Go ahead and turn with me to
Exodus chapter 11. Warning after warning had been
given. Plague after plague had been
carried out, nine of them thus far. But Egypt's monarch, Pharaoh,
still hardened his heart. Boy, it shows us something about
the natural heart of men and women. what folly it is to fight
against God. I wish I could tell every unbeliever
that. It's futile to fight against
God, what folly it is to fight against God. That's what Isaiah
said. He said, woe unto him that striveth
with his maker. Look at verse one. And the Lord
said unto Moses, yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh
and upon Egypt. And afterwards, He will let you
go hence. When he shall let you go, he
shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. He'll be glad to
get rid of you. One more judgment was appointed,
and it was the most devastating of all. As we've said many times
in the studies here of the plagues, that they seem to increase in
severity each one, but this one was the most severe and devastating
of all. Do you remember what the Lord
had said to Moses concerning Pharaoh, Egypt, and his people's
deliverance before Moses ever went to Pharaoh? Let me show
you that. Turn back to Exodus chapter four. Just hold your place here. Turn
back a few pages to Exodus chapter four and verse 22. The Lord here speaking to Moses
said, and thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord,
Israel is my son, even my firstborn. In Christ, God's people are his
children, his firstborn. And I say unto thee, let my son
go. This is the message to Pharaoh,
you let my son go, you let my people go, that he may serve
me. If thou refuse to let him go,
behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. Now this
was before Moses and Aaron even went to Pharaoh. Pharaoh had
been warned since the beginning of his rebellion what the Lord
would do if he didn't let God's people go, and that's what now
it's come to. The nine previous plagues, and
you think about this, the nine previous plagues were nothing
less than God's patience and long-suffering against this hardened,
rebellious man and his nation. That was what God said. He said,
if you don't let my children go, I'm going to slay your son.
And yet nine plagues before this 10th and final, the death of
the firstborn. May all the world take notice. Those that walk in pride against
God, he is able to abase. God is able to humble. God is
able to put down the proudest heart. And it was for this very
purpose, as we've said many times, it's what Paul said in Romans
9, it's for this very purpose that God raised Pharaoh up, that
God might show His power in him. And that God's name might be
declared throughout all the earth. There are many devices in a man's
heart, nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed,
and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out,
and who shall turn it back? That's the God of the Bible,
and that's the God with whom we have to do. And I don't hear
that God much proclaimed in this day in which we live. Do you?
You talk to most of your friends, and they'll tell you that God
is love. They won't tell you anything about wrath and judgment
to those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ. Pharaoh may have
asked in the beginning, who is the Lord that I should obey his
voice to let Israel go? And he may have declared, I know
not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. But now it's a little
different story. And it always is for those who
oppose and resist and harden their hearts against the Lord.
Mr. Pink once wrote, Might a worm
have more success to resist an elephant than for the creature
to successfully defy the Almighty God? We read in verse 1, one
plague more. One plague more. I think about
those words echoing in Pharaoh's mind in eternity in hell. One
plague more. This would be the severest of
all the plagues. A mightier king than Pharaoh
would visit the land of Egypt. None can successfully resist
the King of Kings. And we read here in verse one
that the Lord said unto Moses, and we know that Moses heard
the voice of the Lord and obeyed him. The question is, have we
heard his voice? Have you heard his voice? Have
you obeyed and believed? It's pointless and useless not
to. God will have his way. Where? In the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand." And I looked at that word stay up today, and do you
know in the Hebrew it means arrest? You can't put God in handcuffs. And I hear folks say things like,
don't tie God's hands, and we've got to let go and let God and
untie God's hands. But you can't put God in handcuffs. Most Bible scholars regard the
next two verses, two and three is what they call a parenthesis.
It's a brief notice or explanation of something that's happened
previously or would happen soon after. God says to Moses here
in verse two, he said, speak now in the ears of the people
and let every man borrow of his neighbor and every woman of her
neighbor, jewels of silver and jewels of gold. And the Lord
gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover,
the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the
sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people."
Now the King James Version here seems to have misinterpreted
this word barl, the Hebrew word It's spelled S-H-A-A-L, Sha'al. I think that's the right way
to pronounce it. But it means not just to request or require,
but to even demand. If they simply borrowed these
things, they would have had to return them or they themselves
would have been nothing more than thieves. But verse three
shines some light upon this event. The Lord gave the people of Israel
favor with the Egyptians. And the Israelites asked for
these things in obedience to God's command. God said, you
request these things. And God put it on their heart
to give these things to the Israelites. And it's as if Moses here in
the middle of this story in chapter 11 in his writing reminds us
of the covenant promise that God made to Abraham back some
500 years before. Let me show you that. Hold your
place here again and turn back to Genesis chapter 15. Look at
verse 13. Genesis 15, 13. This the Lord
said to Abraham 500 years before. Verse 13, and he said unto Abram,
know of a surety that thy seed, the nation of Israel, shall be
a stranger in a land that is not theirs. and shall serve them. And they shall afflict them for
400 years. It's exactly what happened. He
doesn't just know what's gonna happen, he ordains and purposes
what's gonna happen. And notice verse 14, and also
that nation whom they shall serve will I judge. That's what these
plagues have been, the judgment of God. And afterward, they shall
come out, come out of Egypt, come out of that nation. And
notice those words, with great substance. The Lord told Abraham
here 500 years before that this would happen. His seed, the nation
of Israel would be a stranger in a land that was not theirs.
He told him that that seed would serve the nation of Egypt for
400 years. And that God would one day after
that period of time, judge this nation and that Israel, the people
of God would come out of Egypt with great substance. That's
what's happening in verse two and three. People walking up
as they leave Egypt and just handing them their possessions.
Isn't that amazing? When we preach the gospel, the
glorious good news of how God saves sinners by the substitution
and the work of righteousness that Christ does for them, sometimes
we pause, as Moses did here, and we remind the people of God
of the glorious things that God has promised them. We don't serve
God in order to receive these things. We serve God for who
He is and what He's done for us. Yet in the end, we're gonna
see what we've been promised. We come out of this world and
this life of sin and bondage with great substance. What great
substance all believers have who possess Christ and His perfect
righteousness. What great substance we have
knowing that we're the heirs of God and join heirs with Christ. And that all God possesses we
are heirs of. What great substance the child
of God receives in their deliverance out of the bondage of sin. Perfect
righteousness. Oh, that'll mean something to
you when you see that your righteousness is filthy rags. We receive the
forgiveness of sin. Oh, that'll mean something to
you when you see that sin is what you are. Everlasting life. Oh, that'll mean something to
you when you see that you deserve death. And above all, Christ
himself. All people talk about, you know,
walking the streets of gold, living in their mansion, floating
on a cloud. The greatest part of heaven is
the fact that Christ will be there. And I'll see him face
to face. And all the questions that we've
had all this time will be answered. The Lord gave the people of Israel
favor in the sight of the Egyptians and the man Moses. God reminds
us that Moses was just a man. Moses reminds us that. He said,
the man Moses. We put men up on a pedestal.
But any man abused of God is just that. He's a servant that
God was pleased to use. Just a mouthpiece, a voice crying
in the wilderness. But he was a very great man in
the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in
the sight of the people. And all these things were by
the giving of the Lord. Verse 3 is plain. And the Lord
gave favor. Do you see that? That's who gives
favor. He's the only one that can't.
And I think about that passage of scripture, I have not seen
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God has prepared for them that love him. We don't really have a clue.
Oh, it's gonna be wonderful. But God has revealed them to
us by his spirit. Now look at verse four. And Moses
said, thus saith the Lord, about midnight will I go out into the
midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die,
from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne,
even to the firstborn of the maid servant that is behind the
meal, and all the firstborn of beasts. Now first let me say
that nowhere in the scriptures here are we told that God sent
an angel of death, or that God sent the grim reaper, or an archangel,
or an evil spirit, or anyone else to slay the firstborn of
Egypt. He said about midnight, will I go out? Will I go out
in the midst of Egypt? If you look here in chapter 12,
verse 12, the Lord says, for I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt,
I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. This is the Lord
doing this. And if you read 1 Samuel chapter
2 in your leisure, the prayer of Hannah, you'll find that it's
the Lord that killeth and maketh alive. He, the Lord, bringeth
down to the grave and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and
maketh rich. He, the Lord, bringeth low and
lifteth up. It's He that does all these things.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifted up the beggar
from the dunghill to set them among princes and to make them
inherit the throne of God. For the pillars of the earth
are whose? The Lord's. The Lord's. And he
has set the world upon them. He, the Lord, will keep the feet
of his saints. Who keeps you? You know why you're
going to be kept? Because you're kept by the power
of God. The Lord keeps you. That's my assurance. That's my
confidence. That's why I know that I'm saved and going to always
be saved. Believe once saved, always saved?
The Lord keeps me, absolutely. The Lord will keep the feet of
His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by
strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces. Who's going to break them to
pieces? The Lord is. And out of heaven shall he thunder
upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and shall
exalt the horn of his anointing." That's 1 Samuel 2. I should have
turned you there, because that declares the sovereignty and
power and omnipotence of God. Read it in your leisure. In Isaiah
chapter 45 verse 7, the Lord said, I form the light and create
darkness. I make peace and create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. And what men call evil is nothing
less than God's sore judgments against those who hate him and
refuse to bow and obey him. And whether it's famine, or whether
it's pestilence, war, or even death, It's God's judgment against
sin and unbelief. These afflictions, these adversities,
these calamities, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, it doesn't
matter. God's name is on them, and they're
of Him. And secondly, I'd have you to
notice that God is no respecter of persons. We see that very
clearly here. From the firstborn of Pharaoh,
that sits upon the throne. all the way down to the maidservant
that's sweeping up behind the meal. God will smite and slay
all that have not the precious blood of the Lamb of God covering
them. In Acts chapter 10 verse 34 and
35 it's recorded that Peter opened his mouth and he said, of a truth
I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation,
he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted." And
there's none that is righteous nor that can do a work of righteousness. Our acceptance is in Christ who
worked out a perfect righteousness for us. But listen to me, neither
in the giving of mercy and grace, nor in the delivering of judgment
and wrath, does God consider the social or the worldly status
or standing of men and women. He's no respecter of persons.
If you're not in Christ, I don't care if you're a king or a pauper,
if you're not in Christ, you're gonna perish in your sin. no
respecter of persons. God saves only those who have
the blood of his dear son as a covering, and God condemns
only those who do not believe and trust that precious blood
covering of Christ, the Lamb of God. Look at verse six. And there shall be a great cry
throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it,
nor shall be like it anymore. You know, I got to thinking about
that in some detail. You know, in the atomic bombing
of Hiroshima, there was anywhere, statistics say, from 90 to 146,000
people total killed that day. And with many of that number,
why it varies so much, is that many of them dying days later
because of the radiation and all from the bomb. In the bombing
of Nagasaki, There were anywhere from 39 to 80,000 people who
died either immediately or soon thereafter. And as most of you
know, Teresa's mother, my mother-in-law, was spared in the bomb in Nagasaki. She went to the doctor that day.
And in the providence of God, she was spared. All of her classmates
were killed. We have a CD of an interview
that she did. And she said that the cries that
day, could be heard all over the city. Just can you imagine? They had dead bodies piled up
as high as they could pile them. The cries that she heard. Every
house, every family was to some degree affected. And in Egypt,
It was the same. Every house, every family was
affected. Thousands upon thousands perished
throughout the land of Egypt. Our Lord tells us that there's
coming another day when there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. Well, these things aren't pleasurable
to think about, but they're real and they're recorded in God's
Word. It said, there'll be weeping
and gnashing of teeth when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves
will be thrust out. Those of you that don't trust
in Christ, you'll be thrust out. Luke 13, 28. According to Revelation
chapter six, there's a day coming when the stars of heaven fell
unto the earth and the heaven be departed as a scroll when
it's rolled up together. And when it's rolled together,
every mountain and island will be moved out of their places
and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men
and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman
and every freeman will hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks
of the mountains. and say to the mountains and
the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him that
sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the
great day of wrath has come and who shall be able to stand. Now, let me give you some good
news. There will be some who shall stand. God says there'll
be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, and we know
that day is coming again. The great day of His wrath is
coming. Who's gonna be able to stand? Surprisingly enough, they're
our son. Look at verse seven. But against
any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue,
against man or beast, that ye may know how. Now look at this.
That you may know how that the Lord doth put a difference. between the Egyptians and Israel.
Well, brother, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps. No, you
did not. No, you did not. It's the Lord
that doth put a difference between you and another. It's the Lord,
the Lord, Jehovah. that put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. The Lord had sent all manners
of flies and lice throughout all the borders of Egypt, but
the inhabitants in Goshen, the people of God, not a fly there
was seen. Not one. The Lord had sent a
disease upon all the cattle of Egypt and they died and then
God finished them off that were left in the field with a great
and enormous hailstorm. But the cattle of Israel and
Goshen fell no disease or no desolating shower of hail and
fire on the earth. God sent a thick darkness over
the land of Egypt, a darkness that for three days could be
felt. A darkness where they couldn't
see, where they couldn't move, where they couldn't do anything.
But there was a light dwelling in the land of Goshen. In every
dwelling in the land of Goshen, there was light. Dogs were howling
and barking in the land of Egypt, but against the children of Israel,
not a dog moved his tongue. Not one dog. Against man or beast,
and all these things were done so that Pharaoh, Egypt, Israel,
and you and I might know how the Lord put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. Who puts this difference between
them? The Lord does. Isn't that plain and simple here?
This is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we're told
that there are basically two distinct types of people that
dwelt on the earth. The first type, the Egyptians,
who picture the unbeliever, who are dead in trespasses and sin,
enemies of God, haters of God, who by their wicked works are
aliens, the scripture says, from the commonwealth of Israel. And
then the second type are the Israelites, God's people, true
Israel, true Israel, those who have through grace have believed
in Christ and fear God. And the difference between the
two is the act of God's eternal and sovereign grace found only
in the Lord Jesus Christ. This distinction between the
righteous and the wicked was ordained of God from before the
foundation of the world. In the eternal covenant, God
wrote the names of His elect in a book, and for them, Christ
entered into the engagement of being their surety and being
their substitute to suffer in their room instead. Before you
and I were ever born, this was determined and ordained of God.
So we can't take any credit for it. None. Covenant promises were
made for them and for them only. Their names were recorded in
the Lamb's Book of Life and engraved upon the precious stones of their
great high priest's breastplate. The Lord hath set them apart
for himself, Psalm 4.3. Isn't that amazing? While the
whole world lay dead from the fall of their representative,
these precious jewels were selected from the dunghill and set among
princes. Were they better than other men
and women by nature? Certainly not. Maybe even worse. Jacob have I loved and Esau have
I hated. And the Lord made that determination
before the two were ever born that the purpose of God according
to election might stand. But if you want to go down that
road and look at the lives of Esau and Jacob, Jacob was worse
than Esau was. He really was. We studied that.
You know that's so. God in sovereign grace selected
us to be vessels of mercy, whom Christ would show forth not only
his long suffering, but also the plenty of his grace and the
riches of his love. Before the foundations of the
earth were dug, God did the digging. The Lord made a difference between
Israel and Egypt, between Jacob and Esau, and between the elect
and the world. That's just so. That's what this
book teaches, and we do ourselves a great favor to believe it. God, by his infinite power, has
quickened his people and given them a new nature, made them
new creatures in Christ, and now they love the things that
they once hated. Old things within them have passed
away, and behold, all things have become new. And the change
is not that they speak more solemnly or religiously or become holier
than now, but the change is much deeper than that. It's a change
of the very nature and the change of their very heart. They no
longer belong to the world. They belong to the kingdom of
God. Their minds are no more carnally or fleshly minded. Their minds are now renewed with
the spirit of God. They've been born again. not
just reformed, not just made better, but new creatures in
Christ. They're now strangers and foreigners
in Egypt. And the Lord hath put a difference
between them. With both groups, God's dealings
are just and right. The Lord never deals with sin
beyond what justice demands, nor is he gracious beyond what
justice allows. According to holy justice, God
deals with all. Those who endeavor to stand in
their own righteousness will be dealt with according to their
filthy rag's righteousness. The law requires perfection,
and the soul that sins shall surely die. Why? For the wages
of sin is death. So we cannot, by a work of righteousness
of our own, which is nothing but filthy rags, appease God
in any way. But those who are justified in
Christ, through His righteousness, washed in His blood, God deals
with them not as a criminal, nor as a king with a subject,
but as a father with a child. The distinction is carried out
in God's providence. To the righteous man and woman,
every providence is a blessing, whether we see it or not. How
do I know that? Because he's working all things
together for the good of them who love the Lord, who are thee
called according to his purpose. That says all things, everything,
everything. Everything that happens by the
providence of God, God's somehow working for the child of God's
eternal good. Now, do you believe that? Lord,
help my unbelief, but yes, I do. Yes, I do. And yet, to the sinner,
the unbeliever, the Egyptians of this world, all things work
together for you. A man seems prosperous, but God's
just fattening him up like a beast for the slaughter. And yet if
a man is prosperous, knows the Lord, it's the Lord that made
him so. And he's doing it for his good
and the good of God's kingdom. It's the Lord that's put the
difference. A man seems healthy, but he's just as a flower that's
ripening for the cutting down of God's wrath and judgment if
he doesn't trust in the Lord Jesus alone. It's the Lord that
puts a difference between. The difference will be more clearly
seen in the judgment when the Lord sits upon his throne and
he divides the sheep from the goats. And to the sheep, he'll
say, enter in, thou good and faithful servants. And to the
goats, he'll say, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. And this is
all according to the distinction of God's mercy, grace, purpose,
and choice. You know, when Paul, and I don't
want to get sidetracked here, but when Paul said in 1 Corinthians
4, verse 7, who maketh thee to differ? That word differ means
to separate. Who separated you? It means to
distinguish. It means to discriminate. People
don't like that. Well, that's not fair. God never
said that he was fair. He's sovereign. He's omnipotent.
He does what he wills in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth. He has mercy on whom he'll have
mercy. God doesn't have to be fair.
God's holy, just, and righteous. We all deserve condemnation. It's a great mercy and grace
that he'd spare any of us. Religion says that this separation,
this difference has to do with man's will, man's work, man's
way. But the Bible says that it's
according to the riches of God's grace. And that word according
means specified, given, granted, dependent upon the distinguishing,
discriminating grace of God. Now let me close by having you
turn to Ephesians chapter one. I want to show you this from
scripture. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1. Let me ask while you're
turning, who makes you and I to differ from another? Who separates
us? Who distinguishes us? Who discriminates
one from another? We know that the Lord has put
a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. What do we have that
we did not receive, Paul asks, and then why do we glory as if
we hadn't received it? The Lord has put a difference
between those that are His and those who are not. Look at verse
five. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself. That's exactly what God has done
for the believer according to the good pleasure of His will. That's why He did it. The Lord
put a difference. Look at verse 7. In whom we have
redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins. Why? According to the riches of his
grace. Look at verse 9. Having made
known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good
pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. Look at verse 11,
in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated,
predetermined by God, chosen before the foundation of the
world, given to Christ, predestinated, predetermined to be saved according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. Now that's God. That's God right
there. Look at verse 19, God makes known
to us what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe,
why? According to the working of his
mighty power. Let me read this verse to you.
Deuteronomy 7 verse 7, I love this verse. Verse 7 and 8, the
Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you
were more in number than any people. For you were the fewest
of all people. You are the least of the least.
That's who God saves. This is why He saved you. This
is why He made you this way. Because the Lord loved you. He
loved you with no reason outside of Himself. Because the Lord
loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn
unto your fathers. Now he's speaking now of Abraham,
500 years before. And hath the Lord brought you
out with a mighty hand. He's talking about Egypt. And
redeemed you out of the house of Bondman from the hand of Pharaoh,
king of Egypt. Why did the Lord deliver Israel? Because he loved them and he
chose them. And He put the difference between
them and the Egyptians. And it's the same with you and
I. I find great assurance in knowing
that if I can do nothing to save myself, I can't do anything to
lose my salvation. It's the Lord that put the difference
between us. The only reason you believe and
trust in Christ is because God had put a difference between
you and those with whom we used to have our conversation, our
way of life. Not unto us, this is what we
say with that thought in mind, not unto us. Lord, not unto us,
but unto thy name give glory. For thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Thank God for putting that difference
between us for his mercy and his truth's sake.