that we read just a little bit
ago, David calls upon us to give praise and thanks to the Lord
our God. He says, praise ye the Lord.
Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good. For his mercy
endureth forever. Who can utter the mighty acts
of the Lord? who can show forth his praise.
And then he teaches us to do so, to give this praise and thanks
to our God, beginning with the confession of our sin, our iniquity
and our wickedness, and the confession of the sin, the iniquity, the
wickedness of our fathers. I assure you of this, you will
never confess your sin to you confess your father's sin. I
can't tell you how many times over the years I've been preaching
the gospel of God's free grace and folks go out the door just
mad. I mean mad. Mad because they
concluded. I didn't conclude. I didn't say
it. They concluded. If that's the gospel, then my
daddy was lost. My mama was lost. My grandma
was lost. And I'm not going to hear anybody tell me my daddy
was lost. I didn't tell you that. You told yourself that. But they
get mad at me because they refuse to acknowledge their father's
sin. And in refusing to do so, they refuse to acknowledge their
own sin. But the confession of sin that
David leads us to make begins strangely. He begins with what
Ruth just saying to us about he begins not with open acts
of unbelief Rebellion ungodly behavior Idolatry or even the
very horrible thing of sacrificing their sons and daughters to idols
Rather the psalmist was inspired of God to make this confession
Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They remember
not the multitude of thy mercies. Now, remember what this psalm
is talking about. It's talking about God bringing
Israel out of Egypt. And now they've come to the Red
Sea. How long ago was that? That was last night. That was
last night. They came out of Egypt and God
brought them to the Red Sea. And they come to the Red Sea
and Pharaoh and his armies are pursuing them. And they forgot
all the wonders God performed in Egypt. They remembered not all that
God had done for them in the land of Egypt. They failed to
remember God's mercy upon them in the land of Egypt. The fact
is, failure to remember what God has done for us, failure
to remember, failure to constantly keep in mind, failure to constantly
hold fast in our hearts, God's wonders in Egypt leads to nothing
but unbelief, rebellion, love of the world, ungodly behavior,
leanness of soul. The greatest preservative of,
and the greatest inspiration for, consecration to our God
is the constant remembrance of his wonders in Egypt. The constant remembrance of what
God has done for us, is doing for us, and shall do for us. What God has done in us is doing
in us and shall do in us. The remembrance of all his providence
and of all his grace. Friday night, brother Bill Eldridge
went up with me to Pikeville and Dingus this week. Friday
night after the services, he asked me a question. About the
wood, hay, and stubble Paul mentions in first Corinthians three. The apostle tells us that we
build on the foundation of Christ's crucified gold, silver, and precious
stones. We, we, we build God's church
with the preaching of the gospel. Other folks built on wood are
built with wood, hay, and stubble. And the word hay and stubble
is all just to be burned. It's just to be burned. One of
the benefits that has been true with regard to the conferences
we host here every year, and I pray will be true in the future,
is helping to solidify both churches and preachers in this business
of preaching the gospel of God's free grace. Now, let me tell
you something that most preachers don't recognize, and most of
the folks that preach to don't recognize. Preaching works. Preaching works. Preaching the
gospel works. Because most preachers and most
churches and most folks who profess faith in the gospel don't recognize
that they do a lot of stuff with wood, hay, and stubble. I'm going
to be specific and clear. You pick up papers, bulletins
that you get from folks, you hear conversations with family.
What do churches do? What do preachers talk about?
What do they talk about? The series that really interests
folks. I mean the things that'll bring them out. They'll bring
them out on Saturday morning or Monday night. Things that'll
bring folks out. Well, let's see, they have discipleship
courses, and courtship courses, and marriage courses, and husband
and wife courses, and raising children courses, and family
courses, and stewardship courses, and soccer teams, and softball
teams, and tennis teams. In fact, let's build an addition.
Let's not build us a house of worship. Let's build us a family
center. And we'll put ping pong tables
and pool tables in there. That'll get folks to come. That'll
get them to come. And it's exciting. And folks
have fun. And they like it that way. And
when they're not expecting it, once in a while, we'll slip in
a little religion. When they're not expecting it, once in a while,
we'll slip in a little gospel preaching. And folks, they'll
come, and maybe the Lord will use that. Wood, hay, and stumple. What motivates God's people? What motivates God's saints?
What motivates believers to give themselves relentlessly to the
Redeemer? What motivates you? Answer the
question honestly, and you'll find out a lot about yourself.
What motivates you in the things of Christ? That which motivates
God's people. That which inspires in God's
people, consecration to the Redeemer is the remembrance of mercy. The preaching of the gospel is
the instrument God has ordained for the saving of his elect.
And it is the instrument God has ordained for the comfort
of His saints. And the instrument God has ordained
for the edifying of the body of Christ and the preaching of
the gospel is the business of God's church. Now, I want this
morning to speak to you about wonders in Egypt. That's the
title of my message. Tuesday night, if you were here,
you'll remember I preached to you about God's wonders in the
land of Ham, showing you how that those wonders portray God's
works of providence and grace in this world. Want to return
to the same subject this morning? Wonders performed by our God
in Egypt and show you from the scriptures how that those wonders
performed in Egypt demonstrate and typify that which God is
doing in the world and to the world and for his people for
the salvation of his elect all the time in all the ages of time. So that as you live in this world,
as I live in this world, may God give us grace ever to recognize
this is the finger of God. Whatever comes to pass, this
is the finger of God. God did this. There's no other
explanation for it. God did this. And for the believer,
for the believer, for the believer, there should never need to be
any other explanation for anything. God did this. Oh, what peace
that would give us. What joy, what comfort that would
give us in the midst of every difficulty, in the midst of every
confusion, in the midst of every heartache. God did this for us,
for the saving of our souls and the glory of his name. Now let's
look at Exodus chapter 3 verses 19 and 20. The Lord God, our savior, the
Lord Jesus, the angel of the Lord, the triune Jehovah speaks
to Moses and says, I am sure that the king of Egypt will not
let you go. No, not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand
and smite Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in the midst
thereof. And after that, he will let you
go. God the Holy Ghost tells us that
it was because our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt that
they provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea. And for
that reason, because they lusted after Egypt, God gave them their
request and sent leanness to their souls. They did remember. God's covenant being fulfilled
in their experience. The covenant God made with Abraham
400 years earlier. They now came to enjoy in the
sweet experience of his fulfillment and they forgot that. They didn't
remember how God separated the precious from the vile, how God
put a difference between Egypt and Israel by all the wonders
he performed in his providence. They forgot those providential
judgments by which God hardened Pharaoh's heart and hardened
the hearts of the Egyptians and brought to them at last damnation
and at the same time showed mercy to Israel. God sent lice in Egypt
and there were none in Goshen. God sent darkness in Egypt and
there was none in Goshen, just light. God in all those judgments
made a clear distinction between Israel and Egypt. They didn't
remember God's special protection. They didn't remember, they didn't
remember the lamb. Roasted with fire They had eaten
the night before The blood the night before they'd put on their
doorpost in little the blood in the lamb Christ our Redeemer. They didn't remember Just the
next day Just the next day Failure to observe and remember those
things led Israel to unbelief and revolt for God sent leadeness
to their souls. Oh my God, help me to remember your wonders
in Egypt. Every day, every hour, every
minute of every day till I take my last breath, that I may relentlessly
give myself to you. Help me to remember your wonders
in Egypt performed for my soul that I may relentlessly give
myself to you. Do you remember my brother, my
sister? Do you remember how excited you
were with devotion and consecration to the Redeemer, and the worship
of God, and the hearing of His Word, and the reading of His
Word, and the singing of His Word. Do you remember how that
you could, you'd sing, love lifted me, amazing grace in your heart. You felt like you could just
leap through the clouds. Do you remember? Because grace
so fresh in your soul and so fresh in your heart, nothing
else seemed to come to your mind. That's exactly how I pray God
will give me grace today to remember his wonders in Egypt for my soul. Remember those things that were
plagues upon the Egyptians. The Lord tells us in Psalm 105
were works performed by which he brought judgment to Egypt
and brought deliverance to Israel. Those things done in the world
were done for God's people, though against the nations of the world.
It is natural in the tendency of man's thinking. to look upon
things like earthquakes and tornadoes, pestilence and drought and hurricanes
and disease and tsunamis as terrible as those things are and look
at them. So those, the only way you can explain it is just a
freak accident of nature. Or if you like to be more intellectual,
you can say because folks use too much hairspray and it's messing
up the atmosphere. wage war, nation against nation,
when terrorists attack a people or a nation. We become angry
and want to retaliate against the enemy. And such retaliation
for a nation is both demanded and just. But if anyone should
dare to suggest that the hand of God did this, the hand of
God is in these hands. These things are acts of divine
judgment. These things are acts of divine
judgment. Everybody says he's a bigot. Everybody says he's just a religious
fanatic. He's a religious fool. Now hear
me and hear me well. Hear me and hear me well. And
I'll show it to you from this book. Every calamity, every war,
every time of pestilence, flood, hurricane, sickness and death
is the hand of God in judgment. Whether it's in your family or
in mine, it's the hand of God in judgment. by which God Almighty
warns men of judgment to come and calls sinners to bow before
him in repentance and by which God gives comfort to his people
for God is telling us now is our salvation nearer than when
it first began. Understand this, men and women
why they tip their head toward God as a deity of some kind and
acknowledge that God is and say, well, I believe in a God. And
folks say, oh, he's so religious. He believes in a God. There's
his stump. He got a little one, but it's
got diamonds on it. He can carry it around in his pocket. He believes in
a God. He's so religious. They tip their
hat toward God, acknowledge some kind of a deity, and folks think
that's wonderful. But the reason for doing so,
is they deny God's hand in everything. They deny God's hand in everything
because denying that God rules the universe is exactly the same
thing as denying that God is. Denying that God rules the universe
is exactly the same thing as denying that God is. And when
you say God didn't have anything to do with that, God didn't have
anything to do with that, God didn't have anything to do with that,
God didn't have anything to do with that, that's the devil's stuff, that's man's evil
doing that, that's because we don't respect this and don't
respect that. It's men trying to silence the voice of God in
their own consciences and it won't work. It won't work. Let us ever pray for grace that
we may listen for and hear God when he speaks. in providence,
in grace, by his word, by his spirit. Oh, God, make me to be
like the young child Samuel, instructed of Eli, speak, Lord,
for thy servant heareth thee. Let me hear your voice in everything
you do. Let me hear your voice in every
word in this book. Let me hear your voice when the
Word of God is proclaimed Now perhaps you're thinking brother
Don. What does all that have to do with the plagues in Egypt?
I'm glad you asked I'll give you a homework assignment. I
Suggest that sometime before you go to bed tonight Maybe this
afternoon after you get done eating lunch sit down with your
family and read together Revelation chapter 5 and read right through
chapter 11 Actually ought to read right through chapter 19,
but begin at chapter 5 and read through the book of Revelation
There, the Lord Jesus takes the seven sealed book that we saw
him take from the throne in Revelation 5. That's that book written on
the backside, sealed with seven seals, written all over. The
book that nobody could see, a book that nobody could understand,
a book nobody could open and declare what it said, except
that man who is the Lamb of God, God incarnate. He takes the book. He's got it in his hand and when
we get to chapter 10, he's opening the book He's the angel of God
Come down from heaven and it stands with that book in his
hand, but now it's it's a little book It's this great great book
What a massive volume it must be it's the book of God's eternal
purpose It contains everything that God ordained before the
world was. And everything that comes to
pass through all the ages of time. Now you imagine what size
book that'd be. That's a book that has the record
of every thought, of every human being, of every angel and every
demon, every act of man, every act of nature, every act of animals,
everything through the ages of time. Oh, what a massive book. But it's in his hand, a little
book, because it's in his hand. What a big head. And every day
he is turning the pages of the book, fulfilling his own designs. The hymn writer said, fulfilling
some bright design. Yes, bright designs. Because
even his designs of darkness and judgment, even his designs
of calamity and catastrophe, even his designs of sickness
and plague and war and darkness and death, those things, for
God's elect, are his bright designs. He always makes a distinction
between Israel and Egypt. As we come to this 10th chapter
in Revelation, six trumpets have sounded, sounding forth the gospel
of God's grace. And the seventh final trumpet
is about to sound. And just before that trumpet
sounds, John sees the final before he sees and announces the final
consummate judgment of God fall upon the earth That's just this week again brother
Don do you think that In every age, God's fixed it so that his
people always think they live in the very last day. I think
he's done exactly that. I think he's done exactly that.
And I'm confident that we live in the little season when Satan's
loosed. Now is our salvation nearer than
when we believe. Soon the Redeemer's coming. But
just before that final consummate judgment arises, John heard this. The Lord Jesus Christ appears
with one last word of warning. He stood upon the sea and upon
the earth and lifted up his hand to heaven and swear by him that
liveth forever and ever that there should be time no longer. It's as though the Lord is saying
this, no more delay, prepare to meet thy God. Why do the scriptures
speak? Christ coming as an imminent
coming. By that, so that there he is. I see him coming. I see him coming. Why does scripture speak like
that? Because he is coming right now. He's on his way here right
now. Now, it may be in God's purpose. It may be in God's wisdom. He
doesn't come for another 50 years, 100 years, 1,000 years. And there's
no indication anywhere in Scripture when He is coming. He never gives
us a hint. He will appear as a thief in
the night. But He's on His way right now. He's on His way right
now. Behold, He cometh with every
act of providence fulfilling His purpose, He's coming. so
that we should live constantly on the tiptoe of faith. The Lord's coming now. More importantly,
more importantly, more importantly, he does so that you and I living
right now may expect God, our Savior, to come and take us out
of this world before you draw your next breath. Time shall be no more. Prepare
to meet God today. Prepare to meet God today. Oh, wouldn't to God I'd live
like that. And wouldn't to God I could,
calls you to hear my voice and his spirit calls you to live
expecting to meet God today. Time shall be no more. What could be more comforting
to God's saints? And what could be more a warning
to many women who don't know God than the fact that he who
died at Calvary rules the universe. What could be more terrifying
to his enemies? What could be more comforting
to his saints? Tell me. Why will men never acknowledge
God's hand in providence? Why? Because to do so is terrifying
to them. It's terrifying to them. For
the believer, Why are the believers? Have you ever, let me ask you,
have you ever met a child of God? When you could take the
word of God and convince them. God did this. Take the word of
God. God did this. Honey, let me show
you. God did this. God did this. Have you ever found a believer
who was upset by that? Have you ever? Have you ever
found a believer who was upset by that? No, no. What can be more comforting?
He who loved me and gave himself for me at Calvary is God who
rules the universe. Skip Gladfelter, that's the most
delightful comforting thing. But for folks who don't know
God, what could be more terrifying? This is what God does in providential
judgment. He warns the wicked and comforts
his people. God speaks both in judgment and
in grace. He speaks in judgment to warn
his enemies. He speaks in grace to comfort
his people. The wonders he performed in Egypt,
in the land of Ham, the plagues he brought upon the Egyptians
were both acts of judgment to warn his enemies and acts of
mercy to comfort his people. And there's a distinct parallel
between those things and what's going on in our day. I'm often
asked, what does it take to save a center? Well, the answer is
clear. It takes God's sovereign election.
If God didn't choose you, you're not going to be saved. If God
didn't choose somebody, nobody's going to be saved. It takes sovereign
election. It takes special redemption,
blood atonement, the putting away of sin, the bringing in
of everlasting righteousness by the blood of God's Son. It
takes the special gift of God's grace, the Holy Spirit giving
us life and faith in Christ. It takes God working faith in
you. Now, I call on you to believe. I'm calling on you to believe
now. But I'm telling you, you can't believe unless God works
faith in you. You try and you try and try,
but you can't believe. Unless God works faith in you.
And if God works faith in you, you can't help believing. You
will believe. You will find yourself right
now, believing him as soon as God gives you faith. And it takes
more than that. It takes God preserving that
faith and that grace in you. And it takes more than that.
It takes all the providence. It takes everything that has
been, is now and shall be. to save all God's elect. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. 34, 35 years ago, the preacher
sitting right back there about where Brother Claus was sitting,
visiting here one morning, and he claimed to believe free grace.
And he walked out the door. I heard him say to his daughter,
He said, I don't know how he can tell me that your mama's
condition going to work together for good. He didn't say it to
me. He just said he walked out the
door side here. Let me tell you something. I don't have to know
how it works for good. It's not needful for me to know
how it works for good. Sam, it's not best for us to
know how it works for good. We don't live by faith by sight.
We live by faith And if you live by sight, you don't live by faith
If you draw your comfort from being able now I can tell you
how that did it and how that did it and how that If that's
where you find your comfort you missed it. That's not that's
not faith. That's sight We recognize that
all things work together for good to them that love god to
them who are the called according to his purpose by faith because
god said it because God said it and we believe God we believe
God now this is judgments in Egypt clearly were typical of
what God is doing throughout the ages of time they represent
God's judgment upon the world for the saving of his Israel
now when I speak the word world I'm not talking about it in the
way religious people commonly do. Don't go over there. That's a worldly place. That's
not what I'm talking about. Don't wear your sideburns down
here or cut at an angle. That's worldly. That's not what
I'm talking about. Don't go to the picture show. That's worldly.
That's not what I'm talking about. This is the world. It's the whole
world. The whole political world. The
whole civil world, the whole economic world, the whole scientific
world, the whole philosophical world, the whole educational
world, the whole political world, the world is hell-bent on the
destruction of God's people. Always has been, always will
be. You know, well, I sure wish we
lived back in the days when godly folks read things. I wish you'd
find me those days. The world has always been hell-bent
on the destruction of God's people, just as much so as the Saul of
Tarsus was when God saved him by his grace. The world hell-bent
on the destruction of the very idea of God. And Moses was sent
by the angel of the Lord to proclaim and accomplish redemption, the
deliverance of Israel by the hand of God. Now God shows us
these acts of judgment in Egypt. These acts of judgment, all those
things brought against the Egyptians. by which he both preserved and
distinguished Israel, and by which at last he brought Israel
out of Egypt. And those things are but representations
of God's providence all the time. They are not successive dispensations
of time. If you've got one of those Schofield
Bibles that says that, I suggest you burn your Schofield Bible
and get you a good one. It's not representative of those successive
dispensations of time. No, no, no. Rather, they are
judgments that are parallel events, parallel events of providence
occurring throughout history, from the first advent of our
Redeemer to his glorious triumphant last advent as the Egyptians
Slaughtered Israelite babies the world persecutes and murders
God's people as the Egyptians imposed economic hardships on
Israel forcing them into slavery Requiring the Jews to provide
straw to make bricks for them. So the world ever imposes upon
God's people a their notions, ideas, hardships, seeking to
enslave God's church to its philosophies, to its customs, and to its obscenities. Why do you suppose, why do you
suppose the Presbyterian Church, not just picking on them, badness
too, why do you suppose in the last Let's see, it started in
1968, best I remember. They started having the debate
about having women deacons and women preachers. Why do you suppose
they did? What do you reckon caused that?
Well, they just saw the light. No, they got pressure from the
world. Well, you'd know that's just
reasonable. You'd know that's just fair.
You'd know that's just right. That's just ungodly is what that
is. That's just ungodly, that's what that is. But the world requires
it. And you got, we're in this world,
you don't gotta live in this world. That's the one thing I
ain't gotta do, I'm leaving here. Why do you suppose, why do you
suppose churches actually, actually advertise that they have special
programs for sodomites? I've seen them on billboards.
We love everybody here. Why do you suppose they do that?
It's imposed, it's obscenity imposed by the world because
the church has become engulfed in the world like Egypt was engulfed
in Israel, like Israel was engulfed in Egypt and again in Babylon. The opposition, the opposition
was Satan's effort to destroy. to destroy Christ, and to destroy
the influence of Christ, and to destroy the people of Christ,
to destroy the church of Christ. But the earth opens up and swallows
up the fire and the flood, breathing out of the dragon's mouth to
protect the church. How is that? God's marvelous
providence. Not only does our Lord Jesus
assure us that he will avenge the blood of his saints, he assures
us that his chosen shall not be harmed by all that men do. His elect will not be harmed
by all the judgments he pours out upon the wicked. Listen to
the scriptures. There shall no evil happen to
the just. That doesn't mean that If you
live down on the coast in Louisiana and there's a hurricane that
comes up and it wipes out the coast, that doesn't mean you're
not going to lose your house or lose your wife or lose your children.
That's not what that means. That means no harm's done. No harm's
done. Children of God, Alan Kibbe,
when we leave this world, that's not harmful. That's not a hurt. That's not a, that's a blessing.
That's a blessing. For the believer, for the believer,
death is not the end of all joy, the beginning of all joy. For
the believer, for the believer. So that we ought to quit acting
like that somehow, somehow, oh, death is such a horrible thing.
So terrible for the unbeliever. Yeah. For the unbeliever. And
we weep. For our loss. Please don't misunderstand
me. You dear ladies lost your husbands.
Please don't misunderstand me. My soul, I don't know what on
this earth I'd do if God would take that woman from me. But I promise you something I
wouldn't do. I wouldn't regret him doing it. I promise you,
I wouldn't regret it. Painful, but I wouldn't regret
it. But I wouldn't read all my soul. She's entered into glory
You understand what I'm saying for the believer death is not
an injury But a blessing and the world can't harm God's people
there shall no evil happen to the just Turn to Isaiah chapter
11 Isaiah chapter 11 Several years ago. I forgot how
long those could been now my good friend by the in pots and
I Devon England and Honiton England Put together a book had some
of my sermons in it and others and some older sermons They called
it sovereign grace past and present He was wanting to show the voice
of God's servants in past and voice of God's servants in present
and it arrived one day just as Shelby and I were driving out
of town it was going somewhere in a meeting and And so I opened the book
up, right, she opened it up actually, and told me what it was. I said,
oh, I've been expecting that. And I said, read the titles to
me, just read the table of contents. And she started reading. And
she got to a title, one of the chapters in it, a sermon by William
Huntington. The title was An Innocent Game
for Babes in Grace. I said, what was that? an innocent
game for babes in grace. She said, have you ever read
that? I said, no, but I can tell you what his text is. She said,
what's his text? I said, turn to Isaiah chapter
11. Look at Isaiah chapter 11. She said, well, that's what the
text is. And I had her read the sermon to me. If you haven't
read it, I suggest you do. Isaiah chapter 11, verse 1. The wolf
shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with
the kid. and the calf and the young lion
and the fat being together. Now, again, if you got one of
the Bibles that have been messed with, they talk about a great
millennial age to come when the Jews have been restored over
in Israel and everything going hunky-dory and you got watermelons
big enough, watermelons and pumpkins big enough to live in, string
beans long as your arm, and they're just, just rain and sunshine
perfectly all the time. Everything just, no, that's not
what it's talking about. That's not what it's talking about.
He's talking about this gospel age in which we live. God takes
the wild and tames it. The wolf lies down with the lamb,
the leopard with the kid, the calf and the young lion and the
fat thing together. And the little child shall lead
them. Here I am, a little child. And the cow and the bear shall
feed. And their young one shall lie down together. And the lion
shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play
on the hole of the asp. And the weaned child shall put
his hand on the cockatrice dead. What on earth is that talking
about? What on earth is that talking about? I spend my life
playing on the whole of the asp. His name is Satan, Apollyon,
the dragon, the devil. And I have no dread of that serpent. I have no dread of that serpent. I have no dread of that lion. I have no dread. Doesn't matter
how venomous he is. It doesn't matter how angry he
is. It doesn't matter how bent on my soul's destruction he is.
I am God's. And we play on the whole of the
answer. Look at verse nine. They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my holy mountains. Did you ever notice in the book
of Revelations, John sees the opening of the seals just as
he is about to see the trumpet judgments. His vision is interrupted
by another sight. John said, I saw, chapter 7,
verse 2, I saw an angel ascending out of the east, having the seal
of the living God. I saw the Lord Jesus coming with
his spirit, the Holy Spirit. He said, I'll give to you. And
he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was
given to hurt the earth and the sea saying, hurt not the earth. Neither the sea nor the trees
till we have sealed the servants of our God in their forage. And I heard the number of them
which were sealed. And there were sealed and 140
and 4,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Our all-glorious Redeemer, our
ever-gracious Christ, has prepared horrible deeds against the nations,
described in chapter 8 of Revelation, just as he prepared the plagues
against the Egyptians. but the plagues and the deeds
he prepared against the Egyptians and against the wicked of this
day he performs for the salvation of his chosen I want you to see
that. Turn back to Isaiah Isaiah chapter 45 I want you to see
it from scripture I'll quit here I won't have time
to get to the things maybe another day but uh... I want you to see
that all these things These vials of judgment, these vials of judgment
John described, they're almost identical to what you read in
the book of Exodus with regard to the judgments of God upon
the Egyptians. Now this is what God says about them, Isaiah 45
verse 5, I am the Lord, I am the Lord and there's none else,
there's none else. How many times have you I tried
to tell somebody about God and His sovereignty and His grace.
And they said, well, I wouldn't worship a God like that. That's
right. That's not my God. They're right.
That's exactly right. That's exactly right. He ain't
anywhere near like them. And that's what God says. He
says, I am God. There is none else. There's no
God beside me. There's nobody else sitting up
here but me. I girded thee, though thou hast not known me. They
may know from the rising of the Sun and from the West that there
is none else beside me I am the Lord and there is none else the
verse 7 The verse 7 Are you there I want to read
it this this is not my commentary. This is God's Word. I Form the light and create darkness peace and create evil I the Lord
do all these things drop down your heavens from above let the
skies pour down righteousness let the earth open and let them
bring forth salvation and let the righteous bring up together
his trumpets and vials that John sees and describes for us in
the middle of the book of Revelation. All of those things portray these
marvelous works God does to warn you of wrath to come, to call
you to repentance. And those same things he does
to comfort and assure his people of his grace and his sure salvation. You remember how God sent felt
darkness on the Egyptians? For three days, darkness. What
a horrible picture of God's everlasting damnation. But there was plenty
of light in Goshen. We live in a day in which God
says, He sends a strong delusion that men may believe a lie. But that same God said, but we're
bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
to the Lord, because God has chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth. He sends
light. The light of life and the revelation
of God in the face of Jesus Christ in the soul of every believer.
What does it take for you to believe? What's, are you, You
may be terrified with God's judgments and you should be. I know what
that's like. I was scared to death to live
and scared to death to die. I was terrified every day, terrified
every night. And I would do like Pharaoh.
I, I would repeat it. I would, I'd repeat it. I'd say,
I've seen, I've done wrong. The Lord's right, but didn't
change a thing. No change of heart, nothing happened.
What does it take? What does it take to bring life
and faith to the center? It takes God raising you from
the dead, breathing into you the breath of life. And when
God pours out His Spirit upon you, it will be in you a spirit
of grace and supplication. And you'll find yourself calling
on the name of the Lord. Well, Brother Dunn, if these
things are so, now don't say that. Don't say that. I've shown
you in the book. Let's stay here a little while.
Is there anybody sitting in this congregation who has any question
of what I've said right here in this book? These things are
so. They're just so. They're just
so. We rejoice that they're so. Any
question, we'll stay till you see it in the book. They're right
here in the book, all right, since these things are so. You
say, well, what about all the nations of the world? What about
all the hardships and difficulties? What about that? Shouldn't we
be afraid of what the Iranians are going to do, or what the
Iraqis are going to do, or what the next politician is going
to do, or what Russia is going to do? Oh, shouldn't that upset
us? Not too much. Not too much. I'll
tell you why. This is what God says. The wicked shall be ransom for
the just. The wicked shall be ransom for
the just. God sacrifices Ethiopia and Seba
and men and nations just to save Merle Hart. He has done it, he is doing it,
and he will do it. And we declare with regard to
our God, he shall not fail. He will save his own. He will
call out his elect. He will build his kingdom. He
will glorify his name. God help us to believe him and
bear in memory all the time. Oh God, what you've done for
me. His wondrous works in Egypt. Amen.