favorite hymns, particularly
the line, And when I stand before thy throne. How's it go when
I stand? It's the last. It's the last
one. But the part I really like is Jesus died my soul to save
my lips shall still repeat. And I think of being in glory
and saying that Acts chapter 7 verse 17, but
when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn
to Abraham. Now turn back to Genesis 15.
As a matter of fact, you might want to put, if you have those,
these things in your Bible, stick it there on Genesis 15 so you
can turn back there. Verse 12, and he said unto Abram, know
of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs, Egypt, and shall serve them and they shall afflict
them 400 years. And also that nation whom they
shall serve will I judge. And afterward they shall come
out with great substance. Now that is the promise that
was just about to be fulfilled. 400 years they'd been in the
land. A lot of water passes under the
bridge in 400 years. Do you know 400 years ago the
pilgrims had not yet landed in our country. Think of all that's
happened during that time, that history. 400 years have passed and the
time is drawing nigh. Now, God had made a promise to
Abraham previous to this in this chapter. Look in verse four,
and behold, the word of the Lord came unto him saying, this shall
not be thine heir. 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 if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, so
shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord and
he counted it to him for righteousness. He believed what God said with
no evidence that it would take place other than God said it.
Is anything else needed? He believed God. I love the scripture
in Romans chapter four, verse 21, that says, he staggered not
at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what God had promised,
he was able also to perform. He said in Genesis chapter 12,
through your seed shall all the earth be blessed. And that's
talking about the Christ, the Messiah, the woman seed coming
through the loins of Abraham. And they're going to spend 400
years in a strange land. And after that, I will bring
them out. Now turn to Exodus chapter one. This is the amazing story of
the Exodus. And the Exodus is an amazing
story of God's providence. Now, God said this was going
to take place. They were going to be evil and treated for 400
years. And then I will bring them out
with great substance. This is an amazing story of God's
providence. How many times have you said
that was providential? I've said that. That was providential. When I make a statement like
that, I'm actually denying what providence is in first place.
Everything is providential. There isn't anything that's not
providential. Providence is God bringing his
sovereign decrees made before the foundation of the world to
pass in time. And everything is providential. So when we say things like, that
was really providential, that's just a Christianized way of saying,
I got really lucky there. That was good. That's about all
that is. Now, this is a story of God's
providence. God's providence moved Jacob to have a favorite son
called Joseph. God moved him toward that God's
providence moved him to have those dreams that would cause
his brother to hate him. God's providence moved his brothers
to sell him into Egypt. God's providence moved Potiphar's wife to make unjust
accusations against him so he would be thrown into prison. God's providence enabled him
to interpret those dreams and then cause that butler and baker
to forget about him. And he would lay there for two
years in prison. God's providence caused the butler
to remember and say, there's a man in prison who can interpret
your dreams. God's providence caused Joseph
to interpret those dreams correctly. God's providence caused Joseph
to be the sole dispenser of food and the ruler of all of Egypt. You see, God brought this all
to pass. He's the first cause of everything
in order to make sure the promise seed will be in Egypt for 400
years. And after that come out. Now, all of this is a story of
God's providence. Now look in Genesis chapter 50,
verse 24. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
I die. And God will surely visit you. He knew of the promise Abraham
heard from God, that covenant blessing. God will surely visit
you and bring you out of this land into the land which he swore
to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the
children of Israel saying, God will surely visit you and shall
carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died being 110 years
old and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Now he spent 93 years of his
life He was brought there when he was 17. He died when he was
110 years old, living 93 years, never in his experience getting
to go back to that home. And during that time, he died,
his brothers died, and beginning in verse seven, the names of
the tribes of the children of Israel found in those first five
verses, Verse six, and Joseph died, and all his brethren, and
all that generation. And the children of Israel were
fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding
mighty, and the land was filled with them. Now there arose up
a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. He knew of Joseph. He knew all
about Joseph. You can be sure that that was
written in the history books in Egypt, what Joseph did in
delivering them. He knew all about Joseph. He
was familiar with Joseph, but he had no love for Joseph. He didn't care about Joseph.
He had no respect for Joseph. Now, This is an example to us
of what we are. And Joseph, you know, is the
great type of Christ in this passage of scripture. And here's
the knock against men. This is the biggest knock against
me. This is the biggest knock against me. This is the biggest
knock against you. Men do not love Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, they hate
Jesus Christ. They hate him. Now, they may
not hate the false Christ that they've heard of, whom they have
control over, who they can pull him out of their back pocket
when they need him to get him out of trouble, but I'm talking about
the Christ of the Bible. I'm talking about the Christ
who is so holy, he would die rather than let one sin go unpunished. I'm talking about the Christ
who is so absolutely sovereign that whether you breathe, your
next breath is totally in His hands and your eternal destiny
is in His hands. It's up to Him as to whether
you'll be in heaven or whether you'll be in hell. Now that's
the Christ I'm talking about. I'm talking about the Christ
who said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the
Father, but by me. That's the Christ of the Bible.
Men don't hate the false Christ, but men hate and you and I have
both been guilty of hating the true Christ. The most glorious,
lovely, perfect, eternal, uncreated being. We haven't loved him. Not only
have we not loved him, we've hated him. Now people don't find
out they hate Christ until they hear the gospel. That's when
they find out they hate, not before then. But when they hear
the gospel and there's this horrible response to the gospel, that's
where we see men's hatred of the Lord Jesus Christ. And let
me also say this, if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ,
let him be anathema, maranatha. That is the words of Paul speaking
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Now, if you love
Christ, you know he gave you the love. You don't take credit
for it. You don't say, well, I love him
and somebody else didn't, therefore I'm a better person. No, you
don't think anything like that. But you really believe this.
If somebody does not love Jesus Christ, they ought to be in hell. Now, This king knew not Joseph. He had no love for Joseph, no
esteem of Joseph. Turn with me for a moment to
Psalm 105. Now remember, this is the time
is drawing nigh that they're going to be brought out after
these 400 years. Psalm 105. Verse 24 or verse 23, Israel
also came into Egypt and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
That's the land of Egypt. And he, God, increased his people
greatly and made them stronger than their enemies. He, the Lord
God, turned their heart to hate his people. to deal subtly with
his servants. Now, there's another verse that
just lets us know the absolute sovereignty of God. This king
who knew not Joseph, the Lord turned his heart to hate him
and to deal in deceit and subtly with Joseph. I love a Christ
like that, don't you? Who controls everything and everybody
and every thought and every event, and He's bringing everything
to pass in His providence for His glorious purpose. Back to Exodus. Now, when I'm talking about the
sovereignty of God or the God who is sovereign. And I just
read that passage of scripture, Psalm 105, that makes that statement. That's a strong statement as
there is in scripture about God's absolute control and sovereignty
of all events. Now, if you believe that God
is all powerful, and if you believe God is, you
must believe he's all powerful. You must believe it. You can't
believe in a God that lacks power. If you believe in the living
God. Now, if he's all powerful, it
only makes sense. It's logical that he controls
everybody and everything. I mean, since nothing else makes
sense. But here's what I'm going to
ask you. I'm not asking you if you see that this is taught in
the scriptures. I'm not asking you if you see
the logic of this, and it's the only thing that makes sense.
I'm asking you, do you love this? Do you love this? That God reigns,
rules, is in control, and he's in absolute control over what's
happening to the children of Israel. I look back in Exodus
chapter one, verse nine, this king that had no love for Joseph.
He knew not Joseph. He didn't recognize him. You
know, he's going to die and he's going to stand before the God
of Joseph in judgment. And he'll know who he is then.
I think of when Pharaoh said to Moses, who is the Lord that
I should obey him? I know not the Lord. And I love
to think of what was going on in Moses' mind at that time.
He said, you're fixing to find out. You're going to find out
exactly who he is. But verse nine, he said unto
his people, behold, the people of the children of Israel are
more and mightier than we. They kept growing. And you know,
this is an amazing miracle of providence. They weren't absorbed
by the people. They remained as distinct people
for 400 years. They didn't get mixed up and
absorbed. They remained the people of Israel
for this 400 year history. That's an amazing feat of God's
providence. And here they are. 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 it come to pass that when there
falleth out any war, that they join also our enemies, and fight
against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore, they
did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure
cities, Python and Ramses." Now, can you imagine what a difficult
life that must have been? They were nothing but slave labor. No recreation, no enjoyment,
slave labor, building the pyramids. What a horrible existence that
would have been. You get up and carry the rocks
and make the straw and make the mud. And can you imagine how
difficult, what a lifestyle that must have been. Slave labor with
no hope of deliverance from it. Verse 12, but the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because
of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children
of Israel to serve with rigor. Like Stephen said, they were
evilly entreated. Oh, what a horrible life they
had. You're carrying a 150-pound block
that's going to be used in the construction of the pyramid.
You fall down under the weight, and instead of getting to take
a break to recover yourself, you're beat until you get up
again. That's the only thing they knew at this time. Slave
labor and what rigor it must have been. Verse 14, and they, these Egyptians,
made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in
brick and all manner of service in the field and all their service
wherein they made them to serve was with rigor. They were treated
terribly. Now, Egypt, It's called in the
book of Revelation, Jerusalem is called Egypt and Sodom. And
Egypt represents the bitterness of salvation by works. How would
you feel right now? What bitterness would you feel? What mourning, what resentment
toward God, what hatred of yourself would you have if you believe
that salvation was dependent upon your works? You couldn't
have any peace. Now there are some who that doesn't
bother them. Okay, good. But there are some,
everybody who's a believer could not bear that kind of thinking. Salvation by law, salvation by
works, salvation dependent upon me, that is the bitterness of
bondage. Look in verse 15, and the king
of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of
the one was Shipra and the name of the other was Pua. And he
said, when you do the opposite of midwife to the Hebrew women
and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, kill him. But if it be a daughter, then
shall she live. But the midwives feared God. And did not, as the king of Egypt
commanded them, but saved the men children alive. And the king
of Egypt, he kept seeing the growth of the children of Israel. And the king of Egypt called
for the midwives and said to them, why have you done this
thing? And why have you saved these men children alive? I like
what the midwives say here. And the midwives said to Pharaoh,
because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women. For
they're lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto
them. They're already back out in the field workin'. Remember
that, ladies. Therefore God dealt well with
the midwives, and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because
the midwives feared God that he made them houses, and Pharaoh
charged all his people, saying, Every son that's born You shall
cast into the river and every daughter you shall save alive.
And then we get into the birth of Moses and how he's preserved.
But turn to the 23rd verse of Exodus chapter two. And it came to pass in the process of time that the
king of Egypt died. He was then made to stand before
God in judgment. And he found out who the Lord
is. But I love this statement. It came to pass in the process
of time. There is one who dwells outside
of time. I know it's impossible for us
to understand this, but with him, there is no past. There
is no future. All is in the eternal now. And everything that happens in
time, he who dwells outside of time controls. It came to pass
in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. The Lord
killed him. And the children of Israel sighed
by reason of the bondage. And they cried, and their cry
came up unto God by reason of bondage. Now they sighed in utter despair. I don't believe they had any
knowledge at this time of the covenant that God made with Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob. They were in a miserable plight. They sighed and they cried by
reason of bondage. But let me tell you something
about the Lord. I don't know how much they knew about the
Lord, but the Lord is moved by that sigh and that cry. You see, he's merciful and he
delights in mercy. You know, I think it's interesting
when people try to come into God's presence, they try to make
themselves better. You ought not do that. Don't try to make
yourself better. He won't hear you. Don't try
to come into his presence as better. He won't hear you. He
won't have anything to do with you. But oh, the sigh of the
bitterness of I can't be saved by my works, that sigh and cry. God's moved by that. He's moved by that. New Testament
example, that man who boasted of himself, who thought that
he was righteous and despised others. And he said, God, I thank
thee that I'm not as other men are. And then he talked about
all the things he did and he didn't do. And then you had that
other fella who was totally miserable, beating on his breast, crying,
God be merciful to me, the sinner. The Lord said, I say unto you
that that man went down to his house justified rather than the
other. You're gonna try to come into
the Lord's presence. Don't come dressed up. Come in your absolute
need. Now that's the way They were
feeling their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage
and God, verse 24, and God heard their groaning in misery and
God remembered his covenant. That's what I entitled this message.
God remembered his covenant. Now they were crying, sighing,
groaning. And you know, if you ever come
to know who the Lord is, you're going to understand something
about the bitterness and the impossibility of bondage and
being saved by your works. You're going to come to understand
that. And you're going to sigh, and you're going to groan, and
you're going to cry. And like I said, I'm not real
sure that these people knew about this covenant, but he did. He remembered the covenant that
he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These were their descendants. and he had made a covenant blessing,
the Messiah will come through these people. Now, they were
getting ready to find out that. What appreciation do you and
I have of salvation by covenant? What in our hearts, how do we
respond to salvation being entirely in a covenant, a covenant that
God made with Christ, not a covenant he made with you, but a covenant
he made with Christ. That covenant that David spoke
of. One of my favorite verses, although my house may not so
with God yet, has he made with me an everlasting covenant. One that was made before time
began. It was made with Christ. Christ
is the surety of that covenant. He is the guarantee of that covenant.
He took in this covenant full and complete responsibility for
the salvation of everybody the father gave him. For all the
elect. And you know what David said
about that covenant? He said, although my house be
not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant
ordered in all things and sure. And this is all my salvation
and all my desire, though he make it not to grow, which I
think is such an interesting way to end up that. You feel
like you're getting any better? You feel like you're growing
in holiness? growing in righteousness. I love the way David ended that
up. He's made an everlasting covenant
with me, ordered in all things ensure this is all my salvation.
This is all my desire though he make it not to grow. David
was still aware of his own sinfulness. I think the most beautiful illustration
of this covenant is a very familiar story, Mephibosheth. When you
turn to 2 Samuel chapter 9, This was a covenant that God made.
He hears the children of Israel. He remembers the covenant he
made with Abraham 400 years before. And actually, it was the covenant
he made with Christ before time began. God remembered that covenant. Now, how important is that to
you? Salvation by the covenant that God made with his son. Now,
2 Samuel 9. The setting, if you read chapter eight, is
where all of the nations are subdued to David. The scripture
says the fear of David came upon every nation. I love that. I
mean, every, all the Amorites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the
Jebusites, the Canaanites, all of them, whenever they heard
of David, the Philistines, They trembled in fear. The fear of
David fell upon every nation. And at this time, David is the
most powerful man in the world. Whatever happened to you was
up to David. And everybody knew that. All
the nations round about, the fear of David fell upon every
nation. Everybody was bringing him money
and tribute in order to keep him from destroying their nations.
You can read about it in this eighth chapter. And in David's
power, chapter nine, verse one, and David said, is there any
yet that is left of the house of Saul? Now, you know who Saul
is. Saul had been David's enemy.
He sought to destroy Saul. I mean, Saul sought to destroy
him. And when Saul died, the custom was for the king that's
coming into power to kill everybody in the old king's house. And
you can see that happening all over and over again in the scriptures.
When Saul was destroyed, it was the custom, kill him and all
of his descendants. But what does David say? And
David said, is there yet any that's left of the house of Saul
that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now, Jonathan loved David. David loved Jonathan. There was a special, special
friendship between these two men. David loved him as his own
soul. Jonathan loved David as his own
soul. When Jonathan died, read David's
lament at the death of this man. Now, long time before David became king, before Jonathan
was killed, they made a covenant together. Look back in 1 Samuel
chapter 20. This gives us some idea of the
importance of the covenant. Verse 12. And Jonathan said unto David,
O Lord God of Israel. I don't even know what to say
about that. We know that David was a type of Christ. And Jonathan
understood something about that. And he said, and this is what
it actually says. I've read, tried to read every
commentary I can on that. And it didn't mean that. Well,
I don't know what he meant, but when he was speaking to David,
he knew David as the great type of Christ. He actually used this
language. He said unto David, O Lord God
of Israel, When I have sounded my father about tomorrow, any
time, or the third day, and behold, if there be good toward David,
and I then said not unto thee, and showed unto thee, the Lord
do so much and more to Jonathan. But if it pleased my father to
do the evil, then I'll show it thee, and send thee away that
thou mayest go in peace, and that the Lord be with thee as
he has been with my father. And thou shalt not only while
I yet live show me the kindness of the Lord, that I die not,
but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house forever.
No, not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David, everyone
from the face of the earth. You see, he knew who David was,
and he knew God would destroy all of David's enemies. And he
knew David would be the ruler of the earth. He knew that. So Jonathan made a covenant. With the house of David saying,
let the Lord even so required at the hand of David. And Jonathan
calls David to swear again because he loved him for he loved him
as his own soul. Then Jonathan said to David,
tomorrow is the new moon, thou shalt be missed because thy seat
will be empty. The point is, Jonathan said,
save my children. Don't only show me kindness,
save and show kindness to everyone connected with me. Back to 2
Samuel 9. And there was of the house of
Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called
him unto David, the king said unto him, art thou Ziba? And
he said, thy servant is he. And the king said, is there not
yet any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness
of God unto him? Does he have any descendants
left? I want to show him the very kindness
of God. Now that's some kind of kindness,
isn't it? Verse three, and Job is saying to the king, Jonathan
hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. Now he was saying
a lot about that. He was saying he can't work for
you. He can't fight for you. All he
is, is a liability. All he is is one that's going
to have to be carried. There's no way that this man
can do you any benefit. He's lame on both his feet. Now I think it's very interesting
how he became lame. He became lame through a fall. When his nurse heard that Saul,
his father, had been killed, she got up and ran because they
knew we're all in trouble. We're all going to get killed
because Saul's killed. And while she was running, she dropped
him. And he became lame on his feet, lame through a fall. Now, what can he do for David? Nothing. Nothing. only be carried. That's it. Verse four. And the king said
unto him, where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he is in the house of Maker, the son of Amiel in Lodabar,
the house of no bread. Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Maker, The son of Amiel from Lodabar. I love the way it says he fetched
him. He didn't say go ask him if he wants to come. He didn't
say ask him if he'll accept my offer of mercy. He said go fetch
him. Fetching grace. That's the only
kind of grace that says. Fetching grace. Now in Mephibosheth. His name means shameful thing.
Now, when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul
was coming to David, they brought him in. He fell on his face and
did reverence. My dear friend. This is the only
way to come into Christ's presence. Fall on your face. And do reverence. And worship him. He's the Lord. Mephibosheth did not know if
David would have mercy on him. He might have thought, I'm going
to be executed. He knew he was a part of the
house of David's enemies. And I have no doubt that he was
scared. He didn't know what was going to take place. I've heard
all kinds of people describe him. I've even done it. You know,
the Bible doesn't tell what he looks like. And yet we say he
was probably poor and dirty and all the kind of adding things
that aren't necessarily there. He may have been poor and dirty.
He may have been rich and well-groomed. I don't know. But there he is
brought into the presence of David and he falls on his face
and does reverence. Verse six, and David said, Mephibosheth, And he answered, Behold thy servant.
And David said unto him, Fear not, for I will surely show thee
kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all
the land of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my
table continually. And he bowed himself and said,
what is thy servant that thou should look upon such a dead
dog as I am? Now that is the importance of
the covenant. Why was Mephibosheth brought
in to sit at the King's table? For one reason, his relationship
with Jonathan, the covenant God made. I turn back to Exodus chapter
two. And it came to pass, verse 23,
in 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. And God
heard their groaning and God remembered his covenant. with Abraham, with Isaac, and
with Jacob, the covenant we read of in Genesis chapter 15. And
God looked upon the children of Israel, and here's one of the most amazing
statements found in all the word of God. God had respect unto
them. unto Abel and his offering, God
had respect. And if you are somebody in that
covenant, God has respect for you. Now that is how powerful
this covenant is. God knows. God respects you through
the blood of his dear son. That is how amazing this covenant
is. God looks at me and he has respect. Now, what is it that irritates
you the most? It's when you feel like you're
treated without respect. That bothers you more than anything
else. What is it that you love the most when you're treated
with respect? Now, you and I both know that
we don't deserve the respect of God. But beloved, in Christ,
we do. God had respect unto them. Thank God for the covenant. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that your
covenant making covenant keeping God and how we thank you For
the Lord Jesus, the great surety of that covenant, the surety
of the better testament, who made it sure by the blood of
the everlasting covenant. Lord, give us a true appreciation and confidence in
your eternal covenant that you made with your Son. In His name
we pray, Amen.