Series: Exodus
Title: Do You Believe the Word
of God?
Text: Exodus 9: 13-26
Date: February 18, 2018
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Exodus 9: 13: And
the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before
Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my
people go, that they may serve me. 14:
For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy
servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none
like me in all the earth. 15: For
now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with
pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. 16: And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up,
for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout
all the earth. 17: As yet
exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? 18: Behold, to morrow about this time
I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt
since the foundation thereof even until now. 19: Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that
thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be
found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down
upon them, and they shall die. 20:
He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his
servants and his cattle flee into the houses: 21: And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants
and his cattle in the field. 22: And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward
heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon
beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. 23: And
Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and
hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the
land of Egypt. 24: So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very
grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it
became a nation. 25: And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all
that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the
field, and brake every tree of the field. 26: Only in the land of Goshen, where
the children of Israel were, was there no hail.
Subject: Do you believe the word of God?
Proposition: The way to prove you believe the word of
God is by faith in Christ.
THE REPROBATE IS USED OF GOD
Exodus 9: 14: For I
will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants,
and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all
the earth…16: And
in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in
thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
Even those men who refuse to
believe God’s word are used by God for the benefit of God’s elect.
“There is none like God in all the earth.” God makes his elect to
know it that we might cast all our care on the one true living God. By the way God saves us triumphing over our
enemies in righteousness, power and wisdom we are taught the LORD is God and
there is none else like him. God taught
the children of Israel this in the way he delivered them from Pharaoh and the
Egyptians bondage.
Deuteronomy
4: 32: For ask now of the days
that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon
the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether
there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath
been heard like it? 33: Did ever
people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou
hast heard, and live? 34: Or
hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another
nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty
hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that
the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35: Unto thee it was shewed, that thou
mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside
him.
Always remember, when enemies
arise rejecting the gospel and rejecting you, those enemies are raised up by
God for the purpose of declaring to you who are God’s elect that God has power
to choose whom he will and pass by whom he will. The enemy is raised up by God to show his
elect what great mercy God has had on you by choosing you and preparing you in
Christ from eternity. The Holy Spirit
gave the apostle Paul the commentary on Exodus 9: 16 to teach us this is
exactly why God raised up Pharaoh.
Romans
9: 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 it is not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17:
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. 18:
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he
hardeneth. 19: Thou wilt say
then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20: Nay but, O man, who art thou that
repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it,
Why hast thou made me thus? 21:
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22: What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to
make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath
fitted to destruction: 23: And
that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which
he had afore prepared unto glory, 24:
Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
God raised up Pharaoh to
declare his sovereign electing power to his people. He raised up Pharaoh to be an adversary
against his people that he might destroy Pharaoh as he delivered the children
of Israel from his bondage. God raised up Pharaoh to reveal his mercy to his
elect among the children of Israel in their salvation from his bondage.
Brethren, just think,
Pharaoh’s mad rejection of God was the means God used to work all his mighty
wonders before his people and deliver them out of bondage. Nothing has ever been out of God’s sovereign control. The devil,
the fall of man, the crucifixion of Christ, the rejection we encounter today,
all is the means God uses to show us the wonders of his saving grace as he deliver us from all our bondage. What comfort this gives us even when
we face rejection by our enemies!
The devil is not God’s rival.
He is God’s devil. God allowed the devil
to fall to be an adversary against his people.
He allowed devil to beguile Eve which led to Adam’s rebellion and the
fall of the whole human race. God gives
the devil permission to deceive most men in this world. At the same time, God
enters his people in Spirit and Christ binds the devil taking from him God’s
elect child. Then God forbids the devil
from ever deceiving us again. God did
all in order make his power to choose some and pass by others known to his
people. He did all this to show his great mercy toward his people in our
salvation from the devil’s bondage. So
remember, God uses even the reprobate for the benefit of his people.
GOD GIVES FAIR WARNING
Exodus 9: 13: And
the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before
Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my
people go, that they may serve me. 14:
For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy
servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none
like me in all the earth. 15:
For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with
pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth….17: As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt
not let them go? 18 Behold, to morrow about this time I will
cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the
foundation thereof even until now…19:
Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the
field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field,
and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they
shall die.
Through the preaching of his
word God gives fair warning to every one of the coming judgment. So the fault for man’s unbelief is not in God
but in the sinner.
The same as God gave Pharaoh,
the Egyptians, and all his people clear warning, God gives clear warning to
everyone in this earth through the preaching of Christ crucified. God has not left himself without a witness in
any generation. God even gave Pharaoh and the Egyptians direction on what to do
to save themselves—“Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that
thou hast in the field; for upon
every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought
home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.” Therefore,
men are without excuse. (Rom 1: 20)
God has sent his word to
everyone in this place declaring that there is coming the sure and certain
judgment of God upon all men who meet God under the curse of the law. We all broke God’s law in Adam. Therefore, the law (typified in Moses) must
bring down the rod of judgment upon us.
Yet, God has sent us all direction
on what to do that we might be saved from that curse— believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Every man who stayed in the field with
his beast—would have no covering from the judgment of hail to come. But those who entered the house would have a
covering.
Christ gave himself to be made sin for us that he might justly bear
the hail of God’s judgment, the rod of the law, in place of his people on the
cross.
The wages of sin is death. The
ransom price had to be paid for God to be just.
Therefore, concerning all God’s
elect, the LORD says, “Zion shall be
redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.” (Is 1: 27) We
see Zion redeemed with judgment on the cross when Christ paid the ransom in
full for his people redeeming us from the curse of the law.
Galatians
3: 13: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Psalm
136:24: And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Sinners go around boasting in
their free will while calling God unfair for choosing whom he will. But God has declared the one way men can be
saved is in Christ. Yet, man’s will is in
bondage to his sin-nature so that he will not believe on Christ. So whose fault is it? Election does not prevent anyone from
entering in to Christ, election opens the door. The reason most will not enter
is their own fault.
THE PROOF WE BELIEVE OR DISREGARD GOD’S WORD
Exodus 9: 20: He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants
of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: 21: And he
that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the
field…24: So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous,
such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a
nation. 25: And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in
the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and
brake every tree of the field. 26: Only in the land of Goshen, where the
children of Israel were, was there no hail.
Those who believe God’s word
prove it one way. By entering into
Christ our covering through faith. Those
who disregard God’s word prove it by refusing to believe on Christ. Instead, they stay in the open field with no
covering.
It is sad that sinners make
all kinds of excuses for not believing on Christ or for departing from where
God’s word is preached in spirit and in truth. But not one of those excuses
would cause them to stop traveling to the grocery store for their daily bread.
Not one of their excuses would make them quit their job and their paycheck.
They put up with much, much worse in order to do those things because they
consider that which they receive to be their life. Yet, a far less excuse
is enough to make them walk away from where Christ is Himself preaching through
His earthen vessel. Make no mistake, we reveal what our real treasure is by
what we will endure to have it! “Where
your treasure is there will your heart be also.” (Mt 6: 21)
The fact is they regard not
the word of the LORD because they have no fear of God. Truth is those who leave
the gospel of Christ preached in spirit and in truth from God’s word do so
because they were never born of God in the first place.
1 John
2:19: They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they
might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
That cannot be said of the
person who leaves the preaching of will-works religion and goes to another
preaching will-works religion. In that
case, the person has left nothing. This
can only be said of the person who leaves the preaching of Christ and him
crucified and sacrifices nothing to move to another church where Christ is
preached but rather isolates themselves from all commitment to the gospel and
to Christ’s people.
Be sure to understand. If you do not believe on Christ you are
saying you choose to remain under the law.
Therefore you are cursed because
no one can keep God’s law as God requires.
Galatians
3:10: For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is
written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them.
For those who do not believe
on Christ in this life, in the day of God’s judgment it shall be as God’s word
declares it shall be—“So there was hail,
and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous…And the hail smote throughout
all…” Christ shall come the second
time,
1
Thessalonians 1: 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9: Who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power;
But if you humble yourself at
Christ’s feet, believing on Christ then you confess that God has given you a
new, tender heart so that you believe God. We see this when years later God
declared judgment was coming upon Judah.
Yet the king sent a mediator to enquire of God on his behalf. This is
the word God sent the king of Judah in return,
2 King
22:19: Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the
LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the
inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast
rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD. 20:
Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be
gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil
which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
But the one way to prove you
are an elect child of God who believes the word of God is by faith in Christ.
1
Thessalonians 1: 4: Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. 5: For our
gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy
Ghost, and in much assurance;
Those who believe the word of
the LORD and flee into Christ through faith shall be saved—“Only in the land of Goshen,
where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.” Christ is our land of Goshen. Christ is
our house, our covering. All for whom
Christ died at Calvary had our judgment is settled when Christ was made a curse
for us on the cross. Now, no judgment remains for us because Christ put away
our sin.
Hebrews
9: 27: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment: 28: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto
them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation.
Since justice is satisfied,
our just God must and shall call each one to faith in Christ and save us. He
will not pour out justice on one who God has already been justified in Christ.
No charge shall ever be laid to one who believes on Christ.
Romans
8: 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.
Sinner, it is this simple. In
the day of judgment, if you are found outside of Christ then you shall be like these men who were in the open field when
the hail came down. You will have no covering from the judgment of God. Only those who believe on Christ enter into
their home and have a covering from the wrath to come.
Do you believe the word of God? There is only one way
to know if you do? It is by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our
Redeemer! For you who believe on the Lord
Jesus, behold in those who God has passed by the power of God to elect, to
redeem and to quicken helpless, hell-deserving sinners like us! We
are no different from those who do not believe except for God’s amazing grace!
Amen!