Would you turn with me to Exodus
chapter 9? While you're turning there, I
would request that you would pray for me, that I would preach
this message the way it ought to be preached, and I would request
that you would pray for yourself, that you would hear this message
the way it ought to be heard. I feel Somewhat anxious that
the Lord will enable me to say what needs to be said. I've entitled
this message, The Equality of Faith and Works. And you think about that title,
The Equality. The Equality of Faith and Works. Read Exodus 9, verses 20 and
21. He that feared the word of the
Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle
flee into the houses. And he that regarded not the
word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field. Now, you'll remember that God
said, I'm going to bring hail down. There's never been any
hail like this. I thought it was kind of interesting. We had a hail storm yesterday.
Did any of you all experience that? Little bitty pieces. These were big pieces. And the
Lord warned them that this was going to take place. That was
an act of mercy, wasn't it? He didn't have to, but he did.
He let them know he was going to bring the hail down. And we
read that there were some people who feared the word of the Lord. And because of that, it had an
and effect upon their works, upon their conduct, upon their
actions. It caused them to take their
servants and their cattle and make them leave the field because
they believed what God said. They feared the word of the Lord. And then we read of some others
who did not regard the word of the Lord. They heard what God
had to say, but it really didn't mean anything to them. And they
left their cattle and their servants out in the field. And when the
hail came down, it killed those people. We see what an effect
their faith had on their works or their lack thereof. They didn't
believe God, so they left their servants out in the field. Now,
what a man actually does, his works, will be determined by
what he really believes. Every time. And what a man really
believes will be seen only by what he actually does. I want to repeat that. I want
you to think about it. I want you to chew on it. What a man
actually does, his works, will be determined by what he really
believes. And what a man really believes will only be seen by
what he actually does. The equality of faith and works. Now, that does not mean that
salvation is 50 percent faith and 50 percent works. I don't
mean that at all. It's not a mixture of the two. But it does mean this, faith
is not more important than works. And works are not more important
than faith. There is a true equality. Your works are determined by
your faith and your faith is seen only by your works. What we really believe Is seen
only by what we do. And everything else is just talk.
You believe that? What we really believe is seen
only by what we do and all else is just talk and what we do will
demonstrate what we really believe. Let me give you a couple of illustrations.
A man says, for instance, that he loves the message preached
here, the gospel of God's grace. I love this message. And he is
always here. And somebody else says the same
thing. I love the message that's preached
here. I love the gospel that's preached
here, but he seldom shows up. Which one do you believe? It
really is simple, isn't it? A man says, I believe sovereign
grace. I rejoice in this message. And
he attends a church where the gospel of God's sovereign grace
is preached and believed. And here's another man who says,
I believe the gospel of God's sovereign grace, but he attends
a church where grace is not preached. Which one do you believe? It's pretty obvious, isn't it?
Somebody says, I love Jesus Christ. I truly find Him to be all. I love Him. I trust Him. I walk
with Him. I don't want to live for this
world. I want to live wholeheartedly for Him. I want to walk in my
faith and not in my sight. I want to be somebody that walks
with the living Lord, trusting Him. Somebody says that. It's obvious by their lives.
They give generously and sacrificially to that one whom they love. It's
obvious by their lives. Somebody else makes the same
comment. I love Christ. I want to rely
on him to take care of me. But this person is always worried
about being taken care of, and it keeps him from giving to the
cause of Christ. He doesn't really trust him to
take care of him, does he? You see, what you do demonstrates
what you really believe and how you really feel. Turn to James Chapter 2. James Chapter 2. Verse 14. What does it profit my brethren,
though a man say he hath faith and hath not works? Can faith
save him or that faith? Can that save him? You know the
answer to that question, don't you? If a brother or sister be
naked and destitute of daily food and one of you say unto
them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled. That's a good
thing to say, isn't it? Notwithstanding, you give them
not those things which are needful to the body, what does it profit?
It doesn't profit anything. Even so, faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, thou hast
faith, and I have works. Well, show me thy faith without
thy works. I will show thee my faith by my works. You believe that there's one
God, you do well. The devils also believe and tremble, but
wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead. Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he offered Isaac his son up on the altar? Seest
thou how that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith
made perfect, and the scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham
believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and
he was called the friend of God. You see how that by works a man
is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise, also was not
Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers
and sent them out another way. For as the body without the spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Now, we have a very powerful
and I believe poignant illustration of this in that passage of scripture
I just read. You see the relationship between faith and works. in that
passage of scripture. The people who feared the word
of the Lord, he said, I'm going to bring hell down. They believed
what he said. They believed it. They didn't
have, if he said it, it's going to take place. So what did they
do? They got their cattle. They got their servants out of
the field where the hell was going to come down and got them
into the barn where there was safety. And the fellows who did
not regard the word of the Lord, Now, they didn't have any reason
to not regard the word of the Lord because they've seen all
these plagues beforehand and everything the Lord said he was
going to do, he did. They didn't have any reason to
not believe the word of the Lord, but they didn't believe the word
of the Lord. The scripture says they didn't regard it. They didn't.
The word means actually they didn't take it to heart. So what
did they do? They left their animals. They
left their servants out in the field. The hail came down and
it killed them. Now, we see how what they believed
determined what they did. And there's so much I could say
about that. So much. Here's a real simple
grassroots illustration of what I'm saying. If you really believe
that you're a sinner, you'll trust Christ only. If
you really believe that. If you really believe that you
don't have any righteousness, you will. Here's what you will
do. You will actually trust Christ as your righteousness before
God. If you don't really believe you're a sinner in your heart,
you really won't trust Christ as your righteousness before
God. Now, let's back back up in our
text to verse 16 of Exodus chapter 9. God is speaking. And he says,
in very deep for this cause, have I raised thee up for to
show in thee my power and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Remember, Paul quotes this in
Romans, chapter nine, where he says, For the scripture sayeth
the Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised you up
that I might show my power in you and that my name might be
declared throughout all the earth. There we have the sovereign God. I got excited about thinking
about this. What's the definition of sovereignty? You can look
it up in the dictionary. It'll say supreme power and control
and so on. But I came up with a better definition
of sovereignty. I really like this. You know
what it is? God. That's the definition of sovereignty.
God. He's absolutely sovereign. That's
who he is. He can't be God and not be sovereign. That's a good definition of sovereignty,
isn't it? God. He said, even for this same
purpose have I raised you up. And look in verse 17, God is
absolutely sovereign. And yet exaltest thou thyself
against my people, that thou will not let them go. Here's
what sin is. It's exalting yourself. It's exalting yourself in so
many different ways. I mean, we can take that in so
many different directions, but when you exalt yourself, you
know what you're doing? You're bringing down God, or you're
attempting to. Not that you can bring down God.
I'm so thankful we can't bring Him down. But that's our attempt. Sin is the exaltation of self,
and it's an attempt to bring down God. So here's God's judgment
against this sin. Verse 18, Behold, tomorrow, about
this time, I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail. Such
as it had not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof, even
until now. There's God's justice and judgment
against this sin. But here we find God's mercy
in the midst of his judgment. Look in verse 19. Sin therefore
now and gather thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field.
He's speaking to the Egyptians at this time. These people who
had denied him. He's speaking to the Egyptians.
He's not talking to the Israelites right now. You know, there wasn't
any hail in the land of Goshen. They didn't have to worry about
it. But he's speaking to the Egyptians, and this is so filled
with mercy. He says, Send therefore now and
gather thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field. For upon
every man and beast which shall be found in the field that shall
not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them and
they shall die. Now, God tells them ahead of
time exactly what's going to take place and what mercy he
demonstrates in telling them this. Lord is so merciful. Now, Did they have any reason
at all to fail to believe what God said he would do? Was there
any excuse for their unbelief? Look back in chapter 7, verse
13. And he hardened Pharaoh's heart
that he hearkened not unto them as the Lord had said. Verse 22, And the magicians of
Egypt did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart was hardened
neither did he hearken unto them as the Lord had said, chapter
8, verse 15. But when Pharaoh saw that there
was respite, he hardened his heart and hearkened not unto
them, as the Lord had said. Verse 19, Then the magician said
unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. And Pharaoh's heart was
hardened, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had said. Look in chapter 9, verse And
the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not
unto them, as the Lord had spoken unto Moses. You see, God always
does exactly as he said. He's never going to throw you
a curveball. He's not going to do it. He does exactly as he
says. Now, if after being given this
warning, somebody failed to get their servants and cattle out
of the field, two things were true of them. First, they didn't
believe what God said. They just did not believe. And that's the same thing as
calling God a liar. If you don't believe what he says, you're
calling him a liar. And secondly, they are responsible
for what happens. God gave them warning and they
would not give heed. Men are responsible for their
sin. Whose fault was it if they didn't
get out of the field? I mean, God told them. Get out! And what
mercy there was in that. And if they didn't do it, whose
fault was it? If I tell you, if you're sick
and you're getting ready to die, and I say, take this medicine
and it'll heal you. It'll do what you need for it
to do. And you say, I'm not going to do it. Well, whose fault is
it if you get sick and die if you won't take that medicine?
We see that men are responsible. He tells every one of these people.
They were all given this opportunity, as it were. Now, verse 20, he
that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh
made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses, and he
that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and
his cattle in the field. Now, in both of these verses,
we have this very important phrase. There's not a more important
phrase in all the word of God than this, the word of the Lord. The Word of the Lord. Now, that's
what I want to hear, don't you? I don't want to hear the word
of a man. I don't want to hear a man's
opinion. I want to hear the Word of the Lord. And in both of these
verses, we read this phrase, the Word of the Lord. There were
those who feared the Word of the Lord, and there were those
who did not regard the Word of the Lord. Now, the first time
the word of the Lord is mentioned is in Genesis chapter 15. Would
you turn with me there? After these things, the word
of the Lord, there it is, came unto Abraham in a vision saying,
Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.
Now, who is the word of the Lord here? Is it some kind of audible
voice? Well, he has an audible voice, but this is Jesus Christ.
He's the word of the Lord who came to Abram at this time and
said, fear not, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. Now, would you turn with me to
first Peter chapter one for a moment? I want you to look at this passage
of scripture with me. And it's very important for me to understand
this when I talk about the word of the Lord. The word of the
Lord, like God himself, is a trinity. And I don't understand what the
Word of the Lord is if I don't have some understanding of this.
The Word of the Lord is a trinity. The Word of the Lord is Jesus
Christ. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and
the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. The Word of God is Jesus Christ
the Lord. Secondly, the Word of God is
the Holy Scriptures. This book we're looking at is
written by God. Yes, He used men to write it,
but it's written by God Himself. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. The written Word is the Word
of God. And the word of the Lord is the
gospel message. That's what Timothy meant when
he or what Paul meant when he said that Timothy preached the
word. He's talking about the gospel message. Now, don't you
see in this passage of scripture where all three senses of the
word is used in this one passage of scripture. Now, look at verse
twenty three. First, Peter, chapter one, being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. By the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. Now, which word is that talking
about? That's talking about Jesus Christ. He's the living word. He's the one who gives life. Being born again by the word
of God. Now, go on reading. By the word
of God, which liveth and abideth forever, for, and he quotes a
passage of scripture from the written word. For all flesh is
as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The
grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away. But the word
of the Lord endureth forever." Now here we have the scriptures,
the word of God, the holy word of God, the scriptures. Look
what it says next. And this is the word. which by
the gospel is preached unto you." There we have the gospel message.
So we have the word of God in all three senses in this one
passage of scripture. The living word, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the written word, the holy scriptures, and the gospel
message. Now, how these people responded
to the word of God was demonstrated by what they
did. We read of those who did not
regard the word of the Lord, and we read of those who feared
the word of the Lord. Now, it's very interesting. Notice it says there were those
who did go back to our text in Exodus nine. I want you to look
at this word with me. Verse twenty one. And he that regarded not the
word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.
If you have a marginal reading, you'll notice it says he set
not his heart unto the word of the Lord. Now, there are 11 different
words in the Hebrew. that are translated by different
words in our English text with regard to this word, regard,
and it means literally the heart set not to heart. They didn't
set to heart what was said. Now, I'm going to look at those
in just a minute, but let me quote this passage of scripture,
Psalm 33, for the word of the Lord is right. I like that. It's never wrong. It always comes
to pass forever, O Lord. Thy word is settled in the heavens.
My word shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish
the thing which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
wherein to I sent it. Faith is neither more nor less
than believing the word of the Lord, and unbelief is not believing
the word of the Lord. It really is that simple. And
truly, there's no excuse for unbelief. These people that did
not regard the Word of the Lord, think of all they'd seen. They'd
seen the waters turn to blood. They'd
seen the frogs. They'd seen the lice. They'd
seen the swarms of flies. They'd seen the plague on the
cattle. They had the bulls on their body. Yet they did not
regard the Word of the Lord. There's no excuse for it, but
they didn't do it. What I think about that is I
think, how stupid, how evil. And that's me, apart from the
grace of God. I'll be that stupid. I'll be that stupid. And I'll
be that evil. Oh, may God deliver us from this
unbelief. Now, what does it mean to not
regard The word of the Lord. Now, like I said, my margin says
set not his heart to the word of the Lord. That word is taken
from the Hebrew word that actually means heart. And that's quite
literally. This is what this means. Quite
literally, they had no heart for the word of the Lord. I mean,
they heard the word of the Lord, but they didn't have a heart
for it. You see, for you to have a heart for the word of the Lord,
for me to have a heart for the word of the Lord, God's going
to have to give me a heart for the word of the Lord. And they
had no heart. It was it was speaking to the
wind. It was speaking to death. They had no heart for the word
of God. Now, I'd like to give you the
11 different ways this same word regard is translated. It'll give
us some idea of what it means to regard the word of God and
what it means to not regard the word of God. In Second Samuel,
1820, it's translated care. No care for the word of the Lord,
but where there's faith, there is a care to the Word of the
Lord. In Isaiah chapter 40 verse 2
is translated comfortably. Remember when it says speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem? That means literally speak to
their heart. Where there's no faith, there's
no true comfort in the Word of the Lord. But where there's faith,
there is comfort in the Word of the Lord. If God said it,
that comforts me. I find rest and repose and comfort
in that. In Psalm 83, verse 5, it's translated
consent. There's no consent to the word
of the Lord. In unbelief, there's no consent,
no agreement, but with faith there is. In Proverbs, chapter
24, verse 32, it's translated considered well. Unbelief doesn't
really consider the word of God. Not really. It goes through the
motions, but it doesn't really consider what's being said. Faith
does. It's translated in Amos chapter
2, verse 16, courageous. Unbelief doesn't have any courage
to take God at His word. It won't do it. It won't simply
let go of everything and trust God. But faith has the courage
to take God at His word if everything else seems to be going against
it. In Ruth chapter 2, verse 13 is translated friendly. Unbelief
is not friendly to the word of God. All faith is so friendly
to the word of God. In Genesis chapter 50, verse
21, it's translated kindly. Joseph speaks kindly to his brothers. Unbelief can't look at the word
with kindness, but with hostility. Because it crosses what they
already believe, but God's people react to the word of God with
kindness. It's translated in Numbers chapter
four, verse six, mind. The people had a, I mean, Nehemiah
chapter four, verse six, the people had a mind to the work.
They had a disposition to the work. Where there's faith, there's
a disposition to the word of God. You bow to it. Where there's
unbelief, there's no disposition to the word of God. And then
in Lamentations chapter three, verse 33, it's translated willingly. Faith wants to bow to God's word.
You want to bow to God's word? I mean, is it something you actually
want to do? It's your will to do that, whereas unbelief has
no will for that. And several times in Proverbs,
the word is translated understanding and wisdom. Faith has some understanding
and faith has some wisdom. And I was thinking about this,
you know, I understand the gospel. I really do. I understand the
gospel. I'm not talking about just something
I learned in a book. I have a hard understanding of have God save
sinners for Christ's sake. I have an understanding of what
His precious blood actually does. It puts away all my sins. I've
got an understanding that His righteousness really is my righteousness
before God. And that's where my boldness
comes from. That's where I can come boldly into His presence.
I have an understanding of the gospel. And where there's faith,
By faith, the scripture says, we understand that the world
were framed by the word of God. There's an understanding there.
And so that's God's people's attitude toward the word of God.
They have a regard. There's some who did not regard the word of
God, and there's some who did. Now, those who feared the word
of the Lord, they had a reverence for what God said. They believed
what God said. They got their servants out of
the field. Now, if you believe what God
says, you will leave the place of certain judgment, your works,
and you'll get into the only place of safety, won't you? I
mean, that's something you actually do. What you believe will determine
what you actually do. If you really believe there's
no safety in your works, you'll fly to the Lord Jesus Christ
and you'll rest in him and you won't look anywhere else. If
you really believe that, and if you don't, you won't. It really is that simple. Now, these ones who had no heart
for the Word of God, in spite of all the evidence of the truthfulness
of the Word of God, they did not leave the fields and the
hell came down upon them. And that tells me two things.
When I think of these people who, after all they'd seen, they
refused to leave. It tells me two things. First,
it tells me of the willful obstinance of unbelief. Anybody in this
room, we're not going to talk about the people outside of this
room, but everybody in this room, I can say surely everybody in
this room, you've heard the gospel. And if you don't believe, there's
no excuse for it. No excuse whatsoever. It's obstinance. It comes from no love for God.
And we see that from this unbelief. They just did not regard the
word of the Lord. But the second thing I see from
this, while unbelief is willful obstinance, I also see that faith
must be the gift of grace. I'm so sure of that. The only
way anybody in this room is going to believe. is if God gives them
the grace to believe. Because we're so sinful, we won't
believe unless God enables us to. But thank God He does enable
sinners to believe. There were some people who regarded
the Word of God. And what did they do? It affected
their works, didn't it? It made them get out of the fields
and go into the place of safety. And the fellows that didn't believe,
well, they just didn't do it. Now, truly, there is an equality
between faith and works. Faith that doesn't do anything
is not taking faith, is it? Isn't that exactly what James
said? Faith without works is dead, being alone. There is an equality between
faith and works. What you do is what you really
believe. And what you believe is seen
only by what you do. Now, I want to be in that crowd
that got out of the field, don't you? May God give us the grace
to believe the Word of the Lord.