If you wish to follow along,
turn to Exodus chapter six. Exodus chapter six. The context
of the verse I will read, I'll just read one verse as a text,
but the context, or the direct context, I should rather say,
is found in Exodus five, verse one, all the way through chapter
seven and verse 13. And I do hope that most of you
were able to at least read over it a time or two and familiarize
yourself with all of that direct context. I will deal with all
of the direct context, but I will not read all of the direct context. Let's read Exodus chapter six,
verse one. Then the Lord said, that is important
because that refers back to what has just previously happened.
Then the Lord said unto Moses, now shalt thou see what I will
do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand shall
he let them go. And with a strong hand shall
he drive them out of his land. I have six observations this
morning, before I do, but before I go into these six observations,
six things I want us to look at, my title this morning is
the 10-plague pre-confrontation. There were 10 plagues, but we
don't see any of the plagues in our direct context. We see
the snake, the rod being cast down and turned into a snake,
we see that, but that wasn't one of the plagues That was God's
testimony to Pharaoh that I am God. Now we'll mention that a
little more lately. But before I go again, here's
the second thing, before I go into the six observations, I
want us to take note of Pharaoh's defiance and its effects. Pharaoh was defiant. And I'm
not gonna read the whole thing, but the immediate context of
this is seen in chapter one, or chapter five, verses one through
23. But then let's read in chapter
five, mainly verses one through four, that'll give us the backdrop
of Pharaoh's condition. And afterward, Moses and Aaron
went in and told Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
Let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. But God was gonna bleed out of
Pharaoh a whole lot more than a three-day feast. You hear what
I'm saying? God's gonna bleed out of Pharaoh
a whole lot more than a three-day feast. He intended God's people
to leave Egypt for good. But then notice, and Pharaoh
said, who is the Lord? And read that correctly. He was
not inquisitive, he is defiant. Who is the Lord that I should
obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither
will I let Israel go. And he's right and wrong at the
same time. But then look at Moses. This is an amazing thing to me
when I began to read it. Moses does not come and put the
onus on Pharaoh. Moses is respectful, hmm? Moses is respectful, he understands
who Pharaoh is, and that God put him into place, that God
put him in, despite his defiance. And they said, but notice the
first thing, not the God of the whole world, though he is. You understand now what I'm getting
at? He is the God of the whole world.
but notice Moses starts out, or actually Aaron would be the
one speaking. We know that Aaron did the talking. Then they said,
the God of the Hebrews. Our God loves and will deliver
a particular people. It's been that way from the get-go.
God Almighty had respect unto Abel and his sacrifice, and God
Almighty did not have respect unto Cain and his sacrifice.
And right from the get-go, God made a distinction among Adam's
descendants as to who he would have respect to and who he would
not. And that's just who God is. And
by his grace, may he give us strength never to apologize for
who he is. But look, Moses doesn't attack
Pharaoh. And they said, the God of the
Hebrews hath met with us. Let us go, we pray thee. Do you
see that? Mason was being respectful to
Pharaoh. Let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the desert
and sacrifice unto the Lord our God, not lest he fall on you. That's not what he said, is it?
Did you read it? He's not threatening Pharaoh,
do you see this? He said, I pray you, God's met
with us. Let us leave Egypt for three
days journey to sacrifice to our God in the wilderness, lest
he fall on us with pestilence or with the sword. Always give respect and honor
where respect and honor is due, no matter where that respect
and honor may have to go. Honor the king, the book says.
Does it not? Does it not? And the king of
Egypt said unto them, wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the
people from their works get you to your burdens? Do you see Pharaoh's condition? But listen to me, me, And you,
anybody hears me that may hear me on this TV broadcast, if you
hear me, you listen well. Do not look down your nose in
self-righteousness against the pharaohs of this world. You read
this account, you'll find out pharaoh hardened his heart against
God. But so do we by nature. As a matter of fact, that is
our natural state. That is our natural state. One
New Testament believer put it this way to some people, and
it's recorded by Dr. Luke in Acts chapter seven, verse
51. And he says this to a people. Ye do always resist the Holy
Ghost. But who are they? They are described
as these kind of people. Stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears. You see, Pharaoh didn't have
a good heart and then turn it bad by hardening. Pharaoh, just
like you and I, was born with a bad heart. And that bad heart
naturally is defiant against the claims of God. And when it
says God hardened Pharaoh's heart, it says that on more than one
occasion. And men want to argue, well,
who hardened whose heart first? It don't matter. It don't matter. We're born stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears. And in that state, we always
resist the truth. Somebody said, I thought you
was of that ilk that believe in irresistible grace. Oh, I do.
Grace is irresistible. But grace don't work on your
old heart. Grace never works on your old heart. Grace has
gotta give you a new heart. Grace has to break down the stiff
neck. And it does. Grace has to give
you a heart that's circumcised. Eyes to see and ears to hear
and a heart to perceive. And in our old nature, even yet
today, we hear this morning or anyone out there, you hear my
voice. Even as a believer, your old
nature is just as bad as it ever was. Do not look down on Pharaoh. You see, when God hardens Pharaoh's
heart, it wasn't Pharaoh had a pretty decent heart and God
put something evil in it. Pharaoh's heart was evil from
his conception and birth and so is mine and so is yours by
nature. See, unless God gives a new heart,
we always defy. You hear what I said? Unless
God gives a new heart, unless God gives me eyes to see spiritually,
ears to hear his holy word and a heart to perceive his holy
son. Defiance and resistance is my
lot. And as we begin to go on through
the plagues, we will see that even the old heart can acquiesce
for a moment. But it is not obedient to God.
You know the story. Pharaoh even said, I've sinned
against the Lord and I believe him in it. But as soon as things
calmed down, where did it go? Right back to his defiance. Right back to his resistance. I am a Pharaoh by nature. And
so are you. And so are you. And not only
that, notice, if you look at it, chapter five, one through
23, think about this. Defiance often bleeds down. Like water runs downhill, or
like water will seek its own level. Defiance always bleeds
down. Think of it, you have Pharaoh,
you have Egyptian taskmasters, you have Hebrew officers who
were under the taskmasters. The taskmasters weren't the one
out there in the hot sun making the Israelites doing the work.
They hired or demanded certain Hebrew officers to be out there
making sure the Hebrews did what they're supposed to do. Then
you have Moses. Did you read it? You remember
reading it? Chapter five, one through 23. Think of it. Pharaoh
defies God. He was defiant against God. He said, I'll tell you what.
You wanna leave so much? I'll show you what it's all about.
You're making these bricks and you have so many bricks a day
you have to make and you're making these bricks and I'm not gonna
give you straw anymore. You go out and find your own
stubble, but you're still gonna make the exact amount of bricks.
I have reason to believe that this made it even more difficult
for the taskmasters. Wouldn't you think so? If you
was a foreman on a job and things changed like that, you know what
kind of people you're going to have to be dealing with. Look
at it. It bleeds down. Pharaoh defies and rebels. The taskmasters Defy and rebel,
chapter five, five through 13. The Hebrew officers, they run
to Pharaoh complaining, chapter five, verses 14 through 19. Then
the Hebrew officers run to Moses, defiant and complaining. Then
Moses runs to the Lord, complaining. Did you read it? Now let that
just be the backdrop. That is the immediate context
of Chapter six, then the Lord said to Moses, thou shalt see
what I will do. You see it? Now this just struck
me so clearly because I realized that's me. Defiance just keeps
on going and going. And let me tell you, I don't stand up here and tell
you where you ought to go and who you ought to see and what
you ought to put in your bodies, but I do warn you this. evil
communications corrupts good manners. You hang around the
wrong crowd too much, it will bleed off on you and you won't
be able to stop it. I just warn you. And it's best
to be by yourself and maybe with a little small handful of people
like this because we're bad enough. We're bad enough. My ill effects
will bleed down on you and your ill effects will bleed down on
me. How much more the infidels and unbelieving of this world.
Just be careful. Enough said there. As our pastor,
late pastor used to say, a word to the wise is sufficient. David, don't have to hammer on
people about that. Beware to anyone that feeds into defiance
and resistance because let me tell you one thing, God will
not be thwarted. God will not be thwarted. Our God is in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. And if he's gotta walk on me
or you to do it, he'll walk on me or you to do it. You remember
Moses didn't circumcise that boy, he said God was gonna kill
him. You remember that? Zipporah had to take a sharp
stone and cut the foreskin of that little boy's parts and throw
that bloody thing down at his feet. And God spared Moses. Isn't that glorious? There's
a lesson there, isn't it? Somebody else shed blood so that I wouldn't
have to suffer the consequences of God's wrath and anger. That's
a good lesson. God will not be, Moses, and I
gotta read this, look. Verse 22 of chapter five, and
Moses returned unto the Lord and said, Lord, wherefore hast
thou so evil entreated this people? What? He's come down to deliver
them. Don't you remember what all of
your forefathers told you, how he protected you 400 years earlier? You've evil and treated us. Why
is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to
speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people, neither,
oh, look at it, neither hast thou delivered thy people at
all. I see me right there. Sometimes I think, what's all
this for? You ever do that? Look, what's
all this for, huh? You know where I'm coming from.
But let me tell you something. God's ordained time and manners
does not depend upon us. He will use men and women, but
it doesn't depend upon us, asked Jonah the prophet. Asked Jonah
the prophet. You see, here's the second thing.
Defiance and resistance. and resistance to even the circumstances
that come with the defiance and resistance. They never justify
my defiance, never. Pharaoh's never justified. The
taskmasters are never justified. The officers are never justified.
Moses is never justified for defying the truth of God. I mean, he's talking to God,
the one that was going to kill him. He said, you ain't even
delivered your people at all. You say, I'd never do that. You'll
do it this evening if you stand in that position. You will find
yourself doing that even as a believer, even as a Moses. You'll find
yourself resisting even today. Let a man beware when he thinks
he stands. Let him take heed lest he what?
Fall, fall. So defiance and resistance even
today. in the circumstances that comes
along with the defiance and resistance never justifies my defiance.
Third, attacking God's sent messengers, even though they have their faults.
You hear what I'm saying? Even though they, if they have
their faults. We got our faults. Now God Almighty, and this is
not pride, I just know by providence and the testimony of God and
the Circumstances, God Almighty sent me to preach his gospel.
And not because I'm a great man. I know I'm a lot worse just as
an overt, outward individual than I feel Moses ever was, Mason.
But don't ever attack God's messengers. I don't care about their faults. It's dangerous ground. Don't
attack God's people. I know they got their faults,
but don't attack God's people, because God put it this one way.
Yes, he's talking about Christ in particular, but God's people
are where? In Christ. God said this, he
that touches you touches the apple, the iris of my eye. If somebody comes at you and
gets close to the eye, the eye, once it, it automatically shuts
to protect itself. I remember trying to play a little
softball years ago. I thought I was gonna try to
be a catcher. Didn't work out for this old boy. He cared about
his eye. Every time that ball would come
through and that bat would swing, I'd be doing this. And you can't
be a catcher when you're doing this. But think about it. God Almighty protects his son
and those who are in his son just like you protect the iris
of your eye when you see something coming at it. Don't attack God's
sent messengers. Don't attack God's people even
in light of their faults. Well, I'm not gonna listen to
him. I know what he does. You best watch out. You best
not defy the claims of God based upon the vessels he's choosed
to use. But let me tell you this. You
attack God's sent messages, you attack God's people, you are
attacking the claims of God himself. Some of the old writers used
to put it this way in their writings, and I'm sure they preached it
this way. We press upon men the claims of Jesus Christ. He is
Lord of all. When this book talks about bowing
down to him, or believing on him, it's not just to accept
the historical facts about him. It is to believe, is to bow down
to the authority of Jesus Christ the Lord. As a matter of fact,
Paul put it this way in Romans 10, that if we shall confess
with our mouth, not Jesus as our personal savior, it does
not teach that. It says if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth, what? The Lord Jesus Christ. You will be saved. But if all
you do is walk an aisle and pray a prayer, accept Jesus as your
personal savior, you've just went through a religious spasm. That's all you've had. You see, attacking God's messengers,
attacking God's people is to attack God's claims, and that
is never justified. Whether y'all do it, anybody
out there does it, or this man right here does it. It's never,
ever justified. Number four, true deliverance. When I talk about deliverance
here, or salvation, we might say, I'm talking about experiencing
a visitation from God. When you're in spiritual bondage,
and God comes, and by his spirit, and by the preaching of his gospel,
he delivers you out of Egyptian darkness, and sets you free in
Christ Jesus. That's what I'm talking about.
True deliverance is always preceded by a revelation of God's true
being. Chapter six and verse two. God
spake unto Moses and said unto him, I am the Lord. And I appeared unto Abraham and
Isaac and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty. But by my name Jehovah was I
not known to them. And I have also established my
covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land
of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have
also heard the groanings of the children of Israel, whom the
Egyptians keep in bondage. And I have remembered my covenant. And read it on. God says, I will
deliver them. But he's going to deliver them
in his own good time. The Israelites are gonna have
to believe God and sit and wait patiently until God is pleased
to fulfill this thing on Pharaoh and Egypt. Again, I say, I think
I mentioned it last week, the book is clear. Today, if you
hear his voice, if you hear it today, if you hear his voice
today, harden not your heart. It will harden your heart. Pharaoh
hardened his heart, see what happened to Pharaoh. But let
me tell you this, do not rush toward God Almighty, because
He is holy. And if you come to Him in the
wrong attitude, the wrong spirit, with the wrong heart, looking
to the wrong sacrifice, He will not accept you. But I'm sincere. I guarantee you Pharaoh was when
he said, I've sinned against the Lord. As soon as the plague,
that particular plague was stayed, Mac Hatfield, what'd he do? Went
right back to where he was again. But now we see him as what? Jehovah. Now think about this. Here's
these two titles, we might say, of God, but it's much more than
that. Mason and I talked somewhat about this yesterday. God Almighty
means this. He's the only might. If he's
God Almighty, that is, might is power, strength, if it's all
power and strength, then where is any other strength? There
is no other power, there is no other strength, since he is,
not if he is, since he is the Almighty. Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, they understood that. But there's something that they
hadn't seen, that he is Jehovah. Jehovah. Now God reveals himself
to Israel. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's descendants
as what? God Almighty. He didn't cease
being God Almighty. He didn't say, now I'm Jehovah. He's still
God Almighty. But now he reveals himself as
Jehovah. Well, Jehovah simply stated means self-existent. And
I don't even know what that means. Do you? I can sit here for days
probably trying to explain to you that, but we can't relate
to being self-existent. But here's what it boils down
to. When you put these two titles, or better maybe descriptions,
is probably, those are not just titles. What God calls himself
is to express who he is to us. And this is what Mason and I
really talked about quite a bit yesterday. The reason God has
so many names is because God is infinitely vast. And one word or one group of
words will never ever totally explain who God is. But look
at it. God Almighty, Jehovah, that is
the only might, the self-existent one. And it means this. Nothing
depends upon man. All depends upon him. That's
what it means. Since he is God Almighty, the
self-existent one, then he don't depend on us for anything. Everybody's in defiance up to
a point, are they not? Even Moses. And look what Moses
has been through. Then the Lord said unto Moses,
now, you're going to see. Didn't depend on Moses, did it,
Mason? Didn't depend on Pharaoh, didn't depend on the taskmasters,
didn't depend on the officers. Now think about this. Try to
be brief on this. There's a correlation here, and
you can go back and read it in 2 Corinthians chapter five, verses
16 through 21. Paul makes this amazing statement.
Yet now know we no man after the flesh. And I'm paraphrasing, but he
also, we don't even know Christ after the flesh anymore. And
it goes on to say, therefore, if any man be in Christ Jesus,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. What you knew about God before
God Almighty regenerated and converted you really don't mean
anything. because it was all distorted
by your flesh because that was the only thing through which
you could understand, was the flesh. Now God may have used
it to providentially guide you or lead you into a certain place
or a certain thing, but you will not know God until he opens your
eyes and you begin to see him as he is. You see, most people, most preachers,
when they quote, therefore many men being Christ is a new creature,
they mean this. Well, if you like to drink a
beer whenever you watch the football show, you're a sinner, but when
God saves you, you quit drinking beer while you watch the football
show. And I would rather drink the beer than I would watch the
football show. And I'll put that right on TV, it doesn't matter
to me. Because I see much more in the football game and in the
advertisement that's much more wicked and detrimental to my
psyche and my soul and my spirit than drinking a can of Budweiser.
And that's just the way it is. But preachers lie to men and
women and try to get their minds focused on outward things that
are wrong rather than in here's the wrong. in here all of this
and the abuse of all this, abuse of it out here is because of
what I am down in here. And one thing happens when God
Almighty opens your eyes, opens your ears, gives you a heart
to perceive. One thing happens, you begin
to see how bad you really are. And you begin to see, you begin
to see how glorious Jesus Christ is. And that's where it starts
with all of us. It may be in a different venue,
it may be under a different kind of preacher, but you still will
be hearing the truth. God don't ever convert by lie. He only
converts by truth. God Almighty will bring you into
subjection to his son or you're still in the flesh only and defiant
and resistant. Number five, the natural state
of the regenerate or the unregenerate never dictates God's purpose.
Did you start reading chapter six and you got down to verse
14 and kind of look, I'm not gonna read it all. Some of these
names I have trouble even pronouncing. I'm not gonna insult their name
by trying to read them all. And you start through 14, you
start to read those names and your eyes kind of get glossy
and you just pass right on over it. You ever do that? But why
is this right here in the middle of this direct context? Because
these are the leaders of Israel. And Moses said, they're not believing.
Did you read it? Lord, they're not believing.
How's this gonna work? He says it again. And, Verse nine, and Moses spake so
unto the children of Israel, but they hearkened not unto Moses
for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage. The Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, Go in, speak unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. And Moses
spake before the Lord, saying, Behold, the children of Israel
have not hearkened unto me. That's the context. And he gives
the very leaders, or the ringleaders. Top dogs in Israel, Moses and
Aaron's own direct blood. This ain't about the 12 tribes
of Israel, this was the leaders of Israel in that day. What are
you saying, preacher? I'm saying this, yes, even the
regenerate battle with the hoardness of the flesh. You see, here's the point. If
God ever saves you, you'll never get over being a sinner. If you
ever get over being a sinner, God ain't saved you. It says grow in grace, not grow
in righteousness. If I grow in grace, what's grace?
Grace is what a sinner needs. Grace is what somebody who's
guilty needs, and some mercy and some compassion, right? So
grow in grace. And in the knowledge of the Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. So the more I grow, the more
I see how bad I am. The more I recognize my absolute
need of Jesus Christ. That's what growing in grace
is. So as one preacher said, If you ever grow out of being
a sinner, you've grown yourself right into hell. Number six, last one, God's ultimatum. And I thought about that word,
it's God's ultimatum. God, God don't beg anybody. I may plead, I may beseech. Standing for God. Mason, I may
plead with men. Come to Christ. Believe Christ. Repent. But God is not begging.
God is not begging. God gives ultimatum. Says Joe,
I liked it when he said that. It just turned a switch on for
me. You know, the 10 commandments.
They're not the 10 suggestions. They're the 10 commandments.
And when God opens your eyes up to them, you begin to see
what? Oh, here's how I need to live. No, you're, I can't live
that way. and it kills me. But that's a
good place to be when you got Jesus Christ who is a giver of
life to the dead. I'm under bondage. I read that
law and it makes me guilty before God. I'm condemned before God. But here's one called Jesus Christ
who forgives sinners, who died in their place, who died in their
stead. He dying on Calvary's tree. If he died for me, I died there. Justice was satisfied. Here's
the question, do you believe that or not? You can't believe
and repent enough to make what he did a value. You either believe
what he did was a value or you don't believe him at all. So
God's ultimatum to the unregenerate always causes revolt. You know
that? The unregenerate cannot but resist. There are people preaching today
that if you'll walk the hour, or you'll pray the prayer, or
you'll be baptized, or you'll be confirmed, or be sprinkled,
then God will do something for you. It don't work that way.
God's gotta do something for me and for you first. First,
except the man be born again, or born from above, he cannot
even see. the kingdom of God. So how you
gonna get to Christ if you can't even see? How you gonna repent
if you can't even see what repentance really is? Oh, but if God Almighty
gives you new heavenly birth, you know what's gonna happen?
You're gonna begin to see. And you know what the next facet
of that is? You're going to begin to enter.
He is born of the water and of the spirit, shall do what? Enter
the kingdom of heaven. Hmm. Think about this. Go back and read some other time.
Again, chapter seven, verses one through 13. Remember Moses
and Aaron come in. God said, you go back to Pharaoh
and you go to Israel. You say, I'm going to deliver
the people. Now you go into Pharaoh and you cast down that rod. What
happened? The rod became a serpent, right? What did Jannes and Jambres
do? That's who Paul calls them. I
don't know if that's their particular name or whether it was titles
that were given to the magicians of Egypt. I don't know, but men
like to spend all their time talking about that rather than
talking about what really took place there. Like they like to
talk about the frogs and the lice, but they don't like to
look at how men reacted to all these things. Their state, their
condition. Moses goes in, Aaron begins to
speak, throws down the rod, it turns into a snake. Jannes and
Jambres comes along and does the same thing. And somebody
said, preacher, was that real? I got no reason to believe it
wasn't. You see, there are evil spirits. There are demons in
this world. There are demonic forces at work,
and you and I can't handle them. Don't you delve in the dark arts.
I'll give you, Henry Mann told of a pastor he knew, and he got
caught up with the, you know, studying demonology, going into
demons, and checking all about demons, and trying to do it,
Mason, scripturally. And he said, after a while, the
man began to sense something in the room with him when he
was by himself. And over and over, he said, and the man went
mad. Don't mess with those things
God says don't touch. Be careful. Well, that's just
all silly. I understand that most of what's
out here is pretend, it's fake, but not everything is. But with
that being said, the magicians, jennies, and jamborees cast down
their rods, they turned into serpents, but you know what Moses'
rod did? It swallowed up their sticks. But let me put it this
way. There's five things on this last
point. False religion will duplicate, that is, it will copy the truth
as far as possible. Now you study the plague, you'll
see that magicians did a lot of, can't explain it, right? But they could only go so far.
That's the one that beware. Truth. Balaam spoke the truth,
but Balaam was an apostate. The words he said were right,
but who he was was wrong. So beware. Second, the snake
or the serpent alone never converts the unregenerate. You'd have
thought, with Pharaoh seeing this happen, he'd have said,
all right, whoa, y'all take three days. Take three days off from
making bricks. Wouldn't ya? But see, the unregenerate
heart is never converted by the snake. See, you could teach a
man how bad he is, but if you don't talk to him about Jesus
Christ, he got no hope. You can convince him or her how
corrupt they are, and they may taste it in their own soul, but
if they don't see Jesus Christ, they got no hope. There are sinners
who die and go to hell. But there are also sinners who
die and go to heaven, and they're not sinners anymore once they
get to glory. But you know what, even when
they're in glory, Mason, I got reason to say, I'm a sinner saved
by grace. Just thank God I'm done with
all the effects of it. The snake, the serpent, and lode
never converts the unregenerate. Here's the third thing, signs,
Wonders and judgments never convert the unregenerate. Somebody said,
well, if God just come down today like he did back then, no, we'd
be just like the rest of the people, like the Jews and the
Gentiles, like Pontius Pilate and Herod, we'd be cried, if
he came back today, crucified, if we're unregenerate. If we're
unregenerate. Those people, Paul, They ate
of those loaves and ate 5,000. What was it? Just a few handfuls. And Christ fed that whole multitude. You know what they wanted? You
know why they followed him all the way across it? If he can
do that for us, I don't have to work no more. I got food in
my belly. That's the kind of king I want,
and that's the kind of king that so-called Christian religion
is preaching to men today. If you'll just trust in Jesus,
he'll help you pay your bills, you'll have steaks, and maybe
a Cadillac to drive. It ain't about that. It ain't
about that, it's about seeing who he is. Signs, wonders, and
judgments never convert the unregenerate. Even the plagues, think of it,
all 10 of them didn't convert Pharaoh, did it? Oh, the 10th
one, he let him go, didn't he? And they went out with a mighty
hand and they had spoils. The Egyptians gave him gold and
all of these things. Here, get out! But it was just,
I don't know exactly how long it was, Jack, but it wasn't long. Pharaoh said, what have I done?
Gather up the chariots, boys. Get the spears and the swords.
We're going after these slaves. We will bring them back into
bondage. But if God's determined to deliver you, bless God, the
fiends of hell will not stop God. Because God will save you. God will deliver you. You see,
God doesn't whittle down to convert. He just converts. God doesn't
whittle down, he conquers. And Paul put it this way, 2 Thessalonians
2, verses 11 through 17, he said, beware, God sends some men strong
delusion that they would believe the lie. But Paul said to the
Thessalonians, I thank God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord. You know why? Because God, from
the beginning, chose you to salvation. But you don't just wake up one
morning and say, oh, I'm saved. Oh, I'm one of the elect. through
sanctification of the spirit, and that always gotta come first,
and belief of the truth. And you're not gonna believe
the truth until you hear the gospel of the truth. He said, whereunto
he called you by our gospel. Here it is, to the obtaining
of the glory. You don't see it, but it's true.
You look at me, you don't see it, but it's true. I look at
you, I don't see it, but if you're in Christ, it's true. To the
obtaining of the glory. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I said keep on in this. That's
a paraphrase of the next three verses. Keep on, and may your
hearts be comforted by this grace. Close right here. If God's grace
don't conquer you, if God's gospel don't conquer you, and they are
like this, they are like this. God gotta give you grace first
before the gospel preaching never gonna do you any good. But he
don't give you grace, then you just go on doing your own thing.
He gives you grace, and then that gospel's gonna come, it's
gonna intersect your path, and it's gonna conquer your soul.
But if God's gospel doesn't conquer you, you are still in defiance
and resistance. And God will show the wonders
of his judgments upon you, just like he did to Egypt. God will
show what you really are. Now, it may take him years. No,
that's not the best way to put it. He may take years. Mark that
one out. He may take years. It don't take
him. He may take years to do it, but do what he will. So I
say to every one of us, I'm gonna talk about picking out a couple
here. I'm gonna talk about, oh, I think that one over there's
lost. I don't know for sure if any of us saved him this morning.
I mean, I doubt myself sometimes that I know me a whole lot better
than I know you all. But here's my counsel. Seek Christ. Bow down to him. If God says
something in this word you don't like, acknowledge you don't like
it. But acknowledge this truth. You see what I'm saying? If you
read something in this book about yourself, say, I don't like that,
it hurts! It offends me! Paul, you read our Lord, I said,
does this offend you? The ones that it did, what'd they do?
They walked off. The ones that knew they had no hope, but Christ
said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Father, oh God, may your gospel
have free course. And we know it will accomplish
that which you've purposed to accomplish. In Christ's name,
amen.