Chapter 9. The title of this message, He
that feared the Lord and he that feared not. He that feared the
Lord and he that feared not. What do you and I count as one
of the most precious things we possess? What is it to you? What is it to me? What is it?
I mean the most precious. Well the answer to that is the
Word of God. It's that Bible in your lap.
That book called the Holy Word of God. It is the most precious
thing we possess. Listen to Job 23, 12. Neither have I gone back from
the commandment of His lips. I have esteemed the words of
His mouth more than my necessary food. If I had to make a choice
this morning, whether to eat food for this body or to eat
the Word of God this morning, I hope I'd choose the word of
God. It's far more necessary that I have this than that I
have food for this perishing body. This body's dying. It's dying, it's going back to
the grave. My soul, I, myself, I live forever. I'm gonna meet
God. Now God has given us his word
and he's given us in his word many things many
things i was thinking as i was writing
this down working on it some yesterday and day before yesterday
i thought this is the family bible you know most people have
a family bible that's either on the end table or a coffee
table Yes, we have a family Bible. God's Bible is God's family Bible. It's ours. He's given it to us. And here's what we find in His
Word, in this Bible here. In God's Word, we find the answer
to everything we need to know. Everything I need to know is
found in the Word of God. It is. I have found that out
as I have gotten older. In God's Word, we find the answer
to creation. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. I'm not at a loss as to how this
all came into being. I'm not at a loss. You're not
at a loss. I know you're not. God created
the heavens and the earth. In the Word of God, we find the
revelation of God. YOU CANNOT FIND A FULL REVELATION OF GOD ANYWHERE,
NOT IN CREATION, NOT IN ANY KIND OF SCIENCE. WE FIND IT IN THE WORD OF GOD.
GOD HAS REVEALED HIMSELF IN THIS BOOK. IF WE WANT TO KNOW GOD
WE HAVE TO GET INTO HIS WORD. WE FIND THE FULL REVELATION OF
GOD. Then we find the answer for the
existence of everything. All things were created by Him.
And here's the reason for the existence of everything. All
things were created by Him and for Him. Speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ, everything that exists was created by Him and
for Him. Then we find the origin of sin.
And how it came into this world, apart from this book, apart from
the Word of God, sin is nothing but a mystery. You have no idea
what, we wouldn't even know what to call it. The Bible calls it
sin, but we would be at a loss for it. But in God's Word, we
have the origin of sin. By one man, sin entered the world. That's how it came about. So
it tells us over in Romans 5, 12. And then we also have the
answer as to why we die in that same verse. By one man's sin
entered into the world, and so death passed upon all men. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. All have. All have. But we find also here in God's
Word how a guilty sinner One who has sinned against God can
be justified and cleared of all guilt, of all their sins. We
only find that out in the Word of God. How many millions, probably
billions of books have been written? Not one of them can tell us how
we're justified before God, except this book right here, this book.
This is how we know. This is how we find it out. This
is how we can be justified in God's sight. Romans 4 25 it says
that Jesus Christ was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our Justification that's how we're justified in Jesus
Christ That's how we're justified And we find in God's Word that
judgment is coming you know if if a storm is on the horizon
and Especially if you're out to sea. If you got a hurricane
brewing, coming up, and you're out to sea, wouldn't you like
to know it ahead of time? Wouldn't you like for somebody
to tell you there's a storm coming so you could find safety? You could find a safe haven?
I watched, more than anything, as far as news goes, what I watch
the most is the weather. I watch the weather. I wanna
see what it's gonna be like. today, tomorrow, you know, I look at
it. God's Word tells us there's a
storm brewing, there's a storm coming, it tells us that. It
tells us that judgment's coming and that there is a hiding place
from the storm. When the weatherman tells you
there's a severe thunderstorm coming, what do they tell you
to do? Or if they say a tornado, we get a tornado warning, what
do they tell you to do? Seek shelter. seek shelter. God's Word tells us judgment
is coming and we need to seek shelter and Christ is that shelter. There's a man, it says over in
Isaiah, there's a man who is a hiding place from the storm
and the tempest. There's a man and that man is
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ and Him crucified is our
hiding place. Now the Bible speaks extensively
about judgment It speaks extensively about judgment. God alone has the authority to
judge all people. All people are His. He's the
judge. He's holy. He's just. He knows
everyone. He knows every heart. He knows
every thought. He's the only one who has the right to judge
everyone. And He's going to. He's going
to. And we can listen God's judgment
is sure in Hebrews 9 27 and it is appointed unto men wants to
die Is that the end of it? Is that the end of that? Scripture,
is that all it says? But after this judgment I said
something to someone the other day, I said, you know, everybody
that's ever lived on this earth is still alive. They're still
alive. Not on this earth, but they're
still alive. Everybody. Everybody. Ecclesiastes 12, 14, for God
will bring every deed into judgment. He's going to bring every hidden
thing into judgment, whether it's good or evil, it's going
to be brought to light. This is the Word of God, this
is what God is telling us. Everyone will face God's judgment,
every person will one day stand before God. Every person will
stand before God and give account of their life. It says in Romans 14 verse 11
through 12, for it is written, it's written in this book right
here. It is written, As I live, saith
the Lord, as surely as I live, every knee shall bow to me, every
knee, and every tongue shall confess to God, so then every
one of us shall give account of himself to God. 2 Corinthians 5.10 For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. All judgment,
the scripture says, has been turned over to the Son and every
person is going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
Now for believers in Christ, judgment has a very different
meaning. We don't fear judgment, do we? We don't fear judgment
because Christ bore our sins in judgment on the cross. WE
DON'T HAVE TO LIVE IN FEAR AND TREMBLING. Romans 8.1 Therefore,
because of all that was said previously, there is NOW NO CONDEMNATION. Now there is some condemnation
for those who don't believe, those who are not in Christ.
But there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There's no condemnation. He's
the safe haven. Christ is my safe place. He's
my safe place from the wrath of God. God has put me in the
cleft of the rock. He's put all His elect in the
cleft of the rock. Christ is our safe place from
the judgment of God. I don't know why judgment doesn't...
Well, I do know why. It's because people are dead
in trespasses and sins. They fear everything else, but
they don't fear God. They have no fear of God. The
scripture says the fool said in his heart there's no God and
if there's no God there's no fear, isn't there? There's no
fear of God. Listen to John 5 24. Whosoever
hears my word That's what you're hearing right
now. I read to you the word of God. You are hearing the word
of God. Whosoever hears my word and believes
on him that sent me, he hath eternal life and will not come
into condemnation, but has passed from death unto life. We've passed
from death unto life. This is the believer's position
in Christ's life. This is what we have in Christ's
life. We have life. Now God's Word is always proven to be true.
You can count on it, now I'm telling you, you can count on
it. His Word is always proven to be true. He said in verse
18, Behold, listen, that's what it is give give me your attention give give serious regard to what's
about to be said tomorrow about this time and he gives him a
specific time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hell
such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof
even until now." You know by this point, and this shows you
how dead we are by nature, but by this point no one in Egypt
had any reason to doubt the Word of God. I've lived long enough
and you've lived long enough that we have no reason to ever
doubt the Word of God. It's all proven to be true. It
is proven to be true. Every word here in Egypt that
God spoke by Moses, every word had happened, didn't it? It happened. Plague after plague,
God said He's going to send a plague and God sent a plague. Sign after
sign, they saw sign after sign. They had no reason not to believe
God's Word. When Moses spoke, they had no
reason not to believe. We have no reason never to believe,
not to believe when God's Word is spoken, when God's Word is
preached. We have every word to believe
because the Bible says, this Bible here says, God cannot lie. God cannot lie. The Egyptians, I want you to
notice what the Egyptians had seen. They saw the rod turn into
a serpent. They physically saw that. They saw that. What would you
think this morning if I threw a rod down and it became a snake,
a serpent? What would you think? You'd think
about getting out of here first of all. That's what you'd think. You'd think, where are the exits
at? They saw water turned into blood. They saw water turned into blood,
and everything in the river died and it stank, it said, so bad.
They saw a multitude, an innumerable multitude of frogs, lice, flies,
boils these were not coincidences they were plagues that God said
I'm going to send on you if you don't do what I say if you do
not let my people go this is what's going to happen and it
happened every time brother God's given us so many warnings in
his word these are not coincidences they were divine confirmations
of the word of God God's word has proven itself powerful and reliable. It's reliable. You can take God at his word. God gives a specific warning
of judgment to Pharaoh, his servants standing there. He gives them
a specific warning and a specific time. God's Word is very clear on this
subject of judgment, and we see in these plagues and
these judgments that God sent, we see God's absolute, absolute
control over creation, over all of humanity. God has absolute
control, nothing Nothing is out of the of the control of God
Almighty Nothing not even the atoms in the air Even a leaf
when it falls in the fall of the year and those leaves fall
you think they've just fallen I don't They have a direct place
to fall to I have no doubt about that If the Lord wants those
leaves to fall over here, He'll send a wind and they'll end up
over there. I believe that. I believe that's how minutely
God is working in creation. That God is working in our own
lives. God works like that. He works
like that. I believe that, I do. God has
power over all things. But here's something we see in
verse 19, SEND THEREFORE NOW, after the announcement of judgment,
SEND THEREFORE NOW, AND GATHER THY CATTLE AND ALL THOU HAST
IN THE FIELD, FOR UPON EVERY MAN AND BEAST WHICH SHALL BE
FOUND IN THE FIELD, AND SHALL NOT BE BROUGHT HOME. You know,
when I was reading this, it just struck me, the field being the
world, And home being Christ, heaven, and paradise. Everyone's
left in this world who stays in this world is gonna face the
judgment of God. But those who are safe at home,
those who are safe in Christ, Christ is my home. He really
is. He really is. Home, listen, home
is wherever he is, isn't it? Home is wherever he is. But here
He said, He shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought
home. The hell judgment shall come down upon them, and they
shall die. Brethren, when we read verse
19, we see God's mercy in warning them of His judgment. He didn't owe them a warning.
They ignored Him, all these other plagues. They turned on Him.
Their hearts were hardened. He didn't owe them a warning.
Not at all, but it gives him a warning. If you go through
the scriptures, God gives a warning before he brings judgment. How
long did it take Noah, who's called a preacher of righteousness,
how long did it take him to build the ark? A hundred and twenty
years. 120 years every time every time some
the work was being done on that ark. He said judgments coming
judgments coming in one day that ark was finished and All the
animals that God was going to save were brought in And what happened after that
God shut the door God shut Noah in and all those animals in that
ark. I mean that could be a whole
other message right there. You know when I told you this
last week, when Cain brought his offering of fruit, the fruit
of the ground, when he brought his offering to God and God rejected
it, he got mad, he got angry, he was angry. And God said to
him, if thou doest well, shall you not be accepted? Listen,
if you obey my command to bring the blood sacrifice as I have
commanded, you'll be accepted. He could have killed Cain right
there on the spot. But he told him, he said, if you do well, that is
you bring the right sacrifice, like your brother Abel, the one
I commanded, It'll be all right, you'll be
accepted. But he couldn't do it, he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't
do it. He wouldn't do it. He was gonna bring what he wanted
to bring, or go to hell. And he went to hell. Listen, the gospel not only brings
good news to us, but also warns us to flee to Christ. We are
warned to flee to Christ. I say to everyone who hears me
preach, every time I preach, FLEE TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
HE'S THE CITY OF REFUGE. God said this in Isaiah 45, LOOK
UNTO ME AND BE YE SAVED ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH FOR I AM GOD
AND THERE IS NONE ELSE. He didn't have to say that, but
He did. He did. You know, God could leave
me and you alone this morning. He could have left us alone in
our lifetime and let us go right on and meet Him in judgment. Man, that ought to weigh heavy
on us. Listen over here in Ezekiel, let me read it to you, I've got
it marked. In Ezekiel 18, I want you to
listen to this. FOR I HAVE NO PLEASURE IN THE
DEATH OF HIM THAT DIETH, saith the LORD GOD. WHEREFORE, TURN
YOURSELVES, AND LIVE YE. They said, I have no pleasure
in your death. Turn and live. Scott Richardson
used to say, Why will you die, O sinner, why will you die when
the water is so close by? Why will you die when the water
is so close by? Now, in Verse 20 and 21, we have two
responses to the Word of God preached. We have two responses.
The first one is this in verse 20, He that feared the Word of
the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and
his cattle flee into the houses. He that feared the Word of the
Lord. This person gave heed to the word of the Lord and he acted
on it. He heard the word of the Lord
and he acted on it. He knew, listen, he knew that
whatever God said to Moses and Moses said, he knew some of them,
some of those servants there by Pharaoh believed it was going
to happen. But he had every reason to believe,
they had every reason to believe because of the past experience,
it happened. Anytime Moses said, this is what's
going to happen, it happened. It happened. And so some of them
believed in it. Listen, they acted on it. That's
what real faith does. Real faith acts on the Word of
God. It hears the Word of God and it ACTS on the Word of God.
This is an example here of saving faith. Now, I'm not saying that
they acted in a spiritual manner and were saved. Someone said
temporal fear can save from temporal judgment. But it's a good example
of what saving faith does. It hears the Word of God, believes,
and it acts on it. It acts on it. It says here,
He that feared. The word feared here means more
than just being afraid. It's a little more than just
being afraid. It means to take seriously. It means this. It means to set your heart on
the Word of God, on what God has said. You set your heart
on it. You listen to it. You take it in. You take it in. Our Lord said this in Mark 4.24,
He said this, Take heed what you hear, for with what measure
you measure it with, it shall be measured to you again. True faith is rooted, or true
fear, true fear is rooted in faith, you know that? A RIGHT FEAR OF GOD, A TRUE FEAR
OF GOD IS ROOTED IN FAITH. YOU BELIEVE GOD. YOU BELIEVE
GOD. AND IT'S PROVEN BY OBEDIENCE. Over in James, James said this,
FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD. IT'S DEAD. I had a man tell me one time, Years
ago, I worked with him in a machine shop. He never made a profession. He didn't go anywhere to any
kind of religious service. But he told me once, he said,
John, I believe every word that's in this book. He said, I believe
every word of it. Even though I don't profess it
or I don't go, I believe every word of it. I thought, no, you
don't. If you truly believed it, if you truly believed, you'd
be saved. If you believed every word of
it, God says, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt
be saved. He that believes and is baptized
shall be saved. If you really believed, you'd
be saved. Because you'd believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, because
that's what the Word of God says to do. So you DON'T believe it,
you DON'T believe it. If you DON'T believe God, you
don't believe it. If you believe a story, it's
a historical event that you believe happened, That's totally different than
believing God. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. A RIGHT FEAR OF THE LORD RESULTS
IN IMMEDIATE OBEDIENCE. So you see, those servants were
standing there by Pharaoh. Some of them went out and they
warned their servants that they had. And they said, Get the cattle,
get the livestock, get everything and get in the house. A STORM
IS COMING! A HELL STORM IS COMING! JUDGMENT
IS COMING! Then there were other servants
there whose hearts were hardened, like Pharaoh, and they didn't
believe it at all. I bet those servants who went
into the house were sure glad they had a master that believed.
I bet they were sure glad they
had a master that believed. And then in verse 21, listen
here, And HE THAT REGARDETH NOT, and over in the margin it says,
SET NOT HIS HEART TO IT. HE THAT REGARDED NOT THE WORD
OF THE LORD LEFT HIS SERVANTS AND HIS CATTLE IN THE FIELD. This man heard the same message. This servant heard the same message
as the other servant who went and warned his servants to get
everything in the house. Heard the same message. You know,
we're all sitting here this morning, you're hearing the same message.
I'm not giving one message to one group and one message to
another group. We hear the same message. This man heard the same message,
same warning, but listen, it did not reach his heart. It never entered into his heart.
THE WORD REGARDED NOT MEANS TO SET NOT HIS HEART TO IT. He did not care but remained
indifferent. He didn't believe Moses although
he had all the reason under the sun to believe. He experienced
all those plagues previously but he still didn't believe.
TO REGARD MEANS TO CARE It means to give ATTENTION, it means UNDERSTANDING,
WISDOM, and those who regarded NOT had NONE of this, none of
this. They didn't care, they didn't
care at all, they gave no attention to it, they didn't understand
that God is good for His Word, they didn't understand that. But the servants whose master
regarded not the word of the Lord perished." They perished. And just a thought hit me just
before coming from my study. I thought, I am so glad that
our Master, our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, regarded every
jot and tittle of God's Word. And because of that, we, His
servants, are saved. Here's the question, I'm gonna
close. Do I fear the word of the Lord
or disregard it, regard it not? This serious. Do I have a right fear of God?
When I read in his book, his words and his words of judgment
and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, Do I fear the Word of the Lord
or do I disregard it? You see, listen, God sees the
heart. He sees the heart that fears His Word and the heart
that disregards it. And God will discern between
him that feared and him that feared not in a little while,
in a little while. Judgment, and this is what they're
saying in these verses here, judgment's coming. Take heed
to my word. Does it seem like judgment's
coming this morning? Did it seem like when you walked
outside in this beautiful sunshine? And as Carl, you said this morning,
it's a beautiful day, beautiful day. Judgment's coming, the word of
God has said so. The door of mercy, and listen,
the door of mercy is open. BUT NOT FOREVER! NOT FOREVER! When God SHUT THE DOOR OF THE
ARK, MERCY WAS OPEN AND JUDGMENT FELL! Judgment fell! Turn over to Proverbs Chapter
1 and I'll close with this. In verse 22 Proverbs 1 how long
ye simple ones Will you love simplicity and the scorners delight
in their scorning and fools hate knowledge Turn you at my reproof
behold. I will pour out my spirit unto
you. I will make known my words to you Because I've called and
you refused I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded,
but you have said it not all my counsel, and would none of
my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity.
I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation,
and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and
anguish comes upon you, then shall they call upon me, but
I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me, for that they hated knowledge. They hated
the gospel when it was preached to them, and did not choose the
fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel,
they despised all my reproofs. Therefore shall they eat of the
fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity
of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me, shall dwell safely, and shall
be quiet from fear of evil. Whoso hearkens to me, come unto
me, all ye that labor heaven to aid, and I'll give you rest.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. We need
to hear these messages as we go through the Word of God, don't
we? This is one thing about going through verse by verse. You don't
go through and pick out special things to preach on. You deal
with the whole Word of God as you meet it. He that feared the
Word of the Lord, and he that feared not. All right.