If ever God will be pleased to
teach us that the triune God is indeed on our side, he will
with that teach our souls to be still. Three weeks ago, Brother
Larry Criss brought an outstanding message to you here from Hebrews
chapter 10 about Christ coming to accomplish the will of God. That is, to accomplish the salvation
of his people. I want tonight to impress one
thing upon your hearts. May God the Holy Spirit give
you just this one thing and really give it to you. May he give it
to me and really give it to me. The will of God. Now remember,
the will of God is the salvation of his people. The will of God. is absolute, irresistible, and
sure. The will of God, the salvation
of his people in all the ages of time and to eternity is absolute,
irresistible, and sure. Let's see a display of this in
Exodus chapter 8 at verse 1. Exodus chapter 8, verse 1. The Lord God had determined that
he would deliver Israel at the precise time he had appointed. Abraham went down to Egypt by
the will of God. He sojourned in Egypt 400 years
by the will of God. At the end of those years, The
sojourn of Israel in Egypt became bitter bondage and affliction
by the will of God. All because God had sworn in
a covenant made with Abraham 400 years earlier, I'm going
to bring you out of Egypt. The Lord God was determined to
deliver Israel out of Egyptian bondage that they might serve
him. That is, walk before him and
worship him as he had ordained. And when the appointed time of
deliverance arrived, he sent his servant Moses to Pharaoh. Look what it says, Exodus 8,
verse 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord. It would have been meaningless
for Moses to go to Pharaoh and say anything if he didn't precede
it with this word confidently. Thus saith the Lord. Let my people
go. Now this was not a request, but
a command. Not a command given by Moses,
but a command issued by God. With those words, the God of
Israel revealed his will by issuing a command to his creature. He
commands Pharaoh, let my people go. It was a word of power, much
like let there be light. Pharaoh was not inclined to let
Israel go, but that was meaningless. Brother Dave Burrage read back
in the office just a little bit ago. Men, the low and the high,
when weighed in the balance, are lighter than vanity. That includes Pharaoh. Lighter
than vanity. That's pretty light. That's pretty
meaningless. Utterly insignificant. Pharaoh
said, I won't let him go. God said, yes, you will. Not
only will the Lord God deliver Israel out of Pharaoh's hand,
but he will cause Pharaoh to let go his grasp of Israel and
thrust them out of the land. This one who is unwilling to
let them go. The Lord God of glory said, let
my people go that they may serve me. And by this command, by this
revealed command of his will, Pharaoh was compelled to release
his grasp upon Israel. God's command came then and always
does come with irresistible force. His will is absolute. Irresistible and sure. And then
the Lord revealed the reason behind his command. Look at the
text again. Let my people go that they may
serve me. Now he didn't need to give a
reason. He didn't need to give a reason. That's always God's
option. I laugh sadly at moms and dads who take two and three
year old children and start to allow those children to demand
a reason. If you want to raise children, you tell them what
to do and you give them a reason at your option. It's called respect
and learning respect. God Almighty doesn't have to
give a reason for anything he does. Occasionally, he gives
a reason. And here he chose to give his
reason for this command. He gives this as the revelation
both of his claim upon Israel and his claim upon Pharaoh. Both
are his. Both the chosen and the reprobate. Both the Egyptians and the Israelites. Both Moses and Pharaoh. They are his and they are his
servants. And he issues this command showing
his claim as God over all absolutely. He said to Pharaoh, you Let my
people go. I raised you up. I raised you
up that I might show my power in you, that I might by you display
irrefutably that I alone am God. You let my people go. And these, my people, they're
mine. And I will bring them out with
a mighty hand and an outstretched arm that all may see irrefutably
that this one who is the God of Israel, he is God indeed. You see, the fact is we are God's
creatures, you and me. yours and mine, our friends and
our foes. Those who are brought by grace
to worship and serve God in this world, they're his creatures.
And those who refuse to willingly serve him, they are just as truly
his creatures and just as truly his servants. Just as truly his
servants. Satan and the demons of hell
are just as truly his servants as the angels of glory and the
saints in heaven. Just as truly his servants. Satan,
the demons of hell, and the wicked of the earth are his servants
unwillingly, but his servants absolutely. Those who are conquered
by his grace are his servants willingly. but all are His. You see, He's the potter. We're
the clay. And He does with the clay exactly
as He will all the time. All the time. Now that which
is here spoken concerning Pharaoh and Israel applies to all God's
creation. It is all raised up, ruled, controlled,
manipulated, if you will, by God's will for the salvation
of his elect. It is the intent of God the Holy
Spirit that we thus understand what is written here in the book
of Exodus. Hold your hands here in Exodus 8, and let me show
you one more time what the Spirit of God says about this whole
affair in Romans chapter 9. Romans the ninth chapter. Romans
chapter 9. I believe I could offer to give
$100 for every time a preacher in Boyle County has preached
from Romans chapter 9, except from this pulpit in the last
20 years, and I wouldn't lose a dime. Folks are scared to death
of it, because they despise the God who rules the universe. Men want to rule God. Men are determined they will
not bow to God and will not acknowledge Him. But bow to Him, all men
must, and serve Him, all men do, exactly as He has ordained. Romans chapter 9, verse 15. For
He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
But what does that mean? It means this, so they. So then,
it is not, that is salvation, grace, eternal life, that's what
he's talking about in this passage. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For
the scripture saith unto Pharaoh. That is, this is why God raised
Pharaoh up. The scripture saith unto Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. Who put him
on that throne? How did he get there? Oh, Satan
was controlling Egypt that day, and Satan raised up this ungodly
Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. God says, I raised thee up. He may have used Satan to do
it. Indeed, I'm sure he did. But God raised him up. For what
reason? That I might show my power, my
authority, and my dominion as God in thee, and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. Now, what conclusion
should we draw from that? Therefore, hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hearteneth. I don't
like that. Take it up with God. So that
makes God a monster. Ralph Barnes said, get ready
to meet a monster. Whatever you think, it's of total irrelevance. Thou will say then unto me, verse
19, why doth he yet find fault? How many times have you heard
that? Why doth he yet find fault? How can God find fault with us
if nobody can resist His will? For who hath resisted His will?
That's the right conclusion to make. Nobody can resist His will. Nothing can resist His will at
any time, anywhere. But the conclusion that you can't
dare presume that God will judge men since none can resist His
will, that's the conclusion of a rebel. Verse 20, nay, but old
man, who art thou that replies against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?
Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to
make one vessel into honor and another into dishonor? Read Jeremiah
17, you'll find out he does. What if God? willing to show
His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. He endures the vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction with much longsuffering for the
salvation of His elect vessels of mercy. Read on. Verse 23. And that He might make
known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy which
He had aforeprepared unto glory. Now watch this, even us whom
he hath called. Oh, wondrous grace, wondrous
infinite goodness, wondrous marvelous mercy. The Lord God Almighty
purposed this from old eternity. that we should be the sons of
God, serving him unto everlasting glory. With regard to his elect,
with regard to his church, the Holy One of Israel says to his
enemies and to theirs, to those who hold us in bondage by nature,
the pharaohs of this world, to Satan, to the demons of hell,
indeed to all creation, let my people go, that they may serve
me, that they may worship me, that they may live unto me. And
when he thus speaks, he speaks with absolute, irresistible force. It is the will of God that his
people be delivered out of earthly bondage, all earthly bondage,
into the glorious liberty of the children of God. And delivered
from bondage they shall be into the blessed liberty of his grace. Now let me talk to you about
this matter a little bit from Exodus chapter 8. Salvation is
deliverance the deliverance of our souls, both to liberty of
grace and to the service of our God. And these two things are
inseparable. We are not called to liberty
alone, but to liberty and service. And we are not called to service
alone, but to service that involves and arises from liberty. Liberty
is mission first. And there's a reason for that.
It is impossible to serve God except as we walk in liberty
before God. Now there's no question men and
women can perform service in Egypt. They do it all the time.
Such service as may be demanded by the gods of Egypt and satisfy
the gods of Egypt. Mechanical. self-righteous, pharisaic,
legal service, service performed with the body, that which Paul
calls a form of godliness. But there can be no serving God
with heart, no serving God from the heart without the liberty
of grace. It's impossible. It is the will
of God that every chosen redeemed sinner be brought into this blessed
liberty of grace that we may serve him forever. And God's
will is absolute, irresistible, and sure. The very first thing
then to be understood is that God's will stands firm. Let me repeat what I've said
several times already, and I'll probably repeat it several times
more. It is absolute. Doesn't matter whether it's talking
about God's will as it affects Satan, as it is executed through
the use of Satan, or men, or creatures, or beast, or creeping
things of the earth, or angels in glory, or anything else. God's will, the salvation of
his people, is absolute, irresistible, and sure. All creation not only
shall perform, but all creation is right now performing the salvation
of God's elect, performing your salvation. God Almighty. governs even the thoughts of
men in their chambers for the good of his people, that we may
serve him. The secret things belong to the
Lord. And let us be happy to leave
those things there. He hasn't told us everything. But the things
that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. that we may do all the words
of this law. And this is revealed. Of him
and through him and to him are all things. All things are of
him as to their source. All things are through him as
the means of their accomplishment. That is to say, they cannot come
to pass but by him. And all things are to him in
their end shall be down to his glory. God has purposed, decreed,
ordained all things that have ever come to pass and all things
that ever shall come to pass without exception. Sometimes
you have heard me use terms like God's permissive will. Well,
that's kind of misleading. I'm going to try to improve myself,
repeating what I've heard other folks say. If God permits it,
God decreed it. If God permits it, God ordained
it. If God permits it, God brings
it to pass in His absolute sovereignty. And that God who does that is
my Heavenly Father. I'll bow before Him then and
say, Thy will be done, for He is doing me good. Our God is
in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath He always has. Whatsoever the
Lord pleased, that did He in heaven and in earth, in the seas,
and in all deep places. Can you think of someplace else?
In heaven above, in the earth, in the seas, in all deep places,
whatever He pleases, that's what He does. The Lord God declares
that He is one who cannot be turned. Job said, he's of one
mind who can turn him. His will, his purpose is absolute. You remember in the book of Acts,
our Lord Jesus Christ was taken by the hands of wicked men and
nailed to the cursed tree. But do you remember how that
came to pass? By the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. You mean God forced those fellas
to do what they didn't want to do? No, God's decree, God's sovereignty
gives no hiding place for any man's ungodliness, for his reprobation,
and for his utter, utter vileness before Him. Men do, if left to
themselves, what their wicked wills will do. But the Lord God
sovereignly uses even the wickedness of men to accomplish the saving
of his people. I give thanks to my father that
Judas betrayed his son, that the Jews delivered him up to
the Romans, and the Romans crucified him as he voluntarily gave himself
as my substitute, for by these things I stand before God free,
redeemed, justified forever to serve Him. When they had done
all that His hand and His counsel determined before to be done,
then they came and took Him down from the tree. Turn to that blessed
passage one more time, Romans chapter 8, and read with me what
God says about His will. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians
5, all things are of God. Just stretch that out as far
as you want to. You won't come close to going to the end of
it. All things are of God. Romans 8.28, we know, we know,
we know that all things work together. They work together
for good. Not for good to everybody. Not
all things well. We know everything's going to
turn out for good. We know somehow there's some good going to come
from this. That's the language of an unbelieving
reprobate. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are thee
called according to his purpose. And his purpose, read the next
two verses, is the salvation of his people, for whom he did
foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called. And whom
he called, then he also justified. And whom he justified, then he
also glorified. Our God is that God who, having
predestinated all things, works all things after the counsel
of his own will to the saving of his people. Whatever he does
in providence, he willed from eternity. And that which he does
in providence is exactly what he willed from eternity. And
that includes everything for the salvation of his people. Brother Don, do you mean we should
understand that all those things about which we fret, All those
things we read of in the newspaper, hear of on television, all those
things that come to pass in our neighborhood, all those things
come to pass in our families, all of it, all of it is exactly
according to God's purpose for our soul's everlasting good. You got it. That's exactly right. So next time you start to cuss
the second cause, remember you're cussing the first cause. Next time you start to murmur
against the one that causes you pain and difficulty, remember
you're murmuring against God, who sent the pain and the difficulty. Bow before him and be at ease. Be still, my soul. The Lord is on thy side. But back at Exodus 8-1 again,
let me bring some of this to a practical end. God said, let
my people go. Because our natural condition
as fallen sons and daughters of Adam is one of bondage. We were born in Egypt, not in
Canaan. We were born in prison, born
in shackles and leg irons, born slaves, born under the curse
of the law. What does all that mean? Our
wills were in bondage. Our affections were in bondage. Our thoughts were in bondage. Our hearts were in bondage. Our
souls were in bondage. We were utter captives in bondage
by nature. No free motion, no free action
in any part of any fallen man. Everything that man does until
Christ sets him free, everything a man does in his fallen state
of bondage, he does by constraint. Either the constraint of terror
or the constraint of hope for himself and hope in himself. Everything the religious world
teaches men to do is done by constraint. either the terror
of facing judgment and being punished or the hope of earning
favor with God by what you do. But whatever work is done in
the form of godliness is all performed by the outward man. It's not worshiping God. It's
not acceptable to God. So far from being acceptable
to him, God declares it to be filthy rags. We were born in
bondage. but we who are gods. And David, we were his from eternity.
We were created for liberty. We were created for liberty.
Though Egypt was made for Israel, Israel was not made for Egypt.
And though God raised up Pharaoh to be Lord over Israel for a
specified period of time, Israel was not made to be servant to
Pharaoh. So too we were not created for bondage and the prison house. God's will from eternity was
and is that his people be free, entirely free in the entirety
of their beings, free in all our faculties, free in all our
affections, free in all our works, free in our hearts, in our souls,
in our lives, free in Christ. He created us. to make us completely
free, serving Him without any constraint of any kind, except constraint from within,
except constraint from within. I'll say more about this in just
a minute, but anything performed for any reason except want to
is not serving God. Anything done for any reason
except want to is not done for Him. Now, here's another thing
clearly implied in this text. We can't serve God without liberty. Let my people go for this purpose
that they may serve me Indeed, Pharaoh attempts to offer a compromise
to Moses, and Moses said, we can't serve God here. We can't
serve God here. That's not possible. He said,
go worship your God, but don't go out of the land. And Moses
said, we can't serve God here. There's no serving God without
liberty. Liberty. Folks say, well, you
mean God's people are given license to do whatever they want to? Yeah. Yeah. Licensed to do whatever
they want to. God's people are. Because when
he gives us free, we want to serve him. We want to walk before
him in faith and worship him. And the worship and service of
Christ, I repeat, nothing is done by constraint. Everything
is done willingly. Turn to 2 Corinthians 8. Paul
is talking about the matter of giving. And I suppose that's
the place that religion is most interested. Folks want your money. Now Paul's
talking about giving. And he's talking about really
giving. He's talking about giving for
the needs of poor saints who were in trouble. Giving to a
cause that nobody will even be aware that anything's been done
except the fellow who gets some bread to eat and This is what
it says 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 verse 12 if there be first
You got it first a willing mind The Macedonians first gave themselves
to the Lord then does if there be first a willing mind It is
accepted According to that, a man hath, and not according to that,
he hath not. Religion forces people into service
against their will, threatening punishment or promising reward. But service to our God can only
be performed in liberty. He will accept nothing that does
not arise from a willing heart. We must be free that we may serve
Him. We do not serve Him in order
to get liberty. We are liberated to serve our
God. And until we're free, we can't
serve Him. Well, Brother Don, that sounds
like you can't threaten men to get them to serve God. You dare
not hold over them the curse of the law. You dare not entice
them by promising them that God will do something for them. Dare
not. Dare not. I'll tell you what
you do. I'll tell you what you do. Hear
me, children of God. Hear me. Do what you want to. Do what you want to. If you want
to give, give. If you don't, keep it. If you
want to attend the house of worship, attend it. If you don't, stay
at home. Well, you can't tell people that. Let me see if I
can say it more plainly. If you want to give, give. If
you don't, keep it. I don't want it and God won't have it. If
you want to attend the house of worship, attend. If you don't
want to worship God, stay home and watch television. Can there
be any plainer than that? God won't have anything except
that which is free. No constraint. No constraint. Now let me show you one more
thing. The Lord Jesus has called us to liberty. You shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the Son, therefore,
make you free, you shall be free indeed. Stand fast, therefore,
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. He's talking
to us now about the blessed liberty of grace. Let me see if I can
show you how we're brought to this liberty. Turn to Romans
chapter 8, and I'll wrap this up. Verse 1. Paul cries out by
reason of bondage, who shall deliver me from the body of this
death? Romans 8 verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. Now that's not talking about
there's no condemnation to you if you believe in Jesus and you
live such a good life and such a holy life that you're kind
of floating in the clouds up here above everybody else. To
walk after the spirit is to walk at liberty, belief in Christ. To walk after the flesh is to
walk in bondage, in unbelief. Let's see if that's not what
this passage is teaching. For the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh but after the Spirit. Now watch this, for they that
are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they
that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to
be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God. It is not subject unto the law
of God, neither indeed can it be. So then they that are in
the flesh can not please God. is being the flesh, is being
the bondage of death. Brother Don, aren't we all in
the flesh? No. No. No. We live in this body
of the flesh, but we're not in the flesh. Look on. But ye are
not in the flesh. Is that what he's saying? You're
not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit
of God dwell in you. when Christ comes by His Spirit
and sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts, giving us
faith in His Son. We are born into a new life,
and a new life is born in us. It's called life in the Spirit,
and that Which is born of God. You just read it, 1 John chapter
3. Doth not commit sin. It's born of God. It's born of
God. We walk in liberty. Have you
been set free? Are you walking in liberty? Has
the gospel brought peace into your soul? Putting Christ in
you? Has he given you the spirit of
adoption? Teaching you to cry, Abba Father? Perhaps you say, well, Brother
Don, I'm trying to serve the Lord. By what spirit? Serve Him because
you love Him and you're constrained by His love. Or serve Him because
you're scared of Him. The one is life. The other is
death. Now, has Christ made you free? Be assured, He will at last. bring you into the glorious liberty
of the children of God in resurrection glory. And I know He will because
this is the will of God, even your sanctification. I know He
will because this is the will of Him that sent His Son into
the world, that He should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. And we will serve Him. in that glorious liberty yet
awaiting us perfectly and forever to the praise of the glory of
His grace. Amen.