Exodus chapter 10. Exodus 10. Read verses 21 through 23 with
me. Exodus 10. The Lord said unto
Moses, stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may
be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may
be felt. And Moses stretched forth his
hand toward heaven, and there was a thick darkness in all the
land of Egypt three days. And they saw not one another,
neither rose from his place for three days. But all the children
of Israel had light in their dwelling. Heartless. This is the last plague before
death. The last plague before death
in every house in Egypt. Every house. But not one death
in one house in history. This is the last plague before
the Lord brought all of Israel out. Not one hoof was left behind. Surely this is prophetic of the
darkness that is over the world in these last days. Darkness. Now, God sent this darkness. In Isaiah 45, verse 7, the Lord
says, well, verse 5, He says, I am the Lord, there's none else.
He says, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace
and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. The Lord sent this darkness to
Egypt. Why? Because they rejected the
light, the light of His Word. He sent the Word, which is the
light. The Lord, in verse 21, said,
Let there be darkness. Who is speaking? Who is the voice
of God to man? Christ, okay? The same one who
in the beginning said, let there be light, here now says, let
there be darkness. The Lord Jesus Christ, He's the
one. And, you know, men, He is so
different than the Jesus men believe in today. Darkness? The Lord sends darkness? That's
right. That's what He did. Let there be light. Light. Oh,
listen to this. I love this psalm. Light. God is light. His word is light. Christ is the light. Light. Light. God's word is light. Listen
to Psalm 43. I should have marked it. Psalm 43 verse 3 says, Oh, send
out thy light and thy truth. Let them lead me. Now listen
to where the light will lead you. Let them bring me into thy
holy hill, into thy tabernacles. Little places where we hear and
see the light. The gospel. God's word is the
light. You turn with me to 2 Peter chapter
1. 2 Peter chapter 1. God's word is light. Christ is
the light of the world. God's word is light. Christ is
the word. David wrote, the entrance of
thy word giveth light. The gospel is light, isn't it? The gospel, the truth, the truth
is light. The gospel is the light of the
knowledge. You don't have any knowledge
of God apart from the gospel of Christ. The light of the knowledge
of the glory of God. If you don't hear the gospel,
if you don't hear the truth, if you don't hear the word, you'll
take some glory. You'll glory in something. The
light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Where is it? All
of it. All the glory of God is in Christ.
It's in Christ. Christ is all. He's all the Word. He's all the truth. The truth
is light. The truth is light. You see clearly
through the truth. You see clearly. You know. You
won't stumble in darkness as in darkness. Lies. You won't fall for lies. You
won't stumble. You won't be in darkness even
as others. Ignorance. You won't be in ignorance. Superstitious. Superstition. Bondage. The children of Israel were in
Egypt and they were in bondage for a while until the Lord sent
His Word. Until the Lord came and spoke
to them. Look at 2 Peter 1 verse 19. He says, We have a more sure
word of prophecy, whereunto you do well to take heed as unto
a light that shineth in a dark place. Where's that? Here on
earth. Verse 19. And you and I are in a good place
right now. We're hearing the word. The light. Until the day dawn. You do well
to take heed, to sit and listen until the day dawn, the day star,
to rise in your heart. What is that? What's the day
star? Anybody see a star during the day? There's only one. Son. Eclipse. No other star shined
when this was shining. That's Christ, the Son of Righteousness. Know this. Verse 20. No prophecy
of scriptures of any personal or private interpretation. Prophecy
came not at old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as it were moved by the Holy Ghost. So God's Word is light. Christ is the light. The truth
is the light. Christ is the truth. Christ is
the truth. You know, the Word of God is
revealed and revealing. The Word of God is revealed and
revealing. You don't figure out the truth.
God reveals the truth to you. You don't come to see the light. The light shines on you. That's
what happened to Saul of Tarsus, right? He didn't see the light. Suddenly the light shone round
about him. What's that? It's not doctrine. Nowhere does it say you come
to the knowledge of the doctrines of grace. No, no, no, no. You
meet Christ. When Christ comes to you, all
your doctrine is immediately clear, like Saul of Tarsus. He rejected the truth until Christ
said, I am the truth. And all his understanding of
who God is came clear now. Who chose who? Who did what? Who saved who? Who accepted who? Who saved who? Who? It's salvation
of the Lord. It's not you coming to a no election. When you meet Christ, you'll
know He's the elect. You're electing Him. But go back
to Exodus 10. Exodus 10 verse 21, the Lord
said unto Moses, stretch out thine hand that there may be
darkness. Moses, said unto a man. Moses is just a man, isn't he? He's just a man, just like you
and I. Elijah, a man of like passions. Paul, all of them. There's not
a man in Scripture. Every man at his best state is
what? Altogether vanity. Sinners. Saved by grace. There's no power
in men. No ability in men. Okay? But God chose men. God chose a man named Moses for
the people of God to hear God through. If they were going to
hear from God, they're going to hear through Moses. Is that
right? Is that right? They would not
have heard from God. except through Moses. And God
came and chose this man. If people don't believe that,
then they're not going to hear from God. It's just the way it
is. It's just the way it is. I tried
to bypass preaching, you know. I heard it all my life until
I was tired of hearing it and then ran off and became wise
in my own conceits, you know, like the 60s and 70s, me, my
generation, enlightened, we call ourselves the enlightened generation.
We really did. And by that I mean we would sit
cross-legged and cross-eyed and enter into nirvana. It was artificially induced. And so I said, I can figure this
out. No, no. But God brought this
rebel home and sat him in a pew and lied. Lied. I realized I was nothing
but a blind fool. A blind fool. Christ is my wisdom. Christ is my life. The people
that walked in darkness have seen a great light. Upon them
hath the light shined. The gospel, the light is revealed. You don't figure it out. He comes
to you, reveals himself to you. And reveal him. Light reveals
filth. You may think your house is clean
when the lights are off. Turn them off. Turn the light way up. You'll
see dirt where you never saw it before, won't you? And when
the light of God's Word shines clearly, you'll see filth in
you that you never saw before. You'll see filth outside like
you never saw it before. You'll see this whole world as
a dark and filthy and vile place. Not until the Word of God opens
your blind eye. The Word of God will reveal what
you are, what you are not. The Word of God will reveal your
need. You look into the mirror of God's
Word, what you'll see is an ugly person, a poor and needy person. The Word of God reveals who God
is, the unseen God. You can't see God until the Word
of God shows you God, and then you see clearly who God is. When
God opens your eyes through the preaching of the gospel, you'll
come to this conclusion. You know, God's God. I used to
think I let Him be God. You know, the gospel comes. He's
God. He always has been. And I didn't
believe Him. That God I thought I believed
wasn't God at all. You know what? Christ is the
only Savior. Christ saved His people. He didn't
try to save. That's when the gospel comes.
It will clearly reveal to you the truth. Who God is, what you
are, who Christ is, what He came to do, who He did it for, and
that He did it, and where He is now. Not outside your heart's
door. Nowhere in that Bible. Now you
say, yes it does. You say, stand at the door and
knock. Who's He talking to? Come on. What's he say? John, say it out loud. Church.
Louder. Church. The church! You're not
talking to every single son of Adam. Oh, he's outside your door.
I want you to let him in. No! He said, I am the door. But he's talking to the church.
And here we are, the church. And he stands at the door. Do
you want him to come in and be with us? Ask Him. See, it's not salvation. He's not talking about salvation.
He said, I'll come in and do what? Louder, John. Sup with you. Not save you. Sup with you. I want Him to sup with me. I
want to sit down and have supper with my Lord and eat of His body
and drink of His blood. Please come in, Lord, to this
place today and bless our gathering. That's what we need to do every
time before we come here. Or we won't get it done. We won't
get it done. So, the truth is revealed, the
truth is revealing. You only come to know the light
is revealing, the truth is light. We only come to know who God
is, what we are, who Christ is, the truth, through the preaching
of the Gospel, the Word. Okay? Moses was a man, but Moses represents
the one man and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus. The world says, you know, Confucius
was a wise man. The world says Buddha, you know,
the way of Buddha is the way to God. The world says Mohammed
is the way to God. The world says Moroni. That's Mormonism. The Moroni
is the prophet of God. No sir. Christ said, I'm the
way, the truth. One mediator between God and
me. And Christ said, no man, no human being comes unto the
Father but by me, Christ said. No other way. That was it. Nobody God's going to judge and destroy
every single person except those who heard from Moses and believe
God. And that's the way it is today. And the world thinks that's too
narrow. Who said narrow? Who in the Bible said narrow
is the way? Who said that? Somebody tell
me. Louder, John. Jesus Christ said to him, straight
is the gate and narrow is the way, and few there be that find
it. That's what he said. Too narrow,
but then you'll not get to God. And yes, you come that way. Darkness
is the absence of light. Turn with me to, well, look at
verses 21. And 22, the Lord said unto Moses
in Exodus 10, there's going to be darkness over the land of
Egypt, darkness that may be felt. And he stretched forth his hand
and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt. Darkness is the absence of light.
We've already seen that light is God's word and God's truth.
And the Lord kept, the Lord God kept sending the word, the light,
through his preachers. Kept sending it. This is the
eighth Seventh plague? Ninth? Eighth? I don't know.
Anyway, he kept sending the Word and judgments. The Word and judgments
for their rebellion of it. Right? Pharaoh kept hardening
his heart. Egypt did too. Nobody in Egypt. Somebody asked
me this morning, how long did all this take place? Nobody knows.
We don't know. It could have been years. Couldn't
it? I know this, that the flies came,
the frogs came, the lice came, and all that came, and it took
a good while to clean all that up, didn't it? How long did it
take to clean that mess up? And how long did it take for
the smell to go away? And on and on. It's like this most recent
plague God sent in 2020. You know, it lingered for a year
or two years. People, that's all they thought
about. Everybody wearing masks for a year or two years. It's like it never happened.
But it took years. It took years for people to forget
it. But I'm here to tell you, something
else is coming. It always has. God kept sending.
And here we are preaching the Word. By the way, I went back
and looked at the schedule for preaching back then. There was
a schedule, remember? At the very first, we thought
only 10 or 12 of us could meet, so that's what we did. And you
all were so excited to get a place, a seat. It's like you've won
the lottery or something. Sadly, I looked over that list,
and some people are not here now. You know, plague make people
repent. Plague will make people get serious.
When it's over, so is their repentance. But those who know the plague
of their heart, if you get to sit here and hear
the balm of Gilead, the only thing that will heal your heart,
you'll think you've won the lottery. Honestly. There was a, I told most of you
this, there was a, me and Hannah and I used to work with Special
Olympics, and we did that 10 years or so. There was a man
in his mid-40s, close to 50, close to 50, named John Brown,
about that tall, Down syndrome. Some of you probably knew him.
He was known in the community. But he was there, and we all
loved him, and he was happy, simple mind. The Lord preserved
the simple. And he came in one day and he
said, he said, I get to go to work. He was so excited. He said, I get to go to work. Has anybody in this room ever
said that? You know how you get your money
to pay for your house and feed your children and feed yourself?
You know where that came from? God. Not your smartness, not
your wisdom, not your ability. This man had no ability. He got
a job and he thought it was a great privilege. I get to go to work.
And he said this, and he said, and they pay me too. Our company's not giving me enough
money. I'm worth more than that. Oh, are you now? Well, I'm here to tell you, I
get to come to church. I get to come and sit and hear
the truth when the whole world's full of people who won't hear
it. And it pays me, too. I've received in the Lord's hand,
Kelly, double for all my iniquity. Sit down there and let me tell
you what all I've done for you. and God will do it for you. Forgiveness
and adoption. Go to church. Man, this is life. This was the children of Israel's
life. Life was their life. The Word
was their life. The blood was their life. Their
life depended on it. Moses is going in before Pharaoh.
People are hoping, praying that He lets them go. He's going to, by the Word of
God. If your children are ever taken
out of bondage, the Lord's going to have to give the Word. How's
He going to do it? Right here. I was the worst example
of a rebel child that you could think of. But God, how did He
do it? Right here. to the preaching
of the gospel, a man preaching. Born again. Born again. Gospel's power, God. Well, God has been sending His
Word, His light into this world from the beginning, 6,000 years. Isn't God good? Six thousand
years God has been sending His truth. From the very beginning,
He created this world so that it would let there be light,
and this world has never been without some light. Isn't God
good? You know, there was an age of
darkness when there was about a thousand years where there
were no Bibles. People didn't have Bibles. And evil men These
religious leaders in Roman Catholicism and all that, Rome, the church
at Rome, about 400 AD is where Roman Catholicism started. And
they withheld the word of God from the people. They wouldn't
let the people have the word of God, which is the light. Freedom
from them. And they kept it back from them.
And the only ones that had a Bible were these popes and all that,
okay? They kept it chained in a monastery. Well, God had a monk in a monastery
named Martin Luther. A monk in a monastery named Martin. And he was reading that book. And also, God has not left Himself
without a witness in any generation. You know, Martin Luther heard
a man preach the truth. Yes, he did. He heard a man preach.
And in one day, the light came on. He was crawling on his hands
and knees upstairs, kissing blood spots, thinking that would buy
him favor with God. Spots, they thought, were the
blood of Christ going up his tail, kissing them. And the light
that just shall live by faith. And Martin Luther jumped up,
went outside, out of that dark place into the marvelous light,
and he said, And God used him. Oh my, did
God use him. That was a thousand years later
up to 400 when it all started. And God used him to preach the gospel and the word
of God began to be reprinted. And then the light came back
and forth. Isaiah 8. Turn to Isaiah 8. Our Lord said, darkness that
may be felt. Thick darkness. Do you not feel
it today? Isaiah chapter 8. This world is a dark and evil
place, isn't it? Because the God of this world
has men blinded. and in captivity. It's a fact. That's what Scripture said. And
like Israel, everybody's in bondage and in sin and despair until
God sends out the light, until God sends the Word. This world
is dark and evil and Desperate place. Look at chapter 8, verse
9. He says, associate yourselves,
you people, you'll be broken in pieces. Verse 10, take counsel
together, it'll come to naught. Doesn't matter how many people
get together and agree on whatever. Verse 11, the Lord spake thus
unto me. Isaiah was the prophet then.
And he spake to him with a strong hand, and instructed me that
I should not walk in the way of this people. Say ye not a
confederacy to all these people, a confederacy? Neither fear ye
their fear, nor be afraid, but sanctify the Lord of hosts himself. Let him be your fear and dread. God the Lord is to be feared
and dreaded? That's an entirely different
God than you're hearing today. But he'll be, verse 14, for a
sanctuary. You know God, you have nothing
to fear. If you know Christ who is the light, you won't be afraid
of the darkness. You know that? Darkness is mysterious.
The darkness is fearful. Most everybody, even grown men
and women, are afraid of the dark. Well, the darkness and
the light are the same to God. If you know God, you need not
be afraid of the dark. He runs the dark as well as the
light. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow or darkness
of death, I fear no evil. Why? Bower it with me. Bower it. Well, look at verse
19. He says, When they say unto you,
Seek unto these familiar spirits. That's what preachers are today.
Familiar spirits. They're so familiar with God.
They're so familiar with Jesus. God's not to be preached or spoken
of in a familiar way, but in reverence and fear and respect.
Wizards that peep. I like that. Peeping wizards.
Pinhead, peeping wizards. That's preachers today. You know the difference between
a preacher and a catfish? Do you? One is a scum-sucking
bottom-dweller, and the other one's a fish. You hear that? I'm ashamed to be linked with
these fellas. The whole world's scoffing and mocking at them.
They ought to, because with God they preach, they're mocking
Him. Jesus they preach, He can't do
anything. He's worthless. And so is their
preaching. Ah, peeping wizards. Should not
a people seek to their God? Should not we listen to our God?
Verse 20, To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not
according to this word, it is because there is no light in
them. Verse 21, And they will pass
through this world The people that listen to him, hardly bested
and hungry. They'll fret themselves, they'll
be hungry, they'll fret themselves, curse their king and curse God. If there were more preachers
preaching the fear of God, there'd be less people using his name,
cursing God. You know that? Read on. And they'll look to the earth
and behold trouble and darkness. That's all you see. Dimness,
anguish, driven to darkness. This world. It will drive you
to darkness. It is darkness. Why do you think
drugs are so rampant? Why do you think people need
drugs just to exist? Go to sleep and wake up and exist
in the day. Fear. Darkness. Why do you think
violence is so prevalent? No fear of God. No fear of God. No justice. You can kill a man
and be out in five years. No justice. Why do you think
depression and despair rules people? Why do you think that
is? Darkness. 130 some people commit suicide
every day in the United States. Every day. Since we've been beaten
here, four or five people have killed themselves. Darkness. Darkness. Go back to our text. Exodus 10, darkness. Oh, it's
a dark world. All right. And it says in verse
23, it says, They saw not one another, neither rose from any
for his... They were afraid to leave their
houses. Are you? You're afraid to leave
this house? Are you afraid to go out there?
Why? What are you afraid of? God controls every germ. Not
a hair on your head doesn't fall. He doesn't say fall. Not a bird
on a tree, on a limb, that he doesn't say fall. A bird. They were afraid to leave. They
didn't see each other. They couldn't even see each other.
Look at our world. Look at our world. People don't
see themselves for what they are. People don't see mankind
as he is, do they? Man's worse than the beasts.
Look around you, isn't it? It's worse than a bee. Beasts
don't mutilate themselves. Beasts aren't perverted, male
on male, female on female. Animals don't do that. The beasts
don't destroy themselves and their environment, their world. It was, you know, I think John
Calvin one time said, man is worse than a beast. But no, he
said, it's an apology to the beast. The ox knows his owner. The ass knows his master created.
The birds give glory to God. The trees clap their hands, but
man doesn't. Man's in darkness. And so he's
a filthy, vile, wretched, blind, naked creature. Needing saved,
needing washed, needing cleaned, needing his eyes opened, needing
new life. Only God can do it. Verse 23, and let me close with
this. But all the children of Israel had
light. and their dwellings. Oh, I took
too long to get this. Talked about the darkness too
long. That's what we preachers do, you know, get on the first
verse and you can't get away from it. You got ten more to
go. All the children of Israel. God's
chosen people. Why did they have light? God
chose them. Why were they God's people? He adopted them. They were born of God. Born of
His Spirit. Born of His Word. Israel. Prince with God. Who's Israel?
A son of Jacob. A worm. Chosen of God. The elect of God. Everyone of
them knew it. They believed that. They all had light. They shall
all be taught of God, Christ said, John 6, 45. And everyone
that hears, that has heard and learned of the Father, does what? Say it louder, John. Comes to
Christ. Didn't our Lord say that? He
said, those that do evil, they love darkness rather than light,
because their deeds will be exposed. But those that are born of God
come to the light. Expose me. Show me what I am. You know, if He shows you what
you are, He'll show you what He is. You know, if He shows
you your filth, you know, the next thing He'll show you, you're
cleansing. That's right. That's the only
people. All Israel had light in their dwellings. Five scriptures. Which one do
I have you turn to? Verse Peter 2, verse 9. Verse Peter 2. And while you're
turning to that, let me read to you from Ephesians. Paul said
to the church at Ephesus, he said, you were sometimes darkness,
but now you're light in the Lord. Light in the Lord. Listen, he said to the church
at Thessalonica. To the church, mind you. He said
to the church at Thessalonica, chapter 5, verse 4, Brethren,
you're not in darkness. That the day of Christ should
overcome you as a thief. You're children of light. Children
of the day. We're not of the night. We're
not in darkness. It says God has not appointed
us to wrath. Egypt was appointed to wrath.
He's hadn't appointed us to wrath, but He's to obtain the salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. Chosen of God. To see the light,
no cry. And then 1 Peter 2, and I close. Verse 9, look at it. You know, you're a chosen generation.
You're a royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2, 9. You're a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. that you should show forth the
praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light. Praise His holy name. Amen.