Let's turn back to the book of
Exodus and let's turn to Exodus chapter 8. When I bring a message to us
from the Old Testament, I always like to remind us of what the
Apostle Paul wrote in the letter of Romans about this part of
our Bibles. He said, for whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning, were written
for our learning, that we through patience and comfort might have
hope. We're to learn from the Old Testament. The theme, of course, of the
book of Exodus is redemption. And there's no greater type in
the Word of God of the redemption that the Lord Jesus Christ works
for his people in salvation and personal salvation. There's no
greater type in the scripture than God's delivering the nation
of Israel from Egyptian bondage. And that's what personal salvation
is. It's deliverance. That's what
the word salvation means, isn't it? Deliverance. Deliverance
from bondage. Bondage to Satan. bondage to
the world, deliverance. This is pictured to us in several
places in the Old Testament, but no greater picture do we
find than in the Passover and God delivering Israel from Egypt. Not only is this book a picture
of redemption, or the theme is redemption, but I would remind
us also that Pharaoh, this Pharaoh that we see here in the first
part of Exodus that Moses dealt with, is a type of Satan. He's a type of the devil. And Egypt itself is a type of
the world. deliverance from bondage, bondage
from Satan, and also from the part of this fallen world that
we come into. Paul began his letter to the
Galatians with these words, grace to you and peace from God the
Father and our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins
that he might deliver us from this present evil world according
to the will of God our Father. He gave himself for our sins
that he might deliver us from this present evil world. Egypt is a type of the world. And not only is Egypt a type
of the world, but Pharaoh is a type of Satan. Now last week, you remember those
who were here, we went through eight of these 10 plagues that
God brought upon Pharaoh and upon the nation of Egypt. Tonight, thinking of Pharaoh
as a type of Satan and Egypt as a type of the world, I want
us to see what I'm calling four Snares of Satan. Four snares of Satan. I like watching, I guess they're
called reality shows, but people who live in extreme conditions,
usually in the cold, extreme cold, and for their food source,
they have to trap. And I've learned, and I've been
amazed at this, but snares, they said snares. And they, from what
I've observed at least, they get more food through those snares
than they do if they have weapons. Now some of them, of course,
don't have weapons, but snares. And I'm thinking tonight of the
snares of Satan. And I could have used the word
device, devices of Satan. That's the word the Apostle Paul
uses in 2 Corinthians 2 in verse 11. He, writing to the church
about forgiving that man that they had had to put out of the
church, and then he repented. That man, remember, who was living
with his father's mother? committing fornication, and they
had to deal with that, and the man repented, and Paul had to
write to them and say, now forgive him, forgive him. And let me
just throw this in. Aren't you thankful that there's
forgiveness with God? No matter, and all of us are
guilty of sin, and all of us sometimes are taken in one of
Satan's snares. But there's forgiveness with
God. And when a brother or sister repents, they're to be forgiven. You know, he fell today, maybe
me tomorrow. By the grace of God. That's the
way all of us should think and act. But anyway, the apostle
told them about that matter, lest, he said, lest Satan should
get an advantage of us. For, he said, we are not ignorant
of his devices. Well, I'm not using the word
device, but I could. But four snares tonight of Satan
that I believe will speak to all of us here tonight. First
of all, The Snare Concerning the Word of God. I want you to
look here in chapter eight, verse 25 through 27. And Pharaoh called for Moses
and for Aaron and said, go ye, sacrifice to your God in the
land. And Moses said, it is not meet
so to do, for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians
to the Lord our God. Lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination
of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone
us? We will go three days journey
into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he shall
command us. Now the fourth plague that God
brought upon the nation of Egypt was a swarm of flies. We looked
at that last time. And it was with this plague that
we read God put a difference. God put a difference between
the Egyptians and his people. Now, since last Wednesday, someone
who saw the streaming asked me this question. Are you saying
that the first three plagues, that the Israelites experienced
those plagues? Well, according to the word of
God, we know from the fourth plague on, they didn't. But the
first three plagues, we're not told. But I do know that Arthur
Pink said he was of the opinion that the first three plagues
the Israelites experienced also, because you remember the first
plague was the water turned to blood, which is a picture of
death. And though the Israelites were
God's people, They were sinners. They were sinners. And sin merits
death. But with this fourth plague,
the swarms of flies, it seems that Pharaoh maybe realized there's
a difference here. When he saw that the flies were
in the area where the Egyptians lived, but there were no flies
where the Israelites lived, he got the idea, there's something
to this. There's something to this. So
he called, as we read here in verse 25, and Pharaoh called
for Moses and for Aaron and said, go ye, sacrifice to your God
in the land. But I want you to keep your place
here, but look back to chapter five, in Exodus chapter five
and verse one, at the first words that Moses and Aaron spoke to
Pharaoh. 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 unto me in the wilderness. You see what they told Pharaoh? They told Pharaoh what God told
him to tell him. But his word, that is God's word
is, let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the
wilderness. Now look back at our text here
in chapter eight in verse 25. What does Pharaoh say? And Pharaoh
called for Moses and for Aaron and said, go ye sacrifice to
your God, where? In the land. What had God said? In the wilderness. That was God's
word. They were to sacrifice in the
wilderness. But Pharaoh, he wants them to
sacrifice to their God in the land. And when you think about
it, you see the change. This point I'm making out, that's
the snare concerning the Word of God, how Satan slyly changes
God's Word. And that's the way he did with
Eve, isn't it? In the very beginning, and he
hasn't changed any. He's still using the same snares,
the same trips to entrap God's people, and that is to just slightly
vary God's word. God's word. Remember he told
Eve, he spoke to Eve through the serpent, yea, hath God said,
you shall not eat of every tree in the garden? Is that what God
had said? Of course not. That's not what
God had said. God had said they could eat of
all the trees except that one tree. But Satan comes along and
Paul tells us that Eve was deceived by Satan's subtlety. Paul said, as the serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtlety. Moses, here you see, he wasn't
beguiled, was he? Pharaoh said, you sacrifice to
your God in the land. But what had God told Moses?
To go into the wilderness to sacrifice. Moses, he wasn't beguiled
here. And I asked us tonight, has he
changed? Has Satan changed in his approach
to ensnare people? No, it's the same today. People
say, well, surely, surely. You can't believe that that Bible
that was finished being written over 2,000 years ago is for us
today? That there's only one way that
people may worship God, and that is to approach him through a
blood sacrifice? to come to him through the mediator
that he has set forth? That's the only way? Why? There's people all over the world
who worship a God, and they don't come this way, they don't go
this way. Surely you can't believe that,
surely. The Bible was written so long
ago, and you know, man has advanced. Man has advanced. I'm saying
this is what Satan does to ensnare people today. And people are
easily entrapped. Egypt is a type of the world
and Pharaoh's words are sacrifice to your God in the land. Well,
there should be a great difference. between the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the world. There should be a clear line
of demarcation, if we can use that word, between God's people
and the world. Pharaoh would have Israel sacrifice
with Egypt as a type of the world in the world. And as I said,
there is a great difference. God's people, our Lord prayed
for us who are in the world, not that God would take us out
of the world, but that he would keep us from the world. You know, as I see things today,
and I'm sure you see the very same thing, the church of the
Lord Jesus, so-called, I should say, the so-called church of
the Lord Jesus Christ has brought everything in the world into
the church so that there's no difference between the church
and the world. And that's one of the ways that
Satan works. There is a difference between
God's people and people who are in darkness. I heard someone
told me about a message a preacher we know preached recently, and
he said, you start off with your little children, you bring them
to church, and you have a happy day or a fun day, and they have
a children's church for their little children. And you keep
entertaining them. And then when they grow up to
be adults, they still have to be entertained if they're going
to come. They don't come to hear the word
of God. They come because of the entertainment. No, God's people are separate
from the world. And this is one of the snares
that Satan uses that I see here. No, God said, We're to worship,
we're to sacrifice unto our God in the wilderness. Pharaoh said,
sacrifice to your God in the land, in the land. The second snare is no real committal,
no real committal. Notice in verse 28. And Pharaoh
said, I will let you go that you may sacrifice to your Lord
God in the wilderness. Well, that's what Moses said
God said. First he said, no, you can sacrifice
in the land. No, we're not going to do that.
That's not what God told us to do. Okay. Okay. Pharaoh says, I will let you
go that you may sacrifice to the Lord, your God in the wilderness
only. Here's the condition. Only you
shall not go very far away. Entreat for me. In other words,
he wanted to be rid of those flies, those swarms of flies.
Entreat for me. But he would allow them to go
into the wilderness, but only not too far. Not too far. You know, people say, and I'm
sure some of you Because you come to the services three times
a week, people think you're crazy. It's all right to be religious,
but you don't have to be a fanatic about it. You don't have to be
a fanatic about it. I mean, yeah, it's good to be
religious. Do you really believe? Do you
really believe that God is sovereign? that God is sovereign and that
he chose his people from before the foundation of the world?
Do you really believe that? You can go and worship in the
wilderness, just don't go too far. Don't go too far away. Almost the whole religious world
today believes in what is called man's free will. It's so People
do not realize that when man fell, his will fell, as well
as his emotions and his mind, his understanding. People think,
well, his understanding was affected somewhat. Love, his heart, emotions affected
somewhat, but his will is still free. And he can choose God if
he, without God's help, without God's working in his heart, man
is dead, spiritually dead. I remember this thought just
came to me preaching one time, and I use this illustration.
We're all familiar with Cars that have a, what do you call
the drive? We used to shift the gears. What's
this now? I can't think of it. Automatic,
isn't it? Automatic. But most people think,
evidently, that a lost man has his gear in neutral. It's in neutral. And if he is
so moved or so desired, he can pull it down and drive and go
toward God if he wants to. He's got that free will. Man's
will is not in neutral. Man's will is in reverse. Because he hates God, he's going
as far away from God, the God of the Bible, as he possibly
can. Yes. You can go, but don't go
too far. Don't be a fanatic about this. You maintain that the scriptures
teach that man is spiritually dead? Yes, that's what the scriptures
say. That's what I believe. That's
what I preach. That's what I believe. That it's
not of him, rather, that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. Why do we need mercy? Because
we can't help ourselves, that's why. That those we believe and preach
what the scripture says, that those who trust in Christ, you
tonight, you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and
Savior. You've been born of the Spirit
of God, not of the will of the flesh, not of blood, nor of the
will of man, but of God. As many as received him, to them
gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name. Which were born, this is what
the word of God says, isn't it? John chapter one, verses 12 and
13. Which were born, not of blood,
parent may be saved and worship the Lord. That doesn't mean his
children are gonna inherit grace not of blood, is not passed down
through parent to child, nor of the will of the flesh, that
which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of
the Spirit is God, born of the Spirit, nor of the will of man,
but of God. You can go, but just don't go
too far. Just don't go to the extreme.
And people think what we believe is extreme. Well, I believe it's
just believing what God says, don't you? What he has revealed
to us. And I would say this, this is
what historically the churches have taught. God's people have
believed and taught over these many, many years. Here's the
third snare. Unconcerned. Look with me in
chapter 10. Unconcerned. Verse four. This time, Moses is threatening
Pharaoh with locust. Verse four, he said, else if
thou refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow will I bring
the locust into thy coast. He's telling Pharaoh, next on
the agenda, locust. And anyone who's had any experience
with these plagues of locusts know what they can do. And Pharaoh
knew. They can devour a country. Every
green leaf is gone. Every green sprig of grass is
gone. It's gone. Locusts are coming
tomorrow. Pharaoh. Well, his servants, that is the
servants of Pharaoh, if you look down in verse seven, they tried
to reason with him. Let him go. In other words, and
Pharaoh's servants said unto him, how long shall this man
be a snare unto us? There's that word snare. How
long shall he be a snare unto us? Let the men go, that they
may serve the Lord their God. Don't you know? You're sitting
in your palace, and I'm sure you still have everything that
Egypt has to offer and to give because of your position, but
don't you realize, Egypt, this nation is in ruins? Let the people go. But being the proud, haughty,
arrogant, despot that he was, he's not in agreement. You can't
reason with him. Notice in verse eight, and Moses
and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh, and he said unto
them, go. Here we go again. We're gonna
let you go. Go, serve the Lord your God. But who are they that shall go?
And Moses said, we will go with our young and with our old, with
our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our
herds, will we go? For we must hold a feast unto
the Lord. And he said unto them, let the
Lord be so with you as I will let you go and your little ones
look to it for evil is before you. Not so, go now ye that are
men. Here it is. I'm gonna let you
go, but not your little ones. Go ye that are men and serve
the Lord for that they did desire and they were driven out from
Pharaoh's presence. And I put this down as a snare
of unconcern. It's a snare not to be concerned
about others, about the salvation of others, about our family members,
especially, and our children. I've observed that normally when
a person is first saved, they're gonna tell somebody. They're
gonna talk to somebody, family members, neighbors, and that's
good, and that's the way it should be. It's sad that over a period
of time, we seem to lose that zeal. But the unconcern for others, that's
a snare of Satan, to be unconcerned about others. And I thought about
this, because in this situation, Pharaoh said, you older people,
you can go, but not your little ones, not your children. What parent is gonna go very
far if his children are left in the land? He knew he would
have them. But I thought about this. How
many parents, they're shining examples. I mean, they're shining
examples in taking care of their children, taking care of their
physical needs, taking them to the doctors and making sure they
have all their vaccinations. And that's good, in taking care
of their education, They're learning and yet one of the snares is
to tempt men to forget about their children's souls, about
the most important thing. Yes, health of your children,
that's important. Education, that's important.
But what can be more important than the soul of your child? The child coming to know Christ,
what can be more important than that? And I know we've all probably
heard parents who have said something like this. Well, I'll let my
children decide for themselves if they want to go to church.
Really? Would you let them decide for
themselves if they wanted to go to school? Oh, no, no. They're gonna have them in school.
But I let them decide if they want to, if they want to go to
church or not. You know, after all, the worship
services are boring and long. No, they would not do that. About other things, and I've
also heard this, you've heard this, babies, children don't
come with a manual. Have you ever heard that? That's
not true. And they do come with a manual,
and here it is, right here. God's Word. God's Word. This is a manual on how to raise
your children, how to teach your children. The scripture says,
train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is
old, he will not depart from it. And you hear different explanations
of that, but forget about all those explanations. Just remember,
God said, train up a child in the way that he should go. You
can't make one of your children a believer, I understand that.
But you can, a parent can have his children under the sound
of the gospel where God normally and usually saves those that
he saves as they hear the preaching of the gospel. Bring them up,
Paul wrote, bring them up in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord. I want you to listen to what
John Gill, his comments on that particular verse, bring them
up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And I quote, bring
them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord, instructing
them in the knowledge of divine things, setting them good examples,
taking care to prevent their falling into bad company. And
I tell you, I've got to comment on that. That is very important. That is very important. Well,
all of it is important, but oh, you got to watch who your children
run with, who they're with. You gotta be careful. Taking care to prevent their
falling into bad company, praying with them. Yes, praying with
them. You'll never regret, parents,
those of you who are here tonight, when your children get up, get
out of the house, You're gonna look back and there's gonna be
some things probably you regret, but you will never regret having
prayed with your children. You'll never regret that, never. Having prayed for them, bringing
them in the house of God under the means of grace to attend
public worship, all which under a divine blessing may be useful
to them And then he cited the example of Abraham. Let's look
at what God said back here in Genesis 18. I'm thinking of a
lady in another state, another church, and she's since passed
and gone on to be with the Lord. But she raised four children
with a husband, who had no interest in the gospel, criticized the
pastor, and all four of her children are in churches serving the Lord.
I mean, they're grown, they have children married now, but they're
all in churches. I mean, you set an example. Parents set an example to their
children. But here, God said this about
Abraham in chapter 18 and verse 19. For I know him, God says that,
I know him, that he will command his children and his household
after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice
and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which
he has spoken of him. God said, I know him. I know
what kind of person he is. He's going to command his children.
The husband's the head of the house, isn't he? One important
part is bringing your children up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. Here's the last, and I'll close. The snare of a divided heart. And still in chapter 10, verse
24. And Pharaoh called unto Moses
and said, go you, serve the Lord, only let your flocks and your
herds be stay. Yeah, you can go. Your children can go, but not
your herds, not your cattle, not your possessions. Let your
little ones also go with you. And Moses said, thou must give
us also sacrifices and burn offerings that we may sacrifice unto the
Lord our God. Our cattle also shall go with
us. And I like this here. There shall
not an hoof be left behind. We're going, all of us are going,
a divided heart. Pharaoh would let them leave,
but he'd keep their flocks. This reminds us that no servant
can serve two masters. Pharaoh would have them go without
their earthly wealth, but our wealth, your wealth, my wealth,
God gave it to us. We wouldn't have a dime without
God. We're stewards of what he has
given us. And we're to be good stewards
with the finances, or in their case, the cattle and things that
they had. No, we're not going. We're not
going unless every, every hoof, every hoof goes with us. Hey,
there was no divided heart. I mean, they were sold out, weren't
they? And that's the way God's people must be. But it's easy
to be entrapped by Satan and snares. Well, I pray the Lord
bless His word to all of us here this evening. I think we'll just
pray and be dismissed. Let's stand.