It's here. You take your Bibles and turn
back with me to Acts chapter 7, looking at verses 35 and 36
as a preface to the message. Scripture says, This Moses, whom
they refused, saying, Who hath made thee a ruler or a judge? The same did God send to be a
ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared
to him in the bush. He brought them out. He brought them out after that
he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the
Red Sea and in the wilderness forty years." As I've said before,
this message of Stephen before the council as he rehearsed the
history of the nation of Israel. Let it be clearly known that
he was also preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to them by this
history, by this repetition of things that they knew very well. And this morning I want us to
see how that the deliverance, the deliverance that God had
wrought for the nation of Israel out of the land of Egypt was
the same deliverance that God has delivered His people by. He's delivered us out. The title
of the message is God's Way of Deliverance. God's Way of Deliverance. First of all, I want us to see
the preparation of God's deliverance. the preparation of God's deliverance. Now, before the nation of Israel
were slaves in Egypt, they were given by Joseph, the son of Jacob,
the best of the land of Egypt, because Joseph, remember, was
the savior of that land. Before they became slaves in
Egypt, they were princes in Egypt. Joseph was next only to Pharaoh
and only different in power as the throne. He said to Joseph,
he said, I'm giving you rule over all my house, over all of
the nation of Egypt. And so when he saved them, he
delivered Jacob and his family, they inherited the best of the
land of Egypt. Remember how his brothers sold
him first into slavery, but God intended to use him, use their
hatred and evil for the good of Jacob. Therefore, Joseph was
raised up by God to be a ruler of Egypt, next only to Pharaoh. And it was Joseph who was made
to see the coming of the seven years of fatness and the seven
years of famine. And remember, so in the seven
years of prosperity, what did Joseph do? He stored up all that
corn. He stored up all that corn in
preparation. In preparation for the coming
famine. Now consider now how this picture,
this is a picture of Jesus Christ. Consider how Joseph is a picture
of Jesus Christ in time. Consider that before the foundation
of the world, God had chosen an elect people of whom Jacob
was a figure. And so then, even before sin
entered into the world, God purposed that Jesus Christ should be the
Savior of Israel. Do you not see that? Before the
captivity, God had already chosen a Savior for Israel, pictured
by Joseph. Consider him, who in the covenant
of grace was purposed to become subject to the Father, to be
made the servant of God, who by nature was equal with God
and was God. Therefore, all of the elect were
put in union with Christ, and in Him were stored up all the
treasures of spiritual blessings of God. which were as the sand
of the sea, without number." You know, that's what it says
over in Genesis, that when Joseph gathered all that corn together,
that he gathered so much corn, it was as the sand of the sea. And the Scripture says they left
off counting. This is a picture of our spiritual
blessings in Christ Jesus that God gave us before the world
began. I tell you that they are without
number. They are without limit. God hath
blessed us in Ephesians 1 with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places. in Christ Jesus, according as
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
Here's a few of them that you should be holy and without blame
before Him. In love, having predestinated
you under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, He's made you sons, sons of God. even before your bondage you see Joseph was made the Savior
before Israel was put into bondage can you not see the correlation
here that Jesus Christ being a picture of Joseph was set up
to store up all the blessings and to save Israel even so Jesus Christ In Him are
all the blessings of God. O believer in Christ, may this
truth give your heart great comfort that even before there was sin,
God had already purposed a Savior. Consider that we who are the
elect of God have innumerable blessings and eternal blessings
by the eternal, omnipotent Father. Not based or founded on our worth,
or our works, or our merit, or our feelings, or our circumstances,
but from eternity. God is purposed to save you by
Jesus Christ. This is the preparation of all
salvation. This is the preparation of deliverance.
that God has purposed to save a people and He had purposed
to save them by His Son Jesus Christ. That's the preparation
of every soul to be delivered. You see, God doesn't begin to
deliver us in time. He began to deliver us even before
we needed deliverance. Even before there was any sin
to be delivered from. He had purpose to deliver you.
Second of all, the price of deliverance. The price of deliverance is always
the same. Now notice, that further in the
history of Israel, there rose up a Pharaoh that knew not Joseph. If you go back in your text,
you can see that in verse 18, that they grew and multiplied
in Egypt till Another king arose, which knew not Joseph. The same
dealt subtly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers,
so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might
not live. There rose up a man who did not
know Joseph. and put the children of Israel
into the bondage and slavery of Egypt. This, of course, was
no surprise to God, was it? If you look back over there,
he says this in verse 6 of chapter 7 of Acts. He says, And God spake
on this wise, that his seed should sojourn in the land, and that
they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred
years. Not only did God purpose that Israel be put into bondage. Notice that he purposed the duration
of which they would be in bondage. This was no surprise to God,
but he told Abraham before what would happen in Egypt when they
went there. That they would be slaves. and even determined the
time, an amount of time that they should be slaves. Even so,
it is true of all the elect of God. Even though God purposed
in grace to elect His people with all and give them all blessings
and to be His sons, He also purposed our bondage. Purposed it. He purposed for our glory. for his glory that we should
be brought under the bondage of sin and held captive by Satan
the fall the fall of all the race of man I ask you was it
on purpose or by accident I tell you nothing is by accident nothing
escapes God's providential will The whole fall of the race of
man was not an accident, but according to sovereign purpose.
Adam sinned after his own will and rebellion against God. He
sinned willingly. You see, Eve, our mother, was
deceived by the serpent. But when she came and presented
it to Adam, Adam was not deceived. He knew exactly what he was doing.
You see, he set his love for the woman above his love for
God. He openly rebelled against God. He willfully plunged every one
of us into death. That is the greatest mass murderer
that ever lived, was our Father. And he willingly did it. I tell you that our Father meant
it for evil, but God meant it for good. God meant it for the
good of His seed, of His people. Therefore, all men are born totally,
completely depraved. Man is born dead in sins. Man
by nature is unrighteous and ignorant. of all righteousness. This is why men go about to establish
their own righteousness. Even because they're ignorant
of what righteousness really is. If they knew what righteousness
was, they wouldn't try to establish it because they could not establish
it. Why do men work so hard to try
to be accepted with God? because they don't understand
righteousness. They think they can merit it.
They think they can earn it. And I tell you, we're all born
with such ignorant notions. All our righteousnesses, the
Scripture says, are as menstrual cloths, filthy rags, in the sight of God. And even
as I this morning will reveal to you that God has raised up
a Savior. God has raised up a Savior. His
name is Jesus Christ. I say to you, believe on Christ. I tell you, cast off your thoughts
of religion, your thoughts of good works, your thoughts of
earning God's favor, and believe on Christ alone. And yet, why
is it that men will not believe? even because they're ignorant
of their own sin. Ignorant of God's holiness. And
I'll tell you, if God ever reveals that to you, you will come to
Christ. You will. And just as these men, notice
that these men in Moses' day, look what they did in verse 25. After he seen one suffer wrong,
he defended him, smote the Egyptian. For he supposed his brethren
would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver
them. But they understood not. And I tell you what, Jesus Christ
has smote the Egyptian. Jesus Christ has put away our
sin. Jesus Christ has provided righteousness. He is the deliverer. but you won't receive him even
because you don't understand by nature you don't understand even so his elect even as others
reject him did we not to reject him Yes. To our shame, we did. We too, even as others, rejected
Him. Until when? Until the appointed
time of deliverance. Until the appointed time. Israel
would have never accepted Moses until when? Until the 400 years
had been accomplished. Even so, as Moses was purposed
to be the deliverer of Israel, Jesus was purposed to be the
deliverer of all the elect. God tells us He purposed us to
be holy. How? By Jesus Christ, that at
the appointed time the Son of God would be made flesh in order
to deliver those who were given to Him that He should make them
holy. How should Jesus make us holy? How? By paying the redemption price. See, the only way that Israel
could have been delivered was by a redemptive price. Even so it is with us. The only
way for the deliverance of the elect was by a redemptive price. Behold now Jesus, the one who
Moses told would come, the one that Moses said you should listen
to. Below, behold, He has been made
a ruler and deliverer. Look at this. This Moses whom
they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler or a judge? The
same did God send to be a ruler and a judge. Moses was a type
of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ was sent
for this purpose, to be a ruler and a judge. A deliverer. A deliverer. And notice this. A deliverer
by the hand of the angel. which appeared to him in the
bush, he brought them out." Who's he? The angel. God appeared to him in the bush. Who brought them out? God delivered
them. God delivered them. that Israel and how it was delivered. Remember it was delivered by
blood. Isn't that right? Through those ten plagues, the
only plague that mattered, the only plague that was able to
deliver them was the Passover. The Passover. Israel was delivered by blood.
None of the other plagues sufficed or could have delivered them
because they were not sufficient a picture, to picture the just
reward for the payment of sin. Only the blood of the Passover
lamb was sufficient. And it was not until the blood
was shed that Israel was brought out and delivered. Believer in
Christ, consider this type as it is revealed in the death of
our Savior, Jesus Christ. Go over to Exodus. Look at it
with me. Look at the Passover lamb and see, is this not the
price? Is this not what the Lord Jesus
Christ is a picture of Him? Exodus chapter 12. In verse 4, let's see, in verse
3, Speaking to all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth
day of the month shall you take to them every man a lamb. According to the house of their
fathers, a lamb for a house. And if the household be too little
for a lamb, Let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according
to the number of the souls. Every man according to his eating
shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb, here's a qualification,
shall be without blemish a male of the first year. You shall
take it out from among the sheep and from the goats and you shall
keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month. And listen,
the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening. And they shall take of the blood
and strike it on the two side posts and upon the upper door
post of the house, wherein they shall eat it." The Lord tells Moses to take
a lamb without blemish and set it up fourteen days. Can you not see clearly that
this points to Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God without
spot and without blemish? Is that not what John the Baptist
said of him, he said, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world. Jesus Christ is the only spotless,
sinless Son of God who was born of the seed of the woman escaping
the sinful nature of man. And he was set aside for a time,
33 years was the Lord Jesus Christ walking upon the face of the
earth. He was in his prime. A male of the first year in his
prime. And he was set aside for 14 days. He was set aside for that particular
period of time for what reason? That he should be tried. You ever heard of the saying,
when going over it with a fine-tooth comb? You heard that, right?
Well, that was taken from the Jewish tradition of how they
combed the sheep, combed the lamb to try to see if there was
any black hairs in the lamb. That's what they did with Christ.
And what did they find? Pilate said, I find no fault
in him. What did the Jews say? The Jews
said, never a man spake like this man. They knew he was the Son of God
with power. And what did God say? This is
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He was tried and found
to be what? Righteous. righteous, spotless,
without spot. And God says the whole assembly
of the congregation shall kill it in the evening. Was this not
true of Jesus? Was He not killed by all of us? As the hymn writer said, it was
my sins that nailed Him there. until it was accomplished. Remember,
He was made sin for us. Whose sin was that that God imputed
to His Son? It was our sin. It was our sin. And as He was nailed to the cross,
He was nailed there because of our sin. See then, Israel was
delivered from Egypt, how? By the blood of the Lamb. For when the blood was applied
on the doorpost and the lentil, only then did God pass over the
nation of Israel. But whosoever did not have the
blood, the firstborn died. Listen to
me, if you have not the blood of Christ, God will not pass
over your sins. But you who have the blood, applied
by the Spirit of God, notice this, you are delivered because
of the payment. That God didn't save you by some
unjust means. He saved you by a just and holy
sacrifice. The sacrifice of His Son. He saved you. Therefore, He will
pass over you. He will pass over you. Because
the blood is applied to your house. To your heart. Behold, Jesus did not die for
all men, but for those to whomever the blood is applied." In other
words, for all the elect. Isn't that so? For whom Christ
died. I know this. God will pass over
them. God will pass over them. Hear
the good news that Jesus Christ was made sin that we should be
made the righteousness of God in Him. Are you in bondage? Are you in need of deliverance? You see, the Passover was only
killed for those in bondage. It wasn't killed for those who
are free. Jesus Christ, this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the
world to save sinners. You see, if I'm preaching to
sinners, I got a good message. I got a good hope. The blood
has been shed, and God will pass over you. Come to Him, and do
as the Israelites did. It says in verse 11, And thus
shall you eat it with your loins girded and shoes on your feet.
In other words, get ready to go. Get ready to go. Everyone who eats of Jesus Christ
by faith, we do it with our loins girded about with the truth of
the gospel. Our feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. Our staff in our hand. And we're
ready to go. Ready to go. Why? Because He
passed over us. Passed over us. And so then the price of redemption
is all the same. The blood of the Lamb. The only
way Israel was delivered was by blood. The only way you'll
ever be delivered is by the blood of Jesus Christ. And lastly,
the way. of deliverance. We see the preparation
of deliverance. God purposed to save a people
and gave them to Christ. Second, the redemption price,
the price of deliverance was paid by the blood of Jesus Christ.
And now then notice the way of deliverance, the way He takes.
This is our experience in this matter. This is our experience
of grace. Look at Exodus 14. I don't see any Greek scholars
or Hebrew scholars, so if I mispronounce these words, y'all not going
to get mad, right? Okay, don't get mad. If you know it, just
tell me later. In verse 1 of chapter 14 of Exodus,
Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speaking to the children of Israel,
that they turn and encamp at Pihareth. between Migdal and
the sea over against Belzorphon. Before it shall you
encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children
of Israel, they are entangled in the land and the wilderness
hath shut them in." Picture what God did. Listen.
He delivered them by the blood of the Lamb. Now then, He's leading
them out. And in chapter 13, you can read it later, He said,
they're not to go by the way of the Philistines. In other
words, I don't want you to go into any cities. I want you to
go into the wilderness. And I'm going to put you in a
place right there by the Red Sea. And on your right hand and
on your left hand are going to be nothing but wilderness and
mountains. And before you is the Red Sea. And he said to Moses, then I'm
going to harden Pharaoh's heart and he's going to come in behind
you. What are they? They're entangled. They're trapped. And this was on purpose? Yes. This is how God delivers every
one of his people. He must first entangle them. He sends them to the wilderness. This is not natural. This is
not how men think it should be. Men think He should send them
on into plainness without any troubles. No! God has to trouble
you before He saves you. God has to expose your sins. You have to be walled in so you
have nowhere else to go. Listen to me. If you've got somewhere
else to go, you'll go. It's only when God hymns you
in with thorns on your right hand and on your left so you
can't go nowhere else. It's only then you'll come to
Christ. It's only then you'll believe on Him. And consider
that they were surrounded now. They went by the way of the wilderness.
They were surrounded and hedged up on every side. Oh sinner! May God ever make your sins unpleasurable. May God pin you in to where you
have no hope, because that's the only way He'll
ever save you. He must hedge you up and cause
all your pleasures to become bitter. And Hosea, he says, I will allure
them into the wilderness. O sinner, whose sins are no longer
a joy, but thorns to your soul, God shows you the vanity and
guilt of your sins and He allures you into the wilderness, so that you're pursued by death. on one side and judgment in front
of you. Isn't that it? The Red Sea is
a picture of God's judgment. How deep was that sea? That's
how deep the judgment of God is. And then you turn around
and here comes death. Death is approaching. Hell is
coming. You're trapped. You have nowhere
to go. What does God say to such a sinner? Go forward. And Moses lifted up his rod and
his hands. Even so has Jesus Christ been
lifted up on the cross. And what happened when Moses
lifted his hands and the rod? The sea of God's justice parted. And they walked through on dry
ground. just as firm, firmer than this,
just as firm as that ground. I tell you, Jesus Christ and
the covenant of God's grace is a firm foundation for your soul. As Israel went forward, not one
drop of the sea fell on them. and you sinner who come to Christ,
listen to me, not one drop of God's justice will ever fall
on you." Do you imagine that they were kind of fearful as
they walked through? Imagine their heart was racing
looking up and seeing 13 stories of water on either side. just as firm as the walls of
concrete not one drop fell on them as he brought them out even
so does he bring us out of captivity and what happened to death that
pursued them it crushed death crushed Pharaoh
and his chariots He crushed our sins in our Savior. Have you been
led through this way? Is this your experience? That's
mine. That's my experience. He has
delivered me on purpose. He's delivered me by blood. He's
delivered me from the justice of God. How? By faith in Jesus
Christ. They walked through that water,
how? By faith. That's it. They walked through
there by faith. God said to go and they went. God said to come to Christ, and
I came. I came by faith. And you know
what? There is rejoicing in the way
of God's deliverance. Over in Exodus 15, it says, Moses
sang a song, and the children of Israel sang a song unto the
Lord. And they spake, saying, I will
sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse
and the rider hath he thrown in the sea. The Lord is my strength
and my song. He has become my salvation. He is my God. Therefore, I will
prepare him room and habitation, my Father's God, and I will exalt
him." Is that not the song of everyone who has been delivered?
It's my song. All the glory belongs to God.
I will gladly prepare him room because he had delivered me. He hath brought me out by the
same way He brought you out, by the same way He brought Israel
out. Can you not see the gospel in
Stephen's message? He brought them out. God delivered
them. And God delivers His people how?
By Jesus Christ. Oh God have mercy and cause you
who do not believe to believe. And then you can sing with us.
Then you can sing with us. May God bless you. Let's stand.
We'll be dismissed in prayer.