If you would, go ahead and turn
with me again to Exodus chapter 7. Exodus chapter 7. Arthur Pink said that from a
literary or a scholarly aspect, the seventh chapter of Exodus
begins a new division in the book of Exodus. He said that
the first six chapters are more about the person of the deliverer
named Moses, and that the next six chapters concern themselves
with an account of the work of redemption. In the first six
chapters, we saw several things. We saw the horrible persecution
of Israel in the land of Egypt. Yet we know that their affliction
Their hard bondage, their slavery was ordained of God. He had told Abraham some 400
years beforehand that his seed would fall into this slavery
and bondage. God told Abraham, he said, no
of a surety, no for certain, that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs. and shall serve them and they
shall afflict them 400 years, Genesis 15, 13. And then next
we saw the birth of Moses and God's divine preservation of
him. It's amazing when you think about
it, that God, before the foundation of the world, he set his love
and his affection and his choice upon a particular Hebrew child
that Pharaoh was determined to destroy. And God miraculously,
you remember the story well, God miraculously preserved him
and kept him. As you remember, because of Pharaoh's
concern as to how Israel's number had grown into a great nation,
the King of Egypt with a wicked and murderous heart, ordered
the Hebrew midwives to murder every newly born male child in
Israel. But the midwives, we're told
in Exodus 1, verse 17, feared God and did not, as the king
of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men's children alive.
But that didn't stop Pharaoh. He commanded the people of Israel
to murder and drown their own children. Can you imagine such
a thing? Can you imagine the king, the
potentate, who would take your life if you didn't obey him,
ordering you to drown your own son? And he ordered his people
of Egypt, the people of Egypt, to rat out any parent that didn't. But God had raised up a man and
a woman. By the providence and purpose
and power of God, raised up a man and woman who feared God more
than they feared the mighty Pharaoh. And the scriptures speak of them
even in the New Testament. We're told in Hebrews 11, 23,
that by faith Moses, when he was born, was
hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper
child and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. This
is not speaking of Moses' faith here, it's speaking of his parents'
faith who risked their lives in hiding him for three months
and they feared God more than they feared the king. The Lord
showed these God-fearing parents that Moses was a proper child. Now, I'll just throw this in. That doesn't mean that they saw
halo around his head or that he glowed with the glory of God,
like sometimes you see saints pictured in artist work. I believe that simply means that
they saw that the baby Moses was a special chosen child that
would be used of God in a mighty way. You know, God has a way
of letting his people know his will, his way, and his purpose
in this life. And God powerfully and providentially
arranged that Moses would be adopted by Pharaoh's daughter.
This story is an amazing story. He was raised as a prince in
the kingdom of Egypt with all the privileges that went with
it. God ordained that Moses be raised in Egypt with all its
wisdom, its royalty, its money and treasures that the world
had to offer. Then he providentially, God did,
took it all away and put him on the backside of the desert
to teach him how to be a shepherd. And he was in Egypt as a prince
for 40 years. And he was on the backside of
the desert in Midian for 40 years. And God showed him and taught
him the extremes of both lines. Yet the 40 years in Egypt and
the 40 years in the desert didn't do anything but leave him standing
before God with doubt and unbelief. These 80 years left Moses and
Israel both standing before God, knowing that they could not help
themselves. And it's God that makes the difference.
These past 80 years didn't do one thing for Moses, didn't do
one thing for Israel that enabled them to do one thing to contribute
to their deliverance. Chapter six closes, verse 30,
with Moses moaning and groaning about the hopelessness of his
task. And he again confesses his inability and his feebleness
by complaining. He said, I am of uncircumcised
lips. And how shall Pharaoh hearken
unto me? Woe is me. Woe is me. And as
always, the weakness of the servant of God fully manifest the sovereign
power of God. The Lord told Paul just that,
he said, my grace is sufficient for thee. He cried out to God
three times to remove a thorn in the flesh. And the Lord Jesus
said, my grace is sufficient for thee because Christ's strength
is made perfect in our weakness. And it's when God shows us our
weakness and when God shows us our inability to help ourselves,
that the power of God alone is displayed in all its magnificent
glory. Now here in chapter seven, we
again find Jehovah, the God who saves. That's how he's revealing
himself now. Acting according to his sovereign
power and dealing in wondrous grace with his poor servant,
Moses. Look at verse one. And the Lord
said unto Moses, see, I have made thee a God to Pharaoh, and
Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Now, in spite of his
inability and his weakness, God had selected Moses to act as
his ambassador. God had bestowed Moses with divine
authority. God would make Moses a God, yes,
a little G God to Pharaoh. And the Hebrew word for God here
gives reference to a powerful judge. Now, acting in God's stead,
Moses would rule over Egypt's proud king. Moses would now command
Pharaoh in what this mighty king should do. And Moses would be
the one that punished Pharaoh for his disobedience. And Pharaoh
would have to plead with Moses. We're going to see these things.
That Pharaoh would have to plead with Moses for the removal of
the plagues that God is going to send upon. In other words,
Moses became a God, a mighty judge under Pharaoh. Now, first
we see that Moses was made a God under Pharaoh by the divine purpose
and power of God, by God's divine decree. If God says that he's
going to do something, he's going to do it. It's just that simple. And I guess, I suppose that's
what exposes our depravity more than anything else in our lives.
Unbelief. We've seen God move on our behalf
so many times. We've seen truly that His grace
is sufficient for us in every area of life, and yet we're so
full of unbelief. God says He's going to do something,
and we don't believe Him. Oh, we believe that God might
do it for someone else, but not for us. And most of the time,
I'm pretty certain it's because we feel ourselves to be unworthy.
Let me let you in on a little secret. You are, you are unworthy. And so am I, but that's what
makes it mercy. And that's what makes it grace.
He gives us what we don't deserve. That's grace. And he doesn't
give us what we do deserve. And that's wrath, judgment, and
eternal condemnation. And that is mercy. He is a God
of grace and a God of mercy. I won't speak for you, but I
wonder if I'll ever figure out and believe that everything that
God does for me, it's for Christ's sake. It's for Christ's sake.
Paul said this, he said, be kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake. have forgiven
you." You see, God loves us for Christ's sake. God forgives us
for Christ's sake. God saves us for Christ's sake. It's all because of Christ. And
I'm so glad that's the case. I've said it many times, you
know it's true and so do I, that if I could do something that
would merit God's mercy and grace and salvation, I could do something
to lose it. But Christ is my righteousness.
When God looks at me, he sees his beloved son and everything's
going to be all right because of that. My faith is in him and
it's because of his faithfulness to God that we have life. Our
God is an omnipotent, all powerful God. Let's just don't get in
the habit of saying that. It's easy to say that God is
sovereign, but it's a whole different thing to believe that God is
sovereign and to love the sovereignty of God. His word does not return
unto him void. It always accomplishes that which
he sends it to accomplish. And it's not like me telling
you to do something. No, sir, this is the sovereign
God of creation. If he tells you to do something
or if he tells you something will be done, it'll be done on
earth as it is in heaven. It's impossible for God to lie.
It's impossible for God to make a mistake. It's impossible for
anyone to spoil God's will. It's impossible for anyone to
stay or to stop God's hand. No man, no woman, nobody can
question God and ask Him, God, what are you doing? His answer
every time is what I'm pleased to do, what I want to do. He
declares the end from the beginning. He does His will in the army
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. He does all that
He's pleased to do in heaven and earth and the sea and in
all deep places. Now, do you believe that? If
you don't, You'll never have true peace. I'm telling you,
you'll never have true peace. I've said this before and I'll
say it again. If there's one square foot of
this world that God is not in control and sovereign over, I'd
always be concerned that that is exactly where I was standing.
But he's in control over all of it. All of it, every bit of
it. And it was by the divine power
and purpose of God that Moses would be made a God unto Pharaoh. That's the first thing. Secondly,
Moses would be made a God to Pharaoh by the presence of God
with him. God said over and over, Moses
kept saying, I stutter. I can't talk good. I'm not a
good preacher. I don't have any talent. And
God said, I'll go with you. In Exodus chapter three, verse
12, God said, certainly I'll be with you. And this shall be
a token unto thee that I have sent thee. And when thou has
brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God
upon this mount. And God told Moses in Exodus
chapter four, verse 11, who hath made man's mouth? Moses said,
I can't talk well. Who made man's mouth? God said. Who maketh the dumb or deaf of
the seeing or the blind? Have not I the Lord? Now therefore
go and I'll be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt
say. Then in Exodus chapter six, we looked at it last time. God
said, wherefore saying to the children of Israel, you go and
you say this, I am the Lord, I will bring you out from under
the burdens of the Egyptians. You tell God's people, I will
rid you out of their bondage. It's gonna cease, the bondage
is gonna stop. You tell them, I will rid them
of their bondage. You tell them, I will redeem
them with a stretched out arm and with great judgments. You
tell them, I will take you to me for a people. And I will be
to you a God. And you shall know that I am
the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens
of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the
land concerning which I did swear to give to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob. And I will give you a heritage. I am the Lord. There are seven
I wills there. And I thought immediately about
seven being the number of completion. You can be certain, child of
God, that in all God gives you to do, He will go with you and
be with you. You want me to say that again?
In all that God gives you to do, He will go with you and be
with you. And that is such a comforting
thought to me. Our Lord Jesus said, lo, I am
with you always, even until the end of the earth. He said, I
will never, never leave you nor forsake you. God says, fear thou
not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. Now, if I'm with you, friends,
that may not mean much. But if God is with you, it means
everything. God says, I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. Do we believe God? Lord, help
thou my unbelief. Being a preacher, I'll be honest
with you, I ask myself that question often. Do I really believe God?
You see, if I don't, how could I encourage you to believe Him?
This is serious business. It's serious business to a true
God-called preacher. I heard a preacher friend of
mine say, pastoring and preaching aren't a career choice. It's not something you want to
be when you grow up. If you did, it would be pretty
obvious that you don't have a true understanding of the seriousness
or the responsibility of preaching and pastoring. And I understand
that growing up, many young people desire to be doctors and lawyers
and policemen and firefighters. At one time, early in my walk
of faith, I thought I might want to be a preacher until God showed
me the seriousness of it. And not long after that, when
I truly saw the urgency and the responsibility involved and trembled
at the thought of doing it, that, and let me add, and prayed that
the Lord wouldn't call me. That's when He did. And though
I count it a privilege, I really do. I'm telling you, I do. I
count it a privilege and an honor to preach and to pastor, but
it's one of the hardest things I've ever done. Pray for me as
we serve and follow God together. And then thirdly, the Lord made
Moses a God unto Pharaoh by a special arrangement of provenance. We're
back to that again. And I love the provenance of
God. Moses didn't ask for the position as God's deliverer. The Lord providentially brought
him along, brought him to the place, the burning bush. God
revealed Himself to him. Pharaoh didn't ask or seek for
this meeting between himself and the prophet of God. Everything
was going pretty good for Pharaoh, man. They were making bricks.
They were building his kingdom. Everything was going pretty good.
But God brought all this to pass. God brings all things to pass.
I've got a friend who's a believer. He lives in Cottageville, West
Virginia. I've just gotten to know him
over the last couple of years. And when he talks about the reasons
why certain things happen naturally, he always refers to them as second
causes. I get a little tickled at him.
Well, that's a second cause. Matter of fact, he held a pretty
high position with a Fortune 500 company and when he reached
their highest pay grade, they let him go because they could
hire two people for the same money, thinking that they could
do more work at the same cost. And I told him, being somewhat
sincere and sympathetic to his issue, Told him that I believe
his company's reason for his dismissal was a sad estate of
where things are today. And it was, no doubt about it. But you know what he said to
me, don't you? He said, David, it was only a second cause. He said, God was the first cause. And he is. He's the first cause
of everything. He always is. Behind everything
is the sovereign will and purpose of God. Now this friend who used
to travel constantly, he's jumping on airplanes, come running into
service, just flew in from New York City or somewhere else,
he's now, by the good providence of God, he's got a good, steady
job and he's hardly ever out of town. He's hardly ever away
from his family. And he's always able to attend
the worship services. And God is the first cause of
it. And he'll tell you that. God is the first cause. Every
other reason is second, third or fourth, but God is the first. So you and I can be comforted
and assured that God always providentially works all things together. for
the good of his people and for the glory of his own great namesake.
I was thinking today that most people who come to hear the gospel,
they're not seeking to hear these marvelous things of God's grace,
but God confronts them in an act of providence. That's exactly
how God crossed the path of the gospel with Teresa and I, we
moved to Tennessee in 1986 and we picked out a church from a
phone book. That's back when they still had
phone books. That's back when people still had home phones.
But we picked that church because we simply liked the name of the
church. Now, that seems ridiculous and
pretty far-fetched. But in that church, God in his
sovereign providence, he crossed our paths with the preaching
of Henry Mahan and Scott Richardson and Donnie Bell and Don Fortner
and Maurice Montgomery. And I'm certain that we would
have never moved here if we hadn't been introduced to Maurice there.
And I can more than likely assure you That I wouldn't be the pastor
here now if it hadn't been for us looking in that phone book
and liking the name of that church. But that was just a second cause.
God was the first cause and he works all things after the counsel
of his own will. And I'm so glad he does. And
those things that he works out, they work together for the called,
them that love God. Ask Christy and Lou Anne their
story. If God hadn't sent Larry back
there to Africa years ago and used a few words of truth, just
a few words, that he said to a preacher that was in Africa
at that time, which God providentially used to convert that preacher,
more than likely, Luann and Christi wouldn't have heard the gospel.
And in the providence of God, if Christi hadn't heard the gospel
and God hadn't providentially moved her and Luann here, more
than likely, Eddie wouldn't have heard the gospel. When you say
that's probably so, yeah, he's shaking his head, yeah. Do you
see how God works in His good providence? Isn't it amazing?
Well, let me ask you another question. Why do we doubt Him? Huh? Why do we doubt Him? Why
do I doubt Him? Why do you doubt Him? He's God. Oh, I love the providence of
God. And I know each of you have a story. You know, the provenance
of God is simply God doing in time what he purposed in eternity. All these things were arranged
by God before the world was ever made. God just does in time what
he purposed in eternity. And God didn't have Moses put
together a great army to conquer Pharaoh and Egypt. He providentially
sent a shepherd with a shepherd's rod, that's it. And the last part of verse one
here, we also see that God told Moses and Aaron, thy brother
shall be thy prophet. And this is to be compared to
what God said back in Exodus chapter four, verse 15, 16. Look back there with me. We're
so close. God had told Moses that he had
sent Aaron, his brother, to him. And notice what he says to Moses
in verse 15 of Exodus chapter four. And thou shalt speak unto
him and put words in his mouth. And I will be with thy mouth
and with his mouth, and I will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman
unto the people. And he shall be, even he shall
be to thee instead of a mouth and thou shalt be to him instead
of God. Now here is a pretty good definition,
a divine definition, I might add, of what it is to be a prophet.
Moses and Aaron came not with their own message. They came
with a message from God, back in chapter seven, verse two. Thou shalt speak all, God said. Thou shalt speak all that I command
thee. And Aaron thy brother shall speak
unto Pharaoh that he shall send the children of Israel out of
his land. You see, that's what a preacher
does. Oh, today I know men go to seminary and they learn how
to build a church and increase numbers and handle finances and
create programs and all these things, you know, and the excuse
is always to get them in. Is God not able to get them in?
Is God not able to get them in? This is what a preacher does.
He preaches all that the Lord commands him. He doesn't come
with his own agenda. He doesn't come with his own
message. He comes with the message of God. He doesn't come with
an invitation. He comes with a command of God.
And you know, I never really noticed it before, especially
in this light, even though I've often wondered about it. And
all the commentators that I read when we were in Exodus chapter
five never said a word about it. But this commandment of God
that Moses and Aaron gives in chapter seven is in somewhat
great contrast to the first time Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh
in Exodus chapter five. Again, we're close, turn back
there with me. Exodus chapter five, verse one. We're told that Moses and Aaron
went in and told Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord, God of Israel,
let my people go. That was the command of God to
Pharaoh. But notice that they didn't stop
there. They added to what God said. They added to God's command
of let my people go. And then they said this, that
they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. I can't find
anywhere in the previous chapters where God said any such thing.
Where God told Moses and Aaron that. Can't find it. It's obvious
to me that Moses and Aaron changed and added to the Lord's words.
They toned down the message to Pharaoh. And instead of delivering
the sovereign command of God, they descended to the level of
reasoning with him. They descended to the level of
making a request of him. Verse two of chapter five, look
at it. And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey
his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither
will I let Israel go. And in verse three, they said,
the God of the Hebrews hath met with us, let us go. That's requesting of Pharaoh,
let us go. We pray thee, reasoning with
him. No reasoning with him. Let us
go three days journey into the desert and sacrifice unto the
Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the
soul. They talk about what God would
do to them, not what God would do to Pharaoh. And I believe
that Moses and Aaron may have This represented God here in
this first visit to Pharaoh. They went to Pharaoh and they
started out good, and then the wheels begin to fall off their
message as they stood there. And I can somewhat understand
that. They're standing there in the
royal palace before the royal king. They see all the royal
guards and the royal army, and they see the majesty and the
power that the arm and the flesh has. And they didn't tell or
command Pharaoh to do anything. Instead, they ask him, can we
go here for a few days? Can we have a weekend off, more
or less? We want to go worship our God
and have a feast, but we're coming back. That's the way it seems
to me. But that's not what God told
them to say. Again, I'm sorry to do this,
but in chapter four here again, look at verse 22. This is what
God said. Chapter four, verse 22. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh,
thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. And
I say unto thee, let my son go, that he may serve me. And if
thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy
firstborn." God said, you either turn Israel loose and let them
go, or I'm going to kill your son. Wow. This misrepresentation caused
Pharaoh to increase Israel's burden. They would now be required
to make bricks without straw. Friends, there's a consequence.
There's a consequence to not telling the truth about God.
There's a consequence to adding to or taking away from God's
Word. There's a great consequence to
the preacher who does it. And there's a great consequence
to to the hearer that hears it and believes it. And when I,
I hope you know this, when I stand up here and declare the commandment
of the Lord to repent or you will likewise perish, I'm not
saying that to try to be bold and I'm not saying that to try
to threaten sinners or any of that. Who am I? I'm nobody. I'm just a voice. I'll be honest
with you, I'm more worried about what God can do to me than what
man can do to me. And I'm more concerned about
what Paul said. He said, for though I preach
the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid
upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel. And I shudder at the words that
Paul said when he said, I keep under my body and bring it into
subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to
others, I myself should be a castaway. Boy, that is just a horrible,
terrifying thought. Well, I'm out of time. So look
back at Exodus chapter 7 and I'll finish. I want you to look down at verse
6 here. We're going to come back and
look at these verses further next week, but look down at verse
6. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them, so did
they. You think they learned something
from their first visit to Pharaoh, from their first mistake? I'd
say they did. May God enable us to learn some
things from our past mistakes. This time, the outcome would
be much different than their first visit. You see, the message
of the gospel is either or or. I listened to a message by Darwin
Pruitt not long ago, and I was really impressed by that thought.
The command of God, the message of the gospel is either or. The command of God is go ye into
all the world and preach the gospel. He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved. Or to the hearer that will not
believe, there's a consequence. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Either or. May God continue to enable us
to preach the gospel boldly to perishing and dying sinners.
And may God be pleased to save them. The command of God is this, repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost. What a wonderful promise. Believe,
repent, and be baptized, every one of you. The consequence of
not being or not doing so is eternal condemnation. May God enable us to believe
on Christ. May God enable us to do so.