Series:
Exodus
Title: Procession
Ended, Folly Manifest
Text:
Exodus 8: 16-19
Date:
October 22, 2017
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Exodus 8: 16: And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy
rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the
land of Egypt. 17: And they did
so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the
earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became
lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 18:
And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they
could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. 19: Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the
finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto
them; as the LORD had said.
Pharaoh
and his magicians and the Egyptians who followed them represent the devil, his
preachers and his people.
Proposition: The good news we see here is that when God has
accomplished his purpose false preachers and false brethren then God stops them
from proceeding further and exposes their folly to his people so that none of
his elect shall be deceived.
2 Timothy 3: 8:
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth:
men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9: But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be
manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.
Subject: Procession
Ended, Folly Manifest
A WARNING TO ALL
Exodus 8: 16: And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy
rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the
land of Egypt.
You might
ask, “Where is the warning?” It is in
the fact that this time God gave no
warning. Before this and after this, God sent Moses with the word of the LORD
and warned Pharaoh of the plague that was coming if he did not bow and obey the
word of the LORD.
Unbelievers
who are yet under the gospel of God’s grace have this going for you, at least
God is still sending you the warning to repent and believe on Christ. But God says,
Proverbs 29:1: He, that being often reproved hardeneth
his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Zechariah 7: 11…they
refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that
they should not hear. 12: Yea,
they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the
law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the
former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. 13: Therefore it is come to pass, that
as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear,
saith the LORD of hosts:…
This would
be the end of all sinners were it not for the sovereign, irresistible grace of
God. He gives his people a willing heart in the new birth to believe on Christ.
Someone will say, “If I cannot believe
except God has mercy on me, why then does God find fault? For who has resisted
his will?” Paul answered that question.
Romans 9: 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?
By
leaving some men to themselves in sin, God makes his wrath and power known to
those he saves.
Romans 9: 22: What if God, willing to shew his wrath,
and to make his power known, endured [take out the words: with much longsuffering] the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction: 23: And that [with
much longsuffering] 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?
By
enduring the reprobate and showing much longsuffering to his elect, God makes
us behold that we, too, would have perished except by God’s grace. We see the
riches of his glory in that he freely made us vessels of mercy. We see the
riches of his glory in that he sent his only begotten Son afore and prepared us
for glory by Christ’s blood then called us to faith in Christ. So brethren, as you behold men perishing
under false preachers, do not exalt yourself.
We are no different by nature.
God alone made the difference by his power and grace.
THE CURSE OF REJECTING CHRIST
Exodus
8: 17:…for
Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and
it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice
throughout all the land of Egypt.
All who
reject Christ are left under the curse of the law. The dust being smitten represents the curse.
And lice coming from the dust represents sin coming from our cursed, dusty,
flesh. When God pronounced the curse
upon Adam and his offspring for rejecting God, God said, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake…dust thou art and unto dust thou
shalt return.” (Gen 3: 17-19)
We all
come into this world under the curse of the law because of Adam’s
transgression. (Rom 5: 12) The good news is Christ afore
prepared a people for glory.
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:
When God
laid on Christ the iniquity of all his elect, God’s rod of justice smote Christ
instead of his people. God honored his holy law by making Christ a curse for
his people So “The
chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed.” (Is 53: 5)
Yet, all
who will not believe on Christ remain under the curse until the day they
themselves shall be smitten with that same rod of justice.
Proverbs 3:33: The curse of the LORD is in
the house of the wicked:…
Left
under the curse, like the lice coming from the dust upon everything in Egypt, our
sin corrupts our religion and everything we touch so that God will not accept
us. The Egyptians vain religion required
their priests and the beasts they offered be clean. But the lice defiled them. So
their entire religion was shut down. So Pharaoh was left without a priest and
without an offering and that is the curse
of the LORD in the house of the wicked.
Christ is
the only High Priest and Offering that purges the believer of our sins. But reject Christ and there is no more High
Priest and no more offering to save you, you are left under the curse of the
law and shall be smitten by it!
Hebrews 10: 26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have
received the knowledge of the truth, [if we reject the truth] there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28: He that despised Moses’ law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought
worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood
of the covenant, wherewith [the Son of God] was sanctified, an unholy thing,
and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him that
hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the
Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God.
THE FINGER OF GOD
Exodus 8: 18: And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring
forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. 19: Then the magicians said unto
Pharaoh, This is the finger of God:
III. LASTLY, CHRIST WITH HIS MERE FINGER STOPS
FALSE PREACHERS WHEN HIS PURPOSE IS ACCOMPLISHED—Exodus 8: 18: And the magicians did so with
their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice
upon man, and upon beast. 19:
Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he
hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
How did
Christ cast out devils?
Luke 11: 20: But if I with the finger of God cast out
devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
With his
finger, Christ stopped Jannes and Jambres and manifest their folly to his
people.
2 Timothy 3: 8:
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth:
men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9: But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be
manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.
Why did
Christ not stop them before? Because God
uses false preachers to harden the heart of the reprobate against the
truth. God allowed satan to give these
magicians power to imitate God’s true preachers. It made Pharaoh and the
Egyptians think these men were God’s true messengers and Moses and Aaron were false
preachers. By this God hardened their hearts more against God, against his true
preachers and against his true gospel.
Yet, God
will not allow false preachers to deceive his elect. Their folly shall be
manifest to all his elect. That is what he did here.
Psalm 76: 10: Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee:
the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
The
finger of God not only stopped these men but also made them declare the truth—Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. Why? So
that out of their own mouth they condemned themselves. The false preacher’s
condemnation will be by the very words he preached.
Luke 19: 22: Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee,
thou wicked servant.
Matthew 12:37: For by thy words thou shalt be justified,
and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Since God
uses the false preacher to harden men’s hearts, they will not believe even when
they hear the truth—Then the magicians
said unto Pharaoh, This is the
finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto
them; as the LORD had said.
False
brethren agree with each other when they have a common enemy: Pharisees,
Sadducees, Nicolatians, Jews, Gentiles all joined together to crucify Christ. But false brethren reject each other when the
other no longer serves their wicked purpose just as Pharaoh rejected his own
counselors. And that, too, is God working his will—all of this came to pass “as
the LORD had said.”
These same
three things were done by God concerning Christ.
One, God
used false religionists to accomplish his purpose of putting Christ on the
cross.
Acts 5: 27:
For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both
Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were
gathered together, 28: For to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Two, out
of their own mouths Christ’s enemies condemned themselves when they
unintentionally spoke the truth of Substitution.
Mark 15:31: Likewise also the chief priests mocking said
among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
Three, those
who were in agreement to crucify Christ later rejected each other and were
hardened in their vain religious works—as
the Lord had said.
REMEMBER
This
gospel is the warning to repent and believe on Christ. Heed the gospel. But if any man rejects Christ he remains
under the curse and shall be smitten by the same rod of justice.
Yet, in
all this, God is using even the false preacher and his followers to serve God’s
purpose. He is manifesting those that he has approved and hardening the hearts
of those who refuse to bow the knee to Christ. God will see to it that Jannes
and Jambres shall proceed no further. Their folly shall be manifest—not to
them—but to God’s people. God will not
allow his people to be deceived.
Matthew 24: 24: For there shall arise false Christs, and
false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive
the very elect.
Knowing
these things, we should give utmost diligence to make sure what we hear
preached and what we promote is true:
1 John 4: 1:
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:
because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2: Hereby know ye the Spirit of God:
Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye
have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Understand,
a man may say many true things and some may appear to preach Christ in truth. But he ceased preaching Christ when he began
using the gospel to convince of a doctrine he makes necessary for salvation
because the focus ceased being Christ. Therefore, before God and before those
God gives spiritual discernment, he ceased preaching Christ. It is the spirit
of anti-christ denying that the Jesus is the Son of God come in the flesh. God
manifests those he has approved because we discern the false preachers and flee
from them. This is by the grace of God because Christ will not allow those he
redeemed by his blood to be deceived by such!
Amen!