if you'll take your Bibles now
and turn back with me to Exodus chapter 9. It's not my intention in going
through these plagues of Egypt to weary you with a lot of needless
repetition. Nor is it what I'm trying to do try to
impress somebody with a lot of interpretive definitions. But I want us to see in these
figures given to us of the Holy Ghost the way God deals with
His elect in this thing of deliverance out of this world. And that's
what's being pictured back here in Egypt. I want to take some time tonight,
and I want to try to show you that these plagues had a spiritual
lesson, and that these lessons were used throughout the scriptures.
Now, we don't have time for me to go through and show you all
of the things that I've studied to get the content of what I
have to say tonight, but you can study these things as well
as I can. But these things were used all
the way through the scriptures, and we're going to be looking
at some of them as we go through. We're going to be looking tonight
at the sixth plague that God sent upon Egypt, the plague of
the bulls and blames. And I've got five or six things
that I want you to see concerning this awful plague. And I don't
want to spend a lot of time because of these points, so we're just
going to get right into it tonight. The first thing that I want you
to see tonight is that these plagues were real plagues. I was talking with somebody whose
name I won't mention, but they were telling me that a lot of
what they read when it talked about the wrath of God and these
horrible things that fell on men were just stories, like parables. This is no parable. These things
were so horrific, so horrible and terrible, that from the day
God plagued Egypt until this very day, Egypt is still. When the rest of those countries
over in the Middle East are raising up and ready to go charge Israel,
watch what Egypt does. They stay in the shadows. Why? Because they know these things
were real. They may just be superstitions
to them now. But it made such an impact on
Egypt that Egypt's never forgotten it. They've never forgotten it.
And their history bears witness of it. These were real plagues. And what we're reading about
here in Exodus is not a parable. These plagues are very real.
And men died and suffered under these plagues. The whole land
suffered. Even the beast we looked at last
week suffered under this plague, just as all created things suffer
under the plague of sin. God sent these plagues as real
plagues because the spiritual plagues they represent are equally
real. When I stand here and talk to
you about these plagues and what they represent and the false
prophets and false religion and these plagues of sin in man,
like the lice. That dust should be lice in man. That's what it says. In man.
And that's what sin is in man. It's a flesh-eating vermin. He
thrives on the flesh. That's what man is. That's a
real flag on man. Those things are real. Anybody
that's got a heart halfway rendered to God will confess what he is
by nature. He'll confess his thoughts and
lust and all those things. That's flesh. That's what that
is. That's flesh. These flags were real. They were
real because what they pictured was real. You know, it's been the experience
of my ministry that most people that I preach to don't believe
what they can't see. Huh? You run into that? They
don't believe. I start talking to them about
religion and the beast and Antichrist and the spirit of Satan and his
working in our day, and they just kind of look at me like,
uh-huh. You run into that? That's right. They don't believe what they
can't see. They don't see that. Well, that's your opinion. They're
just like Pharaoh. The only thing Pharaoh could
do, he saw the plagues all right. But all he could see was Moses. That's all he could see. He couldn't
see past Moses. He couldn't see the invisible. Men don't believe the testimony
of this book concerning the invisible God. They don't believe that. They want to talk about creation.
They want to talk about evolution. They'll talk about the most idiotic
theories that you ever heard spun by an ungodly man, and they'll
receive it without question, but not creation. Why? Because creation is the testimony
of God. Men don't believe in principalities
and powers, not saints. And they don't accept the account
of creation, that an invisible God using unseen things to create
what's now visible to the eye. But do you know what it says
in Hebrews 1, the very first thing He uses to illustrate faith?
He said, through faith we understand the worlds were framed by the
Word of God so that the things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear. That's the first thing He tells
you. Faith. receives and accepts the invisible
upon the testimony of God. Paul goes on to tell us in the
Corinthians that faith looks not at things which are seen
over in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, but at the things, he looks
not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not
seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
which are not seen are eternal. They're eternal. The invisible
God accompanied Moses and Aaron down into Egypt. And by the invisible
hand of God, Egypt was overthrown and Israel was set free. And
nobody saw it. But everybody saw it. The only thing Pharaoh could
see was Moses and Aaron. But what he could not see and
would not receive and would not accept was real nonetheless,
wasn't it? It was real whether he'd seen
it or not. And that's what I tell men and women when we gather
in here every Sunday. These things, well, I don't believe it. That
don't change nothing. That don't change nothing. I
ain't going to bow to it. Paul said, does that make the
Word of God without effect? No. Now, religion. And that's what
we're seeing portrayed here in all these things in a heavy way
is religion. Religion can just be duplicated
so far. We saw that in the plagues. It
just went so far. It got so far and then it couldn't
do anymore. Couldn't do anymore. All right. Here's the second thing I want
you to see that these plagues had a purpose. Turn with me to
Deuteronomy chapter 28. If you want to go through and
do a little extra study at the house, you can go through the
book of Micah, Hosea, Zechariah, and several of the Psalms. And
you go through there, and in every last one of them, you'll
find these plagues. Every one of these plagues mentioned.
And applied. And applied. Not just mentioned,
but applied to Israel long thousands of years after these plagues
were sent. We're here in Deuteronomy chapter
28. The Lord warns Israel of ignoring His commandments and
going after other gods to serve these other gods. And He tells
them very plainly of the curses that will follow. He tells them
of the blessings. And then He warns them of the
curses. In Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse
27, I'm going to take you through all of them. I just want to show
you this He said, the Lord will smite thee with the blotch of
Egypt. You see that? The blotch of Egypt. And with the hemorrhoids. You
know what that is? Hemorrhoids. That's right. And with the scab and with the
itch whereof thou canst not be healed. I'll smite you with the
balls and the blames. They knew exactly where God was
coming from when He told them. They knew exactly. The block
of Egypt refers back to the plague of the bulls and the blinds.
And it was a curse which would be sent upon Israel in direct
relationship to their disobedience and continual longing to commit
spiritual adultery. And they wanted to go back into
those old things of Egypt and these heathen lands and mix their
religion. God said, go ahead, I'll treat
you the same way I treated them. I'll send upon you the blotch
of Egypt. In Revelations chapter 16, talking
about the gospel age in which we live, John begins to write
and he said, I've seen these angels come and they had vows.
These vows of the wrath of God, talking about this gospel age.
Wrath of God that is going to be poured out in this age as
the Gospel is being preached. He talks about these vials of
wrath. And it says here, And He poured
out His vial upon the earth. I haven't got it wrote down here. I think it is verse 2. And He
poured out His vial upon the earth. And there fell a noisome and
a grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast
and upon them which worshiped His image." That's Bowles and
Blaines. Bowles and Blaines. Now the purpose
of the plague of the Bowles and Blaines was to mark those upon
whom it came. Now listen to me, to eternal
ruin. Eternal ruin. This plague was
specifically sent upon men because of their persistent rebellion
against God, their continual insistence to worship after other
gods. Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter
3. I read this to you early on when
we first began to study these plagues, but I want us to look
at it tonight in its entirety. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Verse 1, this know also, and
if you want to know what also is, you have to go back a little
bit where he is talking about men taken captive at Satan's
will in his snares of deceit. That is what he is talking about.
This know also, that is coupled with that, that in the last days
perilous times shall come Men shall be lovers of them own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
unholy, without natural affection, truth-breakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,
heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God. having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof. From such, turn away. For of
this sort are they that creep into houses and lead captive
silly women, laden with sin, led away with divers' lusts,
ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth. Now, as Janney's and Jambree's," you remember who I told you that
was? That's the two-head magician. that stood before Moses. Now,
as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, these two magicians, these
false ministers of Pharaoh withstood Moses, so do these also resist
the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate
concerning the faith. Now listen. Listen to this. But
they shall proceed no farther, for their folly shall be manifest. You see that? He's going to mark
them out. It's going to be manifest unto
all men as theirs also was. He's going to smote them with
spiritual balls and blames. That's what he's telling you
there. And then you look back here in Exodus chapter 9 and
verse 11. And the magicians could not stand
before Moses because of the balls. For the ball was upon the magicians
and upon the Egyptians." Five times the Lord had warned Pharaoh,
poured out plague after plague upon him, and poured it out on
his people. Yet he would not bow to God's
demands, and he would not turn from his idols. Now look close
again at the means of the plague. Back in Exodus 9, verse 8. Ashes from the furnace. You see
that? You'll miss that when you read
through there if you're not reading it carefully. Exodus 9, 8. The
Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, take to you handfuls of
ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the
heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. Now, to understand this thing
a little bit better, just ask yourself, what on earth is the
sovereign of Egypt doing out next to a furnace? Huh? You reckon he's cold, just wanted
to get warm, walk down the sovereign of the land? I think they kept
him in a little better way than that, don't you? This wasn't
just a furnace. This was a place where they offered
human sacrifice. That's what this was. They offered
it to their God. His name is T-Y-P-O-N. It's where
our word typhoon comes from. A big blow. That's all he was. But very destructive. Most of
the old writers and historians believe that he was there at
the furnace to offer up human sacrifices and to pray to that
God because of the plagues that that Moses had pronounced upon
Egypt or a God that sent through Moses and poured out upon Egypt. And God would have Moses take
these religious ashes and toss them up in Pharaoh's presence
and cause these ashes to become small dust in all the land of
Egypt and fall upon man and beast and all the land as boils and
blames upon their flesh. According to Deuteronomy chapter
28, these bulls and blains were outside and inside. They were
eat up with them from the inside out. The blocks of Egypt is described
there also as hemorrhoids and so severe that these magicians
could no longer stand before Moses. They couldn't stand up.
They had to be carried out. Now there comes a time when God
will no longer hide His judgment of evil men, but will manifest
His curse upon their hearts and openly mark them out. Openly
mark them out publicly. Give them over to a reprobate
mind. Five times God sent Him warning,
and five times He hardened His heart. And now He tells us down
here in Exodus 9 verse 12, and the Lord hardened His heart. I hope tonight to show you exactly
what I told you at the beginning. That this plague marked those
men out for eternal ruin. Eternal ruin. The hardest heart
of man can be broken by the spirit of grace. I don't care how hard
it is. The scriptures tell us that his
heart is as hard as an adamant stone. Ain't that what it says?
Hard as flint. But God can break the hardest
heart. The Spirit of God with the Word of God and the Gospel
of Jesus Christ can melt the most icy heart there is. But
I'm going to tell you something. When God hardens the heart, God's
not going to soften it. God's not going to soften what
He hardens. A great physician can take away
the stony heart and put in a heart of flesh, a tender heart, a submissive
heart, a kind and understanding heart. But what God hardens,
God will not break. I'm telling you, you go through
Scriptures and see if I ain't telling you the truth. There
come a time when Esau repented in tears. Carefully, it says. Carefully. Choosing his words. That's right, carefully with
tears. It didn't do him any good. And
there's a time when Israel itself, the very people he gathered in
Goshen who watched and saw exactly what God poured out on these
Egyptians, they understood by these physical things, the spiritual
things, or at least some of them did, of what God was talking
about. But Israel went out in the wilderness, and we'll be
looking at that in days to come, the Lord willing. We're going
to be looking at these things. And Israel went out and spiritually
did the very same thing that Egypt did against God down in
Egypt. And they did it the same number
of times. Ten times. There were ten plagues
in Egypt. Israel did it ten times, and
God told them these ten times. He said, have you run against
me? They're not going to be a number
eleven. And Moses ran up in His presence and began to wail and
cry and make intercession for Israel. It didn't do a bit of
good. God said, I've sworn in My wrath. They're not coming
in. And they didn't. Not one of them
that came out of Egypt other than Joshua and Caleb of the
original bunch, the ones down here in Goshen that was looking
on and watching these plagues that God spoke to of His grace
and His mercy and His kindness. He told them all of those things
and yet they got out in that wilderness and their hearts become
hard and hard and hard. Huh? You know what he tells us
over in Hebrews? Here's what the Holy Ghost had
to say about these things. You think I'm just making these
things up for something to say, you go over and read Hebrews
chapter 3. I showed this to Walter here some time back. I don't
know how many times he says it going through that chapter. But
he says, today, with a capital T-O, capital D-A-Y. Today. Here's what the Holy Ghost
said. Today, if you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts, as they did in the provocation. They
provoked God. And there come a time when God
said, I ain't speaking no more. I've spoken up. Well, you preaching
a deadline. You call it what you want to.
I'm telling you, according to the word of God, he said the
gospel was preached unto them as well as it's preached unto
you. But it did not profit them not being mixed with faith and
them that heard it. There wasn't a one of them believed
except Joshua and Caleb or that whole outfit. Them want to try to explain this
way, and I know they'd like to deny it. Moses learned this lesson
down in Egypt, and he learned it again. He learned it again
when he got right over to the border of Canaan. And they said,
no, we ain't going in. Oh, man, Caleb ran up to those
people. He said, don't do this. Don't
do this. Let's go in. Let's go in. They wasn't going to have it. He said, I have grieved with
that generation and said they do always err in their heart
and they not know my ways so I swear in my wrath they shall
not enter into my rest. There is a judicial and incurable
blindness that God sends upon men because they will not receive
the love of the truth that they might be saved. You can find
it in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Antichrist religion comes
along. The Antichrist out here talking
peace, peace, where there is no peace. He's trying to soothe
out their problems and talk to them softly and get them to come
on back. Come on back now. Don't get disturbed.
Just come on back here. And with his lying wonders, with
his lying wonders, he deceives them with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish. because they received
not the love of the truth that they might be saved. For this
cause it said, God sent them. Who did? God did. Huh? They've been hardening their
heart, and they've been following this and doing that and making
up things as they go. Now God hardened the heart. That's
right. God sent them strong delusion
that they should believe a lie, and every one of them be damned
for believing it. But Paul said, oh, he said, I
thank God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. For God
hath chosen you. He hath before chosen you unto
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. He didn't leave you down there
to antichrist. But, preacher, you can't send
away the election of grace. You can't make Lord the Word
of God. purpose of God or the sacrifice of Christ? No, sir,
you can't. And I'm not trying to tell you
that you can't. But you cannot prove your election. You better
hear what I'm telling you. You cannot prove your election
of grace if your faith does not persevere to the end. They had
plenty of faith over there in Goshen, didn't they? Huh? Where'd they have the problem?
Out there under the trough. Now God's going to prove out
in this wilderness what you got back in Goshen. You see what
I'm saying? You see what these things are
a picture of? God comes, He brings you in here, and He shows you
what the hard heart of man is through the gospel. And He talks
about man and his fall and his corruption and all. You say,
we believe that? We'll see. We'll see. God's going to put you through
the fire. He's going to try our works of what sort it is. Now
let me tell you something else about this plague. This plague
came unannounced. That's right. God didn't say anything to Pharaoh.
He didn't say anything to Egypt. There are no set number of times
that it takes to bring on yourself the plague of God's wrath. I've
known men who come in here one time, never darken the door again. I've known others who came for
years and then suddenly quit coming. We've got some of them. The mark of eternal doom comes
unannounced and unexpected. Pharaoh and Jannes and Jambres
didn't go up there to that burning altar expecting eternal doom,
but that's what happened nonetheless. There was a middle-aged man who
came in here, a very likable fellow, an intelligent man. One
Sunday morning, just lives right up the road here, just a little
piece. I guess he'd come here to see
what we preached. I was without a pastor at the
time, and he was either looking for another place to go or hoping
to merge our congregations or whatever the reason was. But
he'd come in here, and he heard one message. And he said, that's
enough for me. And he went on back to his decisionism
and easy-believe-ism and all that. In all likelihood, that's
where he'll stay until he dies. It wasn't just Pharaoh and his magicians,
but God caused that dread mark to appear in all the flesh upon
whom that religious dust fell. That's right. You say, well,
these men getting up there, they're going to have to give an account
to God. And I agree with you. These false prophets and so on,
they are cursed of God. They're marked out of God. They're
reprobate men. Let me tell you something. Those
who follow them and listen to them, they're just as reprobate
as they are. Man and beast, unannounced, unexpected,
unavoidable. And as surely as God identified
His people in Goshen, He set the mark of eternal doom in the
hearts of all those who will not receive the testimony of
Christ. He said, they shall be damned. Ain't that what he said? Mark
it down. All right, here's the fourth
thing. This plague is directed toward all those outside Goshen. Goshen represents Christ to me
and his church. Paul said, everything in Goshen,
everything in Christ is yea and amen. Ain't that what he said?
He didn't have a nay in his gospel. He didn't have a nay. It was
all yea. There's no nay in Christ. One
preacher said one time, you can take all those ifs. There's plenty
of them too. You go through the scripture.
We are His house if we continue in the rejoicing of Christ firm
unto the end. Huh? You can go through there.
There are a bunch of ifs in it. He said take all them ifs, string
them all together on one strand, hang them right around the neck
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not one, not one bull or blame
came into Goshen. Well, weren't they guilty? They
were as guilty as those Egyptians. A little bit later on, they'll
show it. They'll show it. Everything in
Christ is preserved. Everything in Christ is blessed.
Everything in Christ will be delivered. Everything in Christ
is going to walk out of Egypt. Brethren, the key to the believer's
life is the grace of God in Christ. That's what it is. It's God's
purpose of grace that chose you. God's providence of grace that
made provision for you, God's person of grace that accomplished
your salvation, God's spirit of grace that gathers us together
and teaches us, God's preacher of grace that watches for your
souls and tells you the truth, God's presence of grace to preserve
you, and God's fullness of grace at His second coming. Israel
did nothing to contribute to their salvation but huddled together
down in Goshen. Ain't that what they did? Ain't
that what we're doing here? We're huddled here tonight in
this little play, hoping in Christ. In Christ. I'm not doing anything. Are you? Huh? In my hand, no
price I bring, simply to thy cross. We just huddle together
in Goshen. That's what we do. There gonna
come a time when they huddle in each other's homes. and hope
for the blood that's on the door. All right, 50. This plague was
a plague with two different views. Everything depended on where
you was as to how you seen the plagues. The first was through the eyes
of those who suffered the curse. And we pretty much already covered
all that. But it was also seen and heard
and ghost What did those do down in Goshen who saw all this going
on? Well, I wasn't there, and he
doesn't say a whole lot about it, but I can tell you this much.
I guarantee you they was thankful. Huh? Wouldn't you be? You stand
looking out the door and all them cattle wobbling around and
can't walk the few that's left from the previous All the beasts
were smoked with tinctures, sores, and things just before this place.
And the few that was left, that was the ones that were standing
in the field. And now these ones that were kept in the barn, now
they're covered with sores. And all the people covered with
sores. And they can't even walk because they got them inside
and out. And they're just laying on the ground and moaning and
crying out before God. Filthy. Oh, I'll tell you what. You look out your window and
see that, and you look around, and your cattle's over here,
content, chewing grass in the yard. Huh? I'll tell you what
you better be thankful. Huh? Thankful. Oh, I'll tell
you, when God gathers His sheep into Christ, and you're in Him,
and He opens your eyes, and you see the plagues of this world,
let me tell you something. You look out, and here's your
children, and your children are hearing the gospel. Their children
ain't. Their children being taught over
there by the Antichrist. Their children over there being
already prepped for that religion, ain't they? I'm telling you,
the cancer's already on them. Already on them. Thankful. Oh, how thankful they must have
been when they looked out the window. And they saw what was
going on in Egypt. And they looked around and saw
nothing was happening in Goshen. It's the high faith that sees
this world condemned and dying under the curse of God. And from
the safety and security of Christ, that's what makes him thankful.
Oh, thank God. Thank God. But for the grace
of God, we'd be just like That's right. We'd be just like
them. I ain't a doubt in my mind I'd have my old guitar. I still
got it at the house, but it's got mothballs on it now. I'd
still have that guitar. I'd still be plucking over there
in the church singing, I'll Fly Away. Huh? Still be standing
up there talking about things I didn't know anything about.
Be standing up there blaspheming God and go home thinking, boy,
the Spirit of God was there last night, wasn't it? Wasn't that
a wonderful meeting? I can't tell you how many times
I went home and said that. Some old woman stood up and cried.
Somebody come down to pray, whatever it was. What a meeting we had
last night. That man sang like an angel.
What'd he sing? We'll meet Mother in Heaven or
some Tommy Rock. Paul said such for some of you.
Isn't that what he said? Woo! I used to tell Henry, I said,
every time you want to illustrate sin, I said, you look right at
me and point that finger. I was a good example. Such were
some of you. But you're washed. You're sanctified,
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
Spirit of our God. You were. But now you're in Goshen. Oh God, open these dull hearts
and eyes to see the religious ashes falling upon all of our
sons and daughters, our relatives and neighbors and friends all
over this world with ruinous effects. These are real plagues. I'm telling you, this is a real
curse. You don't think it is, just go out and talk to one of
them. It's nauseous. It had to be nauseous
to see a man covered in bowls. Huh? Nauseous to you, isn't it? I believe as Moses brought plague
after plague upon the Egyptians, he sensed in himself that God
was just about done talking. Quit preaching at me! That's
what people tell me all the time. Quit preaching at me! Oh, I tell
you what, you don't want that. You don't want that. My soul,
you don't want God to quit speaking. No, you don't want that. I tell
you, when God got done speaking, he folded them up in the sea.
He had the last thing he was going to say to them, he said
it. That's the end of it. The last thing you want in this
world is for God to quit speaking. And there's some I know that
are tired of it. They're weary of hearing. They're
weary of the trouble and expense of it. They're weary of the inconvenience. They're weary of the responsibility
of it. They're tired of it. Weary. Been
going on for years and years and years. Huh? Let me tell you
something. Nobody's weary in Goshen. Because in Goshen, you can see
the plagues. You can see the plagues. If you're weary, God
has not yet gathered you in Goshen. You yet don't have eyes to see
those tenacious bulls on the curse of God, just raining curse
after curse, plague after plague, falling on them, nowhere to go.
Where are you going to hide from God? Huh? Out there at that furnace, that
old religious furnace out there by the river that you worshiped
for 40 years? Where you gonna hide? You can't
hide from God. Everywhere Pharaoh went, God
sent Moses to tell him something, didn't he? Nobody gets weary in Goshen.
In Goshen, you're just thankful that God spoke to you. Would
you be pleased to speak one more time before you send the bulls
in the blind? Huh? Oh, maybe he will. Our Father, we thank you. We
thank you for these warnings that sober us up. They wake us up. How often we
lull ourselves to sleep in this world. We forget to look. We forget
what's going on. We forget to see the hand of
God upon this world and the hand of grace engulfs it. Oh, our
God, we thank You for the warnings. We thank You for the teaching
of the Word of God that's preserved these things and throughout Scripture
taught us the meaning of these things and then revealed them
to us in Christ. Use the lesson tonight to wake
us up. Sober us up that we might serve
Thee in these final days. We ask Thee for Christ's sake.