As we continue in our series
on choice gleanings, I want to call your attention to a pivotal
chapter in the journey of the people of God in the Old Testament.
The title of our message is, He Shall See His Seed. He shall see his seed. Obviously, that concept comes
way down the line in the journey of the people of Israel during
the time of the prophet Isaiah of course but the one who is
declaring these things is God from eternity and the one of
whom he is speaking is God from eternity and he is declaring
those things that will be because God cannot lie he cannot change
and he cannot fail but when he says He shall see his seed. It means for us that we are to
follow the outworking of that prophecy with regards to the
way that God works because somewhere in that prophecy you and I play
a part. He shall see his seed. He shall
see his seed and Exodus chapter 1 actually lays out for us a
very ominous thought around that declaration on the part of God,
he shall see his seed, and it's this, that a man is an endangered
species. A man, I'm talking about the
male person, is an endangered species. And precisely because
God has determined to have a seed, of which he says, he shall see.
And Exodus chapter one allows us to explore the possibilities
of that in relationship to the people of Israel. We know that
the children of Israel are finding themselves in chapter one in
the middle of a process of things that they probably do not fully
understand. They are As it were on a mission
for God with regards to a promise that God made To their father
several hundred years ago That's transpiring in their life right
now So that for the children of Israel in this context it
could easily be said they are engaging in something that they
did not start and That they would not finish they have been employed
by other persons with other powers with which they had nothing to
do about it and it really does correspond with you and I today
you know this thing about the kingdom of God is not something
we started and in all likelihood you and I won't finish it but
I'm so thankful that I'm a part of the process now it's in this
context that And this very germane and relevant portion of the history
of the people of God that you and I want to once again capture
some thoughts that we had acquired the first time we went through
the Old Testament and began to learn the significance of the
books and the significance of the theology derived from those
books. We are at a point in biblical
history called the Exodus. The Exodus. And this Exodus of
the people of God really is a time of trouble, a time of difficulty,
a time of tribulation, a time of trial. And who hasn't gone
through that? It's a time of difficulty and
a time of trial. But the metaphor that we want
to derive from that particular perspective is the metaphor,
listen to me now, of a woman in travail. a woman in Treville
because Israel is about to be birthed as a nation out of the
land of Egypt. But they have to go through a
process as that birth actually takes place. As they exit the
womb of Egypt to become a people of God with their own identity,
they have got to go through some struggles and that's where we
are. We are at a point in the history of Israel where they
are struggling through some things. Now the chapter addresses a number
of germane points one of which is during this real difficult
time for the people of God they are under the the authority and
influence and power of a pagan king in Egypt whose rule over
them was rigorous and graceless it had no grace in it whatsoever
And that grace that was absent in the relationship between the
Egyptians and the people of God was precisely because of this.
The people of God were prospering, they were growing, they were
multiplying. The text specifically says that
they were waxing great and mighty. Great and mighty. Now it's one thing
to multiply and wax great in numbers. It's another thing to
be mighty. It's one thing to have the proliferation of numbers
expanding. It's another thing for the people
who are a part of that populace to be viewed as, and indeed be
mighty. But might I suggest to you that
the people of God have always been both great and mighty. The
true people of God, the true Israel of God, the elect of God,
have always been both great and mighty, whether their numbers
were few or large. See, their great and their might
comes from the one with whom they have to do. And yet what's
taking place in our context really is instructive to us on this
regard. Where the people of God become
a visible presence in the world with regards to their calling
and purpose, they then also become a threat to the culture around
them. Where the people of God become a visible presence with
regards to their calling and purpose, They become a threat
to the culture around them. You can imagine in the context
of the historical narrative, the children of Israel living
in Egypt and functioning in Egypt like everybody else, like you
and I function in our world today, like you and I engage in the
world today. You can also imagine that as
they are growing in number, they are becoming more distinct in
their calling. As they are growing in numbers,
it is becoming more visible to the Egyptians that these are
not Egyptians. As they are increasing in number,
their impact upon the culture with regards to their distinctive
as the people of God is becoming more pervasive. As they increase
in number, the theology and the doctrine and the teaching of
the true and the living God in their life, as they have been
called by Him, is now becoming more pervasive in the culture.
As they are growing in number, they are also growing in influence
in terms of affecting the culture around them with regards to the
other folks who are in Egypt, whether they were Egyptians or
Babylonians or Syrians or Persians or whomever in that culture they
were, they are being impacted by the people of God, not merely
because the people of God are large in number, but because
they are mighty. in their character because they
are walking in the reality of their calling and demonstrating
the grace of their unique calling as the elect people of God among
this group. Now, you know, you know, if the
church of the living God would ever get her act right and walk
in the calling and the authority and the identity for which they
are called out, they would make such an impact in the culture.
Well, the king of the land, would quickly turn against the people
of God. Because see, it's not only the
fact that we're present, but we have something to say with
regards to the way things are operating. We have a king of
glory that we are presenting to men and women, of which that
reality will then become a threat to all other potentates. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Besides, this king did not know Joseph. This king did not know
the brother whom God in his mercy had brought into the land several
hundreds of years ago prior to our event, 250 years ago from
this account. Joseph was brought into the land
as you know as a forerunner to his own people who later came
in and Joseph blessed Israel or Egypt rather with his wisdom,
with his knowledge, with this cunning, with this giftedness
that God had given him to become prime minister of Egypt and Egypt
was blessed for hundreds of years by the wisdom of Joseph. But
this particular king did not regard Joseph's wisdom. That's what the text means. It
doesn't mean that he didn't know him in a chronological sense.
Of course, he did not know Joseph. Joseph had died 250 years earlier,
but Joseph's impact as the child of the living God, the servant
of the living God, had influenced policy, it had influenced legislation,
it had influenced Egypt, and plus God had blessed Joseph by
allowing Joseph to be a means by which the whole of the land
was wealthy Resourceful and became the most powerful nation in the
world for that period of time But you know over time we all
do this and especially the non-believer we become unthankful of God's
providence in our life And see this pagan King was not thankful
This pagan king had fallen under, as what happens in our culture
presently, a godless paradigm of thinking, a godless mode of
operation, abandoning biblical principles, abandoning the Word
of God, abandoning the teachings of Jehovah, by which any nation,
if they would obey them, would be blessed. They disregarded
God's vicar on the earth. That was Joseph. Joseph was a
great type of whom? Jesus Christ, the forerunner
of God's elect who come into the land of Egypt to be sought
in life amongst a culture that does not know them. But you see,
after 200 years, the rulers of Egypt abandoned biblical principles. But not the people of God. The
people of God didn't abandon them. The people of God grew.
The people of God became mighty. The people of God became notable.
In every region of Egypt, the people of God were known. And
you know what they were known for? They were known for being
folks who multiplied. Multiplied! multiply. It was this very multiplication
process that caused the pagan king to be disturbed. He was
the one that literally says the Hebrew people are waxing great
and becoming mighty. He observed it for himself. Xenophobia
is what we are describing here. The fear of another ethnic group
taking over the land and his fears moved him towards policies
that would seek to destroy Israel. But you know what the text said?
The more he sought to destroy them first by a policy of rigor,
by a policy of graceless labor. a policy of weighing, laying
upon them burdens too heavy for most people to bear. His objective
was to defeat them psychologically, defeat them emotionally, defeat
them physically by wearing them out with a kind of work ethic
that would destroy their capacity to reproduce. He wanted to minimize
their impact on the culture. In fact, he put them under hard
labor. They were slaves. And he charged all of his taskmasters
to take away any grace-oriented elements that would make their
work easier. That let them build bricks with mortar that has no
straw. But that's graceless, isn't it?
You know how much work you have to engage in to make the bricks
hold together without straw? Do you understand how hard you
are working, working, working? And then he would hope that they
would go home and be so tired. But you know what the text says?
The more he put weight on them, the more they grew. The more
he put the burden on them, the more they increased. God is amazing,
doesn't he? Isn't he? He sits on his throne
and he laughs at the heathen. I will have them in derision
who will seek to thwart my purpose. My purpose shall stand. My counsel
shall be fulfilled. There's no knowledge, no wisdom,
nor understanding against the Lord. The more the king put these
policies of oppression upon the people of God, the more they
grew, which are some lessons that you and I can derive. Can
I make a few applications before we get into our outline? And
that's this. Tribulation is good for us. We're
made for it. Trials are good for us. We are
made for it. Trouble is essential for us because
God gets the glory out of our life. When we are brought low,
he's brought high. His glory is made manifest in
the midst of our sufferings. He's doing a lot of things all
at once. He's exposing the maniacal nature of a cosmic warfare, a
cosmic battle that's taking place. You and I understand that there's
a cosmic battle here that goes all the way back to the beginning.
That's why I entitled my message, He Shall See His Seed. In spite
of all of hell breaking loose against it, he shall see his
seed. It's a cosmic battle going on here and God allows us to
see it in the historical narrative. Redemption is shining through
all over the place. But he's teaching us some lessons.
When God's people are persecuted, when God's people are tried and
when God's people are oppressed by the enemies around them, this
becomes an opportunity for them to seek the true and the living
God in earnest. And in that pursuit of the true
and the living God in earnest, we become more productive. You
know, sometimes it's only trials that will burn up the chaff in
our life. It's only trials that will straighten
out our priorities and get us back on course with God. It's only trials that will actually
bring out in us the reality of the relationship that we have
in Jesus Christ. Only trials will strip us of
the carnal tendency. I can imagine having lived in
Egypt now almost 430 years. It's not quite 430. We've got
40 more years to go before they exit. But it's about 390 years. You know what they got to thinking
while they were there, especially this generation? You know, it's
pretty cool being in Egypt. I got a good government job.
I got good benefits. You know, it's cool. The food
here is great. It's off the hook. I got a lot of fam and all that
going on. I, for all intents and purposes,
love being in Egypt. That tension is there, isn't
it, children of God? Isn't the tension there of really wanting
to be successful in life and being able to have all of the
basic amenities, but yet even the pursuit of those basic amenities
become an obstacle to us when they strip us of the conscious
awareness of our real calling. This is why you got to be careful
when riches increase, they increase that eat them. As wealth increases
in your life, as the potential to obtain wealth in your life
increases, you're going to be tried more and more as to where
the real source of your confidence is, as to why you are actually
here. So what God does in order to
equalize things for us is he gives us trouble. It's trouble
that God uses. to bring us to a place where
he is able to manifest his glory in our lives. Seven things that
I want to bring to your attention now in the context of our outline. First and foremost, bearing fruit
under God is the mission of the church. Does anyone believe that?
Bearing fruit under God is the mission of the church. And this
is a creation mandate. It was a creation mandate given
both to Adam and to Noah and then also to Abraham. We've talked
about this before. When God created man, he created
man with the objective and purpose of multiplying and replenishing
the earth and fulfilling it or filling it and subduing it. That's
Genesis 1, 26 and 27. That's a creation mandate. God
knows what he's doing when he tells you and I to reproduce.
He knows what he's doing. That creation mandate was given
to his image bearer Adam and then it was given to Noah as
well and his sons afterwards and then guess to whom it was
given which directly relates to our text Abraham Abraham was
called upon to multiply replenish the earth and and it's in a in
the context of an extremely important promise that God gave Abraham
look with me in Genesis chapter 15 we'll be able to see it in
Genesis 15 with regards to this and this multiplication. Genesis 15 is where Abraham has
been told by God, I want you to see my people through you
in the same way I see my people through you. And
this is what Abraham and God talked about in verse 2. And
Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me? See, I go childless
and the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. And Abraham
said, behold, To me you have given what? That can't be true. Remember what God said? He shall
see his seed. You know what Abraham was doing?
He was fixing himself on the temporal local situation and
not remembering the promises of God. He had defined himself
based upon that situation in the moment rather than defining
himself based upon the promise that God had given him. He's
saying to God, you have given me no seed when God had said
before he created Abraham, Abraham will be the bearer of my seed.
Now notice how the language goes. And lo, one born in my house
is my heir. This is Genesis 15, verse four. And behold, the word
of the Lord came unto him saying, this shall not be your heir,
but he that shall what? Come forth out of your own bowels
shall be your heir. You see how God sees things differently
than you and I? Now watch what verse five says,
and he brought him forth abroad. He said, look now toward heaven
and count the stars if you be able to number them. And he said,
so shall your seed be. Do you see that? Do you know
why God said that to Abraham? Because God said long ago, he
shall see his seed. Now watch what verse six says,
and this is a pivotal truth that the New Testament captures to
teach us that Abraham was a believer and he, that is Abraham, Believed
in what the Lord and he counted it for righteousness unto Abraham
now go back to Exodus chapter 1 What are we looking at in Exodus
chapter 1 a partial fulfillment of that promise to Abraham? God
all alone knew that he would have at this juncture of the
prophetic fulfillment in the redemptive scheme 2 million 2
million 2 million children coming from the loins of Abraham Two
million. Two million. Now you already
told Abraham in the same chapter, this is going to take place 430
years from now. But you see with God, time is
of no essence. You and I stumble on time. We
love to ride time and tell time to get busy. But God doesn't
do that. God has a timetable and things
come to pass according to God's timetable and faith requires
you and I to believe God for his own timetable. And so Abraham
had to do that. You know, essentially all Abraham
saw was a couple of boys, right? Isaac and Esau and Jacob. Then he died. But God's word
came to pass, didn't it? And in this context that you
and I are reading, I want us to be able to now understand
the redemptive and the theological implications that are drawn out
of this text. This is why my first point was
bearing fruit unto God is the mission of the what? The church. It's the mission of the church.
It wasn't only the mission of Adam. It wasn't only the mission
of, no, it wasn't only the mission of Abraham. It's the mission
of the church, because I think you are persuaded by now that
God has always had a church since the beginning of the world. Collector
from all of the peoples who call on the name of Jehovah from the
beginning of time to the end of time, we are the called out
ones of God. We are the church of the living
God. So when God made the mandate in the beginning, he was speaking
to his church. It's the role of the church to
be fruitful and to multiply. It's the role of the church to
be mighty in the land I want you to read a few verses with
me in the New Testament to persuade us of this go with me in your
Bible now to Colossians chapter 1 we're gonna read verse 6 and
10 Colossians 1 6 and 10 make a couple of points and then we'll
continue to build He shall see his seed because his seed will
come through a process of multiplication and fruitfulness essential to
the glory of God. And the apostle Paul speaking
to the church at Colossae, which had come into being by the grace
of God through the preaching of the gospel, encourages them
with a word as well with regards to this. We read over in verse
four through six, Since we heard of your faith in Jesus Christ
and of the love which you have to all the saints, we are giving
thanks to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying
for you. This is what the apostle Paul says. We are worshiping
God in the Lord Jesus Christ because the gospel has impacted
your life. Look at verse five and six. for
the hope which is laid up for you in heaven whereof you heard
before in the word of the truth of the gospel which is come unto
you as it is in all the world and does what bring forth fruit
as it doth also in you since the day you heard it and knew
the grace of God you understand the nature and impact that the
gospel is designed to do is to be fruitful the nature and impact
of the gospel is to produce fruit The Colossian church are a byproduct
of this prophecy. He shall see his seed. Do you
guys see that? He shall see his seed and that
seed will manifest itself in the people of God who will also
engage in that process. Look with me over at verse 10.
This is what the apostle Paul prays for. verse 9 and 10 for
this cause we also since the day we heard of it the impact
of the gospel in your life did not cease to pray for you and
to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will
and all wisdom and spiritual understanding now this is prerequisite
to verse 10 being filled with the knowledge of his will and
all wisdom and spiritual understanding will lead to this in order that
that's our purpose clause you might walk worthy of the Lord
unto all pleasing here it is being what fruitful in every
good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Now, needless
to say, Paul prayed like this constantly throughout all his
New Testament epistles that every local church would understand
the paradigm of the Old Testament narrative that you and I are
called to be part of a multiplication process by which God would be
glorified on the basis of this prophecy, he shall see. His what? Seed. Go with me back
to our text and look at point number two now. I want us to
work point number two at. This is an interesting concept
that is critical to this prophetic truth too. Point number two,
the seed is in the what? Fruit. The seed is in the fruit. Now that's an interesting thought
and worthy of capturing, not only on the horticultural sense
or agricultural sense, but on a very spiritual sense. The seed
is in the fruit. That's why fruit bearing is critical.
Only God can create the fruit without the seed. But those of
us who become partakers of the perpetuation of the seed have
to also be those who are part of the process of fruitfulness
by which the seed proceeds. Am I making some sense? And so
the seed is inside the fruit and God has always made it that
way. What the text tells us in Exodus chapter 1 verses 1 through
7 is that the children of Israel came into Egypt through Jacob
by Joseph being only 70 souls. You guys see that? 70 souls. And Joseph was already in Egypt.
And this is where verse 6 and 7 comes in. And Joseph died and
all his brethren and all that generation. This is the 250 years
before our account. Joseph died. All of the fathers
of the tribes died. And then we read verse 7. And
the children of Israel were what? And the children of Israel were
fruitful, and they increased abundantly and multiplied and
waxed exceedingly mighty. And the land was filled with
them. Would to God the whole world
would be filled with the people of God who knew the truth, who
were not only numerous in terms of numerical numbers, but mighty
in the knowledge of the true and the living God, so we could
make the kind of impact the gospel should make. Is that a good proposition? Not only would we as the people
of God be far more of a threat to our culture and our world,
but God would be glorified everywhere because God's people are now
fulfilling the mandate. This is the context that's taking
place here. But I want you to understand
why it is occurring. What's occurring here is God's
fulfillment of that seed. God placed the seed principle
in Abraham. That was 430 years earlier. He
told Abraham, your seed is going to be like the stars of the sky
and the sands of the sea. Here we see a partial fulfillment
of that, do we not? Your seed. But how did this one
seed, Isaac, fulfill this? He fulfilled it in a process.
Because when Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, Isaac himself had
Esau and Jacob. And Jacob had the 12 tribes and
the 12 tribe had the multitude that ultimately amounted to 70.
Now, you know, it's one thing to be a brother with no hope
because he doesn't seem to have any children. And then he turns
around right before he dies and he looks up and he's got grandchildren
and he got a whole lineage of 70 people. He's kind of a happy
fellow when he dies, right? But oh, if he could look down
that family tree 400 years later and see 2 million. Now, ladies
and gentlemen, I am actually speaking on a spiritual level.
I'm using practical issues, speaking on a spiritual level, and we're
going to unpack that here in a moment. I am simply saying
that the seed is in the what? Fruit. The seed is in the fruit. And it's important for you and
I to understand the principle of fruitfulness in order to perpetuate
the what? The seed. We got to understand
the principle of fruitfulness in order to perpetuate the seed.
We're not in this business of multiplication just to be multiplying. We're in this business of multiplication
in order to perpetuate the seed the seed the seed the seed is
in the fruit and the seed goes all the way back to the Foundational
promise that God gave to Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3
15, you notice what it says and I this is what God says I will
put enmity between I will put enmity between you, God talking
to the devil, and the woman. Between her seed and your seed. And her seed will crush your
head. And you will bruise its heel.
And when God gave that prophecy to Eve, she had no idea how she
was going to play a major part in the historical narrative as
the mother of all living, reproducing sons and daughters, who would
reproduce sons and daughters, who would reproduce sons and
daughters, who would reproduce, are you guys following me? Who
would reproduce sons and daughters. This is why in the Old Testament
narrative, the people of God who understood the mode of operation
concerning the gospel in the kingdom of God were so eager.
to be productive on a physical level and have children. Women
understood that the woman was preserved through childbearing
to bring forth children in order to perpetuate the what? The seed. Are you following me so far now?
This is critical. So it's not, listen, I want you
to get this now. It's not about how many kids you have. I'm so
I don't want you sisters to get all wrapped up understand you
young lady Oh Lord don't have him causing my husband to think
we got to have 20 kids That's a That's for those of us who
are ordained to large numbers. I have taught this long ago.
Not everybody is ordained to have more than one or two children.
Y'all can't handle that. Your framework and disposition
and the constitution of your physical makeup don't allow you
to have more than one or two, because after that, they're taking
you out. It's a gift to a woman to be
able to manage A restaurant! That's why, you know, I just
give my wife the checkbook now because, boy, she did... I can't
argue with her. She done done it, you know. It's
done now. She getting paid for all those
years back. She ran that restaurant, that basketball team, and that
track team, and that swimming team, and all, because she did
it all. She did it all. But what she really did, in my
opinion, was to participate in the plan of God, which is a process
by which his glory is passed from one generation to the next
generation because God will see his seed. See, unless we think
God starts after him, we'll get wrapped up in a very carnal perspective
of this thing called child rearing. But yet Exodus is actually teaching
us in the context of the narrative the glory of God's purpose of
bringing forth children. And the glory of it is really
the seed. The seed. And so the third point
I want to call your attention to is Israel is a type of a threefold
process. This can easily be borne out
by Exodus 4.22, Matthew 2.15 and in the book of Hosea. Out
of Egypt will I bring my son. of Egypt will I bring my son
that's what God said about Egypt about Israel rather in Exodus
chapter 4 he told Moses out of Egypt I'm gonna bring my what
son and then when we get to Hosea he says out of Egypt I will bring
my son and then when we get to Matthew 2 15 the fulfillment
of that prophecy that started with Adam and Eve was realized
where? In the person of Jesus Christ.
You see, this book is about God's seed. Are you with me? It's about
God's seed. But I want to make sure we get
the application now. Because see, you and I are in
the era after the first coming of Christ. And the sisters were
saying, OK, he's here now. Can we stop? That has been the
collective attitude of our sisters since the Lord Jesus has come
and accomplished his work of redemption and going back to
glory because our culture today does not look well upon the multiplication
of children. Are you hearing me? Can I talk
about that for a minute? They don't look well upon the
multiplication of children because the vast majority of the world
are the seed of the devil. See, if you go back to the Genesis
3.15 account, there are two seeds. Her seed and his seed and this
is the context of the battle that we're about to get into
But by way of application, I just want to understand I want you
to understand that I want to know you think this through are
you on her side? Or his side are you the seed
of the woman or the seed of the serpent? Do you understand god's
process god's methodology god's method by which his glory is
advanced seed to seed the seed through the fruit Do you understand
how integral the proliferation of human beings are to the glory
of God? Do you understand the overarching
principle that God is going to have a people for himself for
all eternity from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue? Do
you know that? But in order to have a people for himself from
every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, they got to have
babies, right? We've got to have babies. This
is why I believe that the church has been a light given to the
world to be a culture of life. We are a culture of life. Israel
was a culture of life. If I were to waste any time now
talking to you about the Egyptian culture of that day, here's what
I might say in a very terse way. The Egyptian culture of that
day was abominable. It was vile. It was wicked in
its idolatries and paganism. And it was atrocious, hear me
now, in its regard for human life. Abortion was common among
the Egyptians as it is in our present culture. Taking children
that they did not want to live and throwing them in the river
was common in that culture because they thought they were God and
they could choose who they wanted to live and who they wanted to
die. Sounds familiar? Sounds familiar, but see that
cultural political Antagonism is not the origin of the hostility
towards the people of God. It's the devil It's the devil
the devil knows that God shall see his seed but as much as he
could throughout the throughout the narrative of biblical history
in the Old Testament, as much as he could, he sought to thwart
that process. And I want you to see how he
thought to thwart that process. And then we're going to make
the redemptive application and we'll close because this book,
while it is not to us, it's for us. Exodus is not to us, but
it's for us. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction,
and training in righteousness. And all the Scriptures are designed
for our admonition and our learning, that we through patience and
the promises of the Scripture might have hope. Am I making
some sense? So now we move on to... Well, let me just explain
briefly the three points. Israel is a type of the first
Adam. There's no doubt about that. The first Adam was given
the mandate, just like Israel was given the mandate. The first
Adam was told to multiply just like Israel was told to multiply
because they were both part of the same promise, the coming
of the seed. And then there's a third fulfillment
of which you and I are part of. You and I take on the new Israel
paradigm. We've learned that, right? We
are the Israel of God. Physical Israel has done its
job in bringing Messiah into the world. But spiritual Israel
is still part of the larger redemptive scheme of God from the beginning
of time until the end of time when the new Jerusalem shall
come down bearing the glory of God. And then all of God's elect
who are part of the Israel of God will be made manifest. But
that will be the consummation of a work that we are all engaged
in. And that work is bearing fruit
to God's glory until he sees his seed. And so Israel is a
type of Adam 1. Israel took on the same role
Adam did, operated out of covenant principles until their covenant
terms were up. The church is now taking on that
role through Jesus Christ. Christ is our husband. We are
Christ Church. Is that true? Christ is our husband.
We are Christ Church. And we still have the mandate
to bring forth the seed. Which brings me to point number
four, warfare from the beginning. Do you guys see that? Warfare
from the beginning and so I basically want to just say something brief
about that because I bring it I've been bringing that into
the narrative and discourse all along verses 8 and 9 now there
arose up a new king over Egypt which knew not Joseph and he
said unto his people Behold the people of the children of Israel
are more and mightier than us and that fear Ultimately resulted
in him wanting to do what kill the men? Right kill the men Because
he couldn't stop the process. So if we can't stop the process,
let's kill the men. Because if you kill the men,
will you hear me? You are actually killing the seed. And I told
you this here is a cosmic Principle that goes all the way back to
the beginning of time when the devil failed revelation chapter
12 verses 1 through 5 says and I beheld another wonder in heaven
a woman clothed with the Sun the moon under her feet and 12
stars on her head and she was full to term with pregnancy she
was with child ready to be delivered and then I saw another wonder
in heaven a great red dragon and that was making war against
the woman desiring to kill the fruit of her womb. But God delivered
her fruit, her son, and brought him to glory. He took his seat.
with the king of glory having overcome the persecution of the
devil that came after him. That scenario there is the cosmic
battle. Are you guys hearing me? The
devil has always wanted to kill the seed. He's always wanted
to kill the seed. He's always wanted to kill the
seed because the devil has always wanted to usurp God's authority
and become himself the pseudo ruler of the universe. Are you
guys hearing me? Okay, so now let's make some
applications here. How does this work with regards to where we
are in the gospel today? Point number six in our outline,
point number six, I'm sorry, point number five in our outline,
labor is anticipated labor. Now the labor that I'm talking
about that's anticipated is the labor of producing children in
the context of struggle. Adam had to work when God created
him. He gave him a helper called Eve
so that they can fulfill the creation mandate, right? And
they had a wonderful, auspicious scenario to accomplish that called
the Garden of Eden. That was God's garden. They had
a wonderful time, but they messed that up and God kicked them out. But you know what he didn't tell
him? Now you don't have to work no more. No, you got to keep
working because I made you to work. Now you're going to keep
having children, but you're going to be sweating brother. Are you
hearing, you're hearing what I'm saying? because we chose
to rebel against God's sovereignty. But God always had a plan. And
you know what else? He gonna see his seed, even if
you mess it up. So he said, now you got to get
out my house. And I'm going to send you into
the wilderness and you're going to have children, but you're
going to be scratched up from thorns and thistles. These are
all metaphors. Labor and toiling by the sweat
of your bra. And Eve, by the way, the children
you're going to have, you're going to be sweating, sister.
Now see, that's what we know, don't we? We know the curse mixed
with the blessing. Do we know the curse? Do we know
the blessing? Yes, we do. We know the curse
mixed with the blessing. That's where we are in the account.
And yet God still gives us grace to perpetuate the seed. I said
this in the in the rules of engagement class with our brothers and sisters
as we were working through marital paradigm principles. It was God's
mercy to tell Eve in Genesis 3 16. Now, I know you messed
it up. And I know you'd love to just
exercise absolute authority over your husband, because that's
what you did when you took up the tree. You said, hey, I'm
not being subject to him, but I'm telling you, you're going
to be subject to him. He reinstituted the rule of submission on the
part of the woman. And then he said this. I know
you ain't going to like this, but just to hear you watch it.
And I'm going to make you love him anyway. Watch this. And your desire is
still going to be to your husband. Y'all messed it up. Y'all got
kicked out of the palace. Now y'all walking down the road
with your suitcases and she's still looking at you with googly
eyes. Do you understand why? He shall see his seed. I know you don't like that. I
know. I know. I know you don't like it. See, but God has things
going on bigger than you and me. I told you in the beginning,
you and I woke up to a process that we didn't start. We won't
finish this thing, but I'm so glad I'm part of it. I'm so glad
I'm not on the devil's side trying to kill off the seed in ignorance
of the glory of God. I'm so glad he gave me a little
scintilla of an understanding of the blessing of what the scripture
says. Blessed is the man who hath this
quiver full of them. God had to give me that faith
in my ignorance. You missed that one. Because
had I known now what I didn't know then, I might have equivocated
with the proposition. But you see what God does is
he gives us, this is why I love the young men. I love them and
I love my young sisters. Lord, don't give them too much
knowledge. Just give them enough knowledge so they can get excited
every night so you can have your seed I'm still talking spiritual
things I'm still talking. So I know y'all stuck on the
carnal now, but I'm still talking spiritually And here we go Point number six
before point number seven. I want to go to work here and
teach you guys some critical truth about the gospel The role
of the glorious, beautiful, splendid, marvelous midwives. The role
of the midwife. You know what a midwife is? She's
a sister who aids and abets and assists in the process of the
reproductive goal. Her job is to make the possibility
of bringing forth children easier. Her goal is to maintain the numbers. Her job is to help the woman
in the process of delivery. She is to help and assist in
every way possible so that the delivery is complete with as
little complications as possible. What a blessing to have a sister
or a brother, but in this context, it was women who had the mindset
of being a mediator between the promises of God and the women
that were going to bear the children. What a glorious role. What a
glorious occupation. What a glorious position to be
in for God to grace you. Listen, watch this now. To have
the understanding that your job is to assist God by his mercy
in the perpetuation of the seed. Hence, the midwives in our text
Correspond to the ministry of the gospel today the midwives
in our text Correspond to the preaching and teaching of the
gospel in our context the midwives correspond to those who engage
in the preaching and teaching of the Word of God those who
engage in the Multiplication of the seed so that fruit can
be born to God's glory through the truth being proclaimed Are
you guys hearing me? See you and I in relationship
to God's agenda are midwives I am a midwife, like the Apostle
Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2, we were among you as nursing
mothers, exercising gentleness and care to see to it that the
children that were born are brought up in the faith and in the knowledge
of God. Paul said in Galatians four around
verse 19, as he was struggling with the identity of the Galatians,
he says, I labor in travail right now as a woman in pain until
Christ be formed in you. Now, he has just conflated two
ideas. The first is he uses for himself the analogy of being
a pregnant woman. The second is he wanted the birth
not to take place in himself, but in them. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? So he's laboring metaphorically
as a nursing mother until the people of God in the church at
Galatia, watch this now, look like Christ, which brings me
back to my proposition. The male species is an endangered
species because it's his seed that maintains the identity.
This is why this pagan king told our sisters, listen, look and
see what kind of child, what gender of child these women are
having. And if it be a woman, let her live. But if it be a
man, do what? Let the women live because the
women are merely the womb. They are the soil in which the
seed is sown. But what determines the identity
is the seed. This is why the man is so critical
to the glory of God. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
He's so critical to the glory of God because it's in the male
sea that God has chosen to bring about redemption. And this is
why I told you there are two seeds operating in this world,
the seed of the wicked one and the seed of Christ. This is the
parable again in the agricultural paradigm of the children of the
wicked being sown into the field and the children of the kingdom
being sown into the field. And they're both growing together
until the harvest. And the question you and I can
ask is, what kind of seed are we participating in to be sown? If we are sowing the wrong seed,
in this ministry called the gospel. We cannot expect that the produce
look like Christ. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
See, now watch this, I'm just gonna show you how the text works.
The king of Egypt knew that it was fine for Israel to produce
a bunch of women, because the king of Egypt could take the
women into his own harem and actually use them to reproduce
his own seed. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
This is the battle that we are fighting. And I'm talking theological
things now. I'm talking spiritual things
now. I'm talking gospel issues now. Are you hearing what I'm
saying? I'm talking the matter of the gospel. Can I say something
about the gospel? Here's what we must know, that
the gospel is one kind of seed. There's only one kind of seed
when we talk about the gospel. It is the incorruptible seed
of Christ. which must be introduced into
the hearts of men and women through the word of God. The word by
which the gospel is preached becomes the job of the church
in connection with the spirit of God in the bringing about
the fruit. And we hope that that fruit looks
just like Christ. And in fact, we can be confident
that he will if the right seed is sown. And those of us who
are, as it were, midwives, because that's all we are, All we're
doing is by the grace of God, standing by, watching God do
his thing. Can I show you what I'm talking
about? See, the king came to the midwives. That's what the
text tells me. He came to the midwives, verse
15. And the king of Egypt spoke to
the Hebrew midwives, of which names one of them was Shapur.
This is what I meant by beautiful. And the other name was Puah.
This is what I meant by splendid. Beautiful are the feet of those
that preach good tidings. Splendid is the people of God
who serve the cause of Christ and the beauty of holiness and
the proclamation of the truth of the gospel to Midwives and
they were supervisors of all the other midwives because listen,
you can't have two women Watching over all the other millions of
women having babies But if you follow the text, you'll understand
that they were supervising all the other midwives. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? And here's her, their explanation
to the king as to why it was impossible. Are you hearing me? Why it was impossible for the
king to exercise his will over the king of kings. Here's what
they said. Now watch this. Because the midwives
feared God, verse 17, they didn't do what the king said. That's
a good deal, isn't it? And they came, the king came
back, verse 18, and said unto them, why have you done this
thing? And saved the men children alive. And the midwife said unto
Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. Hallelujah. Stay with me now. I'm talking
spiritual things. I'm saying the children of God
The church of the living God, which is depicted as a woman,
is not like the women of the world. We're not like the women
of the world. The women of the world are dead,
barren, fruitless to God. The women of God are lively. The word is vigorous. The word
is abundant in life. Powerful, so powerful. I used to say it all the time
about my wife. I could just walk past her and she'd get pregnant.
Powerful, powerful. How'd she get, I know I just
rubbed up against her, she got pregnant. Potent, potent, potent. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
That's the power of the incorruptible seed. The seed carries within
it, listen now, power, potential, and promise. Power, potential,
and promise. That's the seed. The seed must
terminate in fruit. Except the seed going to the
ground and die, it abides alone. Are you guys following me? It
abides alone. Power, promise, and Potential
that's the seed and so what we have going on in our account
here are the midwives Explaining why the king why the king cannot
why he cannot Overcome God's decree in our outline the role
of the midwife. It constitutes four things. I
want you to see this assistance of spiritual life look at verse
19 and the midwife said at the Pharaoh because the Hebrew women
are not like the Egyptians for they are lively and are Delivered
air the midwives come unto them. Do you guys see that? You know
what she just said? We ain't got nothing to do with
them women having babies. We ain't, listen, we didn't put
the seed in them. We didn't cause the seed to go
through the nine month gestation process. We didn't force the
children out of the womb. Those women were lively of themselves. In other words, what they were
saying was God did this. See, in the gospel we preach
is that God does this. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Watch this now. We are saying that men and women are born again
by the work of God alone. That you and I don't make men
and women pregnant with the knowledge of God in Christ. We don't bring
about conversion. Being born again is not the consequence
of methods and techniques and schemes and plans and coaxing
people into decisions and statements. We don't have that power. Are
you hearing what I'm saying? All we can do is stand by God's
word and allow the word of God to be preached and God do his
work in taking the seed from heaven and put it into the soil
down here and bringing sons and daughters to God through Christ.
That's why we preach the gospel. That's all she said. King, we
ain't got nothing to do with this. And if you really want
to go to the right person, you better go to the real king, because
this is his business. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Are you hearing what I'm saying? Salvation is a work of grace,
and it's a work of grace from God, by God, for his glory. We do not make men and women
save. We do not bring life. We don't
have the capacity. We are only assistants in the
metaphorical sense of the job. They are lively ere we come to
them. Ere we come to them. But I tell
you what, our job is to save the men because this is to preserve
the identity of the family. This is to preserve the identity
of the family. We're not killing the men. Are
you with me? Because the men represent the
truth of the gospel. See, to save the men in its application
to us is the same as preserving the gospel. The goal of the church
is to see to it that we maintain the incorruptible seed of Christ
in the ministry of the word. It is the ministry of the Word,
the pure Word, the true Word concerning Christ that actually
brings about the conversion of sinners so that they become like
Christ. Our job then as the Church of
the Living God is to preserve the truth as it is in Christ.
To preserve God's Word as it is in Christ. In other words,
accurately understand it, accurately proclaim it, accurately submit
to it, accurately depend upon it, and ask God to bless His
Word in our preaching and teaching and modeling of life. Are you
hearing what I'm saying? And so the midwives, they didn't
fear the king. They feared God and so do we. We fear God so much that we want
God to bless his word. Bless his word. Now watch this.
And the reason the king feared is because every time a man child
is born, these pagan rulers are reminded
that Jesus is coming. Because every man child points
to the one man child. Even Christ. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? Every time a man child is born,
the king understands he cannot change the identity of the people
of God. He can't go in there, which is
what we call today the dialectical process in the church, by which
those who are really the seed of the devil come into the church
with false doctrine and false teaching and error and change
the whole identity by virtue of bringing in a different seed.
Every seed bearing herb must bring forth fruit of its own
kind if we bring a wrong gospel We're gonna have a wrong outcome
if we bring a false gospel We're gonna have false converts if
we bring that which is not the truth of the word We're not gonna
have people of the word if we bring that which is not Christ.
We're not gonna have people of Christ We got people of religion
and they're gonna all be children of the devil. Are you guys hearing
what I'm saying? Are you hearing what I'm saying?
And see, we understand that this war is bigger than us. We understand
that this thing started before we came. We understand that this
thing will probably be going on when we leave. I'm so glad
I'm part of the process. I'm so glad I'm part of the process.
I'm so glad that God by his grace called me out of darkness. out
of Egypt as his son and planted me in his redemption scheme and
made me a midwife so that I can be part of nurturing the seed,
nurturing the people of God, teaching them the truth as it
is in Jesus Christ. He shall see his seed. Isaiah chapter 53 verses 10 through
12. He shall see of the travail of
his soul The father shall see of the travail of the soul of
the Son of God the travail of his atoning work at Calvary the
travail of his suffering under the wrath of God the travail
of his Substitutionary work for sinners the wrath of God poured
upon him in order that he might have a seed He shall see his
seed. He shall see his seed He shall
see his seed. And when our Lord rose again
from the dead on the third day, ascended on high, he sent the
third person to continue to perpetuate that process because he shall
see his seed. And when God looks at Christ,
when the father looks at the son, he sees in the son because
the seed has within it the potential to bring forth all the fruit
that's designed in the seed. He sees all of God's elect. And
the process for us is the same today, only in the spiritual
dimension. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? He shall see a seed because God cannot lie. God cannot change
and God cannot fail. He's glorious. He's glorious. Amen. Amen.