back to index2017-01-07 That We Might Know Him
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All right, let's take our Bibles and turn to Exodus chapter 7. 00:00:12.840 |
And as we turn there, I'd like to introduce today's sermon by thinking about things that 00:00:18.520 |
we like to do versus things that we should do. 00:00:21.160 |
Okay, things that we like to do versus things that we should do. 00:00:26.280 |
During our typically around the new year, we make a lot of resolutions and one of the 00:00:30.480 |
things that we resolve to do is really take care of our health, right? 00:00:34.080 |
So let's say for example, like eating, there are things we like to eat and then there are 00:00:40.600 |
Truthfully, I really do for some odd reason, like everybody does, but really love the stuff 00:00:52.680 |
Any restaurant that serves a Kentucky fried chicken with gravy on top with biscuits and 00:00:59.280 |
Not a lot of people are fans, but I was a huge fan of Hometown Buffet because they had 00:01:03.120 |
that kind of like Southern cooking, you know? 00:01:06.760 |
Now, there is the stuff I would like to eat and then there's the stuff you should eat, 00:01:13.320 |
Now, in the degree of the things that we should be doing, there's another degree where it's 00:01:16.800 |
there's the things you like, there's the things that you should be doing, and there are the 00:01:23.800 |
So for example, if not only should you eat healthy, but you actually have a certain condition, 00:01:29.480 |
let's say severe diabetes, you have to have certain dietary restrictions or you have to 00:01:35.580 |
even take certain medication or insulin shots, right? 00:01:39.360 |
And the reason why I think about this is because for us as Christians, we are given a certain 00:01:44.360 |
liberties of the things that we should be doing, that we like to do, and then on a far 00:01:55.080 |
For us as believers, our God has given us things that actually are beyond even must 00:02:01.720 |
There are things that if we didn't do, it would indicate that there's something wrong 00:02:06.160 |
It would be an incredible problem of identity because that in which we must do is a part 00:02:14.640 |
An example of that is when Christ our Lord says, "You are a light. 00:02:21.920 |
You are a light by design, by nature, and so you're not to be put under a bowl, but 00:02:30.120 |
You're supposed to shine to the glory of God." 00:02:33.160 |
To that degree, this is a part of who we should be, right? 00:02:38.680 |
In terms of us being a light of the gospel, being a reflection of God's glory, a taste 00:02:45.560 |
of who God is, so to speak, that is something that is not on the level of, you know, me 00:02:50.440 |
as a Christian, maybe, you know, I should kind of share a little bit. 00:02:55.360 |
Is this something I like to do versus other things I like to do? 00:02:59.260 |
We realize that according to the will design of God, this is part of who we are as how 00:03:07.520 |
Now, as I think about this concept, I think about the book of Revelations that we just 00:03:17.840 |
And all the more as I think about that book, there was an impression that was made on us, 00:03:23.160 |
A lot of times, like the discussion questions were very similar. 00:03:26.960 |
There weren't lots of small detailed applications. 00:03:29.640 |
For example, like you should go and forgive your brother. 00:03:33.960 |
You should have this attitude among you, etc. 00:03:40.440 |
The impression was, "Oh my goodness, I've got to share." 00:03:45.920 |
The impression was, "Oh my goodness, I'm thinking about my family member, a brother, parents, 00:03:52.840 |
you know, whoever it may be that's close to your friend, was it not?" 00:03:56.720 |
And so likewise, as I think about this topic of being a light, all the more there is a 00:04:02.520 |
sense in my heart as we just ended the book of Revelation, we have to do something about 00:04:09.840 |
And as we saw what God was doing, as we saw what God is going to do, there was a natural 00:04:24.440 |
Now what's interesting, added upon that, for me personally, we've been going through the 00:04:29.120 |
book of Exodus with the youth group, and that sentiment has been the same. 00:04:33.960 |
There is so much corollary between how it feels to read the book of Revelation with 00:04:38.960 |
how it feels to read the first and many chapters of Exodus. 00:04:48.520 |
There is an incredible succession of God's wrath and judgment. 00:04:55.200 |
And at the end of reading the book of Exodus, I just felt like, "Oh my goodness, we need 00:05:01.800 |
And so today I want to share that heart with you. 00:05:04.600 |
And the way I want to do it is, in surveying several themes of the book of Exodus, we want 00:05:10.760 |
to think about what God is doing, how He is unfolding and revealing Himself and His plans, 00:05:19.120 |
and then to respond appropriately, "Yes, we must be the light." 00:05:26.160 |
So that we would graduate from, "I don't know if I like it, or maybe I should," to, "We 00:05:34.880 |
So now let's take a look at Exodus chapter 7, verses 1 and down, and look at the Word 00:05:40.920 |
It says, "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother 00:05:50.480 |
You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh 00:05:54.740 |
that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. 00:05:58.260 |
But I will harden Pharaoh's heart that I may multiply my signs and my wonders in the land 00:06:04.840 |
When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring out 00:06:09.140 |
my hosts, my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. 00:06:18.900 |
And I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their mist.' 00:06:24.500 |
So Moses and Aaron did it as the Lord commanded them, thus they did. 00:06:28.620 |
Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh." 00:06:34.980 |
Father, we want to again thank you for the privilege of coming together, gathering as 00:06:41.860 |
a body, joined together by your grace and the gospel of Christ, joined together by our 00:06:50.380 |
And Lord, as we think about you and consider your ways, I pray, God, that today we would 00:06:55.380 |
truly be challenged in thinking about our purpose, the mission of our lives, but what's 00:07:01.740 |
more that we would really consider how you have been working in past and how you are 00:07:07.740 |
I pray again, Lord, that you continue to open our eyes and give us insight into your word 00:07:15.920 |
So we're thinking about this idea of being the light. 00:07:18.780 |
We're thinking about the idea of shining that glorious knowledge of who God is and 00:07:28.020 |
And the way, again, I want to approach it was thematically, how is God working? 00:07:34.160 |
So the very first point I want to give to you is the theme of judgment. 00:07:42.120 |
And the command or the exhortation I want to give is you must speak to Pharaoh because 00:07:51.760 |
And I'm going to explain that piece by piece. 00:07:54.320 |
But the exhortation to us as a first point is you must speak to Pharaoh because God is 00:08:04.020 |
So as we think about this concept, one of the themes that we see in the book of Exodus 00:08:11.480 |
Actually we see him laying out and predicting or foretelling what he's about to do, shedding 00:08:18.040 |
that light upon Pharaoh through Moses and saying this is exactly what's going to happen, 00:08:22.400 |
both on a grand scale like a nation level and the judgment also on a particular personal 00:08:32.200 |
Now as we think about this idea of judgment, let's put it in a frame of mind or context 00:08:40.080 |
We've seen in recent history there has truly been lots of tragedies. 00:08:43.840 |
There has been shootings, senseless violence. 00:08:48.000 |
There has been lots of natural disasters of hurricanes and droughts and winter storms 00:08:56.080 |
There has been the ongoing conflict of nations that causes, you know, refugees and people 00:09:01.160 |
and families to be broken and split and all kinds of insecurities and people living in 00:09:09.960 |
Now in thinking about some of these tragedies, we sometimes get really just, you know, really 00:09:17.480 |
flustered and frustrated and then the sentiments of being just rattled like how can this be? 00:09:23.680 |
But imagine if something like let's say the Las Vegas shooting happened and an individual 00:09:28.600 |
came to you and said that, my friend, is the judgment of God. 00:09:37.360 |
Actually let's say if it happened to be that you had a close relative who was a victim 00:09:46.200 |
How would you feel about someone saying and that is a judgment of God? 00:09:52.160 |
Naturally we would sense, like how can you say that? 00:09:57.320 |
What's more, they would automatically be like, dude, I don't know if we can say that because 00:10:01.360 |
then we'd be saying that that violence was intended by God, right? 00:10:10.960 |
That that kind of the number of death, that kind of number of suffering, the magnitude 00:10:16.160 |
and the extent of that kind of pain was inflicted intentionally by God? 00:10:24.720 |
But the thing about it is when we look at the Exodus story, we talk about it as miracles, 00:10:32.920 |
But the extent of the death that occurred in that series of judgments, it's so severe, 00:10:39.160 |
it's so extensive, it's so stacked on each other, not to again diminish anything about 00:10:44.280 |
what's happening recently, but in all honesty, in comparison, it seems small. 00:10:50.000 |
Because what God was doing to the nation of Egypt at that time, at the time of Exodus, 00:10:57.640 |
It was frightening, it was terrifying, and the kind of pain and terror that the Egyptians 00:11:06.320 |
Let's take a moment to think about some of that by reviewing the level of intensity, 00:11:10.720 |
the extent of how far it went by reviewing some of these plagues, so to speak, that we 00:11:18.560 |
So turn your Bibles over to Exodus chapter 7, verse 20, and we're going to be kind of 00:11:23.300 |
surveying various passages through our Bibles today, okay? 00:11:26.920 |
So right now we're looking at the severity and extent of the judgments that God is multiplying. 00:11:35.360 |
If you remember, Moses goes to Pharaoh, Pharaoh has this heart and heart and says, "Who's 00:11:42.040 |
I don't know your God, I'm not going to obey him," right? 00:11:44.960 |
Paraphrasing there, but essentially he said, "I don't know you," right? 00:11:50.520 |
And then what happens is God gives the very first plague and it's denial turning into 00:11:58.960 |
So Moses and Aaron did even as the Lord had commanded. 00:12:02.700 |
He lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh 00:12:07.080 |
and the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. 00:12:11.880 |
The fish that were in the Nile died and the Nile became foul so that the Egyptians could 00:12:17.240 |
not drink the water from the Nile, and the blood was through all the land of Egypt. 00:12:24.920 |
See, the thing is sometimes because we've never been to the Nile, we think, "Oh, wow, 00:12:30.960 |
Do you guys know that some portions of the Nile is over two and a half miles wide? 00:12:37.160 |
I mean, think about a body of water, I mean, one of the biggest bodies of water you've 00:12:46.840 |
For the Nile to turn to blood is devastating. 00:12:49.920 |
There's source of fishing, there's source of commerce, there's source of transportation. 00:12:54.080 |
The Nile to them was like their provider, and so they worship the Nile as the life giver. 00:13:01.800 |
The reason why I say this is so intense is because through reading again, I caught this 00:13:07.220 |
In verse 19, it says that the extent of the water turning to blood was pervasive. 00:13:14.920 |
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, take your staff and stretch out your hand 00:13:19.320 |
over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, over their pools, over 00:13:25.360 |
all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood. 00:13:29.480 |
And there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in the vessels of wood 00:13:38.320 |
You see, I would just assume like, okay, the Nile turned to blood, wow, it's a devastating 00:13:44.080 |
But every source of water that they had, even the reservoirs in their home, even their baskets, 00:13:50.720 |
And then later it talks about how this miracle, this devastating plague that God has sent 00:14:00.840 |
So what I didn't realize was initially there's a sentiment where I looked at the plagues 00:14:04.800 |
and thought of it as like just small inflictions that started to ramp up from the very beginning, 00:14:16.560 |
Scientifically, after two and a half days, you're going to start hallucinating because 00:14:23.400 |
And so it says in the scripture that as God inflicted that kind of plague on the people, 00:14:28.280 |
they became mad and they were starting to dig the ground for any kind of water they 00:14:32.760 |
That was the kind of devastation that God is inflicting on the people. 00:14:37.800 |
But you guys know the story goes and goes, that He starts to stack and multiply these 00:14:43.040 |
And there was the infestation of the frogs, which is super gross. 00:14:46.960 |
And it says it was in their bed, in their kneading bowls, and everywhere. 00:14:51.320 |
And then there were flies, which I think were like mosquitoes probably. 00:14:55.600 |
Because there's actually for our youth group, we started studying some ancient manuscripts 00:14:59.520 |
from the Egyptians about like swarms of these bugs that would actually bite them and they 00:15:05.720 |
So there were these flies that were biting them, maybe they were mosquitoes, but there 00:15:10.080 |
There was boils on their skin, so severe and painful, it says that the men could not stand. 00:15:15.680 |
When was the last time you were in so much pain, you just keeled over and could not get 00:15:22.240 |
It's rare for us to experience pain like that. 00:15:25.480 |
Another one, please turn over to chapter 9, verse 18 through 19. 00:15:34.760 |
It says, "Behold, about this time tomorrow I will send a heavy hail such has never been 00:15:41.120 |
seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now." 00:15:46.560 |
"Now therefore send, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. 00:15:51.000 |
Every man and beast that is found in the field that is not brought home, when the hail comes 00:15:58.160 |
So this is crazy, the surmounting kind of the plague and judgment that is coming upon 00:16:04.480 |
them, because this hail was crushing the trees, it was killing the livestock, and even the 00:16:11.360 |
In a previous plague was that God was actually, he sent a plague that killed all the cattle 00:16:16.080 |
and the flocks of the Egyptians, but saved the cattle and the flock of the Jews. 00:16:21.320 |
And even if that wasn't enough, God sends a swarm of locusts. 00:16:25.720 |
It's a swarm so big, he says that it was covering the land and a cloud of darkness 00:16:32.600 |
If you actually Google videos of locust swarm, it's crazy. 00:16:36.920 |
They have them out in Australia right now and people are frightened because of them. 00:16:44.280 |
That's like from here to Cerritos, you know, it's crazy. 00:16:49.080 |
And what's more, if it is unhindered, in even just a small plot of land, like a hundred 00:16:55.180 |
square foot, there could be over 200,000 locusts. 00:17:00.680 |
If you Google it, you can find videos of it that happen even now, but it's past, the 00:17:07.240 |
And the people were so, so distraught by that they started going to Pharaoh and saying, 00:17:11.040 |
"Listen, we're your servants, but you're crazy." 00:17:17.520 |
They said, "How long will this man be a snare to us? 00:17:20.680 |
Let the man go, that they may serve their Lord God. 00:17:29.520 |
The next plague was a darkness, a darkness so severe it says they could feel it. 00:17:34.920 |
It's almost like they could touch the darkness. 00:17:37.120 |
A lot of people think like, "Oh yeah, there was an eclipse." 00:17:40.520 |
It was a kind of darkness, the scripture says man could not get out of bed because he couldn't 00:17:46.600 |
It was a supernatural, complete pitch darkness where they could not operate. 00:17:53.560 |
And the last one, and the last one, as you guys know, is the one where God said, "I am 00:18:00.720 |
precisely inflicting this miracle on you, this plague on you, because you would not 00:18:10.900 |
And so he says, "I will kill the firstborn of this land." 00:18:23.720 |
Moses said, "Thus says the Lord, 'About midnight I am going out in the midst of Egypt, and 00:18:30.120 |
all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. 00:18:33.920 |
From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave 00:18:38.000 |
girl who is behind the millstone, all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 00:18:43.000 |
Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been 00:18:55.840 |
Did you know that right now in America there are 325.6 million people, okay? 00:19:07.900 |
We are not the biggest country in the world, but we are a superpower, yes? 00:19:13.240 |
Not necessarily the biggest landmass, but they were the superpower of their day. 00:19:18.000 |
And so statistically, according to the Census Bureau, there are 325 million people, but 00:19:23.200 |
in terms of households that have children, there's about 115 million households. 00:19:29.200 |
I want you to just imagine just for a moment. 00:19:33.680 |
Actually it's almost unfathomable to think that in one dark night, every single household, 00:19:41.160 |
every parent would experience the tremendous pain of finding that their firstborn, their 00:19:47.360 |
precious child, the one that would carry their legacy, the one that they treasure, would 00:19:54.480 |
And in one single night, an entire nation from every household, there would be a cry. 00:20:06.860 |
And the fact of the matter is, to me, it shatters our expectations because we would not be even 00:20:11.540 |
willing to attribute a small, small tragedy to God and say, "Okay, maybe God caused that." 00:20:17.060 |
Do you understand that God killed a generation of Egyptians? 00:20:26.380 |
The fact of the matter is, this kind of judgment was a righteous judgment from God as He was 00:20:33.580 |
multiplying His wonders before the people of the Egyptians. 00:20:39.140 |
And for us now, as we think about that, we think about us being a light. 00:20:50.900 |
As a matter of fact, the book of Exodus in the 10 plagues is probably a smaller version, 00:20:58.940 |
So actually, what we know is coming is a million times worse than this. 00:21:05.220 |
We're supernaturally almost in cosmic fashion. 00:21:12.620 |
God is going to cause supernatural heavenly beings to come down, stand on mountain and 00:21:17.420 |
sea and kill a third of the people in one fell swoop. 00:21:21.920 |
Like locusts, 200 million of the soldiers of the pits are going to come out and destroy 00:21:27.660 |
I mean, the things that we read in Revelation, part of it is just like truly unimaginable. 00:21:36.100 |
So then it begs us this question, should we not warn people? 00:21:42.380 |
Should we not warn people of the judgment to come? 00:21:45.980 |
Should we not prepare people of the kind of things God is going to do in our midst because 00:21:51.660 |
we realize what's next on the timeline, what's next on the agenda is exactly what's already 00:21:57.860 |
Are we going to say like, "Oh shoot, I didn't know." 00:22:08.460 |
We must speak because God is multiplying his judgments and that's exactly what he's doing 00:22:15.180 |
Scripture is teaching us that God is storing up his wrath. 00:22:19.420 |
He's allowing the fullness of times to come up, the fullness of the sins of man, the fullness 00:22:24.000 |
of the rejection and as we preach the gospel and people reject, God is bearing that up 00:22:30.100 |
until he deems it the right time to pour out his judgment on this generation. 00:22:39.060 |
Now part of the reason why I said that weird sentence of you need to speak to Pharaoh because 00:22:49.060 |
If you didn't know God is going to ultimately judge this world, then you just missed the 00:22:52.660 |
whole part of the gospels, the epistles and revelation and prophecies and everything 00:22:59.580 |
But the hard part about that sharing is not so much because we don't know the content 00:23:03.580 |
of the message of warning of the consequence of sin, warning of the consequence of entering 00:23:11.140 |
It's because we have to talk to Pharaohs, stubborn people who are resilient, who believe 00:23:16.900 |
they are the masters of their own kingdom and domain, who just like the king and Pharaoh 00:23:28.840 |
Those are the people we need to talk to and my bet is nine out of ten times you go out 00:23:33.060 |
to share the gospel message of Christ, you go out to warn people about the pending doom 00:23:38.060 |
and devastation that's coming, you're going to feel like you're talking to a bunch of 00:23:41.660 |
Pharaohs who are self-confident, arrogant, unwilling to yield. 00:23:48.520 |
But the challenge to us is, but did God command something different? 00:23:58.260 |
What's more efficient is they're your enemies, I just squash them, I'll go talk to them myself." 00:24:09.420 |
How is God going to multiply these judgments and strikes that he has for the generation? 00:24:19.360 |
He's going to use us to speak, to warn, and to continue to again in many ways reveal even 00:24:31.100 |
And so that's why again earlier I read you the passage in chapter seven when he says, 00:24:38.340 |
And he specifically says, "That as a purpose I may multiply my signs and my wonders. 00:24:43.380 |
And when Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay my hand on Egypt to bring out my 00:24:47.740 |
host and my sons of Israel from the land of Egypt by great judgments." 00:24:54.260 |
And then he says, "The Egyptians shall know I am the Lord." 00:25:00.140 |
So even if we feel like, "Oh my goodness, they're not going to receive this. 00:25:03.700 |
Oh my goodness, they're not going to take this. 00:25:14.940 |
So that being said, we move to the second theme that we see as we work through just 00:25:24.020 |
And the second theme that we normally think of when we think of book of Exodus is deliverance. 00:25:30.660 |
And the statement of exhortation I want to say to you is you must speak to Israel because 00:25:39.420 |
Because God is sovereignly delivering his people. 00:25:43.380 |
So one of the things we know to do when we read our Bibles is if there is a repetition 00:25:50.160 |
of terms, things like, "I may multiply my wonders." 00:25:53.620 |
He says that again and again so that you may know that I am the one true God who judges, 00:26:01.100 |
But there's another theme that's repeated in the book of Exodus that a lot of people 00:26:08.260 |
And what I mean by that is God says very explicitly, "I make a distinction between the Egyptians 00:26:15.740 |
For example, in Exodus chapter 9 verse 4, okay? 00:26:21.540 |
Exodus chapter 9 verse 4, he says, "But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock 00:26:28.700 |
of Israel and the livestock of Egypt so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the 00:26:36.780 |
And then even later when the hail strikes, the land of Goshen is the only area in which 00:26:42.260 |
the hail doesn't strike, but everything else is devastated. 00:26:48.780 |
Exodus chapter 10 verse 22 says, "So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and 00:26:54.740 |
there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 00:26:59.340 |
They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all 00:27:03.860 |
the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings." 00:27:12.600 |
Even in chapter 11 verse 7, "But against any of the sons of Israel, a dog will not even 00:27:18.500 |
bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how the Lord makes a distinction 00:27:27.060 |
You see, when I look at the past, the story of the book of Exodus, one thing that is very 00:27:34.220 |
clear, neither Pharaoh, the Egyptian servants, or the people of God are very receptive to 00:27:43.740 |
You guys remember when Moses goes to Pharaoh, the Pharaoh rejects, and the Pharaoh inflicts 00:27:50.860 |
harder kind of like workload on the Israelites, and the Israelites look at Moses and say, 00:28:01.020 |
They weren't fine, but that's what they say, because they're all mad. 00:28:04.520 |
And then they start to reject Moses, and then Moses is like, "I told you they're not going 00:28:08.660 |
And that's why Moses keeps going back and forth. 00:28:12.540 |
So the one thing that's very clear is it's not because Israel was better than Egypt, 00:28:18.620 |
but the fact of the matter is God being merciful is protecting, guarding, preserving, providing 00:28:25.020 |
for the nation of Israel according to His kind intention of mercy. 00:28:30.140 |
And that's why later on in the book of Romans, when it describes Pharaoh versus Israel and 00:28:34.620 |
what's happening, Apostle Paul is the one to say, "God chooses, and He has prerogative. 00:28:46.060 |
And if I choose you to be a vessel to show my judgment, then I'm glorious for that. 00:28:50.740 |
But if I choose you to show my mercy, then I'm glorious for that." 00:28:55.540 |
And so when we think about this, we think about the nation of Israel and how God has 00:29:00.340 |
You guys remember the story of the last plague. 00:29:03.380 |
The last plague comes where God predicts and foretells and says, "I am going to kill the 00:29:10.100 |
You know what's really interesting about that scenario? 00:29:12.420 |
If you were an Israelite, you'd be already thinking by like the fifth plague, "We win. 00:29:19.500 |
By the fifth plague, a bunch of the Egyptians have died. 00:29:23.460 |
Their power in terms of their wealth, a lot of it's being destroyed. 00:29:29.900 |
I mean, the Israelites should have been thinking, "We win. 00:29:42.300 |
And God provided for them and said, "Shed the blood of a blameless lamb. 00:29:50.700 |
Go into your home with all your children as a family and have this meal to commemorate 00:29:57.420 |
And all the children would wear their tunics, almost like they're getting ready to go outside. 00:30:02.360 |
The father would take his staff like he's ready to go on a hike. 00:30:06.700 |
They would make the unleavened bread that has no yeast. 00:30:16.020 |
And the father would explain, "The Lord had mercy on us. 00:30:26.420 |
He has had grace on us and he's going to deliver us." 00:30:38.380 |
And so the reason why I'm making much of this is because the Exodus, the prime focal point 00:30:44.060 |
is how God with his wonders and his miracles is delivering the people and sparing them 00:30:53.740 |
Does this message of being spared, does it excite you, inspire you, cause you to be passionate 00:31:06.940 |
And as you, you know, again, I make the mention of, yes, we need to talk to Pharaoh, we need 00:31:12.020 |
Now, there isn't a clear one-to-one corollary of who are the Israelites in our day. 00:31:16.700 |
We don't even necessarily make that kind of transition. 00:31:19.700 |
But there are clearly people who are different from, let's say, the stubborn, hearted, arrogant 00:31:27.500 |
There may be just like the Israelites, feeling oppressed, they're feeling pain, they're 00:31:31.460 |
feeling like they've got nothing, they're in despair, and they're looking for hope and 00:31:39.420 |
Can you then experientially say to the people, "Yes, resounding yes, look at me. 00:31:54.260 |
And did you know, did you know that in the mass Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt, 00:31:59.740 |
there were those of the Egyptians who saw the hail coming and said, "I will duck for 00:32:08.020 |
We need to be able to give that kind of exhortation. 00:32:10.700 |
There is a time and place to preach judgment because that's going to glorify God, and there's 00:32:18.780 |
That if you repent, this holy God who would judge an entire nation will forgive repentant 00:32:29.060 |
And that's why I say you must speak because God is sovereignly delivering His people. 00:32:33.860 |
He has provided us a way to escape His wrath through the blood of His Son, to escape eternal 00:32:40.700 |
damnation and not simply pointlessness, boredom, pain, sorrow, but to escape God's own wrath. 00:32:57.060 |
Should we understand that that is something that we must, we must speak of, amen? 00:33:03.620 |
Now thirdly, the last theme is that we might know God is knowledge. 00:33:14.020 |
The way that God is unfolding the events of the book of Exodus, there is a question mark 00:33:24.220 |
Like the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, Moses going over, and Moses is essentially saying 00:33:34.460 |
And the exhortation I want to give you is you must speak to all the peoples of the earth 00:33:38.540 |
because God is sovereignly revealing the knowledge of Himself and desiring that all would come 00:33:45.940 |
Now I know that's not short or memorable, but that's so important and we're going to 00:33:49.460 |
tackle it phrase by phrase, that we must speak to all the peoples of the earth. 00:33:55.380 |
We must speak to the Pharaohs, we must speak to the nation of Israel, we must speak to 00:33:58.820 |
the nations because God is sovereignly revealing the knowledge of Himself and desiring that 00:34:08.740 |
One of the very important thematic things that we saw, we saw when we read the initial 00:34:12.540 |
passage in chapter 7 at the beginning of the plagues, when God says, "I'm going to multiply 00:34:19.260 |
my judgments," and then He said, "So that the Egyptians might know I am God." 00:34:24.460 |
The Egyptians know idols, the Egyptians know created things like the Nile, like animals, 00:34:30.140 |
like snakes, and all that kind of stuff, and they render power. 00:34:35.420 |
And God is going to be glorified by the magnification of the knowledge of who He is. 00:34:41.840 |
But as you guys know, that has been the heart of God for this generation as well. 00:34:46.180 |
There's a passage in 1 Timothy 2 verse 4 that says, "God desires all people to be saved 00:34:57.820 |
Please turn in your Bible, since we're at Exodus, to Exodus 10 verse 1 and 2. 00:35:05.860 |
He says, "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart 00:35:13.180 |
and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of mine among them, and 00:35:17.540 |
that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson, how I made a mockery 00:35:23.380 |
of the Egyptians, and I performed my signs among them, that you may know that I am the 00:35:32.580 |
So we asked the question earlier, there is, what is God doing? 00:35:36.860 |
And by seeing what is God doing, we attach ourselves and say, "That's what I must do." 00:35:42.380 |
Not just a desire, not just that I ought to, should to, but I must. 00:35:47.740 |
What God is doing is revealing and unfolding who He is, and He wants generations to know. 00:35:55.840 |
And in this passage, Exodus chapter 10, He makes that clear commandment to Moses, "I 00:36:00.940 |
want you to teach this to your sons and the generations after them, what I have done, 00:36:10.640 |
And that's the way we need to think about it. 00:36:12.960 |
So for us, when we think about us being the light, we are not simply just propagating 00:36:37.340 |
And that reconciliation comes through one person, one mediator, Jesus Christ, who shed 00:36:42.600 |
His blood for you, that you could repent and God forgive you in His name. 00:36:52.100 |
However, us shining the light goes beyond the doctrinal statements because we want to 00:36:56.740 |
go beyond just educating people, but we want to show them, "Look, this is God. 00:37:06.120 |
He's all the things that we read about of His holiness, of His righteousness, but of 00:37:16.520 |
All of that is what we want to shine to the nations, amen?" 00:37:19.980 |
And that's why for us, there's a sense to which the biggest problem that we face is 00:37:26.460 |
not people just simply not going to church, but what is it that they believe about God 00:37:33.880 |
that gives them permission to not go to church? 00:37:37.400 |
Every time I have these holidays, we all get together with our extended family, and it's 00:37:42.740 |
I get together with different parts of the family, and it always seems like the older 00:37:48.300 |
generation just wants to know, "Are you going to church?" 00:37:51.700 |
And then maybe your cousins or distant relatives are less like, "I've been busy. 00:37:58.060 |
And we sometimes want to just tell people to do it, just go to church, okay? 00:38:07.380 |
What is it that you believe about God that says to you, "Don't render to Him your time"? 00:38:15.460 |
What is it that you believe and how you perceive about God that says to you, "This time is 00:38:26.620 |
God's being a light to the nations, to everyone, is to reveal the nature of God that He is 00:38:33.740 |
Lord of all, that He's the good Lord of all, the loving, gracious Lord of all. 00:38:44.380 |
And therefore, the problem with people is not simply they don't have resources, they're 00:38:48.140 |
in too much pain, they're suffering, all this kind of stuff. 00:38:57.180 |
It was in Exodus chapter 5 when Moses went to him and says, "Let my people go that they 00:39:11.500 |
And that's why even later on, did you know Pharaoh, after being inflicted, there were 00:39:18.780 |
For example, there was a moment in Exodus chapter 10 when Pharaoh hurriedly went to 00:39:26.380 |
He sought him out and he just rushed to him and said this, "I have sinned against the 00:39:36.500 |
Doesn't that sound like a good repentant sinner? 00:39:46.400 |
As soon as the hail went away, as soon as the storm went away, as soon as the darkness 00:39:51.820 |
went away, only thing he saw was his circumstance. 00:39:55.220 |
Only thing he saw was the removal of his pain and his suffering. 00:40:02.660 |
Likewise, for us, if in the way that we evangelize, we don't just do it any other way. 00:40:09.020 |
We don't just do it to that which we think is most effective. 00:40:13.420 |
Because it doesn't show that connection with the reality of who God is. 00:40:21.240 |
We could be offering all this kind of goods and services. 00:40:23.680 |
We could say, "Hey, we'll do your taxes for free because tax season's coming up. 00:40:33.480 |
But does that communicate, "Man, we come to worship and we serve this holy God." 00:40:41.060 |
And that needs to be within our evangelism, amen? 00:40:48.880 |
So in thinking about this general statement, we want to be lights. 00:40:56.340 |
It's above and beyond just a, "I don't know if I like it or not or maybe I should." 00:41:04.280 |
We must, by nature of what God is doing, by nature of how God has made us, by nature of 00:41:10.640 |
what amazing things God is doing both in the past and now. 00:41:15.440 |
And one other thing I want to tell you now as a way to look then, what other amazing 00:41:19.460 |
thing is God doing that would inspire us to evangelize is to ask this question, "What 00:41:30.880 |
Because what we know is God is sovereign over all time and space. 00:41:34.920 |
God was not sovereign over Egypt just when God was judging them. 00:41:38.680 |
But after God delivered the nation of Israel, there's this question mark like, "What happened 00:41:42.120 |
to the nation of Egypt and how did God treat them?" 00:41:45.260 |
Because even authorities, rulers, now and then, they're all under the sovereignty of 00:41:54.840 |
Please turn your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 19. 00:42:06.840 |
We asked the question, "What is happening to the Egyptians?" 00:42:09.240 |
And this passage, Isaiah chapter 19, answers it. 00:42:15.960 |
It says, starting from verse 1 through 4, "Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud 00:42:22.760 |
The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within 00:42:29.560 |
"So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians. 00:42:32.640 |
They will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor. 00:42:36.080 |
City against city and kingdom against kingdom. 00:42:38.760 |
And the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them." 00:42:42.880 |
"And I will confound their strategy so that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the 00:42:49.280 |
Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of cruel masters. 00:42:53.240 |
A mighty king will rule over them, declares the Lord God of hosts." 00:43:01.880 |
I'll demoralize you and you will be under subjection the rest of your existence." 00:43:10.920 |
Did you know that the nation of Egypt, although they were a superpower, so powerful, they 00:43:15.360 |
had massive slaves, all kinds of resources, you know, wonders of the world, right? 00:43:20.760 |
From then on, there was always internal conflict. 00:43:23.520 |
They were subjugated by the Assyrians and then they were subjugated by the Babylonians. 00:43:27.920 |
They were subjugated by the Persians and then later on the Greeks. 00:43:30.880 |
And then everybody basically had a turn with them almost. 00:43:35.680 |
And then we just wonder like, wow, you know, God's judgment is severe. 00:43:40.000 |
Let's scroll down a little bit and see if there's more though. 00:43:42.920 |
Verse 16, it says this, "In that day, the Egyptians will become like woman and they 00:43:48.840 |
will tremble and be in dread because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which 00:43:55.760 |
The hand of Judah will become a tear of Egypt. 00:43:58.620 |
Everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it because of the purpose of the 00:44:01.960 |
Lord of hosts, which he is purposing against them." 00:44:09.960 |
But yet still, yet still, we read on and there's more. 00:44:14.480 |
Scroll your eyes down to verse 19 and it says, "In that day, there will be an altar to the 00:44:19.280 |
Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar to the Lord near its borders. 00:44:24.800 |
They will become a sign and a witness of the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt, for they 00:44:29.300 |
will cry to the Lord because of the oppressors and he will send them a savior and a champion 00:44:41.720 |
Verse 21, "Thus the Lord will make himself known to Egypt and the Egyptians will know 00:44:50.540 |
They will even worship with sacrifice and offering and will make a vow to the Lord and 00:44:56.340 |
The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing. 00:44:59.420 |
So they will return to the Lord and he will respond to them and will heal them. 00:45:04.700 |
In that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria and the Assyrians will come 00:45:13.200 |
In that day, Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria and the blessing in 00:45:19.580 |
See look at this, verse 25, "Whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, 'Blessed is 00:45:26.340 |
Egypt my people and Assyria the works of my hands and Israel my inheritance.'" 00:45:38.940 |
You see, earlier what I was saying was I was making multiple points here, that God multiplies 00:45:46.780 |
And although he's multiplying his judgment, there's almost a frustration in our mind, 00:45:50.140 |
if you're going to do that, just get it over with. 00:45:52.300 |
Why do you need us to go and preach that judgment? 00:45:57.460 |
And then God is being gracious and God is going to multiply that graciousness and show 00:46:00.940 |
it to be grand and in that graciousness and that mercy, he's going to be glorified, right? 00:46:06.500 |
And through it all, what we're going to realize is God is using us and in all of it, God is 00:46:12.860 |
working out his marvelous plan to which we cannot even comprehend. 00:46:18.620 |
What we predict might not work, God will make it work. 00:46:21.140 |
What we predict is going to work is probably not going to work. 00:46:23.700 |
It is all going to be according to his sovereignty, his timeline, according to his mercy, amen? 00:46:30.740 |
But when I look at this, that God would even be merciful to the Egyptians and then call 00:46:35.660 |
them, "They will be blessed and my people," that is amazing. 00:46:40.700 |
And when I see that, I automatically feel a sense of, "Therefore, I must be a light," 00:46:46.220 |
because I know how is God going to reveal the knowledge of who he is to the people like 00:47:01.060 |
God is going to use you, your mouth, your changed life, your passion, your love for 00:47:11.500 |
And therefore we say, "Lord, I must speak of you." 00:47:19.500 |
Heavenly Father, your ways truly are above and beyond us. 00:47:28.900 |
Even in the well-known story of the plagues of Exodus, we realize you are working in multiple 00:47:34.540 |
layers for your purposes beyond what Moses could see, the people could see, and maybe 00:47:43.500 |
That in all this, you are also both showing all the elements of your righteousness, your 00:47:49.660 |
patience, and then ultimately your plan to save. 00:47:53.380 |
God, truly you are a wonderful God, and I pray that as we see you in greater light, 00:47:59.820 |
you would help us to be able to articulate and to share about what we see. 00:48:05.300 |
I pray, Father God, that all the more you would grant to us just deeper conviction of 00:48:10.140 |
the things that we see and that we receive, that truly, Lord, we would be witnesses and