All right, let's go back to Exodus
again. After the Lord sent the plague
of the flies, you'll remember that Pharaoh summoned Moses and
Aaron to come to him. In fact, I'll ask you to look
back into the 8th chapter and look at verse 25, chapter 8 of
Exodus and verse 25. And Pharaoh called for Moses
and for Aaron and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the
land. Now Moses' response to that was
in verse 26, and Moses said, It is not meet, it is not right
to do what you suggest. Because you see what Pharaoh
wanted It seems perhaps on the surface to be a generous proposal,
a reasonable compromise, and Pharaoh says, you can worship.
You go ahead and offer your sacrifices, but you offer your sacrifice,
you worship your God right alongside of us. as we worship our gods. Now they had gods of all sorts. Every plague that God sent was
to show He was the authority and the God over all the false
idols, the false deities of Egypt. And what Pharaoh is simply proposing
is, now you worship over here and we'll worship over here.
We'll kind of worship together. You worship your way and we'll
worship our way. And we'll all get along on this."
And Moses said, No! We're not going to do that. He said, It's not right to do
so. Because you see, there can be
no compromise between true religion and false religion. There can't
be any getting along. Can light have fellowship with
darkness? Can truth have fellowship with
error? Can righteousness have fellowship
with unrighteousness? Can life have fellowship with
death? No. The Lord's command to Israel
amounted to this, come out from among them and be ye separate. And when Pharaoh proposes, you
just stay right here, you go ahead and worship God your way,
and we'll worship God our way. It was kind of an effort toward being very ecumenical. Being
very ecumenical. Let's all get along. And Moses said, it is not meet
so to do. It's not right. We can't do that. We're not going to compromise
the gospel of God's grace with your false gospel of works. It can't be done. You see, there was no meeting
place for Jehovah and his people in Egypt. Egypt represents the world, and
Pharaoh represents Satan. And what the world wants the
true believers to do is worship right alongside of us. Let's
all get together. Let's be at peace with one another.
After all, we all have the same goal to go to heaven. So why
won't you compromise just a little? Stay right here, Pharaoh, stay
right here, and you go ahead and offer your sacrifices, and
we'll offer our sacrifices, and we'll all get along just fine
together." And Moses said, no, we can't do that. And it's really
what the religious world proposes to those who believe the truth
today. Let's all get together. Let's
have a national day of prayer. Won't you come? Won't you come? Won't you join us? Last Saturday,
I stopped by, I think it was Saturday, I stopped by the church
to check on something, and out there where my sign is, where
it says pastor, that's me. That's my parking place, by the
way. And out there on that sign, there was a green, green handmade
sign. inviting me to come and gather
with a bunch of other religious people and preachers to help
out the indigent of our community and to all pray together and
all worship together with the common good of the city of Ashland
being the goal. That's essentially what Pharaoh
was proposing. Let's just all gather together. After all, there's more power
in numbers. But we will say to that, like
Moses said to this, it's not meet to do so. That's not right. Because there's just one truth.
There's just one gospel. There's just one message of free
and sovereign grace. If you don't believe the message
of God's free and sovereign grace, of God's choice in salvation,
of Christ's effectual redemption of his people at the cross, and
of the sovereign saving work of the Holy Spirit, if you don't
believe that, we can't get along. That's an impossibility. Because
in order for us to get along with folks who believe in universal
love and universal redemption and universal calling, in order
for us to get along with them, it's not those people who must
compromise, it's us. And this is what Pharaoh wanted.
Just stay right here. And Moses said, no can do. We can't do that. And we won't
do that. Remember what the Lord said to
Moses back in chapter three in verse eight, and I'll just, I'll
remind you of it. You have to turn back there.
But the son of God who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush,
the bush that burned and wasn't consumed, the son of God said,
I am come down to deliver. to deliver Israel from Egyptian
bondage. Not to leave you attached to
Egypt, not to leave you in bondage to Pharaoh, but to deliver, to
save, to rescue. This cannot be a partial rescue,
it cannot be a partial salvation, for a partial salvation is no
salvation at all. This must be a full deliverance
out from under the power and the cruelty and the bondage of
Pharaoh. You see, a salvation or deliverance
that would have left them in Egypt to worship alongside of
the Egyptians could not possibly be honoring to God or a blessing
to the children of Israel. because there wouldn't be any
deliverance. Bear in mind that the deliverance
Jehovah would accomplish involved the overthrow of the kingdom
of Pharaoh. You see, Jehovah's purpose, Jehovah's
purpose in all of this was fourfold. Number one, to magnify his name.
to show how great his name is. Exodus chapter nine, verse 16. I'll get to this more next week.
Chapter nine, verse 16. This is a message Moses is to
deliver to Pharaoh. The Lord said, in very deed for
this cause have I raised thee up for to show in thee, to manifest
in thee my power. But if Israel is not delivered
totally from Egyptian bondage, how would the power of God be
manifested? It would actually show a weakness
in the Lord. For He said He would deliver
Israel, but if they're gonna abide in Egypt alongside the
Egyptians, that's not a deliverance at all. It wouldn't be honoring
to the power of God. The Lord is going to bring about
a separation of the Israelites from Egypt. And they're going
to go three days out into the wilderness to the other side
of the Red Sea. And by the way, it's at the other
side of the Red Sea that you first of all hear the children
of Israel rejoicing in the salvation of God. You don't find them rejoicing
in the salvation of God on the Egyptian side of the sea. There was nothing to be joyful
of until the Passover lamb died and they went out of Egypt with
a high hand. And then they crossed over the
Red Sea through a passage that God himself made. And on the
other side, that's when they sang the song of redemption,
the song of Moses, Exodus chapter 15. The Lord says, I'll show in thee
my power. And then he says, and that my
name may be declared throughout all the earth to magnify his
name. But his name won't be magnified
if his people remained in Egyptian bondage right alongside of the
Egyptians. God's purpose then was to magnify
his name. Secondly, God's purpose was to
magnify his authority by means of that Passover lamb. The Egyptians worshipped all
kinds of beasts, we know that, though some specific animals
were used in their sacrifices. From what I studied and gathered,
they used mainly three kinds of animals. They sacrificed swine. They sacrificed male oxen and
male calves. Those consisted of their sacrifices
to their various gods. But the Lord would have Israel
sacrifice, not a swine and not a male oxen or a calf in order
for redemption to be accomplished out from under Egyptian bondage,
but a lamb, a male of the first year without spot, and without
blemish. And upon the basis of the blood
of the Lamb poured out that was sprinkled outside the doors,
both sides of the doors and over top of the doorposts, on the
basis of that blood, the firstborn of Israel was saved, delivered. In fact, only then did Pharaoh
said, go ahead and get all the way out of my land. Back in chapter 8 we find him
saying, stay here with us and worship alongside of us. But
when God brings death to his home and death to every Egyptian
family, from the wealthiest to the poorest, when God killed
the firstborn of even the animals, there's a great cry that went
forth through the Egyptian night. And Pharaoh said, get out of
my land. God said, that's what I'm gonna
do. I'm gonna get my people out of this land. And get them out, he did. You
see, the Egyptians would never sacrifice a lamb. But every lamb
that died on the day of Passover, at the feast of Passover, every
one of them pointed to Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God. And learn
this whenever in the Bible, in the New Testament especially,
when you read about the Lamb of God. And we read about the
Lamb of God, we know in the Gospel of John, because John the Baptist
said, Behold the Lamb of God. When you hear him preaching,
Behold the Lamb of God, when he says the Lamb, we must understand
not only the meekness and the glory of Christ Jesus, but the
death of the Son of God, because it was the death of the Lamb
that secured the deliverance. And you know the passage or the
book in the New Testament that mentions Christ the Lamb more
than any other book? Think about it, I'll give you
five seconds to think about it. Which book in the New Testament
speaks of Christ the Lamb more than any other book? And in this
book, He's called Jesus 11 times, He's called Christ seven times,
but 22 times in the book of the revelation of the Lord Jesus
Christ, He's referred to as the Lamb. The Lamb. It's the Lamb men must stand
before. And whenever you read the Lamb,
you've got to remember He's the Lamb who was crucified. The Lamb
slain for many for the salvation of their souls. And this is how
God manifested his power. He redeemed Israel out of Egyptian
bondage by means of the blood of the Passover lamb. And I'm
telling you, we're saved, we're delivered, we're rescued from
sin, from Satan, and from the world. Not by an act of our wills,
Not by some work that we perform, but by the Lamb of God and His
work of full, completed redemption. Jehovah's purpose in all this
was fourfold. I said to magnify His name. Secondly,
to magnify His power, manifest His power. Number three, to deliver
His people. He's not going to leave them
in Egypt. He's not going to leave them
in bondage to Pharaoh. And children of God, hear me.
The Lord is not going to leave us in this world. He's going
to take us home to glory. And He's not going to leave us
in bondage, in captivity, to that one Pharaoh pictured, even
the devil. That can't be. He has snatched
us away from that evil one. Satan, you see, holds all men
captive at his will. He has staked a claim in our
hearts by nature until the Lord of glory, Christ the Savior,
comes in almighty power and drives the evil one out and stakes his
claim in our hearts. He says, get out of here, this
is mine. I bought this one. I paid his sin debt. Jehovah's
purpose was to deliver his people. And then fourthly, not only the
purpose of God was to magnify his name and manifest his power
and deliver his people, but to demonstrate to the Egyptians
that their gods were absolutely powerless to stand before the
God of Israel, Jehovah. And all of the plagues were designed
to show that the idols of men are powerless. You read over
in Isaiah chapter 45, and Isaiah asks, it's really the Lord speaking
through him, why do men pray to a God that can't save? That
doesn't even make sense, does it? Why would you pray to a God
that can't save? I say to the Armenians, I say
to the free willers, I say to the works mongers of this world. I say to all of false religion,
what is the use in you praying? Since you don't think God controls
salvation, you think that salvation is under the control of men.
Why don't you just beg men? Don't even bother to pray for
them if God can't do anything. Why is it we pray to the Lord? Because He has His will and His
way in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth. He does His will everywhere. And therefore we say, Lord, if
it please You, if it's Your will, save my child, save my parents,
save my wife, save my husband, save my cousins, my nephews,
my nieces. Oh God, if it's Your will, You'll
have to do it though. We pray to God because He's the
only one that can do it. No use to pray to a God that
can't save. How foolish is that? That just
goes against common sense, doesn't it? Talk about what God can't
do and then people pray to Him. If He can't do anything to you,
you're just wasting your breath. But I'll tell you what, we pray
to Him, that's no waste of breath. We pray to the God who does save. He does rescue. He does deliver. While he goes into Egypt and
as it were, rolls up his mighty arm and by his mighty hand, he
rescues his people. No, they're not going to remain
in Egypt. They're not going to worship
beside the idols of the Egyptians. God says, I'm taking them out
of here. They're going out. They're going out. You see, the Israel of God has
got to be separated from Egypt. They must go three days' journey,
cross the Red Sea, escape the land of Egypt altogether. There won't be a tabernacle erected
in the land of Egypt, no. There's not going to be a temple
to Jehovah built in Egypt. There's not going to be an altar
in Egypt where sacrifices are presented to the Lord God of
glory. That can't be. That's going to
be after the Israelites have crossed the Red Sea. That's when they'll praise the
Lord. And I know you and I, we praise the Lord. We thank him
while we're down here. But this is nothing compared
to the thanksgiving and the worship that's gonna come forth from
our hearts when we see him in glory. I was reading today from John Newton. We've talked about his letters.
I was reading John Newton's letters today, Brandon. He and I were
talking about Newton's letters this past Sunday night. And he
said, God has given us a little grace. He's given us a little
faith. He's given us so many things
for which we're thankful for. But this is just like the down
payment of what's in store for us in glory, an abundance of
grace. And in heaven, no more need for
faith No more need for hope because everything will be reality to
us in heaven when we see him face to face. Well, let me show you here in
chapter nine real quick. God had Moses warn Pharaoh of
judgment to come. He keeps warning. He keeps warning,
he that being often reproved shall be cut off, and that without
remedy. Solomon says in the Proverbs,
Moses warns Pharaoh of judgment to come. Let all who have no
savior, who have no mediator, who know nothing of the goodness
and the grace and the love of God in Christ Jesus. Let all
be warned. Unless God does something for
you, unless you're brought to look to the lamp of God for everlasting
salvation, judgment's gonna come to you. Heed the warnings of
God. The warnings of God are real.
They're real. We need a righteousness that
we can't produce. That's just a fact. And you can
work all you want to and do all you want to and get involved
in religion and you go to some of these churches, they'll have
you busy doing something every single night. But here's who you need to deal
with. You need to deal with God. Through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Stop playing church. Stop playing religion and get
serious with God. There's salvation to be sought.
There's peace to be found, there's a rest to be experienced, and
it's all in the Lord Jesus Christ and His work of redemption. Flee
to the Savior, judgment's coming. Moses warned Pharaoh again, if
you refuse to let them go, verse two of chapter nine, and you're
gonna hold them still, Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon
your cattle. He's ready to snatch their lives
away. And I'm telling you what, the
hand of the Lord is upon all those who despise his name. And he can snatch your breath
away immediately. But that won't put fear in anybody's
heart. The warning of judgment all of
itself won't cause anybody to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's a sight that the Spirit of God has to give you of the
blessed Savior dying for your sins. That's where it'll break
your heart. That's the only thing that'll break your heart. It's
not admitting, well, I stole a watermelon or I told a lie My sins nailed Christ Jesus to
the cross. That's what it took to save my
poor worthless soul. And that'll break your heart
if the Spirit of God ever shows it to you. That's when you'll
run to Christ. You'll realize you're unholy,
but a holy God will receive you and accept you upon the basis
of the blood of Christ poured out That's the only way He'll
receive you. And consider this, while the
hand of the Lord was raised in destruction upon the cattle of
Egypt, it was raised in protection for the cattle of Israel. Must have been an amazing thing
to see. Here's all these cattle. Like
I said, some of them in the barns. But here's the cattle that's
got Pharaoh's stamp on them, brand, Pharaoh's brand, probably
a big old P, branded on them cattle. I bet you that's prime
beef there. And then the rest, Israelites,
they probably didn't have a brand on theirs. They didn't need a
brand on theirs. Pharaoh had his brand on his. And God miraculously smoked every
cow that belonged to Pharaoh that was in Goshen and every
cow that was outside the stall or outside the barn throughout
the land of all the Egyptians. And the cows of Israel, they're
still munching grass, Joe, just grazing away. And maybe they cast a little
look over and saw other cows dropping dead. Okay, I'll just
go back to eating. Don't tell me God isn't sovereign
and powerful. And he protected the cattle of
Israel. But let me give you something
in the last place. Let me give you something to
take home with you. For the people of God now. If God protected all the cattle,
all the cows of Israel, how much more does he protect his people?
How much more? How many cows do you think you're
worth? You're worth more than the cows
on a thousand hills to the Lord. And if He watches over the cows
of Israel, how much more does He surround
and protect by His infinite power and grace all of His people? I tell you, nothing can harm
you. Your soul is safe in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, they may kill your body.
It can't touch your soul. Because the hand of God that
is raised up in anger and in judgment against the enemies
of God's people is raised up in grace and in mercy and in
protection to all of His people. You're surrounded by the power
of the Lord. Isn't that a pleasant thought
to go home with? You're worth a whole lot more
than a lot of cows, Bill. Oh, yeah. I tell you, he's so
valuable to the Lord. All of his people are so valuable
to the Lord by his grace. He purchased our pardon. And he saves us with an everlasting
salvation. Well, let's sing a closing song.