Our scripture reading will be
taken from the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter one. We'll begin our reading in verse
six of Exodus chapter one. And Joseph died and all his brethren
and all that generation and the children of Israel were fruitful.
and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly
mighty, and the land was filled with them. Now there arose up
a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said
unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel
are more and mightier than we. Come on, let us deal wisely with
them, lest they multiply. And it come to pass that when
there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and
fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore,
they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens.
And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Python and Ramses. But the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because
of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children
of Israel to serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter
with hard bondage in mortar and in brick and in all manner of
service in the field. And all their service, wherein
they made them serve was with rigor. And the king of Egypt
spake to the Hebrew midwives of which the name of the one
was Shifra and the name of the other, Pua. And he said, when
you do the service or the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women
and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then you shall
kill him. But if it be a daughter, then
shall she live. but the midwives feared God and
did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but save the
men children alive. And the king of Egypt called
for the midwives and said unto them, why have you done this
thing and have saved the men children alive? And the midwife
said unto Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian
women for they are lively and are delivered air. The midwives
come in unto them. Therefore God dwelt well with
the midwives and the people multitude multiplied and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because
the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. And Pharaoh
charged all his people, saying, every son that is born, he shall
cast into the river, and every daughter he shall save alive.
We'll end our reading there. Let's bow together. Our Father, which art in heaven,
holy and reverent, is your matchless name. Lord, we bow and worship
this morning. We bow with awe and reverence
at the. King of Kings and the Lord of
Lords, the Lord God Almighty. Father, we bow with hearts that
are full of thanksgiving wonder. That such a God would choose
to save sinful men and women such as we are. Then the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ we can come into your presence accepted. That you'd send your son to do
for us what we cannot do for ourselves, to obey the law perfectly
and put away the sin of his people by his own sacrifice and by his
blood wash them white as snow. Father, we're thankful. How could
human language ever thank you and praise you enough for your
wondrous grace to sinners in our Lord Jesus Christ? Father,
it is our earnest plea this morning that you would make this an hour
of true worship. Father, send your spirit upon
us. Give us hearts of worship. Enable us to worship in spirit
and in truth. Deliver us from just plain church.
But Father, give us an hour of worship. Father, I ask that you'd
be with me in this hour, that you would enable me to rightly
divide the word of truth. Clearly and simply preach the
message that you've laid upon my heart to preach Christ and
to get out of the way. So all your people see is your
son. And father, give us the ears
to hear and faith to believe the savior, the deliverer that
we hear preach this morning. Let us leave here this morning
rejoicing in the freedom of salvation in Christ, our savior, that we've
been delivered from the bondage of the law in him. that we've
been delivered from bondage to religion in Him, that we've been
delivered from fear, fear of death, that we've been subject
to all our lifetime in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us leave here
this morning rejoicing in Christ our Savior. And Father, what
we ask for ourselves, we ask for all of your people who are
meeting together today to worship. Father, bless your word where
it's preached, to your glory for the good of your people.
We pray a special blessing for our brother Eric as he's preaching
there in Pikeville. Father, bless mightily. Bless
him in preaching. Bless your people there. Bless
him and Brady as they come back home. Give them traveling mercies.
And Father, for upcoming conference this weekend, we pray that you'd
bless. Make this a special time of worship. Bless the men who've agreed to
come preach. Give them your message for us
in this hour. Give us a special time of worship. Let this be a time where your
name is glorified and magnified among your people. Father, we
pray for those who are hurting and who are sick and need you
especially. We pray you've undertaken their behalf to heal and to comfort.
We're so thankful you brought our brother Cecil back and pray
you continue to bless and strengthen him. Father, all these things
we ask and we give thanks in that name which is above every
name. In the name of Christ, our Savior, amen. Teach me thy way, O Lord, teach
me thy way. Thy guiding grace afford, teach
me thy way. Help me to walk aright More by
faith, less by sight Lead me with heavenly light Teach me
thy way When I am sad at heart Teach me thy way when earthly
joys depart. Teach me thy way in hours of
loneliness. In times of dire distress, In
failure or success, Teach me thy way. When doubts and fears arise,
teach me thy way. When storms o'erspread the skies,
teach me thy way. Shine through the cloud and rain,
Through sorrow, toil, and pain. Make thou my pathway plain, Teach
me thy way. Long as my life shall last, Teach
me thy way. Where'er my lot be cast, teach
me thy ways. Until the race is run, until
the journey's done, until the crown is won, teach me thy way. All right, if you would, open
your Bibles first to Hebrews chapter 11. I titled the message
this morning, Faith's Hiding. Faith's Hiding. Hebrews chapter
11, verse 23. By faith, Moses, when he was
born, was hid three months of his parents. because they saw
he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the king's
commandment. Now this is what I want us to see this morning.
I want us to see that the birth of Moses is all a picture of
Christ, and by faith we can see him, see Christ. By faith we
can believe and rest in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Deliverer.
Now by faith, Scripture says, Moses' parents saw that this
was more than just a baby. They saw the deliverer. They
knew this baby was the deliverer, who is a picture of Christ. Evidently,
God told them this baby was the deliverer. Because God promised,
or the deliverer that God had promised, because the writer
says they hid Moses by faith, by faith. Well, you can't have
faith without the word of God. God must have told them this
baby is the long promised deliverer. And this morning, what I pray
is that the Holy Spirit will give us faith to see Christ the
deliverer that Moses pictures. Now, turn back to Exodus chapter
one. When we last left Joseph, Joseph
was dying in Egypt, blessing his sons and his grandsons. What happened after Joseph died?
This is where we pick up Exodus one, verse six, and Joseph died. And all his brethren and all
that generation, all the generation that knew Joseph, they all died.
And the children of Israel, they're still down there in Egypt, were
fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceeding
mighty. And the land was filled with
them. They went down there, 70 people, and they left 3 million. I mean, just how they grew and
the land was filled with them. In verse 8, now, there arose
up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. Now we saw how
Joseph is a picture of Christ. There's salvation, there's spiritual
food, there's spiritual life to be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. When everybody was starving,
would have died, Joseph opened the storehouses. That's a picture
of Christ opening the storehouses of His grace. There's life in
Christ. Would you have life? You know
what Pharaoh told the people who were starving and needed
food? You go to Joseph. You who are starving for righteousness
or starving for life or starving for forgiveness for your sin,
you know what I tell you? Go to Christ. You open the storehouses. And Joseph was an impressive
man. I mean, he was impressive. Pharaoh
trusted Joseph. He trusted his word completely.
He relied upon Joseph. Joseph's word was law and any
friend of Joseph's was a friend of Pharaoh's. That's how much
he loved and respected Joseph. But the problem for the children
of Israel down in Egypt came when there arose a Pharaoh that
didn't know Joseph. They weren't his friends. The
children of Israel weren't his friends because he didn't know Joseph.
He didn't like the Israelites. He wanted to oppress them. He
wanted to be mean to them, because he didn't know Joseph. If he
had known Joseph, he wouldn't have wanted to be mean to his
people. This is a picture now. The problem in religion comes
when there arises a ruler, when there arises a preacher that
doesn't know Christ. So what happened? Verse 9. He
said unto his people, Behold, the children of Israel are more
and mightier than we. Come on, let us deal wisely with
them, lest they multiply. And it come to pass that when
there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and
fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore
they did set over them taskmasters, to afflict them with their burdens,
and they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Python and Ramses. But the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because
of the children of Israel. Now this is a picture of God's
church that's hated in this world, hated for Christ's sake, hated
for the gospel's sake, and the world afflicts the church. They
try to stomp it out and get rid of it, and you just look back
over history and see that this is not so. The more the church
is afflicted by the world, the more the world tries to stomp
it out, the more the church grows and spreads. Same thing happened
to Israel and Egypt, right? Verse 13. And the Egyptians made the children
of Israel to serve with rigor, and they made their lives bitter
with hard bondage, in mortar and in brick and in all manner
of service in the field. All their service wherein they
made them serve was with rigor. And the king of Egypt spake to
the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah
and the name of the other, Pewah. And he said, when you do the
office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and you see them upon the
stools, if it be a son, then you shall kill him. But if it
be a daughter, then she shall live. And what, you know, what
he hoped there is they kill off all the boys. The daughters are
going to have to marry Egyptian boys and they'll become assimilated
into, into their society. And there'll be no more Israelites. But the midwives feared God and
did not as the King of Egypt commanded them, but save the
men, children alive. And the King of Egypt called
for the midwives and said unto them, why have you done this
thing? And if say the men, children
alive, And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, because the Hebrew
women are not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively and
delivered, ere the midwives come in unto them. Therefore, God
dwelt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and
waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because
the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. Now the
Egyptians made the Israelites to serve with rigor, serve with
constant hard work, which was meant to hurt them, wasn't it?
But all that hard work just made the people stronger, made the
women stronger. So they didn't need help delivering
their babies. Now, maybe they did. These two wives, midwives,
you know, came and helped, you know, deliver the babies. But
they weren't going to kill those babies anyway, because they had
God given faith. They didn't fear the king. They
feared God. And God blessed them. God made them houses. He made
them families in Israel. But the point here I want us
to see is The very instrument that Egypt thought meant to hurt
Israel actually helped them and made them stronger because God
overruled the wickedness of men. In verse 22, Pharaoh charged
all his people saying, every son that is born, you should
cast into the river and every daughter you should save alive.
Pharaoh made this a law and midwives aren't going to do it. So he
told all the Egyptians, If you see a Jewish baby born, you take
it from its mother's arms and you throw it into the Nile River
and drown it. What cruelty. I mean, I just
can't even imagine. But this is what Pharaoh's saying.
If we don't kill those babies, they're going to outnumber us
and take the land. Pharaoh's whole point, the way he's operating
is, I got to hang on to the throne. I got to hang on to my power.
But here's my first point about faith's hiding. Man's hatred
of God cannot stop and can't even slow down God's purpose
of salvation for his people. Pharaoh's order here to kill
all these babies around the time that Moses was born, isn't that
the exact same order Herod gave when Christ was born? It is,
isn't it? Herod had every two-year-old boy, two years old and younger,
in Bethlehem killed, slaughtered. The Roman army just came in and
slaughtered him. I mean, that's just unspeakable
inhuman cruelty. But it was done in hatred of
God. The point of this, the thing behind it all, was hatred of
God. Herod was trying to get rid of
God's king. And Herod was being controlled
by Satan. This is a satanic thing that he moved Herod to do. Satan
knew who Christ was. He knew who the child was and
he wanted rid of him. He said, if I can kill him, I
stop God's purpose. And he failed miserably, didn't
he? Miserably he failed. You know why? Because man's hatred
of God cannot stop or even slow down God's purpose for the redemption,
the deliverance of his people. man's hatred of Christ, man's
hatred of the gospel of salvation by God's grace through the sovereign
savior cannot stop and cannot even slow down God's purpose
of the redemption of his people. God's word shall not return on
him. Boy, it will prosper. The thing
where into he sent it, that was true Moses day. It was true in
our Lord's day when he walked on this earth and it's true today
and it'll be true to the end of time. Nothing can stop or
slow down God's purpose of redemption of his people. And here's the
second thing. Here's why this God's purpose
can't be stopped. Because God has provided the
deliverer. And we see him by faith. Exodus
2 verse 1. And there went a man of the house
of Levi and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived
and bear a son. And when she saw him, that he
was a goodly child, she hid him three months. Now Moses' parents
saw he was a goodly child. They saw that baby, and I'm going
to tell you what they thought. They thought, this is the prettiest
baby I've ever seen. You know how I know they thought
that? Because every parent thinks that when their baby is born.
I remember when my daughters were born, I mean I was instantly
head over heels in love. And when Janet was pregnant with
Holly, I thought, I don't know nothing about a baby. I don't,
I just, I don't know nothing about a baby. I don't know what
I'm going to do with the baby. And I saw that baby and I still,
I guess I didn't know, but I was just going to do, I mean, it
didn't matter. Even her messy diapers were cute for a while.
I mean, just, oh, but that's not what this is saying about
Moses. parents. Now, of course they thought they
just, they loved him, but that's not what this is saying. Did
they not hide Moses? I mean, they hide him. They didn't
throw him in the river because he's a pretty baby, but if he'd been ugly baby,
they had thrown him in the river. Of course not. Moses is a picture
of Christ and they knew it. They saw it. The word goodly
here means the best. He's the best. That's a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the best. He's good. There's none good but God. He's
God. The writer to the Hebrews, you
remember we read that, used the word proper. Well, the word means
handsome. Well, that's a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a handsome bridegroom
he is. He's altogether lovely. He's altogether lovely in his
holiness. He's altogether lovely in his righteousness. He's altogether
lovely in his humility, in his kindness to sinners. He's altogether
lovely in his sacrifice. In Acts chapter seven, Stephen,
giving an account of Israel, called Moses exceeding fair. And the word means fair to the
Lord. Moses was fair to the Lord. And the word exceeding that Stephen
used has to do with deity and being handsome. where the Lord
Jesus Christ is handsome. He's as handsome as God because
he is God. See, Moses is a picture of Christ.
And Moses' parents saw this child as the promised deliverer. They
didn't see that by sight, they saw it by faith. Like I said,
God had to come tell them this child is the deliverer because
they did what they did by faith. And faith always comes from the
word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. So Moses is a picture of Christ
that God sent to deliver his people from bondage to sin. Now,
Moses is the promised deliverer. God promised that deliverer years
and years and years and years ago. He promised that deliverer
to Abraham before Abraham ever had any children. God promised
the deliverer. Moses had been promised a long
time. Now here he is. And as far as
we know from scripture, the only people that saw it were Moses'
mama and daddy. They saw it by God-given faith.
Well, God promised the deliverer from sin a long time ago. He promised the deliverer from
sin before anything was even created. God promised the deliverer
from sin in eternity before there was any sin, before there was
a sinner. God promised the deliverer. He'd
been promised a long time. He is promised throughout all
the Old Testament scriptures. He was declared in all the New
Testament scriptures that he came, that he suffered and died,
that he rose again. And he's been preached by God's
preachers all down through the ages. And the only people who
see him, are people that have God-given faith, that God's given
them faith. See, faith is a precious gift,
isn't it? It's the only way we can see
Christ. It's the only way we can believe Him. Oh, I want that
gift. Oh, I want that gift of faith
to see Christ. And I can't even tell you how
much I want you to have this gift of faith. I pray for it
every single day. Well, how do I get it? How do
I get this gift of faith? Just one way. It's through the
Word of God. By hearing. Hearing the Word
of God. Hearing Christ preached. And
that's why we keep preaching Christ. Because if God's going
to give you faith and reveal Christ to you and in you, I can
tell you exactly how He's going to do it. Preaching of the Word. Alright? God sent the... He provided the deliverer. We
see Him by faith. And here's the third thing. Faith
works. Faith is not an inactive thing
hidden in our heart. Faith works, scripture says,
by love. Works by love. Faith without
works is dead. If you have faith and don't have
works, that kind of faith can't save anybody. It's dead faith.
Now here's why I'm talking about faith working. Moses' parents
believed that God sent the Deliverer. They believed that. Well, they
didn't sit around and say, well, God sent the deliverer. Now I'm
just going to do nothing. If God's going to set us free,
he's going to set us free and there's nothing I need to do
about it. If God's not going to set us free, nothing I can
do can make it happen. I'm just going to do nothing.
I'm just going to sit around and wait and whatever God's going
to do, God's going to do it. Doesn't matter what I do. Well
now, hold on. Now, it is right for us to wait
on the Lord. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Let's
wait and see. Before we act, before we run
off half-cocked, let's find out what the Lord's will is. Let's
just wait and find out what the Lord's will is. Wait on the Lord.
But brother, when the Lord reveals His will to us, it's full steam
ahead. I mean, it's charge and no retreat. Don't ever blame God's sovereignty.
And don't ever blame waiting on the Lord as an excuse for
laziness or as an excuse for fear. Just wait on the Lord until
He reveals His will. And when He does, it's full steam
ahead. Nothing can stop us. God sent
the Deliverer. Moses' parents believed it. And
they got to work, didn't they? They got to work hiding that
child. And that had to be hard work.
It had to be. Babies are hard to hide. Babies cry. People are going
to know this woman was pregnant. I mean, if you're nine months
pregnant, that's hard to hide. And then you're not nine months
pregnant anymore. People are going to know something
changed. A baby was born and the Egyptians had an order from
the king. If it's a boy baby, I get to
throw it in the river. Don't you reckon somebody went
looking to find out if there's a baby? It's hard work hiding
this child. And Moses' parents did it because
they didn't fear Pharaoh. They feared God. They believed
God. And that made them act. Faith
works by love. That made them act to hide Moses. Now, faith in Christ acts. It acts. God has provided the
Savior. who shall, without any doubt,
save his people from their sin. And faith never says, oh well,
if the Father chose me and if Christ died for me, I'm going
to be saved. No matter what I do, I'm going to be saved. And if
the Father didn't choose me and Christ didn't die for me, then
there's nothing I can do about it. So, oh well, I'll just wait
and see what happens. Now, dead nature says that. Faith
never says that. Faith reaches out and lays hold
on Christ like Jacob of old and won't let go. I will not let
you go except you bless me. Faith does what blind Bartimaeus
did. He cries for mercy. He believed
Jesus is the son of David, didn't he? So what did he do? He cried,
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. You're messing up
our ceremony. We've got a parade going on.
Just be quiet. Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me.
He wouldn't stop until the Lord had mercy, until the Lord answered
him. He kept crying. And you know what somebody finally
came to him and told him? Be a good Jew. The master's calling
for you. Faith comes to Christ and begs
for mercy. I don't expect the Lord to come
just because I come begging Him. No, I'm begging Him for mercy.
He may and He may not. I don't know, but I'm going to
beg Him for mercy. Faith says what the Syrophoenician
woman said. When our Lord introduced her
to the truth of election, He said, I'm not sent but to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. It's not right for me to take
the children's bread and cast it to a dog like you. And all
she said is, true Lord, Lord, help me. That's begging for mercy. Lord, help me. You're right. Help me. Just give me some crumbs
of mercy. Help me. Faith acts in begging
for mercy and seeking the Lord, finding out where he is and going
to him and begging him for mercy. Faith also acts in preaching
and defending the gospel of Christ. Now I'll tell you what I know.
I know God's elect shall be saved. I know that just as sure as I'm
standing here. I know that. I know that because
God's given me faith to believe Christ. I know that. If I know
Christ, I know He's going to save everybody for whom He died.
It's impossible for somebody to perish if Christ died for
them. I know that. But this is what I also know.
It's pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. I know God's going to save his
people. But that doesn't make me say, oh, well, then, you know,
whatever will be, will be. Case or offer all, God save his
people, nothing I can do about it. Wouldn't it be something? Wouldn't it be something if the
Lord would use us to preach the gospel to his people? To save
his people? To feed and comfort and edify
the hearts of his people? Wouldn't it be something? Maybe
just maybe he would, because he said by the fool, I've chosen
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The
faith says what Saul of Tarsus said. Lord, what will you have
me to do? Well, what can I do in your service? The very reason that we're willing
to preach the gospel, the very reason this congregation so willingly,
generously supports the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace
is God's given us faith in Christ. Somebody had to preach the gospel
to me a long time before I ever believed it. I believed it was
so, but it took a long time. long time. Somebody had to keep preaching
every Sunday, every Wednesday, every Sunday, every Wednesday. God blessed his word and revealed
his son to me and in me, you too. How can I not preach the gospel
to others? God gives me the opportunity.
How can I not? How can I not support that gospel that somebody
else might hear the Savior and come to him? How can we not?
See, we believe that God's going to save his people. He's going
to comfort. He's going to feed his people
through the preaching of the gospel. Faith believes that. Faith puts its money where its
mouth is and supports it. That's true of our money. It's
true of our time. and it's true of our talents.
Faith asks, how can I serve the Lord? Not because I'm trying
to get something from Him, but out of love. Out of thanksgiving,
how can I serve the Lord? Faith goes and does it, because
faith works by love. All right, here's the fourth
thing. God's elect are delivered by
being in Christ. Exodus 2, verse 3. And when she
could not longer hide Him, She took for him an ark of bulrushes,
and that bulrushes is papyrus, is what they used to make their
paper, you know, that they wrote on, and daubed it with slime
and with pitch and put the child therein, and she laid it in the
flags by the river's brink. Now, there are three arks mentioned
in scripture, and each one of them is a picture of salvation
that is in Christ. First, there's Noah's ark. Noah's
Ark showed that there is salvation from the destruction of God's
wrath against sin by being found in the Ark. Now that Ark that
Noah built, that he went into and God shut the door, that Ark
was Noah's substitute. God's wrath against Noah's sin
still fell from heaven, didn't it? But it didn't destroy Noah. Noah and his family didn't drown
in it. Why not? Because the Ark bore all that
wrath of God. The ark bore it all and floated
on that water and saved Noah and his family alive. Well, this
is the picture. Salvation from God's wrath against
our sin is found in one place, by being in Christ. Not being
outside of the ark, knowing how the ark was built. You know,
people like to talk about, how was the ark built? What shape was
it in? You know, knowing how it was built and knowing what
shape it was wouldn't help you one bit, would it? Salvation
is in the ark. It's in it. I could not know
how the ark was built. I could not know what shape it
is. I'd still be safe in the ark.
There's lots of things I don't understand about the deity of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't understand how he could
be made sin. I don't understand how... I just don't understand.
But I don't have to. Salvation is found in Christ.
And God's wrath, God's holy, God will punish every sin. God's
wrath against the sin of His people still falls in unmitigated
justice. But if it falls on Christ our
substitute, and we're in Him, we're safe from God's wrath.
That's what Noah's Ark is a picture of. The second ark is the Ark
of the Covenant that was in the tabernacle. The Ark of the Covenant
was a box. Inside that box, they kept the
law. Now on top of that box was a
a lid, a covering, the mercy seat. And that mercy seat was
covered with the blood of the sacrifice. Every year the high
priest went sprinkling blood on the mercy seat. And God said,
that's the place, that mercy seat, that's the place I'll meet
with men, I'll commune with men. Well, that ark is a picture of
Christ our atonement. The law is kept by the Lord Jesus
Christ. It can't be kept in our hands.
We'll do like Moses and break it every time. But the law is
kept. by the Lord Jesus Christ. And
Christ is our mercy seat. He's our propitiation. He's our
sin cover. Sin is covered and put away by
the blood of Christ. And sinners can come and meet
with God, be accepted, commune with God in one place. Just one. Christ, our mercy seat. And the
third arc is this arc that Moses' mother built. Now she couldn't
hide the baby anymore, it's three months old. So what she did is
she built an ark out of papyrus and she covered it with pitch
and with slime. And she put her baby Moses in
that ark and she set it loose among the reeds of the Nile River. She built an ark out of paper,
covered it with some junk and put it in the Nile River. The
only reason you're going to put that goodly infant in that ark,
just one reason. You believe God. It's the only
reason you do it. Moses' mother believed this is
the deliverer that God sent. And she believed God's going
to keep this baby. And by faith, she set him loose
on the Nile River. All that was done is a picture
that salvation is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses is a
baby. He can't walk around, he can't
do anything. Somebody's got to put... There's an ark. There's
an ark provided. Somebody's got to put him in
it. Moses' mother had to put him in it. For you to be saved,
God's provided the deliverer. He's provided the ark, but somebody's
got to put you in him. You're dead in sins. You can't
do it your own self. Somebody's got to put you in him. The father
did that for all of his people. He put them in Christ. And being
put in Christ means that we're immersed in Christ. So that you
don't see you in Christ. All you see, all God sees, is
Christ. If you're in Christ, God does
not see a sinner clothed in somebody else's robe. No, sir. If you're in Christ, the Father
doesn't see you in Christ. All he sees is Christ. You're
in him. You're immersed in him. And that's
the only way God can accept us. If when he sees me, he sees the
blood of the lamb. He sees me as worthy and not
as I am. He sees me in Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ keeps
his people who are in him. He keeps them eternally safe.
You're to the natural man. The Lord Jesus looked like any
other man. He looked like a common, ordinary,
poor, unimpressive man. But those who have God-given
faith, they trust all of their salvation to Him. They hang their
eternal soul on Him. So you just go ahead, put me
in that ark and put me out there in the river of time and eternity,
I'm fine with that. Because as long as I'm in Christ,
I'm safe. Here's the fifth thing, the last
thing. Faith sees God's work God worked in miraculous, astonishing
ways to accomplish his purpose. Look at verse four, Exodus chapter
two. And his sister stood afar off to wit to know what would
be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came
down to wash herself at the river and her maidens walked along
by the riverside. And when she saw the Ark among
the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had
opened it, she saw the child and behold, the babe wept. And
she had compassion on him and said, this is one of the Hebrews
children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, shall
I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women that she
may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh's daughter said,
that's a good idea. She said to her, go. And the
maid went and called her mother, called the child's mother. Pharaoh's
daughter said unto her, take this child away and nurse it
for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took
the child and nursed it. And the child grew, and she nursed
it. In verse 10, the child grew and
she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses,
drawn out. For she said, because I drew
him out of the water. Now Moses' mother put him in
this ark. And Moses' big sister stood watching. That's what big sisters do, don't
they? They got to watch everything, watch what's going on, see what's
happening. She wanted to know what's happening to her baby
brother. I bet she loved her baby brother too, don't you?
Brothers tend to not much care about baby sisters, but boy,
baby sisters care a whole lot about the next baby comes. She
cared. She loved this goodly child.
She wanted to know what happened to him. So she stood watching.
And oh, what a sight she saw. Wouldn't you know it? A crocodile
didn't come eat that baby. Didn't happen. That ark made
out of paper. Didn't sink. That ark just kind
of floated around there. It didn't get carried down the
river. It just kind of stayed right there. And somebody came
and found that baby in that ark. And opened it up and that baby
cried. And she fell in love with that baby. She knew this is a
Hebrew baby boy. She didn't throw it in the river.
She loved it. She just instantly fell in love
with this baby. And that woman is none other
than Pharaoh's own daughter. Pharaoh, who gave the order to
kill that baby, his daughter saved that baby. And Pharaoh,
Pharaoh, well, of course, I mean, Moses' sister ran to her, only
God could do this, and said, let me get you somebody to help
you with that baby, get you a nurse. And she said, yeah, yeah, that'd
be good. And she ran and got her mother.
And Pharaoh paid Moses' mother to nurse him. He paid her. She wasn't serving with rigor,
was she? He paid her to do what she loved to do anyway, take
care of this baby, feed that baby, raise this baby. And during
that time, Moses' mother taught him about the Lord. She taught
him about God's covenant. She taught him about the God
of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. I'm confident it was during
this time when she's nursing this child, raising him up, three,
four, five years old. It was during this time she told
him, Moses, you're the deliverer that God's promised. God told
us this. We see this by faith. She must
have told him that because Moses got to be about 40 years old.
We'll get to this in a week or two. You know what Moses tried
to do? I'm a deliverer. I'm going to deliver this people
by my own arm, by my own strength. Moses was a mighty man. He tried
to deliver the people by his own strength. Because Moses'
mother told him, you're the deliverer. I bet Moses was shocked when
it didn't work, don't you? And God has sent him across the
desert to sit on the backside of the mountain for 40 years,
tending sheep. He did that so long, this highly
educated man said, I've forgotten how to talk to people. I just
build my sheep. I can't talk to people. I can't deliver your
people from Egypt. I can't. All right, now you're
ready. When you can't, now you're ready. Pharaoh gave the order, this
boy be killed. And God just laughed. Not only
was Moses not killed, but Pharaoh raised this boy. Pharaoh fed
him. Pharaoh educated him. Pharaoh
taught him. Pharaoh, who was so worried about
losing his throne, God used that Pharaoh to raise up the deliverer
who would deliver the people from Egypt. What a sight Moses'
sister saw, just by standing still and watching. Now she saw
that with natural eyes. God's people see something far
greater with eyes of faith. We see all of God's purpose of
the redemption of His people fulfilled in this man, the person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We see the first Adam. We know
what he's done to us, don't we? It seems like he brought just
irreparable damage to us, death and sin that there's no cure
for. But God sent another man. He sent the second Adam, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and he undid for his people. everything Adam
did to us. And I love that the salvation
is all in Christ. I love this. Christ didn't come
and make it possible for his people to earn their own righteousness
by obeying the law. No, he obeyed it for them. He
gave them his obedience. He didn't come and make his people
able to pay for their own sin. No, he came and paid it with
his precious blood. The Savior didn't come and make
it possible for His people to give themselves life or to keep
their life. No, He came and He died to give
them His life. And He keeps them every step
of the way by His power, by His love, by the power of His grace
and causes them to be born again where they don't have to keep
themselves for one minute because they've always been kept safe
in Christ. And I tell you, you just wait.
You just wait. You keep watching. In the end,
you're going to see not one of them is missing. That every one
of them is brought safe to the Lord. The world couldn't kill
them. The world couldn't stop them. Satan couldn't take them
from Christ and he couldn't cause them to leave Christ. They're
all kept safe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way you'll
see that and have your heart thrilled by it is God given faith. If that hope of deliverance in
Christ thrills your soul. That's the evidence. God's given
you faith. Let's bow together in prayer.
Father, how we thank you for this glorious picture of deliverance
in Christ our Savior. How can we ever begin to thank
you for deliverance of sin and death and hell in our Lord Jesus
Christ? Father, I pray that you'd give
us eyes of faith to see him, that you'd give us hearts of
faith that would cling to him and believe him and rest in him.
And Father, as we rest in Christ, as our hearts are thrilled with
the thought of free salvation in him, Father, give us faith
that works. Use us in your service to the
furtherance of your gospel, we pray. We know you're going to
save your people. Father, use us to preach the
gospel. Father, we know you're going
to keep your people. You're going to feed them. You're
going to cause them to grow. You're going to do it through
the preaching of your gospel. Father, we humbly ask of grateful,
thankful hearts, Lord, use us in your service to feed your
sheep, to comfort your sheep, to help one another. Keep us
ever looking to and trusting our Lord Jesus Christ as we wait
on his return. It's in His blessed name we pray
and give thanks.