Our scripture reading is going
to be taken from Exodus chapter nine. If you care to turn there,
Exodus chapter nine. Begin reading in verse 13. And the Lord said unto Moses,
rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and
say unto him, thus sayeth the Lord God of the Hebrews, let
my people go that they may serve me for I will at this time Send
all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon
thy people, that thou mayest know that there is none like
me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out my
hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence, and
thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this
cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power,
and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. As
yet, exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou will not
let them go? Behold, tomorrow, about this
time, I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail. Such hath
not been seen, or hath not been in Egypt since the foundation
thereof, even until now. Send therefore now, and gather
thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field. For upon every
man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall
not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and
they shall die. He that feared the word of the
Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle
flee into the houses, and he that regarded not the word of
the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field. And
the Lord said unto Moses, stretch forth thine hand toward heaven,
that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man,
and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field throughout
the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched forth his
rod toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail. And the
fire ran along the ground, and the Lord rained hail upon the
land of Egypt. So there was a hail and fire
mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it
in all the land of Egypt, since it became a nation. And the hail
smote throughout all the land of Egypt, all that was in the
field, both man and beast, and the hail smote every herb of
the field and break every tree of the field. Only in the land
of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no
hail." We'll end our reading there. Let's bow together in
prayer. Our Father, how we thank you
that you've given us another opportunity to open your word,
to read and study it, to sing your praises, to come before
you in prayer. offer our thanksgiving, our praise. And Father, I beg of you this
evening that you would, by your spirit, enable us to hear a word
from thee and to truly worship you from the heart. Father, I
pray that you would enable me to rightly divide the word of
truth and to preach the gospel with a heart for the glory of
Christ and a heart for the need of poor sinners. And Father,
give us hearing ears and believing hearts. Let each of us leave
here tonight rejoicing and resting in and hoping in Christ our Savior. Father, we pray for those who
can't be with us tonight for various reasons. We pray that
you'd be with them, watch over them, and that you'd return us
all again where we can worship together again soon. Especially,
Father, we pray for your people that in times of trouble and
trial, We pray that you'd heal, that you'd comfort, and above
all, Father, that you'd give a special portion of your presence
while your people are in the valley, that you might comfort
their hearts with your presence. Father, again, we beg of you
that you would enable us tonight to worship thee. Of course, in
Christ's name, for his sake and his glory, we pray, amen. Now, I've titled the message
this evening Election unto redemption. I took my title from Exodus 8
verse 23 where the Lord said, I'll put a division between my
people and thy people. Now that word division that the
Lord uses there, I looked that word up and it means a redemption. I'm going to put a redemption
between my people and your people. It means to redeem or to ransom.
And if you look back in verse 22, the Lord said, I will sever
in that day the land of Goshen into which my people dwell, that
no swarms of flies shall be there. To the end, thou mayest know
that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. That word sever,
it means to set apart, to put a difference, that's what it
means. The Lord's saying, I've put a difference between my people
Israel and the Egyptians, and I'm gonna show you That difference
is a redemption. God has an elect people and he's
provided a redemption for those people. But he has not for the
Egyptians, for those of the world. Now in God's electing love, the
father chose a sinful people out of Adam's fallen race. He
chose those people to save them. And when he chose them, God made
a difference. There's no difference in them
naturally. all equally lost sons of Adam. But when God the Father
chose a people, he made a difference between those people. He made
some sheep and some goats. God chose to save the sheep and
he chose to let the goats go their way. Now if we know anything
at all, if the Lord's taught us anything at all, if he's given
us any spiritual life, we're thankful that God made a difference
in his people. The only reason that that we're
here tonight and we would believe the gospel, is God made a difference. It's the only reason. We're just
as sinful as all the lost. And truth be told, we're more
sinful. One of our dear ladies and I
were talking last week and she stopped and she said, you were
talking about these people, let's be clear, I'm more sinful than
them. We're just as sinful. Now our sin is worse because
we've sinned against greater life, isn't that right? So the
only hope of redemption that we have is that the father chose
a people to redeem by the blood of his son. That's our only hope.
But if that's our only hope, that's a good hope. It's a good
hope. And the Lord showed here a picture
of how he made a difference between his people and the rest of Adam's
race in the 10 plagues that the Lord sent to Egypt. Now I studied
this this past week And I was kind of surprised at
what I saw. You're probably like me. I've grown up thinking. Earlier this month, turned 60
years old. For 60 years, I have assumed
that all the plagues of Egypt, none of them came into the land
of Goshen, that none of them affected any of the children
of Israel in the land of Goshen. But you know, if you read through
the story of these 10 plagues, the scriptures only say five
of those plagues. did not go into Goshen. The other
five, it says, was in all the land of Egypt. Now, I don't know. But it seems to me like five
of those plagues did not go into the land of Goshen, and it seems
like five of them did. That's what makes it sound like
to me. And if they did, I'm not building a doctrine on this,
it looks to me like five of them did not go into the land of Goshen
or five of them did. And if they did, here's our comfort. The Lord delivered his people
from those plagues. Those plagues did not destroy
Israel like they did Egypt. The Lord delivered his people
and instead those plagues made the Egyptians mad, didn't they?
The Lord used these plagues just like he uses trials that he sends
to us today that teach us some very, very valuable lessons.
I'll give you just briefly what I think about these five plagues
that looks to me like did go into the land of Goshen. Scripture
says the plague of the waters of Egypt that were turned to
blood, Scripture says was in all of the land, in all of the
waters. Now the Egyptians thought that
their life and the strength of their nation came from that mighty
Nile River. Once a year, or maybe more, the
Nile River would flood, and it would give the best river bottom
land that there was, so you could grow crops in it and things.
And when the Lord turned that water into blood, He turned what
the Egyptians thought was a blessing, He turned it into a curse. If
they drank that, they'd die, they'd die of thirst. And here's
what the Lord teaches all of His people, and it's a tough
lesson for this flesh. He teaches us our life does not
come from anything in this world. Our spiritual life certainly
doesn't, and nothing of any eternal value, not our life, doesn't
come from this world. I just spent two days with our
daughters and sons and our grandsons, our grandson, and it was a great
time. I mean, you know, we loved it,
we loved it. But now our life, life what gives
us eternal life does not come from something in this world
and The Lord's going to teach all of his people this it's a
curse If we would trust our salvation to anything in this world It's
a curse to trust any our eternal happiness to anything of this
world And Lord's going to deliver his people from trusting in those
things Then scripture says the plague of frogs Covered the entire
land of Egypt Now that plague of frogs was a plague against
the idolatry of Egypt. Do you know they worshiped a
god of fertility that was a frog of all things? I mean, I just
think if I'm gonna make up an idol to worship, it's gonna be
something that looks better than a frog, don't you think? But
that's what they did, that was their god of fertility. And God
made their idol to be an abomination to them. I mean, can you imagine
frogs just everywhere? You open up the cabinets, take
a lid off a pan, you turn back the covers on a bed, everywhere
you look, there's frogs, there's frogs, there's frogs. And then
when the Lord killed all the frogs, they heaped them up and
they stank forever. I mean, how long did it take
all those frogs to decay? They stank. He turned their God
of fertility into an abomination to them, something that was repulsive.
Now frogs, are pictures of how disgusting false religion is.
And we won't turn to it, but if you care to look later on
this evening, Revelation 16 verse 13 talks about how disgusting
false religion is using frogs coming forth from the dragon's
mouth. And here's one thing the Lord's gonna teach all of his
people. It's how repulsive false religion is. I mean, you can
be in it for a long time and love it and prosper in it and
like Saul of Tarsus. and then the Lord reveals Christ
to you. And suddenly, that which you found so attractive is repulsive. You get away from it, you just
aren't gonna spend any amount of time with it at all. It's
disgusting now. Then scripture says the plague
of lice was throughout all the land of Egypt. The plague of
lice teaches us the uncleanness of our flesh. You know how the
lice spread throughout all the land of Egypt? Aaron took his
rod and smoked the dust of the earth. The dust that we're made
from. He smoked the dust of the earth
and lice went everywhere. Now here's what this teaches
us. All flesh. All flesh is made from the dust
of the earth. And it's unclean. Believer and
unbeliever alike. Now this flesh has got to die. Paul says it's got to die or
it's got to be changed one or the other. Because this flesh
cannot inherit something that's incorruptible. We're all as an
unclean thing. So we're in desperate need of
the Redeemer to cleanse us from our sin. I just bet you the difference
in this plague of lice was this. The plague of lice made those
Egyptians curse God. And the plague of lice made the
children of Israel cry out to God for mercy. That's the difference. The Lord made a difference in
his people. Then there's the plague of boils. And scripture
says again, it was throughout all the land of Egypt. If you
look over in Isaiah chapter one, I'll show you what this plague
of boils teaches. It teaches us what all of us
look like to God spiritually. Isaiah one verse five. Why should you be stricken anymore? You'll revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick. The whole heart is faint. From
the sole of the foot, even unto the head, there's no soundness
in it. But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores that have
not been closed up, neither bound up, neither modified with ointment. That's what we look like. That's
the plague of boils. That's what we look like spiritually
to God. And that plague of the boils
hardened Pharaoh's heart. But the effect of that plague
makes God's people run to him for mercy and forgiveness and
spiritual healing. If God ever shows us what we
are, we're gonna run to him for healing. The end scripture says
the plague of locusts, it was over all the land of Egypt. It
says it covered the face of the earth. Now again, maybe it didn't,
but that sure makes it sound like, to me, it was in Goshen
too. And the locusts ate every bit of the crops that were left
in Egypt. There would be no harvest that
year, it was all destroyed. And the plague of locusts shows
us this. This world is a dry, barren wasteland, spiritually.
Really, it is physically too. I mean, you can have something,
you can store it up, you can treasure it, and it's gone in
an instant. I mean, just don't put too much
stock in the stuff of this world, because it's all going to be
gone soon. And especially spiritually, don't put any trust in it. There's
no value in it. Now the effect of that plague,
scripture says, hardened Pharaoh's heart. But the effect of that
plague to God's people, when God teaches us this world is
a wasteland, it's barren, there's no life in it, there's no point
looking for any life in it. You know what that makes the
believer do? Run to Christ, for him to provide everything for
us that we need. You see, God's elect, we suffer
the effects of sin in our bodies, and that's kind of why I think
these plagues, these five plagues, did go into Goshen, because God's
elect, we know God, we trust God, he's given us faith, he's
given us life, but we're gonna suffer the effects of sin in
this body. There's no escape. sickness,
pain, sorrow, death, is gonna come to all of us unless the
Lord returns first. And when we suffer, when the
believer suffers the effects of our sin in our bodies, we
learn the lessons that the Lord taught in these five plagues.
The Lord teaches us these lessons, but he doesn't let those things
destroy his people. So that's what I think about
these first five plagues. But the next five, I know for
sure, did not go into the land of Goshen. They did not affect
God's people. And these five things, these
five plagues are pictures of the redemption that God's elect
have in Christ Jesus. The first one is the plague of
flies. Exodus 8, verse 20. And the Lord said unto Moses,
rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Lo,
he cometh forth to the water and say unto him, thus saith
the Lord, let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou
will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon
thee and upon thy servants and upon thy people and into thy
houses. And the houses of the Egyptians
shall be full of swarms of flies and also the ground whereon they
are. Now, Egypt, this is another plague
against the idolatry of Egypt. The Egyptians worshiped the God
of the flies. That's who they worshiped. His
name was Beelzebub, the god of the flies, who was later on known
as Baal. And at the time of our earthly
ministry, he was known as Satan. That's who they worshiped. And
the plague of flies has to do with the idolatry of Satan. You know, the idolatry of Satan
is not horrible, open sin and meanness and drugs and all these
things, you know. The idolatry of Satan is clean,
outward, moral living. That's the idolatry of Satan.
The idolatry of Satan is works religion, where a person thinks,
I've cleaned up the outside of the coffin, and since the outside
of the coffin is clean, I'm saved, and there's no dead corruption
inside the coffin. And the Lord made that thing
that the Egyptians worshiped to be a corruption to them. In
the summertime, sometimes you get a fly in your house, right?
I mean, one fly can drive you crazy. You've got two flies in
your house. I mean, they drive me Stark Raven
mad, you know. I'm like Elmer Fudd, you know,
hunting them, you know, with my fly swatter. Can you imagine
having your house full of them, swarms of flies? That thing that they worship
became a corruption to them. But the Lord made a difference.
He did not allow that plague to affect his people Israel.
Look at verse 22. And I will sever in that day
the land of Goshen in which my people dwell, that no swarms
of flies shall be there. To the end thou mayest know that
I am the Lord in the midst of the earth, and I will put a division
between my people and thy people. Tomorrow shall this sign be.
There wasn't a single fly flew into the land of Goshen. Not
a single fly went in there. God separated his people. He
redeemed them from this plague. They did not suffer this plague.
And here's the picture. In his electing love, the Lord
has delivered his people from the idolatry of Satan. It's the idolatry, it's the religion
that comes natural to all of us. If we act good enough on
the outside, We think we're saved, we think we're something, we
think we're, at least we think we're more savable than everybody
else, right? And God delivers his people from that. When God
saves his people and he reveals Christ to his people, they are
done forever with man's free will works religion. They're
gonna trust Christ and Christ alone. And that's pictured here
in these swarms of flies It's a mixture of all different kinds
of little flying insects is what it means. Believers don't have
anything to do with this mixture. They're delivered from the curse
of this mixture of grace and works. They're not going to fall
for it. They're not going to trust in
it. They trust Christ alone, not themselves. And about these
flies, I thought about this. You know what flies are drawn
to? Manure. Manure. Behind my mom and dad's
house was a, when I was growing up, was a cattle field. And there's
manure back in those fields. That's what flies are drawn to.
I'm telling you, I've seen it. I grew up with it. Look at 1
Samuel chapter two. Flies are drawn to manure and
dung hills. That's what they're drawn to.
Now that's where God's people are born. But God delivers. When he reveals himself to them,
He delivers all of his people from that dunghill of our religion
and our works. 1 Samuel 2 verse 8. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to
set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne
of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and
he hath set the world upon them. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill. And
if the Lord saved you, that's what he's done for you. He's
lifted you from the dunghill of Satan's idolatry, and he sets
you among the princes of his people, hadn't he? Then here's
the second plague. Look at Exodus chapter nine.
The second plague is the plague of the moraine of cattle. Exodus
nine, verse one. Then the Lord said unto Moses,
go in unto Pharaoh and tell him Thus saith the Lord God of the
Hebrews, let my people go, that they may serve me. For if thou
refuse to let them go and will hold them still, behold, the
hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle, which is in the field,
upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen,
and upon the sheep. And there shall be a very grievous
moraine. Now that word moraine, it's a
disease that kills cattle. And when they talk about cattle
in the Old Testament, it's not just cows, it's all livestock,
all their camels, all their horses, all their oxen. These are animals
that were very, very, very useful and valuable to the Egyptians.
They used them in war to pull chariots and haul all their weapons
and so forth. They used them to haul their
goods and trade goods all over the world. They used them to
plow their fields. When they had those bountiful
harvests, they loaded wagons full of their harvests and used
those oxen to pull them to the barn. And the Lord killed every
last one of them. Killed them all. To show us,
you and I cannot carry the burden of the law of God. We don't have
a beast of burden that can carry this for us. In Psalm 33 verse
17, David said that when the Lord
comes in judgment, a horse is a vain thing for safety. Neither
shall he deliver any by his great strength. We might think we've
got something built up for our safety. It's a vain thing. The Lord's gonna destroy it.
It cannot carry the burden of the law, can't carry the burden
of our guilt, of the guilt of our sin. And you think in a matter
of a day, they lost all those animals. all their ability to
plow, all their ability to pull those chariots, all their ability
to take goods all around the world, they lost it all. That had to be so devastating
to them. But the Lord separated his people,
and they did not suffer from this moraine of cattle. Look
at verse four of Exodus nine. And the Lord shall sever between
the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, and there shall
nothing die of all that is the children of Israel. And the Lord
appointed a set time, saying, tomorrow shall the Lord do this
thing in the land. And the Lord did that thing on
the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died. But of the cattle
of the children of Israel died not one. Not one. Now Almighty God has elect people.
And those elect people, they're in the land, they're born under
the burden and demands of the law that they cannot obey. God's put a burden of the law
on them that they cannot carry. It will crush them. Except that
the father severed his people. He made a difference between
his people and the rest of the people of the world. The father
sent someone to bear that burden for them. The Lord Jesus Christ
came as a man, made under the law, just like we are. And he
held up that entire burden for all of his people on his shoulder. Scripture doesn't even say it
took his shoulders, plural. He's so mighty, it just took
one. He held all that burden up. He
obeyed every commandment of God's law for every second of his life. You know, when you and I try
to keep the law, we make a mess of things, don't we? I mean,
we just make an absolute mess of it. All we do is we make the
law something that would condemn us. The father said his son,
did such a good job obeying the law, he honored it and magnified
it. He magnified the law so that
we could see what the law's purpose really is. It's not for us to
obey it and earn our own righteousness, it's to drive us to Christ. He
obeyed it, he did it perfectly. He held up that whole burden
for his people and made them righteous. Now of all the cattle,
the different kinds of livestock that there were in Egypt, Doesn't
sound like that the Egyptians owned many sheep. Because remember
when Joseph first came into Egypt, he was empowered, he's gonna
bring his family to Egypt. He said they're shepherds, and
the sheep are an abomination to the Egyptians. So it doesn't
sound like that the Egyptians owned many sheep, and if they
did, the Israelites were the ones that were watching them
and keeping them. That moraine of cattle, this is gonna be very
important later on, that moraine of cattle didn't kill one sheep,
one lamb in the land of Goshen. All those lambs were still there. So that when the time came for
the night of the Passover, there's gonna be plenty of lambs to sacrifice. There's gonna be plenty of blood
to cover every household that wants to be under the blood.
There's gonna be a lamb killed so that everybody that wants
to sit and eat can sit and eat. Nobody's gonna be turned away
hungry. Nobody's gonna, no house is gonna be turned away saying,
well, we ran out of blood, so we don't have blood to put on
your door. No, there's gonna be blood. There's blood sufficient
for every one of God's elect because he did not allow the
lamb to die. He did not, he kept that lamb
until the time came for the lamb to be sacrificed. And if the
father elected you unto salvation, he's gonna deliver you from this
moraine of cattle. You will always have The lamb. The lamb slain from the foundation
of the world who right now stands at the throne of glory as your
surety. When John saw heaven open, he
saw the throne of God, what did he see? A lamb that had been
slain. God's provided a lamb. And as
long as God's lamb's on the throne, your salvation's sure. Sure. Then number three, there's the
plague of fiery hail. Exodus 9 verse 22. And the Lord said unto Moses,
stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail
in all the land of Egypt, upon man and upon beast and upon every
herb of the field throughout all the land of Egypt. And Moses
stretched forth his rod toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder
and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground, and the Lord
rained hail upon the land of Egypt, So there was a hail and
a fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there
was none like it in all the land of Egypt, since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout
all the land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and
beast, and the hail smote every herb of the field and break every
tree of the field. Now clearly, I know what this
is a picture of. Look over to Isaiah chapter 28.
This fiery hail is a picture of God's wrath against sin. And
it's particularly a judgment against this sin of unbelief
and self-righteousness, establishing your own righteousness and your
own refuge for God's judgment by your own works. Exodus 28,
verse 14. Wherefore, hear the word of the
Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem,
because you have said, we have made a covenant with death. and
with hell are we at agreement, when the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we've made
lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore
thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness
to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of
lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding places, and your covenant
with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell
shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, you shall be trodden down by it." And that's
exactly what happened in the land of Egypt, didn't it? When
that fiery hail came sweeping through there, It killed everything. If anybody was out in the field,
it killed them. If there was anything left out there in the
field, it killed them. If there was a tree left standing,
it'd break it. It was a fiery hell. This is a picture of God's
fiery judgment against sin, killing everyone in its path, except
in Goshen, where God's people lived. Look back at Exodus 9,
verse 26. only in the land of Goshen where
the children of Israel were there was no hail. See the Lord made
a difference between the Egyptians and the children of Israel, the
Lord separated his people so his fiery judgment and his fiery
hail did not fall anywhere near them. Now here's the picture,
God the Father elected a people into salvation And since the
father chose those people, he chose to save them by the obedience
and the sacrifice of his son. When the time came, the father
sent his son into this world to save those people by his obedience
to the law for them. By his suffering, the wrath of
God against all the sin of his people, Christ suffered it perfectly. He made his people righteous
by his obedience and by his sacrifice. When Christ went to Calvary's
tree, he had lived a life of perfect obedience. He did no
sin, he knew no sin, he wasn't even acquainted with any sin.
But the father made him sin for his people. He became guilty
of the sin of his people, even though he never committed a sin,
and the father poured out all of his fiery wrath against sin
upon his son. And he kept pouring it out. And
he kept pouring it out and he kept pouring it out until the
price for all that sin was paid. And then the fire stopped. The
Savior died to satisfy the law's last demand, there's got to be
death for sin. And when the Lord Jesus cried
from the tree, it is finished, and gave up the ghost, the father
said, that's enough. My justice is satisfied. There's
no more fury left in me. So when God comes in judgment,
if you trust Christ, you don't have to fear that judgment. It's
not falling on you. It's not falling anywhere near
you because your substitute already took it all. He already took
it all. And the proof of that is after
the Lord died three days after that, he rose from the dead because
his sacrifice had justified all the people that the father gave
him to say, they have no sin. It's already been punished in
the person of their substitute. Now, if I know anything from
reading this book, I picked this up. God is holy and God is just. If the father punished your sin
in the person of your substitute, he'll never punish you for it
too. Not only do you not have to fear
going to the judgment, if you're a believer, there is no judgment.
It's already happened in the person of your substitute. If
the Lord saves you, here's what he's gonna deliver you from,
himself. He's gonna deliver you from his
wrath against your sin in the person of your substitute. So
if the fire of God's wrath for your sin fell on Christ, it's
impossible. for it to ever fall on you. All
right, here's the last plague that we'll deal with tonight.
It's the plague of darkness. Exodus 10, verse 21. And the
Lord said unto Moses, stretch out thine hand toward heaven
that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness
which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his
hand toward heaven and there was a thick darkness in all the
land of Egypt Three days. And they saw not one another,
neither rose any from his place for three days. They were just
so afraid they would not get it. It was a darkness that could
be felt. I was talking to my daughter
Holly one time, talking about one of my favorite sports teams.
And I said, they stink out loud. And she said, how can you stink
audibly? This is a darkness which could
be felt. I mean you just you can't explain
that other than if you felt it But the Lord made a difference
between the Egyptians and his people Verse 23 said at the end of it
says but all the children of Israel Had light in their dwellings
the children of Israel had light Now you notice in every one of
these cases It's the Lord that made the difference in it The
Lord made a difference between the Egyptians and his people.
Now, this plague of darkness pictures the spiritual darkness
that every son of Adam is born in. It lasted for three days,
three days. This is the darkness that we're
born in. Solomon said, Proverbs 4, verse 19, the way of the wicked
is his darkness, darkness. But Christ came to deliver his
people from the darkness of their unbelief and their ignorance.
He said in John 12, verse 46, I am come a light into the world.
The whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Now, why is it that if you believe
Christ, you will not abide in darkness? How is it that Christ
could deliver you from this darkness of your unbelief and the darkness
of death and ignorance? How can he take that for you? because it was dark there for
three days. At Calvary, there was darkness
over all the earth for three hours. Christ suffered that darkness
in judgment. He suffered that darkness for
his people so that they'll have light. So they'll have light. And you wanna know how I know
for sure God's people will have spiritual light. Sooner or later,
every one of them's gonna have spiritual light So they see Christ
and they believe on him. I know that for sure. How do
I know that? God commanded it. Look at 2 Corinthians 4. 2 Corinthians 4. Verse six. For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. If the Lord saves you, he's gonna
deliver you from the power of darkness, from the power of unbelief,
from the power of ignorance. How are you not gonna be under
the power of unbelief anymore? If you see the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ, you can't not believe. You must believe
on him. How can you remain ignorant?
of how it is God saves sinners if you see the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ. You can't. If you see Christ,
it'll be so obvious to you. Here's how God saves sinners.
And God's gonna do that for every last one of his elect. Colossians
1 verse 13. Who had delivered us from the
power of darkness and he's translated us. He's transferred us from
the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. to be delivered from darkness
so that you see Christ. To see Him now by faith. Isn't
that a blessing? To see Christ by faith. It takes
all your fears, all your worries of yourself and everything going
on around you to see Christ by faith. I mean, that fixes your
wagon every single time. And you know what's coming? To see him face to face. No more
darkness. There's no light there. There's
no night there because Christ is the light. There's no need
of the moon. It's never dark. Christ is the light of it. He's
delivered you from darkness. And the last plague, and we won't
have time to look at it tonight because it deserves a whole lot
more time than I got left, the Passover. But there's a reason
that God's people, now that plague did go, the plague, the destroyer
did go in the land of Goshen, didn't he? But nobody was destroyed
there, because they're under the blood. How'd they know about
the blood? How'd they know about the lamb?
How'd they know to kill that lamb and put the blood on the
doorpost and go in and eat that lamb? Not sodden at all with
water and gravy, but with bitter herbs that they eat it. They
eat it with their loins girt, their staff in their hand, their
shoes on their feet. How'd they know to do that? God told them.
Just like He tells all of His elect. It's why I say over and
over and over again, look to Christ. That's what He was telling
them that night. Look to Christ, the Lamb slain. Now if I can take that little
bit where I said right there and explain that in about 35
minutes, I got a good message for next time, don't I? That's
our hope, that we'll be delivered from that because Christ suffered
it for us. All right, let's bow together.
Our Father, how we thank you for redemption that's full and
free in our Lord Jesus Christ that you purposed and you purchased
for your people. Father, how we thank you. Father,
I pray you take your word as it's been preached tonight and
apply it to the hearts of each one of us here that we might
be delivered from the plague of our darkness, that you might
give us light to see Christ, to see His glory, to see how
it is that Almighty God, the Holy God, could save sinners
like we are and be just in doing it through the person, the sacrifice,
the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, let us see Him,
we pray. Father, it's in Christ's name,
for His sake and His glory, we pray. Amen. All right, Sean.