Don't you love the old, old story
and the old, old songs? Songs of Zion. They're wonderful. Bless my heart. Thank you, John. Thank you, Robin. Singing and
playing. What Lord ordained singers? That may be one of them. Exodus
3. Exodus 3. If I had a text, it would be
verses 7 and 8. I'll read that again. The Lord
said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which
are in Egypt, and heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters,
for I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that
land unto a good land, large, a land flowing with milk and
honey. The gospel is good news, wonderful
news, glorious news for captives. Scripture says the gospel is
a thing that will render us full of joy, unspeakable, full of
glory. The Gospel is the salvation of
God's people from sin. We sang that song. It says, be
saved to sin no more. That struck me. He not only saved
us from sins, the penalty, He's saving us that we may never sin
again. Saving us from sin. captivity. He does it all by Christ. This
is the greatest story ever told. May this be to us this morning
the greatest story we've ever heard. The story was written
long ago, before the world began. The beginning of it, the end
of it was written before time, before the world began. This
story begins where it begins, in chapter one. Go back to chapter
one. As the whole book begins, in the beginning, God, well,
exodus, as you probably know, means going out, departure, exodus. This is the story of God bringing
his people out of Egypt. But the story within the story,
the true story, is how God brings out his people out of this world,
out of darkness into light, out of death to life. His people,
His chosen people. It begins in chapter 1. Now these
are the names. They're named. God's people. He has their name. The children
of Israel, which came into Egypt, every man in his household came
with Jacob. These are the sons of Jacob. Who does God love? Who does God
bring out of this world? Sons of Jacob. He said, Jacob
have I loved. Esau have I hated. Christ didn't
come into this world to save everybody. He came to save His
elect, His chosen, given to Him in a covenant before the foundations
of the world. The sons of Jacob. Who's Jacob? He's an old sinner. He's nothing
at all. But Jesus Christ was His all
in all. The sons of Jacob. Reuben, Simeon,
Levi, Judah. What about these fellas? What
kind of fellas were they? Huh! They all... for a bunch
of sinners. They betrayed their brother.
Look down at verse 5, it says, all the souls that came out of
the loins of Jacob, they were all sons of Jacob, 70 souls.
And it mentions Joseph. It says Joseph was already in
Egypt. Oh, if I'm not careful, I'll get stuck right here. Joseph,
it mentions. It says that Joseph died, and
they all died with him. That's Christ, isn't it? Is Christ
all the Scriptures? Oh, my. He's Joseph. We're in Him. Crucified with
Christ. And it says, in all that generation, all of them, every
one of them, in this story, is coming out. God came down. He said, I've come down to bring
them out. Who? These sorry sons of Jacob. Joseph, their elder brother,
whom they despised and rejected. I'm going to bring them all in. That generation. You know how
the whole New Testament begins? The book of the generation of
Jesus Christ. And it names all of His names.
It's the Lamb's book of life is what it is. The gospel of
our salvation in Christ. All right? They're in Egypt. All of them. They're all in Egypt. Verse 7. Fruitful. We're going
to multiply. They all were in Egypt according
to the purpose of God, the will of God, and they were prosperous.
They lived in the best of the land, didn't they? They lived
in the land of Goshen. Southerners used to exclaim when
something was wonderful, well, lands of Goshen, you know. Can
it get any better than this? Lands of Goshen. Well, that may
have been what old Jacob said when he came there. Joseph gave
them the best of the land. You know, the Lord giveth us
all things richly to enjoy. Richly to enjoy. Ecclesiastes
is all about this. He's given us everything. He's
made everything beautiful in its time. And he says, is it
time to get? It's time to live. But He's given us all things
richly to enjoy. But He's going to take it all
away. Israel lived in Egypt. And you know what they did? They
did what we do. They forgot God. So, God in great mercy, God in
great grace, starts making them miserable. He's got to make them miserable. And he sends hard taskmasters. Look at verse 14. These Egyptians
made their lives bitter with hard bonding. Now they're bitter,
they're in bondage, mortar and brick labor. Suffering, sorrow,
service, service, service, with rigor. Hard labor and bondage. And then they die. Who did this? The Egyptians? No. God did this. God did. These are His children,
okay? He's got to make them see. You're
not in the promised land. You're in a pit. A slime pit. a dung heap, this present evil
world. He's got to make them see, this
is not your land, these are not your people, this is not your
continuing city, these are not your gods, they're not your gods,
they're not your people. Call on me! Call on me! And I'll deliver you. They had
to start calling. They had to start crying. Now
you won't call on Him who you do not believe. You won't believe
in Him who you've not heard. You won't hear without a preacher. And I'm here to tell you, call
on the Lord. I can't make you call, but I tell you who does.
The Lord does. And how He does this is, He makes
us mourn over sin. He makes us grieve over sin.
He makes us miserable. He makes us see what we are and
where we are and what's in us. Where we are and what's in us. pit and makes us cry. Well, chapter 2 begins with a
woman burying a child, a son. Who is he? Who is this child
born, this son given? He's the deliverer. He's the
one God sent. What? To bring him out. Look at verse 2. A woman conceived
and bear a son. She says, He's a goodly child.
Who is this talking about? Moses? Oh no. Moses wrote of
me, Christ said. Oh, God sent forth His Son, born
of a virgin. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a child, a goodly child. And she hid Him three months.
He's hidden. Our Lord was hidden. Thirty years. Then she could hide him no longer.
Verse 3, she took for him an ark of all things. She put this
son in an ark and daubed it with slime and with pitch. Put this son in an ark and covered
it with pitch. And cast it in the river. Who
is this child? Moses, the deliverer? No. A greater
than Moses. Moses said, a greater than me
the Lord will raise up. That prophet, Jesus Christ, our
Lord, our Deliverer, our Savior. He's that arcanine. Pitch covered
in his own blood. Verse 4, his sister stood afar
off to wit what would be done unto him. Miriam. Miriam, that's
the Old Testament name for Mary. bitter. Miriam said, what's going
to happen? Amran and Jacobet, his parents
said, what's going to happen to our son? Great things. So Miriam cast this child in
the ark covered with pitch out onto the face of the water. Then
our Lord said, cast your bed on the face of the water. You'll
see it after many days. Who wrote this book? But Miriam said, what's going
to happen? She saw this child in the ark covered with pitch.
What's going to happen, Miriam? You just wait and see. He's going
to bring his people out. Mary, the Lord's earthly mother,
stood at the foot of the cross, saw her son covered in his own
blood. What's going to happen? Oh, he's
going to bring his people out. He opened the ark and the child
saw the child, behold, the babe wept. This is Pharaoh's daughter,
verse 5. Pharaoh's daughter came down
to wash herself at the river. She saw the ark, pulled it out
of the ark, saw the child, behold, the babe wept. Now what she saw
was God's salvation. You remember Miriam? I mean, what's his name in the
New Testament? I've already forgotten. Simeon
in the temple. Simeon in the temple. Mary brought
that child in. Simeon ran over and laid hold
of that child and said, I've seen thy salvation. I can depart
now. I can go out. I can leave this
place. God's salvation. You talk about sovereignty. Here's
sovereignty. God sent this deliverer. Put
him in an ark, covered with pitch, cast him on the water, all a
picture of Christ. And what he's going to do is
have his enemy raise him up. He's going to have the enemy.
Pharaoh, you remember, after this, before this, tried to kill
all the people and then heard of the Deliverer and sought to
kill him. The one who sought to kill him raised him up. Pharaoh
raised him in his own house. Isn't that sovereignty? Pharaoh
said, I'm going to kill the Deliverer. God said, no, you're going to
raise him up. Didn't Christ say, no man taketh
my life from me. I lay it down myself. And Satan thought he killed our
Lord, didn't he? No, man put him on a cross, but
it was God that raised him up. That's sovereignty. God, they
did what God determined for to be done. So this Pharaoh's daughter
raised him in Pharaoh's house, and he became great. He became
great. Look at verse 23. Now go down
to verse 23. Well, it came to pass in the process of time,
that the king of Egypt died, children of Israel sighed by
reason of the bondage. And they cried, and their cry
came up unto God by reason of the bondage. God heard their groaning, and
God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob,
and God looked upon the children of Israel. And God had respect
unto them. That's who he loved. That's whom
he came to save. That's who he sent his deliverer
for, Moses. Where was Moses at this time?
Where was he? They started crying unto God.
Help us. Save us. Deliver us. We're in bondage. Oh, they cried
by reason of their bondage. And God heard their groanings.
And God remembered His covenants. He said, I've made a promise.
I've made a covenant to my people to bring them out. And God looked
upon them. How did He look upon them? He
sent a deliverer. That's how we know. God hears.
God sees. God looks upon us in favor and
grace. He sent a deliverer. Where was Moses? Chapter 3. Where
was Moses? Chapter 3, verse 1. Look at it.
He kept the flock. What was Moses doing before he
came out publicly to bring his people out? What was he doing?
Keeping the flock. He's a shepherd. All this time
he was keeping the sheep, waiting for time, in the fullness of
time. Waiting. Like David. You remember
David, the king of Israel, whom Christ is named for, the son
of David? What was David doing before he
was made king? Keeping the sheep. One time a
bear and a lion came after one little lamb. You know, David
never lost a sheep. Not one. Not even one little
lamb when two adversaries came and laid hold of it. David smote
them. He could say, not one is lost. I've kept them all. He's waiting. He's keeping the sheep. And God's
kept all his people. Christ is a lamb slain before
the foundation. Christ is the Lord our Shepherd
before the world began. He was sent and He has kept all
of His people. He was sent for all of His people
from Abel, from Adam to Zerubbabel to the end of time. He's been
the Savior. So He kept the flock. And read
on, verse 2, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame
of fire. He's going to call Moses out. deliver his people. Angel of
the Lord. Did not the Holy Spirit of God come down in the form
of a dove when Christ at his baptism and say, this is it. Angel of the Lord came in a flame
of fire out of the midst of the bush and Moses looked. Now here's
Moses the man. Here's us. Here's the sinner.
Here's what we're going to see, rather who, when he calls us
by his grace. We're going to see a bush that
burns and is not consumed, and we're going to stand on holy
ground. What's that? Well, Christ is
all, brethren. He's the burnt bush. He's Moses. He's the ark. He's the sun. He's
the child. He's the pitch. He's the bush. He's all. Burnt bush. What did
Moses see? Not a white hood. Christ. The burnt offering for sin. Moses
looked. Look unto me, and be ye saved. The bush was burned. Christ made
sin for us, but not consented. God accepted his sacrifice on
our behalf, and we're not consented. Moses said, I will now turn aside
and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. And when
the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out
of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said,
here am I. And if God calls you, he'll call
you by the gospel of Christ and him crucified. That's it. And that's what God called our
Lord to be, to do, to be the burnt offering for his people. And he called him to send us
to this, this, to send him to this earth, to us, to bring us out. And God said,
put off your shoes, it's holy ground that you stand on. Moreover,
he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face. He was
afraid to look upon God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. And you'll not fear God until
you see Christ on that cross for you. Fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Well, Christ is the wisdom and the power of God.
We fear God by seeing Christ, our burnt offering on that cross
for us, that that's where we ought to be, but that's where
He was put. What will God do to sin? He's going to burn it
up. He's going to burn this earth
out. Why won't He burn us up? Christ was burned, so we will
not be consumed. That's the fear of the Lord.
That's where you'll see Him. That's where you'll worship.
That's where you'll take your shoes off, take your hat off,
take your clothes off, and worship Him naked. And now here's our text. Here's
where we come to. See where it all began? It all
speaks of Christ. It all leads to this, where God said, I have
surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt. I have seen, God says, I see
every sin against them. I see every sin that's committed
against them. I see every sin they have committed. I see every enemy of them. I see the enemy in them. I see
every sin, I see every sorrow, I see every trial, every affliction
that they go through. I see every trouble they're going
through, I see every trouble they have caused. How much trouble
did Jacob cause others? How much trouble did he cause
himself? How much trouble did he get into?
How much trouble do we go through in this world? God says, I see
it all. It's not just watching. He's
not a bystander. God's not a bystander. What He's
saying here is, I see. I'm looking on you. I see you. I sent this. I'm going to see
you through it. You're going to see that I did
it, and I'm looking on you. with love and with mercy and
with favor and with grace by sending these afflictions, by
making you miserable in Egypt, by sending these enemies. The
world is not an enemy of the world, they're friends. They don't have a battle with
the enemy, do they? He's a friend. They're serving
him willingly. But God, are you with me? As I'm looking on you in mercy
and grace Favor and love, making you see, making you miserable, afflicting
you, the affliction. David said, before I was afflicted,
I went astray. I loved the world, and then he
afflicted me. That's what the gospel's got
to do first, isn't it? He says, I kill and I make alive. I wound. And I hear. What the
gospel first does is make you miserable. And then he sends the bomb of
Gilead. And our Lord said, and I hear. I've heard their cry. By reason of their taskmaster,
the passage in Isaiah said, before they cry, I'll hear them. Do you know? Listen to me. This
is good news. Listen. Whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Isn't that good news? Not whosoever does this and whosoever
does that. Just call! What? You've got a whole world of people
with blasphemy on their lips. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.
If only our God would take that from their blasphemous lips.
These people have drawn an eye to me with their lips and their
heart is far from me. If only, whenever God takes that
from their lips and puts it in their heart, broken over sin,
miserable in this world where they cry, oh my God, help me,
save me, You know what He's promised? Saved, shall be saved. The greatest prayer ever prayed
other than our Lord's, John 17, was by Simon Peter going under
the water. The waves in the billows going
over his head. He's gasping for breath. I'm
going down. I'm going to die." He swore three
words, Lord, save me. And our blessed Lord reached
down to him and pulled him. He said, I'm coming to bring
you out, up in the ship. And there was peace. All he prayed was, Lord, You're
my Lord. Save salvations of the Lord.
Me. Would you save the likes of me? He said, I will. I've heard. I've heard you. I hear you. And how it shall not God avenge
His very elect that's crowned Him day and night. I tell you,
He'll do it speedily. Brethren, it's about over. It's
almost over. It's all over but the shouting.
And we think that the waves are gone over us and we're going
to be consumed and we're going to perish in the wind and we
think that, oh no, it's just about, he's just about to take
us out. Take us up. I've heard you. I hear you. I hear every cry. I see every tear. David said every tear is in his bottle.
Every cry, he's heard every one of them. A mother who has especially
a newborn, listen to me, especially a weak, helpless newborn baby,
all he can do is cry, isn't it? That's all he can do is cry and
hunger and thirst. Doesn't the mother have more
compassion on that child than the older ones? Oh, yeah. Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst. Blessed are they that mourn.
Blessed are they that cry. And that mother hears that little
tender newborn. She hears every cry. How much
did you sleep, sister, when you had that firstborn? How much
did you sleep? Your husband's over there snoring
big time. And you hear every beep, don't you? Every cry. I
remember one time when Hannah was born. I woke up and said,
boy, Hannah slept well last night, didn't she? I mean, he sat up
three times. Heard every cry. How much more? I hear them. I hear them. I'm going to bring them out. It gets better. And he said, I know their sorrows. It's not just, he's saying, it's
not just saying, I know what you're going through. I understand.
No, no, no, no, no, no. To know in the scriptures is to become
one with. To know is to become united with. To know, it's a difference in
just feeling some sympathy and feeling compassion. It's going
through, it's going through what you've gone through. To actually
feel it by reason of experience. Turn quickly, very quickly, to
your favorite passage in the Bible. Hebrews 2. One of the
many. Hebrews 2. Don't you love this?
It says, Hebrews 2 verse 14, As much as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same
through death. This is the thing we fear the
most. This is the thing we're all faced
with. We walk through the valley of the shadow of death. People
we love, we're waiting to die. It's a sad existence, isn't it? I hear Him. I hear Him. He came. He came to live and He came to
die. To go through this, that through
death, verse 14, He might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to Bondage. Lord, help us. We can't see your kingdom. We
can't see heaven. We can't see you. Help, help,
help. He sends help. Where? In the
sanctuary. The gospel of Christ crucified. And he took not on the nature
of angels, he took on the seed of Abraham, and all things that
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. That's
that burning book. And he himself suffered being
tempted. He's able to succor them that
are tempted. Oh, in chapter 4, we don't have
a high priest that's not touched with the feet of an iron firmament?
In all points, like us, we are yet without sin. And we come
bold and tell him, Lord, I'm hurt as I know. Lord, I can't
do this. I know. He became weak. He lived by faith. Go back to
our text. What a blessing, isn't that a
blessing? You know, it's not enough to feel or to even know. We need real help. We need help. We need somebody to lift us out
of the miry clay, set our feet on solid ground. We need someone
to help us. Is there anyone? I wish this song was in our book. Is there anyone who can help
us? One who understands our hearts when the thorns of life have
pierced them till they bleed. One who sympathizes with us,
who in wondrous love imparts just the very, very blessing
that we need. Yes, there's one, only one, the
blessed, blessed Lord Jesus. He's the one. When afflictions
press the soul and waves of trouble roll, and you need someone to
help you, there's only one. Listen. Is there anyone can help
us? One who can give us inner peace
when his heart is burdened down with pain and woe? Who can speak
the word of pardon that affords a sweet release and whose blood
can wash and make us White as snow, yes, there's one, only
one, the blessed, blessed Lord Jesus. He's the one. When afflictions
press the soul and waves of trouble roll, when you need a friend
to help you, he's the one. Keep listening. Is there anyone
can help us when the end is drawing near? Who will go through death's
dark waters by our side? who will light the way before
us and dispel all doubts and fears, who will bear our spirits
safely over the tide. Yes, there's one. Sing it with
me. Only one, the blessed, blessed
Jesus. He's the one. When afflictions
press the soul and waves of trouble roll, and you need someone to
help you That's what he said. Next thing,
I am come down. Verse 8, I am come down. God was manifest in the flesh. They said, who are you to Christ?
He said, I am the same I said to you in the beginning. When
Moses said, who shall I say has sent me? I am that I am. I am come down. Don't you love
this? To deliver them out of that land. To deliver them out of the hand
of the Egyptians. To bring them up out of that land into a good
land. Large. Flowing with milk and honey.
Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ came down. The Lord sent him down
to this earth. What is man that he would visit
us? He came down. Infinite condescension. The Lord
stooped down. The Lord came down to deliver
His people out of captivity, bondage, sin, sorrow, darkness,
and despair. You know, people talk about the
first coming of our Lord and the second coming of our Lord.
There are really several comings. Proverbs 8 says, His delights
were with the sons of men, dwelling in the habitable parts of the
earth, didn't it? Our Lord was the one who walked in the garden
to talk to the first two sinners who were in despair, afraid,
about to be cast out into a hostile world. And he gave them peace
by showing him, that lamb, showing himself, that lamb. That was Jesus Christ. His delights
were with the sons of men. It was Christ who came to Abraham.
It was Christ who came to Moses. That's Christ speaking to Moses.
It was Christ who came to Noah and gave him the blueprints for
the ark. Yes it was. When it says the
Lord shut Noah in. You know who that was? That was
Jesus Christ. First he was in the ark, come
thou into the ark. And once they all came in, he
went outside and the whole world saw this man with superhuman
strength shutting that door. Who is that? Dressed in white robes, shutting
the door. Shutting them in. And then they saw him take a
bucket full of pitch and pitch that door. And then until he
was finally himself covered all over with that pitch. Who is
that? And then they saw Him, a cloud
come and lift Him up to go away. That's the same one as in the
beginning. They came into here. Yes, His
delight. Well, Christ came in the fullness
of time, born of a woman, made under the law. He came the first
time. Why? Why? To redeem them. To
bring us out. To bring us out of this world. To bring the world out of us.
To cleanse us from our sin. to purge us from our sins, to
pay for our sins. Like that bird bush came down
to bring us out, to bring us up into a land flowing with milk
and honey. Alright, that's His first actual
coming. But there's a time when He comes
for you in the preaching of the Gospel. Every one of His sheep hear His
voice. That's Him. He comes in the preaching
of the gospel. If you're going to hear it from
Him, you're going to hear it through a man, but it's going
to be Him. And He comes and He speaks to you. And what He says
to you, I am come to bring you out. Bring you out. And then there's going to come
a time, if He doesn't come for all of us, there's going to come
a time when He's going to call you individually out. Like Job said, he's going to
call and I'm going to answer. And this is a call. You may dread,
but not when it happens. No. You're going to answer. Here
I am. Here am I. He's going to call
you out. Maybe sooner, maybe later. He's
got it written out. He's going to call you. It's
time. It's time. I've come for you. Bring you
out. Glory, hallelujah. You know what
you're going to say? Glory, hallelujah. And you're
going to be saying it for a million years. And there's coming a time,
our Lord's coming down to take us all out of here. To a large, can He fit all of
us in? Oh, it's large. He's large, like
his heart. Oh, he said, there's room. Didn't
he say, I go to prepare a place for you? Oh, surely there's not
room for me. Oh, there's room. Well, he didn't
come for me. What about you? I'm the worst. That's the only ones he came
for. Sons of Jacob. I'll bring you out. A land flowing
with milk. You like what you're sucking
on this morning? Sincere milk of God's Word? You
just wait. Honey. David said your word was
sweeter than honey in a honeycomb. You just want to chew, chew,
chew on it. You just wait. We all get the glory. That song says what a day that
will be. What a day. Help us. Come get us. Is that your cry? Okay. Let's sing a closing.