Everybody out tonight, remember
those who requested prayer. Loretta's still having some difficulty
with her eyes, so remember her. She's got shingles in her eyes,
so that's not good. Also, Fred, remember him. He's
going back for his chemotherapy next week, and he goes for a
blood test this week, right? This week, so remember him in
your prayers. Continue to remember Dee Parks. Situation's about
the same, from what I understand, so continue to remember him in
your prayers, and the others who requested prayer. The Crow
family lost a loved one. I can't think of any others.
If I've missed anybody, I'm sorry. Let's begin our worship service
with hymn number 514. We're marching to Zion. Come we that love the Lord, and
let our joys be known. Join in a song with sweet accord. Join in a song with sweet accord. And thus surround the throne. And thus surround the throne. We're marching to Zion, beautiful,
beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God. by children of the heavenly King. They speak their joys abroad.
They speak their joys abroad. We're marching to Zion, beautiful,
beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God. thousand sacred sweets before
we reach the heavenly fields before we reach the heavenly
fields or walk the golden streets or walk the golden streets we're
marching to Zion Beautiful, beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to
Zion, a beautiful city of God. Then let our songs abound and
every tear be dry. Emmanuel's ground, we're marching
through Emmanuel's ground, to Pharaoh's land. ? On high to
fairer worlds on high ? We're marching to Zion ? Beautiful,
beautiful Zion ? We're marching upward to Zion ? O beautiful
city of God ? Hymn number 61, O the deep, deep love of Jesus. ? Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus
? ? Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free ? ? Rolling as a mighty
ocean ? ? In its fullness over me ? ? Underneath me all around
me ? ? Is the current of thy love ? Leading onward, leading
onward ? To my glorious rest above ? Oh, the deep, deep love
of Jesus ? Spread his praise from shore to shore How he loveth,
ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore. How he watches o'er his loved
ones, died to call them all his own. How for them he intercedeth,
watcheth for them, from the throne. Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus,
the every love, the best desire. If you have your Bibles turn
with me please to Exodus the 14th chapter I'm going to read four verses
tonight. The title of my message is Honor Upon Pharaoh. Exodus chapter 14, we'll first
read verse 4. And God says, I will harden Pharaoh's
heart, that he shall follow after them, and I will be honored upon
Pharaoh and upon all his host, that the Egyptians may know that
I am the Lord, and they did so. Then in verse 17, Behold, I will
harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them, and
I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his hosts, and upon
his chariots, and upon his horsemen. Then in verse 18, And the Egyptians
shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honor upon
Pharaoh, upon his chariots. Then in verse 30, Thus the Lord
saved his people that day out of the hand of the Egyptians,
and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea. Let us pray. Our Father, we come in the blessed
name and perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ the Lord, who
is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, who is the spotless
Lamb of God, without spot or blemish, who knew no sin, yet
was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. We are thankful, Father, that
we can come into Your presence, the thrice holy God, and be accepted
because of what Christ has done for us. Help us, Lord, to always
remember that and rehearse it in our minds. We pray for those
of our company who are sick, especially Fred and Loretta,
I ask that you be with them and the others who have requested
prayer at the loss of the Crow family, at the loss of this loved
one. I ask, Lord, your help for them. Continue to pray for Dee
Parks as you minister to him and to his family. Help us, Lord,
as we gather here tonight to understand and appreciate what
is before us in this passage of scripture. We know that thou
art God, there is none beside thee, there is none like unto
thee. your will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay your hand and say unto you, What
doest thou? There is but one God, the one
true and living God, even Jesus Christ, in whom the fullness
of the Godhead dwelleth bodily. Help us now to worship. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Now over in Psalm 29, It is a psalm about the glory
of God, and we know that glory belongs to the one who has accomplished
the thing, and glory belongs to the one
that no one else can take glory for. In Psalms 29, in the last verse
I believe it is, says this now in verse nine it
says the voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve and discovereth
the forest and in his temple doth everyone speak of his glory
in his temple which is his church the subject of the temple and
the church is his glory his glory and his honor and those two are
interchangeable or they are synonymous in the scriptures. In this context,
our Lord speaks of getting honor upon Pharaoh or glory upon Pharaoh. And in verse 30, He declared
precisely the reason and the result of Him getting glory and
honor on Pharaoh where He said, Thus the Lord saved Israel. Now get me honor upon Pharaoh. Thus the Lord saved Israel that
day out of hand the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians
dead upon the seashore." The two things that permeate the
scripture when the subject of salvation or deliverance is addressed,
and that is the subject of scripture, the two things that are addressed
are unquestionably disclosed in this context. That the Lord
saved His people is plainly declared But this account is begun with
the word THUS. Thus the Lord saved His people. This tells us that SOMETHING
OCCURRED that suggests the MANNER in which this SALVATION was accomplished. And that SOMETHING that precedes
the ACTUAL DELIVERANCE of the people of the Lord is God getting
honor upon Pharaoh. God getting honor upon Pharaoh.
I find myself often repeating this abundantly declared theme
as we have studied the Old Testament now for many seasons. Salvation
cannot be salvation and the Word loses its meaning altogether
if in the accomplishment the captor is not defeated and ultimately
destroyed. It is not salvation otherwise.
The people are thus saved when the Lord gets honor upon Pharaoh. If this is not the case, then
the question arises, saved from what? People say you need to
be saved. The question, from what? From
what? You don't need to be saved if
you're not held captive by something. You aren't captured by someone.
If someone doesn't have absolute rule over you and control of
you, you don't need to be saved out of that. You don't need to
be let loose from jail unless you're in jail. And that's just
a fact. So when we're talking about salvation,
we're talking about two things. We're talking about God saving
His people, and at the same time, destroying the enemy. And we
have these two elements here in this passage, and it's called
the Lord getting honor upon Pharaoh. This entire historical episode
is according to the prophetic promise given to Abraham back
in Genesis chapter 15. On the same night he saw the
Lord, Jehovah, And he believed God concerning his seed, which
was Jesus Christ, according to Galatians chapter 3, verse 19. He believed God concerning the
seed, and God accounted to him for righteousness. And shortly
thereafter, God put him in a trance, a deep trance, a fearful, deep
trance, it says. In verse 14 and 15 of that same
chapter, the Lord says to him, your seed is going to be captured. they're going to be enslaved
for 400 years and I'm going to then deliver them out of the
hand of their enemy and I will destroy the enemy in doing so
and they will come out with great abundance and that is what has
happened but those two things are absolute Egypt will not let
Israel go until Egypt is defeated until Egypt MUST let them go,
until Egypt don't want them around anymore. That only happens after
God sends ten plagues and the final plague when He takes the
firstborn of every house. Now when God's honor is set forth
in Scripture, it is synonymous with His glory. His glory. And when God's glory is set forth,
it is almost exclusively attached to one thing in Scripture, and
that is salvation. God's greatest glory is the salvation
of his elect by the perfect substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's how he addressed it in Exodus chapter 33 when Moses
who had seen God do so much. He had seen God do things that,
well, nobody else could do. He had seen God turn the Nile
River into blood. He had seen God call the flies
to consume people. He had seen God call frogs out
of that river to be in everybody's house. Flies, and then lice,
and then locusts. Oh, plague after plague after
plague. Then muraine, a bacteria that
infects cattle. All these things God controlled
and sent. And then finally, He came through
there and took the firstborn of every household. Every household,
because He is God. Moses saw all that, and you'd
think, well, man, I've seen God's glory. You'd think that, wouldn't
you? I've seen God. I've seen God's
glory as power over everything, over the elements, over animate
and inanimate objects. I've seen God's glory. But in
chapter 33, Moses said, Lord, show me your glory. Show me your
glory. And the Lord said four things. and they have to do with one
thing, and that is the salvation of the elect. He said, this is
my glory. What glorifies God? What is God's
glory? I will make my goodness to pass
before you. His goodness is behind all that
He does and all that He is. Our English word for Jehovah
is God. We use the word God That word
is a derivative of the English word good. That's where it comes
from, just remove an O, and you've got it. But it means good. God
is good. God saves His people out of His
goodness. God gives repentance out of His
goodness. When God hardened Pharaoh's heart
and ultimately got honor upon him by destroying him, it was
out of His goodness. God's good. He's always good. And His goodness is behind the
saving of some and the reprobation of others. And it's that simple.
He saved His people, but He hardened Pharaoh's heart. He hardened
Pharaoh's heart. A lot of times we have difficulty
with that concept of God not only showing mercy and grace
to people, but also reprobating others, fixing it so they will
never turn. But we have example after example
of that in Scripture. Those who reject Christ and stumble
at the stumbling stone, they said they were appointed to it.
That's what they were supposed to do. That's what they were
intended to do. That's what they were designed to do. In Jude
it speaks of those who are ordained to this condemnation. Ordained,
predestinated to be condemned. In Romans chapter 9 you have
one lump of clay and God divides it. It's the same lump. There's
the clay on the right side and the clay on the left side is
the same. It's the same lump and He divides that lump right
down the middle and at this lump He makes vessels of honor and
at this much He makes vessels fitted to destruction. Same lump. God did it. And we also know
that in a matter of reprobation, it seems like men reprobate themselves. God hardened Pharaoh's heart,
but it says Pharaoh hardened his heart too. How does that
wash? It's God's Word. You believe
it. You don't necessarily understand it, but you believe it. God hardened
Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh's heart was hard against
God to start with, but God hardened it against Israel. God hardened
Pharaoh's heart so he would hate Israel more and more and more
and more and more until he finally hated them enough to send them
out of his country. And that's by God's goodness.
I will make my goodness pass before you, he said. It is God's
goodness that takes some men to heaven and it is God's goodness
that puts some men in hell. God's goodness. In Revelation
it says that when he sends Babylon down and you know that Babylon
is false religion and you have friends and family and I have
friends and family who are in false religion, you can't jerk
them out of it. Take an act of God to do it. We know that. They
are going to perish in Babylon. Babylon is going to fall. And
what are you going to do as a child of God? You are going to say
Hallelujah. the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. I will make my goodness pass
before you. His glory is said, secondly,
is proclaiming the name of the Lord. Proclaiming the name of
the Lord. That's my glory. You mean God
proclaims it? Yeah, God's a gospel preacher.
Over in Galatians chapter three, it actually says that God preached
the gospel. Galatians chapter 3. Galatians
chapter 3 and verse 8 it says, The scripture foreseeing that
God would justify the heathen through faith preached before
the gospel unto Abraham. Preached the gospel unto Abraham.
Wait a minute. Way back in Abraham's day the
gospel was preached to Abraham. saying in thee shall all nations
be blessed and that was speaking we know of the Lord Jesus Christ
where it says in the same chapter that Christ is the seed of Abraham
and over in Acts chapter four it says this about that name
the Lord says this is my glory I'll proclaim the name of the
Lord and when Peter was preaching at Pentecost he said this he
says there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved and that name is the Lord Jesus Christ I'll
proclaim that's his glory so what's what's the context here
so far it's all salvation thirdly God said my glory is I will show
mercy on whom I will show mercy the Lord is saying that it is
his prerogative to show mercy he doesn't have to show mercy
to everyone But he must show mercy to somebody because he
said, I will. I will show mercy, but I'm going
to show it on whom I choose to show it. His glory and his honor
is wrapped up in the salvation of the leg by the blood death
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he shows mercy on whom he will
show mercy. His glory and honor is that showing
mercy is his prerogative alone. Mercy is shown to those sinners
that He has chosen a salvation, and that was purposed upon those
who had done neither good nor evil before the world began,
or existed, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. That was all God showed mercy. God showed mercy. This is His honor. This is His
glory. If you would honor God, you must
honor Him this way and in this manner. in the salvation of his
people by the blood and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. His
glory is revealed in being gracious. This is the fourth thing. I will
make my goodness pass before you. I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before you. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy and I will be gracious unto whom I will be gracious.
That is His glory. He shows grace and bestows grace
according to His good pleasure and it is sovereign grace or
better grace bestowed by the sovereign God. This is his honor. This is what he got on Pharaoh.
I will get honor on Pharaoh. How? Thus he saved his children.
Thus he saved his people. This is his honor and his glory.
Thus is the salvation of his people and the destruction of
those and that which had held them captive. That's his glory. And in the final days of the
Old Testament, uh... in the days of Malachi's prophecy
if you want to turn over there the last book of the Old Testament
just before Matthew in Malachi this was an interesting
time this book is a rebuke to Judaism
a rebuke to the religion that he gave them at Sinai. They have
done as all men do under a works salvation, they'll just get worse
and worse and it'll all be about what they see. I read, Debbie
read today that some, that people were astonished that some guy
on ESPN prayed for that football player that got hit in the chest
and his heart stopped, which is a sad, sad thing that happened.
And they were all astonished that some men prayed for him.
Well, because people aren't supposed to pray in public, but they were
astonished because just as it went so far this way, watch now,
it's going to roll back over and go too far that way. You
watch and see. You watch and see. When our Lord wrote or told Malachi
to write the prophecy of Malachi, our Lord did not speak through
a prophet. or to anybody for four centuries
400 years there's not one word from
God after Malachi 400 years the next prophet whom Christ said
is more than a prophet the last born of an astral man that was
a prophet of God was John the Baptist he was kind of an interesting
character he was mentioned in Malachi and spoke of as being
born in Matthew. How was he mentioned? Elijah
that was yet to come. He said, well, he's John the
Baptist, not Elijah. But our Lord said, if you believe,
you'll know that John the Baptist was Elijah that was spoken of
in the Old Testament. So he was the last Old Testament prophet,
the first New Testament prophet or preacher. And his message
was what? Christ has come. Behold the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world. That was his six
month ministry that he had and it was to declare the prophet. The prophet that had been promised
in Deuteronomy 18. That prophet that God said you
hear that prophet or you'll have to deal with me. And Peter in
Acts said it too. He quoted Deuteronomy 18. He
said Christ Jesus is that prophet. you best hear him and listen
to him or you're going to have to deal with God and God said
it from heaven more than once in scripture this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased you hear him you hear him but
things have got bad in Malachi they still practice religion
they were religious folk now we know by then they were incorporating
Baal worship They were worshiping Ashtoreth, they were worshiping
Belpior, they were worshiping all these false gods, these idols
that men built. They even carried them with them
when they went places. And things have gotten really bad. The things
that God had ordained to honor Christ and point to Christ, the
Paschal Lamb. The Paschal Lamb was to be set
aside for 14 days and watched. to make sure there was no spot
or blemish. Then he was to be slain and completely devoured,
and his blood was to be put on a door post and lentils, and
they were saved by the blood of the lamb. That lamb was specific
to God. The lamb was a clean beast, and
you were not to offer a beast with a wound, or a sore of some
kind, or some kind of disease, or a crooked eye. You weren't
to offer a beast like that. Only a good one. Only a perfect
one. And they knew that. That was
the book. They had the book. Moses had
written the first five books by now. They had the book. They knew what was right and
what was wrong. But it had all fallen apart. And Malachi, the
Lord asked this question. If I am a father, where is my
honor? Where is mine honor? And he had much to say against
this people and their worship. The worship God designed to honor
him in the salvation of his people by the substitutionary sacrifice.
They had polluted. Look at Malachi chapter 1 verses
6 through 14. A son honoreth his father, and
a servant his master. If then I be a father, where
is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Saith the Lord
host of old priests, So, we have the priesthood involved here.
That's supposed to represent the church and also Jesus Christ
is our great high priest. Oh, priest that despise my name.
And you say, well, when do we despise you? We don't despise
you, we like you. We worshiping you all the time.
He said, and you offer, he said, you offer polluted bread. What
does that mean? One or two things. You had two
types of bread mentioned in the ceremonies. One, the unleavened,
ready to pass over. So polluted bread could be leavened
bread instead of unleavened bread. Or it could be that they allowed
the show bread, which was to be replaced daily, which was
buns that were pierced through, which represent Christ the man
from heaven who was pierced. They let that grow old and moldy.
But they offered it to God. And it was polluted. You offered
me polluted things? And he says this, he said, and
you say the table of the Lord is contemptible. You're saying
the table of the Lord is evil when you do that. And if you
offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? Offer the blind
for a sacrifice? And if you offer the lame and
the sick, is it not evil? He said, well, why don't you
try to do this with people that you hold in high esteem in your
own life and nature? I said, go to your governor,
and instead of bringing him a nice cake, bring him some moldy bread.
Say, here. And tell him it's blueberry muffins
if you want to, because it looks kind of blue. See if the governor will take
that. Take a pile of manure and say, this is a chocolate cake.
your governor. You wouldn't do that to your
governor. You wouldn't do it to your best friend. You wouldn't do
it to nobody, especially nobody in Einstein. That's what our
Lord says. Offer it now to thy governor. Will he be pleased
with thee? Or accept thy person, saith the Lord of hosts, if this
is the way you approach him? And now I pray you, beseech God,
that He will be gracious unto us, that He has been by your
means. Will He regard your person, saith
the Lord? Who is there among you that would shut the doors
for naught? Neither do you kindle a fire on mine altar for nothing.
I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will
I accept an offering at your hand. For from the rising of
the sun, even to the going down of the same, my name shall be
great among the Gentiles." He's saying, I'm done with you, I'm
taking the message to the Gentiles. Isn't that what Simon Peter said
in the 13th chapter, or Paul said in the 13th chapter of Acts? He said, I'm taking the gospel
to the Gentiles. You Jews don't want it, I'm taking it to the
Gentiles. And the Gentiles rejoiced, and as many as God had ordained
to eternal life believed. But this was promised all in
the book of Isaiah that we studied. I'm taking the gospel away from
you. I'm divorcing you. I'm putting you out of business.
I don't want anything to do with your sacrifices. I don't need it. This is where
we live. It's not irreligion. That means they haven't quit
practicing religion. They're all while in religion.
They're making sacrifices. They're offering bread. They're
bringing the sacrifices. But they're lame and they're
crippled. And the bread is corrupted. In every place in shall be offered
in my name And a pure offering for my name shall be great among
the heathen, saith the Lord. But you profaned it. The table
of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even his meat,
is contemptible. You said also, Behold, what a
weariness it is, and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord. And ye brought that which was
torn, and the lame of the sick. Thus ye brought an offering.
Should I accept this at your hand? but cursed be the deceiver,
which hath in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrifices the
Lord a corrupt thing. For I am a great king, saith
the Lord, a host, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. In chapter 2, verse 1, it says,
O now, ye priests, this commandment is for you, if you will not hear
If you will not lay it to heart to give glory and honor to my
name, thus saith the Lord our host, I will even send a curse
upon you, and I will curse your blessings." What were their blessings? They had the oracles, they had
the priesthood, they had the law, they had the sacrifices,
they had the commandments, they had everything. They had the
book. They had God's word to men. He said, I'll make that
a curse to you. And he's done it. I'll curse your blessings, yea,
I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. Behold,
I will corrupt your seed, and will spread dung upon your faces,
even the dung of your solemn feasts. You can read that the
way you want to, read it in the southern vernacular if you want
to, it's exactly what that means. And one shall take you away with
it, you goners. This was where they were at in
religion and the Lord said you don't honor me. Now what do all
those things have to do with? They all have to do with Christ
and his work on Calvary Street. This is where God proves men.
Always the same exact place. He proves men by getting honor
on the enemy and delivering his people. When Paul wrote to the
Church of Rome and used the account of Exodus to declare the honor
and glory of God In his sovereignty and salvation, he employed the
Declaration of God's Glory in Exodus 33, which we just looked
at, and from Exodus 14 here in our text. He was saying, in effect,
that what is said in our context in verses 4, 17, 18, and 30,
he said in Romans 9, chapters 14 through 18, he plainly sets
forth how the Lord got honor upon Pharaoh. How'd he get honor
upon Pharaoh? Here is his honor. Romans chapter
9. Romans chapter 9 verse 14 says
this, or verse 15, thus he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy, Exodus chapter 33, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. Now he says that because somebody
has heard him talk about election back here about Esau and Jacob. having done neither good nor
evil, that the purpose of God according to the lecture might
stand, he says, the elder shall serve the younger, Jacob, have I loved,
and Esau, have I hated? And they said, well, that makes God unrighteous.
He said, no, I said, I told you I was going to have compassion
on who I would. It's my prerogative. So then it is not of him that
willeth, or of him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. Well,
the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this purpose have I
raised thee up. Now, this is what he's talking
about, those four times or three times when he said, I'll get
honor upon Pharaoh. I've raised thee up that I might show my
power in thee that my name might be declared throughout all the
earth. What did he say back here in 14? That they may know that
I'm the Lord. That I'm the Lord. Therefore,
now here, Remember, He is talking about the salvation of His people,
the deliverance of Israel, having mercy on whom He will have mercy,
and He says, Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy,
and whom He will, He hardeneth all of its part of salvation.
When God hardens the heart of the enemies of the gospel, He
is good when He does it, and it is good for you, because it
is your salvation. I will be honored upon Pharaoh,
he said. I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, he said. And the
Egyptians should know that I am the LORD when I have GOTTEN honor
upon Pharaoh, he said. And then he said thus he saved
his people that day. Father, bless us to understand
who pray in Christ's name, amen.