I'm back to Exodus chapter 9. Exodus 9, the title of the message,
He that feared, he that feared not. He that feared and he that
feared not. We will see in these verses,
19, 20, and 21, but mostly 20 and 21. We will see how that
faith and works. Here's a good picture. It's a
real good picture of how that faith and works go together. Now that faith is manifested
by works. We'll see this. But let me read
to you over in James 2.14. James chapter 2. Let me start
reading in verse 14. There cannot be, there cannot
be true faith where there is no work or works that back it
up. Over here in James chapter 2.
What profit, in verse 14, what does it profit my brethren So
a man say he has faith and has not works, that is, he has not
works to back it up. Can faith save him? Can that
kind of faith, can that kind of faith that is void of obedience,
you know what works? It's not obedience, it's just
obedience. Can that kind of faith save him?
We know that answer, no. That's no more than the faith
of devils. If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily
food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye
warm and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things
which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Profit's
nothing, absolutely nothing. Even so, faith, that God-given
faith, if it hath not works, it's dead, it's not of God. That
faith that hath not works, it's dead. Being, listen, alone by
itself. I told you, I believe it was
Sunday, faith and repentance always go together. One is never
without the other. And faith, true God-given faith,
is never without works. It's never without it. Yea, a
man may say, thou hast faith. You have faith, I have works.
Show me thy faith without thy works, and I'll show thee my
faith by my works. Thou believest that there is
one God, thou dost well. The devils also believe, but
they tremble. They tremble. And they're still
lost. They're lost. But wilt thou know,
O vain man, faithless man, that faith without works is dead,
is dead faith? Was not Abraham our father justified
by works? Not before God, but his faith
was justified by what he did, by his works, by his actions.
When he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar, His work
proved his faith. Seest thou how faith wrought
with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the
scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God,
and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called
the friend of God. Ye see then how that by works
a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was
not Rahab the harlot justified by works? has received the messengers
and has sent them out another way. For as the body without
the spirit is dead, so faith that works is dead also. It's
not God-given faith. God-given faith is a faith that
acts upon the word of God. It is a faith that is obedient.
It is obedient to the word of God. The living word, the written
word, and the gospel message. Faith, the God-given faith, is
obedient to it, bows to it. We're going to see a good picture
of that here. Now, we're going to see in these
two verses, we're going to see the obedience of faith and where no faith is, disobedience,
did not believe. Now, the Lord said in verse 18,
Behold, tomorrow, not in the next five minutes, Oh, the mercy
of God. God is long-suffering, isn't
he? He's long-suffering. Tomorrow, about this time, I
will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not
been in Egypt since the foundation thereof, even until now. No one,
listen, no one in Egypt Not one single soul in Egypt had any
reason not to believe the Word of God, not to believe the Word
of the Lord, for He had done several things already. He did
everything He said He would do. He was faithful to do it, and
He did it when He said He would do it. No one in Egypt had any
reason not to believe the Word of the Lord. Not a person in
this room. has any reason not to leave here
believing what the Word of God says. We do not have any reason
whatsoever to leave and not believe God, not believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. We don't have any reason. We
have His Word on it. We have His Word. Not one thing failed
that God promised to do. And the gypsies knew firsthand.
They had firsthand knowledge. They were witnesses. to the power
of God, to the glory of His power. They saw it. Moses said, this
is what's going to happen. And it happened. And they felt
it. They felt it. They had seen Pharaoh
and his servants at that time that were with him. They saw
that rod that was in the hand of Moses, that Moses had brought,
cast down and it turned into a serpent, a living, real serpent. Of course, the magicians, they
threw theirs down and they turned into serpents. But Moses' serpent
ate up those serpents. They saw that. They saw that.
They saw and experienced the water being turned into blood.
The whole land of Egypt saw that one. The whole land of Egypt
experienced the frogs, the lice, and the flies. They experienced
these things. They were witnesses to these
plagues. They had no reason not to believe. I mean, from the
youngest to the oldest, every one of them had been a witness
to these things. And they knew. I believe everyone
in the land of Egypt there knew who sent those plagues. Moses
made it very clear. It was public knowledge that
the God of the Hebrews, the Lord God of the Hebrews sent these
plagues. He said, if you're going to know,
the earth is mine. He has control over all of it.
He's the sovereign. It's his. But there's one thing I want
to recognize here before I go on. Now I want to recognize the
Lord's mercy. His mercy. Don't let that pass
us by. He did not have to warn them,
did He? Actually, if you go back to,
I think this is the one place, He didn't warn them of it. I
think this is the only one. Verse 8, And the Lord said unto
Moses and Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace,
and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven and the sight of Pharaoh.
And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and
shall be a boil breaking forth with flames upon man, upon beast,
throughout all the land of Egypt. But when it came to sending fire
or hell judgment from heaven, every one of them was warned.
They were not only warned, they were given a space to get their
cattle. This is the service of Pharaoh
now, the Egyptians. God gave them a space, a space
of time to get their cattle, get their servants, and get them
into their homes. That's the mercy of God. That's
his mercy. He didn't have to do that. Listen
to this in Habakkuk. O Lord, I have heard thy speech. and was a free. O Lord, revive
thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years,
make known. In wrath, remember mercy." In wrath, remember mercy. Here,
God is about to send hell from heaven, a fire. It's going to
burn up everything that's in the field, whether it's a man,
plant, tree, whatever it is, it is going to be burnt up. But he says, tomorrow I'll do
this at this time. Now, you tell your servants to
get into the house, get their cattle put up, and they won't
die. They won't die. If they would be obedient, and
believe His Word, take Him at His Word and act upon it. That's
what faith is. Faith is taking God at His Word
and acting upon it. Which is what? To believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. To believe on Him and to follow
Him. To follow Him. If they would be obedient, believe
His word, and flee to safety, they would be saved from the
destruction of this hell, from this judgment that's going to
fall from heaven. Is this not the gospel message? You know, the Lord enables us
to preach on the radio every Saturday. And that message,
first of all, is to glorify Christ. feed His sheep and to call out
His sheep and to tell them to look to Him, to flee to the Lord
Jesus Christ. There is a place of safety. There is a place where we can
go and be safe from the judgment of God. It's not the church. It's not even the waters of baptism. It's to the Lord Himself. He is our place of safety. A man shall be as a hiding place,
it says in Isaiah, from the wind, from the storm, from the judgment
of God. A man shall be. Judgment is coming. From Genesis to Revelation, this
book declares A person, the Lord Jesus Christ, He's the Messiah,
He's the Savior, and He declared judgment's coming. All those who are in Him, there
is no condemnation. Judgment fell on Him. Everyone
outside of Him, judgment's going to fall. Judgment's going to
fall. There were some in Egypt that
believed. They feared the Word of the Lord. They'd seen enough. They'd seen
enough to fear the Word of the Lord. But there were others that
regarded not the Word. Regarded not His Word. The Word of God, the Gospel,
tells us to flee to Christ, to look to Him. Look over in Isaiah
45. And Isaiah 45 says in verse 21, Tell ye, and bring
them near, and let them take counsel together. Who hath declared
this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else beside me? a just
God and a Savior. There is none beside me. Look
unto me, and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God, and there is none else. Look to me. Let's sing that song,
Look to the Lamb of God. There's life in a look. Remember when the children of
Israel were bitten by those fiery serpents. Moses made a serpent of brass.
And he walks through the people there. And you know what he did? Did he reach down and touch them? You know what he did? He walked
through there and just said, look. Just had him to look. Just look! Look! Life in a look. Life in a look. Now, he gives the warning here
in verse 19. Sin now, therefore, and gather
thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field. For upon every
man and beast which shall be found in the field and shall
not be brought home, to everyone that is not brought home, the
hell shall come down upon them and they shall die. There's the
warning. There's the warning. Look back in verse 5. of chapter
9. And the Lord appointed a set
time. There is a set time for all this
to come to an end. I know there's many who think
we're crazy, but there is literally a set time for all of this to
end. Time shall be no more. Then he says over there in verse
14, I believe it is, I will at this time send all my plagues
upon thine heart. That set time. The set time he
spoke of over there and now he said, I will at this time send
all my plagues upon thine heart. There's a set time for all this
to happen. There is truly a time for judgment. And after that, the door of mercy
is shut. Noah was a preacher of righteousness,
it says, for 120 years. Building that ark, it says he
was a preacher of righteousness. Then God called him into the
ark, shut the door, and judgment fell. And don't you know, Don't
you know those who were close by were clinging on to that ark? I have no doubt they were clinging
on to that ark as long as they could cling on. But I tell you
this, it's not hanging on to the outside, it's being in Christ.
It's not hanging on to a profession. It's being possessed of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That salvation, being possessed
of Him. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Not Christ about us. He said
to that one young man, He asked what he must do, and the Lord
told him. And the Lord said, Thou art not far from the kingdom
of God. But you know, not far is not
in. It's not in. When he rises up to shut the
door, he said, when he shuts, no man can open it. No man can
open it. So the Lord, here in verse 19,
He gives a space here of warning for them to flee. God does not
take pleasure in the death of the wicked. He doesn't take pleasure
in these things. Listen to this verse in Ezekiel
18, 32. For I have no pleasure in the
death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God. Wherefore, turn
yourselves and live. Turn and live. He said, I take
no pleasure in the death of him that dies. Turn and live. Scott said this. I love this. Why will you die when the water
is so close by? Isn't that good? Why will you
die when the water is so close by? The word of God is full of warnings.
You have the ark and the days of Noah. Christ wept over Jerusalem. He said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
how often would I have gathered you together as a hen to gather
her brood, and you would not. He wept over Jerusalem, but you
would not. He was obstinate, wanted nothing
to do with Him. What about Calvary? Oh, the judgment
of God fell on His own son. God spared not His own son. And he sure spared a lot in him,
son. He sure spared a lot that were
in him. But he didn't spare him. He took
the full blow of God's wrath. Now, he that feared, verse 20,
he that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh
made his servants. Oh, I would like to have him
as a master. Those who were spared went into
the house. I bet when that was over, they
were thankful they had this guy's master that feared the word of
the Lord. He made his servants and his cattle flee into the
houses that were feared. That means
set his heart to it. That's what it means. He set
his heart to it. When they heard the word of the
Lord, they believed it. They believed that this was going
to happen. When they heard that hell was
going to fall from heaven, and all this was going to be burned
up, and the cattle and the men, some of those Egyptians who owned
servants, they said, get out of the field. Get out of the
field. Get into the houses. This is
going to happen. They feared the word of the Lord. They feared the word of the Lord.
They gave heed to it. Our Lord says this in Mark 4,
24. And he said unto them, Take heed
what you hear. In another place, take heed how
you hear. Take heed what you hear tonight.
I need to take heed what I'm saying. Oh, this is the most
important, most serious thing we'll ever do right now. Ever
do. Take heed what you hear. With
what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you. And unto
you that hear shall more be given. Now, he's back there in that
verse. It says, He that feared the word
of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants
and his cattle flee to the house. The first time this is used,
that is, the word of the Lord, is in Genesis 15.1. Let's look
at that first time. What is it to fear the word of
the Lord? Whatever it is, I want to do
it. Whatever it is, I want to do it. I want God to give me
that fear of the Lord. It says in Genesis 15-1, after
these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision. Now that's more than just something
audible, isn't it? That's more than something just
a voice, hearing just an audible voice. That's a person who came
to him. saying, Fear not, Abraham, I
am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. But the word of
the Lord came to him." That person right there is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Turn over to John chapter 1,
the Gospel of John. I know you know this one. In the beginning, in verse 1,
John chapter 1, the Gospel of John, in the beginning was the
word And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word
was God. You see, Christ is the Word of
God. He's the living Word of God.
And then we have the written Word of God. This is God's Word
that we have right here. This is His Word. And then we
have the gospel message. And he that feared. This is not a slavish fear. He
that had awe and respect for the living Word, the written
Word, and the spoken Word, obeyed. Obeyed. He that feared the Word
of the Lord, listen, acted on it. Acted on it. As I said in the beginning of
this message, faith and works always go together. They always
go together. What we do, now listen to this.
What we do is really what we believe and who we believe. It's what we do. That's us. That proves who we
believe as well as what we believe. He that does not believe will
not regard the word of the Lord. Works are the evidence of true
God-given faith. And he that regarded not the
word of the Lord, verse 21, and he that regarded not the word
of the Lord, left his servants and his cattle in the field. Now, the word regarded means
set not his heart to it. Over here in the margin, that's
what it says. He set not his heart to it. The word of God
did not enter his heart. It did not penetrate the heart.
First thing, I thought it was a stony ground here. No penetration. No, listen, no
regard, no fear of the Word of God. They said, oh, that's not going
to happen. That is not going to happen. You know, the frogs,
we just had an overabundance of frogs. The lice. The flies, they had, I was reading
one part that said at one time of year they were covered up
with flies and a lot of insects at one particular time of year.
That's why they would pray to the god Beelzebub, which is the
god of the fly, to make them go away. Of course, they're going
to go away anyway if they just wait long enough, but they were
superstitious. They were just superstitious.
So they just made a garden and prayed to it. And then when they
went away, they gave the glory to that piece of wood. They just waited until they went
away. You know, you'd think sooner or later they would remember
they'd go away about this time of year anyway. They'd come this
time of year and they'd go away at this time. He regarded, they regarded, or
he regarded not the word of the Lord. It didn't enter his heart. Let me give you some words. I
didn't write down all the scriptures that go with this, but just let
me give you some words that this word regard is translated into. These are other words that mean
the same thing as this word regard. It means to care. They cared not for the Word of
God. Those who feared the Word of
the Lord cared for it. They wanted to hear it. When they heard it, they paid
attention. And it penetrated. They believed it. But these here
that regarded not, they didn't care for it. It meant nothing
to them. It also means this, the same
over in Isaiah. Comfort. Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people. Those who feared the word of
God found comfort. Do you find comfort in this?
Do you find comfort in the word of God? Do you find comfort in
the living word? Do you find comfort in the written
word? Do you find comfort in the preaching
of the gospel? Or does it not comfort you at
all? Those who regarded not found no comfort. No comfort. It also means this, consent.
Consent. And these all have scriptural
references, but it's too much time. But consent. You give consent to the Word
of God. You that fear the Word of the Lord, you give consent
to it. And those who do not, they don't give any consent to
it at all. Not a lot. It also means this. Consider. Consider. Those who fear the
word of the Lord, consider what's said. You will tonight consider what's
been said, what you have read. You'll consider it. Those who
fear not will forget it. You'll just forget it. It means courageous. Courageous. It means friendly. It means a kind disposition,
a kindly disposition. Willingly, thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power. And in the Proverbs, in different
places, it means to regard, it means to understand, it means
to have wisdom. You understand the gospel. I've
said that several times standing here. You understand the gospel
when you hear it. Some of those servants, some
of those men, especially who had servants, when they heard, they feared. They feared the
Word of the Lord. They knew it was going to happen.
They believed it. And they said, get out of the
field. Get out of the field. Now, is our heart set on the
Word of God or not? Is it set on the Word of God or not? It
will be evidence of what we do. In our everyday life, walking,
talking, it will be evidence. If the Word of God, if our heart
is set on the Word of God, it will be evidence. If we truly
believe that Jesus Christ is all my wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, if He's all my life, He's all
our life, it'll be proved or disproved by what we do. It will be. I will either flee
to Christ for safety, and I will continue to flee to Christ, I'll
continue to follow Christ, or I will adore the Word of God
and perish. It'll be one or the other. One or the other. Now, what is the difference between
him that feared and him that feared not? What's the difference? Grace. What's the difference
that you're here, you have an interest in the Word of God?
You fear the Word of the Lord. And there are many who have nothing
to do with it. What's the difference? Grace. Grace. It's the grace of God
that makes us to differ. Let me close by reading to you
Malachi chapter 3. In verse 16, you see, here's evidence of them
that feared the Lord, the word of the Lord. Then they that feared
the Lord spake often one to another. I wonder what they were speaking
of. Him. Him. And the Lord hearkened
and heard it. And a book of remembrance was
written before him of them that feared the Lord and that thought
David said, I meditate on the night and day. I meditate on
thy Word. That thought upon his name. And
they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when
I make up my jewels. And I will spare them as a man
spares his own son that serves him. Then shall ye return and
discern between the righteous and the wicked. You can discern
between him that serves God and him that serves him not. He that feared, and he that feared
not.