I like that song. His blood and his righteousness,
that's our dress. That's what we wear. That's a
pretty thing. All right, brethren, Exodus chapter
one. I just want to go through this
this morning. I won't have you turn anywhere
and make some comments. That's just beautiful to me.
Brother Paul got up one time there in Virginia on their Wednesday
night and they just read 1 Thessalonians. He said it was a great blessing.
I like to hear the word read sometimes. I want to look here
at this first chapter of Exodus. We may be going through the book
of Exodus, but we'll see what the Lord has already prepared
ahead of time. I'd like that. I enjoy this book
greatly, and this first chapter is just beautiful to me, and
I think it will be for you too. Exodus means departing. Exodus
means going out. You're somewhere and you're going
someplace else. And this is important. This is really, really important. Our Lord makes mention of this
over and over and over again. He says, I'm the Lord that brought
you out of Egypt. He reminds us a lot of times
throughout his scripture of this event. If it's that important
to him, it ought to be very important to us too, shouldn't it? Here
in chapter one, we're gonna see a picture of the Lord's people,
His spiritual Israel, and sons of Jacob, made needy. He makes
us needy. He does this. He makes us needy,
and then the Lord, through the preaching of the gospel, through
His servants, gives life. And then He preserves us to the
end, to our expected end. That seems pretty simple, don't
it? That's what we're seeing here. That's what's here in Exodus
one. Egypt pictures the world. And these sons of Jacob, his
offspring, that's the Lord's people. Because he's faithful,
that's why we're not consumed. We're not consumed in this Egypt
that we live in, this Egypt that we are. We're born of Adam and
he brings us out. And all that is to his glory. It's his doing and he gets the
praise for it. Now, how's that going to happen physically for
the children of Israel to be brought out of Egypt? It's gonna
happen physically the same way it happened spiritually for his
spiritual Israel to be brought out of Egypt. Over in Exodus
23, it says, behold, I send an angel, it's a capital A, angel,
before thee to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the
place which I have prepared. He said, I've prepared a place
and I'm sending my capital A angel to get you out of there. Christ
does it. You get that? He said, I'm gonna
prepare a place for you. That's what he's done. And so
this is a picture of that. Now let's look at these first
seven verses. Exodus 1. Now these are the names
of the children of Israel which came into Egypt. Every man and
his household came with Jacob. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. And all the souls that came out
of the loins of Jacob were 70 souls, for Joseph was in Egypt
already. And Joseph died, and all his
brethren and all that generation, every one of them that we've
been looking at for several months now, now they're all dead. The
Lord brought them to Egypt, and now they're all dead. And the
children of Israel, verse seven, were fruitful. and increased
abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty, and the
land was filled with them." Who is this about? Who's the Lord
speaking of? The children of Israel. Who's
that? The children of Jacob. The sons of Jacob. God's loved
people. He said, Jacob have I loved. This is who this is about. He
said, the Lord appeared on me old saying, hey, I've loved thee
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
have I drawn thee. I brought you out. I brought
you out. We're not physically in Egypt
right now, but this picture is given to us. Show the Lord bringing
us out, giving us life with loving kindness. He draws his people
who all that are written in the lamb's book of life. We talked
about last hour a little bit, all the names written in that
book. When was that lamb's book of life written? from the foundation
of the world, wasn't it? Here's a hard question for most
people. Let's just get you down to brass
tacks. Who wrote that book? God did. We weren't around. Isn't
that an amazing thing? Isn't that contrary? Isn't that
against the stream of everything that we were taught growing up
by our parents or the world or what everybody on the street
says? There's names in the book. People know that. Oh, who wrote
them? The Lord did. It's his book. When? From the
foundation of the world. Long time ago, wasn't it? Verse
seven says the children of Israel were fruitful. They were fruitful
and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceeding
mighty. And the land was filled with
them. It's all over the place. What did they increase abundantly
with? What was they multiplied with
that got so mighty? Peter said, but grow in grace. Grow, grow
in grace. And the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, to Him be glory both now and forever,
amen. Grow in Him, grow in Him. That's
how you end at 2 Peter. Grow in Him, grow in grace. What
do the Lord's people grow in? Grace, and we grow in knowledge,
and we grow in understanding. as we age, just as a physical
person does. You get older, you're like, well,
I've been through a couple of El Ninos, and I've been through some hot
spells. I've been through some recessions. You've been through
this a couple more times than I have, and we're getting, we
got a little patience with this now. Is there anything different
spiritually? The Lord grows us, we're babes.
If we're left alone, we're done for, right? And he keeps us,
and he nurtures us, and he feeds us with milk, sensory milk of
the word. And as we grow in grace and knowledge and understanding
of Christ, We start settling down a little bit. Start calming
down. Say, this is of the Lord. We ain't gonna grow without milk.
We can grow without that food coming into us. We grow in that
and we grow abundantly and increased abundantly in fruitfulness. Fruitfulness. That mean there's good works.
Oh, they're out there feeding the poor and handing out Bibles
and tracts and all that stuff. No, what's God? That's what we
think of fruit. What's God say fruit of the spirit
is? Love. Joy? Being happy? What's raining outside? Well,
Lord sends rain. That's all right. Calm down. He gave us a roof,
too, didn't he? An umbrella. Start being happy about things.
They grow in fruit of love and joy and peace and longsuffering
because the Lord's been longsuffering to us. He put up with me, maybe
I can put up a little bit. Gentleness. gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance. And there ain't no law against
that. Do it all you want. You want to do it more? I do.
I do. I want to grow and fruitful.
Who does this happen to? Sons of Jacob, those cheats,
those liars, those rebels, the ones that need a land. And they multiplied and they
waxed exceeding mighty and the land was filled with them. Filled
with them. This whole shooting match started
out with one fella, didn't it? Adam. Adam. How many people's
on earth? Nine billion or something? Eight
billion? That's a lot. That's growing mightily, isn't
it? What happened? He's by himself. And his side
was wounded. And a bride was made. He put
life in her. And that's how we all got here.
First Adam, wasn't it? Physically, that's how this took
place. What happened spiritually? There was a second Adam, all
by himself, and his side was pierced for his bride. And now his people are like the
sands of the sea, stars in the sky. I don't know how many there
are, there's a bunch of them. However many he's died for, that's
how many there are. It was just about sons of Jacob.
What's happening, the Lord's going to bring them out in power.
In power. And there will be no question
whatsoever. They didn't save themselves and
the Egyptians didn't save them and Pharaoh didn't do it. It's
going to be absolutely evident. Hands down, the Lord did this. Physically. Spiritually, nothing's
different. Nothing's different. We'll be
brought to a place. If we did something, we did it. We're gonna
be brought, if the Lord's gonna save us, he's gonna prove to
us he did it. Period. We had no other option. Where's
all this taking place? Egypt. Who? Sons of Jacob. What? Coming out. Where? Egypt. That's where we are right now.
If we was going through the roof, I'd say, this is Moab. But we're
going through Exodus. This is Egypt. It's where we
live. Verse eight says, now there arose
up a new king. That's lowercase king. There
arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. The children of Israel, his sons
of Jacob, they've always had a capital K king. The Lord's
been their king. Always has been. He's on his
throne. But in this world that we live in, there's leaders and
there's rulers that are over us that do not know the Lord.
They don't know, remember we were looking at Joseph as a type
of Christ and all this. The bulk of all the leadership on this
earth does not know God, but they're over us. How can we deal
with such a thing? Get out the boat. No, we know,
we look to our Lord, right? The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord, and just like a river of water." Boy, we've seen water
cutting through this place quick. Places that looks like rivers,
they weren't rivers last week. Taking roads out. Just like the
Lord moves water where he wants, he turns the hearts of the kings
however he wants to. He put them there, didn't he?
There's a prince of this world, and he thinks he's ruling everything,
but he does not know Joseph. He does not know our Lord. Verse
nine. And he said unto his people,
behold, the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.
Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and
it come to pass that when they fall without any war, they join
also unto our enemies and fight against us, so we get them up
out of the land. The wicked flee when no man pursueth.
They're making provisions for something that has no indication
of happening at all. We see the skies at night, pink
skies, and we know whether to get an umbrella or not. We can
discern the skies. There's nothing to discern here.
Just a guilty conscience. Who's mad at who? Now think about
this. It's important. Who's mad at
who? Is Israel mad at Egypt or is
Egypt mad at Israel. Israel's a quiet people. There's
a bunch of them, but they're kind, and they're meek, and they're
long-suffering, and they're hardworking. They put in a good day's work.
They don't give nobody no problems. But Israel's, or Egypt's mad
at Israel. I heard a billionaire, let's
talk to him, if he ain't a billionaire, he's close, but he started out
at a business, he was working there, and he slept there at
the business. And all the people come in and out, and they said,
man, You're doing good, and you're saving a lot of money. And it's
just, boy, we just hope the best for you. And they were supporting
him and so kind to him. Well, he ended up buying that
business. And then he bought five more just like him down
the street. And then he sold those six businesses, and he
bought about 35 of them. And he was in the money. He was
doing good. And he saw them same people. And they said, oh, big
boss man. Oh, you going to talk to us? Just picked on him and
was mean to him and didn't like him. But they were supporting
him a couple Years ago, what happened? He didn't change. He
said, you know, people want you to do well, but just not better
than them. That's so physically, right?
That's so. People start doing good, others
jealous and envious, and they start cutting. Well, I would
never do such a thing. No, you won't do such a thing
or you can't. That's why you're mad about it. It's all it is.
What happens spiritually? The Lord saves people and gives
them a new heart and they have a drive. And this gospel is more
important than other things. And the Lord makes us build our
lives around this gospel. People don't like that. I had
an uncle calling me this morning. I couldn't answer it. worship
the Lord today. I'd get ready for that. I'll
talk to him later. And then I'd get mad why I didn't answer.
That's so. This shows us that this world
is not the friend of God's people, even though we benefit them greatly.
We benefit them greatly. It says in verse 11, therefore
did they set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure
cities, Pithom and Ramses. There's two big old cities they
made up just to put all the goods of Egypt in. Storehouses, you
know where they are now? Pile of rocks. This world's so
worried about heaping up riches to themselves and comfort and
all these things, it's temporary. It's all gonna burn. But they were, verse 12, but
the more they afflicted them, the more that Egypt afflicted
Israel, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved
because of the children of Israel. That's just precious, isn't it?
The more they were afflicted, the more they grew. I want to
write that down on my refrigerator and look at it every day. And
every time I feel so sorry for myself, and I'm hurt, or I'm
sad, or I'm grieving, or anything, the more they were afflicted,
the more they grew. Egypt? No. God's people. Israel. That's just so. We understand
that. Physically, if you want big muscles, you wanna get stronger,
you wanna grow, you're gonna have to damage those muscles,
right? You're gonna have to lift something heavy, and the fibers
are gonna have to tear, and it's gonna build back and be stronger
and bigger, right? Growing in grace is absolutely
no different. It's not. Growing in wisdom is
absolutely no different. You want good wisdom? God's going to have to be rough
on us. What we call rough. It's great mercies. It's kindness.
It's what it is. It's tenderness. But we think
it's so rough. And if we want to grow in grace,
Lord's going to have to be hard on us. Take us through those
stormy waters and teach us. People down there in that harbor
know that good sailors ain't made in calm weather. Good sailors
are made in storms, ain't they? Well, it's going to have to get
stormy. And the more we're afflicted, the more we're gonna multiply
and grow. Paul had said that. He had that thorn in the flesh,
and three times he begged the Lord, just take this from me.
How bad was it? Bad enough for him to call out
to the Lord three times. Take this from me. He was busy. His
mind wasn't on those things. His mind was on preaching and
going around taking care of these churches. He had something that
bothered him, and the Lord spoke to him, he said, my grace is
sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
You're weak, Paul, I made you weak, that way I'm your strength.
This is a good thing. That's not kind, Kevin. Take
it up with God, that's what he said. This is a good thing. And then Paul said, most gladly,
therefore, will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. How did these keep growing? Christ
was resting on them. because he sent the trial, he
squeezed them, and then, we looked at this multiple times, right?
What's the outcome of a trial God sends? We're gonna look to
Christ. Is that it? Keep a trial on us, Lord, till
it accomplishes your purpose, and we see him high and lifted
up. And that kept happening for these brethren. And they grew. Did it tear them down? No! Did
their bodies break down? Yeah, probably. They had knee
braces and everything else. I don't know. They got old and
they died. Not in heart, they didn't. Not in heart, Paul said, therefore
I take pleasure in infirmities. Good, good. And reproaches and
necessities and persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake.
For when I'm weak, then I'm strong. And Christ is the very present
help in our time of need. We don't have to be needy. We
don't have to be in a time of need for we'll call out to him
and there he is. Just like that for being mercy, right? He's
already there. He was waiting on us the whole time. That's
growing in Christ. I've never heard that on television.
I never heard it on a radio message. This is a precious thing. We
believe these things. Lord's taught us this. That's a precious thing. He's grew us to make us understand
this. Verse 12 says, but they were more afflicted, but the
more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.
And the Egypt, they were grieved because the children of Israel. Who was really going to afflict
and burden Israel? Was this Pharaoh's doing? Mean,
old, wicked Pharaoh? Was that them mean, old, wicked
Egyptians? Mean, old, corporate Egypt? They're coming down hard
on Israel? This is the Lord's doing. The
Lord's doing it. At the end of 400 years later,
the Lord said, Pharaoh, I raised you up to show my power. I put
you on what you think is your throne just to show my might. This is the Lord's doing. This
is the Lord's doing this to bring them out and for him to be glorified
for it. He gave them taskmasters, hard
on them, for his glory. That makes a struggle a lot more
easier to bear, isn't it? This is for God's glory. Well,
what if God's in it? Maybe he's in it. If it's happening,
he's in it. Let's get that question out.
You think the Lord's in this? Yes. He's on his throne, isn't
he? It will be for his glory. Paul
wrote that in Romans 13, he said, Let every soul be subject to
the higher powers, for there's no power but of God, and the
powers that be are ordained of God. That means absolutely everybody,
the sheriff of San Diego County, those police officers writing
tickets out there, our governor, our president, whoever, the Lord
put them there. And he said, if you resist those
things, you're resisting God. I need to read that often, don't
I? He said, for this cause, pay ye tribute also, for they're
God's ministers attending continually upon this very thing. Well, it
don't look like it, does it? Lord says you're holy. It don't
look like that either, does it? But we believe him. We believe that's
for our good. They don't bear the sword in
vain. He said, render therefore all dues, tribute to whom tributes
due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, and honor to whom
honor. Be polite to them, O Lord, put them there. Pay your taxes.
Don't cheat. That's fine, render unto Caesar
what Caesar's. It's got his image on it, give it to him, that's
all right. God's on his throne. In preventing mercy, prevenient
mercy, the Lord sent famine to bring those 11 and Jacob to Joseph,
didn't he? To bring those 70 out, and he
made them hungry. To bring them to the sun, and
he put them in Goshen. It's just the best land that
there was. And you know what happened? They
forgot. They started thinking they did pretty good and they
had been tried and they were successful and they were faithful.
And so the Lord sent them another problem, didn't he? The Lord
turned to the heart of Pharaoh in this preventing mercy just
to draw us people out. And being made miserable enough
to cry to the Lord for mercy is a blessing from God. It's
so. Being brought down to have absolutely
nothing but Christ is a beautiful place to be. That's God being
merciful and gracious to us. It is. Verse 13 says, And the
Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor and
hard manual labor. And they made their lives bitter
with hard bondage in mortar and in brick and all manner of service
in the field. All their service wherein they
made them to serve was with rigor. You know, we live in this world
and we work in this world and it's hard. It's hard. You have to go out in this wicked
world and it seems like a moral or ethical decision has to be
made every single day. And that's tough. I understand
it. But this is for our Lord's kingdom.
We're not working for the man, we're not working for a corporation,
we're working for the Lord. And they might be cutting the
checks every other Friday, but we're working for Him as children
are. And Colossians 3 said, whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as unto
the Lord and not unto men. Now those men are there, but
we're working towards the Lord. We're sleeping floors or doing
whatever. We're sleeping the Lord's floors, ain't we? Knowing
that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance,
for you serve the Lord Christ. You're going to receive him.
He's already saved us. I have an expected end. So between now
and then, if I got to sweep some floors, sweep them. He gave it
for me to do. That's what's put in our hand.
We just don't like that, do we? If the Lord puts something in
our hand to do, we want to do something different. Well, I
can do this and I can help over there. Yeah, but the Lord gave
me this to do. We've got to do that. He'll make us faithful.
He'll make us profitable servants. Here's a wonderful example of
living in a world and serving God. Living in this Egypt and
serving God. Verse 15, And the king of Egypt
spake unto the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of one was
Shephara and the other Pua. And he said, When you do the
office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, see them upon the stools
if it be a son then he shall kill him but if it be a daughter
then she shall live and i thought i wonder why the lord named these
two midwives that was probably a bunch of midwives right there's
a whole mess of people here it wasn't just two of them maybe
he's ahead too and why would he mention that well shepara
means brightness And pua means glittering or sparkling. That's
what those angels were called. One is the head, one is the foot,
right? Sparkling and glittering. On that fourth day, the Lord
created the lights in the firmament in heaven, one by day and one
by night, to give us signs and seasons and years and show us
these things. I remember looking then, that's the Lord's messengers.
That's what they are. They're just a star, just reflecting
the light of Christ. And I always think of Tom Harding
when I think of that. There's shooting stars that's
loud and bright and colorful and flashing. They fizzle out,
don't they? And then there's twinkling stars that just stay
up there just nonstop. Like, I don't think you're a
real star. It don't matter. I don't like the way you're twinkling.
It don't matter. They just sit there and just keep twinkling
and twinkling and twinkling and twinkling all day, just giving the light.
That's what these two midwives represent here. The king of Egypt,
that picture's Satan. These two midwives, God's servants,
God's preachers. And he's made every one of us
kings and priests, hasn't he? All of us. And Satan does not
want the sons of God to be born. He wants to prevent that new
birth by any means necessary. Just get them to stop. Get them
to stop. It would please Satan more than
anything to get the Lord's servants to stop doing what they're doing.
Just quit. Quit. You're not the one that's
giving life, but you're the one that's there. You're the means.
Just quit it. Do something else. Why not the
daughters? Well, in this context, We're called the sons of God,
men and women, okay? In other places, I'm a king's
daughter. Did you know that? I've said that before. The camera's
got a little bit of a head start on me. I'm gonna be a bride one
day. I don't understand all that, but it's so, right? And we've
been called the bride of Christ, and we're called the king's daughters,
and we're called sons. But in this context, All of the Lord's people are
the sons of God. And in many other places, women
serve the Lord mightily. And here too, that's who it's
speaking of, these midwives. But here, the daughters represent
a false church. It represents that whore of Babylon. And it's
Satan, the king saying, that new creation that God does, kill
it. Don't let that happen. But that
lie, that wouldn't go along with anything. That's fine. Let that
keep going. But the Lord doesn't save through a lie, does he?
He saves through the truth. And verse 16 says, and he said,
when you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them
upon the stools, if it be a son, you shall kill him. And if it
be a daughter, then she shall live. That's what our great enemy,
Satan, told Eve in the garden, wasn't it? If you eat this, you
can be like God. You can discern and you can perceive
and you can judge the difference between right and wrong. You'll
know those things. Verse 17 says, but the midwives
feared God and did not, as the king of Egypt commanded them,
but save the men children alive. Why'd they do that? Because they
feared God, and they had to. They had to. It says in Acts
4, they called them and commanded them not to speak nor teach in
the name of Jesus. He said, quit it. That's how
the Lord's given life. Same thing happened there at
Exodus, happened in Acts 4. You stop that, quit preaching that,
and you can preach some other things. You can say those nice
things, but don't you say that. And Peter and John answered and
said, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto
you more than God, judge ye. You think I ought to listen to
you? You think I ought to listen to God. I'm listening to God. He said,
for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
We have to tell the truth. We have to be the Lord's witnesses.
All we do is say, you remember, remember, remember, it's already
done. It ain't gonna change, something ain't gonna be different
tomorrow. Woe unto me if I preach not the
gospel. That's what Paul said, wasn't it? Owe unto me. We know it. We have to. A midwife
does not give life. They didn't create life and they
don't prevent it. They just catch babies, don't
they? That's their job. Maybe feed it a little bit or
clean it up. Whenever it comes out, wrap it up in something, but
they just catch a baby. Pastors don't give life. Praise be to
God, we can't prevent it either. I'm thankful for that. And we
don't know when this is going to happen. And we just wait,
and we keep thinking, just like a man next to his wife saying,
I think today's the day. I think we're having a baby today.
I've heard faithful men throughout time say, I think this message
is it. I think God's going to save his people today. It's going
to bless them. He's going to comfort them. He's
going to call his people out. I know it. I know it. We just serve the best we
can. We just keep hot water and towels
around. That's all we do. Verse 18, and the king of Egypt called
the midwives and said to them, why have you done this thing? And
why have you saved the million children alive? You didn't do
what I told you to do. Well, I ain't here on your business.
They didn't pitch a fit though, did they? They didn't announce
it. They just didn't ground those boys. This is beautiful. And the midwife said unto Pharaoh,
because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women. There's
a difference. There's a difference. I heard
a man say one time that women couldn't enter into higher theological
doctrine. And I said, that may be your
experience, but not from the daughters of God I know. They know a lot. Lord's taught
them. We're all taught of God, ain't we? That may be your Egyptian
women, not these Hebrew women. They're different. They ain't
like your women. These are God's women, for they are lively, lively,
and are delivered ere the midwife's coming to them. We went there
to help him deliver the baby. We showed up and the baby's already
there. I didn't even know what happened. I thought I was going
to have to do something different. Lord did it. Lord did it. That's what they're saying. They're
lively, lively. You know what that means? Vigorous.
They're vigorous. Does that mean they're the Lord's
daughters and sons and everything else, or an industrious people? Yes, they are. They're hardworking,
good people, and they're lively. And they're happy and joyous
and all those things. But remember where Jacob was buried? Machpelah,
in the field of Mamre, in the field of vigor. God's put life
in them. And where God puts life, you
can't extinguish it. These women ain't like other women. This
bride of Christ ain't like other brides. There's life in them
and you can't do nothing about it, Pharaoh. Sorry, I showed
up and it's already done. That's what the Lord told Nicodemus,
wouldn't it? The wind bloweth where it lifts
us, and now here's the sound thereof. There's something out
here, baby's crying, but I can't tell you where it came and I
can't tell you where it's going next. So is everyone that's born of
the Spirit. I shoot arrows, I told you that Wednesday night. Those
arrows are sharp, I know, because I've been stuck with them. But
I shoot them per adventure, just pull them back and sling it.
Because any time I've thought of things, people, I thought,
this will really bless somebody, and they really need to hear
this. And then every time, they're not there. Something comes up
there's flood or flat tire. I don't know something happens
a little bit And then people I didn't think like I don't think
that affect anybody at all. That was exactly what I needed.
That was wonderful It's like you got cameras turned on in
my house. I didn't know that I just showed up and there's
baby there you see These midwives they didn't protest
They didn't make up signs and they didn't go down and give
a bunch of attitude They didn't pitch a fit and they didn't get
angry with pharaoh Fearing God, they simply said, the Lord separated
them from their mother's womb, and we just showed up. We just
brought the water, that's all we did. But Paul said too, this
doesn't change, yesterday, today, and forever, but when it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb, that physically
happened, and he called me by his grace to reveal his son in
me. Same way that happened, the physical life mirrors spiritual
life a lot, doesn't it? We didn't know when it was gonna
happen, it just happened, We can't undo it. Verse 19, the
midwives said unto Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not as the
Egyptian women, for they're lively and are delivered air, the midwives
come unto them. Therefore, because of this, God
dealt well with the midwives. and the people multiplied and
waxed very moderately. God dealt well with them, well
with them. He says, my good and faithful
servants. And we said, when we have been
good and faithful? He said, oh, you fed me and you saw me in
prison. When was you in prison? I never, what are you talking
about, Lord? He said, if you done it to the
least of these, you done it to me. That's what he said, wasn't it? And
he dealt well with us. He's dealt well with all of us.
And the people multiplied because of that. Because of that countenance,
like we read there at the end of Acts 2, because of meeting
house to house and being joyful in this community and stuff like
that, that's how the Lord calls his people to add to the church
daily. That's what it says. That's the context of it, right?
And because of this, like, well, the Lord did it. We're happy
about it. This is right, like I told you
last year, our family's got this horrible trial on them. And they
said, no, this is good. Lord said this, we'll see Christ
in it. Maybe not yet, but he'll come. Lord's gonna add to his
church daily because of that. Be multiplied and wax very mighty.
That was the very thing that Pharaoh and the Egyptians were
mad about in the first place, wasn't it? We gotta snuff these people
out. And what the actions they took,
and it seems so detrimental, it sounds terrible, is exactly
what multiplied them. Nebuchadnezzar says he doth according
to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him what doest thou.
Stop him. Make this stop. You can't. You
can't. What's this picture to us? The
very act of Christ hanging on that cross. The devil's thinking,
I got him now. Now we're going to extinguish
him. That's the very thing that made his people lively, that
gave them vigor and gave him all the glory for doing so. The very thing. Verse 21, and
it came to pass because the midwives feared God, he made them houses. The first time I read that, I
thought, what in the world does that have in context to do with
anything? Just physically, you know what I mean? It's renting
a place. I don't know why the Lord make
houses for them. They're just delivering babies. What does
that have to do with birthing babies? It took me a little while.
Lord spoke to those apostles in John 14. He said, let not
your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. That's why I spoke through the
hearts of these midwives, hadn't I? In my father's house are many
mansions. We've got a whole bunch of dwelling
places, same here. Them houses, dwelling places.
If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place
for you. Like I said, they were needy
because they were under taskmasters, right? And then Lord sent servants
to give them life. The servant didn't give life,
but through the means of that work, that's what they were given.
These children were born. New life was created. And then
in preservation, the Lord says, I'll make them houses. He says,
I go to prepare a place for you. Remember what that place was?
A place of reconciliation. A place of atonement against
the holy God we offended. And that's Christ's work. He
said, I'm gonna make you a place. And if I go to prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. What a thought. What'd they do? Nothing. They
said, baby's already born when I got there. Lord did it. And he said, I'll make a place
for you. Well done. Good. Verse 22 says, and Pharaoh
charged all his people, not just the midwives, he told everybody,
saying, every son that is born, ye shall cast into the river
and every daughter you shall save alive. All of Israel, all
the sons of Jacob, going to be cast into the waters of death.
We're going to physically die one day, aren't we? And we were
in those waters of death in Adam. That's what we came into. And
out of all these sons of God, all these here pictured, they're
going to be brought out of Egypt because one son was cast into
the waters. We're going to get to that, Lord
willing, next week, next chapter. Moses was cast in. But he didn't
die, did he? He's still alive. And because
of that one Moses cast into the waters that still lived, that
was the means the Lord used to bring his people out. You know
what Moses means? Drawing out. Drawing out. The
Lord said, with love and kindness, I've drawn you. I've drawn you.
How are we going to come out? One was cast into the river of
death and is alive. You get that? Christ, he bore
that death for us spiritually. He bore that punishment, that
wrath that we deserved. And because he lives, we live
in him. I hope that's a blessing to you.
That's a lot better than genealogy and some midwives getting put
out of a job. There's a need, there's a need
provided for, and there's preservation. I pray we can see those things
often. Thank you, Brother Mark. ahead of myself. Trevor, would you and Cass come
hand out the elements?