Series: Exodus
Title: GOD ALONE MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
Text: Exodus 10: 27-11: 10
Date: April 29, 2018
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Lately, I
have several folks trying to set me straight on my doctrine. They insist God did
not choose some to save and pass by others and God would not harden some in
reprobation. By God’s sovereign hand, at
the very time men confronted me on this, we have come to the end of Exodus 10
into Exodus 11.
Now,
before I get into my message, as we simply read our text, please tell me if it
appears to you that scripture bears out
that God chooses some and passes by others, even hardens some in reprobation.
Exodus
10: 27: But
the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.
What does
that say?—“the LORD hardened
Pharaoh’s heart.”
Exodus 10: 27: But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let
them go. 28: And Pharaoh said
unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that
day thou seest my face thou shalt die. 29:
And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.
Next, we
have a parenthesis. It tell us what the LORD had already told Moses. After the
parenthesis, we will come back to the rest of Moses meeting with Pharaoh.
Exodus 11: 1: And the LORD said unto Moses,
What does
that say?—“the LORD said unto Moses.”
The LORD did not say this to Pharaoh nor to Pharaoh’s servants nor to the
Egyptians.
Exodus 11: 1: And the LORD said unto Moses.
Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt;
afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall
surely thrust you out hence altogether. 2:
Speak now in the ears of the people,…
The LORD
told Moses to speak privately “in the
ears of the children of Israel only.”
The LORD did not tell this to Pharaoh or his servants or the Egyptians. The
LORD said speak this secretly “in the
ears of only the children of Israel.”
Exodus 11: 2:…and let every man borrow of his neighbor, and every woman of
her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.
God told
the children of Israel to borrow from jewels from their Egyptian slave masters.
They have been slaves for 430 years. Now, these Israelite slaves are to ask
their Egyptian slave-owners to let them borrow their silver and gold jewels.
Exodus 11: 3: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover
the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of
Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.
The children
of Israel needed silver and gold to furnish the tabernacle so the LORD provided
it through their enemies. And the LORD made all the Egyptian people, even
Pharaoh’s own servants, view Moses as a very great man.
Now, we
come back to Moses standing before Pharaoh. Around them are all Pharaoh’s
servants: his nobles, ministers, and counsellors.
Exodus
11: 4: And
Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of
Egypt: 5: And all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon
his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind
the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. 6: And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of
Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
There is
no difference between sinners: from the throne to the mill all were guilty but
watch it.
Exodus
11: 7:
But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue,
against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference
between the Egyptians and Israel. 8:
And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves
unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after
that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh [who was] in a
great anger.
Then our
text reminds us that all this came about exactly as God said it would before
God ever sent Moses into Egypt.
Exodus 11: 9: And [or as]
the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders
may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. 10:
And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened
Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his
land.
Way back
in chapter 4, before Moses ever returned into Egypt, the LORD told Moses all of
this would come to pass: he told what Pharaoh would do.
Exodus 4: 21:
And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that
thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I
will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. 22: And thou shalt
say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: 23:
And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to
let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
It is
obvious from this text that God alone puts a difference between one sinner and
another sinner. God plainly declared “the
LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. But in case someone argues that this only
applied to the children of Israel and Egypt then turn with me to 1 Corinthians
4: 7. The Holy Spirit uses Paul to teach
the Corinthian believers—and all believers—not to be puffed up one against another:
1 Corinthians 4: 7: For who maketh thee to differ from
another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst
receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
Proposition: No
one has reason to exalt ourselves over any other because the only one who makes
us to differ from another is God—God doth put a difference between his people
and the rest of this world.
Subject:
God Alone Makes the Difference
Divisions: I
want to talk about four things this present world knows nothing about
concerning God and concerning themselves.
THE CHARACTER OF GOD
Men and
women today know nothing about the character of God. The only thing men are told about God is that
God is love. But God’s chief attribute is not love, it is holiness—God is holy.
Indeed, God is love and God loves to show
mercy but to those whom he loves and shows mercy, God must make absolute
satisfaction to his holy law. God told
Moses, “I will by no means clear the
guilty.” (Ex 34: 7)
“The soul that sinneth, it must die!” (Eze 18: 20)
God said,
“And all the firstborn in the land of
Egypt shall die”—that included the firstborn in Israel. All are guilty, all
must die under God’s justice. But God
makes the difference by providing his Son, the Lamb of God, to die in place of
his people to satisfy his justice for them.
See, Holy God can have nothing to do with a sinner unless that sinner is
made holy and righteous.
Leviticus 22:21…it shall be perfect to be accepted; there
shall be no blemish therein.
Before
sinners start rejecting the gospel and popping off about God loving everybody,
they need to learn what they do not know—God
is holy. Everything God does is
according to his holy and righteous character!
GOD IS ABSOLUTLEY SOVEREIGN
Men and
women today do not know that God is absolutely sovereign. Listen to this description of God.
Daniel 4:35…he doeth according to his will in the army of
heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or
say unto him, What doest thou?
In our
text, God determined the end from the beginning. Then God brought it to
pass. God told Moses everything God
would do then God did it exactly as he said he would. From the beginning, God said, “Israel is my Son!” And from the
beginning God said, “Pharaoh will harden
his heart and therefore I will justly harden his heart in reprobation.”
Before
God made the world, God’s first sovereign, electing choice was his Son. God
choose his Son to work all the works of saving his people so that Christ might
receive all the glory. Speaking of Christ our Wisdom, he says, “I was set up from everlasting, from the
beginning, or ever the earth was.” (Pro 8: 23)
Romans 8: 29: For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren.
Salvation
is about two things. It is to declare God’s holy righteous character and to
give his Son all the glory and praise from those he saves.
Therefore,
in eternity, God choose his people unto salvation in his Son. Speaking to those
God called to faith in Christ, Paul said,
2 Thessalonians 2: 13: But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to
salvation…
Ephesians 1: 3:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4: According as he hath chosen us in
him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love:
God chose
his people by his free and sovereign grace and purpose, not because of anything
in us.
2 Timothy 1:9: Who hath saved us, and called us with an
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and
grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began
Romans 9: 11: (For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according
to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)…15
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16: So then [salvation is] not of him that willeth, nor of
him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Who
maketh thee to differ from another? If you are one who has been made to bow to
Christ, God made thee to differ by choosing you in his Son by his free grace
before the foundation of the world. Before
sinners start boasting about their will they need to learn that God alone is
sovereign—“Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” (Mt
20:15) IT IS GOD ALONE WHO PUTS A DIFFERRENCE BETWEEN SINNERS BY HIS SOVEREIGN
ELECTION OF GRACE
ABOUT THEMSELVES
Men and
women today know nothing about themselves.
God says in ourselves, as we are born into this world, “there is no difference: For all have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3: 22-23)
There is
no difference between sinners in ourselves. All who meet God outside of Christ are
the same so each shall be justly condemned. The firstborn is the firstfruit—as
he is so are all the rest:
Exodus 11: 5:
And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of
Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant
that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.
Sinners
imagine they make the difference: By
their blood ancestry—who their parents were; Christ told the Pharisee’s do
not think you are God’s elect because you are natural sons of Abraham; By the will of their flesh—by their
decision for Christ and by their works; By
the will of man--priests, preachers and parents think they can make the
difference between sinners by their will—by baptizing infants or by craftiness
in preaching lies, by coercing sinners into a confession. But God says those who are born again: they “were born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (Jn 1: 13)
John 3: 6:
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. 7: Marvel not that I
said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Faith is
not even by the will of man.
Ephesians 2: 8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Be sure
to get this: when God gives life and faith, it is NOT left to the sinner to choose
or refuse God, God draws us irresistibly
to Christ.
John 6: 44: No man can come to me, except the Father
which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
When
scripture says Peter “drew his sword”—it is the same word. God the Father said
to Christ his Son,
Psalm 110:3: Thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power,…
God said,
“I…lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring
forth…my people…out of the land…I stretch forth mine hand…and bring out the
children…from among them.”
2 Thessalonians 2: 13:…God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Two
people hear the same sermon, from the same preacher: one is willing to confess
himself nothing but sin—incapable of doing one thing to please God and he calls
on Christ for mercy and is saved. The
other is angry and calls God unrighteous for doing as he will. Who made the
difference? God alone! Before sinners
start exalting their will to choose or refuse Christ, they need to be taught they
are dead, helpless sinners—and only God can teach them!
GOD’S SON, CHRIST JESUS THE LORD
God sent
his Son to satisfy his holy justice for all those the Father gave to him in
eternity and Christ satisfied God’s justice for each one by bearing their sin
and condemnation until he cried, “It is
finished!” HE ACCOMPLISHED IT!
Hebrews 1: 2
[God]: Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he
hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3: Who being the brightness of his
glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right
hand of the Majesty on high;
Why did
he sit down? Because he finished the work.
Hebrews 10: 12: But this man, after he had offered one
sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;…14: For by one
offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
God is holy.
Therefore, God’s holy character will not allow him to pour out judgment a
second time on one sinner for whom Christ bore divine justice! God’s Son made satisfaction—propitiation—to
God’s justice for his elect. The Apostle John said to believers—not to everyone—to
believers alone:
1 John 4:10 Herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins.
Therefore,
God’s holy character demands each one Christ redeemed must be given life and
faith in Christ. Christ is risen with all power to give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given him. Christ did
not come into this world to make salvation possible
if the sinner will make the difference by choosing Christ. Christ says to
all his disciples,
John 15:16: Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,
and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit
should remain:
John 5: 21: For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and
quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
Those God
gives faith in Christ are:
Romans 3: 24:
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25: Whom God hath set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26: To declare, I say, at this
time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus. 27: Where is
boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of
faith. 28: Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 31: Do we then
make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Romans 8: 1: There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.
Exodus 11: 7: [therefore] against any of [God’s elect] Israel shall
not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the
LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
Believer,
even in our lives, every door that is opened for you is, not first and foremost
opened by you, it because God gives us
favor in the sight of men just as he did the Israelite slaves in the site
of their Egyptian masters. Therefore, “all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose.”
Romans 8: 31:
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? 32: He that spared
not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him
also freely give us all things? 33:
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that
justifieth. 34: Who is he
that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen
again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. 35: Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? [nothing and no one] (Ro 8:31-35)
God alone
made the difference!
Amen!