Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I invite you to turn with me
this morning to Exodus chapter 2. Exodus chapter 2, and our
text is going to be verses 11 through 15, which say this, And it came to pass in those
days when Moses was grown that he went out unto his brethren
and looked on their burdens. And he spied an Egyptian smiting
a Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that
way. And when he saw that there was
no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And
when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews
strove together. And he said to him that did the
wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who
made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill
me, as thou kilts the Egyptian? And Moses feared and said, Surely
this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing,
he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face
of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he sat down by
a well. Moses went out and looked upon
the Hebrew people, and he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew,
and Moses killed that Egyptian. And Moses hid him in the sand.
And then the next day he went out and he saw two Hebrew fighting
with each other. And he asked him, why are you
doing that? And they said to Moses, who made you a prince
and a judge over us? Are you going to kill us too?
And that's when Moses got scared. Pharaoh found out and he wanted
to kill Moses. And so Moses ran. Now our Lord
said, search the scriptures. These are they which testify
of me." And he also said, Moses wrote of me. And what our Lord
means is every word of scripture points men and points women and
sinners to Jesus Christ. This is all about Jesus Christ. Now, no one person can be a full,
complete picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. It just cannot
happen. And the reason is because all men and women are sinners.
That's why. They fall. Every man and woman
in Scripture, you see the Lord bless them, and you see the Lord
use them, and then you see them fall. They disobey and it's all
because they have a sinful flesh, a sinful nature just like you
and me. And Moses could never perfectly
represent Christ, never. He's not the Christ, he's just
a man. But he does represent you and me as a man. And the Lord did raise him up
to be a picture of our deliverer. Moses is the one that the Lord
used to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt. Just
like Christ is going to deliver his people out of this world.
He is the one that God raised up to be a picture of our deliverer. So I want to look at Moses two
ways this morning. Moses the representative and
Moses the man. We're going to see what the Lord
God did for us, and we're going to see what we did to ourselves.
Verse 11 says, And it came to pass in those days, when Moses
was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their
burdens, and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his
brethren. It says, When Moses was grown,
Now representing our deliverer, the one who came when the Lord
God entered this world as an infant. He came as an infant. He was just as much God at that
moment in time as he was before the world ever began. He was
just as much God as an infant as he is right now. And this
is a truth that we must believe, but it can be hard to understand.
I want you to turn with me over to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. This is the Lord
at the age of 12 years old. And verse 52 says, And Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man."
Now that's hard to understand because Isaiah 9-6 says, unto
us a child is born, a son is given, the government, all the
government shall be upon his shoulders. His name is wonderful
counselor, the mighty God, this child, the everlasting father,
that's his name, this child, the Prince of Peace. And it says
Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God
and man. So do you know what that means?
It means God became a man, a real man. He grew. That's amazing. He grew. The one who is complete
grew. God had birthdays. I know that
we're thinking in terms of a man, but He became a man. Year after
year he had birthdays. He's the eternal one. He has
no beginning and he has no end. Yet he became a man. He had birthdays. He played with his friends. That's hard to think about. The awesomeness of... Can you
imagine being called the friend of God? the friend of God. What a friend he was. I'm sure
they never knew a friend like that friend. One that stuck closer
than a brother. Now this doesn't even come close
to describing what our God did, but what if you or what if I
condescended down to a maggot? A maggot. A real maggot, not in theory. A real maggot. Well, God became a man. And a man becoming a maggot doesn't
even come close to describing the condescension that God made. Well, the text in Exodus chapter
2 verse 11 says, and it came to pass in those days when Moses
was grown, that he went out unto his brethren." He went out. He left his home. He left the
palace. He left the king's house. And
he went down to the slime pits. If you look at chapter one, verse
14, it says, and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage
in mortar and in brick. And those words translate mire
and clay. He left glory and he came down
to the miry clay. You know, that's where he found
you and me, in the pit. In the pit of sin, that's where
every single sinner lives until God comes down. Verse 11 says,
he went out unto his brethren and looked on their burdens. How kind he is. How kind he is. That's what our God did for every
single one of his children. Matthew says of our Lord, when
He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them,
because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having
no shepherd. Our God is a God of compassion. Look at chapter 3 verse 7, it
says, And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of
my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason
of their taskmasters. For I know their sorrows, and
I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large
unto a land flowing with milk and honey flowing there's a song
that has these words in it it says when my Savior reached down
for me when he reached way down for me I was lost and undone
without God's precious Son, when He reached down His hand for
me." Verse 11 says, "...it came to pass in those days when Moses
was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their
burdens, and he spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his
brethren." Now in the verse before that, in verse 10, Moses is an
infant. Pharaoh's daughter drew him out
of the water into Pharaoh's house. He's the king's son. He's the
heir to the throne. And for all everybody knows,
he's an Egyptian. And you would think verse 11
would say, And he spied an Egyptian, one of his brethren, smiting
a Hebrew. But thanks be to God, it does
not say that. It doesn't say that. It says
he spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God." He saw him smiting one of his brethren, one of his
brothers. Romans 8 says, "...conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren." Brethren. Isn't the love of the true and
living God so amazing? We just gave this illustration
of man becoming a maggot. That's what God condescended
down to a man. Could you imagine looking on
a maggot and saying, I've loved you with an everlasting love.
You're mine. You're my brother. Could you
imagine that? Behold what manner. The Lord
is so good. That's what the Christ did for
his people. The son of the highest came to
his own and looked upon their burdens and he made his enemies
partakers with him, that he should be the firstborn of many brethren."
Wonderful. It's wonderful. But look at this
in our text. Exodus chapter 2 verse 13 says,
And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews
strove together, and he said unto him that did the wrong,
Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, the Hebrew said
to Moses, who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest
thou to kill me as thou killed the Egyptian? He came to his
own, but his own received him not. Isn't that what John says
about our Lord coming down here? God was made flesh. God became a man. He came to
his own and his own received him not. Right here in verse
14, he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? What a response. What a response. What an ungrateful,
unthankful response. They've been in bondage for 400
years. They've been waiting and praying for God to send someone
to help them and free them from their torturers. And when God
sends him, they say, who made thee a judge over us? Man, were these people worthy
to be helped? Absolutely not. They were rebels
against God. just like you and me." That's
the thing that'll break your heart. If a sinner ever understands
that, if a sinner ever sees it and believes it, if God gives
a sinner eyes to see it and a heart to believe it, it'll break his
heart. They were rebels against God just like you and me. Well, was he a prince and a ruler
over them? Yes, he was. Who made him a prince
and a judge over them? We'll turn over to Acts chapter
2. Acts chapter 2 and look at verse
29. It says, Men and brethren, let
me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both
dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. therefore
being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath
to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He seeing this
before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed
forth this which you now see and hear. For David is not ascended
into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my
Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus,
whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Who made thee a prince and a
judge over us? Well, Philippians 2, 9 through
11 says, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a
name which is above every name. that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and
things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's who
made him a prince and a judge over us. But man by nature says,
just like these Hebrews said in verse 14, who made thee a
prince and a judge over us? Oh, man is so wicked. We are
so wicked by nature. What they were saying was, we
will not have this man reign over us. We will not. That's rebelling against God.
Verse 14 says, Intendest thou to kill me as thou killed the
Egyptians? Yes. Yes. All who will not bow the
knee to Christ as being Lord and Savior? Yes. That's exactly what he intends
to do. That's hard, isn't it? That sounds
hard, but it's true. It's true. Turn with me over
to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse
6 says, Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you. And to you who are troubled,
rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power,
when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired
in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed
in that day." That's hard, isn't it? That is so hard, but do you
know what? It's God's Word. It's God's Word. The Lord preached. He preached
His own Word, and the Pharisees said, these are hard sayings.
Who can hear this? This is hard. They strike fear in sinners.
That's what they do. Fear. But you know what? The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Let's fear God. Let's all bow
the knee. Let's all kiss the sun lest he
be angry. Let's all cry out for mercy.
Lord, save me. Spare me. You're my only hope
of deliverance. The Lord said, whoever humbles
himself shall be exalted. And he also said, whoever asks
Whoever asks from the heart shall receive. Now we began this by
saying no man can be a perfect picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So let's see Moses for the sinner that he is. And let's see how
God dealt with him. Back in our text over in Exodus
chapter 2, verse 11 says, And it came to pass in those days,
when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and
looked on their burdens. And he spied an Egyptian smiting
a Hebrew, one of his brethren, And he looked this way and that
way and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian
and hid him in the sand. He killed a man. Moses killed
a man. Moses. The Moses we all know
and love. He killed a man. And like the
coward that we all are, he didn't confess. He tried to hide it
by burying that man. And when the Lord God explained
and exposed sin to Moses on Mount Sinai, Moses was brought up by
God to Mount Sinai and God told him the Ten Commandments. And
what did God spell out for Moses in plain Hebrew? He said, Thou
shalt not kill. And don't you know with every
commandment that God gave, it stabbed Moses in the heart. He said, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. God has shown me
I'm a sinner. I've sinned against God. Maybe
those sins will go away. Maybe those sins I've done will
remain a secret. But look at verse 13 in our text. It says, And when he went out
the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together.
And he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou
thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a
prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me as
thou kill'st the Egyptian? And Moses feared and said, Surely
this thing is known. It's known. Do you know what
will strike fear into a sinner? realizing this thing is known. God knows. He searches the heart. He searches the mind. He even
knows the intent of the heart. Verse 15 says, now when Pharaoh
heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. That's what he deserves. An eye for an eye. That's now
his destiny. He's a dead man walking. Verse
15 says, when Pharaoh heard the thing, he sought to slay Moses,
but Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh. Fled! John the Baptist cried, O generation
of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
The guilty sinner says, where can I go? How can I cover what
I've done? Where can I hide? The gospel
cries, there's a city of refuge, run to it. The gospel cries,
there's a fountain filled with blood, be plunged in it. The gospel cries, there's a cliff
in the rock, hide in it. That rock is Jesus Christ. That fountain is his blood. And
that refuge can only be found in him. He said, come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I'll give you rest. Verse 15
says, when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses,
but Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land
of Midian, and he sat down by a well. sat down by a well. He found a place of rest, a well,
a well of cool, refreshing water. You know, the Lord met a woman
at a well one time, and He said, if you knew the gift of God and
who it is that's talking to you right now, you would have asked,
and He would have given you living water. Living water. Over in Isaiah chapter 12, verses
1 through 3, say this, And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD,
I will praise thee, though thou wast angry with me, thine anger
is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid,
for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become
my salvation. Therefore with joy shall you
draw water out of the wells of salvation." Here's the good news
of the gospel. If you're a sinner, and you know
you're a sinner, and you know what the wages of sin is, it's
death. There's a well of salvation.
There is a well of redemption. There's a well of cleansing.
Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. That well
is Christ. That well is deep. That well
is full. And it'll never run dry. Never. If a sinner comes to the well,
If a sinner comes to Christ, then that sinner has been drawn
by the Father. Because no man can come except
the Father draw him. So for every sinner who comes,
they were chosen by God to receive this salvation. They were chosen
to receive this cleansing. And every sinner chosen has been
loved by God from the foundation of the world. And they've been
viewed in Christ as having no sin at all. Isn't that wonderful?
Isn't that wonderful? Jeremiah says, Jeremiah 31, 34
says, God the Father said, I will forgive their iniquity and I
will remember their sin no more, no more. That's because of that
refuge, because of that fountain, because of that cliff and the
rock, because of that well, because of Christ. That's good news. And until next Sunday morning,
may the Lord bless his word. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m. Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace. you