Alright, Exodus 4. First nine verses. Exodus 4 verse 1 says, And Moses
answered and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor
hearken unto my voice, For they will say, The LORD hath not appeared
unto thee." I'll tell them what you said,
but they won't believe me. That is the underlying attitude
that we wrongly take on when we think of unbelievers here
in the Gospel. That's the attitude I had for
years. when visitors would come with
me to hear either my dad or Brother Paul or whoever preach, and they
sat next to me on that pew, I thought, they're not going to believe
this. They'll hear it, but they're not going to believe this. And I've wrongly thought, standing
up before, I'll preach it, but they're not going to believe
this. Well, why not? It's the truth, isn't it? You
know, our kids, they ask us questions like, what is 2 plus 2? Why on this earth would I say,
well, it's 4, but I know you're not going to believe me. I really
don't even need to answer you. I know you're not going to believe
me. What's 2 plus 2? It's 4. It's just 4. I thought it was five. No, it's
four. You need to know that. You need
to learn that. You need to believe that. It's the truth. Verse 1 says, Moses answered
and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto
my voice. For they will say, The Lord hath
not appeared unto thee. And the Lord said unto him, What
is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod. What's 2 plus 2? It's 4. Well, I don't believe you. Oh,
really? Well, let me get out the ruler. Let's get out the rod. The way
we prove that a stick is crooked is by laying a straight stick
next to it, right? that exposes the truth. Verse
two says, and the Lord said unto him, what is that in thine hand? And he said, a rod. And he said,
cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground
and it became a serpent and Moses fled from before it. That rod
became alive, became alive. It became a living rod. That
rod became a shocking reality, is what it became. What once was just a dead stick
is now something that we must deal with. Something fearful, it's something
frightening. That's what happens to a sinner
when they get a good look at the Lord Jesus Christ. The rod. That rod proved to be the beginning
of wisdom, fear. Moses was afraid. Verse 3 says,
And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground,
and it became a serpent. And Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth
his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.
that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob hath appeared
unto thee." The reason for that, every bit of that, is going to
be a sign of their deliverance. That's why I want you to cast
it on the ground and it's going to turn into a serpent. It's
a sign of deliverance. It's going to cause them to believe.
They're going to get a good glimpse of this rod and it's going to
put fear into them. Verse 6 says, And the Lord said
furthermore unto him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And
he put his hand into his bosom. And when he took it out, behold,
his hand was leprous as snow. After they get a good glimpse
of this rod, and this rod is Christ. After they get a good
glimpse of this rod, they're gonna get a good glimpse of what
sin really is. He said, put your hand inside
your robe and pull it out. And his hand was white as snow,
leprosy. leprous as snow. Alright, turn
over to Leviticus 13. Leprosy has always been the greatest
illustration of sin. Always. Leprosy was a disease
that man could not cure. There was no cure for it. A person with leprosy was an
outcast, literally, cast out from among the people, literally.
A person with leprosy was forbidden by law to enter into any walled
city. That was a law concerning a leper. Forbidden to enter into a walled
city. We see the meaning in all this. Leprosy is sin, cast out, couldn't
be cured, not by self anyway. Couldn't enter into a walled
city. A person with leprosy contaminated everything he touched. And whenever
he passed somebody on the street, he had to cry, unclean, unclean. A leper was physically a dead
man walking, and the reason I say that is because it was actually
referred to as living death. That's what they called it. Leprosy
was called living death. That's what sin is. Sin is living
death. Okay, Leviticus 13, look at verse
1. It says, And the Lord spake unto
Moses and Aaron, saying, When a man shall have in the skin
of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in
the skin of his flesh, like the plague of leprosy, then he shall
be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priest. And the priest shall look on
the plague in the skin of the flesh, and when the hair in the
plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than
the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy, and the
priest shall look on him and pronounce him unclean." Alright,
so if you find a spot, or a scab, or a raising in your skin, and
you think it might be leprosy, you take it to the priest, and
you show it to the priest, and if the skin is not white, but
the hair that comes out of it is white, And it looks like it
goes deep, deep into the skin. He's unclean. Pronounce Him unclean. Alright, now look at verse 4.
If the bright spot be white in the skin of His flesh. If the
skin is actually white. If the bright spot be white in
the skin of His flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the
skin. If it's skin deep, and the hair
thereof be not turned white, then the priest shall shut him
up that hath the plague seven days." Shut him up, lock him up for
seven days. We're going to wait and see what
happens with this. The white skin was known as the
worst kind. There were different kinds of
leprosy and this white skin was known as the worst kind. It was
the worst of the worst. Alright, now look at verse 9. It says, When the plague of leprosy
is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest And the
priest shall see him, and behold, if the rising be white in the
skin, and it have turned the hair white, and there be quick
raw flesh in the rising, it is an old leprosy in the skin of
his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall
not shut him up, for he is unclean." If he has leprosy on part of
him, that's what this is saying. If you find a spot and if he
has leprosy on part of him, and he's white, don't even bother
shutting him up for seven days to see if he's going to get any
better. He's not. He's not. He's unclean. He's unclean. Now look at verse 12. It says,
and if a leprosy break out abroad in the skin, that means if it
starts to spread, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that
hath the plague, from his head even to his foot, where so ever
the priest looks. if he is completely, 100% totally
covered in leprosy. If it's not just a spot. If every
part of him is covered in leprosy. White leprosy, the worst kind
of all. If you look all over him and
you can't find one good spot on him. Look at verse 13. Then the priest shall consider,
And behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall
pronounce him clean, that hath the plague, it is all turned
white, and he is clean." That doesn't make sense, does it?
It does, doesn't it? If he is nothing but total leprosy,
if that's all he is, if even he can see head to toe, I'm a
total leper. That's all I am is one total
leper. If he's the chief of lepers,
then he's clean. Don't you love that? Verse 14 says, But when raw flesh
appeareth in him, and that word raw in our concordance it means
alive. If an alive, you know that leprosy
is death, it's dead rotten skin. And if an alive spot pops in
there, it means alive, it means fresh, it means strong, and it
means life. Alright, now verse 14 says, When
raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean. And the priest
shall see the raw flesh and pronounce him to be unclean, for the raw
flesh is unclean, it is leprosy. If he comes to the priest and
he says, Look! You see that right there? I've
got a little bit of good in me. I know I'm a leper, but look,
I'm not totally a leper. You see that spot right there?
That's a good spot. There's a lot of lepers out there
that are worse than me. They're total lepers. I've got
a good spot here, and I've got a good spot here. Verse 14 says, when raw flesh
appeareth in him, he shall be unclean. And the priest shall
see the raw flesh and pronounce him to be unclean, for the raw
flesh is unclean, it is a leprosy. Verse 16 says, or, or but, if the raw flesh turn again,
if that raw flesh repents, If the raw flesh turn again, and
be changed into white, it was good, but if it becomes white
again, he shall come unto the priest, and the priest shall
see him, and behold, if the plague be turned into white, then the
priest shall pronounce him clean." That hath the plague, he's clean.
Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing? If he comes in and he says, there's
some good in me, he's unclean. But if he comes back and he says,
I was wrong. I was wrong. In my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. From the crown of my head to
the sole of my foot is just putrefying sores. There's no good in me. If he says that, he's clean. That is a sign of deliverance. That's a sign. The Lord said
that's a sign of deliverance. When the Lord truly reveals our
sin to us, when we get it, when we get it deep, all over, head
to toe, completely, that's a good sign. That's a good sign. There
was a time when we really didn't understand what it meant to be
totally Dead in sin. And when the Lord reveals that,
that's a good sign. Alright, our text, Exodus chapter
4 verse 6 says, And the Lord said furthermore
unto him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand
into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was
leprous as snow. And he said, Put thy hand into
thy bosom again, and he put his hand into his bosom again, and
plucked it out of his bosom, and behold, it was turned again
as his other flesh. And it shall come to pass, that
if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice
of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the
latter sign. And it shall come to pass, if
they will not believe also these two signs, Neither hearken unto
thy voice that thou shalt take of the water of the river and
pour it upon the dry land, and the water which thou takest out
of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. If they will
not believe these two signs, if they will not bow the knee
and repent because of the fear of the Lord and the sorrow of
their sins, Verse 9 says, Thou shalt take of the water of the
river, that same river of death that took the lives of those
infants. Pharaoh said, throw them in that
river. Thou shalt take the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land,
and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become
blood upon the dry land. If they will not believe, if
they will not bow to His holiness and bow because of their sin,
show them their latter end. Show them the judgment of God.
Show them the wages of sin. And do you know what? The mercy and grace of God, Scripture
says, the goodness of God leads men to repentance. The goodness
of God is if the Lord will reveal Himself to a sinner, they'll
get a good glimpse of that rod. And if He'll put the fear of
the Lord in that sinner, and give him a good clear glimpse
of his own sin, and if He'll show him the wages of sin, if
God does it, He will believe. He will believe. And he's going
to start begging for a deliverer. That's what he's going to do.
Well, here's the good news. The rod became a serpent, and the serpent is the lowest
creature on earth. It crawls on its belly. The high
God of heaven, the highest God of heaven, came down to the lowest
part of the earth. Why would He do that? It's because
His children were in bondage. When God made man, He said, Behold,
man was very good, just like this rod. He made man in His
image. And man was very good. But man
fell just like this serpent. So heaven came down. This rod
became this serpent. The Word was made flesh, and
the Scripture says, just as Moses lifted up the serpent on the
pole, on the rod, the Son of Man was lifted up. The rod became
the serpent. But the Gospel is, the rod didn't
remain a serpent. We just sang, lifted up was He
to die, it is finished was His cry, but now He's in heaven exalted
high. Hallelujah, what a Savior. That
serpent became the rod again. If the Lord reveals that to a
sinner, it's a sure sign of deliverance. If they really get a hold of
that. Now what gives me hope that I'm not going to die in
my sins is the Lord said to Moses in verse 6, watch this, He said,
Put thy hand into thy bosom, and he put his hand into his
bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous
as snow. He who knew no sin became sin. The spotless one, his visage
was so marred, more than any other man, he became sin. My true sign of deliverance is
this though. Verse 7 says, He put His hand
into His bosom again and plucked it out of His bosom and behold,
it was gone. It was gone. Forever. The Lord said, I will remember
their sin no more. Christ became my sin. That rod became the serpent.
Moses, his hand became leprosy. Christ became my sin. He paid
my debt. He put it away and it's gone.
It's gone. That's a sure sign of deliverance. And it doesn't feel like it.
I wish Chris could have stayed. It doesn't feel like it. It doesn't
feel like it's gone. I don't feel delivered, but I
am. I am. It's a sure sign. It's gone. Turn over to Matthew
8. Matthew 8. This is just wonderful. It's so wonderful. Matthew 8 verse 1 says, When
He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, there came a leper,
and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make
me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand,
and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately
his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See
thou tell no man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto
them. Here's the amazing thing is, he touched him. He touched
him, that rotten flesh, that rotten, rotten flesh. There was
a man who, I forget his name, I've heard Brother Henry tell
the story many times, but he was somewhere in Africa or something
like that, this happened years ago, really happened. And they
were walking through the jungle, and he heard a man just moaning
for help. It wasn't a loud voice. You could
tell he didn't have much strength. But they came upon this man and
found this man, and he was a leper. And the man said, you couldn't
believe the shape he was in. He was rotting and frail, and
it just looked like if you touched him, he'd just fall apart, literally. And he was miserable, saying,
somebody help me. And that man said he thought
in his mind, there's nothing I can do for this man. Nothing. It's incurable. But if I could
somehow pick this man up and put his body next to my body
and have all of my health and all of my strength go into him,
and if I could receive all of his rot, In all of His death,
I could get some idea of what Jesus Christ did for me. The Lord, this man came to the
Lord, His rotten flesh. Can you imagine the smell? Can you imagine what it physically
felt like? Awful! This One who contaminates
everything He touches, and He contaminates everything that
touches Him, the Lord could have healed Him with a word. He spoke
every bit of this into existence with a word. That Jairus' daughter, that ruler's
daughter, or the centurion's servant, one of the two, he said,
Lord, he's sick. And the Lord said, I'll come.
And he said, you just speak the word. I'm not worthy. You should come to my house.
But if you just speak the word, he'll be healed. The Lord could
have healed this man with a word. He could have just spoken it,
but he touched him. Lord, don't you know if you touch
him, you'll get what he has? Don't you know all that leprosy
is going to be transferred to you? Yes. Yes. Yes, I do. Why would He touch him? Look
here in Matthew 8 verse 17. That it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities
and bear our sicknesses. We cannot enter into that Isaiah
52 that says His visage was marred, so marred more than any man.
When He bore our sin, He bore our infirmities, He bore our
sicknesses, He bore all of the effects of our sin. You know
what cancer does to a body? And leprosy does to a body? As they watched him die and they
watched over however many hours it was, his body changed. That
centurion said, this is amazing. I've never seen anything like
this. We're just saying, oh, the love
that drew salvation's plan. How can a sinner be made clean?
Here's how, that water has to be turned into blood. That's
what has to happen. Back in our text, it says in
Exodus 4, the end of verse 9 says, The water which thou takest out
of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. When our Lord
was crucified and that soldier put a spear in His side, out
flowed water and blood. That leper said, Lord, if you
will, you can make me clean. Water cleanses us. And that's called sanctification.
Sanctification. Cleansing. It's set apart for
holy use. Cleansed. And he, our Lord, was
clean. Pure. He was what pure is. He was sanctification. He was the water of the Word. And He became blood. Innocence became guilty. Goodness became sin. The wages of sin is blood. Death. He took our wages. Here's what
that means. Sanctification became justification. Jesus Christ died. The pure one,
the clean one died. And because of that, we're delivered.
We're delivered. We're redeemed. And this is what
the Lord told Moses. He said, You go tell all my people
the good news. You go tell them about this.
You show them these signs and you tell them the good news. Tell them what it means. All
right, I pray the Lord will bless that. Let's stand together.