You can turn back in your Bibles
to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9 as we make our
way towards the end of this magnificent chapter in our series in the
Book of Romans. I want to remind you where we
are in the thoughts of the inspired writer, the Apostle Paul. He
is persuading his audience that they must understand the ways
of God, the character of God, His attributes. Because in doing
so, they can therefore affirm their saving relationship with
Him. We have been working through
the objective of the Apostle to make it plain to the church
at Rome that God does what God does because He is sovereign. And that everything that God
does is right. no matter how we feel about it. The Apostle Paul set forth God's
distinguishing love and grace by making it clear in Romans
chapter 9 verses 1 through about 13 or 14 that he had chosen a
people out of Israel who were really his people and the rest
of Israel were merely sinners who lived in rebellion against
the true and the living God. That distinction was made by
Paul in order to affirm this truth that God's word will never
fail even though people fail and people rebel against God
and it appears like things are falling apart. The reality is
everything works after the counsel of his own will. When that proposition
is grasped by the people of God we may not understand what's
going on but what we can know is that God is on his throne.
and that not one detail in all of God's purposes are failing
though it seems like all hell is breaking loose. The foundational
thought that the Apostle rendered for which you and I are to consider
this complex series of arguments and illustrations on his part
is Romans 8 28 through 31 where he plainly says All things work together for
good to them that love God. Again, I don't want to press
this one home too much, but if we don't take that proposition,
that promise seriously, we will fail to see its blessing in the
midst of the storm. All things work together for
good to them that love God. It does not work together for
good to everyone. It only works together for good
to them that love God. The assumption that you love
God means that you know God. The assumption that you know
God means that you are saved. The assumption that you are saved
means that God has revealed his glory to you in the person of
Christ and you have an ongoing relationship with God whereby
you are learning his ways. And when trouble comes, You can
rest in the everlasting arms of a sovereign God who will take
you through the storm while whispering in your ear Everything is all
right. I'm still God. I'm still on my
throne. I still run this universe It
may not look so but close your eyes and trust your Savior and
he will get you through now That's easier said than done The Apostle
is very clear. So he works through the illustrations
He brings us through the very difficult reality of God's nature
as I have been teaching you over the last several weeks There
are faulty assumptions held on the part of human beings the
faulty assumption lies under this particular proposition that
all men are basically good and That is a flawed assumption of
which you want to hurry up and discard because no evidence affirms
that proposition. I remind you again that you and
I live with levels of anxiety and stress because we are worried
about how our neighbors act. I will remind you again that
I have locks on my doors and things to meet fellas when they
come in my house. That's because man is not basically
good, he is basically evil. And the only reason we have not
broken out into mass chaos as we will see in isolated events
around the world where people just go stark raving mad is because
God suppresses the evil in the hearts of men. God keeps men
suppressed by his sovereign power so that they don't do as much
evil as they could. and even the apparent good that
people appear to be doing in the sciences and in technology
and in all of the altruistic love that people appear to have
for other human beings. What God says is, if your motive
is not to give God glory for what you're doing, that good
is evil. That good is evil. Because it
denies the source of all goodness. Only God is intrinsically, ontologically,
and naturally good. All goodness, therefore, flows
from God. And when good then exceeds or proceeds from our
being, we are to give God glory for it. It was the rich young
ruler who came to Jesus seeking eternal life on a very superficial
level. And he raised the question when
he introduced himself to Christ, good master, what must I do to
obtain eternal life? Our master didn't even entertain
his question until he had the young man to answer his opening
address. Why are you calling me good when
there's none good but God? Did you get that? Why are you
calling me good when there's none good but God? In other words,
this rich young ruler who was also a Pharisee must first acknowledge
that if he's going to call Jesus good, he better call Jesus God. Because God alone is good. Are
you guys hearing what I'm saying? All the rest of us are sinful
as the scriptures have laid out. So clearly there's none good.
No, not what? Not one. not one that excludes
the whole human race, with the exception of our blessed Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, who alone was holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, knew no sin, did no sin, no sin was in
Him at all. And that's why He is at the right
hand of God His Father, because He was the sinless, spotless
Lamb of God by which we enter into heaven. Am I making some
sense second proposition? That's flawed that people hold
on to not only is man basically good, but that man is basically
free We have argued and we are demonstrating from the scriptures
now that we are not free. We are all slaves Are we not
we are slaves to God we are slaves to sin and we are slaves to self
Something drives your passions. You do not operate in a vacuum
You do not make choices with goals and purposes, free of impulses
and drives, and things seen and unseen that help you make your
choices. You and I always make choices
based upon our nature, based upon our character, based upon
our need for something. You put your clothes on, not
out of a vacuum of freedom, but because you don't want to be
ashamed of what you look like when you walk around butt naked.
You dress in certain clothes because your genetic makeup and
your predisposition and your cultural experience drives you
towards certain choices. You are not making choices out
of freedom. Some of us do what we do because
we are bound by the limitations of our genetic makeup. There's
no freedom there. You didn't choose your mama.
You didn't choose your daddy. You didn't choose your time of
birth. You didn't choose where you were born. You didn't choose
the hood you grew up in. You didn't choose the circumstances
that shaped your character, your ideas, your ways, your mannerism,
which all drive your choices. You are a slave. Are you hearing
me? This notion of freedom is a complete
delusion. The last thing we dealt with
was the notion that you and I have the ability to choose good or
evil. It was Jeremiah that said in the book of Jeremiah, can
a leopard change his spots? Can a black man change his skin?
So you who are accustomed to do evil cannot do good. That's
the word of the Lord. He took a black brother to use
the analogy of the immutable sin nature of mankind. I'm with
that. I got that. I don't want to change
my color, by the way. I'm not like Michael Jackson.
I don't want to change my colors. But if I had to get past my pigment,
my DNA, my blood type would still tell me what color I am and who
I am. Because see, the truth is in the blood. It's always
in the blood. It's always in the blood. So
we are not good. We are not free. And we do not have the capacity
of choice. Now, in the matter of salvation,
this is certainly true. And this is where Paul will argue
for all of us who have experienced the grace of God. He's going
to use a big picture scenario of which you have the privilege
if you are a Christian, or even a non-Christian today, of being
able to put yourself inside this text. Because he calls our attention
now to Pharaoh, the great king of Egypt, the monarch of Egypt,
the ruler of Egypt, the dynasty of the pharaohs, to use as an
example of God's sovereignty to exercise both love and mercy
on those whom he wants to, justice and wrath upon those whom he
wants to The Apostle Paul caught our attention in Romans chapter
9 to these factors when he is dealing with Those who are struggling
with the doctrine of election of which I love and I will remind
you once again The only reason you are saved is because of the
mercy of God and him having chosen you in Christ before the world
began Hunted you down and brought you to himself with a stretched
out arm and a mighty hand. That's the picture we're about
to see in the book of Exodus as we are recalling how God saves
undeserving sinners. The apostle Paul, anticipating
the arguments of the gainsayers, says over in verse 14, what shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? The answer is God what? Forbid. For he said to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. You know what? Notice what God
is saying. You and I do not dictate to God to whom he shows mercy. And then he says over in verse
18, therefore, hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy? and
whom he will, he what? Hardens. God is free to show
mercy to sinners and is free to harden sinners right where
they are in their rebellion against God. Now, for you to understand
this, you have to accept the proposition that mankind is basically
sinful, under the wrath of God, headed to hell, and doesn't want
God. You have to accept the biblical
doctrine of the totality of man's depravity and man's hostility
towards God. You do believe the Bible when
it says men love darkness rather than light. Do you believe that?
Do you believe the Bible that the scriptures are plain, that
all have turned from God, every man has turned to his own way?
That men by nature, men by nature do not like the light. And if
they could, they would get rid of God. The evidence of this
is that they crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. And so what we
must understand is when we come to the conversation and dialogue
or discussion or witness of the gospel, we are seeking to persuade
men that they are in trouble with God when they meet God.
They don't have anything to bring to the table to bargain with
God. The only thing you can do with God if you should meet him
is sue for mercy. Am I making some sense? This
is the foundation laid for the conversation for if you talk
to people under the Assumption the flawed assumption that somehow
they have something to bring to the table with regards to
their salvation You deceive them and set them up for a horrible
horrible disappointment the true gospel Always declares God to
be holy and righteous and man to be sinful and that God bestows
salvation freely by his grace Apart from whatever man does
the true gospel also helps clarify Why the vast majority of humanity
will perish under the wrath of God? it Reinforces the truth
that some are going to hell because of their sin and some are going
to heaven and because of God's grace. If you end up in heaven,
it's because of the grace of God. If you end up in hell, it's
because of your sin. Therefore, we deny the doctrine
of double predestination, where God predestined some to heaven
and predestined others to hell. Are you guys hearing me? He predestined
none to hell. all go to hell because of their
sin when they are faced with God on the last day at the judgment
and God proves to them that the wages of sin is death. That's
why you go to hell. But you don't go to heaven by
proving to God how good you are. You go to heaven because of the
merits of Christ's blood and righteousness. Now watch this
now. The people upon whom the grace of God has descended and
been bestowed are called to give God glory for the riches, the
riches of his glory bestowed upon you in saving your soul.
Those of you who profess to be believers in Christ should know
something about the profound experience of God saving you
from his own wrath and making you an object of mercy. And as
objects of mercy, your experience every day in life is that God
has been merciful to me. and that as a child of mercy
you are obligated to glorify God in all of His attributes
and let men and women know the only thing you can do with God
is sue for mercy. Sue for mercy. So the apostle
sets up his discourse this way. He says in Romans chapter 9,
We will start at verse 17 where he says for the scripture said
unto Pharaoh Even for this same purpose have I what? Raised you
up watch this that I might show my power in you Do you see that
that I might show my power in you. I need you to settle down
now And start to think this through The purpose of God in everything
that he does is to manifest his glory. The purpose of God in
everything he does is to manifest his glory. If you want to know
why a thing is done, it's for the glory of God. You want to
know why God rescues people and saves people? It's for his glory. If you want to know why God allows
calamities and judgments and catastrophes and destruction,
it's for God's glory. Point number one, let's work
this through. I want you to get this proposition. It's very important
for you. This goes back to Romans 8, 28.
All things work together for good, right? If they do, then
God's glory is in everything that happens, though we may not
understand it, right? Watch what our text says. Point
number one, the multi-faceted purposes of God. The multi-faceted
purposes of God in his actions are subsumed under this one overarching
and explicit objective on the part of God. What is it? His
own glory. Quickly then, he hears the cry
of his elect. For what? His own glory. He allows them to cry at length. For what? His own glory. He allows the wicked to abuse
them for a time. For what? His own glory. And He comes to their rescue
in the manner in which He does. For what? His own glory. You must know that. The verses
are there for you to read in your own time. It's very clear.
God allows things to happen for his own glory and everything
that happens works together. So therefore, what I don't want
you to make is a separation or a dichotomy between the acts
of God in his wrath and his judicial reprobation of men and women
and the acts of God in his mercy and grace to others. I want to
show you how closely knitted together wrath and mercy live. I want you to see how close the
wrath and judgment of God coexists with his mercy and his kindness.
I want you to see as we reflect today in the deliverance of national
Israel out of Egypt, which is the context of Paul's exhortation,
how that a people who for no good reason were the object of
God's mercy Millions of people who lived in Egypt were in bondage,
in captivity, and God at a specific time came to them having heard
their cry. As he told Moses, I hear the
cry of my people and the afflictions whereby they are afflicted. Isn't
God merciful? I hear their cry, but God shows
up when he wants to. Can I work this for a second?
I've told you this before. There is a certain level and
character of cry that moves God. That means when you start crying,
if it's religious, God doesn't move. When you start crying and
it's a kind of exhibitional cry because you have learned how
to pray or learned how to use religious words or you have identified
yourself as Christian, God doesn't move because you know how to
phrase words. coin phrases, use religious terminology. And if you don't understand that
God always acts on his own time, you might get upset with God
thinking he shows up late. But God is never late. He's never
late. And so the cries of his people,
the cries of his elect, are a consequence of God providentially placing
them in circumstances by which the difficulties of their life
move them to authenticity when it comes to their need for God.
Because child of God, you and I play games with God. And very
frequently, we think God is a genie in a bottle that we can rub whenever
we need him to come through. And all the other time, we kind
of just live our own way. But when God allows the circumstances
of life to press down on you so bad that you don't even have
straw anymore to make your brick as a slave to some master who
has no care for you, now you're going to start crying out to
God. We need to AC, taking care of a little bit, bring the volume
down. I'm starting to not have one of those. No, I'm looking
at my sisters. I don't want none of them passing
out. The Exodus account is about God
showing up for his people who don't deserve him, don't really
know him, don't really want him. They just want the loose off
their neck in Egypt. This is why I say God comes to
sinners only on the grounds of mercy, not merit. so he's dealing
with Israel in our account and he's dealing with Israel in our
account for two major objectives to manifest his wrath as he destroys
Pharaoh and that great nation Egypt and to manifest his mercy
as he systematically and gradually delivers Israel out of Egypt
a one-year process by which God enters into Egypt and destroys
all of the false gods of Egypt. Are you guys hearing me? This
is a one-year project. The deliverance of Israel is
a one-year project. Why is God gonna take so long?
Because he needs to teach two radical and important truths.
That Pharaoh, whom we're about to meet, is viewed as the greatest
king on earth and is viewed as a god. The pharaohs were viewed
as gods. That means they were sovereigns.
That means they could do whatever they want to. They could kill
with a word. They could make alive with a
word. They could sustain your life or end your life with a
word. The pharaohs were gods. The name
in the Hebrew means great house and it was ostensibly the idea
that everyone is under the shadow and rule of pharaoh. And Pharaoh
had a dynasty. They were patterns. And it was
culturally accepted that the Pharaoh were the gods and the
common people worshipped Pharaoh. Now, the Pharaoh worship in Egypt
went on for centuries. God was patient with them. He
allowed them in their folly to pretend that they were gods.
See, God's patient with everyone, is he not? The word is long-suffering. Macrothymia is the Greek term
that means that the thermometer, I told you this, the thermometer
takes its time rising. Now, you and I will take God's
slow thermometer rising as if God is indifferent with our sin.
But I beg to differ. God's getting ready to show up
in Egypt in order to handle Pharaoh because he gave Pharaoh many
years to repent. See, all men reckon with God
in their conscience, even the pagan rulers. And they will act
like God doesn't exist, so long as God is not acting in power
in their presence. They will steal God's glory,
call themselves gods, so long as God is not acting in power
to dominate their lives. And that's what men do, because
their hearts are hardened. As he says, I will harden Pharaoh's
heart. order to manifest my glory to
you I want you guys to do this over the course of this next
week read Exodus chapter 3 through Exodus 15 which will be about
five hours reading for some of y'all actually it's about 45
minutes and when you go through it you are going to see things
you never saw before because of the foundation I am going
to lay today and you're going to realize what I mean by how
close wrath and mercy coexist so that you and I understand
what it really means to be an object of mercy. See, the Christian
can forget that he's an object of mercy. But the reason you
forget that is because you forget how God saved you. And what the
Jews are about to find out now is who God really is. and that
they are objects of mercy. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? So then, as we deal with our second point in our outline,
a war between God and Pharaoh. A war between God and Pharaoh
is the way the Apostle Paul is introducing the subject in Romans
chapter nine, verse 22, when he says, what if God willing
to show his wrath? Do you see that? Would God be
willing to show his wrath? Yes, he would. And to make his
what? Power known. Watch this now.
Endured with much what? Long-suffering. The what? Vessels
of wrath fitted for destruction. Now you know he's talking about
Egypt here, contextually. And you know he's talking about
his long-suffering is designed specifically and targeted specifically
to show his justice in punishing Egypt. which he calls vessels
of wrath fitted for destruction. What if God is willing to do
this? He is willing to do this. It's going to be one whole year
where God will go to war with Pharaoh, will he not? He comes
to Moses in Exodus 3 and reveals his glory to Moses and tells
Moses to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let my people go.
But then he tells Moses, you can be sure of this, Exodus chapter
3, 19 through 21, when you tell Moses to let my people go, He
will not let you go. No, not even with a strong hand. He will not let you go. If you
guys remember your Bible, it was hard for Pharaoh to let the
people of Israel go. Was that so? It was hard for
him to let them go because he thought he owned them. He thought
he was their God. He owned them, but they were
God's elect. And God was going to call them
out of that darkness at some point. but the manner in which
God would do it would demonstrate the hardness of heart of Pharaoh
18 times in fact 19 in your Bible 19 times in the Old Testament
in that context of Exodus chapter 3 through Exodus 15 it says that
Pharaoh's heart was hardened God hardened Pharaoh's heart
Pharaoh hardened his own heart and his heart was hardness in
three verb forms the active form on the part of God The passive
form on the part of Pharaoh and then the active form on the part
of Pharaoh. Pharaoh hardened his own heart. His heart was
hardened and God said repeatedly, I will and I have hardened his
heart so that he will not let you go. Why? Because God's willing
to show his what? His wrath. The reason why he
doesn't let our enemies let us go sometimes is so that God can
show up in power and prove something to them and us. This is what
I meant by the closeness of God's wrath over against God's mercy.
They are kissing each other in the midst of the darkness and
the confrontation that Jehovah God, the great I am who I am,
shows up. When in Exodus chapter five,
verse two, when Moses and Aaron have gone to Pharaoh and said
to Pharaoh, Pharaoh, Jehovah said, let my people go that they
might worship me in the wilderness. Pharaoh says, who is the Lord
that I should obey him? I will not let your people go. What do we discover in Exodus
five two? Pharaoh hardened his heart against the assignment
that God had given him. to let God's people go. Are you
guys hearing me? Pharaoh hardened his heart. Let's
talk about the hardening of the heart under this proposition
first and foremost. Proverbs 21, verse 29 tells us that wicked
men harden their hearts against God. That's for you. Proverbs 21, 29 tells us a wicked
man does what? But as for the upright, God directs
his ways. Keep it again because you need
to get this. We all know something about hardening our hearts, don't
we? But the ungodly naturally and impenitently harden themselves
against God when God confronts them and tells them this is the
way to go. Is Pharaoh a wicked man? Is Pharaoh
hardening his heart? Go with me to Proverbs chapter
29 verse 1 now so that you can see the other principle essential
to this doctrine of hardening the heart. Here's what it says.
He that being often reproved does what? Harden his neck. Now
this line in Proverbs 29 1 actually illustrates the totality of the
event in Exodus. Because God comes to Moses, Pharaoh
over and over and over and over again reproving him. Reproving
him and all he does is harden his neck But he shall suddenly
be destroyed and that without what did that happen to Pharaoh? Did God destroy Pharaoh in the
Red Sea? All right Let me stretch then
this line of thought out for you to understand something about
why you as a believer must never ever distance yourself from the
wrath of God that hung over your head and when the mercy of God
came and rescued you from it. You must never ever forget the
wrath of God that hung over your head when the mercy of God came
and rescued you from it. You were slaves in Egypt. You
were slaves in the world of sin. Your taskmaster was the devil.
He controlled your life both without and within. He had dominion
over you completely. The whole world lies in the lap
of the wicked one. You, me, and everyone around
us were slaves in Egypt. We were bond servants of Egypt.
Am I telling the truth? And we wasn't thinking about
God. We loved our sin. The only thing we didn't like
was all this pain we were going through. Am I telling the truth? And so here's what God does,
because He had made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
a covenant which these people didn't have nothing to do. As
God made a covenant with Christ, a covenant which we had nothing
to do, He chose us in Christ, as He chose them in Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, and He showed up one day to reveal His glory
to them. In Exodus chapter three, Moses
is told by God to tell Pharaoh to let the people go, but they
will not let you go. No, not at all until I have exhausted
my intentional wrath upon everything in Egypt. So here's how the drama
unfolds. Under point number two, very
quickly, God is willing to show the glory of his long suffering
in his slow wrath. for a whole year. Do you guys
remember the account? I'm going to try to make this
as narrative and smooth as possible. God came through Moses and Aaron,
told Pharaoh, let my people go. Pharaoh said, no. You better
get out of here. In fact, I'm going to put more
burdens on your people because they're idle. These people, just
some kind of religious fervor came up on them. They're crazy.
I'm going to put them to work so they can go to sleep quicker
at night because they're going to be more tired. In other words,
Pharaoh gave God no credit whatsoever. So God told Moses, all right,
going on away. Show Pharaoh a sign. Drop your
rod down on the ground and watch it turn to a serpent now mind
you now God's not gone Pharaoh's not gonna let you go cuz you
do a sign right because signs and wonders don't save nobody
All right, but I just want you to understand what I'm doing.
I'm getting ready to heart Pharaoh's heart ready You let you drop
your rod and it's gonna really turn into a serpent. But now
watch what Pharaoh does he calls his magicians and they dropped
their rod and those rods which were already serpents broke from
their stiff paralysis and then became snakes. In other words,
their false magicians did false miracles in order to harden Pharaoh's
heart over against the true miracle that God had done with his true
servants. Are you hearing me? So now Aaron and Moses leave
and then God says, now I told you he wasn't gonna let you go. So let's do something else. I
want you to smite the river and the river Nile, turn it into
blood. Moses Aaron took the rod, put
it to the river. What did it do? Turn the blood.
Pharaoh said, fellas, show these guys we can do this too. So the
fellas got some Kool-Aid, put it in their stick and ran it
in the river. The river turned to blood. Pharaoh's heart was hardened
because Pharaoh did not believe the true and the living God.
See, if you don't believe God, he will allow you to be deceived
by false miracles and false prophets. He'll let you be deceived. After
that, what God had told his servants then, okay, now let's crank up
this game a little bit and let's let frogs come up out of the
Nile. and run up all in the people's houses. And when Moses and Aaron
had obeyed God, frogs emerged up out of the sea. That's where
they come from. And they filled the land and they ran all the
way up into Pharaoh's house. And it was all in the food and
in the flour and everywhere, frogs everywhere. And it became
a pest and a stinking odor. Did Pharaoh let him go? No. What
did Pharaoh do? Show these fellas we can do the
same thing. So they also caused frogs to be produced, but not
in the abundance in which Jehovah had done it. And the magician
said, hey, there's some power here we need to be careful about.
So Pharaoh went to Moses and said, hey, hey, hey, tell God
to stop. I got it, I got it. Pharaoh, God had the frogs to
relinquish. Pharaoh's heart was still hardened.
God told Moses then, all right, put it in there, brother. Touch
the dust. Let mice run all through Egypt. And we'll see what he does. Although
you can know this, he's still not gonna let them go. And then
his magicians tried to do the same and realized that their
power was limited. God wasn't through. He was simply
exposing Janus and Jambres as being false prophets among the
people of God, trying to dupe the people with false miracles,
as Paul says, but their folly will go no further. Yet Pharaoh's
heart is still hardened because Pharaoh is God in his own right
and he will not let the people go. At this point, God does something
absolutely magnificent. Do you know what God does? God
says to Pharaoh, I'm gonna show you that I am the God of election. and that I save a people for
myself. These judgments that are about to come now will be
only on Egypt and not on my people. I'm getting ready to bring plagues
on Egypt and get in Goshen where my people are. They're going
to be enjoying life. And God did such a thing. God
smote Egypt with plagues of darkness. And in Goshen, it was light everywhere. God smote the animals in Egypt
with plagues. And yet in Goshen, the cows were
living fine. God did nine plagues like that,
five of which were directly against the false gods of Egypt. The
other four were directly to prove God's distinguishing grace and
love for his elect. Mind you, while all of these
judgments are taking place, the children of Israel are learning
something about God. Remember what I told you? Don't
separate the mercy of God from the justice of God. Mercy shines
brighter over against God's wrath. The children of Israel are in
school right now, are they not? They're learning something about
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he is Jehovah, a
mighty God filled with power and his purposes will not fail.
Albeit right now, Israel has not been brought out. So they're
fairly troubled because God has stirred up the greatest king
in the world. Israel is in a precarious state.
What should they do? Should they commit to Moses and
Aaron? Or should they back away and
relinquish and commit to Pharaoh and Egypt? Because after all,
you know, two kind of wild-haired prophets can come in and make
you think they're going to lead you to the promised land when
they're going to lead you to the Kool-Aid. I understand that.
I understand that. But it wasn't Moses or Aaron's
job to prove to the people that God was with them. It was God's
job. So what God did was tell Moses
to tell the people of Israel, I'm going to do one more thing.
And what I'm about to do now will surely cause Pharaoh to
let the people go. I want you to set aside a lamb
for every household. And I want you on a specific
date to offer that lamb up and take the blood of the lamb and
put it over the doorpost of your house. We call it what? Passover.
This is done in Exodus chapter 12. And he says, this is what
God said to Israel, that night, the death angel is gonna pass
through. And this death angel is gonna
destroy the firstborn in every house in Egypt, but he will not
touch the house where the blood is on the doorpost. Israel obediently
does that. Watch this now. And that night
Pharaoh lets the people go because God was telling Pharaoh by killing
his first born your nation is done. You will never be a great
nation again. You see it took the death of
his first born for him to realize that he was messing with the
true and the living God. It was the blood on the doorpost,
ladies and gentlemen, not the miracles that God had done that
liberated the children of Israel. It was the blood on the doorpost,
not the miracles that God had done that liberated the children
of Israel. It was the blood on the doorpost.
not the miracles that God had done that liberated the children
of Israel. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
So when they came out and they started walking away from Egypt,
they would remember this. We're not saved by signs. We're
not saved by wonders. We're not saved by miracles.
We're saved by the blood of the Lamb of God who loved me and
gave himself for me. We're saved by the power of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. We're not saved by signs and
wonders. Signs and wonders can't deliver your soul from hell to
heaven. It can't translate you out of
darkness into the kingdom of God. Only the blood and righteousness
of Christ. And watch this now as I am teaching
you to hold together wrath and mercy. The man or woman that
understands that the power is in the blood also understands
that the wrath is in the blood, that God had to kill something
or someone to deliver your soul from hell. Are you hearing what
I'm saying? Oh, I love the account. They
start walking out of Egypt. And as they walked out of Egypt,
God says, hold your head up high. Don't worry, they're not coming
after you now. And they were able to take gold and silver.
whole bunch of things as they went out. But God did something
else because he wasn't quite ready to let them leave permanently. Because you see, he must teach
you and me that it's intrinsic to his nature to punish sin. We have a God today in this religious
age that does not believe in punishing sin. But if you hold
to that view, you completely deny the cross work of Jesus
Christ. I've taught you this before. The cross teaches that
God must punish sin. order for God to show mercy to
anyone he has to punish someone and that's what Israel was being
taught now what God did was tell Moses to tell Israel at a certain
time get your stuff let's get out of here make haste you walk
a certain way and God led them according to Exodus chapter 15
verses 1 through 4 he led them in a certain way so that they
would get buttressed up against the Red Sea Now there were a
trail, a trail that they could have taken to make their way
to the promised land over in the area of the Philistines.
But God said, no, I don't want Israel to go this way because
it's not time for them to learn war. They're a bunch of slaves. They don't know how to fight.
Take them this way. And why did God take them that
way? In order to harden Pharaoh's heart one more time. Pharaoh
knew the land. He said when his servants came
to him, do you see the way in which the Israelites are going?
They're getting ready to run up against the Red Sea. We got
them now. We're going to fulfill our lust
on them. We're going to have our way with
them. We are going to slaughter them because the gods have heard
us. In the mind of Pharaoh and all
of the Egyptians, they thought it would be no way that the Israelites
could cross the Red Sea. into the wilderness. They surely
thought they had the people of God. And guess what else? The
people of God thought so too. Because they started complaining
to Moses and they said, look, dude, look, do you know where
you're going or not? You got us up against the Red
Sea. We're out here in the wilderness.
We told you, we told you, we told you we'd rather serve Egypt
and Pharaoh than to be destroyed out here in the wilderness. Let
me show you something. You got to see this. So the way that
God takes his elect is always a way of faith alone apart from
words. He never allows you to walk with
him under the comfort of intellectual knowledge or the comfort of your
own devices, your own wisdom, your own power. He's going to
take you in a way in which for you, humanly speaking, is no
way. But for God, it is the way. And
what he did by taking Israel this way was to harden Pharaoh's
heart one more time. And they all rose up to go down
to the Red Sea. Exodus chapter 15 verse 1. I
want you to see it for yourself. I had to give you the narrative
story because it would take so long to read. Exodus chapter
15. By the time we get to Exodus
15, what has God done? He's hardened the heart of Pharaoh
permanently. He's hardened the heart of Pharaoh
permanently. And in fact, it's Exodus chapter
14. I want you to see this. First, Exodus 14, and then we'll
look at Exodus 15, and I'll draw home my basic arguments and points
and close. In Exodus 14, one, and the Lord's
speaking to Moses saying, speaking to the children of Israel, that
they turn and encamp before Pihaheroth between Migdal and the what? over against Baal Zephon before
it shall you encamp by the sea. Do you see what they did? They
encamped by the sea. Now you know that was a hard
night. Knowing that you ain't got nowhere
to go but backwards. What was God teaching them? Trust
in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not unto your own understanding
but acknowledge him in all your ways and he will direct your
steps. Listen to it. For Pharaoh will
say of the children of Israel, they are entangled in the land.
Do you see it? The wilderness has shut them
in. Pharaoh, I beg to differ with you. God has a way of escape
for his people every time they enter into temptation by the
will of God. Verse four, and I will harden
Pharaoh's heart. that he shall follow after them.
And I will be what? Honored upon Pharaoh. Isn't that
what Paul said? I'm about to be honored upon
Pharaoh. Now I want you to get this now. I want you to get this
as we move to our third point. The honor that God is going to
get upon Pharaoh is not to the world. It's to the children of
Israel. It's to those whom he is saving
typically in this picture. When God saves you and me, He
gets glory in destroying our foes so that we might know that
we were saved both by wrath and mercy. Are you hearing what I'm
saying? Both by wrath and mercy. Here we are, after a year of
trouble, after a year of God confronting our enemies, after
a year of topsy-turvy, I mean internal turmoil, because the
children of Israel are learning that God is calling them to trust
Him and they've been having a hard time for a whole year. Why? Because
their troubles had gotten more difficult. It was more and more
difficult up to this point. It wasn't easy. It wasn't smooth. It wasn't a downhill slide. It
wasn't as some people depict your salvation. This is why Paul
said in the book of Acts, through much tribulation do we enter
into the kingdom of heaven. through much tribulation, through
great difficulty. Narrow is the gate that leads
to life and few there be that find it. And Israel was constrained
by a way that God had ordained in order for them to learn something
about His wrath and His what? His mercy. They are at the Red
Sea. Now listen, and it was told Verse
four and I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he shall follow after
them and I will be honored upon Pharaoh and upon his hopes that
the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord and they did so and
it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled and The
heart of Pharaoh and his servants were turned against the people
see that all that God had done in the other ten plagues Still
didn't change their heart they still rose up because this is
about God's glory and Here's what it says. And they said,
why have we done this? That we have let Israel go from
serving us. And he made ready his chariots
and took his people with him. He took 600 chariots and all
the chariots of Egypt and the captains over every one of them.
And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And
he pursued after the children of Israel. The children of Israel
went out with a high hand, but the Egyptians pursued after them.
All the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, his army,
overtook them in camping by the sea beside Pir Harath before
Baal Zephon. Can you see the picture? Here
you are up against the Red Sea and encompassed by the very foe
that your pastor said God was going to destroy. Do you see
the precarious situation? You see what God is about to
teach Israel? That God is sovereign. and that their salvation is a
consequence of both wrath and mercy. Do you understand that? This is where we are led then
to the words of the 15th chapter as God will destroy the Egyptians. Look over in chapter 15 now,
verses 1 through 4. This is all I want to read before
I move on in my point. Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel the song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing
unto the Lord. They're happy today, aren't they?
For he hath triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider hath
he thrown into the water. Let me let me let me help you
with that right there. Right now, the people of God are glorying
in God's wrath against the reprobate. They are glorying in the character
of God's holy justice against the reprobate. They are glorying
in God's justice against the reprobate because they are conscious
that they are objects of mercy. And when you are an object of
mercy, you worship God in the truth of his attributes. Because
you know, if it wasn't for God's mercy, you'd have been those
Egyptians destroyed in the midst of the sea, right along with
them. Are you guys hearing what I'm saying? This is what Paul
is explaining in Romans chapter 9 when we get back there to close
this. They are singing. They are singing, for He had
triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider He had
thrown into the sea. The Lord is my what? They got
it now, don't they? The Lord is my strength. He wasn't
their strength yesterday, but He's their strength today. And
He is their strength because God has done something magnificent
by way of a redemptive picture. He has taken the Red Sea, which
represents blood, and divided it, and brought His children
through a type of baptism, which points to the atoning work of
Christ. They see now the gospel of Christ crucified in the waters
of the Red Sea. And God brought them through.
He brought them through. He brought them through. And
on the tale of bringing them through, guess who's coming into
that water? The Egyptians. And as they get
over to the other side of the shore, God tells Moses to tell
the people, hey, y'all stop running now. I want you to turn around
and see a show. I got a show for you to watch.
I got a show for my children to watch. I want you to come
to the third loft now. Stop running, stop sweating. Everything gonna
be all right. I got this covered now. Get you
some popcorn, some soda, and watch the Lord show you his mighty
strength. Israel came to the shores, turned
around, sat down, popped up their lazy chairs, laid back and trusted
the Lord. He got us through this, he'll
get us through that. and they watched the waters recede
and collapse over the head of the whole of Pharaoh and his
army and destroy every one of them before their eyes. Will you hear me as we move on?
This is exactly what happens when you understand the crosswork
of Jesus Christ. When Christ is evidently set
before you, crucified, you see your sins destroyed and you see
God's mercy show up and him imputing righteousness to you freely by
his grace. Do you see what I'm saying? The
cross teaches you that God will punish sin and God will show
mercy. This is the warfare that's going
on. And so in the point number two, a war between God and Pharaoh,
God's willing to show his wrath. The ten plagues were God's patience
with Israel and Egypt. Is that true? And they are designed
to harden the heart of God's rebels and to manifest his saving
arm to his what? Everything that God did represents
the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why Paul said in Romans
chapter 1 I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the what
power of God under salvation to everyone that believes I want
you now to move to your third point because the third and fourth
points are what I want to quickly develop we are in a context now
where Paul and and our historical narrative have clearly distinguished
between vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. Has it not?
Are you clear in your head, child of God, the difference between
the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction and the vessels of
mercy? I want you to hear the language as I run through these
final points. Listen to what Paul says in Romans
chapter 9, verse 22 and 23. What if God willing to show his
wrath and make his power known endured with much long-suffering
the vessels of wrath that were what? Fitted to destruction. Verse 23, and that he might make
known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which
he had aforeprepared. What? For his glory. Do you understand
that if you're a child of God, your vessel, of mercy, and you
are a vessel of mercy for his what? For his glory. That means
the glory of God is designated to you in three ways I want you
to contemplate. As a vessel of mercy, that means
that God chose you as the great potter to shape you into his
image of his own sovereign right. Are you with me? He chose you
because he could have left you in the lump that ended up being
hardened and destroyed it. Remember the potter? Remember
what God told Jeremiah? Jeremiah, go down to the potter's
house. I'll show you something. He makes a pot on the wheel.
He looks at the pot and deems that that pot is not worthy to
keep and he dashes it in pieces and starts all over again. Are
you a child of the living God? You are a vessel of mercy. You
know what God did? He started all over again with
you. But He didn't start over again with you in yourself. He
started over again with you in Christ. Christ was the lamp that
God had chosen. to refashion you into his image
based upon the mercy and grace of God that are in Christ Jesus.
Am I making some sense? You are a vessel of mercy and
the object of vessels and mercies is for the glory of God to be
shown to you, for the glory of God to be shown in you and for
the glory of God to be shown through you. I want you to get
this now. When you are a vessel of mercy,
God shows up to manifest His glory to you. Isn't that what
happened to Israel? Did they see His glory? Did they
see His glory? And then God shows up to manifest
His glory in you. Did they feel His glory? Did
they sense His glory? Did they proclaim His glory?
Exodus 15 is proclaiming His glory, right? See, this is why
when you call yourself a child of God and you're not ready to
talk about Christ and glorify Christ and exalt Christ and declare
the true and the living God to be who He is, all glorious, all
sufficient, all everything to you and me, I'm not so sure you're
a vessel of mercy. Because the goal of vessels of
mercy is to declare His glory to every generation and to every
person with whom you come into contact with. How can you not? Declare his glory child of God
When he's been so good to you How can you know days in which
it should have been you but it wasn't you know? Situations where
you should have lost your life, but you didn't you know situations
where you should have been chosen for the demise But it didn't
happen over and over and over again. God has shown his mercy,
but more particularly the redemption of your soul has God been gracious
enough to make you a vessel of what mercy a vessel of mercy
showed you his glory put his glory in you did he do that Christ
in you the hope of glory that glory is what allows you to have
a relationship with God on an everyday basis right every day
you get to enjoy God But what does God want you and me to do
with that glory? Tell it to somebody. Let men and women know God is
sovereign. God's on his throne. He's saving
sinners. Come to Christ. Come to Christ
even now. This is what he's doing with
Israel because Israel is to be God's witness in the world as
to how powerful God is in the saving of sinners. After all,
he prepared us before time unto Our ally then goes on to say,
let's continue working through. The vessels of mercy show forth
God's glory. Point number three, the vessels
of mercy show forth God's glory in four ways. Here it is. As
they gladly and joyfully and reverently, what? Depart from
Egypt. they gladly joyfully and revel
reverently depart from Egypt Egypt secondly as they gladly
joyfully and reverently what run to Christ as they gladly
worship and adore the God of what and as they discerningly
acknowledge the power of the blood the vessels of mercy show
forth God's glory in all of these ways point number four because
now Paul having given Israel's history to them once again, he
knows they know the history. But what he now must do is close
a gap of which I am going to end with here for you. He's going
to close a gap of a misnomer of which Israel held and we hold
today. I don't, and many of you don't,
but most do. He's getting ready to close a
very important gap. And I want you to see the beauty
of this. I told you that God is a God of election, haven't
I? That we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places, in Christ Jesus, having chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, according as He has chosen us, in order that
we might be before God holy and blameless, In his presence having
adopted us in the beloved. This is Ephesians 1 3 1 1 through
4 and 5 God has chosen us in Christ for the purpose of experiencing
his presence for all eternity This is what God has done. But
in so doing he is calling you and me to understand that our
job Our job is to declare the truth of the gospel. Now. Here's
what Paul says in verse 23 that he might make known the riches
of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had for time prepared
unto glory verse 24 even us Even us this is he's getting ready
now to deal with what we had stated earlier What is the true
Israel of God? Even us watch this now Whom he
hath what? Stop he's going back to Romans
8 29. I All things work together for
good to them that are called of God, right? To the called
of God. That's verse 28. And then 29. For whom He predestined,
He also called. Whom He called, He also justified.
Whom He justified, He also glorified. The call of God to God's elect
circumscribed two categories of people. Who are they? What
does the text say? Jew and Gentile. Is that what it says? You know
what Paul just stated? That the Israel of God is made
up of two people group. Jews and Gentiles. They are the
vessels of mercy. Do you guys see that? Right there.
Now what Paul has done is help his Jewish brethren understand
and remember, remember that it's not just the Jews that are being
saved, it's the Gentiles too. And that the real Israel of God
is made up of what? Jew and Gentile. Because if you
be in Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and you are heirs of the
promise. He's returning to that argument. order to let us know
that God's promises have not failed even though the vast majority
of Israel did not become saved and the vast majority of Israel
will not become saved. You'll see that when we get to
Romans chapter 11. The only element in Israel, our
category in Israel that will be saved is a remnant. Is a remnant. What we are saying is, God's
elect are Jews and Gentiles and it has nothing to do with ethnicity.
It has everything to do with when the gospel comes to you
in power, are you Christ's sheep? And do you hear his voice? you
hear his voice then it's manifested that you are part of the Israel
of God he says even us whom he hath called not of the Jews only
but also of the Gentiles point number four the identity of the
vessels of mercy fall under three categories I'm going to show
you a glorious truth and stop on my up on one more point after
this the identity of the vessels of mercy are both Jews and Gentiles
that's verse 24 and And I called them the what? True Israel of
God, right? Because in verse 25, here's what
he says. And this really merits his own
study and my time is up. Listen to what he says. After
having said, even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews
only, but also of the Gentiles, as he says also in Hosea, that's
the book Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my
people, and her beloved, which was not beloved. it shall come
to pass in that place and where it was said unto them you are
not my people that they shall be called the what this is radical
because every theologian knows that if you go back to the book
of Hosea chapter 1 verse 10 and chapter 2 verse 21 and 22 The
historical context is talking about the ten northern tribes
of Israel whom God had scattered in the days of Solomon. When Solomon rebelled against
God, he broke the kingdom up. And historically the context
is speaking to the ten northern tribes. But what is Paul doing
under inspiration of the Spirit? He's taking that promise to the
ten northern tribes and applying it to the Gentiles. Why? Because the Spirit of God has
revealed to Paul very clearly that God's true Israel was always,
always, always made up of what? Jew and what? Now let me show
you a foreshadow of that in one text of scripture. This is going
back to the Exodus account. Remember as we talked about Israel
coming out of the land of Egypt. Exodus chapter 12 verse 38 gives
us a an unusual notice that we should not Miss and I want to
read the context around it and then it and then we will close
for today Exodus chapter 12 where God gives them the instructions
to depart out of Egypt and it says over in verse 36 Here it
is And the Lord gave the people,
that is the Egyptians, favor in the sight of Israel, favor
in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such
things as they required, and they what? Spoiled the Egyptians. Don't get sidetracked on that
verse, okay? Because your prosperity preachers
use that a lot, as it were, to assert that you have every right
to the riches of this material world. But nothing could be further
from the truth when you properly interpret Scripture. Old Testament
typology has New Testament reality. which means the physical silver
and gold in Egypt only points to the spiritual gold in heaven
that every believer has in Christ. I just want you to get that,
okay? Now you can try to claim gold and silver all you want,
and as you stay broke until your dying days, you're gonna have
to ask the question, which key do you have? Do you have the
key for material down here, or do you have the key for material
up there? Which key do you want? Do you
want the key that gives forgiveness of sins, cleansing of the heart,
renewal of the soul, regeneration of the soul, quickening of the
spirit, and anointing by which you walk with God and tell men
and women the truth? Or do you want a new car? Do you want the presence of the
spirit of God in your life to give you peace and joy and strength
and victory? Do you want the riches that can
raise you up out of the downhill and put you on highway princess?
Do you want God to draw near to you as your friend and as
your companion to walk with you and talk with you and show you
his glory? These are the riches we're talking
about. These are the riches we're talking about. I want Christ
and I want Christ in him crucified. I want all the blessings that
come from him to my soul. I need eternal life. I need salvation. I need the spirit of God. I need
the truth of God to dominate my life. Those are the riches
I want. Where a thief can't break in
and steal. Where the mock can't corrupt.
Eternal riches in heaven in Christ. That's what I want. Don't shortchange
me. My Lord died to give me the universe. Not just material things. I want
glory and I want God. I want everything that God is. Since I have overcome in Christ
and am heir of the whole universe, I want God. Are you guys hearing
what I'm saying? Listen to the language. Verse
37. Verse 37. Here it is. Verse 37. And the children of Israel journeyed
from Ramses to Succoth, about 600,000 on foot, besides men,
women, and children. By the time it was all done,
it was over a million and a half people. But guess who decided
to sneak in with them? Verse 38. Verse 38. And a mixed
multitude went also up with them. You know who that mixed multitude
was? The Egyptians. You know what they said? Do you
know that night that you folks did that weird, crazy thing of
putting blood on the doorposts? Well, we decided we'd put blood
on our doorposts, too. And because we put blood on our
doorposts, the Lord had mercy on us. We came to discover that
your God is a great God, and we want what you want, and we
want the God that you have. This is a foreshadow of the Gentiles
entering into the church even way back then. which teaches
us that God has always had Gentiles in the loop with the Jews. Don't
let me start talking about Joseph's wife and Moses' wife and Judah's
wife. Don't let me start talking to
you about that. I just want you to know it was always Jews and
Gentiles all the way up to Jesus. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?
So Paul is very clear in his theology when he says the true
Israel of God men and women from every nation kindred tribe and
tongue You have right to the blessings of Abraham by faith
when you trust Jesus Christ Can I give you one more point? I'm
gonna do it. Anyway, even if you didn't want
it Go back to Romans chapter 9. I'm gonna teach you one more
truth and we're done It is very important that you
learn how to frame your words and your doctrine and your teaching
and to give God all the glory. And it's very important for you
to discern in this religious age where hucksters and false
prophets have inserted into the body politic, the theology and
framework of Christian doctrine, humanism, so as to buy and buy,
take a little bit of God's glory and give it to you and make it
a matter of God saving you and you saving yourself. I want you
to ask the question, Did Israel come to God, or did God come
to Israel? God came to Israel, didn't he?
Did Israel run after God first, or did God run after Israel first?
Did Israel say to God, we want you, or did God say through Moses
to Israel, I want you? God wanted them. You go around
saying, now have you received Jesus yet? Why don't you ask
the question, has Jesus received you yet? That's the real question. Has Jesus received you? Well,
it doesn't matter whether you receive Jesus. What if Jesus
hasn't received you? The issue is, has Christ received
you? Am I making some sense? Watch
it now. Watch it now. We're almost done.
So then is a statement that Paul uses when he's sure he has secured
his argument. I'm over in verse 16. Are you
there? I'm gonna read verse 15 and 16, and I'm done. I promise
you, you get to go eat. For he said to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that does what? Let
me share with you three simple truths. Your salvation did not
begin with your will. it began with God's will. And
by the time you became willing, God had changed your heart by
his power and made you willing in the day of his power. You
understand that? That's Psalm 110 verses 1, 2,
and 3. Your people will be made willing in the day of your power.
Willingness is a work of God in your heart. Is that true?
Philippians chapter 2, 11 and 12, what does God say? It is
God that works in you the will and the do of his good pleasure.
Is that true? Here's the other thing, if you have ever discovered
that you are running after Christ, and that's what it means to believe
the gospel, to run after Christ. Paul said it in Galatians chapter
4 or 5 to the church at Galatia, you did run well, who did hinder
you? Our salvation is like running
a race, is it not? He were told in Hebrews chapter
12 that we are to run this race with what? Patience. Doing what? Looking unto Jesus who is the
author and finisher of our faith. But let me help you understand
something. You would never run after Christ until he opened
your heart and poured his love into your heart and enlarged
your heart and made you say with that Shunammite woman, draw me
and I'll run after you. Draw me by your grace. and I'll
chase you down. As David said in Psalm 119, enlarge
my heart and I will run the way of your commandments. Are you
guys following me? See, people of God understand this. We can't
do nothing of ourselves. It was God who came to us. It
was God who revealed his glory to us. It was God who changed
our heart. It was God who caused us to be
willing and it's God who's keeping us every day loving him. Do you
understand that child of God? Then when people ask you how
it is that you got saved, tell them, God saved me. Are you still saved today? Tell
them, God's still saving me. And tomorrow, tell them, God
will save me tomorrow too. Why? Because he who has begun
a good work in me will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.
And when you frame it like that, you're giving God all the glory. Amen. Amen.