Let's turn to Exodus chapter
9. Let's have a word of prayer before
we begin. Our great God and our Father,
we ask You to cleanse us of the defilement that we've defiled
ourselves with throughout the week in our walk so that we can
actually hear Your Word and worship You. We need You constantly to forgive
our sins and cleanse us, Lord. We're thankful for that cleansing
we have once for all time in Christ and by Christ. And I was thankful for this daily
cleansing that You wash us with. Lord, we ask You now, please
wash our feet. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Alright, now we come now to the
fourth plague in Exodus 9. Now at the end of this plague,
down in verse 12, we read, And the Lord hardened the heart of
Pharaoh. In this plague, everything God
was doing here was hardening Pharaoh's heart. God used ashes
from the Egyptian sacrifices cause boils and blisters to come
upon man and beast. And by all this, God hardened
the heart of Pharaoh. Now when sinners continue offering
vain sacrifices to God, trying to make ourselves righteous and
present ourselves to God, when sinners continue doing that,
eventually, God hardens them using their own self-righteous
religion. It's because their vain sacrifices
are only adding sin unto sin. And that's our subject this morning,
adding sin to sin. Now, first of all, God will not
receive a sinner's sacrifice. God will not receive a sinner's
Sacrifice. Look at verse 8. And the Lord
said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes
of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven
in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust
in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth
with blames or blisters upon man and upon beast throughout
all the land of Egypt. Now this was not a furnace for
heat. This was a furnace, a place where
they kept a fire going, where they burned the sacrifices that
they were offering to God. And in their mind, they were
offering these sacrifices to the true God. They were burning
these sacrifices to propitiate, to try to make satisfaction to
the God that they thought was the true God. It was the God
of their imagination, but they thought they were doing it to
God. Now brethren, spiritually dead sinners naturally have an
understanding that they need to be made right with God. You can go into the deepest jungles
anywhere in this world and you'll find sinners making sacrifices
to a God. Sinners naturally understand
there's something that has to be done to appease God. Paul said we have the law of
God written on our hearts by nature. He said the Gentiles
who don't even have the law are law unto themselves. When they
steal, they know they're stealing. You know, before anybody ever
taught you the law, you knew when you broke the law and disobeyed
God. But it's all defiled knowledge.
It's all corrupt knowledge. It's not a true knowledge unless
God gives it. God has to give the true knowledge. And so notice here, God's commanded
Moses to sprinkle these ashes in a certain place. Notice where
He told him to offer them. And then notice what God did.
He said, take you handfuls of ashes of the furnace and let
Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven. toward the heaven in
the sight of Pharaoh. And then here's what God did.
And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt and
shall be a boil breaking forth with blisters upon man and upon
beasts throughout all the land of Egypt. God commanded they
sprinkle this dust of their sacrifices toward Him, toward heaven. That's
who they were offering them to. So He said, now you take the
dust of those sacrifices and you throw it up towards Me. to signify these sacrifices being
offered to Him. And then God showed that He rejects
the sacrifices of sinners. He turned it into boils and blisters
upon man and beast. And this was a thorough rejection,
it says there, throughout all the land of Egypt. Nobody's sacrifice
is received. God will not receive a sinner's
sacrifice. So though we're spiritually dead
by nature, we have an understanding God needs to be appeased, He
needs to be satisfied, but we don't have a right understanding.
We don't know the sacrifice so we go about trying to offer our
own sacrifice to God. God rejects it. And yet men go
on sacrificing to God in vain. Hebrews 12.11 says, Every priest
standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sin. And that's true of
every sinner. Whether a man is religious or
not, men that never darken the door of a church building. Thanksgiving
rolls around, they go work at a lunch line somewhere, or they
give to the poor around Christmas time. You know, why is that? To appease God. To sacrifice. To make a sacrifice to God. And
religious men do it every day with their religious works. Deeds
they don't really want to do. Religious deeds they really don't
want to do. Trying to keep the law. All these different things
men are doing to try to make a sacrifice to God. And proof
that a sinner cannot make a satisfaction unto God is that there is no
satisfaction in his own conscience. He has to keep making them over
and over and over because his conscience is never purged. He
is never made to realize God is satisfied. That is what God
does with His sacrifice. He makes you know in your heart
God satisfies. But the sinner never knows that.
The law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very
image of the thing can never, with those sacrifices which they
offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have
ceased to be offered? Because that the worshipers,
once purged, should have had no more conscience of sins. That
means once purged, they would understand God satisfied. There's no more offering for
sin. But in those sacrifices, there's a remembrance of sin
every year. And they have to continually
keep coming back. It's never enough. You remember
Adam. As soon as Adam sinned in the
garden, he made a sacrifice. He made fig leaves and tried
to cover his nakedness. But was it enough? Was it enough? As soon as he heard the voice
of God, It wasn't enough, was it? What did he do? He hid himself
in the trees. See, man's conscience is not
purged by his sacrifice. You and I are sinners and therefore
we cannot make a sacrifice to God that's going to satisfy the
holy justice of God. We can't put away our sins. We
can't satisfy the law. We cannot make satisfaction to
God. Satisfaction and salvation is
not by works of righteousness which we've done. Even a new
heart is not by works of righteousness which we've done. God said in
Malachi 1.10, Who is there even among you that would shut the
doors for nothing? Neither do you kindle fire on
mine altar for nothing. I have no pleasure in you, saith
the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your
hand. See, they weren't coming and
offering sacrifices because they were thankful for what God did
and they saw Christ in the sacrifices. God said, no, there's a reason
you're offering those sacrifices. You're trying to indebt me to
you. That sacrifice is your sacrifice. It's your work. Now secondly, not only does the
sinner and his sacrifices not actually satisfy God, they actually
add sin to the sinner. Look here in verse 10. And they
took the ashes of the furnace, and they stood before Pharaoh,
and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven, and it became a boil
breaking forth with flames upon man and upon beast. And the magicians
could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the
boil was upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. And the
Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them
as the Lord had spoken unto Moses. We've seen how that leprosy is
a type of sin. Leprosy is a type of sin. And
that's what we have pictured here. These boils and these blains
that came upon them is a type of sin. The pictures of men being
covered in more sin by the sacrifices that they made. The ashes of
these sacrifices were the ashes of the very sacrifices that they
offered to God. And God made them to break out
in boils and blisters upon them. Notice the beasts broke out in
bulls and blisters. Remember what the beast pictured?
The working beasts? The very beasts that they would
sacrifice to God? That's a type and a picture of
their works and all their religious sacrifices. And so the men offered
these sacrifices to God, and God said, you throw these sacrifices
up to me in their sight, and God took those sacrifices and
added unto them, balls and blisters, sin upon their sin. Do you see that? He was adding
sin to sin. They were sinful and they knew
they needed to offer a sacrifice, but they came with the wrong
sacrifice. And therefore, by not obeying
God and bringing His sacrifice, they just added more sin to their
sin. by the very sacrifice they thought
was going to take away their sin. Brethren, that's what every
man is doing who's offering religious sacrifices to God. You'll hear
men say, well, at least my son's in church. He might not be sitting
under a true gospel, but at least he's in church. I wouldn't want
him there. He's adding sin to sin if he's coming to God with
a false sacrifice. Listen to Isaiah 30 verse 1. Woe to the rebellious children,
saith the Lord, that take counsel but not of me, and that cover
with a covering but not of my spirit, that they may add sin
to sin. Adding sin to sin by vain oblations. is what God was referring to
when He said in Isaiah 1.5. I preached on this just the other
day. And it was adding sin to sin
by vain sacrifices. This is what God was talking
about when He said, why should you be stricken anymore? You'll
revolt more and more. The more I strike you and the
more I send trials to you and the more I chasten you, without
me sanctifying that to your heart, you think the way to stop that
is to go offer more sacrifices to God. And that's nothing but
revolt, God said. You're rebelling against Me more
and more. Bring no more vain oblations, He said. I'm sick
of it, God said. And that's what the legalist
is doing by all his whipping and bringing professing believers
back under the law and by preaching nothing but morality. And those
things, all He's doing is adding sin to sin. That's exactly what
Paul said in Romans 2, 5. After thy hardness and impenitent
heart, you're treasuring up to yourself wrath against the day
of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. He
told the Pharisees, you that judge these men, you that judge
these horrible wicked sinners, are just as guilty as they are.
Coming with the wrong sacrifice. and it's adding sin to sin. At
all man's sacrifices, God's holy law says sin, sin, sin. Guilty, guilty, guilty. Look there in verse 11. And the
magicians, these were their preachers so to speak. The magicians could
not stand before Moses. Moses is a picture of the law
of God. They couldn't stand before the law of God. You come with
a sacrifice other than what God commands, you can't stand before
the law of God. The sacrifice of the wicked is
an abomination to the Lord. Bring no more vain oblations,
incenses, and abomination unto me, the new moons and sabbaths,
the calling of assemblies. I cannot away with it. It is
iniquity, God said, even the solemn meeting. He said unto them, you are they
which justify yourselves before men. But that which is highly
esteemed among men is what? It's an abomination in the sight
of God. It's nothing but adding sin to
sin. And this is so of all men from
the pulpit to the pew, brethren, who come with the wrong sacrifice.
He said there, this boy was upon the magicians and upon all the
Egyptians. This was true of everybody there.
Everybody was coming with the wrong sacrifice and everybody
was adding sin to sin in Egypt. From the religious leader down
to the lowest religious person. But next is an urgent warning,
brethren. This is an urgent warning in
our text. If a man will not repent from
his vain works, if a man will not repent from his vain doing,
God will harden his heart and leave him thinking that he is
walking in light when really he is in darkness. That is a
frightening thought. If a man will not repent from
his own self-righteousness, from trying to please God by his own
sacrifice, God will harden his heart and God will leave him
thinking he is righteous and he is walking in light. Look
there in verse 12. The Lord hardened the heart of
Pharaoh. That's what all this was doing. The Lord hardened
the heart of Pharaoh and he hearkened not unto them as the Lord had
spoken unto Moses. Up till now, it said Pharaoh
hardened his own heart. He hardened his own heart. You
keep hardening your heart against this Gospel. You come in here
and you hear it and you walk out of here unaffected. And right
away, Christ gave three examples right away how the Word is stolen
away. Falls on stony ground. Satan
comes and takes it away. Or the cares of this world choke
it out. Hardening their heart. Pharaoh kept hardening his heart.
But this time, now, the Lord hardened his heart. He would
not repent and bow to God. Willfully rejecting God. God
made it so he will never repent and bow to God. But though man's
reprobation is his own fault, and you find that throughout
the Scripture, God says, because you would not, I will do this,
I'll harden you. It's his own fault. But even
though that's the case, God purposed it from eternity, brethren. It's
not frustrating God's purpose when a sinner doesn't believe.
It's not making God's gospel of none effect when a sinner
is hardened in reprobation. He said there, this was as the
Lord had spoken unto Moses. Somebody might say, well, I can't
reconcile in my mind how it could be the sinner's fault and yet
God purposed it from eternity and it fulfilled God's purpose.
God don't say you have to reconcile it in your mind. God says just
believe His Word. Just believe Him. It's so. But heed the warning, brethren.
Pharaoh was left thinking that his own self-sacrifice, his own
self-righteousness was really light. Christ said, if the light
that's in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. That's
the problem with religious men. I would rather meet a sinner
who doesn't know a thing about religion and who's never made
a profession in religion than somebody who has and is just
flat out deceived. Because that man that's deceived
thinks he's got light. So now he's got darkness upon
darkness. He's got sin upon sin. The light
he thinks is light is really darkness. So he's in double darkness. Christ told the Pharisees, you
go over land and sea trying to make converts and when you do,
you make them two-fold more the child of hell. Because you've
added sin to sin. So take heed. What should I do?
Peter said, make your calling and election sure. How do I do
that? How do I do that? How can I be
sure my religion is the true religion of God? I'll give you
the answer. By the sacrifice you're resting
in. That's how you know. What sacrifice
are you resting in? That's how you know. There's
one sacrifice which satisfied God. There's just one. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Turn to Hebrews 10
with me. Hebrews chapter 10. Now look here. Hebrews 10 and
verse 8. Christ said to God His Father,
Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin,
thou wouldest not. You had no pleasure therein.
You were not satisfied by the sacrifices and offerings of men
which are offered by the law. Now look at verse 9. Then said
He, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. I come to be the sacrifice. I come to make the offering that
will satisfy you, O God. Look, I come to do Thy will,
O God. He taketh away the first. He
is what all those old covenant sacrifices pictured. And He takes
away all the sin of His people which we fell in under that first
covenant. He takes away that sin. He establishes
the law for His people. He takes it away. And it says
here, and He establishes the second. He establishes the everlasting
covenant of grace in our heart. Look at verse 10. By Christ's
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ one time. once for all eternity. He made
the one offering necessary. Verse 12, This man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the
right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified. Well, how are we going to know
about it? Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. That's
not by our works of righteousness either, brethren. Not anything
we do for the Holy Ghost to come and bear witness to us. There
is no such thing as how to be born again. You have nothing
to do with that, just like you didn't have anything to do with
being born the first time. God sends the Holy Spirit and
He blows where it will, just like the wind, sovereignly, irresistibly. And the Holy Ghost is a witness
to us. For after that he had said before,
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts and in their minds will I write them. God writes His
law in our heart making us know He's fulfilled it. Making us
know He's established. That's what Paul meant in Romans
8 when he talked about the righteousness of the law being fulfilled in
us. It's not that we're going to fulfill the law by anything
we do. It's that He comes and writes the gospel in your heart
and teaches you that He's fulfilled the righteousness of the law
and brings you to trust in His sacrifice and rest in Him who
established the law on our behalf. And he says, and their sins and
their iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission
of these is, here's where the conscience is purged. He teaches
you this, where your sins have been remitted, there is no more
offering for sin. That's when a man will stop trying
to satisfy God by his own offerings. When he's made to see there's
no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus Christ. by
a new and living way which He has consecrated for us through
the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and having a high priest
over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith." See, this is not coming with a sacrifice
you've made. This is coming through faith
in Christ, God's sacrifice. There's where assurance is. Assurance,
not in your faith, assurance in Christ. You can have faith
as just a grain of a mustard seed, just a little faith, but
trusting Him alone. There is where your assurance
is, in Christ. And by this work of the Spirit
you have your heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and our
bodies washed with pure water, so let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised.
All the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ. He's faithful
to that promise. When He makes this covenant in
your heart, He makes you to know it's all ordered and sure. And it's all your hope and it's
all your salvation. Let us consider one another to
provoke unto love and unto good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is. but exhorting
one another so much the more as you see the day approaching.
For if we sin willfully, if we cease assembling, rejecting Christ,
after that we've received the knowledge of the truth, after
that we've claimed that we affectionately were called by it, and we fall
away and prove that we never were affectionately called by
it, look at this, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Why? Because Christ is the only sacrifice. Reject Christ. Cease assembling
with His people. Reject Christ and go back out
into this world after that you've heard this knowledge of the truth.
There's no other sacrifice. Christ is it. What remains then? A certain fearful looking for
of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversary. This is how we make our calling
and election sure. Who are you trusting in? Trusting
in a sacrifice you've made? Trusting in a work you've done?
Trusting in something that you think is going to commend you
to God? Or are you resting in Christ who perfected you forever
by His one offering? Do you have to hear this Word
and be with His saints? God's people do. If not, brethren, cease adding
sin to sin. If Christ is not all your hope,
repent from your works today and cast all your care on Christ. God, make this word effectually
in your heart. God, may God the Holy Spirit
bear witness in your heart what I'm saying is true and make you
repent and cast all your care on Christ. And cease adding sin
to sin. And if you are, brethren, if
Christ is all your consolation, all your hope, you continue assembling
to hear this Gospel. with His people and never, ever
turn from Christ. There is no sacrifice, there
is no other offering necessary or that can satisfy God except
the Lord Jesus Christ. Rest in Him. Amen. Alright, let's stand together,
brethren. Lord, we thank You for the Word.
We ask now that You would indeed draw us once again to the Christ's
feet and make us cast all our care on Him. Lord, turn those
that have not yet been turned. We ask it according to Your will,
according to Your power, according to the blood of our Redeemer.
Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You to be able to come
here and rejoice in our Redeemer and be washed from the defilement
of this world so we can go back out strengthened and face a few
more days and come back again. Lord, we pray for Your people
everywhere that are assembling today. Pray for Your preachers
and pray You give them boldness to speak and clearness and make
Your people hear it. Lord, we pray for those that
are suffering and in need. You know their trouble. You know
their trial. You know who they are. You know
where they are. Lord, we ask Your hand be upon them and comfort
them and do whatever is necessary to keep them in Christ. Forgive
us our sins, Lord. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.