Go back with me tonight to Exodus
chapter 5, Exodus chapter number 5. We have here in chapter 13, excuse
me, chapter 5, I'm saying chapter 5 and had my Bible open to chapter
13. We have here in chapter 5 the
very first meeting of Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh. And we have
the first words of Moses and Aaron to this great monarch. And we have the very first words
of this ruthless king of Egypt to the Lord's two ambassadors,
his two preachers. Chapter 5, verse 1, and afterward,
after Moses and Aaron had met with the elders of the tribes
of Israel and assured them that the Lord was going to release
them from their cruel bondage, the awful bondage of Pharaoh
and the Egyptians, after they bowed their heads and worshiped
God in thanksgiving. Chapter 5, verse 1, and after
that, afterward, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh they
just walked right in to the palace. A bold move. A daring move. Uninvited. Unasked for. They weren't sent for by Pharaoh. They go in and I would suppose
that they as they met up with the soldiers and the bodyguards
of this mighty monarch, I guess they went in and told those fellas,
we want to talk to Pharaoh, and we want to talk to him right
now. And they spoke with such boldness, they spoke with such
courage, they spoke with such authority, that the men, moved
by the providence of God now, Remember, God controls not only
his people, but also the people of the evil one. He controls
not only Israelites, he controls the Egyptians. And they just
move out of the way and Moses and Aaron go in to meet with
Pharaoh. And there is no great introduction
They have no high and mighty words and flattering words for
Pharaoh. They're not there to flatter
him. They're not there to speak comforting words or blissful
words or kind words to this mighty monarch. Their words are simple. They're to the point. Thus saith
the Lord God of Israel. Let my people go. That's the
title of my message. Let my people go. That they may
hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. Let my people go that they may
worship me. That they may worship me. Release
them. Let them go. And Pharaoh said
in verse two, the Lord, that I should obey
His voice to let Israel go. I know not the Lord, neither
will I let Israel go. I will never let them go. I don't even know who your God
is. I don't even know what you mean
by Lord. I'm not acquainted with your
God. I know all of my gods. I have them sitting up on the
shelves throughout my palace. I have them standing in my hallways
at my house, those statutes to them. I know all my gods, but
I don't know your god. It's self-indicting. I don't know your god. And our
Lord Jesus, by the way, said this is life eternal to know
God, to know the only true God. So this man doesn't have eternal
life. He doesn't have God's salvation.
He doesn't even know who the Lord is. But let me say this, nobody will
know who the Lord is unless the Lord is pleased in his sovereign
mercy to introduce himself to us. to reveal Himself to us. Salvation is not by decision. Salvation is not by you making
a choice. Well, you want this God or that
God or the true God. Which one are you going to serve?
Remember Joshua and Joshua, after Israel went into the Promised
Land, he said, he said, I don't know about you fellas, but for
me and my house, we gonna serve the Lord. But as for you, are
you gonna serve the gods on this side of the river or the gods
on the other side of the river? You see, that's what men will
always do, worship their gods on this side of the river or
the other side of the river. But no man worships God. by the
freedom of his will. Free willism is an idol. That's idolatry. Men have made
an idol. They worship at the idol of man's
free will. And if you want to really stir
up the ire of people, you want to get folks upset, you just
step down on their God, their free will, and you'll see how
dear their free will is to themselves. Man has put up his will in competition
to God's will. Oh, may God cause us to hear
his word. His will rules supreme. Our will is enslaved to both
sin and Satan. Here's Moses and Aaron's first
words. to Pharaoh, and here's Pharaoh's
first words to them. Now turn over to Exodus chapter
12. Let me show you Pharaoh's last
words to Moses and Aaron. Chapter number 12, verse 31 and
32. Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron
by night. His firstborn child is dead,
smitten by the hand of an angry God. There's a cry that goes
throughout all of Egypt, the deaths of the firstborn. from
not only Pharaoh's palace but all the way down to his servants'
houses. There's weeping and crying. People are upset. People are
filled with grief. There will be a multitude of
burials in Pharaoh's country. So he calls for Moses and Aaron
by night. He said, rise up and get you
forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel
and go serve the Lord. You worship your God as you have
said. And take your flocks with you,
take your herds as you have said, be gone and bless me also. His first words were, I won't
let you go ever. His last words were, get out
of town. Don't let the door hit you on
your way out. We want you gone. We want you
gone out of our country. All your flocks, all your herds,
all your people, everything, everybody, get out of here. First
words and last words. He had said, I won't let him
go. You know, fella better be careful
what he says he'll never do. I read something by Mr. Spurgeon
years ago that just, it's one of those things that just stuck
in my mind. He said, don't ever say what
you won't do. God'll make a liar out of you
every time. Pharaoh says, I will not, I will
not let Israel go. Yes, he will. He'll let Israel go, he will
release them from this captivity. But it'll happen in God's time. And according to God's purpose.
You see, deliverance from this physical captivity is like the
deliverance from our spiritual captivity. In 2 Timothy 2, Paul
says that Satan holds all men captive at his will, as does the world. Now remember,
Egypt is a picture of the world. And Pharaoh is a picture or a
type of Satan. At first, Egypt and Pharaoh seemed pretty kind to the Israelites. There didn't seem to be a conflict. But a conflict arose. And I'll tell you, with you and
me, there will be no conflict with the world or with Satan
as long as we are kept in the captivity of the world and of
Satan. Wherein does the trouble lie? When does the world and Satan
turn on us? when we're exposed to the gospel
of the grace of God to sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then Satan says, as it were, I'm not gonna let you go. I'm
not gonna let you go. I've held you captive for all
of these years. And the world says, we're not
gonna let you go either. We have enticed you. The world
has enticed you. and attracted you, and deceived
you, and you loved the world. Not gonna let you go. And the
world won't let us go and the devil won't let us go. Though
God's preachers preach liberty and freedom in Christ Jesus,
no ambassador of the Lord has the authority to release anybody
from their captivity. I can't release myself from captivity,
much less can I release you. You see, Aaron and Moses are
the spokesmen for God, but they had no ability to release the
Israelites from their cruel bondage, the cruel bondage of the Egyptians
and Pharaoh. You see, the world and Satan
are not friends to God, and they're not friends to God's people. They're opposed to us. What's it going to take? What's
it going to take to liberate us? Well, let's put it this way. What's it going to take to liberate
the Israelites? Well, you listen to some preachers,
they'd say something like this. They just need to make up their
minds and make a decision that they're going to be free. I've just decided, Mr. Pharaoh,
that you and I don't roll over me anymore. Really. See, that's just about as stupid
and as foolish as a man saying, my will will control my liberation. When I get good and ready, I'll
let Jesus save me. And Satan must laugh. at the
foolishness of men. For he knows the only way the
captivity in which he holds people, the only way that captivity can
ever be overcome, the only way the captives will ever be liberated
is for the great liberator, the Lord Jesus Christ. to do something
for the poor sinner. Look with me in Isaiah chapter
61. Isaiah chapter 61. Look at verse one. And that,
I read that passage in Luke four to begin with. Because when the
Lord Jesus was delivered the Word of God to be read that day
in the synagogue. And he stood up to read. There
was delivered to him the parchment, the scroll, the book of God. And the portion of scripture
would have been already selected. It was selected by the servant
of the minister. of the priest. But more than that, it was pre-selected
by God in old eternity that that Sabbath day morning, the reading
would be from Isaiah chapter 61. God directing all things. I can
well imagine the minister and his servants sitting down said,
now, where do you think we ought to read from today? And one of the others said, you
know, I think it'd be good to read from the prophecy of Isaiah. Yeah, me too, that'd be good.
And he kept unrolling the scroll. And of course, they didn't have
chapters and verses in, but they unrolled the scroll and said,
this would be a good portion to read today. how the Messiah is going to say,
the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. That's good passage,
brother. Let's have that read today. And so they come in that Sabbath
day morning, and they have a visitor. And they recognize him. It's
Jesus of Nazareth. He's come back. And they hear
he's performed a lot of miracles in Judea. Remember I said he
had a Judean ministry of about a year there before he came back
to Galilee and Nazareth. And everybody recognized him,
said, it's good to see you. Hometown boy done good. Would you like to read today? He said, yes, I would. Here,
this is a passage we've selected for you to read. He was going to read the passage
that had been selected from old eternity. From Isaiah 61 in verse
one. Here we go. The spirit of the
Lord God is upon me. He had the spirit in his fullness. Because of the Lord hath anointed
me to preach good tidings unto the meek, to the poor in spirit,
to the humble. He hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted. And he hath sent me, watch this,
to proclaim liberty to the captives. and the opening of the prison
to them that are bound. I tell you, folks who are bound
can't open the prison. I just finished yesterday writing. I wrote two more lessons in Acts
yesterday, and one of them was on that passage where Peter had
been arrested. James had been killed by Harry. And that's kind of a test case
by Harry to see how the people would react to that. And most
of the Jews, they kind of thought that was a good idea. They kind
of applauded his actions, so he arrested Peter. Put him in prison, maximum security
prison. with 16 soldiers assigned to
watch him and guard him and keep him from any possibility of escaping. He can't get out. So they thought. But the angel of the Lord came,
and Simon Peter, This hand, this arm was chained to a soldier
and this one to another soldier. And the chains fell off and those
men remained fast asleep. Who can bring forth the captives? Who can release those who are
in bondage? Who can cause the shackles to
fall off? God dealt in mercy with Simon
Peter and the chains fell off him. But look at the soldiers. They still got chains on them
where they had been chained to Simon Peter. Only the Lord by his free and
sovereign effectual grace can cause the chains of one to fall
off and the chains of another to just stay where they're at.
That, my friend, is the sovereign purpose and authority and prerogative
of God. Christ was sent to proclaim liberty
to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are
bound. Have you been made to realize
you as a captive that you were bound? Bound by the chains of
tradition, bound with the chains of the deceitfulness of Satan,
bound by the lies that he tells, bound by false religion, Who can release the captive? Who can save the sinner? Who
can raise the dead? Who can deliver those who are
in bondage and liberate them and give them life, life unto
God and everlasting salvation? There's only one who can do that
and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I've come to speak liberty
to the captives. And I'll tell you, when he speaks,
he speaks with authority. When he who is life comes to
one who is dead, death must give way to life. When he who is the great liberator
who himself conquered over sin and Satan and ultimately death
itself by his own might. When he comes to a sinner who's
shackled, shackled by Satan, shackled by the world, and shackled
by God's law, our Lord Jesus, he frees the captive. See, there's another captivity
that we're in that most people don't even realize. Certainly
we're captive by sin, we're captive by Satan, but the law of God
has locked us in prison. And the law of God says you're
not gonna go free till every farthing that you owe to God
has been paid. And the thing of it is, we can't
pay our debt. It's a bad thing when a man can't
pay his debt to another man or to a company. But we have an
indebtedness far greater than some debt we owe to a furniture
store or an appliance store. We're in debt to God Almighty
and can't possibly pay. And there's steps into the scene,
one who is almighty to save. And he says, I'm gonna pay their
debt. The ransom price was his own
death, his own bloody sacrifice. And Jesus paid it all, all the
debt we owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
no question about that, but he washed it white as snow. He is the great liberator. Not
Aaron. Not Moses. They're faithful ambassadors. And God has his faithful preachers. He gives boldness. He gives courage
where it's needed to declare who God is and what men are and
who Christ is and what he's done. But God's preachers themselves
have no ability to release your shackles. Don't come talk to me. Jim, help
me. I'm helping you all I can do
right now by preaching the truth to you. But maybe if you took me in a
room and, you know, if you kind of put a little pressure to me,
maybe I could decide then, no, I'm not going to do that. I'm
not going to pick unripe fruit. I'm contented to preach the gospel
of God's grace to sinners in through and by Christ Jesus and
leave the work to the Lord. He'll have to do the work or
if he's not pleased to do it, you can't force his hand. I know this, he'll save his people.
He'll reveal the gospel to his children, to his people. I tell you, we're in a bad way.
All of us by nature. Turn with me to Luke chapter
11. Let me give you this passage of scripture over here. Luke
chapter 11. You see, we're as bad off spiritually
as the Israelites were off physically. We're just in terrible shape.
They were in terrible shape. They were in a bondage that they
couldn't shed. They couldn't get rid of. didn't even have any idea of
how this would be accomplished until Moses and Aaron went to
them and Moses performed those miracles before them that the
Lord had enabled him to perform before. And he said, now listen,
the God who brought about these miraculous signs, he says he's
going to release all of us from our captivity. Believe him, worship
him, adore him. He'll release us in his time. And he did release them, but here's the price. The death
of the sacrificial animal, be it a lamb or a sheep or a goat. Christ, our Passover, is sacrifice
for us. He's gonna have to liberate us.
The Lord himself. Turn here. Are you in Luke 11? Start verse 14. And he was casting
out a devil, and he was dumb. Our Lord Jesus was, and it came
to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake, and the
people wondered. But some of them said, he casteth
out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of devils. And others, tempting him, sought
of him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts,
said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought
to desolation. And a house divided against a
house falleth. If Satan also be divided against
himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because you say that I
cast out devils through Beelzebub. Why, this is foolish. If he gets
his power from Beelzebub, why in the world would he be casting
out Beelzebub? That's a house divided against
itself. Verse 19, and if I by Beelzebub
cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore
shall they be your judges. But if I with the finger of God What does it take to save a sinner,
to liberate a sinner? Just the finger of God. Doesn't say the whole arm of
God, though that's true. Doesn't say the hand of God,
just the finger of God. See, Satan is no match just for
the finger of God. No match at all. Understand this,
the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan have been at war, at
war, ever since Lucifer sought to become God himself. A war
broke out in heaven. It's a war that manifested itself
when the Lord Jesus Christ was in this world. It's a war that
was fought at the cross of Calvary. But by no means was it, if I
could put it this way, a fair fight. Because Satan does have power,
but our Lord has all power. Satan's power is delegated power. He has might, but he's not almighty. And the Almighty One came and
crushed his head in fulfillment of Genesis 3.15. The Savior says, if I with the
finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God has
come to you. Now watch verse 21. When a strong
man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are at peace. Now,
consider Satan to be typified by Pharaoh, who was a king. Where does a king live? In a
palace, right? That's where a king lives. Satan lives in his palaces. And the very heart of an unregenerate
sinner is his palace. And he's king there. And he's
armed. He's well armed with deceitfulness,
religious lies, false religion, He's well-armed. Let me tell
you, you're no match for him. Job found out something about
the power of Satan when he lost his health, lost his children,
then lost his health. Samson found out about the deception
of Satan. Solomon did. You go right down
the line. Go all the way back to Adam.
Eve was deceived. Adam wasn't deceived, but he
wanted to be God, and that was the temptation. Satan is the strong man who's
armed, and he keeps his palace, and he keeps his goods in peace. keeps him happy, keeps his captives
satisfied, little knowing he's leading them to everlasting destruction. But, verse 22, when a stronger
than he shall come upon him. Who's that? That's Christ. That's
Christ the Lord. when a stronger than He. He's
the Almighty Savior. His name is Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
The government of the world's upon His shoulders. He's Almighty
to save. Psalm 89, the Father said, I've
laid help upon one who is mighty. Mighty to save. When He shall come upon him,
and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he
trusted, and he divides his spoil. The Savior comes in. Let me tell
you something. When the Savior comes to a sinner,
he doesn't knock on his heart's door asking for an entrance.
He just knocks down the door, bars bolt and all. The locks
fall off. And he evicts. He evicts that
prince of devils himself, even Lucifer, Satan, his demons. He says, give up. This is my
palace. It's a new king moving in. He's
the Lord of glory. And he has the riches of his
grace. the riches of his mercy. He comes
in and he says, this heart belongs to me. This is one of my children. I died for him. I redeemed this
person. I have justified this lady. You
get out of here and don't you ever come back again. Don't you
show your face around here ever again. And I'll tell you what
that old serpent, the devil, He just slithers out on his belly
because he's no match for the Prince of Peace, for the God
of Glory, for the Sovereign Savior. And the Lord says to us when
he comes in, you're free. You're free to worship me. Your
sins, which are many, are all forgiven. I robe you in the garments of
my own salvation that I've accomplished for you. You're mine. And my spirit is going to take
up his residence within you. And he's never going to leave
you. And he's never going to forsake you. You're mine. I bought you. I bought you. And we're his forevermore. He is by sovereign grace always. He is by redemption, by blood
redemption, by the grace of God. The Lord says to Pharaoh, let
my people go. It's a blessed day when the Lord
comes to the center. And he speaks to that evil one
who inhabits the palace of all of our hearts from our birth. And he says, let my people go. And he doesn't have to yell it.
He just speaks the word and with the finger of God, the evil one
goes. Isn't that encouraging? This
is our Lord. This is not pitiful little Jesus
somebody feels sorry for. This is the Lord of glory. Worship
Him. Adore Him. Be thankful for Him.
Rejoice in the Lord evermore, Paul said. And again, I say rejoice. His name is Jesus. What a precious
name. He's the one who saves. Let's
get a songbook, turn to number 63.