I want to re-read four verses
that I read in this passage already and you'll see what my theme
is and you'll understand what the title is and the reason for
the title. First of all, chapter 13 and
verse 3. And Moses said unto the people,
Remember this day in which ye came out from Egypt out of the
house of bondage, for by strength of hand the Lord brought you
out. Talk about the strength of God's
hand, the hand of the Lord. Again, look at verse 9, drop
down to verse 9. And really you ought to underline
this or highlight this if you if you're of a mind to mark in
your Bible, verse 9. This is when you're telling,
Moses says, when you tell your son about this later on, and
he wants to know what's going on on this day of Passover and
the seven days feast of unleavened bread. It shall be a sign, verse
nine, a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for memorial between
thine eyes, that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth, for with
a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt. Drop down
to verse 14. It shall be when thy son asketh
thee in time to come, saying, what is this? that thou shalt
say unto him, by strength of hand, the Lord brought us from
Egypt, from the house of bondage. And then verse 16. And it shall
be a token upon thine hand and for frontlets between thine eyes,
for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt. So I want to talk to you about
the hand of the Lord. the hand of the Lord. I've said
to you several times that the things recorded in the book of
Exodus concerning the liberation, the freedom of Israel from Egyptian
captivity are not only historically accurate, we know that, but they
teach us in picture, they teach us in typology, They teach us
in prophecy. They teach us in illustration
the mighty operations of God to sinners. The hand of God is
strong to save. The Lord's hand is not shortened
that it cannot save. That's what we read in the Scriptures.
Our God rules the world with an iron hand. with irresistible
force. And the one who is seated at
the right hand of the majesty on high is the one who redeemed
us from the curse of God's law. He's the one who released us
from satanic bondage and from the bondage of the world. He's the one who bought us, bought
us from divine justice. He's the one who put our sins
away and he did it with a strong hand. His hand is irresistible. His hand is all powerful. Do
not judge the Lord by the weakness of His servants or the weakness
of any of His people. The Lord is not like we are.
We have severe limitations. We can only do so much, and even
when we desire to do something, it may be that divine providence
stops us and hinders us from fulfilling our will. But nothing
can stop the Lord from accomplishing His purpose. Our sovereign Savior,
He shed His blood to seal our pardon. He sacrificed Himself
unto the God of glory, and God has therefore exalted Him and
put Him in position to rule the world, to fulfill the purpose
of God, and to do good for His people, and to rescue perishing
sinners from their erroneous ways. Oh, the hand of the Lord. Look with me back in chapter
12, if you would, chapter 12, verses 40 through 42. Now, the sojourning of the children
of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was 430 years. And it came to pass at the end
of the 430 years, even the selfsame day it came to pass that all
the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is
a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out
from the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord
to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. And I keep stressing this, that
this rescue of Israel from their bondage was not merely a liberation
of an entire nation from their captivity, although it was that,
but it portrays an even greater and more blessed and more glorious
deliverance and salvation. This pictures the deliverance
and the salvation of God's true Israel, of God's elect, by the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus for those people who were
chosen by the Lord for salvation before the world began. We were
a people who were in spiritual slavery to sin and to the world
and to Satan. We were a people who were in
debt to the divine law of God, which demanded death for all
of our sins. And one came who was approved
of God, that Lamb of God. who died to
redeem the Lord's firstborn. And I'm gonna deal with that
next Wednesday night. But all of God's children are
his firstborn, his firstborn sons. You see, as far as the children
of Israel, the nation of Israel's concerned, they all came out,
it says here, they all came out because of a covenant God had
made. Did you notice also as I read
through these verses in chapter 13 that these things were done
according to the promises God made to the fathers? Not only to Abraham, but to Isaac,
and to Jacob, and to all the children of Israel? God had entered
into a covenant with Abraham with one man on behalf of many
people. And in that covenant, God said
He would deliver His people from a bondage that they would surely
fall into, but He would rescue them with a strong hand and deliver
them into a land flowing with milk and honey. And the reason
you and I who are believers, are you a believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ? Are you saved by the grace of
God? Have you been washed in the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ? The reason we know God, the reason
we've been washed, the reason we've been redeemed is because
of a covenant God made with the man Christ Jesus before the world
began. We owe our standing before God
to a covenant that cannot be broken. It is legally binding
by God Himself. It's a covenant made with His
Son. I'm never weary of talking about that covenant, of thinking
about that covenant. You read in 2 Samuel that David
upon his dying bed, he found his confidence, he found his
assurance, not in his faith, not in his commitment to the
Lord, not in the works that he had done, but in what God purposed
to do before the world began. He said, there's all my salvation
in that. And I'll tell you, when you come
down to life's end, if you still have some clarity of thought
and mind, you will not find any assurance in anything you've
done, but you will, by the Holy Spirit's leadership and teaching,
find confidence and assurance in what God in Christ Jesus purposed
to do for you before He ever made this world. You see all
of this, this rescue, this rescue of Israel. Oh, how marvelous
it is. But it happened because of God
promising He was gonna do it and entering into a covenant
with Abraham. And all of these people, millions
of people, they came out of bondage all because of one covenant with
one man, made and promised by the Lord
God Himself. And then consider this. All of
Israel, they came out at once by one sacrifice in one night. The sacrifice was the blood of
the Passover lamb. And it happened one time. One
time. I know the Passover feast was
repeated every year, right? In the month of Abib. But not
the putting of the blood on the doorposts. How many times did
that happen? One time. One night. That was
the price of redemption. That was a price that ensured
and guaranteed God would pass over that house and that loved
one in judgment because death had already occurred at that
house. It was a death of a suitable
substitute, a God-appointed substitute, a God-approved substitute. And that happened once. And so we read in the book of
Hebrews, by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified. By one offering. Isaiah chapter
53 verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. It's what Paul said in Hebrews
chapter 9. Once in the end of the world,
once in the end of the world hath he appeared To put away
sin, how'd he do it? By the sacrifice of himself. And so we read in Hebrews chapter
10 and verse 18, now where remission of these is, there is no more
offering for sin. Our Lord Jesus, he suffered at
the hands of a holy God, suffered the wrath of God, that was due
because of our sins and our Savior stood in our stead. But he suffered
once, he died once, he'll never suffer again, he'll never die
again because there was such awesome power in that death of
the Son of God that he put our sins away. And God was absolutely
perfectly satisfied. And you see, when our Savior
died at the cross of Calvary, all of his people really came
out of bondage then. We don't find out about it until
the work of the Holy Spirit. And then he shows us, he convinces
us, all was finished. When God's lamb died on the cross,
he sealed our pardon with his blood. Once, once. And then I'll tell you this,
they all came out decked, decked with jewels of silver and gold. Look, look back up here. Well,
first of all, go back to, I got a reference written down here.
Go back to chapter three. Go back to chapter three. I want
you to see the very promise of God. Exodus chapter three and
the last verse in the chapter. Exodus 3, 22. But every woman shall borrow
or require or demand of her neighbor. and of her that sojourneth in
her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment. And ye shall put them upon your
sons and upon your daughters, and ye shall spoil or take away
from the Egyptians." You see, all of Israel, they came out
enriched. Now, go back to chapter 12. And
let me show you this, let me show you that it's fulfilled. Verse 35, back to chapter 12,
and now verse 35. And the children of Israel did
according to the word of Moses, and they borrowed, or asked,
or demanded of the Egyptians, jewels of silver and jewels of
gold. They were greatly enriched. They
were greatly enriched. But oh, how greater is the enrichment
of God's people due to the riches of God's grace. And we're not
given riches of literal silver and literal gold because many
of the Lord's people have been poverty stricken. I think of
Lazarus who sat at the gate of the rich man begging for bread.
And there have been many paupers who entered into the kingdom
of God, not because they're paupers, but because God loved them and
Christ died for them and the Spirit of God called them. And
as far as the things of this world, they didn't have anything,
but they were enriched with the grace of God. Oh, how... Oh, the riches, the treasures
that belong to the people of the Lord. We are truly enriched
with grace. The grace of divine election. The grace of blood redemption. The grace of prevenient grace. That is, before saving grace
ever came to us, who do you think was watching over you? Who kept
you living? I may be speaking to somebody
who lived a very wild life. And as it were, you were living
on the very edge, doing ungodly things, outwardly dangerous things. And perhaps even now, some of
you, some of us can remember close calls when it appeared
that we would be seriously injured or we would die. Well, why didn't
we? Because the Lord was graciously
preserving us because we could not die until Christ had been
formed in us. That's why. He watched over you. And you
say, well, I didn't get into anything wild. That's not due
to you. That's because God kept you on
a tight leash. That's the only reason. Because
you see, we all have within us the capacity and the capability
of just running absolutely wild with the things of the world.
So I wasn't raised that way. How come you were raised in a
different environment then? How come your parents taught
you right from wrong? Wasn't that of God? Let me tell
you something. Nothing of any good is ever due
to us. It's always due to God. He preserved
us. And then divine providence directed
our steps and we heard a preacher tell us about the grace of God
and the son of God who's the savior of sinners. And maybe
at first we said, I have no interest in that. But something kept us
coming back. And then we found ourselves interested. And then we found ourselves mysteriously
and miraculously looking to Christ Jesus only for salvation. That's how it happens. That's
only due to the grace of God. We're enriched. I'm telling you,
we're enriched with treasures that cannot be bought. Out of the divine treasury of
the riches of God's grace, He has heaped infinite mercies upon
all of His people. Don't ever bemoan what you don't
have. You have all things in Christ
Jesus. Isn't that right? Don't go complaining around me,
and I'll try not to go complaining around you. We're made the righteousness
of God in Christ. They were all enriched. And then
they were all gorgeously arrayed. Because back there in that verse,
I took you to in chapter three and verse 22, change of Raymond. And right here in chapter 12,
did you notice this? The last few words of verse 35,
and Raymond got new clothes. And I'll tell you what God has
done for us. He took our old rags of self-righteousness that
were filthy. Isaiah 64, six. And he stripped
them off of us. And he made them stink to us. and he stripped us. Then he said, now here's a garment.
I'm gonna give you a change of raiment. Well, Lord, what's this? This is the righteousness of
my son. This is the king's apparel. Lord, you gonna put that on me?
I'm not merely going to paste it on you. I'm going to make
you to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Now that's
grace indeed there. That's a change of Raymond. Oh
God, give me that change of Raymond if you haven't already. Strip
me of my fig leaf apron. Lord, you clothe me. You clothe
me. They were enriched. They were
gorgeously arrayed in new arraignment. My, what grace is this? And I'll
tell you this, they all came out, a great multitude, every
last one of them. You know what it says back here?
Let me see if I can find this verse. It says in chapter 10, verse
26. Pharaoh, he'd been arguing the
whole time. He said, well, you can go out
and you can serve the Lord, but you can't take your flocks or
your herds with you. I'll let your little ones go
with you. And Moses said, verse 25, chapter 10, you there? Verse 25, chapter 10, Moses said,
Thou shalt give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may
sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Our cattle also shall go with
us. There shall not an hoof be left
behind. Not even a hoof. For thereof
must we take to serve the Lord our God." We're all going out
of here, every man, woman, boy, and girl, and animal. Not a one's
going to be left behind. And back over here in chapter
12, it's a night to be remembered.
Verse 42, the bringing of us out, all of us. And I'm telling
you what, God's got an elect people. Let people fuss about
that. I don't care how much they fuss.
It doesn't have any bearing on anything. They're just ignorant
fools. They don't know. God will have
to teach them. But God's got an elect people, a chosen people,
chosen in Christ before the world began. God ordained these people
to salvation. And they must all be brought
out of bondage and all taken to the land of promise and glory. And not a one's gonna be left
behind. Ain't nobody gonna be missing. I heard Brother Mahan
say several times, plenty of room in heaven, but no empty
seats. You remember that? No empty seats.
Gonna be a place for every child of God, but every throne's gonna
be filled. And every crown that God has
provided for His people shall be worn by the saints of God
and we'll all cast our crowns at the feet of the Redeemer.
That's for certainty. There are a lot of things I'm
not sure about, but I'm sure of that because that's what God
says. They came out a great multitude.
And I'll give you one more thing. Turn to Psalm 105. Psalm 105,
brought out by the mighty hand of God, the strength of God's
hand. Psalm 105. Psalm 105, verse 37. I want to make sure you get there
so you can read it silently as I read it out loud. Psalm 105
verse 37. He brought them forth. They didn't
just come out on their own. They didn't just say, well, you
know, I've made my decision. I've exercised my will and I'm
leaving here. He brought them out. That's effectual
grace. That's what that is. He didn't
ask permission. He brought them forth. In fact,
to begin with, they didn't even want to come out. And then God
made a miserable by raising up a ruthless Pharaoh. And they
said, Oh God, get us out of this mess. And they couldn't do it,
but he could and he did. He brought them forth also with
silver and gold." There's their enrichment again. Now look at
this. And there was not one feeble
person among their tribes. Not one feeble person amongst
all the children of Israel, all the 12 tribes of Israel. Hundreds
and hundreds of thousands of people. Some say 2 million, some
say as many as 4 million. I don't know. But amongst all
those millions of people, there wasn't one feeble, crippled,
lame, sickly, diseased person among the whole group. Isn't
that something? The Lord made them all whole.
And that's what he's done for us in Christ Jesus. He's made
us whole. You say, Jim, I've still got
the disease of sin. Not before God you don't. Because the stripes of our Lord
Jesus, that's how we were healed. Right? That's how we were healed.
He heals us of our spiritual diseases with his strong hand. He brought them out. And by his
strong hand, he gonna take them all the way to the promised land.
You say, you reckon I'll make it? If it's up to you, if it's
up to me, no, we're not gonna make it. But I tell you, the
strength of the hand of the Lord gonna see us all the way to glory. Thank God for His sovereign saving
grace and His mighty hand of strength. Let's get our psalm
books. Turn to 355.