Would you turn with me to Exodus
chapter 4? I'd like to read verses 21 through
23 of Exodus chapter 4. And the Lord said unto Moses,
when thou goest to return unto Egypt, see that thou do all those
wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand. But
I will harden his heart that he shall not let the people go.
And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is
my son, even my firstborn. And I say unto thee, Let my son
go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him
go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn." I've entitled
the message for this evening, I arrived at that title simply
by seeing a number of what we would call foundational truths
in this passage of Scripture that I just read. I don't know
how these points are going to connect, but here we go. All
foundational truth has this as its basis. Thus saith the Lord. Look with me again in verse 22. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh,
thus saith the Lord. Now, we don't believe something
because it's logical. We don't believe something because
it makes sense. We do not believe something because
it's what we've always been taught. We believe something because
of a thus saith the Lord. That's why we believe. Now, what
I believe does make sense to me. It really does. It works
out real fine for me in that respect. But that's not why I
believe it. We believe what we believe because
of the thus saith the Lord. Now this has got to come first.
Hold your finger there in Exodus 4 and turn to 2 Peter chapter
1. I love this passage of scripture. Peter says in verse 16, for we
have not followed cunningly devised fables when we've made known
unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but
we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from
that excellent glory. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount."
Now, Peter's talking about the Mount of Transfiguration. when
the Lord Jesus was transfigured before James and John and Peter. And the scripture says his face
shined like the sun and his divinity at this time burst through his
humanity. And I don't understand that.
It's just glorious. And Peter said, we saw it. We
were eyewitnesses of this. This is something we saw, just
like I'm looking at you right now. I believe you're here. I
see you. Are we really here? Yeah. Yeah, we are. I'm looking
at you. You're looking at me. Now look
what verse 19 says. We have also a more sure word
of prophecy. Now this is more sure than what
we saw. Where unto you do well that you
take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until
the day dawn and the day star rise in your heart, knowing this
first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake. as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost. Now, what we believe, we believe
because it's what the Bible says. Every word in this book is a
thus saith the Lord. The Bible is the Word of God.
You know, I can't prove that to you, and I feel no burden
to. I know the Bible is the Word of God. I know this is the verbally
inspired Word of God. I know that by reading it, because
no man could write this book. And we believe what we believe
because of a thus saith the Lord. We really believe this concept
scriptures alone. I could care less about denominational
distinctives. I could care less about church
covenants and church creeds and all that kind of foolishness.
That's what it is. Thus saith the Lord. When the Lord instructs
Moses to go speak to Pharaoh, that proud, pompous man, He said,
come with this message, thus saith the Lord. Now, if we don't
obey what God says, we're in a world of trouble. Look what
verse 23 says. And I say unto thee, let my son
go, that he may serve me, and if thou refuse to let him go,
behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. Now, if this
is not thus saith the Lord, there are no consequences at all for
you to not obey. But if this is thus saith the
Lord, we're in a world of trouble if we don't obey what he says
in his word. The Bible is the word of God.
It's to be believed. It's to be received. It's to
be obeyed. Or we are in a world of trouble. Now, the next thing I see in
this passage of Scripture, just reading these verses, is that
faith is the gift of God. Why do I say that? Well, after
seeing all these miracles, look, verse 21. And the Lord said unto
Moses, when thou goest to return unto Egypt, see that thou do
all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I put in thy hand. And
he saw. He saw every one of these miraculous
miracles, and there was no doubt. Look in Exodus 8 for a moment.
Exodus chapter 8, verse 19. Verse 18, And the magicians did
so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could
not. So there were lice upon man and
upon beast. 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 27. And Pharaoh sent and called for
Moses and Aaron and said unto them, I've sinned this time.
The Lord is righteous. And I and my people are wicked,
and treat the Lord, for it is enough that there be no more
mighty thunderings in hell, and I will let you go, and you shall
stay no longer." He was convinced this was the Lord's hand, wasn't
he? There wasn't any question in his mind about this. Look
in chapter 10, verse 7, And Pharaoh's servant said unto him, How long
shall this man, speaking of Moses, be a snare unto us? Let the men
go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Knowest thou not yet
that Egypt is destroyed? There wasn't any question in
these men's minds concerning who was doing this. This was
the Lord. Look in verse 16 of the same
chapter. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste,
and he said, I sinned against the Lord your God and against
you. Now, therefore, forgive, I pray thee, my sin, only this
once, and entreat the Lord your God that he may take away from
me this death only. Look in chapter 12, verse 29.
And it came to pass that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat
on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the
dungeon, and all the firstborn of the cattle. And Pharaoh rose
up in the night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in
Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
And he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, Rise up, get
ye forth from among my people, both you and the children of
Israel, and go ye and serve the Lord. As you said, he was convinced,
but Pharaoh hardened his heart every time. Now, what I learned
by this is true faith does not come by sight. He saw everything. And you think of the things that
he experienced. True faith doesn't come by sight. It doesn't come
by being given the evidences and believing them and weighing
them and saying, well, I think I'll go that direction. No, true
faith is and must be the gift of God. If anybody ever had a
reason to believe, Pharaoh did, didn't he? But he didn't. He
hardened his heart over and over and over again. And this is a
reminder to us that if I have faith, it's because God gave
it to me. It's not by sight. It's the gift of God. For by
grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It
is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. I'll
go back to our text in Exodus chapter four. Let's read verse
twenty one again. And the Lord said unto Moses,
when thou goest to return into Egypt, See that thou do all those
wonders before Pharaoh, which I put in thine hand, but I will
harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go." Now,
here's another foundational truth. God is absolutely, immutably,
uncontestably sovereign. He says, I will harden his heart. And somebody may say, but didn't
Pharaoh harden his own heart? Yes, he did. But it was because
God hardened his heart. I believe we're mistaken when
we almost try to apologize for God over this. We say things
like, well, God didn't positively harden his heart. He simply withheld
his influence. And that's why Pharaoh's heart
was hardened. I've only got one problem with that. God said,
I will harden his heart. And that's precisely what God
did. Turn to Romans 9 for just a moment. Romans 9. Paul talks
about this event, verse 17, for the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh. Now, remember, it was God speaking
to Pharaoh, but yet when the Scripture speaks, God speaks.
I love the majesty of the Scripture here. The Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth, that therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy. And whom he will, he hearkens.
God is absolutely sovereign. He's God. He's God. And what
I, I love this. I love this. God is God. He has the power to make sure
his will comes to pass. He has the right to make sure
His will comes to pass, and He does always indeed make sure
His will comes to pass. You see, His will, His determinate
counsel, His decree precedes everything. He's God. I love
this God. I love Him being this way. He's
God. He's the God of glory. He doeth
according to His will in the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand. Or say
unto him, what doest thou? God is God. He is absolutely
sovereign. He says, I will harden Pharaoh's
heart. And what takes place? Pharaoh's
heart is hardened. Now, this is just so. It's just
so. It's not deep. I guess it's deep,
but it's true. It's who God is. It just says
that God is God. He's absolutely sovereign. I
love the way he says about Pharaoh. Even for this same purpose, I
raised you up. You know, you're in God's hands.
I'm in God's hands. And He can do with you and with
me whatever He's pleased to do. And whatever He does is right.
He is God. Here's the next foundational
truth. When men disobey God, They are doing neither more nor
less than what they want to do. They are responsible. We are
responsible for our actions. Yes, God hardened Pharaoh's heart
and Pharaoh did exactly what he wanted to do. It's not like,
oh, I don't want to do this, but God's hardened my heart,
therefore I have to do it. No, God hardened his heart and Pharaoh
did exactly what he wanted to do. His disobedience was a refusal. Look in verse 23 again of Exodus
chapter 4. Hold your finger there in Romans
9. We'll come back to that in a moment. But look in Exodus
chapter 4 verse 23. And I say unto thee, let my son
go, that he may serve me, and if thou refuse. Now God said
you let him go. And if you refuse, that's an
act of his will to let him go. Behold, I'll slay thy son, even
thy firstborn. Now if my belief in God's sovereignty
makes me in any sense think that I'm not personally responsible
for my actions, every one of them, I have willfully misunderstood
God's sovereignty. We believe in the responsibility
of man just as much as we do the sovereignty of God. And you
know, I can't bring them both together intellectually. I can't
do it. I mean, maybe you can, but I can't. I can't understand
how God is completely sovereign and he hardens Pharaoh's heart,
and yet Pharaoh is held responsible. I can't understand how that is,
but I know it's so. They're both true. And I leave
it at that. I'm so comfortable with that.
They're both true. Look in Romans chapter 9 once
again, verse 18. Therefore, hath he mercy on whom he will have
mercy, and whom he will, he hardens." Now, how many different ways
are there to take that? Now, Thou wilt say unto me, why
does he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will?
If he hardens a man's heart, How can he hold that man responsible
for what he does if he's the one who hardened his heart? Who
has resisted his will? What can we do about that? How
can he hold me responsible? How can he find me guilty? That
doesn't seem fair. That doesn't seem right. That
God would hold me responsible if he's the one who hardened
my heart. How can that be right? Is there anybody in here that
hadn't wondered that before? I know I have. I sure know I
have. As a matter of fact, it troubled
me a lot. Troubled me a lot. But I love Paul's answer in verse
20. Nay, but O man, Who are you to
reply to certain judgment against God? Since when, he says, do
you have the moral authority to stand and judge what God does
and say, I think that's right or I think that's not right?
You? Do you think you have the moral authority to judge God? David, old man, who are you to
reply against God? Shall the thing form say to him
the form the wise thou made me thus? No, we don't have a place
to stand on, do we? I don't feel a need to apologize
for whatever God does. It's best. And I really believe
that. You know, I really believe that.
Everything I'm saying, I really believe the Bible's the Word
of God. If you cut into my heart and see what I really believe,
you'd find somebody that really believes the Bible's the Word
of God. I really believe God is absolutely sovereign. I really
believe that. I mean, He hardens the... He
has mercy on whom He will, and He hardens whom He will. I really
believe that. And I really believe men are
responsible for their actions. I really believe that my sin
is nothing less than my fault. I take full responsibility, guilty
as charged. When men disobey God, they're
following what they want to do. Now, here's an example. I'm going
to give you a scripture, a very familiar scripture, John chapter
6, verse 37. The Lord said, All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out. And here we have God's sovereignty.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. But here we
have this precious. I'm glad he didn't stop there,
aren't you? Him that cometh to me, I will for no reason whatsoever
turn away. I won't cast him out. Well, somebody
says, But I came and he He wouldn't save me. No, that's not true. Anybody who comes, I don't care
who you are. I don't care what your condition
is. Anybody who comes to Him, He will receive. You know, that's
all I've got. I'm coming to Him right now.
That's all in the world that I have. Lord, have mercy on me.
I'm crying to You to do something for me. And our Lord promises
Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. If you don't come to Christ,
it's because you don't want to come. It's because of a Here's
the next thing, foundational truth, I notice in this passage
of Scripture, and I just jump for joy over this. Turn back
to Exodus chapter 4, verse 22. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh,
thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. And I say unto thee, let my son
go, that he may serve me." Now, notice the language. He does
not say, let my sons go, but he says, let my son go, because
of union with Christ, every believer is a son, a son, a son of God. Not let my sons go, but let my
Son go. You see, God has only one Son,
Israel, the Prince with God. Now, I have to go back to 1 John
chapter 4. Do you really believe you're
a son of God? I mean a son. Somebody that He
loves. Somebody that He accepts. His
child. You can come into His presence and call Him Father.
And He hears you as His child. What a wonderful blessing. Now,
how can that be? It seems too good to be true,
doesn't it? How can it be that I, because I know something about
myself, and for me to call Him my Father when I'm so unlike
Him, how can I do that? How can I do that? Well, 1 John
4, verse 17, Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have
boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is. Now, is He the Son of God? As
He is, so are we. in this world right now. Is He
the firstborn? So are we. He says Israel is
my son, even my firstborn. I'm not a second-rate son. I'm
a firstborn son. And this is true of every believer.
Listen to me. God doesn't just tolerate me
for Christ's sake. God sees me as His son, even
His firstborn, His child. And I come into God's presence
as a son. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. And it does not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we'll be
like Him, for we'll see Him as He is. Now we're sons of God. To as many as received Him, to
them gave He the power, the right, the privilege to be called sons
of God, even to them which believe on His name, which were born
I'm not just an adopted son. Yes, I'm an adopted son. No doubt
about it. But I'm also a birthed son. I was begotten by God. I was begotten by His Spirit. And because of that, I'm a true
son. As many as received Him, to them gave Him the power to
become the sons of God, even to them which believe on His
name, which were born, not of blood, not because my mom and
dad are, not of the will of the flesh, not as an act of my free
will, not of the will of man, not because a bunch of men got
together and prayed and made sure of my salvation, but of
God. Every believer is a son, and
we come as sons to our Father. Now, this union we're talking
about, the only way this can be understood, this thing of
being a son of God, is because of union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, what is the best way I can understand union with
Jesus Christ, where I'm actually one with Him? Here's the best
way I know how to understand it. Both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. If he's one with
me, what I am, he became. On the cross, my sin really,
actually, literally, truly became his, so that he himself actually
was guilty. before God, and he was made to
cry out from the depth of his soul, I am a worm, and not even
fit to be called a man. Now, is that real? That's most
real, isn't it? My sin truly became his. He became one with me, and my
sin became his. And you know what else? You know
the rest of this equation. His righteousness becomes mine. It is mine. Their righteousness,
the Lord says, not his righteousness, their righteousness is of me. So I have the boldness, even
in knowing something about myself, knowing a little bit about myself,
yet I have the boldness to come into God's very presence knowing
that I have perfect righteousness before him. Isn't that wonderful?
I'm a son. And we come as sons to our fathers,
not as slaves or hirelings, but sons. And like I said, not second-rate
sons, but a firstborn son. So much so, turn to John 17.
This is how real this is. John chapter 17, verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also, which shall believe on me through their word,
that they all may be one. as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou
gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as
we are one, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made
perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast
sent me, and hast loved them as thou has loved me." Now this
is how real union with Jesus Christ is. The same love that
the Father has to the Son. And who can describe that? The
same love that the Father has to the Son, He has to every single
one of His people. Every believer. The same love
that God has to Jesus Christ, He has to me. And the only way
I can believe that is by faith. Because if there was ever anything
that was hard to believe, that's it. That's hard to get hold of, isn't
it? And the only way we can believe this is because the Word of God
says it. The love that he loved his son with, he loves every
single one of his people with. Israel is my son, even my firstborn. Now, back to our text in Exodus
chapter 4, verse 23. Here's the next foundational
truth. And I say unto thee, let my son
go, set him free, liberate him, that he may serve Me. Liberty is what we're born for. Freedom is what we're born for.
And you know that the only way that you and I can have any understanding
of this concept of liberty is if we have some understanding
of what bondage is. No way you can understand liberty
if you don't have some understanding of bondage. I can remember reading
about Peter. I think it's in Acts chapter
12 where they imprisoned him and they bound him by two chains.
And that led me to thinking, why two chains? Why two chains? Well, we're bound by two chains,
the chain of the law and the chain of our own evil natures. Those are the two chains we're
bound by. And every believer knows something
about this. First, we're bound by the chain of the law. You
know what that means? I can't get myself out from under the
law. I can't just decide I'm not going to be under it anymore.
It's God's holy law and it must be honored. All of the punishments
that God's law demands against the transgressor must be fulfilled. The soul that sins shall surely
die. That's not going to be abrogated.
That's not going to be swept under. I am under the law and
I can't get myself out from under it. I'm under the law. But Christ
sets His people free from the law and this is how He does it.
All the penalty of the law came down upon Him. He drank the wrath
of God completely dry to where there's nothing left. It's gone. And now, the law owes Todd Vibert
salvation. The law owes everybody that Christ
died for complete salvation. I'm not guilty. I'm justified. I've been delivered from the
law. Thank God for that. Free from
the law. Oh, happy condition. Jesus hath
bled and there is remission. Cursed by the law, slain by the
fall, Christ hath redeemed us once for all. So the believer
is no longer under the bondage of the law, and Christ has set
me free from the bondage of an evil nature. Now, what am I talking
about when I'm talking about the bondage of an evil nature?
You who God has shown you something of your sin will know exactly
what I'm talking about. You cannot not sin. Quit sinning! Try it. You cannot
not sin. When God opens up to you what's
in your heart, you find out that there's nothing there but evil
and you can't change it. You cannot not sin. But you know what the Lord does
when He delivers His people? He gives them a nature that cannot
sin. A holy nature that cannot sin. It's, you see, it's, have you
ever, Lord, deliver me from my bondage, deliver me from my evil
nature. You know, he's already given
you the holy nature that's making you cry out that. That's what
cries out that. That's the nature he's given,
that nature that cries out for, Lord, deliver me from this bondage.
And to a believer, sin is bondage. It's, oh, it's bondage. I want
deliverance from sin. And that's what he gives every
believer. He delivers them from their the bondage of their evil
nature by giving them a nature that cannot sin. Look in 1 John
chapter 3. I need to read this scripture
just so you see this is what the Bible actually teaches. It's
being born again. It's being born from above. It's
being birthed by God. Can that which is begotten of
God be sinful? Well, you know it can't. God's
holy. Look what verse 9 says. 1 John chapter 3. Whosoever is
born of God, doth not commit sin, for his seed, the seed of
God, remaineth in him. And he, what's the next word?
He cannot sin because he's born of God. That's only understood
of the new nature, the holy nature of God. He's been delivered because
he's given a nature that cannot sin. That's the nature that we'll
enjoy God forever for in glory. And here's the last foundational
truth I want to bring out. Look in verse 23 of our text
once again. And I say unto thee, let my son go, set him free. We're born for freedom. Stand
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be
not entangled in the yoke of bondage. Let my son go. Why? That he may serve me. If somebody regards liberty As
freedom to sin, without fearing its consequences, you don't have
a clue. Freedom is being His complete
slave. Freedom is serving Him. Anything short of that is not
freedom, but it is bondage. Free Him that He may serve me. Now, my greatest freedom is simply
to serve Him. That's freedom. Simply serve
Him. There's two things that are always true regarding true
freedom. When you're free, you don't owe anything. No debts.
I'm free before the law of God. And true freedom is getting to
do what you want to do. And I'm going to do what I want
to do right now. No debts. And I get to do what I want to
do. Let my son go that he may serve me. My greatest freedom
is being his slave. And I really believe that. I've
heard people say, regarding what we believe, they say, well, you're
making it out like you're all just like robots. Would you have
any problem being one of God's robots? I find that very attractive. I'd like to be just programmed
by God. I'm just fine with being God's
robot. Aren't you? I am. That's true
freedom. And anything short of that is
not free. As a matter of fact, What I dread
more than anything else is the thought of being left to my free
will. That to me is the worst thing
that could ever happen to me, for God to leave me to myself. That's not freedom. That's the
worst servitude. I want to be His and His forever. Let's pray together.