And he was mighty in words and
in deeds. He was a very special man. And when his parents saw him,
the scripture says he was exceeding fair. Exceeding fair. Acts chapter 7 verse 20 tells
us what this really means. Acts chapter 7 verse 20 says
he was fair to God. exceeding fair to God, beautiful
to God. God looked upon this child and
to God, this child was beautiful. God would go on to speak with
Moses face to face as a man speaketh with his friend. Every believer, without exception,
is exceeding fair to God. If you're a believer, Christ
looks upon you And he says, thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. You are perfect in Christ Jesus. You have no blemishes. You have
no spots. When the Lord looks at you, he
looks at you as one who has no sin. Ephesians 5 25 husbands love
your wives as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for
it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious
church. not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blame before
him. Now that's the state of every
believer, fair to God, beautiful to God, without sin before God. That's what the Lord Jesus accomplished
for you. We just heard that in that song,
he took my sins, and my sorrows and made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. But in suffering and dying, you
know what he did? He put away that sin. It is no more. Every believer, without exception,
stands before God perfectly beautiful. I know you don't feel that way,
but you are. That's every child of God. Perfectly beautiful, exceeding
fair. This describes all of the elect
and every individual believer. Oh, the power of the gospel that
makes me exceeding fair, beautiful to God. So when God looks at
me, he is ravished with my beauty, the beauty he gave me. That's
true of every believer, and that's all because of the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ on their behalf. But this story is primarily a
story about Moses being a type of Christ. Evidently, the Lord
revealed to Moses' parents that this child would deliver the
nation of Israel. And in Acts chapter 7, verse
35, Moses is called a ruler and a deliverer. a sovereign and
a savior. Jesus Christ is the sovereign
savior. And how beautiful Jesus Christ
is to God. The scripture says he's the brightness
of God's glory. He's the express image of his
person. Now God is beautiful. Amen. He's beautiful. Every attribute
is beautiful. He's perfect. He's altogether
glorious. He's altogether lovely. And the
scripture says that in him, in the Lord Jesus Christ, in his
person dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a human body. How beautiful is the Lord Jesus
Christ. I love that hymn. Beautiful Savior. king of creation. He is beautiful. The father said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. Now Moses was born
to deliver the nation of Israel. Christ was born to save his people
from their sins. Matthew 121, thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now, during his life as a man,
the scripture says Moses was mighty in words and deeds. Who could that describe more
completely than the Lord Jesus Christ? Oh, how mighty he was
in his words. I love the way they said never
man spake like this man. He spake as one having authority. Everything he said recommended
itself as being God's word. Everything he said. And there
was something about him where the scripture says the publicans
and the sinners drew near for to hear him. There was something
about this glorious, infinite God-man that the publicans and
sinners could come into his presence without feeling threatened and
without feeling judged, and they would draw near to hear him. Oh, he was mighty in words. He was mighty in deeds. He did
what only God could do. You think of his miracles, he
was mighty in deeds, and oh, the deeds that he worked out
of salvation, of what a glorious thing that he's taken somebody
like me and made me justified, perfect before God. Mighty in
words, mighty in deeds. Now you remember Pharaoh's command?
Take all the male children, cast them into the river, and drown
him. How heartless, how cruel. It answers to the type of what
the Lord Jesus saw at his time when Herod had
all the children slain because they were afraid of the coming
King of Kings and Lord of Lords that they heard of. Pharaoh had
all these children thrown into the water. Now, the Lord had
revealed to Moses' parents, he's the deliverer. The whole nation
of Israel is going to be preserved and saved through Him. So what did she do? She hid Him
for three months, and then she made an ark. There are two arks
in the scripture. You know of Noah's ark, and then
there's this ark made of bulrushes and daubed with pitch and slime. And that word daubed is an interesting
word. It means literally be smeared,
be fouled. And that gives us, and I say
this with fear and trembling, that gives us some idea as to
what took place when Christ was on the cross. He never sinned,
but he was befouled and besmeared with my sin when he bore it in
his own body on the tree. And that makes me feel bad and
that makes me feel glad to think the Lord bore my sins in his
own body on the tree. He bore the filth of them. He
bore the stench of them. He was ashamed before his father.
He took my sin and made it his sin. He can do that. I couldn't
do that. I couldn't take your sin and
make it my own. He could. He had a sinless life. He took
his perfect righteousness and gave it to me. And he took my
sin upon himself. And she put that place, that
ark in the river, the place of death. The place of death. The Lord went to the place of
death where everybody was being drowned. And he who knew no sin
was made sin to bear our sins in his own body on the tree. The Ark, like Noah's Ark, is
a type of Christ. Christ went into the place of
death. And he saved all of the elect. just like Moses went into the
place of death, the river, and through that, all of Israel was
saved and preserved. Christ went to death, and through
his death, all of his elect are saved. I love the statement when
Moses and Elijah were talking to him on the Mount of Transfiguration,
and wouldn't you have loved to heard this conversation when
they speak of the deceased, which he should accomplish? Moses,
Elijah, what are they talking about? The deceased, the death
which he should accomplish. Now, me and you are gonna die.
And it's not gonna be an accomplishment. It'll just show we're sinners.
That's what it'll show. One reason for death, sin. But
when Christ died, it was an accomplishment. Something was achieved by his
death. Romans 4 24 and 25 says he was
delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Now that is meaningless if we
can't identify who is meant by our. Who's meant by our? Everybody
he died for. all of the elect. He said, I
pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them, what you've given me. And the reason I want to emphasize
this and the reason the scripture emphasizes this is because this
tells us that his death is successful. He can't die for someone and
then be anything but saved. Oh, he went into the place of
death and all of his people were delivered. Moses was used to
deliver all of Israel from Egyptian bondage. God using him to bring
the 10 plagues and to Egypt and bringing them out of the land.
Now the text says that his parents did not fear the wrath of the
king. And we just read in Exodus chapter
2, it appeared that they were afraid of something. Why did
they make the ark and hide the baby in the water? They were
afraid of something, but I love the way the New Testament never
brings out the sins of the Old Testament. It's always account
of grace rather than the account of works. But they hid the baby. That's, you know, they made the
ark in order to hide the baby. And look back in Hebrews 11,
27, or 23, by faith Moses, by faith
Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents
because they saw he was a proper child, a goodly child. God told
them who he was and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. Now here, we're gonna talk about
Pharaoh for a few moments. Pharaoh was the man who ordered
his death. Pharaoh. Now, I don't know if
this Pharaoh was the same Pharaoh Moses confronted when he was
80? He may have been. Remember when he fled at 40 years
old because he thought Pharaoh was going to kill him and he
left and went into the land of Midian and stayed there for 40
years? And he comes back, was this the same Pharaoh perhaps?
Perhaps, I'm not real sure. As a matter of fact, some people
think that Moses and Pharaoh could have grown up together
and they very well may have. Hollywood presents it that way.
It doesn't say that in the scriptures, but it very well could have happened.
It could have been that they grew up together. But I love
the way Moses comes to him and says, Thus saith the Lord, let
my people go. He didn't say, I wish you would. This is a command. Let my people go, that they can
go and offer sacrifice to me in the wilderness. Let my people
go. And Pharaoh's response. Who is the Lord that I should
obey his voice? I know not the Lord and I will
not let the people go. Well, he found out he was mistaken,
didn't he? I love that Pharaoh was used
to raise the one that was going to destroy. There's a divine
irony in that, isn't there? I mean, here, Moses grows up. Pharaoh supports him, educates
him. He doesn't know that this is the man that God was going
to use to destroy him. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. Now, Pharaoh was a cruel, wicked,
heartless man. And Pharaoh was God's pawn, raised
up by God to accomplish His purpose. Now, you know the story of the
ten plagues. And throughout this story, Pharaoh
tried to get him to compromise. Okay, you can go out but leave
your children. You can go out but leave your cattle. You can
go out but All I'm trying to compromise, I love the way Moses
said, we're not going to leave a hoof behind. Not even a hoof. We're taking everything. Now, the 10 plagues, the rivers of
blood, the frogs. You know, the scripture even
points out how the frogs were in the Pharaoh's chamber. He
laid down night and there were so many frogs in his room. Can
you imagine how miserable that would be? The dust turning into
lice, to where everybody was covered with lice. The flies
were sent. I hate flies. Can you imagine? I can't even figure out a good
reason for them. And I know there is, I guess,
to let us in. The Lord created them. But can
you imagine having been covered with swarms of flies? Then the disease on the limestock
so they couldn't eat, boils all over their bodies, hail, breaking
trees, locusts eating all their food, darkness that could be
felt, the death of the firstborn. Egypt was destroyed by God through
Moses. And I tell you what, they couldn't
wait for him to get out. They said, get out and here's
everything we've got. Just get out. Pharaoh didn't
realize what was going to take place. And I think this is so
amazing. After they did leave, the scripture
says God hardened Pharaoh's heart again. And he went into the,
the Red Sea had been parted. Israel went through on dry land.
Pharaoh said, I'm going to do it. They go in and God brings
the sea back down upon them. And the next day, the children
of Israel see the dead corpse of Pharaoh lying on the shore
with the other 600 chariots. What a scene that must have been. Now, I want you to turn with
me for a moment to Romans chapter nine. This is what God has to
say about Pharaoh. Romans chapter nine. Let me say this, I love Romans
chapter nine. Love it. Love to preach from Romans chapter
nine. It glorifies God. Verse 6, It is not as though the word
of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of
Abraham are they all children. But in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. Just because you're a Physical
Jew doesn't mean you're a spiritual Jew. In Isaac shall thy seed
be called, that is, they which are the children of the flesh,
these are not the children of God, but the children of the
promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise,
at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca
had conceived by one, even by her father, Isaac, for the children,
Jacob and Esau, being not yet born. Now, think of the strength
of this language. This is God's word. This is said
as God would have it said. For the children, being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil. They didn't have any good to
recommend them. At this time, before they were born, they didn't
have any sin to disqualify them. Now, that's clear, isn't it?
Neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God, according to election, might stand. Not of works. Salvation has nothing to do with
your works. You believe that? Not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, written in
the book of Malachi chapter one, God speaking. And God says with
regard to these two twins, Jacob and Esau, same mom and dad came
out of the same womb. This is God's word. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. That's what God says. This completely debunks the view
of God loving all men without exception. I know he didn't love
Esau. Scripture says thou hatest all workers of iniquity. That's a pretty a broad, large
demographic, isn't it? Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Now, remember this. When we talk about God's hatred,
it's not like my hatred or your hatred. It's a perfect hatred. It's His attribute of holiness
and righteousness and justice. His hatred is a perfect hatred. It's a holy hatred. It's a good
hatred. If you and I hate anybody, it's
sin. It's evil. It's wrong. God's hatred is a
perfect hatred, a holy hatred. If God hates me, it's because
God is good. It's because God is holy. It's
because God is just. It's because God is right. It's
because He's altogether glorious. Jacob Have I loved? Esau, have I hated? Somebody
came up to Charles Spurgeon once and said, I've got a problem
with that. Jacob, have I loved? Esau, have I hated? I've got
a problem with that. Spurgeon said, I do too. I got
a problem with him loving Jacob. I have no problem with him hating
Esau, but I'm amazed that he loved Jacob. And we heard that
song. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love me, a sinner,
condemned, unclean. Don't get upset with this passage
of scripture. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. It's who God is, it's glorious. Everything in
the Bible is glorious. We believe everything in the
Bible. It's all good. It's all righteous. It's all holy. It's all true.
Amen. We love the Word of God. Now, Paul anticipates what people
will be thinking. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is it unfair for God to love
Jacob, is it unfair for God to hate Esau? And every one of us,
when we first heard this, that was our response. Nobody's immune
from this. We've all had that response. Listen to Paul's answer. God
forbid. 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. Now you remember the setting
of this. It's when Moses said, if you're not going to save them,
just blot me out of your book. And what a prayer that was. And then the Lord said, I'll
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. He said, Moses, you're
not going to tell me who I'm going to save and who I'm not going
to save. Don't ever tell God what to do. You're not going
to tell me who I will and who I won't. I'll have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. And I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. You see, God's mercy and God's
grace is sovereign grace. He does what he will. And because
the team doing it, it's all good. Now I'll have mercy on whom I
will have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I will have
compassion. So then it's not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Free will? I don't think so. Man's efforts? No, it's not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. Now we're getting to Pharaoh.
I read all that to get to this part. This is the New Testament
commentary on Pharaoh. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, and here's another, scripture wasn't even written
when this was said. But when the scripture says to
Pharaoh, God said this to Pharaoh. So whenever the scripture says
something, God says something. That's how glorious this book
is. The scripture wasn't even written
in. Yeah, but when God spoke, it's the word. You can't separate
God from his word. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose. Have I raised thee up? He raised up Pharaoh. He hardened
Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh relented. God hardened
his heart. And let me say this about God
hardening somebody's heart. All he's got to do is leave us
alone. Nothing else is needed. If God
leaves me to myself, if he leaves you to yourself will become as
hard as I couldn't even describe it. But he hardened Pharaoh's
heart. For 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. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." Now that's
what God says, and it's said best, isn't it? However God says
it, that's the best way to say it. And this is what God says. Now, Paul, again, anticipates whatever one of us
think when we hear that. Thou wilt say unto me, why did
he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will?
If he wills me to be hardened, there's nothing I can do about
it. How can he find fault with me? He's the one who hardened
me. I didn't ask him to do it. How can he do that? How can that
be fair? How can that be right? How is it right for God to hold
me responsible for what I've done when he hardened my heart? Everyone has thought something
like that. How could that be fair? I love
Paul's answer. Verse 20. Nay, but O man. Now he is addressing
all mankind at this time. I love the way he says, O man. Nay, but O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Since when do you have the moral
authority to sit in judgment on God and say, I disagree with
that? Do you think that highly of yourselves? Now, this old man, the first
time he used this phrase, old man, he said, therefore thou
art inexcusable, old man, whosoever thou art that judgest. I don't
care what you're judging somebody for, you're inexcusable, because
you the judge doest the same things. Now that same old man,
he's told you can't judge men, and now you're going to judge
God? Nay, but old man, who are you
to reply against God. You have no business being God's
judge. He's your judge. Now, through God, Moses defeats
Pharaoh, delivers Israel, and Pharaoh reminds us that God is
God. He's not God in word only. He's
God in deed and in truth, controlling everything. And the only hope
that me and you have of being saved is that what I've just
said from the word of God is so. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word, how we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ who went to
death and put away our sin and made us perfect and acceptable
in your sight. How we thank you, Lord, to think
that we because of what he's done for us, because of his beauty
being given to us, that we're without spot and blameless before
you, how we thank you and praise you for your grace. Lord, teach
us and enable us to preach your gospel in this generation. Give us grace to boldly proclaim
the gospel of your grace to everyone you bring into our path for Christ's
sake. And give us grace to be always
ready to give an answer to every man that asks us, a reason for
the hope that tends us with meekness and with fear. Bless this time
for Christ's sake. In His name we pray. Amen.