate what he created, pulling the seams of creation apart to show that the God of Moses is exactly who he told Moses he13:46 was in the burning bush, the I am God. So we're gonna start talking about the plagues. We'll start with the waterborne plagues. And the first plague13:58 is is the water. Right? It's the Nile River. Right? God turns the Nile River into blood. It is the center of Egyptian life, and it's now running red with14:10 blood. And if you're having a hard time imagining this, check this out. This is a river in Argentina where this last year, it turned red. Now that's not blood, k, because that would be the largest massacre14:22 ever in the history of the world. But actually, it was a chemically based phenomenon. But you get you get the idea. Right? And what is God up to? Well, the first14:33 plague is waterborne and it's blood. Alright? And the Egyptian god of the Nile is Hapi. Alright? So the plague is blood. The Egyptian14:45 god that they worship as a true god, which is a false god, is Hapi, and its power is abundance. Alright? Now what is God saying about14:57 hoppy, the source of abundance? God is saying, hoppy is not your source of life. And you see the effect that this first plague15:09 has in Exodus 7 21. It says this, the fish in the Nile died and the river smelled so bad, the Egyptians could not drink water from it, there was blood15:20 throughout the land of Egypt. Alright. So hoppy does not make you happy. Hoppy is not the source of anything, and it is a false god. The15:32 second plague, alright, was frogs, and we have a slide I wanna put up there. Hop the the second plague is frogs, and the Egyptians worshiped a goddess named15:44 Hekhet, and she had the head of a frog. She's the goddess of life, and get this, resurrection. Alright? You know, sort of they worship frogs like people worship15:56 cows in India. Today, frogs in Egypt were sacred, and you could not in Egypt, you could not kill a frog. Well, I'd be put in jail if that was that was the16:08 case today. But in Egypt, you couldn't even kill a frog because they were sacred. Now, in Exodus 8 14, it says, they piled can you imagine how gross this is? They piled16:20 them in countless heaps in Egypt and there was a terrible odor in the land. So here we got this sacred creature16:32 of life and resurrection dead by the hundreds of thousands, maybe the millions, what's the message there? God's saying, I am the16:44 provider of life, and I alone am responsible for resurrection. Okay? So those are the water plagues. The next 4 plagues that ensue,16:56 these are related to the land. So things that the Egyptians worship related to water, okay, those are false gods. And now we go to the land. Alright? What does that17:07 mean? It means that these plagues are gonna impact agriculture, the economy, and human health. The third plague is gnats. Alright? So Egyptians worship the ground, and17:20 specifically, they worship the god Geb. And the god Geb supposedly ruled over the ground and giving them crops and prosperity. And when Aaron strikes the17:31 ground with his staff and the dust that gets stirred up turns to gnats, god is sending a very specific message.17:43 Geb, everyone, is also a counterfeit and has no power, but the god of Moses who did this does.17:55 Alright? So there is the third plague, and that's the plague of gnats. And then we move to the next land plague, and that's the plague. This is this is even worse. I mean, we got frogs. We got gnats. Now the fourth18:07 plague is we have flies, but again, the Egyptians worshiped, created things over the 1 true creator. They worship Khepri and you watch it,18:18 and Khepri had a big head, and you watch it, had a big fly's head, and it and it symbolizes, get this, creation and protection.18:30 Right? And the message to the Egyptians is simply this. Hey, Khepri, and you watch it, are forgeries too. They're powerless18:42 too. They can't create anything, and you're feeling unprotected right now. Right? And not only that message is delivered, but it has a huge impact18:55 on the economy, not to mention a devastating psychological effect. So we got flies, we got gnats in the land plagues, and19:06 and then we have the fifth plague, which is livestock. Alright? Think about it. All Egyptian livestock, all horses, all donkeys, all camels,19:18 and all cows in this particular plague, they all die too. Right? So, like, it'd be the equivalent of all cars are gone because all the camels19:30 are gone. Right? It'd be the equivalent of, hey, no milk at the store. No meat either. Right? So all horses, donkeys, camels, and cows die in the land of Egypt. Right?19:42 Complete devastation. What's the message? Well, in this particular plague of livestock, the Egyptian god is April and Hathor, bull and19:54 cow. Right? And you know what their power is? Fertility, strength, love. What's the message? To everyone in Egypt. April20:06 and Hathor, there's no fertility there. There's no strength there, and there certainly isn't any love being shown by those gods to you in this20:18 moment. Their strength is gone. Another strength has taken over. And then the sixth plague, which is also a land plague, are the boils. And in20:29 scripture, the translation is painful boils. Alright? Festering sores. That's what this means. Imagine, painful, festering sores start appearing20:42 all over your person. Okay? And then you have a god for that too. The boils and the healing god, Sekhmet, and Sekhmet is20:54 over healing and sickness. So you start crying out to Sekhmet. You start making offerings to Sekhmet, but Sekhmet is nowhere to be found. Sekhmet is a21:06 fantasy. Sekhmet is a false god, and he is not or she is not showing up to take away your festering boils. They they just remain.21:18 And so with the sixth plague, we conclude the land plague. So we have water, we land, and now we move to sky. Alright? The seventh plague is hail, and what happens is is unprecedented hail falls from the sky.21:30 Now I don't know where you're watching this from, but I'm from California. We really don't have hail. I I lived for 3 years in Texas. Now that is is is the kind of hail that came down. And21:42 the Egyptians worship the god Nut. K? It it's spelled n u t. It looks like Nut, but it's pronounced Nut, and that's the god of the sky. And they also worship Seth, the god21:54 of storms and chaos. And guess what? They're on a lunch break too. They're probably crying out to Newt and Seth, and clearly they don't22:06 care about the Egyptians and they are powerless to stop the God of Moses. You can see the shift and the narrative shifting. Right? So that's the22:17 first sky plague. The next sky plague, alright, is locusts. Okay. I don't know if you've ever seen, a swarm of locusts or seen video of a swarm of locusts, but the Egyptians,22:30 they worshiped Osiris. That was the the god of agriculture and the god of rain. They also worshiped Nepher. Alright? So Osiris is the god of agriculture,22:42 and Nepher is the god of grain. Okay? And we see in the locust plague what happens in Exodus 10 15. Alright? They, the locusts,22:55 covered the surface of the whole land so that the land was black. They consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left.23:07 Nothing green was left on the trees or the plants in the field throughout the land of Egypt. Okay. So what we see there is the same message in23:19 the sky plagues, and we have 1 more that we'll address, in this session. But what we see is God sending a very clear and specific message23:31 where these gods that you trust in to sustain you, in agriculture and land that that produces your food, those gods are not gods. They are forgeries.23:43 I am over them. Okay? And then we get to the ninth plague in Exodus 10 21 and 22. It23:55 says this, then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand toward heaven and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be24:07 felt. So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven and there was a thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for 3 days. So you have the ninth plague and that's darkness. You have24:19 3 days of complete and total darkness. And what really struck me, what what really stood out to me is when god says, you're gonna stretch out your hand, darkness will fall, a darkness24:30 that can be felt. You know, like, when the all the lights go out, you know, you might be scared environmentally and something that might something might but you know where the light switch is. Not here.24:43 You're gonna continue to feel the panic and anxiety of utter and complete darkness. So think about it. The dominoes fall. God's been exposing and knocking24:55 down the myths of all the Egyptian counterfeit, and then a complete physical, psychological, and spiritual darkness envelops the land. And 125:06 of their most important and strongest gods, Ra. And maybe if you've seen, you know, the mummy or some of these other Egyptian, history channel things, Ra, the25:18 sun god. Right? Number 1 in the Egyptian AP pole. Right? Powerless. There's no rah rah for rah going on anymore. He doesn't control the sun.25:30 Why? Because god is saying, I do. Now we have really went through these plagues that demonstrate25:42 God's power. The gods of Egypt are powerless. The god of Moses is powerful.25:55 Alright? The fantasy gods are replaced by the actual 1 true god along with all the fantasy statues, all along26:06 with the fantasy prayers that bounce off the ceiling and go nowhere along with all the fantasy rituals, right, that that live and die in the minds26:18 of Egyptians as a lie. They are proven powerless by the powerful 1. They're proven impotent by the omnipotent 1. They're proven absent26:31 by the omnipresent 1. So we go back to the beginning. Every man is created with the desire to believe. Every man's created and tempted to accept these counterfeits because he has26:43 a desire to believe, which makes him vulnerable and susceptible to the lie, but then every false god will be exposed by the26:54 powerful person of god. And as we wrap up, let's let's talk about what god may be trying to say, not just to those27:06 Egyptians, but traveling through time. The eternal word of god. We have this story in scripture that that tells us a little bit about27:18 counterfeit gods that are not gods that that men worship, and the 1 true original god. What is the god of Moses revealing? Alright. Here's what he is revealing. Number27:30 1, god alone is the source of life. See what god did? They were attributing things to27:42 sources that that weren't even sources. It was a lie from the beginning. So you gotta ask yourself, what's my source of life? Is it27:53 the original, 1, true creator, or am I looking to counterfeits? Am I looking to thrills28:05 as my source? Am I looking to power as my source to give me meaning and context in my life? Am I looking to things to give me my source?28:18 That's what God is showing, and that's what God wants to say to us. Now he's saying to you, I'm your creator. I am who I am. I am your source. The second thing God is saying is, I am28:30 sustainer. Alright. It's 1 thing to create, which biblically means that God is able to call into being something which does not previously exist.28:42 Alright. He's the source of life. He created you. You're created by him. You're created for him. 1 day you'll go back to him. Alright? He's the source. But also, there is sustaining. You were created and God is your28:54 sustainer. He's your sustainer in your highs. He's your sustainer in your lows. He's your sustainer in your peaks. He's your sustainer in your pits. He causes all things to work to29:05 good whether you're at the top of the mountain or you're in the valley below. He's your sustainer. He provides all things for you. He's your provider. He's Jehovah Jireh. God is29:17 your sustainer. Alright? The third thing God is getting across is that God is your secure. What I mean by that is either you are secure or you're29:29 not secure. You're fearful or you're confident. And that just depends on what you're trusting in. Are you trusting in something that's secure? Are you trusting in the29:41 love of God Or the up and down of circumstances? Are you trusting in the cross of Jesus Christ which defeated death? Do you believe in Jesus,29:53 the secure of all things? You see, if you believe in Jesus and the love of god, inside your heart, you will be secure versus what? Insecure. And now we're talking30:05 about major spiritual warfare, because the currency of the devil is fear. If the devil can stoke fear and insecurity in your life, you will30:17 be susceptible and vulnerable to believe the lie. That somehow God's forgotten you, or somehow God's not at work, or somehow God's not with30:29 you, or you understand. I think all of us have been there. But God is sending the message to both Egyptians and Hebrews. I'm the source. I'm the sustainer through these plagues,30:41 and I'm the secure of the future so you can be at peace. And then fourth and most visibly, god alone is30:52 strength. And when you add all of those up, source, sustainer, secure, and my strength, right, which is a repeated theme31:05 in the bible and in the Psalms. Right? The Lord is my strength and my stronghold. Right? Now here's the application for us. In in31:17 seeing God's power in the form of these plagues, exposing counterfeit false gods. Alright? If that is true, right, God is source,31:29 sustainer, secure, and strength. Since that is true, here we go, all worship, all gratitude, all trust, all31:40 loyalty, all that I am, all that I have, all that I hope, I offer to the 1 true31:53 original creator that made me. Those things should be offered not to the counterfeit, but to the original creator.32:05 Let's bow our heads and let's pray. Father, we confess right now the sin of idolatry. God, that we have trusted in people who are not God. We have trusted in things that are not32:17 God. Somehow to save us, whatever that is. Money, sex, alcohol, a good time, thrills, sensations, power,32:28 position. Oh, god. Forgive us. Thank you, Jesus, that on the cross, you forgave us of our sins. And right now, I32:40 just join my faith with the faith of my brothers listening. And together, we just wanna tell you that we believe in the 1 true God. We wanna know you, Jesus, according to your32:52 words, the 1 true God, Jesus Christ, that God has sent, and we offer all worship, all gratitude, all trust, and all loyalty. All that we are, all that we33:04 have, all that we hope, we offer you everything, God, with nothing held back because you alone are the 1 true God, Lord Jesus. And it's in your name that we offer all of33:16 ourselves to you. Amen. Greetings, men. Kenny Luck, founder of Everyman Ministries. You know, after 30 years of helping men in the33:28 mental health, pastoral, and coaching context, The 1 working assumption I've operated on is this. Men, they're like icebergs. You only see the tip. Under the waterline of the image33:40 that they are projecting and the lives that they are living are massive spiritual, emotional, and relational battles they recognize, but they're just not talking about. And it creates a33:51 dissonance. It creates spiritual plateaus. It creates unresolved tensions within that start to eat away at their faith, eat away at their hope. It opens them up to spiritual attack34:03 and lies to the point where so many, if they were honest, would say, I believe in God and I believe his promises are true, just not for me right now. Have you ever felt that or thought that? Well, here's the thing. So34:15 many men I counsel and coach say the same thing. I'm attending church. I'm reading my bible. I'm going to men's group. I'm praying. But I'm not sensing or experiencing God the way I see it promised in34:27 the bible. You know, that abundant life that Jesus speaks of. I'm I'm not breaking through, and I know there's more. I just don't know how to get there, and it's confusing me. It's affecting my34:38 relationships with God and other people. Now, if you've ever felt the same way, if you've ever had any of those thoughts, welcome to the club. As men, we go through different seasons of34:50 personal, professional, and, yes, spiritual life. And listen, that calls for new Christ formation, new faith steps, new discoveries, and35:02 new thinking. You see, there's no big mystery here. The big wheels of life, of relationships, Christ formation, and of fulfillment turn on the hidden axles of what the35:14 Bible calls your inner man. So when the Bible says, watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flow the springs of life, it's not calling for new outer spiritual35:25 behavior management. It's calling for a new you. You say, how do you know, Kenny? Because God called me personally into a new season of Christ formation after 2535:37 years as a pastor and counselor. And you know what I needed? I needed a community of brave brothers, of professional men who were spirit filled, and I needed a solid process and godly35:49 coaching to walk me into a new place of strength, a place of powerful sacrifice, a place of complete tenacity in my purpose, a place of growing authentic36:01 generosity, and a place of meaningful insight into myself first and for other people. That's my promise land. What's yours? If you're like me and you36:13 want a new place of growth, if you want the dissonance to go away, if you want an inner breakthrough in Christ, if you want to discover what is it that is holding you back spiritually versus continuing to36:24 say some narrative to yourself and other people, just lean in right now. There is a next adventure in God and in life waiting for you. But the old thinking, the36:36 old victories you cling to, the old patterns of living, just the old thought processes are not going to cut it in this next adventure God has for you.36:49 The promised land that he has for you. And that's why I'm inviting you into the every man promised land living experience, where Christ formation advances in new ways, where the language of the37:00 heart is spoken, And where the enemy, he takes it on the chin and strongholds are broken. You want your next adventure in Christ to begin? Then fight the good fight like I did. Believe.37:12 God is at work. Register. Get into an every man promised land group. Our team of trained coaches are eager to meet you and to start getting you prepared for the37:24 greater works of Jesus in and through you for this next season and adventure of life.In this video 0:00 The Counterfeit and the True God
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