Would you turn with me to Exodus
chapter six? While you're turning there after
the services, if the men could set up the tables in the fellowship
hall, we're going to need them for a get together. We're going
to have Sunday evening after services with Cody and Winnie
Groover. I'm looking forward to that very
much. And also there's going to be a wedding for Rachel Parker
and Jeff And so, there's going to be a
little bit different configuration to it. So, ask me about it afterwards,
and I'll tell you how to put the tables up. Also, there's
going to be a ladies' luncheon with Winna Groover this Tuesday.
The time and the location will be announced on Sunday, but there's
a sign-up sheet in the hall. Could you please sign up for
that so they can have some indication as to how many people will be
there at that luncheon? Exodus chapter 6, I'd like to
read verse 9. And Moses spake so unto the children
of Israel, but they hearkened not unto Moses,
for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage. And notice the
word, so. Moses delivered the message just
as the Lord told him. Moses spake so unto the children
of Israel, and the contents of that message is found in verses
2 through 8, but the children of Israel were so down, so utterly
discouraged, so depressed that they could not hear what Moses
was saying. It says they hearkened not unto
Moses because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. They were broken down. And that's the only way you could
describe this people at this time. They were broken down,
they felt utterly defeated, they felt utterly hopeless, and they
could not hear what Moses had to say. Now, they had heard this
message before, and as far as they could tell, things had become
worse rather than better after hearing this message. Now, at
this time, while they were feeling so discouraged and so down, they
were walking by sight and not by faith. As far as the way things
appeared, things could not be worse. And that is the way it
appeared. And that's why they were so filled
with anguish and heartache. Now, it wasn't always this way.
Look back in Exodus chapter 4, beginning in verse 29. And Moses and Aaron went and
gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel, and
Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses,
and did the signs in the sight of the people, and the people
believed. Can you imagine how excited they
were? God is going to supernaturally deliver us from this bondage.
They had had such a miserable life and now they believe God's
going to deliver us. And they were excited. They were
happy. I mean, they just felt great. Look what it says about
them. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children
of Israel and that he had looked upon their affliction, they bowed
their heads and they worshipped. So Moses comes to Pharaoh with
this message, chapter five, verse one, and afterward, Moses and
Aaron went in and told Pharaoh thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
let my people go that they may hold a feast under me in the
wilderness. And I suppose they thought immediately
he's going to let them go. I can understand why they thought
that this is God speaking. And it didn't happen as they
thought it would. And Pharaoh said, Who is the
Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not
the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. Now, the fact of the matter is,
is after Moses comes in with this message and they had such
an optimistic view of things, things became worse insofar as
their experience goes. They were called upon after this
to make bricks without straw. Look at verse 4 of chapter 5.
And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye Moses and
Aaron let the people from their works? Get ye under your burdens.
And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many,
and you make them rest from their burdens. And Pharaoh commanded
the same day the taskmasters of the people. And their officers
sang, You shall no more give the people straw to make brick,
as heretofore. Let them go and gather straw
for themselves. And the tale of the bricks which
they did make heretofore, you shall lay upon them. You shall
not diminish aught thereof, for they be idle. Therefore they
cry and say, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let there more work
be laid upon them. that they may labor therein,
and let them not regard vain words." Things became worse. Look what they said to Moses
in verse 20 of chapter 5. And they met Moses and Aaron
who stood in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh. And
they said unto them, The Lord look upon you and judge, because
you have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh
and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand
to slay us. Oh, they were so discouraged. Here, they heard
this promise, you're going to be delivered from bondage. And
it becomes worse. And it was miserable for these
people. They were so unhappy. They were so discouraged. I mean,
they heard this message, but it didn't happen when they thought
it would happen. So they were discouraged. And
Moses was too. Look in verse 22. And Moses returned
unto the Lord and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated
this people? Why is it that thou sent me?
For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done
evil to this people, neither hast thou delivered thy people
at all." So we see the people at this
time were discouraged. They'd heard the message, and
it didn't come out the way they thought it would, and they simply
could not hear. They were filled with unbelief.
Now, what is faith? It's believing God's Word. At
this time, they didn't believe God's Word. As far as their experience
went, as far as what they actually experienced, God's Word did not
come to pass. So they were utterly discouraged
and depressed. They couldn't get anything out
of what was being said. You ever been there? You hear and it just, it seems
to be contrary to what you see. What you see in yourself, in
your own heart, around you, just doesn't seem to be lining up
with what God's Word says. So they were, at this time, walking
by sight and not by faith, because as far as what they could see,
they didn't see anything to be encouraged about. They were down,
weren't they? Nobody would argue against that.
But here's the question I've got for you. Were they out? I've entitled this message, Down
But Not Out. They were down. I mean, it doesn't
get any lower than this. But were they out? If their deliverance
was based solely on their ability to believe Yes, they were down
and they were out. But thank God, their deliverance
was not based upon their ability or capacity to believe. Their deliverance was based upon
the Lord's ability and capacity to deliver. Now, here's an instance where
some people just didn't have any faith as far as what we can
see. But God did something for them
anyway. Now, I want that, don't you?
I want the Lord to do something for me anyway. Down, but not
out. Now, let's look at the message
Moses delivered to them. And there's not a more wonderful
gospel message in all the Word of God. Then this message that
Moses delivered to these people at this time in Exodus chapter
6, you know, the best messages are those which are nothing but
repeating what the Lord has already said. That's good preaching,
isn't it? I like Scott Richardson's definition
of preaching. He said, preaching is saying
back to God what he's already said. Good definition. And that's exactly what Moses
is doing at this time when he delivers this message to this
people. Now, if you would understand
the New Testament or the New Covenant or the covenant of grace
or the gospel, they're all names for the same thing. You listen
very carefully. And look what he says in verse
four to these people. Now, he's speaking God's word to these
people who are so down. God says, I have also established
my covenant with them. to give them the land of Canaan. Now it didn't appear that way,
but God said it has been established. Now, back up to verse 2. And God spake unto Moses and
said unto him, now this is the message he says you're to deliver
to these people, and they're so down at this time, and I understand
why they are. And you can understand why they
are as far as what God had said, none of it had come to pass as
far as they could see. It didn't come with the timing that they
thought it should have come. And they were upset, and they
were down. And I understand this, but this
is the message that God tells Moses to deliver these people.
He says in verse 2, And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him,
I am Jehovah. And I appeared unto Abraham,
and to Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty.
But by my name Jehovah, God my Savior, was I not known. I turn back to Exodus 3 for just
a moment. Verse 13, And Moses said unto
God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall
say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you.
And they shall say to me, Well, what's his name? What shall I
say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am
that I am. And he said, Thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am has sent me unto you. That's who he is in himself. Now, it doesn't matter what you
or I believe about him. He is who he is. And your belief and
my belief or lack thereof will not change who he is. He said, I am that I am. That's who he is in himself.
But look what he says in verse 15. And God said, Moreover unto
Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord
God of your fathers, Jehovah God of your fathers, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent
me unto you. This is my name forever, Jehovah,
and this is my memorial unto all generations. Jehovah is who
he is to his people. Now back to our text in Exodus
chapter 6. I appeared unto Abraham, unto
Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty, but by
my name Jehovah, God my Savior, was I not known unto them." Now,
we see from verse 3 that revelation is progressive. Now, he said,
I appeared to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but
I didn't appear to them yet as Jehovah. We see that revelation
is progressive. You don't come to an understanding
of everything all at once. And you know that in your own
experience, don't you? You know, as the Lord has taught you, don't
you understand the gospel more clearly than you did five years
ago or last year? It's a progressive revelation. That's the way the Lord makes
himself known by bits and pieces. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob knew
him as God Almighty, all powerful, but they didn't know him as Jehovah.
He was Jehovah, but He had not yet made himself known to them
as Jehovah, but we know that what they did know, what I know,
what you know, and this is the first blessing of the covenant
of grace. He said, I appeared to them. I made myself known
to them. What we know, we know by revelation. Anything that
you truly know spiritually, anything that is in your heart that you
really believe, the reason you believe it, the reason you know
it, is because God revealed this to you. It's not because you
were educated into it. It's not because you figured
it out. It's not because you were more spiritual or more intelligent
than somebody else. What you know, you know because
God was pleased to reveal it to you. Paul put it this way
in Galatians 115, when it pleased God who separated me from my
mother's womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His Son
in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen. Immediately,
I conferred not with flesh and blood. Now, anything you know,
and I'm not just talking about data that you know, right, accurate
stuff. I'm talking about what you know,
what God what you truly understand. It's what God has taught you.
Do you know that you're a sinner? Do you know that? Who taught
you that? Who revealed that to you? Do
you know that Christ is the Savior? Do you know there's a sufficient
salvation that's in Him and you really believe that and you're
relying on Him? Who taught you that? Flesh and blood didn't
reveal this to you, our Lord said. But my Father which is
in heaven, anything you truly know, you know by revelation.
And look what he says in verse four. He said, and I have also
established my covenant with them to give them the land of
Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. Now, the word established means
decreed or ordained. I have decreed my covenant with
them. I have ordained my covenant with
them. This is all done according to
His sovereign will. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. And if you are included in the
covenant, if you believe the covenant, if you rejoice in the
covenant, if you rejoice in the gospel, it's because God decreed
before time began for you to do just that. He decreed all
things. Let me show you a passage of
scripture in Luke chapter 10. I love this verse of scripture.
Luke chapter 10. Beginning in verse 17. And the 70, those 70 that he
sent out to preach the gospel. They returned again with joy,
saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy
name. Now put yourself in these fellows'
place. How would you feel if demons were subject to you through
his name? That's pretty awesome, isn't
it? That's pretty powerful. This really happened. I mean,
these fellows were feeling very good about themselves. I guarantee
you. I do feel good about myself, too. OK, let's go on reading. And he said unto them, I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you
power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power
of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Now, that's
that's assuring, isn't it? What a glorious message. But
look what our Lord says. Notwithstanding in this, the
fact that demons are subject to you and that you can tread
on scorpions and you have all this power, he says in this rejoice
not. that the spirits are subject
unto you, but rather rejoice. Why? Because your names are written
in heaven. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent
and has revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me
of my Father. And no man knows the Son, but the Father, and
who the Father is, but the Son, and He to Whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him. And He turned unto His disciples
and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things
that you see. You see, all this revelation
that they had, all this understanding that they had, was decreed by
God. He gave it to them simply because
it seemed good in His sight. Now, do you rejoice in that?
I mean, is that answer? Even so, Father, here's his reason.
Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Is that enough
to make you rejoice? May the Lord rejoice. He rejoiced
in spirit over this. And I do, too. Now, notice what
it says in verse 4. I have established my covenant
with them to give them the land of Canaan. Everything that God
does with me is a gift. What he does, he gives freely. Now, you think of every aspect
of salvation. It's all a gift. Think of being elected by the
Father, chosen freely before time again. What a gift, what
a boon of grace, what a gift of grace that is. Think about
being redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, having your sins washed
away. That's a gift, isn't it? Think
of the gift of righteousness. It's actually called the gift
of righteousness. Righteousness is not something you do, it's
something He gives you and He makes you to be. The faith you
have, the repentance you have, the love you have for Him, the
love you have for one to another, that's His gift, isn't it? Every
aspect of salvation is a free gift. He tells these people who
are so discouraged at this time, I'm going to give you the last. It's all the gift of His grace.
Now, if God has decreed to give this to you, you'll have what
He's decreed to give. There's no hazard of you not
getting it. If God decrees something, it
is so certain that it's already history before it even happens.
That's how glorious His decrees are. Now, look what He says next
in verse 5. And I have also heard the groaning
of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage.
I've heard their groanings. I've seen their misery. I've
seen their bondage. You know, God sees us as we are. We're all three different people.
Every one of us, three different people. We're the people we think
we are. We're the people others think
we are, and we're the people God knows we are. Is this comforting? Yes, it is. You see, God sees our sinfulness. He hears our groanings. He sees
our weakness. He actually sees who we are much
more clearly than we see ourselves. You know, you don't know yourself.
You really don't. You don't even have a clue. And
neither do I. But you know, he knows you all
together. There are no surprises with him.
He has seen how bad we are. He has already seen all the sins
that you haven't even yet committed. And that hadn't kept him from
Satan. He knows you all together. Isn't that comforting? And why? Why? Why is it that He... How
is it that He can see me? He can see right through me.
He knows what I'm really made of. I don't even know what I'm made
of, but He does. He can see right through me, and yet He saves
me anyway. How can that be? Let's go on
reading in verse 5. He says, I've heard the groaning
of the children of Israel and the Egyptians keeping bondage,
and I've remembered my covenant. A covenant of pure, free, sheer
sovereign grace. That is why He sees and loves
anyway, because He remembers the covenant. That's why there's
hope for even the chief of sinners, because of the covenant. Verse
6, Now wherefore, because I remember my covenant, say unto the children
of Israel, I am the Lord, And I will bring you out from under
the burdens of the Egyptians, and I rid you out of their bondage,
and I redeem you with a stretched-out arm and with great judgments."
Now, here these unbelieving people are. They're so discouraged.
God's already said this to them once, and it didn't happen the
way they thought it would. So they think it's not going to
happen at all. There they are, so miserable. And yet the Lord
gives them this assuring message, I bring you out from under the
burdens of the Egyptians. Here we have the promise of liberty.
Now, do you know anything about burdens? And I'm not just talking about
the burdens of the trials of life. Those are burdens. I wouldn't
take away from that in any way. But what about the burden of
being a sinner? The burden of not being able
to do anything to please God in and of myself. That's a burden,
isn't it? But we're promised He's going to deliver us from
this burden. And that's a promise. Can you
believe God? If He's promised He's going to
deliver you from this burden, can you believe that you are
to be delivered from this burden? That you're already delivered
from this burden? Even if you don't experience it as far as
the way you feel, but if he said you're delivered, you're delivered.
Believe God. Remember, we walk by faith and
not by sight. Believe what he says. He says,
I've delivered you from this burden. He says, I'll rid you
out of their bondage. When I say I'm going to get rid
of this, I mean, I'm going to make it so it's not there anymore.
Is that what I mean? I'm going to make it so it's
not there anymore. And that's exactly what he does with our sins. And
he says, I redeem you. I redeem you, and that has to
do with His payment for our sin. Now, I can't pay what I owe,
but He paid what I owe. He redeemed me. He paid the price
I owe to the law, death, and look how it says He redeems us.
Wherefore, saying to the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and
I bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I rid
you out of their bondage, and I redeem you with a stretched-out
arm and with great judgments. Now, that means He redeems us
with a stretched-out arm as His power. You think of the power
that was involved in the redemption of your soul. The power of actually
putting away sin. The power of making your sin
to where it's not. He says, I'll redeem you with
a stretched out arm, and I'll redeem you with great judgments. And you think of the great judgments
that took place in His redeeming work. You know, judgments already
taking place. We're not waiting for judgment.
We might be waiting for the passing out of the sentence, but judgment's
already taken place. You know, when Christ died, every
unbeliever was condemned and every believer was saved. That's
the great judgments that actually took place. He said, I'll redeem
you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments. Verse seven, he says, I'll take
you to me for a people. And I'll be to you a God. I'll take you to me for a people.
That means having God for us. If God be for us, who can be against us? Now if
God's for you, and you know the passage of Scripture, and we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose, for whom He did
foreknow, He's for you in foreknowledge. He also did predestinate. He's
for you in predestination. Whom He did predestinate, then
He also called. He's for you in calling. Whom
He called, then He also justified. He's for you in justification.
Whom He justified, then He also glorified. He's for you in glorification.
Now, God be for you. And that covers everything, doesn't
it? If God be for you, who can be against you? He says, I'll
take you to be My people. You'll be Mine and I'm yours.
Another way of saying this is I'll marry you and you're going
to say yes. I'll bring you into the land,
I'll take you to me for a people, I'll be to you a God, you shall
know that I am the Lord, your God, which bringeth you out from
under the burdens of the Egyptians. You'll know the gift of knowledge,
and that means more than just knowing the facts, it means loving
the facts. It means loving the Lord who
did this. That's what this means. It's not just talking about a
bunch of facts, you know. It's talking about a love. You'll
love this. You will know, you will love
that I am the Lord your God which brings you out from under the
burden to the Egyptians. Look what it says in verse 8. And
I will bring you into the land. I'll bring you out of bondage
and I'll bring you into the land. And you know the land we're brought
into, don't you? That's the land of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Being in Him, being found in
Him, in Christ is a place. And that's where He brings me
in. He brings me into the land concerning which I did swear
to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I'll give it
to you for an heritage. I'm going to give you this land
that they felt like they're not going to get. I mean, here they
are in their unbelief and misery. He says, I'm going to give you
this land for a heritage. That means two things. When he
says, I'm going to give you this land for a heritage. First, it
means I'm going to give you this land for an inheritance. Who
inherits? Children. Children. I'm going to give you this land
for an inheritance. You know, there are people who inherit
vast sums simply because they're children. They didn't do anything
garnet. They get it simply because they're
children. Now, that's our inheritance.
We get our inheritance because we're children. But this word,
heritage, not only means an inheritance, it means a possession. The righteousness of Jesus Christ
is mine. It's my possession. It really
is my righteousness. Well, it's His righteousness.
Yeah, it's His. It's mine. All that He is, all that He has
is mine. He's my heritage. Now, what a
glorious message He brings to the children of Israel. There's
no better gospel message than this right here in this passage
of Scripture. He brings this glorious message to these people. And verse 9 says, And Moses spake
so unto the children of Israel. He delivered this message to
them exactly as God delivered it to him. And look at their
response. They hearkened not unto Moses
for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage. They did not hear. They were so low. They were so
discouraged. This glorious message just fell
on deaf ears. Did that mean that none of this
would take place because the children of Israel didn't have
enough faith to receive it? Not at all. Here they are in
this weak, sinful, unbelieving state. And I understand. I really do.
I understand. But that did not in any way hinder
the Lord from giving them exactly what he said he was going to
give them. Verse 10, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
And this is after they didn't listen to Moses. And the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying, Go in and speak unto Pharaoh, king
of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
And Moses, he's beat down too. And Moses spake before the Lord,
saying, Behold, the children of Israel not hearken unto me.
How then shall Pharaoh hear me, who of uncircumcised lips? I
mean, there's no point in me going, and nobody will listen
to me. That's exactly how he felt. And the Lord spake unto
Moses, and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children
of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children
of Israel out of the land of Egypt. And that's precisely what
happened. I'm looking forward to getting
into how he brought them out. You see, they were down. But they were not out. Because
God is the God of all grace. Now, you may be down, but you're
not out if he depends on saving you. He'll put faith in that
faithful's heart. And he'll cause you to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that what you want? I want to close by looking at
2 Corinthians chapter 4. You know, it's so encouraging that
salvation is by grace. It's so encouraging that he is
a good, gracious, merciful God. who delights in showing mercy
to such poor, weak, sinful individuals. Look here in 2 Corinthians 4.
Do you get down on the children of Israel or do you say, well,
I can see where that's going? Verse 6. 2 Corinthians 4, For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. in the face
of Jesus Christ, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels, jars of clay,
that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
We're troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We're perplexed. but not in despair, persecuted
but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed, always bearing
about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live
are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. Death worketh
in us, but life in you. We have the same spirit of faith,
according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken. We also believe and therefore
speak, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall
raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For
all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might
through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
For which cause? we faint not. But though our outward man perish,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory, while we look not at things which are but things which are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporal, temporary, but the things which are not seen
are eternal. We look not on things which are
seen. That's faith. May God give us
grace to walk by faith. and not by sight. Let's pray
together.