How the LORD judges - Exodus 8:20-9:12

Faith Bible Church iconFaith Bible Church

1 view

January 16, 2022 - Morning Service Faith Bible Church - Sacramento, CA Message - How the LORD judges - Exodus 8:20-9:12

0 comments

00:00
Well, good morning and welcome to Faith Bible Church. We're surely glad you're here and Difficult times that we have a lot of sickness and illness out there, but the doors have stayed open on the church and we thank and praise the
00:15
Lord for that and and Lord does not want us to hold back from gathering corporately to To worship him and to be together as believers
00:28
For announcements Evening prayer every every Sunday six o 'clock and it's it is a good time if you're able to make it out
00:37
To just pray for the church pray for a country pray for one another Pray for anything and everything
00:44
So consider that if you could Guess the ladies had a wonderful meeting yesterday gathering and guest speaker
00:52
Lauren Cho You Were wondering who that was
00:57
Lauren gave the devotional yesterday and I guess she did a Wonderful job. And so thank you
01:03
Lauren for that. I know the ladies were were were very pleased and thankful for you, so God's always kind of making us ready as we're as we prepare for the service as you're here
01:16
And as you hear the word and you you you lift your voices up. God is through it all.
01:22
He's kind of guiding us He's teaching us. He's shepherding us. He's he's showing us his way and being prepared as Believers to go out into the world.
01:31
It's all about preparation. It's all about learning and growing and it's just this constant, you know flow of prayer and information and growing and edifying and All the while he's teaching us in turn about how we are to reflect who he is
01:47
How to be you know, we're needy in that we need to know we need to grow we need to open this word
01:53
Daily that we can come to him, but we can also be a reflection of who he is
01:58
So he's filling us and at the same time as our cup is filled It's flowing out the other side to to to show his grace to somebody else that we know that's around us
02:09
So it's a it's it is a cycle and it's a process and we don't want to slow down in that now
02:14
I wanted to share with you a passage to help us Better understand that idea and this
02:22
Colossians chapter 4 verses 2 through 6 and it's continue earnestly and that has the idea of devote devoting yourself
02:30
Continue earnestly in prayer being diligent vigilant in it with Thanksgiving Meanwhile praying also for us that God would open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ For which
02:43
I am also in chains that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak walk in wisdom
02:50
Toward those who are outside Redeeming the time let your speech always be with grace seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer each one and These are words that were spoken
03:05
Under the inspiration of God by Paul who is in chains in prison and this is the attitude of this man even in prison and Telling us and sharing with the people the
03:17
Church of Colossi but also us of how we are to be a testimony to the people around us how we are to to go forth and to speak with grace and So that's my encouragement to all of us this morning.
03:31
And would you please join with me in prayer? Lord God, we thank you father that you have brought us together here this morning father
03:39
May we be reflections of the grace that you have bestowed upon us through your son Jesus Christ That it is through him that we have can have all things father eternally and in fellowship with you
03:50
So God, thank you for this church. Thank you for all the faithful servants that that Diligently work and prepare and to teach us.
03:59
We thank you for pastor Ilgen and What a godly man he is and how you have
04:04
Instilled in him a desire to grow in his faith and his walk and then to share that with us
04:09
That gift with everyone in this church, so God keep him strong keep their family strong that chose strong father
04:18
We ask that you would bless those that are sick and ill today that you would encourage then you would strengthen them
04:23
That you would heal them father if it's your will father, so God be with them thank you for the blessing of of your word and so Lord just go before us father that as we
04:35
Lift our voices today that you would be pleased that our sacrifice of praise would Would honor you that it would be worthy of a holy and mighty
04:44
God So we commit our time to your care now in Christ's name we pray. Amen Good morning.
04:51
The Lord is my light and salvation Whom shall I fear the Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall
04:57
I be afraid? And let's stand and sing to our Lord Psalm 105 verses 26 to 31
06:47
He sent Moses his servant and Aaron whom he had chosen To perform his signs among them and wonders in a land of ham
06:55
He sent darkness and made it dark And he did not rebel Against his word he turned the waters into blood and killed the fish
07:05
They their land abounded with frogs Even the chambers of the king of the
07:11
Kings. He spoke of their came sorts of flies and lice in all their territory May the
07:17
Lord has mercy to read of his word and let's stand and sing to our Lord Let's spread the flowing seas abroad and build the lofty skies
07:55
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day
08:05
The moon shines full at his command and all the stars obey
08:25
Be thou most holy, safe at the wordless door, not by day or night, but by sleeping, thy presence my light
08:59
Children are now dismissed of Children's Church as Pastor Elgin comes. Thank you. I'm pleased to be seated Please turn with me to Exodus chapter 8
09:09
Exodus chapter 8 verse 20 through chapter 9 verse 12
09:15
Exodus chapter 8 verse 20 through chapter 9 verse 12
09:22
And the Lord said to Moses rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out of the water
09:32
Then say to him thus says the Lord let my people go that they may serve me
09:38
Or else if you will not let my people go behold I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants on your people and into your houses
09:48
The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies and also the ground on which they stand
09:55
And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen in which my people dwell that no swarms of flies shall be there
10:04
In order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land
10:10
I will make a difference between my people and your people Tomorrow the sign shall be and the
10:17
Lord did so Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh into his servants houses and into all the land of Egypt The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies
10:30
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said go sacrifice to your God in the land
10:35
And Moses said it is not right to do so for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the
10:42
Egyptians to the Lord our God If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes then will they not stone us
10:50
We will go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he will command us
10:57
So Pharaoh said I will let you go that you may sacrifice to the Lord your
11:02
God in the wilderness Only you shall not go very far away intercede for me
11:08
Then Moses said indeed I am going out from you and I will entreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow
11:15
From Pharaoh from his servants and from his people but let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore and not letting the people
11:24
Go to sacrifice to the Lord So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the
11:29
Lord and the Lord did according to the word of Moses He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh from his servants and from his people
11:38
Not one remained but Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also neither would he let the people go?
11:46
Then the Lord said to Moses go into Pharaoh and tell him thus says the Lord God of the
11:52
Hebrews Let my people go that they may serve me for if you refuse to let them go and still hold them
12:00
Behold the hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the field on the horses on the donkeys on the camels
12:08
On the oxen and on the sheep a very severe pestilence And the
12:14
Lord will make difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel Then the
12:24
Lord appointed a set time saying tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land
12:30
So the Lord did this thing on the next day and all the livestock of Egypt died
12:36
But of the livestock of the children of Israel not one died Then Pharaoh sent and indeed not even one of the livestock of the
12:46
Israelites was dead But the heart of Pharaoh became hard and he did not let the people go
12:51
So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron take for yourselves Handfuls of ashes from furnace and let
12:58
Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt And it will cause boils that break out and sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh and Moses scattered them toward heaven
13:21
And they caused boils that break out and sores on man and beast
13:26
And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils For the boils were on the magicians and all on all the
13:34
Egyptians But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not heed them just as the
13:40
Lord had spoken to Moses This is the word of the Lord Let us pray
13:47
Father we are so thankful That you are our God and you are the only
13:54
God who is capable of Of making your words come true
14:01
Every time Father we are so thankful that your word is final
14:07
That your word is utterly reliable That we can always go to your word, go to your promises and find comfort and stability there
14:17
Father we thank you that your word also cleanses our hearts Father as we pray this morning there are a lot of people who are not well
14:28
We pray that you would heal them and that you would comfort them
14:34
And despite them not being here we ask that they would be able to encounter you through scripture
14:40
That they would be able to read scripture on their own and understand what you have to say to them
14:47
Father we also pray for this country We pray for the leaders of this country
14:52
We pray that you would bring about and raise up Godly leaders who are selfless and bold to speak the truth no matter what the cost is
15:05
Father we pray all of these things in your name Jesus. Amen This morning we will look over the next three plagues
15:19
Of Egypt The fourth the fifth and the sixth and this
15:26
These three plagues still follow the patterns of the first three plagues
15:32
The first in the cycle the fourth plague is the longest in terms of description
15:39
And it also happens in the morning When Moses meets
15:45
Pharaoh by the waters And this is very important because it shows that God's judgment on Egypt a wicked nation
15:55
Is thoroughly planned out. This is not some accident. This doesn't have a natural explanation
16:03
But it is according to God's time God's way and that's how judgment is
16:10
Oftentimes people try to explain in our Western modern minds of judgments that have occurred in the
16:18
Bible But frankly with these three plagues, they don't make sense
16:24
It doesn't make sense. Why the livestock's of Israel remained intact while all the livestock of Egypt died
16:33
Even Pharaoh had to check it for himself It doesn't make sense That the fourth plague
16:42
The swarms affected the land of Egypt, but it didn't affect the land of Goshen where Israelites were
16:50
It's it does it does there is no natural explanation why the swarms favored
16:56
Egypt over Goshen That's because God's hand is behind all of this
17:03
That's how God judges And this morning our main point is that when the
17:10
Lord judges a wicked nation He faithfully separates his people.
17:16
There is a separation This is not to say that the
17:22
Lord's people will never get hurt from natural disasters This is not to say the
17:28
Lord's people will never die From the consequences of judgments on different nations.
17:35
That's not true But this is to say when the Lord does judge He makes sure to take care of his own
17:45
He makes sure to take care of his home. There is a separation from God's people from the people who are getting judged and In the eternal perspective
17:56
God's people will not be getting what the wicked people are gonna get So the first point when the
18:05
Lord judges a wicked nation His presence protects his people from the judgment
18:12
When the Lord judges a wicked nation his presence protects his people from the judgment
18:18
This is from chapter 8 verses 20 through 32 the biggest passage of this morning
18:29
Similar to the first plague the fourth plague will be announced by the water
18:35
As verse 20 says rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water
18:44
Moses meeting Pharaoh by the water would remind Pharaoh what happened when
18:49
The last time when Moses met him by the river The water turned into blood
18:57
This would be a warning to Pharaoh that another judgment will hit Egypt if Pharaoh does not obey the
19:05
Lord It's a rude awakening for Pharaoh The command to Pharaoh remains the same as the last command
19:14
Let my people go that they may serve me The Lord delivers his people because they belong to him
19:22
The Lord's people will serve the Lord rather than Pharaoh This is not freedom for freedom's sake
19:31
But it is freedom from a wicked ruler Into serving the rightful ruler, right?
19:41
This is about having the correct master Not being free completely
19:52
Just like many prophetic messages Verses 21 verse 21
19:59
Introduces what will happen if Pharaoh disobeys? There's a choice that Pharaoh has to make and the
20:07
Lord graciously Discloses what will happen? Or else if you will not let my people go behold
20:15
I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants on your people and into your houses
20:23
The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies and also the ground on which they stand
20:31
The word for flies is actually just swarms It just says swarms and many translations add in of flies to make sense of it
20:46
Of course the flies would be included in the swarms But I think if we just leave it as the swarms
20:53
It shows that there were much more than just flies in those swarms Now we don't find out precisely what kind of insects were there
21:04
But we know that there was a mixture of different types of insects That were causing a lot of annoyance and disgust in the land of Egypt And note that these swarms aren't just flying in the air
21:21
But they are all over the ground Look at the last phrase and also the ground on which they stand
21:32
These swarms will be inescapable unavoidable
21:39
Every breath will take up these winged creatures into their nostrils and their mouths Every time you open your mouth to speak or eat there will be insects along with it
21:55
And every meal will be first be tasted by the insects
22:02
Every step will be accompanied by the sound and texture of the squashing and squishing of these bugs
22:11
Exactly that is the type of response that Egypt would show
22:19
However verses 22 through 23 tell us something different about this plague that wasn't so in the last plague
22:28
In verse 22 the Lord says and in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen in which my people dwell
22:37
That no swarms of flies shall be there Here God specifically sets apart the
22:45
Israelites from the Egyptians And what is the purpose of it? In order that you may know that I am the
22:53
Lord in the midst of the land The fact that the swarms of insects are not plaguing the land of Goshen The purpose of Goshen is to make sure that Egypt knows that the
23:06
Lord dwells with his people God's people will be spared from the fourth plague because the
23:14
Lord is with them For God's people the best protection is the
23:20
Lord's presence It is his very presence that adverts the plague
23:26
It is no rituals. It is no incantations. There are no spices.
23:32
There's no home remedy It's the Lord's presence that protects his own people
23:39
Verse 24 shows the result of God's judgment against Egypt and the
23:48
Lord did so Because Pharaoh disobeyed he did so Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh into his servants houses and into all the land of Egypt The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies
24:05
First the swarm was thick. It says thick. A direct translation would be heavy
24:15
The swarms of insects were heavy A fly a single fly is very light.
24:24
You can just flick it off. You can blow it away Not so these swarms there were so many that Moses describes the swarms to be heavy
24:38
So thick it's so heavy That's how many there were
24:44
Second the flies were everywhere. They give you the list all over again to emphasize this judgment could not be escaped
24:53
The house of Pharaoh his servants houses and all the land of Egypt This was a great visualization of the corruption of the land
25:06
Almost an external expression of what went on inside Egypt The sin of subjugating
25:16
God's people the sin of not letting God's people go out to worship
25:22
That corruption can be visualized with the swarms of insects that filled the land of Egypt It's heavy and everywhere
25:37
The corruption is unavoidable and inescapable And what was once known as a great nation of Egypt became a heap of garbage
25:52
A thriving colony of flies The fourth plague was so bad that Pharaoh even concedes twice
26:03
First time in verse 25 Pharaoh commands go sacrifice to your
26:09
God in the land You can even imagine the swarms flying around him like pig pen from Charlie Brown Right except you've probably even worse
26:21
I'm sure there were swarms trying to get into his mouth as he's opening his mouth However Pharaoh tries to limit
26:29
Israel from permanently leaving Egypt by keeping them in the land
26:35
That's the first part However Moses argues in verses 26 through 27 that the animal sacrifice would be an abomination to Egypt And Israel would be stoned for doing so And we see the reason it's a cultural difference of how
26:55
Egypt viewed certain animals And we see this in Genesis 46 34 for every shepherd is an abomination to the
27:05
Egyptians So each Egypt was not very fond of shepherds and their animals
27:12
So they would be aghast to see their slaves suddenly
27:18
Sacrificing sheep and goats whom they do not really like They find them as an abomination
27:26
So to do that publicly Moses tells
27:32
Pharaoh that we're going to get stoned We're going to get killed by this if we do it in the land as you command us
27:41
So Pharaoh concedes the second time in verse 28 I will let you go that you may sacrifice to the
27:48
Lord your God in the wilderness Only you shall not go very far away intercede for me
27:54
See that he even puts intercede for me out there It shows that the plague is working
28:00
It's twisting his arm right he he concedes because it was so disgusting
28:07
And Moses argument actually makes sense to Pharaoh That yeah
28:18
Israelites probably would get stoned for doing something such a So abominable to the
28:25
Egyptian taste So in Pharaoh's mind he will just accept any deal just to have the swarms removed from the land
28:36
And as Moses promised he does intercede for Pharaoh And the swarms they leave not one of them remained
28:48
And however in verse 32 we see the current the
28:57
Consistently reoccurring pattern of Pharaoh Pharaoh hardened his heart and did not let
29:07
Israel go Just as he found relief he just changed his mind
29:15
He did not keep his word as he often Does not keep his word in Exodus Now the separation here is very new in the fourth plague the separation of God's people in Egypt And the separation of God's people from judgment is an ongoing theme in the
29:42
Bible When God judges he rightfully discriminates
29:49
God does not carelessly zap wicked nations along with his people
29:55
But he righteously and intentionally protects his people through the judgment
30:03
This is quite different from pagan gods that we might know
30:09
When these pagan gods judge they judge indiscriminately Innocent people die too
30:17
However, we see this pattern of God separating his people
30:25
Through the judgment for example Noah in the flood
30:30
His family is spared and so are the two pairs of every animal kind And we also saw this with Lot in Sodom Lot and his family
30:44
God could have easily God Made a deal with Abraham when
30:50
Abraham said if you find ten people Would you spare the city? Well, God could not find ten people
30:58
But God didn't Destroy lots family along with Sodom.
31:04
He spared them. He sent his angels to rescue them In each case
31:11
God is with his people to deliver them Through the judgment the judgment happens the judgment can't be avoided but God delivers them through it
31:23
Now, how does this apply to Christians? Well ultimately on Judgment Day God will make a distinction between his people and the rest of the world the sheep and the goats as Off the parables say
31:40
Again, it will be God's presence That will protect his people from the judgment
31:48
For those who are found in Christ They will find relief and rewards
31:56
For those who are with Christ They will not face one single punishment for their sin
32:07
This is important. We see that in Christ language all over the New Testament and that's because it's to show that what side they're on and the
32:18
Very presence of Jesus Right. That's where they are.
32:24
They're in Christ. That's their location. That's their dwelling and This is the same echo in Exodus Goshen is safe because that's where the
32:36
Lord is Dwelling that's where that's the Lord's dwelling place with his people
32:45
And we see that in the New Testament as the in Christ language In Christ his people dwell.
32:52
That's where his people dwell That's where God is And Jesus picks it up in John abide in me
33:01
Remain in me We're in him. We're in his presence
33:08
If you're a Christian, you're always in God's presence in Christ now
33:16
Why is that when we're in Christ we face no punishment? That's because the judgment for Christ's people
33:26
Has been already poured out on Christ For those who are in Christ, there is no judgment reserved for them
33:34
Before the judgment seat of Christ because Jesus himself faced the full wrath of God that we deserved
33:43
On the cross This is why you can be found in Christ Not by your own good works not by your own doing
33:56
But by Christ's accomplishment on the cross to take on the punishment for you on the cross
34:06
And that's why you can be with Christ That's why sinful people like us can be with Christ the
34:12
Holy God Because all of that sin and the punishment with the sin had been taken away by Christ You're united with Christ because Jesus died to justify you as righteous
34:29
You're found righteous in Christ And in that unity, you're completely protected from the final judgment
34:38
The final judgment that would make all the plagues of Egypt just a little joke
34:45
Because the final judgment will be so severe But in the same way you're protected because of God's presence among his people
35:01
Second, how trustworthy are the Lord's promises of safety?
35:09
Now that's great if his promises are actually delivered a hundred percent
35:19
Right people make promises of great things But if they are not actually kept doesn't matter how great they sound
35:29
If they don't walk the walk So the second point is when the
35:36
Lord judges a wicked nation Unlike the wicked ruler The Lord keeps his word
35:43
When the Lord judges a wicked nation unlike the wicked ruler the Lord keeps his word
35:51
This is the fifth plague Verses 1 through 7 of chapter 9
35:57
In the similar manner the fifth judgment starts with a command in verse 1
36:03
Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews Let my people go that they may serve me
36:10
Verses 2 to 3 tell us what would happen if Pharaohs Pharaoh disobeys
36:17
For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them Behold the hand of the
36:23
Lord will be on your cattle in the field On the horses on the donkeys on the camels on the oxen and on the sheep
36:31
A very severe pestilence The fifth judgment is a fitting response to Pharaoh's prevention of Sacrificing animals in the last section recall
36:47
Moses's dialogue about sacrificing animals Because Pharaoh Prevented Israel from making sacrifices to the
36:57
Lord The Lord will now take away the animals that Egyptians Treasured Because Pharaoh Prohibited The Israelites from making animal sacrifices
37:15
The Lord will now take away the Egypt's cherished animals
37:21
There's some irony going on there and This judgment is rather an escalation from the previous judgment
37:32
While the previous judgments were inconvenient gross
37:38
Uncomfortable, right? Some might say even annoying But they did not have a lasting impact
37:46
Right after the judgment they're gone the frogs Yeah, you have to remove the dead frogs, but they're gone after that the flies
37:55
They left the land The lice the bug bites they heal, right?
38:03
however upon this judgment the lives of their livestock will be taken away as You know when animals die you you can't bring them back and in ancient
38:19
Egypt They did not have 401k or Social Security Instead they had cattle horses camels oxen and sheep they literally
38:33
Were the food on the table. They didn't just put the food on the table. They were the food on the table
38:40
They provided provided the clothing They were the tractors for their farms
38:48
They were the farm equipment The well -being of the livestock all but guaranteed the well -being of the country the nation
39:00
However upon this judgment their livestock would die this would be as Serious as the stock market or the bond market crashing all your life savings disappearing disappearing at a moment's notice
39:20
Disastrous and hopeless however verse 4 tells us that the
39:28
Lord again will make a distinction between Israel and Egypt and the
39:34
Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt so nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel God will even
39:46
Spare the livestock of his people Verse 5 tells us that it will happen at a promised time
39:56
Tomorrow This shows that it will not be a random occurrence, but God's intentional act of judgment many liberal theologians try to Tie all these plagues together to have a natural explanation
40:12
Right they would say ah because the frogs died that caused it caused the flies to come and the flies brought these diseases on the livestock right but these plagues
40:27
Have a time frame and it goes according to what God Intended the time to be and I don't know about you pestilence
40:38
Diseases do not follow a specific time frame They happen right verses 6 through 7 tell us
40:51
Now the result of God's judgment So the Lord did this thing on the next day and all the livestock of Egypt died
41:00
But of the livestock of the children of Israel not one died This was a tragedy for Egypt In fact, this was a huge Humiliation for Egypt while Egypt's GDP nosedived
41:21
Their slight slaves did not lose a single percent This would be like the stock market
41:29
New York Stock Exchange just falling but Leaving a small unknown country untouched most importantly
41:45
This would be a huge humiliation for the helpless Egyptian deities
41:52
Who could not prevent this massive? pestilence The deity of Hebrew slaves is killing off Egypt's livestock left and right
42:03
Yet the Egyptian gods do nothing the Egyptian gods
42:09
Are Incapable the Egyptian gods are useless and now it's become a public knowledge as The Egyptians are burying their livestock or trying to salvage whatever they can
42:27
And they find out oh our slaves did not lose a single Moo moo our slaves did not lose a single
42:35
Babas Whoa What is our deity doing what are are they capable
42:47
How come their deity protected their sheep from the pestilence but ours couldn't and verse 7 tells us even
43:00
Pharaoh was skeptical Then Pharaoh sent and indeed not even one of the livestock of the
43:08
Israelites was dead But the heart of Pharaoh became hard and he did not let the people go despite experiencing five supernatural plagues from the
43:21
Lord Pharaoh is skeptical of the Lord's capability Pharaoh had to check that it was not just coincidental.
43:32
Of course pestilence hit Egypt before However this serves as a contrast between Pharaoh's words and the
43:45
Lord's words Unlike Pharaoh's unreliable words where he promises one thing and does the opposite or promises one thing and doesn't follow through God's words were completely fulfilled to the teeth
44:02
There was no Israelite livestock lost not even one life and What's more is that Pharaoh himself?
44:12
Investigated. I don't know about you when the enemy side investigates They tend to be more focused
44:20
They actually have incentive to do a thorough investigation
44:26
But he couldn't find it He couldn't find a single flaw in God's Word and his fulfilled prophecy these two sections the first section and the second show a
44:41
Contrast in the reliability of the words of Pharaoh and the words of the
44:46
Lord While the Lord fulfills his words as at the promised time in the promised manner
44:55
Pharaoh constantly breaks his promises to let Israel go at a deeper level this shows the unreliability and uselessness of the gods of Egypt whom
45:10
Pharaoh represents Right their view is that the
45:15
Egyptian deities placed Pharaoh there to represent them While the
45:23
Lord is Freely judging every part of Egypt by now.
45:29
Every part has been touched by the Lord and it was not good The gods of Egypt cannot do a thing against the
45:38
Lord And this is important in the church today
45:44
Because the trustworthiness of the Lord is constantly under attack this started even with the
45:54
Garden of Eden when the serpent claimed the Directly opposite of what
46:00
God said regarding the fruit You will not surely die
46:07
But God actually said you will die the moment you eat of it. Well, you will not surely die
46:16
And Adam and Eve readily believe the serpents word against God's When the serpent
46:28
Attacked God's trustworthiness faithfulness
46:33
Reliability of his word his authority Adam and Eve Although not sinners
46:42
Believed it and became sinners and in our personal life
46:51
How much do we rely on God's Word When the world is falling apart
46:59
Do we worry about how we will be provided for or do we go to God's Word that says he will provide
47:07
When we sin against God, do we listen to our condemning voice? That says oh you're not saved.
47:16
How could you do that? You're a wicked sinner. You're not saved.
47:21
How could you be saved or Do we go to God's Word that says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Romans 8 1
47:34
Brothers and sisters, we must go back to the higher view of Scripture the sufficiency of Scripture We must go back to delighting in God's Word as Honey, as we explored this morning
47:53
Psalm 19. We must go back to fearing God's Word as the ultimate authority we often get more excited when
48:02
Science says one thing that the Bible has been saying for millennia Millennia When science suddenly says, ah, yes
48:12
Saturating on what is right helps. Well, the Bible has been saying that for millennia
48:18
Saturate on his word and that renews your mind Romans 12
48:23
But we get really excited when science shows that it creates new brain connections
48:30
Well that shows how we Implicitly view the reliability of God's Word it's as if it needs an extra support and We must go back to relying on God's Word as our foundation that we stand on That's where we find our stability
48:55
That's where we stand. That's the source of truth And how do we start?
49:03
We submit to the Bible every day when
49:09
God's Word Saturates our mind daily. It will shape our overall life
49:15
When your minds are constantly renewed by the washing of God's Word You will trust in God's promises when life does get tough
49:27
Right. The Bible is not the first -aid kit but it is the nourishing food that you daily go to And the process starts with one simple daily decision at a time
49:45
You choose to fill your mind with Scripture rather than any junk that internet, your phone or your
49:57
Tablet, your laptop offer you We choose what goes into our head
50:05
And by the time when it is hard when life gets hard God's gracious and merciful promises are already in your head
50:15
And they will pop up faster than your finger can scroll through the YouBible app
50:24
Now next, how does the Lord judge a wicked nation? When the
50:32
Lord judges a wicked nation He hardens the heart of the ruler When the
50:37
Lord judges a wicked nation He hardens the heart of the ruler
50:44
The sixth plague has one of the shortest description of the plagues It does not even start with God's command to relay a message to Pharaoh but directly starts with the judgment itself
50:57
Take for yourselves handful of ashes from a furnace and let
51:02
Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt And it will cause boils that break out in sores of man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt Up until now,
51:21
Pharaoh and Egyptians did not suffer personally The first four plagues were more gross to see, touch, or smell than anything
51:33
And sure, there are bug bites But most people don't consider that, oh,
51:40
I've suffered from bug bites The fifth plague directly affected their wallets and their future
51:49
But their bodies were not touched, right? They didn't experience the pestilence themselves
51:57
However, this plague will cause serious pain for the Egyptians and their beasts
52:06
I am not sure what the significance of the ashes from a furnace are
52:12
But the last time the word furnace was used in the first five books of the
52:18
Bible It was the description of Sodom and Gomorrah after God's judgment In Genesis 19 -28
52:26
He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain
52:31
And he saw dense smoke rising from the land Like smoke from a furnace
52:39
Furnace represents God's judgment Perhaps this was a physical visualization of the judgment that's coming
52:49
To pick up ashes from the furnace and spread it into the land of Egypt And when
52:58
Moses followed God's order in verse 10 The ashes caused boils to break out on man and beast
53:07
Again, it is a supernatural act of God Normally ashes don't cause diseases
53:14
But when God acts, it causes boils on Egyptians and beasts
53:24
In fact, verse 11 tells us that even the magicians The magicians who were the first people to oppose
53:31
Moses by imitating signs They were affected by these boils and they could not stand before Moses Verse 12, however, tells us something unique from the previous place
53:50
But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh And he did not heed them just as the
53:55
Lord had spoken to Moses While the last two times Pharaoh hardened his heart to keep
54:02
Israel from leaving And serving the Lord This time the
54:08
Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart This shows that God's sovereignty and human responsibility
54:20
Cannot be pitied against each other You cannot keep them opposing them
54:27
For example, Pharaoh did not desperately want
54:32
Israel to go free But God suddenly said, no, you've got to stop
54:38
I know you want Israel to go out, but you have to stop That's not what happened
54:43
No, Pharaoh has been hardening his own heart himself all this time
54:51
In that sense, God's sovereignty does not overrule Pharaoh's responsibility
54:56
As in Pharaoh justly earned every judgment that is coming to him
55:02
It is Pharaoh's fault and he will have to answer for it Yet, this is not to say that God was caught off guard by Pharaoh's extreme sovereignness
55:16
Right? God didn't say to Moses, you know,
55:23
I can go with you this far But if Pharaoh hardens his heart again, I don't know, man
55:29
I didn't plan for that That's not what's happening at all, right? God specifically told
55:35
Moses that this would happen God was still in charge despite Pharaoh's active choice to disobey
55:44
God They both have to go together It is extremely dangerous to focus on one over the other
55:53
As if our choices can overrule God's greater plan Or God makes plans and does not consider people's decisions
56:06
You have to consider both and God does both And in the Bible, they're not pitted against each other
56:13
They don't oppose each other It's a mystery in the end, but it's still, that's how
56:19
God works Now, what does this tell us? It tells us that hard -hearted rulers not only incur judgment from the
56:32
Lord But they actually continue the judgment from the Lord Rebellious rulers not only earn judgment for themselves
56:42
But God lets them continue to rule as a judgment against the nations
56:52
This means all the self -centered, law -breaking leaders who govern this country
56:59
Are precisely part of God's judgment against this nation
57:07
Just as God raised a Pharaoh to fully judge Egypt for its sin
57:13
By enslaving God's own people and preventing them from worshiping the
57:19
Lord God has placed the leaders of our country to judge America for its sins
57:27
Too many to list Just as Pharaoh would say one thing and totally disregard his words
57:35
We have rulers who impose one thing and disregard their own rules
57:41
And when they think no one is looking The text today shows us that God is not surprised by any of them
57:51
God's still in charge And they will be held responsible for their actions
58:00
Even though God sovereignly placed them there And what must we do?
58:11
First, we have to pray for God's mercy The reason why this nation continues to elect these lawless, narcissistic politicians
58:23
Partly is a judgment against the nation itself The people of God need to humble themselves and ask for God's mercy
58:36
In bringing a revival A revival is when souls are saved by the gospel of Christ in droves
58:49
That's when the church is renewed in its passion for God's word
58:55
Are you tired of lukewarm Christians who don't really care for what scripture says And directly live against it and justify it in their own crooked, perverted way?
59:06
A revival can fix that When the zeal, the passion for God's word hits the church
59:15
It would be hard to see us putting this down instead of our phone That's what revivals do
59:25
That's when churches are filled with people who want to hear the saving message of Christ daily
59:32
Because they can't fathom how great it is Say it again
59:38
Tell me what Jesus did for me again They crave it Like they haven't had a meal in a week
59:47
That's a revival And when God revives a nation, dead souls come to life
59:56
When God revives a nation, rebels turn into children of God When God revives a nation as a byproduct, wicked laws and crimes become a rarity
01:00:10
During the Welsh revival of the last century, the judges didn't really have much to do
01:00:17
Why? Because people weren't committing their crime They put on their white gloves They couldn't work
01:00:23
Because people weren't committing crime And rulers govern with the fear of the
01:00:35
Lord Instead of the fear of their voters And of course the best case scenario is
01:00:43
Jesus coming back But we can't control that We don't know when that happens
01:00:52
But we must continue to pray for God's mercy on us By giving us a revival in this nation once more
01:01:01
It is not a political leader who will save this nation It is not the next president or the current president or any president
01:01:13
It's not moving to a better state It is not having the right governor
01:01:20
The only thing that can save this country, even this state
01:01:27
From the judgment that's happening now and to come Is the revival of souls
01:01:33
When people change When individuals become alive from their dead selves
01:01:43
Let us pray Father, we're thankful for all of your mercies
01:01:51
Despite what's going on in this country Father, we thank you for our brothers and sisters here
01:01:58
Who gather to hear your word Who crave your word throughout the week And who obey your word throughout the week
01:02:07
We thank you for all of your work in us And we urgently ask for a revival
01:02:16
Because this country is falling apart We pray that you would revive the church
01:02:25
So that there would be a new zeal for sharing the gospel Living holy lives
01:02:31
And loving you In Jesus name Amen At the light of Christ might be seen
01:03:23
Today in our acts of love And our deeds of faith
01:03:31
Speak O Lord and fulfill In us all your purposes
01:03:41
For your glory It's been a joy to be together in worship