I want to talk to you tonight
about snakes. My text is Exodus chapter 7,
verses 1 through 13. If you're taking notes, the title
of the message is The Serpent, Serpents, and Another Serpent. Let's begin in verse 1. This
chapter begins with a strange, strange declaration. And the
Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a God to Pharaoh, and
Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Did God say to Moses,
I have made thee a God to Pharaoh? That's what he said. What does
he mean? Look in the previous verse and
you'll get an idea. Moses had been commissioned of
God to go to Pharaoh, and he said, But behold, I am of uncircumcised
lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me? And this is God's next
word to Moses, See, I have made thee a God to Pharaoh. And with that declaration, Moses
was given assurance from God Almighty that he was sent with
divine authority as God's messenger to the greatest king living upon
the earth. Sent as God's messenger, he is
assured that failure in his mission is an utter impossibility. Let every man sent of God hear
God speak. Moses had been commissioned as
God's messenger to Pharaoh. He was clothed with power and
authority from God himself as God's representative before this
mighty king in Egypt. Now in the scripture, civil magistrates
are called gods. Our Lord quotes in John chapter
10, Psalm 82, where civil magistrates are referred to as gods. And
Paul tells us in Romans chapter 13 that as they are gods over
us, they are men who are given authority as God's representatives
over us to whom we are to yield obedience in all things insofar
as the laws of man do not contradict the revelation of God. Clearly,
Peter gives us an example. An example we are to follow,
we must obey God rather than men, even if it means imprisonment
and death, as multitudes have done in days gone by. But insofar
as other things are concerned, it is not our business to concern
ourselves with who or what kind of man sits on the throne in
any land, but only to yield ourselves as subjects to those powers that
be as God has ordained them. I don't mean by that we shouldn't
vote in elections. We ought always to be the most
responsible of citizens. I do mean by that. Whoever God
sets in authority over us is to be respected as God's authority
over us and obeyed as such. But here Moses is called a God
to Pharaoh, not as a civil magistrate. That's not what he was, not before
Pharaoh. He is called a God to Pharaoh
specifically because he was sent as God's ambassador, as a man
with a message from God that he is responsible to deliver
and must deliver to Pharaoh. That's the position in which
every man who is called, gifted, and sent of God to preach the
gospel is in before those to whom he sent. I want you to look
at a couple of passages. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
5. God's servants are just sinful men. That cannot be stated too
often or too emphatically. And every man who truly is God's
servant knows and acknowledges that he is nothing but a sinful
man, just like those to whom he preaches. We recognize what
we are in and of ourselves, nothing but sin. Yet that man who is
sent of God, carrying God's message to you, is clothed with divine
authority. He is to be heard. His message
is to be obeyed. I took the time the day before
yesterday, I'm sorry, Saturday, to sit down and write to the
folks up in Princeton who just called Brother Clay Curtis as
the pastor and related to them these very things. God's servants
do not come to offer speculative opinions about anything. When
I stand here to preach to you, I don't stand here to debate
issues. I leave the debate and the controversy
and the speculation in the office. I do my studying there. I didn't
come out here to study. I came out here to deliver a
message to you from God Almighty. Not a message of, oh well, you've
given me some things to think about tonight. A message to hear
and to obey in all its details. You mean you speak with absolute
authority? No. But God does and his word
does. And this is the word of God.
God's messengers are men who never labor in vain. Their message
comes with divine authority. Their message is to be heard
and their message is to be obeyed. The Lord said to Jeremiah, see
I have set thee this day over the nations and over the kingdoms
to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down
and to build and to plant. This is how the Spirit of God
speaks concerning this matter in 2 Corinthians 5. Paul says
concerning himself and Peter and Apollos, concerning all who
are God's messengers to his people. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. Ambassadors. An ambassador is
someone who is sent in the name of the king He does not develop
or devise or come up with what he's to say. He is a man who
only delivers the message that the king has given him. And delivering
that message, his work is done. He's responsible for nothing
else. But he comes in the name and clothed with the authority
of the king and the nation he represents. Paul says, we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, as
though it were God himself standing in front of you talking. We pray
you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God, for he hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. Now watch this. As workers
together with Him, as workers together with the eternal God,
as workers together with Christ our Redeemer, beseech you also
that you receive not the grace of our God in vain. Turn to Hebrews
13. Hebrews 13. Verse 7, Remember them which
have the rule over you. How is it that faithful pastors
are described? They are overseers over the church,
under shepherds, under Christ, to his flock. As such, they are
given the responsibility of ruling God's house. Ruling God's house
just as a man is responsible to rule his own house in the
name of Christ for the honor of Christ. I am responsible,
whether I do it or don't, I am responsible for the government
of my house. I'm responsible to govern my
house for the glory of God, for the good of my family, for the
good of God's people, glorifying God himself in all things. That's my responsibility. Whether
I exercise that responsibility or not, whether I fear the consequences
of that responsibility and choose not to do it is irrelevant as
far as my responsibility is concerned. It is the responsibility of every
husband to rule his house. That does not mean that he pushes
his way. That does not mean he's going
to have his will. That does not mean he's going
to have things his way. That means he seeks to have things
in his house God's way, and he's not going to let anything stand
in his way. In just exactly that way, a pastor is to rule the
local church over which God has placed him. Who have spoken to
you the Word of God. Would to God I could say this
to every congregation. I say it to everyone that I have
any connection with when they seek a pastor, every group of
people. Find a man who seeks God's Word
and preaches it, to whom you will gladly submit yourself,
following him as he guides you in this world for God's glory. whose faith follow. That is,
follow their faith, the object of their faith, considering the
end of their conversation. Follow the example of their faith. Follow their faithfulness. Follow
that faithful leader God places over you. Verse 17. Obey them. Well, what does that mean? Obey them. What do you think
it means? It means exactly what it means
when you raise your children Celeste and tell them to obey
you. It's exactly the same thing. Obey them. That have the rule
over you. And submit yourselves. For they
watch for your souls. That's my responsibility. I'm
responsible, Bob Duff, for your soul. I'm responsible for your well-being. I'm responsible for that which
you hear and learn and believe. I'm responsible watching over
your souls as they that must give account that they may do
it with joy and not with grief. But that is unprofitable for
you. Now these men, like Moses, Saint of God, are men with whom
failure is an impossibility. We are prone always to measure
the success of preachers by the numbers of folks who want to
hear it. We are prone always to measure
the success of preachers by the number of folks who are baptized
by it. We're taught always to measure
the usefulness of a man by counting noses. God never does. Never. God sent Moses to Pharaoh
specifically for the purpose of hardening Pharaoh's heart
and of destroying the nation he ruled, thereby to bring his people out
of bondage. You see, God's servants are men
who are always caused by Christ to triumph. They are a sweet
savor unto God as they proclaim the gospel of his grace. To some,
a savor of death unto death. To others, a savor of life unto
life. But the messenger is God's messenger. Moses received his message directly
from God. But he didn't personally deliver
it. Look back at our text again. Moses related God's message to
Aaron, his brother. The man appointed by God to be
high priest over the house of Israel. And Aaron delivered the
message to Pharaoh. God told Moses that you tell
Aaron. And Aaron speaks the word. Now I realize that this came
to pass because of Moses I realize this came to pass because Moses
kept insisting that God send someone else, but I recognize
this came to pass exactly according to God's purpose. What a vivid
portrayal we have here of true preaching. God's servants seek
and obtain a message from Him. The message needed for His people
at the appointed time. Then they deliver the message
back into the hands of Christ, the only mediator between God
and men, imploring Him to deliver His message by them in the power
of His Spirit. And those men who are sent of
God to speak for Him, true gospel preachers, studiously labor to
know and to speak only that which God commands, and all that God
commands. Look in verse 2. 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 the
land. In Jeremiah 23, the Lord says,
The prophet that hath a dream Let him tell a dream. The dreamers who tell a dream.
I dealt with that extensively Sunday morning. Let them tell
their dream. Let them tell their dream. As
disgusting, as vile, as base as they are, they're going to
do no harm in God's cause. And he that hath my word, let
him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat,
saith the Lord. You see, God's servants, like
Moses, are not free to preach what they desire, selecting what
they think is appropriate. We are commanded of God and responsible
before God to declare unto you all the counsel of God. to preach
the word in season and out, whether men will hear or whether they
will forbear, to hold fast the form of sound words. And Paul
states plainly, if any man teach otherwise and consent not to
wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and
to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he's a fool knowing
nothing. With this qualification then,
I have made thee a God to Pharaoh. Moses went forth, acting as God's
representative. He ruled over Egypt's proud king,
though Pharaoh would not submit to him. He commanded Pharaoh,
though Pharaoh refused to obey. He controlled Pharaoh in all
things, though Pharaoh thought he was in control. and finally
punished Pharaoh according to God's word by the word that God
spoke through him. And so it is that God's servants
always, as they proclaim his word, are triumphant in all their
labors. Having received this commission,
Moses is a changed man from this point forward. From this point
forward. He's no longer timid. He's no
longer hesitant. He's no longer discouraged. He's
no longer fearful that somehow things might not work out as
he planned. He never again mentions his own
inability. Not another time. Not another
time. Read the rest of Moses' history.
Never again does the matter of his insufficiency and his inability,
his ignorance, his stammering, stuttering tongue, it never comes
up again. Well, did he forget? No. Did his speech improve? No. Was
he a stronger man? No. Well, what happened? He believed God. He believed
God. Oh, in the name of Christ, he
goes forth as God's messenger to men, full of confidence, not
in himself, but in God whose servant he was. Let every man
called of God and sent of God do likewise. I have a very dear friend, outstanding
gospel preacher. For years, I'd hear him preaching.
First thing he would say every time I heard him get in the pulpit,
every time I heard him get in the pulpit, apologize for being
there. I don't know why you'd want to
hear me. This is just down in the mountain. I pulled him aside
when the time was right. Just he and I. And I said, don't
ever say that again. Don't ever do that again. If
you're God's messenger, and I believe you are, and you have God's message,
and I believe you do, stand up on your hind legs and declare
it boldly and confidently. You recognize what you are, but
you don't have to talk about it to anybody else. You recognize
your insufficiency, but declare God's word with bold confidence. And he does. He does. Moses never
again. mentions his inability because
he stands before men. He came to Pharaoh not in his
strength, not in his wisdom, not in his power, but clothed
with God's power. I can't tell you how I pray. As I prepare to preach, God Almighty,
clothe this worthless vessel with your power. and cause your
people to hear you speak. All right, now look at verse
3. In verses 3, 4, and 5, the Lord tells Moses plainly that
he would be to Pharaoh a messenger of death and of judgment. It
was God's purpose Now understand this, it was God's purpose in
sending Moses to Pharaoh to harden Pharaoh's heart by his word and
by the wonders he performed before his eyes. He says, I will harden
Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the
land of Egypt. Now here we see God's great,
glorious, absolute sovereignty displayed in tremendous wisdom
and displayed in justice. God hardened Pharaoh's heart.
Every renewed declaration of his word, every wonder performed
by Moses and Aaron before his eyes only increased his hardness. By these things, the children
of Israel were more and more and more convinced. Every time
Moses spoke, every time God did a work, every time they saw another
wonder, it's true. The Lord has come down. He's
about to deliver us. God has visited and redeemed
his people. And as they grew in expectation
and faith, by the revelation of God before them, Pharaoh and
the Egyptians were heartened. in unbelief and hatred, refusing
to bow to God. Judgment never calls them to
be humbled, and it never causes anyone else to be. Judgment brought
no repentance, and judgment never does. Preachers today are ambulance
chasers. They're worse than lawyers, those
call-me-let-sue lawyers. Preachers run to the hospital,
every time somebody gets in trouble, run to the house, every time
somebody gets in trouble, and talk folks into a profession of faith
and tell them, that's salvation, that's repentance, that's faith.
It ain't nothing of the kind. It's not so. Judgment doesn't
bring repentance, it's the goodness of God that brings men to repentance. The goodness of God acting in
men, revealing the goodness of God in our crucified substitute. The fact is the same sun that
melts the wax until it's utterly dissolved, hardens the clay into
a brick. And so it is with the preaching
of the gospel. Multitudes, preachers I'm talking
about, commentators, theologians, try to blunt the edge of this
sword. They try to make the scriptures
more acceptable to carnal men by compromising what the scripture
says. Instead of acknowledging with fear and trembling what
God has declared in his word, precisely as it is stated here
in this text, that God actually hardened Pharaoh's heart. Folks
argue, well, he didn't really do that. He just left Pharaoh
alone and Pharaoh hardened his heart. That's not what the book
says. That is not what it says. But it is true, Pharaoh hardened
his heart, and God dealt with him in justice and in judgment
because he hardened his heart. Pharaoh being utterly responsible,
acting as he did exactly according to his own will, yet Pharaoh's
hardness of heart was accomplished precisely according to God's
purpose. I'm not guessing about it. Turn
to Romans chapter 9 and read it for yourself. Romans chapter
9. You mean, Brother Don, the Lord
actually hardened Pharaoh's heart? That's what the text said, isn't
it? And you can bank on it. You can just bank on it. Whenever
you read something in this book and you think, wow, it can't
mean that. That's just what it means. That's
just exactly what it means. Romans chapter 9, verse 15. For
he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. That is
the reason I gave you breath to start with. The reason I put
the throne of Egypt in the lineage of your household, the reason
I caused you to be born heir to that throne, the reason I
killed your daddy and set you on the throne, the reason I raised
thee up is that I might show my power in thee, and that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. People say, well, that's not
right. Isn't it amazing? The Spirit of God anticipated
that. Thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault?
If a man can't resist God's will, man can't be blamed for what
he does. Take that up with God if you dare. For who hath resisted
his will? Nay, but old man, who are you
to question God? Who are you? Who am I to question
what God does? If God does something, it's right
because God does it. You understand that? It's right
because God does it. Whether I like it or don't, whether
you like it or don't, whether the world likes it or does not
like it, what God does is right because God does it. Who art
thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing form, say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay, authority over the clay, power, dominion
over the clay, to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor?
What if God willing to show his wrath, and to make his power
known, endure with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy which he had aforeprepared unto
glory. But having said that, go back
to our text again. God's purpose in hardening Pharaoh's
heart was not an arbitrary, capricious thing. It wasn't just a whim.
He raised up Pharaoh and hardened his heart and finally dumped
his carcass in the Red Sea in order to accomplish these two
great ends. The glory of his own great name and the deliverance
of his people from the darkness and bondage of Egypt. Look at
verse 4, Exodus 7. But Pharaoh shall not hearken
unto you that I they 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." You can look
at it later In Psalm 105, we're told that the Lord God turned
the Egyptians to hate his people and to deal subtly with his servants. And then he sent Moses, his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen. They showed signs among them
and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness and made it
dark, and they rebelled against his word. And Isaiah tells us,
he led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm,
dividing the water before them to make himself an everlasting
name, led them through the deep as a horse in the wilderness
that they should not stumble. So didst thou lead thy people
to make thyself a glorious name. Now, look at verses 6 and 7. Here the Spirit of God describes
the men. God chose to use as his servants. And it tells us
just two things about them. And Moses and Aaron did as the
Lord commanded them. So did they. God requires just one thing of
his servants. Just one thing. That's this labor
and his servants. David Byrd, his servant. Your
wives, his servants. Here stands your pastor, his
servant. What does God require of us? Just one thing. Faithfulness. That's all. Whatever He put in
your hand, that's what He requires of you. Whatever gifts, talents,
abilities He's given you, that's what He requires of you. Wherever
He's put you, that's what He requires of you. Faithfulness.
Moses and Aaron, He did what God said to him. Moreover, it
is required of stewards that a man be found faithful. God make me that. Not only were they faithful men,
the Spirit of God takes great care to emphasize the fact that
they were old men. And Moses was four score years
old. That's eighty years old. And
Aaron was fourscoring three years old, 83 years old, when they
spake to Pharaoh. Well, but in those days, 80 years
old wasn't anything. I beg your pardon, we're not
talking about the antediluvian age, we're talking about this
age. Moses was an old man, an old man. He wasn't a novice. Moses and Aaron were men of considerable
experience. They were mature, seasoned men. Men with experience in life. Men who knew what it was to go
through all that men go through, living in this world, raising
a family, combating this world day after day after day for the
life of a man. They knew what it was. They had
been in training for a long, long time just for this. Eighty and eighty-three years
old, they were wise, prudent men, men of great age, sedate
and composed, not easily stirred, not easily ruffled. And they
were weak, old men. Weak, old men. 80 and 83 years old. I'm not but 57 years old, soon
will be. And I don't have half the strength
I had when I was 40 years old, let alone when I was 20 years
old. I hope I've got a little more wisdom. I hope I've got
a little more knowledge. I hope I'm a little less ruffled
by things, but weak. God Almighty, chose to take weak
old men, altogether insufficient in themselves to accomplish anything,
to bring about the greatest deliverance of a people the world ever knew
until Christ came and delivered us by the sacrifice of himself
when he was brought into the utter weakness of death. Look at verses 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,
and 12. And let me talk to you about the serpents. The Lord
spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh shall speak
unto you, saying, Show a miracle for you. But 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. Then Pharaoh also called the
wise men and the sorcerers, now the magicians of Egypt. They
also did in like manner, they did in like manner with their
enchantments. That is to say, they faked it. They imitated what Moses and
Aaron had done. For they cast down every man
his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed up
their rods. After delivering God's message
to him, Pharaoh demanded, as God said he would, that Moses
and Aaron show him a sign, a miracle. We live in this age when everybody
wants to see a miracle. Like multitudes throughout the
ages, Pharaoh seems to have said, all right Moses, you said God
sent you, prove it. Let me see a wonder that only
God can perform. Show it to me and I'll believe.
And so Aaron threw down his rod and it became a serpent. And
then Pharaoh's magicians were called in and with their enchantments,
They threw their rods down and made them appear to be serpents. Now, I realize there's a lot
of debate. Folks say, well, you can't say that. They really did
make them be serpents. That's all right. That's all
right. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter at all. But they, through
their enchantments, did whatever it is they did. Remember, however,
while Pharaoh demanded the sign, it was God who determined what
the sign would be. And God took a serpent. The serpent,
you remember, was in Pharaoh's crown. A cobra. A symbol of his great God. The
God of the gods of Egypt. And so God takes Pharaoh's God
as the image representing all the gods of the Egyptians to
mock him and to show his power as God alone. The sign by which
God originally declared himself to Pharaoh was a display of our
Lord Jesus Christ and his triumph over Satan by which he accomplished
our redemption. Let me show you. Aaron's rod
clearly represents Christ himself. It is that rod which was the
rod of power that budded with life given by divine authority. That's Christ Jesus, our Lord.
It was a serpent, you will remember, the God of this world, as Satan
is called, the serpent, repeatedly he's called such, who beguiled
our mother Eve, by whom finally sin was brought into the world,
and Adam by transgression fell, and our whole race was ruined.
But this was by God's design. Let me show you. Turn to Job
26. Job 26. And when you find your place
there, just make this notation, Isaiah 27. Job 26 verse 13. By his spirit he hath garnished
the heavens, and his hand hath formed the
crooked surface. Listen to this, Isaiah 27, verse
1. In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong
sword shall punish Leviathan, the piercing serpent, even Leviathan,
that crooked serpent, and he shall slay the dragon that is
in the sea. Clearly speaking of Satan. When
our Lord Jesus Christ was portrayed in His great redemptive glory
and power. You remember the children of
Israel were bitten by fiery serpents in Numbers 21. And God commanded
Moses to make a serpent of brass and hold it up before the children
of Israel. And the Lord Jesus identifies this in John 3 and
says, that's talking about Me! And God commanded anybody that
looks, as he looks on that serpent of brass held up in the wilderness,
he'd be healed. And he was. So any man who believes
on the Son of God, believing on Him, is healed of the plague
that's killing him, the plague by which he has been slain and
by which he shall be forever slain. But this serpent was a
serpent of brass. I did a little research preparing
the message. I try to do that now from time
to time. Brass has a toxin, a poisonous
element within it. It affects a man from the inside,
draining his bowels, and finally will kill him. And our Lord Jesus Christ, when
He came into this world, came here to be made sin for us. And when He was made sin for
us, as He hung upon the cursed tree, He hung there as that one
and only thing that's specifically spoken of by God as being a curse. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. The only thing except for one other. There is one creature
and only one that is specifically under divine curse. Genesis chapter
3, God said to the serpent, curse it, shalt thou be. And our Lord
Jesus Christ, when He was made sin for us, was cursed as the
object of God's wrath for us, that He might save us from the
ruin of the serpent. Not only that, when Pharaoh's
magicians with their enchantments threw their rods on the ground
before Pharaoh, they made them to appear as serpents, just as
false prophets ever seek to imitate true prophets. and seek to give
out imitations of Christ for Christ himself. But then Aaron's
serpent swallowed up the magician's serpents. Janes and Jambres are named specifically
by the Spirit of God as being among these magicians who withstood
Moses to the face. Moses came and said, God said
to Pharaoh, let my people go. And Pharaoh said, show me a wonder.
Show me a miracle. Prove that your God is God indeed
and that He is to be obeyed by me. And Moses showed him a wonder. And Pharaoh's magicians threw
out a deceit. But Janies and Jambrees could
do nothing to stop God's purpose. They were only instruments in
their opposition. by which he accomplished his
purpose. And Aaron's rod swallowed up the rods of the magicians. And our Lord Jesus Christ, by
his sacrifice, as our substitute, has utterly destroyed Satan's
power, bound him in the chain of his omnipotence that he should
deceive us no more, and he rules him absolutely, so absolutely
does he rule Satan and all Satan's works that nothing is ever done,
not even by the influence of hell, except as it is designed
to accomplish his good purpose in the saving of his people.
That means this, we have nothing to fear from Satan and his serpents. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
himself triumphant, has made us more than conquerors in him. And he will ultimately remove
from this universe every slime of the serpent that is left upon
the earth by Satan and the evil he works. But in the meantime,
God's people have nothing to fear. Turn to Isaiah chapter
11. Isaiah chapter 11. I'll wrap
this up. The Prophecy of this Gospel Age. I received a book a year or so
ago right before I was leaving to go out of town. Brother Ian
Potts had produced it. The Sovereign Grace Pastor. The
President had some things about me in it. Brother Gary Shepard,
Brother Todd and I, Donnie Bell and others. And then some sermons
and articles by older men written. several hundred years ago, as
you look through the titles. There was one title of a sermon
by William Huntington. Actually, I wasn't looking through
it. Shelby was reading it to me going down the road. She got
to the title of the message. It said, An Innocent Game for
Babes in Grace. I said, I can tell you his text.
It's Isaiah chapter 11. She turned, sure enough, Isaiah
chapter 11. As she read the sermon, I laughed
out loud. It was a good sermon. I laughed
with joy. Now, let your heart laugh out
loud. Look at this. And the sucking
child, verse 8, shall play on the hole of the asp, and the
weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den, and they
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." They shall
do no harm. While my children play in the
streets, they shall do no harm. Verse 13, Exodus 7, And God hardened Pharaoh's heart,
that he hearken not unto the Lord, as the Lord had said. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who hath known
the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counselor, or who
hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto
him again. For of him And through Him and
to Him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. And I can't tell you how thankful
I am that's the way it is. Amen.