Now, if you'll take your Bibles
and turn back with me to Exodus chapter 5. Having established the message
and the means to Moses, Moses, his servant, and showed to him beyond all
doubt the importance of God's covenant relationship to Israel
by insisting on the circumcision of his son. Moses now takes the
rod of God in his hand and goes to meet his brother Aaron. And
they both proceed down to Goshen, this section of land that was given to them when the old
Pharaoh, with whom Israel was given favor, gave them that land,
gave Jacob and all his children that land. And that's where Israel
abode the whole time they were in Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And Abram, as God agreed to do,
make all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. And he did the signs. He demonstrated
to them through the signs of that rod, that staff that he
gave him in his hand. And by placing his arm in his
bosom, he demonstrated those things before the people. And as God foretold that they
would, They believed. That's what he said about Egypt.
He said they would believe. Chapter 5, verse 1. And afterwards, Moses and Aaron
went in and told Pharaoh. They first went to Israel. They
told Israel what God had said. And God demonstrated His message
to them as He demonstrated it to Moses. And Aaron spoke all
those words, and Israel believed. And now he goes in, and he tells
Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my people
go, that they might hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. By the grace of God, that's what
we're doing here tonight. Exactly what he was talking about
there. And Pharaoh said, who is Jehovah? That's the first time this name
appears in the scripture. Who is Jehovah? Who is the Lord? Jehovah is God our Savior. Who is this God who intends to
save you? That I should obey his voice
to let Israel go. I know not Jehovah. Neither will
I let Israel go. I've got three things tonight,
very basic, very fundamental things, nothing complicated here.
Three things that I know all too well by experience. And I experience them often in
the ministry, these three things. And I say that they're very simple,
basic things, fundamental things, but these are things upon which
I pin my hope. If I'm wrong about this, I'm
not just going to be embarrassed. I'm going to spend eternity in
hell. I pin my hope to these things. We're not playing games
in here tonight. These are things to which men
are saved or lost. These are things you'll receive
or God will send you to hell, one or the other. You see what
I'm saying? These are very fundamental, simple
things and sometimes we hear these things and we hear them
often and we say, well, oh no, not that again. Oh, I tell you,
when you get thinking about what this is, like I said Sunday,
it's a blessed hope. It's a blessed hope. These are the things that I pin
my hope to, Russell. There's more at stake here than
just my reputation. There's more at stake here than
just your position in the community. Your soul hangs in the balance
of these things. Three things I want to talk to
you about tonight. I want to talk to you a little
bit here. First of all is that God spoke. That's what it says. God spoke. And then secondly, I want to
show you what happened when God spoke. And then last of all,
I want to see what we can learn from these two things. All right,
let's deal with the first thing here. God spoke. How did he speak? How did he speak? Moses didn't
go down there and say, now here's what I think. Tell me what you
think. That ain't what he said. He said,
thus saith the Lord, didn't he? That's pretty definite. How dare a man stand behind a
pulpit and gather a multitude of people together and say, now
let me tell you something. Here's what God said. Who are
you? Who are you to say what God said? You see what I'm saying? Let's deal with that first. God
says. How did God speak? He spoke through
a man. That's right. You think God couldn't have went
down there and spoke an audible voice? He spoke an audible voice
at the baptism of His Son, didn't He? He spoke in an audible voice
to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. God could
have spoken through an audible voice, but it didn't please Him
to do that. It pleased Him to speak to those
people through a man. through a man. God spoke. God singled out a particular
man. He didn't speak through all the
men. There were a lot of men speaking who said they spoke
for God. All of those religious priests
in Egypt said they spoke for God. We're the priests of God. I'm told by the old historians
that Egypt had a book called the Book of Angels. And in this
book of angels were all the, what's the term I want to use,
recognized deities in the world. The sun gods, the moon gods,
all of these established nations and nations of influence and
power and all of this thing. They were all recorded in this
book of the angels. And when Pharaoh said, I don't
know Jehovah. That's what he's saying. It wasn't
in the book. He wasn't in their book. It wasn't
in their book. Ain't that what men tell you
all the time when you start to tell them the gospel? They say,
now wait a minute. My Bible? No, he ain't in your book. He's
in his book. He's in his book. It pleased
God to speak through a man, and not every man, but a man, a single
man. Singled him out in particular.
Sent him to a people in particular. Said that he was going to preach
to both them and the Egyptians, but the Egyptians were not going
to believe, and his people would. That's what God told Moses before
he ever went down to Egypt. You go to Israel first, they'll
believe. Then you go to Pharaoh and he
ain't going to believe. And neither will he let my people
go. God singled out this man called
Moses, taught him his gospel. He revealed it to him, revealed
it in him, made him to understand in no uncertain terms that he
was chosen of God to speak on his behalf. He knew why he was
there. That's why he didn't want to
go. He knew what he had to do. That's why he fought against
it. That's why he didn't want to go. He was chosen of God to speak
to Israel and Egypt and to declare in no uncertain terms the will
of God concerning his elect. And I don't know of anything
rejected in this world more than the means which God has chosen
to represent him before men. It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. That's right. A preacher preached the gospel
to me. He taught me the gospel. And God's spirit revealed what
he taught in me. I don't know how else to explain
it. And that's how it's done. There's nothing rejected in this
world more than the means which God has chosen to represent Him
before men. The Lord was not despised, now
I want you to hear me, for His good works. He said, for which
of the good works do I do that you pick up those stones to stone
me? Oh, we don't stone you for a good work. For a good work
we stone thee not, but because thou said. Ain't that what it
was? Yeah, that's the problem. That's
the problem. He was not ridiculed for his
benevolence to needy sinners. He was not hated by the religions
of this world for his miracles. They followed him to see him
and wondered at him. They despised him because he
said, I represent God. I have God's message. That's why they despised him.
He stood up that day and they delivered him, as the custom
was, they delivered to him the sacred scroll of Isaiah. And
he found the place in Isaiah where it was written. And he
read that scripture, that God hath anointed me to preach the
gospel. And he went all through that
thing. All through that thing. You know what they said to him? He's Joseph's son. We know him. We know him. He's Joseph's son. He's no preacher. God hadn't
seen him. We've known him since he was
a baby. Who gave him the credentials
to be a rabbi? Who made him a preacher? On what
authority does he speak? And he said unto them, that is,
Those who had known him all his life, he said, no prophet is
accepted in his own country. They won't have it. They won't
have it. This won't happen. That's as
true today as it was in the day when Christ stood up to pray. We know you. We know you. You can't be no ambassador of
God. Russell, I remember you. You
don't want to remember, do you? I don't either. That's what folks
say. We know you. We know you. He
told them, he said, there was many widows in Israel in the
days of Elijah, but God didn't visit any of them. He sent Elijah. Elijah is that prophet who appeared
to him on the Mount of Transfiguration who represents all the prophets
in the whole Old Testament. It was by his spirit and power
that John the Baptist came with his character, the character
of Elijah. He said he sent this favored
prophet to know Israelite. None of them. They was all dying
of the drought. They was all dying of hunger.
They was all just falling like flies. He didn't send them to
any of them. But he sent him to a Gentile
widow in Sidon. And by now their eyes is burning
on him. And he said, you remember Elisha?
He said there was a lot of lepers back then in Israel. God didn't
help none of them. He sent Elisha who had the spirit
of Elijah. He sent Elisha to one old widow
woman. I mean, he sent Elisha to Naaman,
the Syrian, the Gentile. And everyone in the synagogue,
when they heard what he preached, when they heard his claims, he
said, I'm God's messenger. He is the messenger, the messenger
of the covenant. But after him are all God's servants
and preachers. They're all after him. We're
under shepherds. He's the shepherd. He stood up
that day and said that he was the shepherd. And God hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor and to make it effectual
through my words. And they wouldn't have it. Everyone
in the synagogue, when they heard these things, was filled with
wrath. They didn't like it. They didn't like it. Having established
the absolute necessity of gospel preaching in Romans chapter 10
and verses 13 through 15, he tells us this, they had not all
obeyed the gospel. Is that what it says? And he quotes this scripture
in Isaiah, for who hath believed our report. God has chosen to
represent himself with a man before men. Now that's the truth. That's what this book teaches.
You do with it what you will, but that's what the book said.
It pleased God. And that's who has to be pleased.
That's who's running things. God. He's the one who's going
to have his will. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. It's absolute foolishness to
talk about what pleases us and what don't please us. What I
think and what you think, that's just opinions are like noses,
everybody's got one. I want to know what God says
about this thing and it says it pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. And I'll give you several
reasons why. And the first reason is the chief
reason. to establish their submission
and obedience of faith. That's the first reason. He said,
this is the way it's going to be. This is the way it's going
to be. You know what believers do when
they hear what God says? They obey. They bow. They bow. I tell you, Israel
heard the same message that Egypt heard. And they bowed their heads
and worshipped. Ain't that what it says? They
bowed their heads and worshipped God. And they saw the goodness
of God. They said, God has visited us.
God? When God come there, it said
Aaron and Moses came there. Huh? Now, come on. What did it say? It said Aaron
and Moses went down into Egypt, down into Goshen, and spoke to
the children of Israel. And after they had spoken, they
said, God visited us. That's what it said. It's to establish their submission
and obedience of faith. Paul said to the believers at
Thessalonica, over in 1 Thessalonians 1, he said, I know your election
of God. Isn't that something? Paul said, I know. your election
of God, Russell. I know your name was recorded
in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world."
Now that's a mouthful to say, isn't it? That's what he's telling
them. I know your election of God.
Well, how on earth do you know that? Because when the Gospel
came, it came not in word only. But it came with the Holy Ghost,
and it came with much assurance. and you become followers of me
and the Lord." That's what he says. God will demonstrate His absolute
sovereignty in the salvation. God's sovereign in salvation.
I hope everybody here knows that. He's sovereign. He saves whom
He will. God will demonstrate His absolute
sovereignty in salvation in bringing His elect to lovingly submit
to His service. That's what they're going to
do. I ain't going to twist nobody's arm. I ain't going to beg you
down the aisle. We're not going to sing 59 verses of Just As
I Am. And I'm not going to start threatening
you with punishment. And I'm not going to start talking
about promises of reward. I'm going to preach the gospel
to you. And if it comes to you in power, if it comes to those
that God intended it to come in power, And he blesses that
gospel to your heart. You're going to submit. And you're
going to do it in love. And you're going to say this,
God has visited me. Huh? That's exactly right. No options in Egypt. You believe Moses would go to
hell. That's it. That's it. Well, we've got this
council down here. It's been established for thousands
of years. We've got a priesthood here and
we've got our church all erected. We've got all these things already
here. You believe Moses or go to hell. That's it. That's it. There ain't no options
in Egypt. You believe God's ambassador
or God will send his plagues on you. That's right. Now, we're getting ready to get
into that here just shortly, into these plagues. The only
ones the plagues fell on was the ones who didn't believe,
who wouldn't submit. That's right. And these plagues came on. But
wait a minute, they didn't even have a say in the matter, did
they? I thought that's Pharaoh he talked to. Let me tell you
something about the kingdom of Satan. Whatever he says, they
say. That's right. He rules. He rules over this
world. Whatever He says is what they
say. Whatever they say is what He says. Now I'm going to show
you that in the Scripture in just a few minutes. How did He speak? God spoke through
a man. How did He speak? He spoke through
a demonstration of the restored rod of God and its cleansing
effect on the hearts of men. That's what he spoke. It says
he went down and Aaron told them all the words of God and did
before them the signs. He demonstrated the same thing
that he demonstrated to Moses, he demonstrated to them. Same
thing. Let me show you something over
here in 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. I tell you, you
need to read chapter 1. Because I tell you, Paul lays
down the importance of this thing of gospel preaching, and that's
where he said it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. And he establishes what it is
they preach of God as Christ made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. And the reason he does it in
men so that no flesh will glow in his sight, look at your calling,
not many noble, not many mighty. Not many wives. You see that? Now he gets down here in chapter
2 and he said, And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not
with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you
the testimony of God. That's a powerful statement right
there. He declared to them the testimony
of God. That's what Moses is doing down
in Egypt. That's what I tell you tonight
that I'm doing to you. For I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." That's
how the rod was restored. That rod that Christ took up.
And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of
man's wisdom. Watch it now. But in demonstration. See that? In demonstration of
the Spirit and of power. Now the demonstration of the
Spirit is the Spirit of the living God taking the preaching of the
Gospel and demonstrating to you how God saves sinners in Christ. That's what that means. He demonstrates. He takes the Word of God. He
takes the preaching of the Gospel. And He presses it upon the hearts
of men. And He demonstrates. He demonstrates
to them how God saves sinners. saves them through the mediator,
through the surety, through the representative head of Israel,
through the substitute, through the work of the high priest.
The power of this demonstration is revealed in the hearts of
God's elect who, having seen the demonstration of the restored
rod of redemption, believe, receive, bow, and worship. You see that? A demonstration. He demonstrates to you. All right? Here's the second thing. What
happened when God's ambassador spoke? Everybody that God said
would believe did. And everybody that God said wouldn't
believe didn't. That's what happened. And that's
what happens tonight, and that's what happens next Sunday by the
grace of God when I stand up to pray. Everybody that God intends
to believe will. Paul preached in that city to
those Jews and Gentiles, and the Jews wouldn't have any part
of it if you want to get down to the spirit of the moment and
say, well, it was their unbelief. They weighed the words that he
said, and they heard what he said, and they compared it with
what the world said, and they rejected him. That's all right
with me. But the Gentiles were glad. And you know what it says?
as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Read it for yourself. It is the accomplished redemption
of God's elect in the death and resurrection of Christ realized
in the power of God's Spirit through the preaching of the
gospel that delivers us from the evil one. You shall know the truth, the
Lord said, and the truth shall set you free. The Holy Ghost convinces us of
sin, of our ruin in Adam, of man's history of sin, and the
history of sin in our personal lives, and especially by our
own doubts and unbelieving hearts to receive the goodness of God
in Christ without question. Think of the condescension of
God who came down and spoke kind words to Pharaoh. I've looked at that and looked
at that. God said he's not going to let you go. He knew that ahead
of time. God said I'm going to harden
his heart. God knew that ahead of time.
But God spoke to him in condescending terms and asked him, didn't command
him to ask him. to let my people go. It takes the Holy Spirit of God
to convince a man of sin and convince him of righteousness
and convince him of judgment. This is what the Holy Ghost is
sent to do and what He does. And He does it through the preaching
of the Gospel. And those who believe not, Every
last one of them say with Pharaoh of old, who is Jehovah? Who is
this God that you pray? Who is this strange God that
you pray? Saves a particular people. Got
their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life before you ever
created the first man. Who is this Jehovah? Who is this
church? And I tell you, the attitude
and character of all unbelieving men is summed up in 1 Corinthians
2, where he is still talking on this subject of preaching
the gospel, still talking to them about the work of the Holy
Spirit. And he says in verse 14, that
the natural man receiveth not... See it there? 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 14. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. That's why he can never be saved.
He won't have them. Give him something else. Give
him anything else. Give him an aisle to walk. Give
him a church to build. Give him a community to convert. Give him anything. Give him a
job as a missionary, Sunday school teacher. Give him anything you
want to give him and he'll do it. But he won't have the things
of the Spirit of God. You won't have it. I challenge you. You try. Try. They don't have it. You can't
make a man bow to the Word of God. He won't do it. He won't
do it. He'll tell you what I think.
Well, what's that got to do with anything? Well, I just feel, what's that
got to do with anything? Were you born with some innate
knowledge of God? Do you know all about the deity?"
He said, no man has seen God at any time. The Pharisees, they
were religious and they had their phylacteries and their long garments
and their degrees and they had all of these things, but they
didn't know God. They didn't know God. And they
stood up and they said, well, that can't be right. You're not
of God. You have Beelzebub. Well, they
were talking to the Son of God. They didn't even recognize Him.
Huh? He receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God. Neither can he know them because
they're spiritually discerned. All of these things that tend
to salvation are spiritually understood. This book is a spiritual
book. And what bars the natural man
from being saved is his rebellious heart, his proud heart, his deceived
heart. And he will not receive the things
of the Spirit of God. You will not receive God's ambassador
as the servant of God. He won't do it. He won't do it. You mean to tell me God puts
me in the company of a preacher. I'm a lost man, and I'm here
by his providence. I walk through that door. It
may be the only time in my life I ever get to hear one, and I
stand before God's preacher, and he says something ruffles
my feathers, and I just bow up and say, who's he think he is?
I won't receive the things of the Spirit of God. You see what
I'm saying? That's the natural man. He don't
want any part of that. He won't receive God's ambassador
or the name of his God which he declares to it. He resists
the wisdom and wooing of the Spirit as the Gospels preach
to him. That one old king, who was it,
Felix, that when Paul preached to him, he trembled. He trembled. He resisted. He rejects all ideas of a supernatural
birth. And especially, I had a fellow
told me one time at work, he said, you mean to tell me you
think you're reborn? I said, absolutely. Sure do. I pinned my hope on it. That's
right. That word must, you need to look
that up sometime in a strong concordance and go through the
scripture and see what must happen. And the first must is you must
be born again. John chapter 3. Must be. You can't even see, you can't
even perceive the Kingdom of God until you've been born again. He won't have it. He rejects
the things of the Spirit of God. All idea of a supernatural birth. Now they'll call walking an aisle
being born again. They'll call joining the church
being born again. They'll call a little water sprinkled
on the head. They'll call that being born
again. But a new birth, a new man created in you, the spirit
of the living God taking up his abode in you, we don't want a
part of that. He rejects all ideas of a supernatural
birth and especially the means by which it comes. And then he
rejects the word of God as the foundation of his faith and practice. I was talking to my brother down
in Augusta, Georgia the other night. I was talking to him about
my ministry and how my family feels about it, and he told me
this. He said, I just believe the Bible speaks individually
to all men saying something different to each one of us. Ask Pharaoh
if that's what he believes. Moses told Pharaoh, thus saith
the Lord. Ain't that what he said? He didn't
say, now this is what I think the Lord meant. That ain't what
he said. He said, here's what God said.
Here's what God said. That's what preaching is. Preaching
is a declaration of the testimony of God. Ain't no man be pamby
about it. Ain't no fiddling around about
it. If a man's not sure in his soul of what he preaches, he's
got no business being up here. He's just throwing out opinions.
He's just throwing out things. I have sharing sessions is a
big thing now. We just all get together and
share things. Somebody asked me one time what
we did here on Wednesday night. I said, we're going through the
Old Testament. Oh, he said, you're having a
Bible study. I said, yeah, we're having a Bible study. He said,
well, do we get to ask questions? I said, all you want when I'm
finished. All you want, but not while I'm
preaching. Oh, I tell you, my friend, if
the Bible says nothing definite, then how can God hold men responsible
for their unbelief? He that believeth not shall be
damned. Ain't that what it says? In John's
second epistle, he says, whosoever transgresseth And abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. That's what it says.
He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father
and the Son. If there come any unto you and
bring not this doctrine, don't receive him into your house,
neither bid him Godspeed. For he that biddeth him Godspeed
is a partaker of his evil deeds. Paul said to young Timothy, he
said, there's a time coming. When men will not endure sound
doctrine, we're living in it right now. They will not endure sound doctrine.
I can open this book and say, look here what this says. How
shall you believe without a preacher? How are you going to hear? Well,
I don't mean preaching. You don't? Why did it say that? Why did it say that? Well, you
know. You mean to tell me I have to
believe the message that God sends through a man? Oh, listen to this. He said they'll
turn away their ears from the truth and be turned unto fables
and heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. Something interesting came to
mind as I studied this passage, and I mentioned this a little
earlier, that Pharaoh spoke for all Egypt. Turn with me to John
chapter 8. There's no need for Egypt to
speak because they've got nothing to say apart from Pharaoh. In John chapter 8, the Lord accused
the Pharisees and scribes of being servants of sin. These were religious men. These
were men who attended all the meetings under the law of God.
They kept all the law of God. They tithed. They worshipped.
They did everything that it commanded them to do in the outward sense
they did. Touching the law, Paul said,
who was a Pharisee before his conversion, he said, I blameless.
I did all those things. And then in John chapter 8, he
accuses these same men of being servants of sin. John 8 verse
34, Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever
committeth sin is the servant of sin. Only sinners sin. You've heard me make that statement
many times. A servant does what his master
bids him to do, if he's a servant. He says what his master tells
him to say, he acts the way his master tells him to act, and
he lives the way his master tells him to live. Verse 37, I know
that you're the natural seed of Abraham. I know that you can
physically trace your ancestry back to Abraham. He said, I know
that. That was a big deal with the group. But he said, you seek
to kill me. Well, what's the problem? My
word has no place in you. What I'm preaching, what I'm
teaching doesn't have any place in you. No place of comfort,
no place of conviction, no place of understanding, no place of
joy, no place of hope. Verse 38. I speak that which
I have seen with my Father, and you do that which you have seen
with your Father. Jesus saith unto them, verse
42, If God were your Father, you would love me. For I proceeded
forth and came from God, neither came I of myself, but He sent
me. Why do you not understand my
speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. Ye are of your father the devil,
and the lust of your father you will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and a bold knot in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it." I hope
to show you as we go through the book of Exodus that God held
all Egypt accountable for their loyalty to the king, every last
one of them. Will God kill the firstborn son
of Pharaoh? So will He kill the firstborn
son of every one who followed after that king. Every last one.
Will God send the plagues on Pharaoh into his palace? So will
He send those plagues into every member, every citizen in the
land of Egypt. Every one of them. And every man who marched with
Pharaoh got drowned in the sea. Every last one of them. Paul wrote to the church at Rome
and he said, no you not, that to whom you yield yourselves
servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom you obey. That's
what he said. Whether of sin unto death or
of obedience unto righteousness, one or the other. You're somebody's
servant. But God be thanked you were the
servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form
of doctrine which was delivered unto you. That is so clear to
me. Can you see that in the Scriptures,
how clear that is? Being then made free from sin,
you became the servants of righteousness. All right, here's the last thing.
What should I take away from these first two things? Well, I ought to take away this,
the importance of healing. What a blessing to hear! To hear! Those Pharisees jumped up and
down. They bowed up. They wouldn't
have anything to do with what Christ preached. And He turned
to His disciples and He told them the same thing that He told
them and revealed to them in their hearts the truth of what
He said. And then He said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and
prudent. And you revealed them unto babes.
And he turned to his disciples, Russell, and he said, blessed
are your ears for they hear. Huh? Oh, faith cometh by hearing and
hearing by the Word of the Lord. And I tell you this, there is
nothing more important in our lives and in the lives of our
wives and children than hearing. Hearing. I don't care if it's
me or Don or who it is up here. Hear Him. James said, Of His own will begat
He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits
of His creatures, or creation. That word is creation. Wherefore,
my beloved brethren, let every man be what? Swift to hear. There's a meeting down there
tonight. Be swift to hear. They're going
to meet over there Sunday morning. What time they meet? Be swift
to hear. Swift to hear. After 400 years of bondage and
servitude, God in covenant mercy sent them a man to lead them
out of bondage and to do it with the rod of the gospel of God's
authority and grace in Christ. And he sent him down there. And
they heard. They heard. And they're glad. They're glad. They said, God
looked on us with favor, and they bowed their heads, and they
worshiped God. Why and how should they hear?
Why? Because God speaks. God speaks. That's what Moses said, thus
saith the Lord. It takes a convinced man to say
that. That's right. Why? Because God speaks. Why? Because God condescends to speak
in a good way. He spoke on Mount Sinai, and
they told Moses, they said, you go up there. We're not talking
to him. That thing smoked and was on fire and shook in their
presence, that great mountain. And they stood down there in
fear and ran away. And they said, Moses, you go
talk to God. And then tell us what he said. God condescends to speak to you
through a man. How should we hear? We ought
to hear the message of God to us. That's how we ought to hear. God has a message for me. I'm
going to go here. Henry, you say it's like the
reading of the will. The reading of the will. How
should I hear? In reverence and godly fear. And I ought to listen in consideration
of the medium by which God speaks and consider his failties and
weaknesses. And last but not least, we ought
to hear with anticipation. There's one more passage I want
to read to you before I close over in Hebrews chapter 3. It
has to do with this thing up here. The time to hear is when God's
servant speaks. That's the time to hear. It's
not Monday afternoon after work. It's not on Good Friday when
I've got the day off. It's when God's servant stands
to preach. That's the time to hear. Five
times, if I counted correctly, the words today are found in
Hebrews chapter 3, in Hebrews chapter 4. You can count them
and see for sure if I'm right. But I think five times they're
stated, emphasized, and capitalized in the Scripture. In Hebrews chapter 3 verse 6
it says, But Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house
are we, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope, firm
unto the end. Now watch this. Wherefore, as
the Holy Ghost saith." Now let me tell you what that means.
You go home and check me out and see if I ain't right. When
he says, the Holy Ghost saith, he's talking about whatever it
is he's about to say being taught throughout the Word of God. That's
what that phrase means. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost
saith, Today, more let that set in. Today,
if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation. Verse 13, but exhort one another
daily while it's called today. At time of assembling ourselves,
Any of you be hardened through the deceit, that deceit of sin, by the enemies
of grace, the enemies of God? Verse 15, while it is said today,
if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, for some, when
they did hear, did provoke. I'm hoping to hear. I'm hoping
to hear. Cora, Dathan, and Abiram. heard
and then they provoke. Chapter 4 verses 1 through 3
is summed up. All who hear his voice when he
speaks today enter in to his rest. There's no set day in the New
Testament to meet. That's foolishness. That's man's
foolishness. Well, I just think Sunday's the New Testament Sabbath. That's a bunch of tommyrot. Sunday's
the first day of the week. Saturday's the Sabbath. It always
has been, always will be. But Christ is our Sabbath. There
is no set day in the New Testament to meet, nor is there any limit
of days in which to meet. In the early church, they met
day by day, broke bread daily, house to house. Go sit down. The time to hear is where the
church assembles and God sends his word through his messenger.
That's today. That's today. I want to make this as clear
as I know how to make it. I have nothing given to me and
we have nothing given to us as a church. to cause men and women
to gather here to worship except the gospel of God's sovereign
grace in Christ. That is so important, so important. The minute I attempt to use any
other means, any other arguments, I compromise the glory of God
in the means. God chose these means for a reason. Moses' whole ministry in Egypt
was fully dependent on the rod of God in his hand. Everything
he had to say, he said with the rod. That rod is the gospel. With the rod in his hands and
its power in his own bosom, God gives us a heart. I hope he does. To worship as they did when they
heard the good news. and they heard the good news.
And realize when they don't what the problem is. They don't know
God. They don't know God. That's what
Pharaoh said. Who is the Lord? Now I didn't want to mix this
message with that message, who is the Lord? We'll maybe try
to deal with that next Wednesday night. Who is Jehovah that I
should obey his voice? I'm going to tell you who he
is. Who he is that you should obey his voice. Whether it be
through his ambassador or through his work, you better obey him.
Better obey him. He's Jehovah.