All right, let's turn back to
Exodus 7. Exodus chapter 7. This is something for all of us. We are
all servants of our God, aren't we? Well, I titled this, A Servant
Made Ready. A servant made ready. Chapter
6, verse 28. Let's read the last three verses
here in chapter 6 first. It came to pass on the day when
the Lord spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt, that the Lord
spake unto Moses saying, I am the Lord, speak thou unto Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, all that I say unto thee. And Moses said before
the Lord, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken
unto me?" Now, we've heard that before,
haven't we? We've heard that exact response before. That is
the sixth time Moses has said that. The sixth time. That is the attitude of a true
servant of God. He never leaves that. Never. After a while, you get tired
of hearing Moses say that, but he never leaves that. That's
the attitude of a true believer, a true follower. For the rest
of his life, he's going to say, I'm a man of uncircumcised lips. I can't do this. I can't speak.
Can't do it. As soon as we lose that attitude,
that's when the problems set in. As soon as we got this, that's
when the problems come, isn't it? But, I will say this. Chapter 7, verse 1 says, And
the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh. I've made you a god to Pharaoh. Now there's a lesson to be learned
here. This is the sixth time Moses
said that. God told Moses, the first time
was in chapter 3, I believe it was. He told Moses, this is what
I want you to do, Moses. Obey me. And Moses said, I can't. Who
am I? Do you remember that? I can't. That's true. You can't. God tells him again, Moses, this
is what I want you to do. Obey me. Moses says, I can't. I'm just a sinner. That's true.
Uncircumcised lives. Moses, obey me. He says, I can't. It wouldn't do any good. And God got angry with Moses. And He tells him again, Moses
obey me. And Moses says again, I can't. They won't listen to me. They're
not going to listen to me. So God is telling Moses right
here in chapter 7, I've given you the ability to obey me. You're right. You can't. You're right. You're a man of
uncircumcised lips. But I've put something in you. I've done something to you. And
even though you wore with this old flesh, soon as I look at
my flesh, you know what I say? I can't. I can't. Moses, even though you wore with
this old flesh, I've made you to be a new creature. Something
you were not before. So obey me." And this time Moses
says, okay. We are sinners. We are. We're never going to get away
with that. Away from that. Not in this lifetime. We are
flesh and we are weak. We are. But if God has chosen
us, we are His children. That's what
we are. We've been made alive. The Holy
Spirit of Christ dwells in us. And there comes a point when
it's time for us to say, no more excuses. No more excuses. Whatever He commands me to do
in this world, with whatever ability He's given me, by His
grace, and by His work, and by His Spirit, it's time for me
to obey Him. Lord, what would You have me
to do? Jonah learned that the hard way, didn't he? Bless his
heart, he was our brother. He learned that the hard way.
Turn with me over to James chapter 2. James chapter 2. Alright, now look at verse 14,
it says, What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say
he have faith, and have not works? What doth it profit, my brethren,
though a man say he have faith, and have not works? Now look
at this next question. Verse 14, last four words. Can
faith save him? Those four words really struck
me. Let's read it again. What doth
it profit, my brethren, though a man say he have faith and have
not works? Can faith save him? That's a good question, isn't
it? What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you know you can't? Do you know you're dead in your
trespasses and sins? Do you know you can't do anything?
He says, can faith save him? The answer to that question is
no. By grace are you saved. By the gift of Jesus Christ are
you saved. By Him giving you His own blood,
the blood that poured out of His own body. Are you saved? Right? That's how sinners are
saved. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one way to be saved. And religion has it wrong. They
have it wrong. So he says, can faith save him?
Now he gives an illustration of this. Verse 15, If a brother
or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you
say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding
you give them not those things which are needful to the body,
what does it profit? If a brother comes to you and
he's cold and he's hungry, and you say, depart in peace. What good have you done? What
good have you done? That's what he's saying. Verse
17, Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast
faith, and I have works. Show me Thy faith without Thy
works, and I will show Thee my faith by my works." What he's
saying right there is this. You say you trust God, that's
faith. Trust Him. I cannot say, well, I trust God,
I know He's going to be in control, and then run around like a chicken
with my head cut off all the time. What am I going to do?
What am I going to do? Faith is God's faith given to
you. It's God's faith. And these works
he's talking about are God's works wrought in you. They're
God's works. It's God's faith and it's God's
works. And you're just the dead recipient
of all this life put into you. And if they're real, if it's
real faith, and if it's a real work, you're going to see evidence
of that. You know that? You're going to
see evidence of that. If it's of God, you're going
to know it. Now if it's of me, you're going to know it. You're
going to see evidence of that too. Alright, so back in our text,
the Lord tells Moses, speak! And Moses says, I can't! And
in a previous chapter, the Lord said, who do you think made man's
mouth, Moses? I will tell you what you can
and can't do. No child is going to talk back
to the Heavenly Father. Right? Alright, so in Exodus chapter
7 verse 1, the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee
a God to Pharaoh. Moses, it's time for you to go
speak as the oracles of God. Now I'm going to tell you my
personal experience. Here I stand. I can do no other. Here I stand. I felt led to speak in the year
2000. The Lord did not put me behind
a pulpit until 2008. I had a burning, gut-wrenching
desire to speak. But I truly, truly believed Well,
I think during that time the Lord taught me, I can't do this. I thought I could, and then I
realized I can't do this. I just can't do this. And then
finally I was asked to do this, and I thought I can't do this.
I still sit in that study thinking, what am I doing? I can't do this. But as a man, as the Lord calls
a man to speak, He's going to go through a period of time to
get him to forget about himself. I can't do this, y'all. I'm not
qualified for this. I'm not capable of this, and
I don't know anything. God has to do this. He has to
teach me what to say. He's got to open up this Word.
He's got to send His Holy Spirit. He's got to proclaim the Word.
He's got to bless it to your hearts. And then we can all say,
we worship God. And He's got to get a man to
a point where he realizes, I don't have anything to do with this.
It's not about me. It's not about my ability. It's
not about how nervous I am or how confident I am. It has nothing
to do with me. to do with me. So He says, you
go speak as the oracles of God. You represent Me. Pharaoh's going
to mock you. He won't believe you. He's going
to harden his heart against you. But I've made you to be My representative. I've given you power and authority
from the throne of God to carry out all the judgments that I've
purposed on Him. Moses, you're going to rule over
him. We're about to see this. We're about to get into the plagues.
The first six chapters of this book in Exodus are God's dealing
with Moses, preparing Moses for this. And then the next section,
however many chapters it is, is God's dealing with Pharaoh
through Moses. He made him ready. And He's telling
him right now, Moses, you're going to rule over Him. You're
going to give commandment to Him. You're going to control
Him. You're going to punish Him when He disobeys. You're going
to send plagues to Him. You're going to do miracles before
Him. You're going to physically do things that no mortal man
can do. No mortal man can take a stick
and hit the Red Sea and watch it go... No mortal man can do
that. You're about to go do things
that only God can do. And that's the only way anything
gets done. You're going to show my power
over life and death. At your word, all the firstborn
in Egypt are going to die. I'm going to make it so that
Pharaoh will fear you. He's going to come to you begging
for mercy and forgiveness. He's going to come to you begging
that these plagues will be removed. I've made thee a God unto Pharaoh. You're representing Me. In you,
I'm going to reveal to My people You've got to remember, it wasn't
until just a few chapters ago that He even told them what His
name was. Look at all the Scripture we
have now. They didn't have all that. I'm going to reveal to
my people, I'm going to reveal to Egypt, I'm going to reveal
to the world who I am and why I should be feared. That's why Pharaoh didn't just
let them go. That's why we're still looking
at this and they're still not out yet. That's the whole reason
this was all recorded. That God might show who He is
and why He should be feared. Now hold your place right here.
I want to read one verse in Romans chapter 9. So just hold your
place and go to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9, look at verse
17. It says, For the Scripture saith
unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up,
that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth. That's the whole reason
for all this. It's that He might show His power
and that His name might be declared throughout all the earth. That
is a good reason, isn't it? That's a good reason. Well, our
text, verse 1 says, And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have
made thee a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy
prophet. Aaron is going to speak the things,
Moses, that you know. He's going to be the one to warn
the people about these plagues and the miracles that you're
going to send. Aaron is going to look to you
for everything. Turn back to Exodus chapter 4. Exodus 4, look at verse 14. It
says, And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. And
he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can
speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth
to meet thee. And when he seeth thee, he will
be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him,
and put words in his mouth. And I will be with thy mouth,
and with his mouth, and will teach you what you 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." He told Moses, I've made you
a god unto Pharaoh, and you're going to be to Aaron. Aaron's
going to be to you instead of a mouth, and you're going to
be to him instead of God. Do you know what our God has
established right here in the beginning of His book? It pleases Him by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Moses, you're going to represent
me. You're going to be equipped to
show forth My glory and My power, and then I'm going to use a regular
man to tell the people about it. Just a regular vessel. And this is what He's going to
tell them. Their God, the God that they should fear, is His
God too. That's what He's going to tell
them. This God you should fear is my
God too. You know what preaching is? It's
one beggar telling another beggar where he got some food. That's
what preaching is. It's not talking down to anybody. It's not apologizing for anything.
It's just one beggar telling another beggar, this is where
I got some food. Well, back in Exodus 7 verse
1 says, The Lord said unto Moses, See,
I have made thee a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be
thy prophet. He's going to be your preacher.
Now here is the content of his message. Verse 2 says, "...thou shalt
speak all that I command thee." Moses, you're going to tell Aaron
everything that I command you to say. And what that means is,
everything that Aaron says has got to come from you. Aaron, the preacher, must preach
Your Word. He must. He must preach Your
Word. Verse 2 says, Thou shalt speak
all that I command thee, and Aaron thy brother shall speak
unto Pharaoh. He's going to speak to Pharaoh,
to his people, to his land. Verse 2, that he send the children
of Israel out of his land. Your preacher is going to tell
the world that my people are coming out of this place. That is the content of a preacher's
message. Child of God, you're coming out
of this place. a while now, seven months, living
here, called in October, last October. You've heard me say
some things a couple of times. In 30 years you will have heard
me say the same things a lot. They asked Spurgeon, if you believed
only the elect would be saved, why don't you just preach to
the elect? And he said, I would if they had a big eel on their
forehead. Child of God, you're coming out. You're coming out. He's going to tell them that
my people are coming out of this place. That's the message. And
He's going to tell it over and over again. Christ receiveth
sinful man. Sinner, you're coming out. I love that message. It's a message
of good news. Liberty is about to come to the
captives. The prison doors are almost open. The broken hearted are about
to be healed. And the poor are about to receive
some really good news. Verse 2, Thou shalt speak all
that I command thee, and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto
Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. Deliverance is coming. I hath
not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."
That's the content of God's preacher's message. That's it. And Moses,
when this message goes forth, it's going to be a savor of life
unto life, but it's going to be a savor of death unto death.
When my enemy hears this, This will be his result. Verse 3,
I will harden Pharaoh's heart. Somebody said the same sun that
melts the wax hardens the clay. You can preach this gospel, this
glorious gospel. They're all taken away, away. It is finished. And a person can hate it. I hate
that message. Don't tell me I don't have a
role in this. I want to dig a ditch or something. Same sun that melts the wax hardens
the clay. Turn over to Romans 1. We believe in a sovereign God. That means we believe, we know
and are sure that God does what He wants, when He wants, with
who He wants. That is a sovereign God. Every
man born into this earth is a rebel against this sovereign God. Every
single man. And Romans 1 verse 28 says, Even
as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave
them over to a reprobate mind. God gave them over. God did it. Now we were just there, turn
back over to Romans chapter 9. Romans 9 verse 14 says, What
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. Is God the author of sin? God
forbid. Now, I cannot fully explain that. God is sovereign. He does all
things. But he said, he's not the author
of sin, and he writes right here, God forbid. So I cannot fully
explain that, but I must fully believe that. I must believe
it. What he's saying is, they all
deserve to be given over by God. None deserve His goodness. None
deserve His mercy. They all deserve to be left alone,
given over. But God told Moses and Aaron,
you go give My people a little insight to who I am. You go tell My people that there
is mercy in My heart. You go tell my people that in
spite of them, I chose them. Now look at Romans 9 verse 15,
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." Now look
at verse 19. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? If he hardened my heart, then
why are you blaming me? Verse 20, Nay, but, O man, who
art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say
to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show
His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? and that He might
make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy
which He had aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom He hath called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." Moses, you
tell my people that I chose them to be vessels of mercy. And just
in hearing that, it's going to harden Pharaoh's heart. He's
going to hate every bit of that. I don't want to hear about a
God that's going to do as He pleases. I hate that. I don't want anybody reigning
over me, telling me what I can and can't do. I hate that. I
will bow to no one. That's man's hard heart by nature,
isn't it? That's man's hard heart. Well,
our text, verse 3, says, I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply
my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall
not hearken unto you that I may lay my hand upon Egypt and bring
forth mine armies and my people, the children of Israel, out of
the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know
that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and
bring out the children of Israel from among them." The Egyptians
shall know that I am the LORD. Now, I love my fellow man. I really do. My heart goes out
to a lot of people. that have hard times, they're
in a hard way. I love my fellow man. I love
mankind. I feel sorry for those whom God
didn't choose. I really do. But by God's grace, I love my
Lord and Savior more. We all do, don't we? And my heart's
desire is to see every rebel, just like me, every rebel that
walks the face of this earth and spits in the face of our
God, and blasphemes His name, and tries to steal His glory.
For His glory's sake, I want to see every knee bow. I really
do. For His glory's sake, I want
to hear every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, is
God. Verse 5 says, The Egyptians shall
know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon
Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. And
Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them, so did they.
They obeyed. They obeyed. At the beginning
of chapter 5. Turn with me over to chapter
5. Chapter 5 verse 1 says, Afterward
Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast
unto me in the wilderness. 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 Moses and Aaron
said, The God of the Hebrews hath met
with us. Let us go, we pray thee, three
days' journey into the desert and sacrifice unto the Lord our
God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword. Here's what they told him. Please
won't you let us. That's what they told him. We're begging you. So the Lord says in chapter 7,
Moses, don't you beg anybody. I'm not begging anybody. So don't
you tell anybody that I am. Don't you change my words. I told you to say, thus saith
the Lord. Don't you tone down the message. I've made you a God to Pharaoh.
Now speak as the oracles of God. And this time, by God's grace,
verse 6 says, Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them,
so did they. Verse 7 says, And Moses was fourscore
years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old when they
spake unto Pharaoh. Moses was 80 years old. The children
of Israel were in bondage when he was born. Do you remember
that? Chapter 1, they were in bondage. He was born at the beginning
of chapter 2. He was 40 years old when he slew
that Egyptian and fled Egypt. 40 years old. And now he's 40
more years coming back. The Lord patiently teaches His
servants. And He teaches His servants patience. He does. He patiently teaches
His servants. And He teaches His servants patience. Moses grew up from a child. He
was a great man. He was heir to the throne of
Egypt. You know how much respect that man had? He was 40 years
old. I'll bet he had all the confidence
in himself in the world. All the confidence in the world. All the confidence in His abilities.
He could have built cities. And God spent 40 years tearing
that man down. Tearing him down. Took him out
of His throne. Took him out of His family. Took
him out of His land. To the point where that man was
convinced, I can't do it. I just can't do it. Now after 40 years, the Lord
has him at the point where he can forget about himself. Moses,
you're right, you can't do it. You can't do it. But I can. And I'm going to use you, and
you're going to obey me, and you're going to speak. Forget
about yourself. Forget about yourself. He's got
him where he can forget about himself and just obey the Lord
God. That is a very good place to
be. That's a very good place to be. Every servant of God. Moses was not the preacher. Right? Every servant of God. That's
a good place to be. Alright, stand together with
me.