Did you turn with me to Exodus
chapter 6? While you're turning there, Mike Carver
had surgery today. He had his carotid artery cleaned
out and it went well from what I understand. So everybody remember
him. And also beginning tomorrow at
4.30 on Channel 22 cable for the next three months, we're
going to put our TV program on that time on Thursday afternoons
at 4.30. kept coming and giving us a very
good price for it. I think we'll do it for three
months and see what happens. Is that a Sunday? No, we're keeping
it on Sunday mornings, but it's just for that three months, we'll
get a different listing audience. Looking forward to watching it.
I never see it. I've entitled this message preaching.
And I want you to think about that as we read this passage
of scripture together. Beginning in verse 28 of Exodus,
chapter six. And it came to pass on the day
when the Lord spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt that the
Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I am the Lord. Speak thou unto
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say unto thee. And Moses said
before the Lord, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how
shall Pharaoh hearken unto me? And the Lord said unto Moses,
See, I have made thee a God to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother
shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command
thee, and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh that he send
the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's
heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of
Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may
lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people,
the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know
that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and
bring out the children of Israel from among them. And Moses and
Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they. And Moses was fourscore years
old and Aaron fourscore and three years old when they spake unto
Pharaoh. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and unto Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh shall speak unto you,
saying, Show a miracle for you. Then thou shalt say unto Aaron,
Take thy rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become
a serpent. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they
did so as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before
Pharaoh and before his servant, and it became a serpent. Then
Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. Now the
magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their
enchantments, for they cast down every man his rod, and they became
serpents. Aaron's rod swallowed up their
rods. And he hardened Pharaoh's heart
that he hearkened not unto them. As the Lord had said. As I looked ahead, one of the
things I love to love about expositional preaching, I get to look at it
a couple of weeks in advance, thinking about it, thinking about
what's being said. And as I looked ahead in preaching
from this passage, I knew that it had something to do with preaching.
And you could probably see that when we read this passage of
scripture, this has something to do with what preaching actually
is. And in preparing the message,
it became apparent to me, so let me read a couple of verses
from First Corinthians concerning preaching and this passage in
Exodus will be a commentary on that. It'll tell us what it means.
Turn with me to First Corinthians, chapter one. Verse 17, For Christ sent me
not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. That's what I'm here
for, Paul says. It's not to get results. It's
not to see people baptized. And you know, Paul wasn't indifferent
about the issue of baptism. We love it when people confess
Christ's baptism, don't we? We're happy. It makes us joyful. But he said, Christ didn't send
me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Not with wisdom of
words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect,
for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but none does what you say is the power of God. Look down at
verse 21. For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That's a remarkable
verse of Scripture, isn't it? It pleased God by the foolishness,
and he calls it foolishness, of what's going on right here,
tonight. It pleased God by the foolishness
of the preaching to save them that believe. Now go back to
our text in Exodus chapter 6. Now in verses 28 and 29 of Exodus
chapter 6, we have the content of true preaching. If this is
not the content, it's not true preaching. And I want to know
what true preaching is, don't you? I mean, I really want to
know and understand what true preaching is. Verse 28, And it
came to pass on the day when the Lord spake unto Moses in
the land of Egypt, that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I am
the Lord, speak thou unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say. unto thee." Now, there's the
content of true preaching. It's all that God says. If it's not what God says, it's
not true preaching. Now, look at Moses' reply in
verse 30. And Moses said before the Lord,
Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, And shall Pharaoh hearken
unto me? I can't get him to hear me. I'm
a nobody. I'm a nothing. I'm not able to
get Pharaoh to listen to me. The power is not in the preacher. In true preaching, the power
is not in the preacher. Moses was right. He did have
uncircumcised lips. But that didn't make any difference.
You see, true preaching is a divine activity. It's something that
God is doing. It's not just a man getting up
and spouting off what he thinks. If that's all it is, it's a waste
of time. God's not in it. But in true
preaching, the power is not in the preacher. The power is in
the message. The power is in the Holy Spirit
who blesses the message. It's not found in the preacher.
The preacher, one preacher is as good as another. I mean, they're
all weak, sinful human beings. The power is in God and His message. So in chapter 7, verse 1, we
find the authority of true preaching. And the Lord said unto Moses,
See, I have made thee a God to Pharaoh. What you have to say
to him has the stamp of my authority behind it. It's the same as me
saying it. Didn't the Lord say, He that
heareth you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you, despiseth
me. Those are the words of our Lord.
Here we see the authority behind true preaching. And the Lord
said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a God to Pharaoh, and
Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all
that I command thee. And Aaron thy brother shall speak
unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel. out of his
land. Now, here's the power of preaching.
Here's what happens when true preaching takes place. God says
in verse three, and I. Will harden Pharaoh's heart,
and this is one of 10 times he says throughout this. Happening,
I will harden Pharaoh's heart. That's powerful language. And
we don't apologize for that. God said, I'll harden his heart. I've heard preachers say, well,
God didn't harden Pharaoh's heart. He just withdrew his influences
and Pharaoh's heart hardened. Well, God said, I'll harden his
heart. And the way God says it is the
way it ought to be said. In true preaching, here's the
power of it. He's working behind the scenes. He hardens Pharaoh's
heart. And he multiplied my signs and
my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken
unto you that I may lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth mine
armies. You see, deliverance is going
to come through this message. And my people, the children of
Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians
shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch forth mine hand
upon Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among
them. Now there's the power of preaching. The Lord stretching
out His hand and doing His will in all of this. Hold your finger
there and turn to 2 Corinthians 2. Verse 12. No, let's begin in verse 14. This has always been a precious
verse to me. Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to
triumph in Christ. But don't get past that. You
know, you always triumph in Christ. You know, I've heard of defeated
Christians. He's leading a defeated Christian
life. There's no such thing as a defeated
Christian. We're more than conquerors through him that loved us. He
always causes us to triumph in Christ. Now, sometimes that's
all I got, but that's plenty, isn't it? God tells me I'm triumphing,
so I believe I am. But he says, thanks be unto God,
which always causes us to triumph in Christ and makes manifest
the savor of his knowledge by us. Talking about his preaching
in every place, for we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in
them that are saved and in them that perish. To the one, we're
the savor of death unto death, just like it was to Pharaoh.
And unto the other, the savor of life unto life. And who's
sufficient for these things? What a question. For we are not
as many which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity,
as of God, in the sight of God, speak we of Christ." Now, the
preaching of the gospel is a savor of death, and to death to some,
that's what it was to Pharaoh, but it's also a savor of life
unto life. There is life in the message
of the gospel. Now, let's go on reading, verse
6. And Moses and Aaron did as the
Lord commanded them, so did they. Isn't that what preaching is?
And Moses was four years old and Aaron eighty-three years
old when they spake unto Pharaoh. Moses had attended the backside
of the desert seminary for forty years before he was ready to
start preaching. And now he is brought on the
scene by the Lord as an eighty-year-old man. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
and unto Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh shall speak unto you,
saying, Show a miracle for you. Then thou shalt say unto Aaron,
Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become
a serpent. And Moses and Aaron went in unto
Pharaoh, and they did so, as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron
cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and
it became a serpent. Now, picture this in your mind.
That is impressive, isn't it? I mean, that's an amazing thing. A miracle took place. But look
what happened. Then Pharaoh also called the
wise men and the sorcerers. Now, the magicians of Egypt,
they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man
his rod, and they became serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed up
their rods. Now, as we've seen, Aaron's rod,
that same rod that budded, the rod of God's strength, he's called
the rod out of the stem of Jesse. That represents the Lord Jesus
Christ. You remember, turn back to Exodus chapter four. Verse 1, And Moses answered and said,
But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice.
For they will say, The Lord hath not appeared to thee. And the
Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A
rod. And he said, cast it on the ground, and he cast it on
the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from before it.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take
it by the tail, and he put forth his hand, and caught it, and
it became a rod in his hand, that they may believe that the
Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. Now, I see the gospel
so clearly in that. That rod, he takes that rod,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and he puts it on the ground, and what
does it become? A serpent. A serpent. Now, I would have thought I would
have made an elephant or a tiger or something more impressive
than that. I mean, you could really wow the people, but no,
a serpent. A serpent representing sin. Christ
was made sin and he put away that sin and he comes back to
what he was. We see the cross there, this
rod. We see the cross, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
the act of preaching is throwing that rod down and God performing
miracles through it. This is the message that is preached.
So we have the gospel message in Exodus chapter. Seven, verse
10, now Moses and Aaron went in and to Pharaoh and they did
as the Lord had commanded and Aaron cast down his rod before
Pharaoh and before his servants and he became a serpent. But
here's what is interesting. Pharaoh also called the wise
man and the sorcerers. Now, the magicians of Egypt,
they also did in like manner with their enchantments. Now,
don't you reckon that that could have, uh, Moses thinking, well,
what's something wrong with this picture? I mean, they're doing
the same thing. How are they doing it? I mean,
I thought God was behind me. They're doing the precise same
thing. Was this trickery or did it literally
happen? I don't know. It didn't really make any difference.
I don't know if this was an actual powerful thing that these fellas
did, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was because the scripture
says that the Antichrist will work with signs and lying wonders
and great power. We know that. So it might have
been literal. It might have been trickery.
Who knows? But here we have the method of
Satan and his false preachers. It's to seek to duplicate what
God does. It looked the same. It looked the same. You know,
Paul refers to this in Second Timothy, Chapter 3. Would you
turn with me over there for a moment? Second Timothy, Chapter 3. Verse eight. Now, as Jannes and
Jambres, that's the Egyptian sorcerers. Now, as Jannes and
Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate
concerning the faith. Now, how did Jannes and Jambres
withstand Moses? How did they resist the truth?
What was their methodology? Was it by speaking against Moses? No, it's by doing the same thing
he did. Using the same words, using the
same phrases, maybe even using the same scriptures. They made
it to where it looked just the same. And this was impressive,
and I guarantee you a lot of people were fooled by it, too.
Now, Satan had already tried persecution by trying to kill
everybody under two years old in order to kill Moses, and it
didn't work. So now he uses jannies and jamborees to resist Moses.
And their method of resistance was simply to imitate, as far
as they were able, whatever he did. They didn't rail against
Moses. They sought to neutralize the
power of what Moses did on the conscience by doing the same
thing. You know, Satan's got his conversions.
Satan's got his religious experiences. Satan's got the powerful religious
experiences that everybody else has, and he duplicates them.
They did the same thing. Let's stay here in Titus chapter
3 and look at verse 5. He warns us of those who have
in a form of godliness. It looks the same way. It's a
form of godliness. It's a form of our religion,
but it denies the power thereof. A form of godliness. Use words like grace and faith
and blood. Use the Bible. Use Christ's name. Use all the doctrines as far
as outwardly, but slightly modifying and changing the meaning. There's
a form of godliness. It looks like the real thing,
but it's a denial of the power thereof. Now, what is a denial
of the power thereof? Well, there's three ways I can
deny the power of godliness. First, I can deny the source
of the power of godliness. And what's the source of the
power of godliness? The sovereign grace of God. Or I can deny the
medium through which that power flows. And what's that? The gospel. The gospel is the power of God
into salvation. Or I can deny the results of
that power. I can deny what Christ actually
accomplished or what happens in a sinner's heart when God
saves him. Now, this is the thing that Paul's warning is about
having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Now, you'll find this interesting,
the magicians could also imitate the first two plagues. Look in
chapter seven, verse 22, back to Exodus. I think this is very
interesting. And this is after Moses made
all the water of the land blood. Look at verse 22. And the magicians
of Egypt did so with their enchantments. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened.
They did the same thing. Look in chapter 8, verse 7. This is after God sent the frogs.
Can you imagine having your house filled with frogs? The second
plague was just frogs overtaking the land and so on. But look
what happened, verse 7, and the magicians did so with their enchantments
and brought up frogs from the land of Egypt. Now, how did they
do it? Was it trickery? It may have
been. Maybe they had some kind of chemical they put in the water
and it looked like blood. I don't know. Maybe it was the real thing.
Maybe they were able to channel some frogs in at just the right
time to make it look like they were doing the same thing. But
you know, the third miracle they couldn't duplicate. This is so
interesting. The third miracle they could
not duplicate. Look in verse 16 of chapter 8. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite of the dust of
the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land
of Egypt. Now here is a miracle where life
was produced. Dust turned to lice. Now what a horrible plot. I thought of that plot. Can you
imagine if all the But we'll get to that next week. But life came through this miracle
and they could not produce life. Satan's messenger, Satan's gospel
never produces life. It cannot do it. But don't get, this is the negative
part, don't get discouraged over all of this. I love to think
about, to turn back to Exodus chapter 7 verse 12, because it
is scary to think of Satan's messengers being able to put
out the same thing and it looks the same. And how can we tell
the difference in what's going on here? But look at verse 12.
I love this. So they cast down every man his
rod and they became serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed up
their rods. Can you imagine what they must
have been thinking when they witnessed that take place? I
don't know how many magicians were at that time. I don't know
how many snakes were crawling around, but Aaron's rod swallowed
up every single one of them. Here is a man dead in sins. on his way to physical death
with no ability of himself to be saved, how can that man be
saved? How in the world can that man be saved? Well, hold your
finger there next to this and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
15. Paul says in verse 54, So when this corruptible, shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory. Now, that's how this takes place.
Death is swallowed up in victory. Now, let me bring out a few different
scenarios. Here's a man dead in sins. totally depraved, and by that
I don't want us to miss the meaning of that word. We use it as a
theological term. It's not a theological term.
It's what we are. It's what we are by nature. My understanding
has darkened. I don't have the ability to believe.
I don't have the ability to repent. I don't have the ability to love.
I'm dead in sin. I'm completely unable to do anything
to save myself. Well, how's that man going to
be saved? Death was swallowed up in victory
when God chose him to be saved. Here's that man as dead as he
can be, unable to save himself, but if God chooses that man to
be saved, if God wills the salvation of that sinner, can anything
prevent the salvation of that sinner? No. If God wills it,
it's going to take place. Death is swallowed up in victory. But this man is sinful. He's
broken the law of God, which cannot be altered. The Scripture
says the soul that sinneth shall surely die. How can he who is
so filthy, so sinful be just before God? I know you're talking
about God choosing some people, but the fact of the matter is
he's a sinner. How can he actually be just before God? How can God
actually receive him? How can that be? Death is swallowed
up in victory. God has made a way to be just
and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. God has made
a way, consistent with His justice, to take me, even though I'm sinful
in and of myself, and that's all that can be said about me
and you, and make me perfectly just in His sight, to where I'm
not merely pardoned, but I'm just, that I'm not guilty, that
I'm perfect before Him. Death is swallowed up in victory. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies him. What about his sins? This fellow,
you say he's chosen of God. You say he's justified. OK, that's
good. But the fact of the matter is he's still sinning. You can't
deny that. His sins are very real. He's
committed sin. How's he going to be saved? What
about his sins? They were committed literally,
yes. And Christ died literally. And his blood literally put away
the sins of everybody he died for. They washed their garments
white and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Death
is swallowed up in victory. But what about the wrath of God?
The soul of the sinner shall surely die. Where does that come
in? I mean, if he sinned, where does that come in? The rod of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, swallowed up the wrath of God. That's what happened
on Calvary's tree. And this is so amazing. I don't know how to describe
God's wrath. I don't even much like to talk
about it. But the wrath of God was poured upon Christ on the
cross. And you know what he did? He swallowed it all up to where
there was nothing left. And God has no reason to be angry
with the believer. Christ swallowed up the wrath
of God. Death is swallowed up in victory. Well, what about the evil nature
of that man that can't be improved? You talk about him being totally
depraved and totally unable. Well, what about his evil nature
that can't be improved? What are you going to do about that? How
can that man be saved? Well, God gives a new nature.
a nature that was not there before, and the new nature is more powerful
than the old. Our Lord said, greater is he
that's in you than he that's in the world. The life of God
is placed within the soul, and the incorruptible holy nature
is placed within the soul, and look at the power of that holy
nature. Isn't it amazing that if you
know yourself, isn't it amazing you can be self-righteous? Isn't it remarkable that you
can actually be self-righteous? And I was thinking about the
fact that I'm so self-righteous. It's amazing that I can be that
way. But do you know the power of
God's grace? You take a natural man that's so self-righteous,
when he has no reason to be. I mean, as sinful as you are
self-righteous, but the power of God's grace can make a man
say from the very depths of his heart, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it makes
even our self-righteous flesh afraid. Well, it doesn't look
to Christ anyway. It just makes us look to Christ
only. We're afraid to look anywhere
else. You think of the love that the natural man has to this world.
He's made to hate it in light of the Gospel. Let me continue
reading that verse of Scripture I just quoted. Let me quote it
again. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom The world's crucified to me. In light
of the gospel of Christ, I see this world as a crucified, dead
thing. In light of the gospel, I mean,
you think of all the vanity of this world. In light of the gospel, what
does it mean to you? I can say to the believer, it doesn't mean
anything to you. It's nothing but a bunch of vanity, and you
really believe that. It's not just talk. It's real.
The glory of God. If you're a believer, the glory
of God is more important to you than life itself. Now, only the
power of God can do that to somebody like me or you. You think of the lust of the
flesh. What a powerful, powerful thing
that is. And yet God makes it by His power
when He does a work of grace in somebody's heart where knowing
Christ is a greater pleasure than all the pleasures of sin.
That's powerful, isn't it? You think of the lust of the
eyes. The lust of the eyes is being concerned about what men
think. It's being controlled by the fear of man and what all
men think. When God places His hand upon
a man, He becomes much more fearful of God than he is of any man.
You know, is the fear of man taken away? No, but I'll tell
you what, the fear of God is much greater, isn't it? If you
fear God, you're not really concerned about what any man thinks. What
about the pride of life? Self-righteousness and salvation
by works? That becomes so offensive to
a believer. That's the power of God in his
heart. That's the new man. I was thinking about this, this
rod swallowing up the counterfeit rods of Satan. Well, what about
the spread of the gospel? We have such weak, weak men spreading
it. How are we ever going to get
anywhere? The power of God's rod swallows
up all opposition, swallows up counterfeit religion, it's swallowed
up by the truth, unbelief flies away before the power of faith,
the gift of God. Let me show you what happens
to this man when God saves him. Turn to Philippians chapter 1.
Verse 21. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Now, you know, that almost, almost
is not the right word. There's no way an unbeliever
can even understand the language of that. For me to live is Christ. And to die is gain. And you know, I can say right
now to you, for me to live is Christ. And to die is gain. Not something to be dreaded,
but it's graduation day. It's the best day of my life
when I'm delivered from this flesh and made just like Christ.
Look over in Philippians chapter three. Verse 7, But what things were
gain to me? I counted them in the positive,
but I changed my thinking. Those I counted lost, garbage,
refuse for Christ. Yea, doubtless And I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but dung, that I may win Christ and be found in Him,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law. I don't
want to have anything to do with that. But that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that
I might know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship
of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death, if
by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."
Now, that's what happens when God saves somebody. Death is
swallowed up in victory. You see, God's salvation is real. It is not merely agreeing with
a system of doctrine. It's Christ formed in you. It is being a son of God. It
is hungering and thirsting after Christ. It is living as a Christian
in this world. It's having the glory of God
as your true motive. You know, Satan can't replicate
that. He can't do it. Where somebody actually desires
God's glory above all things. It's being truly humble where
it's not an act. It's being truly generous because
God's done something for you. It's manifesting the fruit of
God, the Holy Spirit. It's walking by faith and not
by sight. It's denying yourself, taking
up your cross daily and following the Lord Jesus Christ. It's real.
It's real. Aaron's rod swallowed up their
rods. And through the preaching of
the truth, the devil's counterfeit rods are being swallowed up Even
now, the power of the devil and the power of sin will be swallowed
up by Christ. I want to close by reading a
passage of the first Corinthians, chapter 15. Turn back there, I read one verse,
but let's go on reading. Verse 54, so when this corruptible
shall put on incorruption, And this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death. Where is thy sting? If a wasp doesn't have a stinger,
can he do anything to you? Scares you, one comes at you,
you're scared, but what can you do if the stinger has been removed?
It has for the believer, O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and
the strength of sin is the law. That's a powerful statement.
The strength of sin is the law. All I got to do is say thou shalt
not. And that's exactly what you want
to do. The law. Shows the power of sin in our
hearts. But. Thanks be to God. which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in
the Lord. Death is swallowed up in victory. Let's pray together.