If you'll turn back with me now
to Exodus chapter 1. I gave the folks on Wednesday
night, a few weeks ago, an introduction into the book of Exodus. So this will be my first lesson
in the book as we go through. Since it's not in the providence
of God for me to bring it to you on Wednesday night, I'm going
to give it to you on Sunday morning. But as we begin our study in
this book of Exodus, we find Joseph dead. And he who by the
providence, by God's providence and by God's divine commission,
was given the rule of Egypt. For the preservation of God's
children no longer walked in the land. Joseph. Joseph was
gone. His person was no longer present,
nor his glory to be seen. He was gone. But the children
of Israel still dwelt in the land. Who would protect and preserve
them now? To whom would they go for protection,
for food, for counsel, for help? And Joseph was a prophet. To
whom would they go to receive instruction of God? Joseph was
God. This is the picture of God's
church in this world as Christ was received up into glory and
she was left to be born in a hostile land, in a hostile world. Because of his rule, this world
still abides. If you look at Egypt and take
Joseph and God's purpose out of the equation, Egypt would
not have been. The drought would have consumed
Egypt. It would have been gone. Because of his rule, this world
still abides. Because of God's purpose, In
Christ, this world enjoys all of its benefits. The air we breathe. He said it's His reign, God's
reign that falls on the just and the unjust. Why would He
cause His reign to fall on the unjust? Huh? Who He's going to
send to hell. Who He's going to burn in the
eternal fires of hell. Why would He cause His reign
to fall on their crops? For the elect's sake. That's
right, for the elect's sake. Because of God's purpose in Him,
this world enjoys all of its benefits. And because of His
rule, this world has been set apart. Set apart. In all creation, there's one
earth. And in this one place, God is
performing something miraculous, something glorious right here
in this earth. Because of His rule, this world
has been set apart of God as the backdrop against which He'll
display all His objects of mercy and grace and manifest His power
and glory in the salvation of His elect. That's exactly what
He's doing in Egypt. It's exactly what He's doing
in our day. It's very important as we go
through these early books of the Bible to see the spiritual
significance of these nations, of these relationships, of these
circumstances, and all the various things that God sets apart in
his purpose to you because he uses these things throughout
the scriptures to teach us the gospel of his glory in Christ
and his eternal purpose of grace in Christ our Lord. All the way
over. Now, we're clear over here in
the book of Exodus. And I'm telling you that Egypt
is the type of this world, is what I'm telling you. Go all
the way over to the end of the Bible, over to the book of Revelations
in chapter 11, and he sets before us another picture. And this
picture is a picture of the last days. All the visions of Revelations
are visions of the gospel age. They're visions of the work of
God in Christ. beginning with His resurrection
into glory and the establishing of His church and the preaching
of the gospel. All of these revelations have
to do with that. And in Revelations chapter 11, He's talking about
these two witnesses that died. God's witnesses are the same
in that picture as they were all the way back in the days
of of Joseph and in the days of Jacob and in all these prior
days. His witnesses are his preachers. That's who he's talking about.
His evangelists, his missionaries, his pastors and teachers. And
these two witnesses appear in this age, sometime in this age.
His witnesses will appear as dead men on the streets. They're
going to have so little effect. Satan's deception and Satan's
rule and reign is going to be so great that his witnesses are
going to appear as dead in the street. You know what he said
about the street? He said there were streets of
the city called Sodom and Egypt. Sodom and Egypt. These two places of God's judgment. sum up this world, and it does
so all the way through the scriptures, all the way through to the end.
And just as they appeared dead in the streets in this gospel
age, in this current time, they appeared dead in Egypt. Joseph
died. Joseph died. The Word of God
was no more in Egypt, or that's the way it appeared. The spiritual city now, as it
did then, represents this cursed world. And God will, as he did
then, raise up again his witnesses and call them out and lead them
into their inheritance. What I want you to see here in
this ancient text is an immediate application to a very present
situation. This thing is describing not
some vague ancient deliverance of a people who have no spiritual
bearing on us whatsoever. And that's how most people look
at it. They go back there and read the book of Egypt, and this
is about Israel. I ain't got anything to do with
me. Let's get on over here with something that has to do with
me. It has everything to do with you. And it's as current as though
it were written yesterday. It's not about some ancient deliverance
of a people who have no spiritual bearing on us. It describes in
great detail exactly what's taking place in our day and what must
take place in our hearts to deliver us out of its curse. There has
to be a deliverance sent of God. Sent of God. Deliverance out
of bondage is the theme of Exodus. And their bondage and oppression
is symbolic of the bondage and slavery we experience by nature
through the fall of Adam and under the evil influence of Satan. You know, when the Lord took
Peter, James, and John, He took these three. Why these three?
I don't know. I don't know. But He took them
up on the mount. Later on, we called it the Mount
of Transfiguration. And He took them up there. And
while they were up there, they beheld the Savior. And His clothes
and His skin were... He was transformed right before
their eyes. And He become white and glistening.
And there he stood before them. And they stood and looked at
him in wonder and awe as he stood there before the heavens. And
there appeared two men and talked to him up on that mountain. And
they talked to him about his, the two that talked to him was
Elijah and Moses. Do you know the significance
of Elijah and Moses? Moses represents the law. Whenever
you think about Moses, you think about the law. The law came through
Moses. That's what he tells us in John
chapter. Elijah was symbolic of the prophets. If you want
to talk about a prophet of God, you talk about Elijah. He's the
one who stood before the 400 prophets of Baal. He is a prophet of prophets,
Elijah. And so represented on that mount
was all the law and the prophets, the whole of the Old Testament
scripture. And the representative of the whole of the Old Testament
Scriptures was talking with Christ about His decease. Now I challenge
you, go home and look it up in your Strong's Concordance. Look
up that word decease and see what the word is in the original.
Not what it means, what it is. Exodus. That's the word. Exodus. Talking about His exodus
out of this world and ours with Him. That's what this whole Old
Testament scripture is about. Exodus. It's about deliverance.
It's about deliverance. I suppose it wouldn't be stretching
things too far to say that Joseph and Israel left together, would
you? Huh? Didn't they carry his bones
out of his own cart? Joseph and Israel, they left
Egypt together. They left Egypt as one. Now let
me give you five things this morning about this picture in
Exodus 1 and try to make some current bearing to these things
on us. Now God begins this book by setting
before us the picture. He's going to set before us this,
He's going to use symbolic things all the way through here. But
He sets before us the picture just like He did in Genesis.
And here's the picture. The picture is of a king who
now ruled the land, this current king. this land now in which
they were born, who had no regard for Joseph. Now it says who knew
not Joseph, but this knowing has to do with his regard for
him. Everybody in Egypt knew Joseph. This king who now reigned, it
wasn't that he didn't know Joseph as a historical fact or as a
person, but what he's talking about there, is his knowledge
of Him. He had no regard for Him. He
had no regard for His glory. He had no regard for His covenants.
He had no regard for His people. He had no regard for anything
about Him. He knew not Joseph. Now Joseph
is the reason why Egypt still existed. The first Pharaoh understood
that, didn't he? He gave him a free hand. Joseph
is the reason why Egypt was so fruitful. Why'd they have bread? Nobody else had it because of
Joseph. They came to that old Pharaoh
and they said, we have no bread. He said, go see Joseph. And Joseph is the reason why
Israel was in Egypt. That's why they were there. Joseph. But this king who now reigned
knew not Joseph. He had no regard for him. No
regard for him whatsoever. No respect for him. No regards
to his covenant agreement with the old Pharaoh concerning Israel.
No regard for his being a prophet of God. No regard for the Spirit
of God who was in him revealing his will. And no regard for his
gospel of a coming Redeemer. And he had no regard for his
people. This other king was an evil king in the very beginning
of all that is called Antichrist. And again, I remind you that
I'm speaking in typical language, using this king as a figure of
Satan. There's two dominant powers manifested in Egypt. Joseph,
under which all Egypt owed their lives and their preservation
and their dominant rule and their glory and their name. If not
for Egypt, what would Egypt have been? It would have been nothing.
And then this other king who now represents Satan in this
world. Historians indicate that Egypt
was somewhat divided in their history. I didn't look, I don't
chase rabbits too much into what historians say, but I thought
this significant that this, there were what they called Upper Egypt
and Lower Egypt, and down in Lower Egypt, there was what they
called Shepherd Kings. These were kings that were appointed. They were kings, but they were
not really kings. They were kings by the appointment
of a higher king. And that's what this king who
now reigned was. He came up as one of those shepherd
kings from lower Egypt and now ruled. And under his rule, he
had no other shepherd kings. He did away with all that. And
he consolidated the rule of this whole thing under his dominion
alone. Do you know that Satan is called
in Revelation chapter 9 a falling star? who was given the key to
the bottomless pit. He was given this authority.
He was raised up and given this authority and given the key to
the bottomless pit. He'd been given his power over
this world and those who are not chosen of God. And he rules
the upper and lower worlds. He merged them into one. He doesn't
just rule over his demons. He rules over all unregenerate
men in this world. Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter
2 that our walk, we were quickened of God when we were dead in trespasses
and sin. And what that death was, was
a walking according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air. Huh? The spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience. His rule is not just over satanic
demons. His rule is over all unregenerate
men. And his power is so great that
he even influences those of regenerate men. Peter said something to
the Lord, and the Lord turned around and looked at him, and
he said, what? Get behind me, Satan. He knew what was the trouble
with Peter's heart. It's the influence of that old
man, that old man Satan. Peter said this and that to the
Lord in a bold pride proud statement, and the Lord said, Satan hath
desired to sift you like wheat. You are nothing before him. He
will put you in his little thing and shake you about, see what
comes out. He is powerful. Paul said that
he was called to be a light unto the Gentiles, to open their eyes
and turn them from darkness to light. Now listen, from the power
of Satan unto God. That is what has to take place.
There's one who rules in you whether you know it or not, who
influences you whether you know it or not. And he reigns in you. He biases everything you think
and say and do, all of your will, all of your decisions, all of
the things that you think. He rules over those things with
an absolute hand. Got to be delivered from the
power of Satan unto God. And he rules in false religion,
being the father of all Pharisees and hypocrites. Our Lord told
those Pharisees, He said, Satan is your father. Isn't that what
He said? And he's the father of all Pharisees
and hypocrites. He rules in anti-Christ religion,
transforming not only himself and his demons, but also his
followers into ministers of righteousness. False religion is anti-Christ
religion, and it's described in Revelations 2 and 3 as the
synagogue of Satan. That's what it is. In 2 Thessalonians
2, 7, we're told that the mystery of iniquity doth already work.
Only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of
the way, and then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth. and shall destroy
with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after
the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders,
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved." Antichrist religion. Satan rules in the
natural world by feeding the lusts and desires and ambitions
of fallen men, and he rules in worldly religion. by deception,
deceit, and lies. God had raised up this evil king
according to Romans 9.17, according to Exodus 9.16, to show his power
and to declare his name in all the earth in the destruction
of him. Proverbs 16.4 says, The Lord hath made all things for
himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. He made
him. He knew what he was and knew what his end was. Satan
reigns, but even his reign is subject to the omnipotent reign
of Christ who holds him on the chain of his sovereignty and
keeps him in check. That's the evil king. He rules
in this place where God birthed his church. He rules. I wonder
sometimes if I even believe what I'm telling you. He rules. He
rules. Men come in here and look at
me like I'm from another planet when I stand up and begin to
preach. Why is that? I'm reading right out of the
Word of God. I'm not making this stuff up. I'm reading it to you.
I just now gave you about seven or eight scriptures to support
what I'm telling you. Men look at me like I'm from
another planet. Why is that? Because He rules. How does He rule? Through deceit.
Through deceit, that's the first thing Paul told them over there
in 2 Corinthians. He said, He's delivered me from
these things and I'm not like I was. I'm not a pretender anymore.
I'm not a pretender. This evil king rules in the providence
of God's predestination to accomplish what he has from the beginning
determined to do. That's what he said about this
Pharaoh. I've given him this reign and he's going to continue
his reign until I'm through doing what I've determined before to
be done. And when I am, I'll show my power
in him and that'll be the end of Pharaoh. You don't believe
that's what it says? Read Romans chapter 9 or Exodus
chapter 16, either one. Here's the second thing that
I see in this picture as it begins to unfold is that Israel is recognized
by the evil king as a threat. How did Pharaoh first recognize
them to be a threat? I looked at this and looked at
this. It's by an unnatural birth. In both Genesis 15 to Abraham
and Jacob in Genesis chapter 46, God said in Egypt he'd make
them a great nation. In Egypt. Not in Canaan. In Egypt. I'll make of thee a
great nation. In the providence of God, he
would cause his church to be born in a place where they would
be despised and afflicted, persecuted, oppressed. He caused them to
multiply in Egypt until a nation would be born. God birthed a
nation in this evil land and everything against them. But
they couldn't do anything about it, John. God birthed his church
in spite of everything they did. just as he's doing right now
today, against anti-Christ religion, against Satan and all of his
power, against the witnesses appearing to be dead in the street,
and yet God still birthed his church. And there's nothing he
can do about it. Why? Because he birthed this
church on the rock. He's building his church on the
rock, Christ Jesus. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. That's why. That's what's going
on in Egypt. God is assembling himself together,
a nation, a holy nation. In 1 Peter 2, verse 9, having
already declared the new and supernatural birth of God, birth
of the Spirit of God through the hearing of the gospel, he
draws from the Old Testament pictures and tells the church
that they are a chosen generation. a royal priesthood, a holy nation
of peculiar people to show forth the praises of Him who had called
them out of darkness into His marvelous light. It is the way
of divine, this divine, irresistible, unstoppable birth that Israel
has made known in Egypt. He said they're more than we
are. There was a handful when they come down, what was it,
70? Seventy souls, it tells you right there in the beginning
of Exodus. It names them all. They're just a handful. Just
a handful. And here they are and God multiplies
them now to where they begin to get worried. And so He said,
here's what we're going to do. We're going to have the midwives
kill all the male children. That didn't work. Well, we're
going to work them so hard they won't be able to have babies.
That didn't work. They couldn't do anything about
it. And throughout the history of man, God has birthed His church. In John 1, verses 10-13, talking
about those who received Christ, who believed on His name, the
Lord said this, they were born, not of the flesh, not of blood,
not of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. A supernatural birth. He was birthed in a nation in
Egypt, and the evil king began to see it and despise his people
for it. In Exodus chapter 1, verse 12,
it says, but the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied. The more they multiplied and
grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. Now,
the children of Israel meant no harm to the Egyptians. Actually,
they were a blessing. But the evil king, Exodus 9,
if you look at Exodus 1, verses 9 through 10, I read to you a
little earlier. He caused the people to see him
that way. They weren't a threat. Hadn't
been a threat. Lived there for hundreds of years. They'd already
been there a hundred and some years. Throughout their whole
lifetime, Joseph, they were there. Hadn't been a threat to anybody.
They hadn't caused any problems to anybody. They'd been a blessing
to them. In fact, it was their presence
is the reason they enjoyed all the things that they enjoyed.
Then why'd everybody look at him as a threat? Because the
evil king set them in a bad light. Isn't that what's going on today?
I'm not threatening anybody with anything. But folks are running
around here telling everybody we're a cult. And that we're
a threat. I'm not a threat to good works.
I tell you every Sunday about good works. I talk to you all
the time about good works. I talk to you about giving to
the needy. I talk to you about all of the things that are good.
I talk to you about it. I encourage you to do it. I'm
not a threat to anybody. But I'm set forth as a threat.
Why is that? Because the evil king set you
in a bad light. Same as he did to him. Same way
he did to him. The evil king set the Israelites
in a bad light. And this world is falling men
and women and Adam and under the influence of Satan. They
never view things as they are. Always in the light that He sends
to men. Ever notice that? You can't get
one to view things in the way they are. I've talked to men and they'll
always start giving me a what if. What if this? What if that? What about what is? Let's deal
with that. Let's start there. Let's start
with what God said I am. Let's start there. What is God? He's immutable, unchangeable. So we can quit trying to change
God's mind. He ain't going to change. You see what I'm saying? We can start with the justice
of God. I will by no means clear the guilty, so we can quit worrying
about that. He ain't going to clear the guilty.
Sin is going to have to be paid for. We quit offering God this
and He's not going to accept the best you have. The best you
have is filthy rags. That's all it is. So we quit looking at our works.
This world of fallen men and women and Adam and under that
influence of Satan never view things like they are. They view
things as they're told to view them by the God of this world.
Paul said, if our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost,
in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them
that believe not. He blinded their minds. They
can't see it. What did He blind them with?
Deceit. Lies. That's what they are. Ain't no need to candy coat them
about. I'm not afraid of offending somebody. If you're offended,
that's your tough luck. Get offended. You need to be
offended. That's exactly right. Our good
works are filthy rags. That's all they are, just a minstrel
cloth before God. That upsets men, don't it? Oh, I tell you, the God of this
world hath blinded their minds, blinded the minds of them that
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
whose image of God should shine unto them. He said to the church,
be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and put
on the whole army of God that you might be able to stand against
the wiles of who? The devil. Is that what he said?
The wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6, 12, we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers
and against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. I'm telling you this. And I'm
telling you, as often and as straightforward and as clear
as I know how to say it, my friends, there are forces at work in this
world which cannot be seen and cannot be resisted, cannot be
figured out. You don't see them. You don't
even know they're at work. And they have you in their bondage,
have you before you know what's happened. I don't suspect Peter even thought
twice After the Lord told him, he said, I'll tell you this,
he said, you're going to deny me three times before the cock
crows. Peter probably just sat there scratching his head, wondering
what the Lord was talking about. Before he even was able to scratch
his head, Satan already had him in his seat. I don't know, maybe I need to
bring this a little closer to home. Let's quit talking about
the world now. Let's start bringing this thing
home. Our children, mine and yours.
Our grandchildren, mine and yours. Our brothers and sisters, mine
and yours. Our parents, mine and yours. They hear and believe what they're
told to believe. And they see what He wants them
to see. Paul wrote to the Galatian church who were true sons of
God, true believers. And he said, who hath bewitched
you? Who laid this spell on you? Who brought you under this influence
and power? Who hath bewitched you? Paul said in another place to
the Thessalonians, he said, the mystery of iniquity doth already
work. The evil king was at work selling
his lies in Egypt. And then fourthly, what's his
intention? He sells all these lies. He deceits
the world. Give me that at least in the
scriptures I've read to you. I don't know how many. At least
give me that. What's his intention? He tells you right there in this
picture. He wants to kill the son and save the girl. That's
right. That's what he said. If it's
a son, kill it. If it's a girl, hang on to it.
You know why? Because the son pictures Christ
and the girl pictures the church. He don't want to destroy the
church. He wants the church for himself. He wants the church. And if you look at it in the
scripture, I'm not just making these things up. These things
are always represented in the scripture. as evil lusts. That's how he reveals Satan's
relationship with his people. And that's what he wants from
the Church of God. He wants to gather them in. He
doesn't want to destroy the Church. He wants to destroy the Son.
If he can take away the Son, then he can merge the Church
right into Egypt. That's right. He can make Egyptians
out of them. I see this picture is drawn in
this first chapter that it's the son he desires to kill, not
the daughter. The daughter he'd save for himself.
And God often in scriptures describes satanic religion as a harlot
and acts of fornication and adultery. In Revelation chapter 17, he
gives us the vision of the judgment of the great whore. and says,
with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and
the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the
wine of her fornication. And she rides on the beast in
the wilderness. Whenever she sits upon the beast,
whenever she comes into a place, it becomes a desolate place and
a wilderness, empty and desolate of all that's called God. This
evil king will take the bride of Christ to himself the way
Pharaoh would the daughters of Israel. and they'd be swallowed
up into Egypt. And to stop this propagation
of Israel and to eliminate them as a threat, He must kill the
Son. What is Israel without the Son? Huh? What is the church without
the Son? Just a helpless daughter in the
hands of an evil king. That's all it is. That's what
I'm trying to tell you. If you don't get anything else
out of what I'm saying this morning, you get that. That's all we are. We're just a helpless daughter
in the hands of an evil king apart from Christ the Son. Kill the son and keep the girl
so he can have his evil way with her. And this is the picture
of Israel in Egypt. What's his intent? It's to be
her husband and to be her God. Satan fell from heaven, Isaiah
said, like lightning because he said in his heart he'd exalt
his throne above the stars of God. The stars of God are his
ministers, his preachers, his prophets, his apostles, his avengers,
and missionaries. And Satan's aim is to sit on
the throne over these stars and rule in their heart over their
ministry. That's what he wants to do. Satan
also said in his heart, I'll sit upon the mount of the congregation
in the sides of the north. In other words, I'll sit in the
temple as the object of worship and I'll be like the Most High.
And when they come in, they'll fall down before me. What's the
evidence of that? He had all of Israel out here
in labor doing what? Building him treasure cities.
Python and Ramses. That's what they did. built these
things to His glory. And then fifthly, and I'll try
to hurry, the evil king made it impossible for Israel under
his rule to serve the living God. You cannot until this rule
is defeated and put down. Until one stronger than he comes
in, he holds his goods at peace, and there's nothing you can do
about it except cry out to God. And truth be known, you can't
even do that apart from the grace of God stirring your heart. He
left them down in Egypt, his church, with no pastor, with
nobody there, no word, no prophet of God to tell them the truth. And they sat down there under
the rule of this evil king until God began to stir their hearts.
And then they cried out, we can't take it anymore and there's nothing
we can do about it. Huh? That's where God has to
bring the sinner to see there's nothing he can do about it. Until
then, he'll keep on wrestling with his will and his decisions
and his religion and his tradition and all of this other junk that
the old man sold him in his lies until God brings him to this
place where he can't do anything for himself. And then he cries
out of his heart, God save me or I perish. I can't do anything about His
rule and His reign. He reigns in me and reigns over
me. But you can. He can. The evil king made it
impossible for Israel under his rule to serve the living God.
Under his rule, they lived as slaves. Under his rule, they
were considered enemies. Under his rule, they were made
to labor with no reward. Under his rule, they had no future
hope or hope of a future. Under his rule, they had no rest,
no peace, no joy. They only existed from day to
day. Under his rule, they were forbidden
to worship the true and living God. The Israelites have been
brought to appear in Egypt because of this great curse. And they're
protected and preserved until God's time to call them out.
And in Egypt, God birthed a nation. And being exposed as an enemy,
the evil king begins to cause them to suffer and to serve. And as for the son, as for the
son, you see, the thing that makes Israel special is the promised
son. The thing that God has identified
His people with from the very beginning was the woman's seed. It's the coming son. They look
for the son. They look for the son. When her
next child was born, she said, I have gotten the son. I've gotten
the boy. They look for the son. That's
what made them special. They've been brought here and
God has birthed a nation and being exposed as an enemy, the
evil king begins to cause them to suffer and to serve. And as
for the son, Pharaoh told all his people, And he said, every
son that's born, cast him in the river. Cast him in the river. Feed him to the beast. There's
crocodiles in that Nile River, I'm told. Some of the biggest
crocodiles in the world. Throw him in the river. Throw
him out into the deep. But every daughter, he said,
you keep her. I've got plans for her. And I
say this to you this morning, he got plans for you outside
of Christ, and you can't resist him. You can't do it. And I'll
tell you this, it's been my experience over the years in churches that
kill the son. Some of that congregation survives,
and Satan has his way with all that remains. I've seen it. I've seen it in my lifetime.
Oh, I tell you, may the Lord be pleased to preserve us, protect
us, just about as He did Israel and Egypt, and cause His Son
to sit on the throne of our hearts. Preserve His Son in us. That's
our only chance. That's our only hope. Preserve
His Son in us. This life is in His Son. He that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God,
whatever else he hath, he hath not life.