Ex 5:2, But Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go." 
	This morning we conclude our study of this passage of our corporate reading. We spent several weeks looking at what is involved in terms of humanities’ refusal to acknowledge God as the Sovereign Lord God Creator Who rules and overrules in the entirety of His creation. There is so very much that is readily apparent in this attitude as was expressed by Pharaoh. Mankind, lost in sin and death does everything possible to deny the existence of God in a most futile effort to delay the awful consequences of that denial. 
Despite man’s very best efforts, in either the utter rejection of the truth that God exists or the use of human effort to earn some deliverance from an eternity of punishment, it will be very explicit that there is no way to reject God and His Christ and still be ok! Eternity will be filled with the cries and laments and damnation of those who thought they could deny God and serve their own rationales and lusts and selfish ambitions with impunity. 
God’s Word is very detailed in both the consequences of that foolishness and in the encouragement to those who fully turn to God and call upon Him for their salvation. We want to spend a few moments in the details as so given by God, Himself, in His word, to us. We need to see how blessed we are in our response to His glorious and amazing grace in the life of Christ that He has bestowed upon us.
We begin with the Apostle Paul’s Second letter to the Thessalonians. Please turn to 2 Thess 1:3-12. 2 Thess 1:3-12, We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed — for our testimony to you was believed. To this end also we pray for you always that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power; in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
	God will deal righteously and justly and in all the fullness of His Holiness on that day of the revelation of exactly Who He is and what He has done through His Only Begotten Son. On that day, He will reveal Our Lord Jesus Christ as the One by Whom salvation was offered to all who would freely choose to believe. It will be a day that will be utterly conclusive in the lives of every man, woman, and child. There will be no longer any doubt, any misconception, any denial, or any confusion within the scope of mankind. 
Everyone who has chosen to call upon Jesus as Lord and Savior will marvel at the fullness of God in Christ, basking in the glory of God so freely and so magnificently seen in the mighty Love of God. At the same instant, those who refused Him, those who did not choose to know Him, those who denied that there ever was a God in Heaven, will …pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power… They will be brought face-to-face with the absolute insanity of their futile striving to elevate themselves above the Altogether Lovely and Holy One. All their efforts and striving after being the god of their own destiny will burn in their souls with fiery agony for the endless ages of eternity. 
The Apostle further highlights what is at stake and what is taking place in this realm as we respond to God and as He works mightily in our lives. We soon see that it is not a matter of this world that is at the core of all that is going on in us. It is the reality of God using us to reveal Himself unto those who will respond to His call. We are those living testimonies that God is real and that He is at work to manifest Himself through those whom He has called unto Himself. It is by His action in our lives that others are given the opportunity to come to know that He is Who He says He is. 
Please turn to 2 Cor 10:3-7 in order to read what is at hand in these lives that we live unto His glory on this earth. 2 Cor 10:3-7, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. You are looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ's, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. 
	Look at the battle in which we are engaged as a soldier of Jesus Christ. We are not to focus on the physical aspects of what is part of our walk on this earth. We are to see ourselves as those who are equipped for the spiritual reality of the warfare which serves the following purpose: We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God… 
That is what we are called to do in the manner in which we live our lives in relationship to our families, our friends, our coworkers, our neighbors, our communities, and even our enemies. Our lives are to reveal the fact that we belong to the Only Wise True and Living Lord God Almighty Who has given us everything we need in order to be that living testimony of His reality.
	In this great spiritual battle for the eternal sake of those with whom we come into daily contact, we are given everything necessary to declare the full truth that this life is not coincidental or happenstance or random. Neither is it made for the greater ideal of mankind’s self-realization or self-actualization. Who we are and what we do and how we live is directly attributable to our living relationship with the Lord God Almighty. That is the stand that we take before all the powers of this age. 
	Again, the Apostle enlightens us as to how God has made us able to so stand firmly in the power of His Word and Truth. Please turn to Eph 6:10-17 to read the full catalog of our every needed protection and equipping as supplied by God.
 Eph 6:10-17, Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 
	Again note that this is not a matter of us taking the battle to the enemy. Rather we stand firmly rooted in the power of the Lord to keep us and to direct us and to be our every source of strength and safety and ability as He has so equipped us in His full armor. It is as we absolutely rely upon Him that we will find that we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ… No doubt, no guilt, no hesitation, no denial, nothing other than the full knowledge of Who God is and what He has done to set us free from the slavery to sin and death. It is for that freedom in Christ that we are engaged in this battle for the sake of others to so come into and enjoy all that is given in Jesus Christ. 
	This, then, brings us to what the Apostle wrote to Titus in Titus 1:15-2:8, if you would now turn to it. Titus Chapter 1, verse 15 through Chapter 2, verse 8. To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed. But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored. Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. 
	In this passage is detailed exactly how we find the good fight, equipped in the whole armor of God for the sake of destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God… The reality of the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and through Him, the knowledge of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, is evidenced in the manner in which we conduct our lives on this earth. The battle for the souls of our loved ones is fought, not in some nebulous place, but in our homes, in our places of employment, in our places of enjoyment and relaxation with friends and neighbors. Our battlefield of righteousness and hope and faith and love is in every place in which we are put by our Lord. 
This is the reason that it is so vital that we learn to stand in the full armor of God every moment of every day. There is no place in such need of the power and the might of God to break down all the defenses and to quell the every attack of the enemy as in the midst of those for whom we would very literally lay down our lives! That is why we must learn to obey the Lord in the every manner of our interactions and dealings with those who are the closest to us. It is for their sakes that we have the greatest responsibility to teach and to encourage and to show forth the love of Christ unto the truth that they would come to know God!
The Apostle John encourages us unto this truth in our final passage of the morning. Please open to 1 John 4:7-15 where we read of the full knowledge of God and the manner in which He makes Himself known to us, in us, and by us unto others. 1 John 4:7-15, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 
	In the so great love of God to you and to me through the sending of Jesus Christ to take upon Himself all our guilt and all our shame and all our sin and all our burdens and trespasses, God is now our Everything. He so loved us unto Himself that we should be finding that we can no longer make it through even a solitary moment of the day without our relationship with Him. 
Because He so loves us and is now our life, we are to love others in the manner that honors Him above all else. Others will be drawn to Him by His love manifested in us. He will be evident in our long-suffering and prayers and encouragement and faithfully being the witnesses of that so wonderful love of Christ expressed through us for their encouragement and their benefit. They will come to know Him as they see Him as the very essence of our lives on this earth. 
That is how We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ… Amen. 

	This morning’s benediction is 1 Chron 16:36. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. Then all the people said, "Amen," and praised the Lord. Amen.