Okay, let's turn back to Exodus
1. These scriptures, all these things that are written,
they're written for our learning. Everything in here. There's nothing
in here that's written in vain. Nothing. Everything that's written applies
to us. There's nothing written that
applied to them, but not to us. And verse 15 says, The king of
Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one
was Shipra, and the name of the other, Pua. Now we saw that this
king of Egypt represents our adversary. We saw that in last
week's message and we're going to see it all through Exodus.
He represents the rulers of this world who know not Joseph, like
verse 8 says, Jesus Christ. And the king of Egypt spake to
the Hebrew midwives. A midwife is a servant. a minister. They represent God's servants,
these two midwives. And they minister to God's people,
not just preachers. I'm not talking just only about
preachers, but every believer who God has called to take up
His cross and follow Christ. Servants of Christ. So it says,
The king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the
name of the one was Shipra. And her name means brightness,
glistening, has a light shining on it, brightness. And the name
of the other, Hua. And her name means brilliancy,
it means brilliant, bright, Brilliant. Their names mean a light that's
shining in His strength. Our Lord said, I am the light
of this world. I am the light. So what this
is saying is the King of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives
of which Christ was in these women. These are servants of Jesus Christ,
believers. These are God's people. Verse
16 says, And the king of Egypt said, When you do the office
of a midwife to the Hebrew women, as they are delivering their
children, and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then
you shall kill him. But if it be a daughter, then
she shall live. Everything outside of Christ
is antichrist. It's antichrist. He's trying
to kill the deliverer. That's why he's doing this. This
world is still trying to kill the deliverer. Including religion. They call
evil good and they call good evil. They say, we don't need
God's laws, we've got our own laws, we'll make up our own laws.
We don't believe God's record of creation, our science will
prove otherwise, someday. We don't need His life-giving
salvation, we'll just save ourselves. John said, as you have heard
that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists.
And he said that 2,000 years ago. Many anti-Christ. Anything outside of Jesus Christ,
anything outside of His glory and His honor and His sovereignty
is anti-Christ. It's anti-Christ. Verse 16, He
said, If it be a son, then you shall kill him. And I would imagine
they were very persuasive to these midwives. They might have
threatened them. You know, it says they were in
hard bondage. They might have threatened them with harder bondage.
They might have threatened them with death. Or they might have
promised them riches. They might have offered to give
them gain. You do this, you obey our Word,
and we're going to make it worth your while. We're going to make
it worth your while. Verse 17 says, But the midwives
feared God and did not, as the king of Egypt commanded them,
but saved the men children alive. The title of this message is
God Given Fear. God Given Fear. We're afraid
of everything, aren't we? We're afraid of everything, aren't
we? Proverbs 16.6 says, By the fear
of the Lord, men depart from evil. By the fear of the Lord. Acts 5 says, Peter and the other
apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than
men. We ought to obey God rather than
men. I don't care what man is saying.
I don't care what the world is saying. And I sure don't care
what the news is saying. I don't care. Thanks be to God. By God's grace, verse 17 says,
the midwives feared God and did not as the king of Egypt commanded
them, but save the men, children alive. They had God given fear. That's what I need. That's what
you need. We all need this God-given fear. Alright, now let's see another
example of this. Let's see some other believers
whom God has given this fear. Turn over to Daniel chapter 3. It's after Ezekiel. Daniel chapter
3. Verse 1 says in Daniel chapter
3, Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, he made a statue, whose height was three-score
cubits, the breadth thereof six cubits. He set it in the plain
of Dura in the province of Babylon. Verse 4, Then an herald cried
aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp,
sackbut, pulse, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall
down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king
has set up. And whoso falleth not down, and worshipeth, shall
the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. Verse 8. Wherefore at that time
certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. Verse 12. There are certain Jews whom thou
hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded
thee, they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image
which thou hast set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage
and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they
brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and
said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do ye
not serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have
set up? Now if you be ready, that at what time you hear the
sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbutt, psaltery, and dulcimer,
and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which
I have made well. But if you worship not, You shall
be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. And who is that God that shall
deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not
careful to answer thee in this matter." What they're all three
saying, we're not full of care over this. We don't need any
time to think about our answer. If it be so, our God who we serve
is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace. And He
will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not, be
it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor
worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar
full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded
that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it
was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty
men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
and to cast them into the burning, fiery furnace. Then these men
were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their
other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning
fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's
commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame
of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego. The men in the army, when they
threw them in the furnace, it killed them. And these three
men," verse 23, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound
into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar
the king was astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said
unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into
the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the
king, True, O king, He answered and said, Lo, I see four men,
loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt. And the form of the fourth is
like the Son of God. Is God able to do that today? Is he able to do that today?
He could do it back then. Is he able to do it today? Absolutely. Absolutely. Now let me ask this
question. Do you think Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego feared that furnace? Do you think that they were afraid
of what they faced? Absolutely. They would not be
human if they didn't. But by God's grace, by God's
strength, they feared God more. They feared God more. Our text, Exodus 1, verse 17
says, The midwives feared God and did not as the king of Egypt
commanded them, but saved the men children alive. And the king
of Egypt called for the midwives and said unto them, Why have
you done this thing and have saved the men children alive?
And watch how they respond. Verse 19, this is what they said.
The midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are
not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively and are delivered
ere the midwives come in unto them." Did we hear what they just said? They lied. They lied. They lied. They're liars. Now turn over a couple of books
to Joshua chapter 2. It's right after Deuteronomy. Joshua
chapter 2. Joshua 2 verse 1 says, And Joshua
the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying,
Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went and came into an
harlot's house named Rahab and lodged there." Two spies have
gone out and they've gone to a prostitute's house. Verse 2,
It was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men
in hither tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent
unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee,
which are entered into thine house, for they be come to search
out all the country. And the woman took the two men
and hid them, and this is what she said, Okay, she took the
two men and she hid them and this is what she said. There
came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were. And it
came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it
was dark, that the men went out. Whither the men went, I want
not. Pursue after them quickly, for you shall overtake them.
But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid
them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon
the roof. And the men pursued after them
the way to Jordan unto the fords, and as soon as they which pursued
after them were gone out, they shut the gate. And before they
were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof, and she said
unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land.
and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all thine inhabitants
of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the
Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came
out of Egypt, And what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites
that were on the other side, Jordan, Sion and Og, whom you
utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these
things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any
more courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God,
He is God, in heaven above and in earth beneath. Now therefore
I pray you swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you
kindness, that you will also show kindness to my father's
house and give me a true token. And that you will save alive
my father, my mother, my brethren, my sisters, and all that they
have, and deliver our lives from death. And the man answered her,
our life for yours. If you utter not this our business,
and it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that
we will deal kindly and truly with thee. She lied too. Not only is she
a prostitute, she is a liar. But the men said, your life is
spared. Our life for yours, if you don't
let her work. She didn't do a brave thing. She's a coward. She lied. She said, as soon as we heard
about your God, our hearts melted and there remained no more courage
in any man. We're all cowards. We're all
cowards. We're all sinners. We're just
sinners. And we're afraid. We're afraid
of your God because we know your God is God. And we're just all a bunch of
cowards. There is no room for any man
or woman to glory. Our God will share His glory
with no one. They don't get any part of the
glory in this work. If any man glory, let him glory
in the Lord. Back in our text, these women
were liars. They were sinners. Our Lord said,
Jacob have I loved, but your name is going to be called Jacob
because you're a liar. You're a trickster. You're a
supplanter. But I've made you to be a prince
with God. God doesn't help those who help themselves. He's the
help of the helpless. That's what that song just said.
Help of the helpless abide with me. It is God which worketh in
us both to will and do of His good pleasure. Even the fear
of the Lord is a gift from God. It's a gift from God. Well, here
in our text, these midwives were blessed with God-given fear. Verse 20 says, Therefore God
dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and
waxed very mighty. Turn over to Romans 4. We need to see this. Romans 4.
I don't want to take too long, but we need to see this. Romans 4 verse 1 says, What shall
we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the
flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the Scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." That means if you
go out and work all day long and you finish the job, That
payment's owed to you. That's not grace. That's debt. Verse 5, But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness, as though he did a great thing.
He didn't do anything. All He's doing is looking to
the One who's doing it all. He's just watching and trusting
and believing and it's all counted unto Him for righteousness. Verse
6, Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.
These women didn't earn it. They didn't earn it. They just
feared God. They just feared God. Our text,
Exodus 1, verse 21 says, And it came to pass, because the
midwives feared God, that He made them houses. By God's grace, by His goodness
to us and His gift to us, we fear God, don't we? By God's
grace. We fear God. By His grace, there
were some men here in Kingsport, Tennessee, who became fed up
with religion. And they became seekers of the
truth. And for six years, by God's grace
and His goodness in sending Brother Tom, This group has met together
in the fear of the Lord. When we meet here, we pray in
fear. We sing in fear and reverence. We preach with fear. We meet
in the fear of the Lord. And the Lord God has given us
a house. A house where the fear of the
Lord dwells by His grace. A house where we can meet together
as a family and worship His holy name. We cannot go to these other
houses and worship like this. We have the freedom to worship
His holy name in the fear of the Lord. I'm so thankful for
this house. To all those whom He's put this
fear in, this is what He has to say to them. In my Father's
house, are many mansions. And if that was not so, I would
have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." Our Lord said, don't fear man
whom I have allowed to kill the body. Don't fear any man whom
I've given the ability at the moment when I say it's okay to
kill another man. but can do nothing with the soul.
But rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and
body in hell." He's saying fear God. Fear God. Verse 22 in our
text, the midwives by God's grace wouldn't obey Pharaoh. So Pharaoh
charged all his people saying, every son that is born you shall
cast into the river and every daughter you shall save alive.
Our Lord said, vengeance is mine. Vengeance is mine. I'm going
to take care of it. I'm going to take care of it.
You don't need to do anything. You don't need to do anything.
Do you know how the Lord our God took vengeance on Pharaoh
for doing this? Every son that is born you shall
cast in the river. You know how He took vengeance
on Pharaoh for that? all of Egypt, all of Pharaoh's
men, all of his army, he drowned them in the river. He said, vengeance is mine. Don't fear man. That's easier
said than done. But if the Lord will give us
the ability and give us the grace, let's fear God. Let's ask the
Lord. a fear of the Lord. If He'll
give us a fear of the Lord, that's the beginning of wisdom. It's
the beginning of salvation. It's the beginning of everything.
Lord, give us a fear of the Lord. Okay, stand together with me.