Turn back on now, Rich. She listens to these tapes and
that's all. Jacob and his 70 descendants
had gone into Egypt and life was great. It wasn't hard bondage
at first. I mean, these were the brothers
of Joseph. He was the top dog in Egypt, and everything seemed
wonderful. They were just real happy to
be there, and their life was good in the land of Goshen. They had the place for the best
crops, for the best herds, and life began very good. Verse 8, though, we read where
there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. Now he knew who Joseph was. You
can be sure of that. Everybody knew who Joseph was.
But this word knew means he loved not Joseph. Not just that he
didn't know who he was because he didn't know who he was, but
he had no love for him. He had no regard for him. He
had no esteem of him. And look what he says in verse
9. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children
of Israel are more and mightier than we. And you know, they were
multiplying greatly, according to the scriptures, and the Lord
said they would. He said, You're going to have a sea that's going
to be like the sands which are by the seashore innumerable.
And they were multiplying that. As a matter of fact, conservative
estimates would say that this time there were two or three
million of them at this time. And he said unto his people,
Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier
than we. Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply
and come to pass that when they fall without any war, they join
also into our enemies and fight against us and so get them up
out of the land. So here's how he dealt with his perceived problem. He sent over them taskmasters to afflict them with burdens.
You know, the pyramids you see in Egypt, you know who built
those? children of Israel. Now, they weren't the engineers
behind it, they were the slave labor. Can you imagine what a
miserable existence these people had? They were slave labor, carrying
those heavy stones to build those engineering marvels, no doubt,
but they were the backbone behind it, not the brains, but the brawn.
They were the ones who had to make those things. They built
for Pharaoh treasure cities, Python and Ramses. But verse
12 says the more they afflicted them. The more they multiplied. And grew. I love that you know
the Lord's in control of everything. And they were grieved because
of the children of Israel. The Egyptians made the children
of Israel to serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter,
with hard bondage and mortar and brick and all manner of service
in the field, all their service wherein they made them serve
was with rigor. What a miserable life they had
for literally hundreds of years, building these pyramids and cities
and so on. Now, this story of the Exodus
actually begins back in Genesis 15. Would you turn with me there? Genesis 15. And this is when the Lord had
appeared to Abraham in the land of Canaan, and we read in verse
four, and behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
This shall not be thine heir, this Eleazar, this servant. But he that shall come forth
out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought
him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven and tell the
stars that thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So
shall thy seed be. So they multiplied and grew in
answer to what God said would be. They grew in this land. Now look down in verse 12. And when the sun was going down,
a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and lo and horror of great darkness
fell upon him. And he, the Lord, said unto Abram,
Know the surety, this is going to take place, that thy seed,
this seed that is going to multiply like the stars of heaven, thy
seed shall be a stranger. in a land that is not theirs. Now this happened well over a
hundred years before they were brought in there. Thy seed shall
be in a stranger in a land that is not theirs, talking about
Egypt, and shall serve them and they shall afflict them four
hundred years. Now all this was foretold by
the Lord. It's going to happen and they're
going to be afflicted four hundred years. And also that nation whom
they will serve will I judge. And afterward they shall come
out with great substance. Here's the gospel. First, it's
a message of judgment. That nation I'm going to judge.
And you know, he did judge everybody. He judged all the firstborn,
including the firstborn of the children of Israel. Somebody
died in their house, too. It was a substitute. But the
firstborn died in every home, some in the person of the substitute
and some in their own homes. But it's first a message of judgment.
And he says afterwards, they'll come out with great substance.
Oh, the great substance they came out with materially. But
what substance we come out with spiritually when the Lord redeems
us and brings us out and all the blessings of his salvation. But then. They'll come out with great stuff.
Turn with me for a moment. Here's Psalm 105. Would you turn
there for a moment? Psalm 105. And this is the psalmist's take on
this, and he's writing this several hundred years after it took place.
I want to begin reading in verse 23. Now, this whole psalm is
really about the history of the children of Israel. But look
here in verse 23, Israel also came into Egypt and Jacob sojourned
in the land of Ham, which is Egypt. And he increased his people
greatly and made them stronger than their enemies. That's what
the Pharaoh was so afraid of. And look what verse 25 says.
He, the Lord, turned their heart, the Egyptians, to hate his people. to deal subtly with his servants. Now, that shows us the absolute
sovereignty of God in all things. He's the one who turned the hearts
of the Egyptians to hate his people and to deal subtly with
them. And this is a comfort to know. Do you know any time somebody
deals subtly with you and hates you, do you know who turned their
heart to do it? The Lord did. He controlled that. He purposed
it for His own glory. Now, this Exodus actually began
not in Genesis 15, but in the Council Halls of Eternity, whatever
that means, in the mind and purpose of God. God purposed everything
to take place, and everything that did take place was nothing
more than the unfolding of God's purpose. Now, turn back to Exodus
1. Now, everything that's taking
place is happening according to his purpose. When they were
in Egypt, Egypt represents something. You remember where Jerusalem,
this is in Revelation 11, chapter 8, Jerusalem, the place where
our Lord was crucified, is called spiritually Sodom and Egypt.
Egypt represents something. It represents the world. It represents
salvation by works. It represents bondage. It represents
man's religion. Now, this king we read of in
verse seven and eight, and the children of Israel were fruitful
and increased abundantly and multiplied, and it were exceedingly
mighty, and the land was filled with him. Now there rose up a
new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. Now you can be sure that he knew
all about Joseph. You know all the history books
recorded all the mighty deeds of Joseph. and how he delivered
the land through his wide management. He knew all about Joseph, but
he didn't love Joseph. Now, who is Joseph? Well, he's
one of the greatest types of Christ in all the Word of God.
He's the Father's favorite son. Remember how his father gave
him the coat of many colors? He was the favorite of those
twelve. The father made a difference between him and all the rest
of those boys. You remember his dreams, how he dreamed the sun
and the stars and the moon would bow down before him? He was sold
by his brothers into Egypt in prison for a crime he did not
commit. And while in prison, he interprets
the dreams and becomes the most powerful man in all the earth. And all this happened simply
so he could save his brethren. Now, his brethren had evil intentions
in what they did, but the Lord meant it for good. Now, Christ
is the favorite son of the father. the moon and the sun and the
stars literally bow down before him. He is God the Son. He was betrayed by his brothers
and he was nailed to a cross and in that he saved his brethren
and he is Lord of all and the king of Egypt did not know him. He did not love him. Now, human religion, listen to
me real carefully. When I'm talking about human
religion, I'm talking about the religion you and I are born with. You
know, we're all religious creatures. It just comes natural. Everybody
has a kind of religion, a kind of belief in God, and so on.
Folks will say, well, I don't believe in God. But yeah, you
do. Yeah, you do. I know deep down you do. Now, human religion
has no love for Christ. The Christ they say they love
is not the Christ of the Bible. Now, that is a serious accusation. When I say that human religion
has no love for Christ and the Christ they say they love is
not the Christ of the Bible. If you're going to make an accusation
like that, back it up. What do you mean by that? Why
are you saying that? How do you know that so? Well,
I know it's so because the Christ of man's religion does not fit
the description of the Christ of this Bible. That's how I know
it. You can know who Christ is by
the way he's described in this book. For instance, a Christ
of Jesus Christ who wants to save, but He can't unless you
let Him. That's not the Christ of the
Bible. That's a false Christ. That's a Christ of man's imagination. That's not the Christ of the
Bible. The Christ of the Bible, we're given a portrait of Him
so we can tell if what we're hearing is Him. Now, human religion
does not love the Christ of the Scripture. This new king does not like Joseph. He does not love the Lord Jesus
Christ. Remember, Joseph is a type of
Christ. I tell you, you look at this
fellow's character. We've been looking at it for,
I guess, about the last year. I don't know of any weakness that the
scripture points out about this man. Now you know he's a man
and he had them. He had just as many as you by
nature. But as far as the way the scripture points out the
life of this man, it doesn't point out one weakness or flaw
in his character. He was a very special man. He
was an eminent type of Christ. And that's why the king of Egypt
hated him. He didn't love him. He didn't know him. He didn't
love him. He didn't recognize him. And he's afraid of the message
of Joseph. So we read in verse 10, Come
on, let us deal wisely with them. You see, man's religion is suspicious
of the truth. It doesn't love the truth. It's
afraid the truth is a against them, and that's why they want
to deal wisely with them. I mean, they're no friend of
the gospel because the gospel takes away their hope because
they're hoping their work somehow. And when they hear that that
won't count for them, it becomes their enemy. And so they say,
come on, let's deal wisely with them, lest they multiply. And
it comes to pass that when they fall without any war, they join
also into our enemies and fight against us and so get them up
out of the land. Nothing but mistrust. Therefore,
here's what they did. And this is typical. Yes, it
happened literally, but it typifies something. Therefore, they did
set over them taskmasters to afflict them with burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure
cities, Python and Ramses. Now, can you imagine this miserable
life they had to live? Building these pyramids and so
on. It was just such a miserable
existence. But verse 12 says the more they
afflicted them, and they afflicted them terribly, the more they
multiplied and grew. You know, you can't fight the
Lord. You know, Satan attempts to stamp out the Lord's purpose. Everything he does ends up being
for the glory of God. every single thing. He may afflict,
he may try something, but it always just mushrooms. The Lord,
even the devil himself is God's devil on God's chain and he doesn't
realize it, but everything that he does is nothing more or less
than the will of God. God working out his purposes.
The more they afflicted them, the more they grew and the more
they multiplied. The Lord's power is so glorious.
I love that. And they were brave because of
the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children
of Israel to serve with rigor. They made their lives better
with hard bondage and mortar and brick and all manner of service
in the field and all their service where and they made them serve
was with rigor. Now, this supplies us with a
picture of the person that God is going to save. And there was
a time when everything was great in the land of Goshen. No problems. Everything is fine. But something
happens and now they are miserable, they are under bondage. Salvation
by works is an intolerable burden. Just the thought of trying to
have to earn God's favor. Just the thought of having to
do something in order to be saved. Salvation by worship becomes
an intolerable burden. It's a service with rigor. When
can you do enough? When have you done enough? They're
miserable in this state. What a miserable existence. But
remember who the first cause was behind of all this. Now look
over in Exodus chapter 2. We're going to get back to this
other stuff in Exodus chapter two, but I want you to look at
a passage here at the end of. Chapter two, verse twenty three. And it came to pass. In the process
of time, I love that phrase, the process of time, do you know
everything that happens is simply God's process. Everything. bringing about his purpose in
the process of time. The king of Egypt died, that
king that knew not Joseph, that had no love for Joseph. He died
and he found out who Joseph was. God's enemies will all be brought
under his thumb. So many people will be amazed
when they die and find out the truth. Now, he died in the process
of time, but what else happened? And the children of Israel sighed
by reason of the bondage. Oh, they believed themselves
to be in a hopeless case. Can you imagine the despair associated
with such a life of helplessness? They sighed. Couldn't even get out of Rome.
Felt so alone. Felt so isolated. Felt so helpless. Felt so un... Here I am, sighing. There's not
a thing I can do to help myself. They were in black despair. And they cried, not necessarily
to anybody. They didn't know the Lord at
this time, so they couldn't cry to Him. But look what it says
in verse 23. It came to pass in the process
of time that the king of Egypt died and the children of Israel
sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry
came up unto God by reason of the bondage. God heard their
cry. Now, they didn't know who the
Lord was, but the Lord knew who they were, and He heard their
cry. I love that psalm in Psalm 79
that I opened the service with. He heareth the sighing of the
prisoner. God hears this cry. You want me to tell you why God
hears this cry? Because God is a merciful God. God is a merciful God. He is moved to compassion. He's not cold and unfeeling.
He's moved by the misery of men. Now, sometimes we don't think
of the Lord that way. We think, well, he's above that. Now, wait a minute.
The Lord God is moved to compassion. by the misery of men. That's
his nature. He delights in mercy. Now, understand
this about mercy. There's two things in Scripture.
We read of mercy and we read of grace. Mercy and grace. Wherever you have one, you have
the other. They're very similar, but they're not the same thing.
God's grace is unmerited favor. You know what that means? God
doesn't have to find a reason in you to give it to you. It's
not His response to you. If God gives you grace, it's
not because He sees you crying and moaning and you're wanting
His grace and everything. You may be totally indifferent about
His grace when He first comes to you. You may not believe His
grace. You may not believe anything. And His grace that He gives you
is not in response to you asking for it or you needing it or anything
like that. He gives His grace because He's gracious. It's His
nature. You know, I've heard preachers
say, God doesn't have to be gracious, but He must be just. No, I don't
agree with that. Yes, God must be just, but He must be gracious,
too, because that's His nature. He gives grace. He saves. Now, that's God's grace. It's
His mercy toward you. I mean, it's His grace toward
you that doesn't have anything to do with the response to you.
But mercy is different. He is moved to compassion by
misery. He sees the misery and He is
moved to help. Now listen to me. God delights
in mercy. We don't ever read where He delights
in wrath. We don't read that. But we do
read this. He delights in mercy. And He loves to shower His mercy
upon the miserable. So I tell you, let me give you
some good advice. When you come into the Lord's presence, if
you want mercy, you can tell Him how wonderful everything
is. I'm doing great. Have mercy on me. No. You come
in your misery. You come in your need. And the
Lord responds to that because He's merciful. This is the character of our
God. Believe it even if you don't see it. Job said, though He slay
me, yet will I trust Him. Now look at verse 24. of Exodus
2. And God heard their groaning. Oh, they were so miserable. And it says that God remembered
his covenant. With Abraham. With Isaac. And with Jacob. Yes, he remembered
the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He remembered
the covenant he made with Noah. But these covenants are all given
to point to the covenant he made with Christ. Now this is the
same covenant that David spoke of in 2 Samuel chapter 23 when
he's on his dying bed and he's getting ready to die. And David,
the man after God's own heart, the son of Jesse, he said this
regarding this covenant. He said, although my house be
not so with God. Now, his family was a mess. And
I think this could also be talking about his body. Although my house,
this house that I'm living in, be not so with God, this body
of sin, yet had he made with me an everlasting covenant. Now, how did God make an everlasting
covenant with David when David's a creature of time? I mean, David
had a date of birth. I was born in 9959. He was born
in Some twelve hundred something B.C. How could how could he have
an everlasting covenant made with him that never had a beginning
and then never have an ending when he's a creature of God?
Well, it's because this is a reference to the covenant he made with
Christ. And that's the covenant David's
hoping in this covenant he's made with me, an everlasting
covenant, he said, it's ordered in all things and it's sure. And I love what David says about
this covenant. And if you and I can't identify with this, we
don't really know anything about the gospel. He says this covenant
he's speaking of is all my salvation. Is this all your salvation? The
covenant he made with his son, ordered in all things and sure.
Is it all your salvation? He says not only is it all my
salvation, he says it's all my desire. It's the only way I want
to be saved. This covenant order in all things. And sure. Now this covenant. Is talking about the covenant
he made with Christ. Would you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 7
for a moment. Hebrews chapter 7. Verse 22. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament or a better covenant. Now you know what a
surety is? A surety is someone who takes full responsibility
for somebody else's debt. You remember the way Judah became
a surety for Benjamin? He said, I'll bear responsibility. If I don't bring him back, let
me bear the blame forever. That's what a surety is. It's
someone who takes full and complete responsibility for somebody else's
debt. Now, Christ Jesus is the surety
of this better covenant, this covenant where He took full responsibility
for me. You know how much responsibility
I have? Zero. My salvation is totally
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, you want to talk about
something that takes the pressure off? I mean, it just makes me relax
thinking about that. I don't have any responsibility.
I remember one time I read where somebody said Christians are
people who won't take personal responsibility for their own
sin. But yeah, I agree with that. I'm thankful for that. I'm glad
my Lord took responsibility for my sin. He's the surety of the
better covenant. You're there in Hebrews 7. Look
over in Hebrews chapter 8. This tells us something about
this covenant. Beginning in verse For if the first covenant, the
covenant of works, had been faultless, then should no place have been
sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, when I make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according
to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I took
them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because
they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith
the Lord. For this is the covenant that I make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my laws in
their mind and write them in their hearts. And I'll be to
them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall
not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord. For all shall know me, from the least to the
greatest, for I will be merciful." That word actually is propitious
to their unrighteousness. and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. That's the covenant that God
remembered. That covenant made with the Lord Jesus Christ. You
know, we read another couple of times in the book of Hebrews
of the blood of the covenant and the blood of the everlasting
covenant. The reason this covenant is so sure and so secure is it's
ratified by the blood of Christ. When Christ shed his blood, my
salvation was accomplished. Now back to our text in Exodus
chapter two. He remembered the covenant. And look what it says next. Verse 24, And God heard their
groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with
Isaac and with Jacob. That's why he heard their groaning.
That's why. Because of that covenant. And
verse 25 says, And God looked. upon the children of Israel."
That word, looked, doesn't simply mean he glanced their way. The
word means to gaze upon with pleasure, to enjoy, and to regard. And that's how God sees the believer,
because he sees him in his covenant head, united to Christ. And look
at this next word, verse 25. God looked upon the children
of Israel, and God had respect unto them. Now I want you to think of the
import of that. If I'm a believer, if I'm in
the Lord Jesus Christ, you know what that means? That means the
God of glory, the Holy God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ actually has respect For me. Now that is. Hard to get hold of, isn't it?
And this is the heritage of every single believer. This is not
just a special group. This is the way the Lord views
every single one of his children. He views them with. Respect now,
can you imagine the God of glory respecting you? Actually having respect for you. That is such an awesome thing
to think about. How? How could that be? How could
God actually have respect for me? Well, here's how. How much respect does God have
for His Son, Jesus Christ? How much respect does He have
for Him? That is precisely how much respect
He has for me. Because I am united to Him. This is why David said, this
is all my salvation and all my desire. I'm united to Him. The
same way that God views His Son, He views every single one of
His people. He looks upon them with respect,
with regard, with approval. And I tell you what, I spend
so much time thinking, and I understand why I think this, But I spend
so much time thinking the Lord merely tolerates me. He tolerates
me for Christ's sake and has to hold his nose doing that.
It's just for Christ's sake that He tolerates me. But you know
the Bible doesn't teach anything like that. It says He actually
has respect for me as I am in the Lord Jesus Christ and I can't
be separated from Him. That's why I tell you what, be
careful the way you treat another believer. Be very careful, because
how you treat them is how you treat Christ himself. He himself said, inasmuch as
you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. And inasmuch as you did it not
to the least of these, my brethren, you did it not to me. How is it that he respects us
like this? One last scripture. Turn over
to Genesis 4. Turn back to Genesis 4. Verse 1, And Adam knew Eve his
wife, and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I've gotten
a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother
Abel, and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller
of the ground. And in process of time, there's
that phrase again, in the process of time, it came to pass. You
know, whatever God purposes always comes to pass. I love the way
it says that it came to pass. If God purposes it, it comes
to pass. He came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of
the ground an offering unto the Lord, the best his works could
produce. And Abel, he also brought of
the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof he brought
a blood sacrifice. And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and what? To his offering. Oh, how the Lord respects the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. How that makes every one of His
people clean and holy and pure and perfect in His sight. And
because of that, He respects. He respects. Now, I'm saying
that. Even right now while I'm saying
it, I have a little bit of a hard time believing it. Don't you?
That God actually respects you? That's hard to get hold of. And
the only way we know it so is because the Word of God says
it. Accept it in the Beloved. Now, are you sighing? Do you
feel alone? Do you feel in bondage? There
is one who hears your sighing. He hears. And you know there's
never been one like you sigh under bondage that He didn't
deliver. Now, why are you sighing? He
brought you to that place is why you're sighing. That's why
you feel this bitterness of bondage. You know, there was a time when
everything was great and they didn't feel that bitterness of bondage.
And He brought them to the place where they did. Now, what are
we to do? Look to Christ, the one who delivers
from that bondage with His precious blood and makes us perfect and
acceptable before God. That sighing is a blessing. You
know, God hears the sighing. Scripture also says He hears
the groaning of the prisoner. He can't even articulate His
cries. He doesn't know what to say. But the Lord hears. He hears
so powerfully and really. That sigh comes up to him, and
wherever there's this sigh that we speak of, God gives that person
saving faith. So, what do I want to leave you
with? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Let's pray together.