Turn to Exodus chapter 5. Who is the Lord that I should
obey Him? Here is the greatest monarch
living at that time and has absolutely No clue that the Lord even exists. Who is he? Who is there greater
than I? That's basically what he's asking.
Who is there that's greater than I? My, how damaging the fall was.
How damaging, how deadly when Adam fell. as a people that He's saving out of this
world. He chose them. Now, if you believe that God has given
you faith, that He's called you by His grace, sit down and think
about that for a while. That God Almighty, Creator of
heaven and earth, the Holy One, the one who dwells in a light
that no man can approach, to think and to believe that He
chose me to be with Him forever and ever, that I might know Him,
chose me to know Him. That's amazing. I'm telling you,
we don't, we, you know, we believe that God chose a people. We believe
the doctrine of election. But my friends, it's more than
just a doctrine. It's a reality. It is a reality. Christ said
to his disciples, you did not choose me, I chose you. One day
he walked up to that pool there in Bethesda and there was a lot
of impotent folks, a lot of crippled folks laying there. He walks
up to one crippled man, heals him, turns around and leaves. How many times has that happened
over and over when the Lord picks one out of a congregation and
reveals Himself? You know, I remember 30-some
years ago here listening to Henry on television, and the place
I was going did not want to hear what I had to say after I heard
the gospel, after I learned the gospel. You know, I had to leave
that place. Of course, that place now doesn't
even exist. They shut the doors on it. But it amazes me when
I look back over my life that one day God called me by His
grace, picked me out of that congregation where I was at,
brought me to hear the gospel, and then shut the doors on that
place. It's amazing. If we can get over that, there's
a problem. There's a problem if we ever get over that. But
God has a people. He's saving out of this world.
He chose them, redeemed them. They are His. They are His possession. In one
place here, He called Israel, He said, Let My son. He called
Israel His son. Israel is My son. Look over in Isaiah 43. Look in verse 21. This people have I formed for
myself. I made them for myself. They
shall show forth my praise. I created them. They are mine.
You're mine. But God's people, the ones whom
He has chosen, redeemed, called our people under bondage. That's how we come into this
world. We come into this world under bondage. Under bondage
to sin, Satan, Prince of Darkness, and the law. But now listen, God's going to
have His people. God will have His people. Nothing
or no one can stop him from having his own. Pity the man or the
nation that tries to stand between God
and his people. Listen to this. I marked this
up here just a little bit ago. Over here in Isaiah. Let me read
it to you. I have it marked. He says in
verse 3, For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom. Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord
that I should obey him, that I should let his people, this
people go, Israel, that I should let him go? I don't know who
he is, and I'm not going to let him go. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Sheba for thee. I gave these nations for my people. Pity the man or the nation that
tries to stand between God and his elect. Now verse 1, Moses and Aaron
go to Pharaoh and say, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel." And
they don't say it apologetically either. These two men are ambassadors. They are the Lord's ambassadors.
And they walk into Pharaoh's court. No doubt Pharaoh probably
invited them in. He probably heard of Moses and
he knew the story of Moses. So they go in and Moses says,
Thus saith the Lord God, Jehovah, God of Israel, let my people
go, that they may hold a feast unto
me in the wilderness." Now we know that the children of Israel
are going to leave Egypt and they are going to worship God
on Mount Sinai because God told Moses they were going to do this.
Then why did Moses ask for three days journey knowing they were
not coming back? Knowing they're not coming back.
Well, I believe he did it for this reason. I believe the Holy
Spirit moved him to ask for this reason to show how unreasonable
Pharaoh was. That he would not even allow
them to go for a three day journey and worship their God. He wouldn't
allow that. He wouldn't even allow them three
days off. I ain't going to allow them three days off. He said,
I'm not going to do that. This shows how unreasonable unreasonable
he is or was. And this also shows how much
Satan fights to keep anyone from worshiping the true God of heaven
and earth. It's a warfare. It's a battle. I'm going to read a scripture
to you here in a little while and show you this. Now, Pharaoh says
to Moses and Aaron there, who is the Lord? Who is the Lord,
the Lord God of Israel? And, you know, he has to be thinking
of Israel. They are my slaves. They are
under my thumb and they've been that way for 400 years, they've
been the subjects of Egypt for 400 years. And all of a sudden,
Moses walks in and he says, the Lord God of Israel. And he looks
at Israel and he thinks, who is he to be afraid of? Look at these people. They're
under my thumb. Who is the Lord that I should
obey His voice to let Israel Go, I know not the Lord. I know
not who this one whom you're speaking of. Neither will I let
them go. Pharaoh did not know the Lord
God of Israel. He's right. He's right. I don't know him. You're right.
You don't know him. You're going to, but. I tell you what, he
knows him now. I say this was with fear and
trembling. That's been 4,000 years ago.
There were 2,000 years from Adam to Moses, 2,000 from Moses to
Christ, 2,000 from Christ to now. It's been about 2,000 years. For the last 4,000 years, roughly,
that man has been in torment. He's alive just as alive as I
am right now. Who is the Lord? that I should
obey Him. I pray God give us grace and
mercy to obey Him now, to find out who He is now. That man is
still in torment and will ever be. It will never stop. Never. He did not know the God of Israel. No one knows who the Lord is
apart from a revelation of God. Who, by searching, can find out
God? That's what it says over in the
book of Job. Who, by searching, unless he
reveals himself, you can search all you want. If he's not leading the search,
you'll search in all the wrong places. Guaranteed. But who by
searching, here's what he says, who by searching can find out
God? No one. God must reveal Himself. He must
make Himself known. He must do that. No man knows
the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will
reveal Him. God cannot be known unless He
makes Himself known. As he reveals himself to you,
to your heart. The knowledge of God was lost
in the fall. Not long after the fall, man
went into idol worship. Idol worship. Birds and beasts. You know, there was over 80 gods
in Egypt that they worshipped. They had them written down. They
had in a book written down all these gods that they worship.
And of course, when they opened their book, Pharaoh could have
took that book and opened it up and said, now, wait a minute,
who is the Lord? He's not in this book. He's in this book.
But I'm talking about the book they had written. He could look
in their book and say, now, his name's not in here. I don't we
don't know this one. That's what Paul when he went
to Athens, they had that altar built to the unknown God, just
in case we missed one. just in case one shows up that
we don't know of. They worship flies, the god of
the flies, the god of lice, cats, dogs, the hawk, the snake. They had a serpent on their crown.
They worshiped over 80 gods. And he says, who is the Lord
that I should obey him? We don't know this one. He's
not in our book. Even as enlightened as men are
in this day, they still worship idols. They still worship idols. No amount of secular education
can bring you to a true knowledge of God. No amount of any education can
bring you to a true knowledge of God. Now, we teach these children
here in the Bible class, Frank teaches the Bible class out here.
But if that is all that happens, we'll die lost. God must reveal
Himself. He must reveal Himself. He must
make Himself known. Here's the question. Who is the
Lord? Who is the Lord? He is the self-existent One,
Jehovah. No one whittled this God out. They could take their gods, which
were many, and they could go to different places, and here's
one whittled out here, and here's one whittled out here, and we've
got it set on the shelf here and there. No one whittled this
God out. No one came up with this God.
This God, Jehovah, is self-existent. He derives his life, power, existence
from no one. He said, I am that I am. I am that I am. He's the only
true God. He's the only God there is. There
is only one God. Only one. And He's the Lord God of Israel. He's the Creator. It says in
Isaiah 40, 28, Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard? That the everlasting God, the
Lord, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, face not,
neither is weary. There's no searching of His understanding.
He's the Creator. He's the one who spoke, the Lord
God of Israel, the one saying, let my people go, is the one
who created all of this. Pharaoh, I suggest you let him
go. I suggest you let him go. The one who gives you your breath,
the one whose air you breathe. That's who the Lord God is. He says in Romans. Chapter 1,
verse 25, who changed the truth of God into a lie, that's what
Paul says, and they worshipped and served the creature more
than the Creator, who's blessed forever. Peter said, wherefore let them
that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping
of their souls to Him and well-doing as unto a faithful Creator. Who is the Lord? He's the Creator. He's the Creator. He's also the Sovereign. There's
only one Sovereign. Pharaoh thought he was it. In
fact, the Pharaohs believed, at least the people did, and
they did too, I'm sure they did too, that they were of divine
origin. He's just a man. He's just a
fallen son of Adam that God that God used at that time to make
His power known to His people. He's just a pawn on a chess board.
That's all He was. God is the Sovereign. Listen
here in Daniel chapter 4, verse 34 and 35. At the end of the
days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, this is the one who walked out on
the porch, looked out over his kingdom, popped his suspenders,
And he said, man, look what I've done. Look what I have created. And God put that old boy out
to pasture. At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up mine eyes to heaven, and mine understanding returned
unto me. Standing out there in the pasture,
looking around, and one day, his understanding returned. His
fingernails had grown like eagles, claws, hair, he was a mess. And
God gave him his understanding. Can you imagine when his understanding
returned to him? What he saw, what he realized?
Well, he gives us here what he realized. He said, and my understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised
and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation,
and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing
Absolutely nothing. You take all the hot shots in
the world, and they are absolutely nothing. They impress us, but
they don't impress God. Nothing. And He doeth according to His
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest
thou? What do you think you're doing? Job said, it's written in Job,
he gives no account of any of his matters. He doesn't answer to me and you,
or to none of his creation. He doesn't answer. It's written
in Job, but he is in one mind, and who can turn him? And what
his soul desires, even that he doeth. Who is the Lord? Pharaoh. He is the true sovereign. He's the sovereign. For Solomon said over in Ecclesiastes
8, Be not hasty to go out of his sight, stand not in an evil
thing, for he doeth whatsoever pleases him." He is the Sovereign. Who is the Lord? He is the King
of kings and Lord of lords. Pharaoh, the Lord is your king. He's your king. He's the king
of kings. He's the one who put you on the throne. Look over
in Revelation 19. And he knows that now, but now
is too late. In Revelation 19. Look in verse 11, And I saw heaven
opened, and, behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him
was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth
judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And
the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth
goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations,
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he
hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of
kings and Lord of lords." Who is the Lord? That's who He is. He's the King of kings and Lord
of lords. He's the Lord of hosts, it says
over in Psalm 24. Who is the Lord? He's that Galilean. He's the Creator. He's the sovereign,
he's the king, he's that Galilean that was despised and rejected
of men who is right now seated at God's right hand ruling and
reigning all things. That's who he is. He's the Redeemer
of Israel. He is the God of Israel. In verse
3 he calls him the God of the Hebrews. At that time Pharaoh
looked at those Hebrews and no doubt he thought, what do I have
to be afraid of? If he's the God of the Hebrews,
look at him. He found out different though,
didn't he? And note the arrogance of this
man. Who is the Lord that I should
obey him? Pharaoh thought there was none
greater than he. And that's exactly the feeling
of human nature. There's no one better than me.
I can assure you no one thinks more highly of me than me. That's
Pharaoh. That's human nature. That's what
we think by nature now. You just let somebody cross you
and it comes out. That's what he felt. They said
when he came, our Lord came into this world, they said we will
not Have this man reign over us. Pharaoh says, who is the
Lord that I should obey him, that I should bow down to him? Who is he? He's God. He's the only God there is. But
it's a good question. It's still a good question. I thought, do you? Do I? Truly, truly. know the Lord,
do I? Do I know Him in such a way that
I truly bow down and worship Him? Those who know Him obey Him. If you keep my commandments,
then are you my disciples indeed. How can I know the Lord? How
can I know the Lord? First of all, we can know Him
by His Word. He's given us His Word. As we
looked at it, I believe it was Sunday night, this is the living
Word. This is the Word of God. This is the living Word of God. He has revealed Himself in His
Word. He sent His preachers, He sent His prophets. We can know Him through His Son. Look over in Hebrews chapter
1. How can I know Him? Through His Word, through the
preaching of His Word, His preachers. by his Spirit revealing the Lord Jesus Christ. Look here in Hebrews chapter
1. God who at sundry times and in
doubters manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, he said the prophets, and he spoke through them to
the fathers, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. by His Son. I can know the Lord
through His Word, through the preaching of His Word by His
prophets, and by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, revealing
the Father. No man knows the Father save
the Son, and He, to Whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. The Lord can be known, and He
is to be known. It says in John 17 And this is
life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." He can be known, and He is to
be known, and He will be known. He will be known by His people.
He will make Himself known to His people. And here, listen
to the command here. The Lord's command here. Not
at request. He says, let my people go. Kings
don't make requests. Wouldn't you go up and ask faith?
Isn't that the way it's preached today? Won't you accept Jesus
as your personal Savior? Won't you let Him do something? Moses goes in there and he said,
the Lord God of Israel said, let my people go. This is a command. How many times
in the Gospel Did the Lord cast out a devil? Did you ever see one say, No,
I'm not going. No! Did you ever see one refuse and the Lord
could not cast him out? He said, Let my people go. When he commands deliverance,
it's going to happen. And it's going to happen in his
time, and it's going to happen in a way that glorifies him.
And it's always going to be through the gospel of Christ, always.
But when he says, let my people go, let my son go, let my daughter
go, I'm telling you, they're going to go free. For whom the
Son sets free, he's free indeed. Now, he says, let my people go.
This is a supposed bondage. This opposes bondage. God's people
are in bondage. Every one of them, when they
come into this world, come into this world in bondage. They are
enslaved. We see a picture of it here with
the children of Israel under Egypt. What a picture. What a
picture for us. What are we in bondage to? Sin,
Satan, and the law. We have a sinful nature. Try
to get rid of it. Get rid of it. Dare you. Try.
You can't. You cannot not sin. It's like trying not
to breathe. How long can you hold your breath?
You cannot not sin. We have a nature that just...
That's just impossible not to sin that we're born with. And
it will not let us go. And until God saves us, we don't
want to let it go. That's the sad part. We don't
want to let it go. And then Satan has us under his
power until the Lord breaks it. Listen to this scripture. In
Ephesians 2. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world." You're just like the
world, part of it. According to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience at one time worked in you and me. It worked in us. The spirit of disobedience. Says over in Luke, now listen,
this is what I told you I was going to read you. The devil
doesn't give up. Satan doesn't give up without a fight. And
as he was yet coming, the devil threw him down and tear him. He was going to try to destroy
him right there. And Jesus rebuked the unclean
spirit, stopped him. He stopped him. He rebuked the
unclean spirit and healed the child and delivered him again
to his father. Satan doesn't want to give up
without a fight. He was going to destroy that young boy. And then we're under bondage
to the law. The law has a rightful claim on us. Go out here and
break the law and see if it doesn't have a rightful claim on you.
It does. It has a rightful claim on our
obedience. We are in bondage to it by nature
as Israel was to Pharaoh. You'll notice two things back
over here in Ephesians chapter, Exodus chapter five. You're going
to notice that they are commanded to do something that they were
totally incapable of doing. And at the same time, they were
absolutely responsible to do it. They couldn't. Listen to this. Listen to the
law. Here, Pharaoh commanded them to make bricks without straw. They were to go out and find
straw for themselves to make bricks, but all they could come
up with was stubble. That's all they could find. The
law demands perfection, but all we can come up with is sin. That's
all. But listen to these scriptures.
And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many,
and you make them rest. You see, man's religion is work. It's all built on works. He said,
and you're making them to rest. And as I told you, that has the
same meaning as over in Genesis chapter two, when God rested
the seventh day. You can't do that. You can't
do that. Man's religion doesn't allow
rest. The law does not allow rest. The law will not give you
rest. And Pharaoh commanded the same
day the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, You
shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore. Let them go and gather straw
for themselves, and the tail of the bricks which they did
make heretofore you shall lay upon them. You shall not diminish
ought. The law demands perfection. It
demands it of us. Can you give it? No. No. He said, They be idle, therefore
they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let there
more work be laid upon the men that they may labor therein,
and let them not regard vain. words. Salvation by grace alone, in
Christ alone, is nothing but vain words to false religion. That's all it is. Vain, empty
words. That's all it is. The gospel
is seen as vain words to false religion. But now listen. The law knows nothing of mercy, only obedience. Pharaoh, he's
the law. What he says goes. He says, you
don't diminish one brick. And he held them responsible.
He held them responsible. The law does not provide what
it demands. It doesn't provide it. The law
says drive 65, but it doesn't provide the ability to me to
drive 65. And I don't know why. Well, I
know why. It's just in us to do 70. If
it said 85, we'd do 90. It is just bred into us to break
the law because we can't keep it. We just can't keep it. It does not provide what it demands.
You have to provide it and you better not come up short or you're
going to be beaten. That's right, look what happened
to them. They're in verse 14 and 16. He says in verse 16,
you make brick and behold, thy servants are beaten. They're
beaten. Cruel taskmaster, tough taskmaster. But the fault's not in the law,
is it? Paul said the law of God is good.
We know this and we know that the law of God is good. It's
perfect. The fault's in us. The fault's that we can't do
it. We can't do it. It does not matter if you don't
like it. It doesn't matter if you don't
like the law. You can not like it. It's not going to change.
The law is the law. You tell a police officer, I don't like
this. I don't like this law. I don't like it, seek that law.
Well, here's your ticket. Tell it to the judge. The law
is the law, whether you like it or not. Paul said, Who art
thou to reply against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him who formed it, who made it? Why'st thou made me thus? Why? Who am I to question God with
my limited Understanding? My puny understanding? I question
God? He says there in verse 15, Then
the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh,
saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? There
is no straw given unto thy servants. And they say to us, Make brick,
and behold, thy servants are beaten. But the fault is in thine
own people. But he said, If you are idle,
you are idle. Therefore, you say, let us go
and do sacrifice to the Lord. Go now and work. He didn't try
to justify himself, did he, Pharaoh? He said, I'm the boss. I'm Pharaoh. Now, I say, go do this. You go do it. Now, listen, when
God's law tells us to do, it's right. It's right. It's perfect. It's perfect. But Pharaoh here, he says, now
you go and work, for there shall no straw be given you. You're
just idle. He didn't want those people to
rest. The law won't let you rest. And
false religion will not let you rest. Only Christ gives rest. Only
Christ. And the officers of the children
of Israel did see that they were in evil case after it was said,
Ye shall not minish from your bricks of your daily task. When
the Lord gives us light, then we see that we are in a bad situation,
a bad, bad situation, bad case, because the law will not accept
anything less than perfect obedience, no matter how much whining we
do, is not going to change. Boy, when we see that, when we
see that, that's when you flee to Christ. That's when you flee
to Christ. Is there hope for such a people? Is there hope for such a people? The Lord said, let My people. There's my hope, my people. Go. Our God is our deliverer. God, David says, has become my
salvation. He's become my salvation. You
see, this is the gospel message. The law says do. The gospel message
says set them free. It's already been done. It's
over. It's finished. When we come to
the end of all self-help, when we come to see that we are in
an evil case, then we will see the Lord's mighty hand to save
there in chapter 6, verse 1. I close. Then the Lord said unto
Moses, this is after the children of Israel came back and they
said, Moses, you have made us You just made things worse. It
just gets worse. Then the Lord said unto Moses,
Now, now, 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. With a strong hand, he'll release
them. Go. Go. That's the gospel message. Let my people go. And when the
Lord says that, nothing can keep them. Nothing. But who is the
Lord? Pharaoh said, who is the Lord?
He said that with a lot of arrogance. I have no doubt he said that
with a lot of arrogance. Who is the Lord that I should
obey Him? I pray that we find that out
now.