Announcements this morning was that we are going to try to have our Thursday afternoon ladies Bible study this coming Thursday Thursday previous the weather wasn't the greatest and We weren't able to have the kind of turnout we were hoping for and so we're gonna try it again this Thursday And yeah, if that doesn't work, we'll go to our next meeting in November But just if you're involved with the Thursday afternoon ladies Bible study, we are going to try to meet on this upcoming Thursday cover the topic that we were gonna try to cover on Thursday. Before we carry on in our looking at God's word, we wanna ask that God's word might be a blessing to us, and let's pray for that in our prayer for illumination. Heavenly Father, for Jesus' sake, we're asking that your spirit would be at work so that we might see again the encouragement that's ours when we are in solidarity with you that we might see, Heavenly Father, that you take up the cause of your people because you have a gracious community or communion and solidarity with them. May that be our rest. May we find that to be one of the things that we can glean from your word as it's read and ministered today. May you accept our prayers for the sake of Jesus. Amen. Excuse me. We're gonna take up our reading of God's word from Exodus chapter nine and we're gonna read verses eight through 12. If we turn to that portion of God's word and continue to look at the plagues and continue to look at Exodus. So we're at Exodus chapter nine and looking at verses eight through 12, the sixth plague, the one about the boils. And here's what God's word says there. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, take handfuls of soot from the kiln and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh, which will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt. So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh and Pharaoh threw it in the air. or excuse me, Moses threw it in the air and it became boils breaking out in swords on man and beast. The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils. For the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not listen to them as the Lord had spoken to Moses. We do thank the Lord for his word and grateful that we could read it publicly and have it ministered to us today. Brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, when families are running well, the solidarity is evident, isn't it? When couples are married in the Lord, when a man and woman come together and they marry in the Lord, and the two become one flesh, and they walk down the same path together, there's solidarity. Solidarity is found when husbands treat their wives well. As they would, as the apostle would say, their own bodies, because the apostle would say nobody hates his own body, but he nurtures and cares for it, because there's a solidarity there. If we see our children hurting, as parents. It hurts us. When they rejoice and they do well, we rejoice with them. We take joy in seeing that happen because there's solidarity in the family. The church as the family of God is designed in part for that very reason too, isn't it? It's designed that way for a solidifying purpose. We're called to a communion of the saints and with the saints. We're called to rejoice with those who rejoice, to mourn with those who mourn. And when that happens, whenever we see that happen, and it happens, and praise God it does, we see a beautiful display of a redeemed and corporate humanity. And what's especially remarkable As we talk about solidarity, is the solidarity that God has with his people in Jesus Christ. The vine with the branches, the head with the body, the foundation upon which the holy temple of God, his church, is built. The shepherd with his sheep, the king and his kingdom. There's solidarity. And we see that bond here as well, as we consider the sixth plague. Because God is taking up the cause of his people. And we could say we've seen that in other places too. But he does that, as he does it here, in this gracious community, this gracious solidarity that he has with them, and which, frankly, Pharaoh doesn't see. because, and as we'll look in a moment, Pharaoh dishonors God, but in the process, he dishonors his people. And God brings honor to his name, but he brings honor remarkably to his people. He cares for them, he's concerned for them. And whether it's in Pharaoh's time or it's in our time, this solidarity that God has with his people is to be honored, as we honor God and as we value the communion of the saints for the sake of Jesus Christ. You see, when God's people are dishonored, God takes it personally. And that should be a consolation when we profess Jesus Christ. If we see ourselves getting dishonored, especially in the name of Jesus Christ and for the sake of Jesus Christ, But whenever we're laid low for whatever reason, because we stand for Jesus Christ, we stand for what he stands for, we honor his salvation, we want to follow his way. And when we're dishonored, God takes that personally. We don't take that ourselves. We have this great God who will see to it that while we might be dishonored for the moment, we'll be honored in the end. And that's part of the gospel. And it's part of that remarkable solidarity, that remarkable communion that we're called to appreciate, as we're called to an utter dependence on God as well. And these are really our talking points today from our sermon on the sixth plague. The sign of the soot that leads to the boils points to God's justice as he's carrying out for the honor of his name, but also for the care of his people. But also we see in all of this man's weakness and his need for God. So we look first of all at God's justice and how he carries it all out, certainly for the honor of his name, but also because he cares for his people. No doubt that each of these plagues shows God's justice at work. We've talked about that. But there's something especially noteworthy in the sixth plague about how that justice is shown. Moses is called to scoop up handfuls of soot, it says in our text, from the kiln. And a kiln was a furnace. And this furnace is the kind that bakes bricks. bricks that Israel, of course, was called to bake in their slavery to Egypt. And so we see then that Egypt's treatment, not just of people, but of God's people, is coming back to haunt them because God cares about His people. The punishment's fitting the crime here. They're reaping what they're sowing. And they have dishonored God from the outset and in their persistent refusal to release God's people from their oppression. You see they're dishonoring God, but they also show a disrespect, they show a disdain for his people, and God won't have that. And we find this remarkable point then of solidarity between God and his people. You see, this isn't just an example, and people like to do this, of course. This isn't just an example about how God is vindicating people who are oppressed and victims of crime. See how God is carrying out his social justice here. No, it's not that oppression and victimization isn't important and that things shouldn't be just in our society as a whole. But the deeper conflict that strikes at the heart of God is when His people, it's when the church is oppressed by the evils of the world. Because that, you see, is the ultimate biblical conflict. It isn't between colors, it isn't between nations, it isn't between genders, it isn't between the haves and the have-nots, it isn't between different classes of people, it is the conflict that is between the world and the Church. Between God and his people, and the forces that are against the cause of Christ, and who are a part of the cause of Antichrist. The cause of those who simply want to make a name for themselves in the spirit of the Tower of Babel, on the one hand, and those who call upon the name of the Lord in worship as Savior and as King, the Church of Jesus Christ, on the other. That is the ultimate biblical conflict that our world faces. And this plague is a reaction of how God amazingly ties himself to those he calls his own in grace. When God's people are dishonored, God is dishonored. There's that connectivity there. When God's people are persecuted, that is not a trivial thing. Now, it doesn't make the headlines. It doesn't cause people to riot over it and steal things from fancy stores. And certainly God's people don't find themselves doing that. But regardless whether or not these things make the headlines and whether this stuff gets broadcasted or not, God's people are connected to God in Christ. And so what happens to God's people matters a great deal to God. And the great shepherd of his sheep, Jesus Christ. And you know, we all need to be consoled in that truth, don't we? As Christians in the church, because, because it's oftentimes that the Christian is forgotten in the world about all that's going with all that's going on. People like to broadcast about everything, but they don't like to broadcast, they don't even care, oftentimes, to broadcast about the oppression or the kind of opposition that the Christian cause receives in the world. But that shouldn't surprise us, as we're going to hear later, too. John would say, don't be surprised if the world hates the church or doesn't care what happens to the church. But God cares about what happens to the church. And Jesus Christ is the great shepherd of his sheep, never leaving them or forsaking them. He cares about the church. He cares what happens to you. And you're not forgotten. Though you might think others might, but you're not forgotten by the Lord himself. And we learn from this plague that God's people are going to be vindicated. You know, we might be associated with all kinds of different groups in our life. I could probably sit down with a number of you and say, you know, what kind of groups, what kind of clubs, what kind of associations have you had over the course of your life? And you could start naming different things. But none of them are greater than being associated with the Church of Jesus Christ. Because in that church, we have God's back. He has our back. And so we also have his son's back, or his son has our back as well. And while God's concern is supremely for his own honor, as is to be for us, it's not without a concern for his people. Jesus has said, as the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. What a remarkable statement. All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Because they're tied in a blessed way to the benevolence, the everlasting benevolence of God in Jesus Christ. And nobody can separate them from that. Based on God's justice, his mercy and love, God's people will be honored in Christ even if the world hates them. And such honor is where their lives are heading. And such honor is theirs already. Because they're children of the Heavenly Father. And they're no longer slaves. Now on the flip side, the enemies of God who are who in sync opposes church. And that's how it goes. We want to see that, right? God has his honor in mind, but he cares for his church. And his people, in reflection, honor God, but they care for his church. Because that's what a reflection of God is. But in turn, the enemies of God dishonor God, but then in sync they oppose his church. but it comes to nothing. It comes to dishonor. Whether it's the angelic or the human variety, they have no reason to hope for the future and not for eternity. Because nothing works together for the good in the end. It's the opposite of what happens for the Christian. And there isn't any hope for that kind of an anti-Christian, anti-church, anti-God frame of mind, even though at the moment sometimes we can get kind of consumed with how it seems like they seem to hold the future. But you don't have to despair of what it looks like for the moment. There's no honor in the end for the disobedience and the sinful stubbornness and opposition to God and his church and his cause. Revelation speaks about how God is going to deal justly in time and for eternity on his enemies. I mean, that's partly what you read Revelation for, but one of the things it does is that it references back to the boils of Egypt of an eternal judgment that's going to be worse than those boils of Egypt. Revelation 16.2 speaks about swords that come upon mankind who carry the mark of the beast and those who worship his image. There isn't any honor there. Deuteronomy 28, 27, and 35, they state that if Israel would disobey, they'd face the boils too. They'd face the boils of Egypt just like Egypt did. And my friends, unlike Pharaoh, you and I are not to be those who are dragged to the church of Christ, who are opposed to the Church of Christ, who are indifferent to God's people, who are aloof to God's people, who are hateful to God's people, who are separated from God's people, or without distinction from the world as God's people. And why is that? It's because to dishonor the body of Christ that way is to dishonor the God who has called his people in solidarity to himself and to each other in Christ. You get the whole package. And you get the whole package because that's how God is with his people. He honors his name, but he has a concern for his people. Christians honor God's name, they have a concern for his people. It's partly what makes them Christians. And so you're proud to be known as his people, through faith in Christ and practice, lest the judgment of God fall upon us. You know, 1 John 3, 13 and 14 say, John would tell us in his first letter there that we shouldn't be surprised if the world hates us, but that we know that we have been delivered from death to life because we love the brought Because we love the brother. And he who doesn't love abides in death. Jesus says, by this, all people will know that you are my disciple. How do they know? It's because you have love for one another. John 13, 35. You see, in life, you either hate God and his people, or you love God and his people in Christ. Pharaoh was the hater, and he's not to be followed. God's justice, as it's carried out, it directs our attention to human weakness and sin and mortality and what I call impotence as well. You notice how we've always said that there's always some kind of first going on with these plagues, and it's true here too. As far as the first go, This is the first plague that actually touches humanity directly. And it touches it with boils. Evidently, it's a skin disease. It results in something boil-like. Job, we read, this is the disease he had. In Job 2.7, same words used. Leviticus 13 associates this as that which is associated with the unclean. One thing we can say for sure is that since it is something that is mentioned in the curses of Deuteronomy 28, it's a dreadful disease. And it normally expresses God's curse on a person or on a people. And since it strikes the skin, it carries with it the sense of uncleanness before the Lord. And so what it's doing, you see, is that it's marking the difference between God's people and those who are not. It's between Egypt and God's people here. And typically, typically, especially when you read in scripture, disease is something that we see that's leading to death. And we know that typically, even in our own existence, if disease is left unchecked, it leads to death. Now we don't read of that death here, But disease in the biblical context has a natural association with death. The curse of God is associated with death. And when God sets up stipulations and consequences of his covenant with Israel, he divides between life and death, prosperity and destitution, peace and war, rest and turmoil, but then also disease and health. And because of this disease, we see more clearly that death is where Egypt is heading, and everybody that's associated with her. And of course, we know that, that that's where things go, don't we? I mean, the sixth plague is not the last plague. It's leading to the Passover, and it's leading beyond that to the Red Sea. Death is reserved for those opposed to God and his people in Jesus Christ. It's a sin that brings such death-laced consequences from God. I should say it is sin that brings that kind of death-laced consequence from God. You know, we may not receive boils on our bodies, but the fall into sin continues to have its impact on us physically. We're aware of it. Now, many social diseases arise from a disrespect of God and a disrespect of the marriage order. When we abuse our bodies in different ways, we often pay the price. However, at the same time, you have to be careful. You cannot attribute every disease to that kind of a direct cause and effect in our day. You gotta be careful with that. Many diseases do not come about because somebody did something wrong. On the other side, there are plenty of people today who are living perfectly healthy lives for years on end, and they have no concern at all for their spiritual welfare. They don't care, but they're perfectly healthy. You know, we don't see people getting boils today because they're oppressing God's people. However, that doesn't mean that such judgment isn't coming for oppressing God's people, or for not caring about your spiritual welfare, or that sin hasn't weakened us, or that death is not coming to us, or that we shouldn't learn lessons about disease. Pharaoh and Egypt needed a lesson. They needed a stiff reminder that God was holy and just, and that God was king, and that God was God. You know, in our battle with sin, we all need those kinds of reminders, don't we? When we sin, we foolishly think We're getting away with what we do. I mean, why else would we do it? Or sometimes we think that we can get away with what we do because we think we're going to live forever. We can think that way a lot of times when we're young. Ah, you know, you can have that mentality, right, that I'm young. Nothing's going to stop me. And so nothing's not only going to stop me physically, but nothing's going to stop me spiritually. I can do what I want, because I'm going to live forever. Look at me now. But you know, whether it's the hammered home sign of boils, or whether it's the cancer that comes unexpectedly, or whether you get a cold, or the flu, or corona, Disease, whether brought on by our own actions or not, disease teaches us inevitably about our mortality and our limits and our weakness, don't they? Disease does that. That's how God uses it. The question is whether it's gonna teach us enough that we should humble ourselves that though we like to think we're God or act like we're God or that we can talk like we're God, we are not God at all. We are not the Almighty. And if you get sick, it should remind you of that. Will it teach us enough though to know that it's not God who needs us? and that God is there for us. Nor that we need not have God, but that we need God. Will it teach us that much? That we need God. And ultimately in our day in Jesus Christ to God's glory. Moses and Moses and Aaron, as the representatives of God, can stand before the greatest authorities the earth can offer, but the magicians, as representatives of the greatest authorities the earth has to offer, cannot stand before the God of government. Because he's holy. And they're unclean. And they are not the gods. There is but one, who's holy and almighty and king. They can't stand when the curse of God is upon them. You know, whether it's cataclysmic judgments of boils or whether it's the lesser consequences that come from the fall, even a cold or a flu, let alone Corona. We're called in Christ to acknowledge that we are not the Almighty. Only God is. But we need Him. for salvation, for life, for direction. That's the lesson we need to learn here. That's the lesson we need to learn about disease today. God doesn't need us, but we need God. And oh, if we have him to lead us, to save us, to heal us, to direct us in Jesus Christ and by his word and to his glory to such an extent that if we are dishonored by others, God is dishonored as well, and he'll take care of us. We need to see what Peter saw about Christ. Where else shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We need you, God. And to think less than that is just self-destructive. You know, God showed himself to be present among his people and present in Egypt in the boil. And only by God's grace would Pharaoh ever acknowledge through God's plague of disease that God was in the midst. But fast forward a few years, in fact, a few centuries, and God again would be in the midst. Only this time He wouldn't strike with disease. Instead, as Matthew says it, He would take up our infirmities and He would bear our diseases. And throughout the Gospel accounts, that's what we read of Him who was the Word, who was made flesh and dwelt among us. He who enabled his apostles did this very same thing as they performed these disease ridding signs and wonders. And why? So that people could know and be assured that God had come to visit his people so that one day death and disease would be no more. The curse would be removed. and life forevermore would be the result of his coming for all who would believe in him. You know, it's one thing to refuse the God who would curse for sin. That's bad enough. But it's even worse, and it's foolish, for people to refuse to receive the merciful God who brings blessing and promises to be with his people both now and forever. Why would you want to refuse that? Jesus Christ is God with us. And when he was on earth, he took away disease to show that in the end, that the end of all things wouldn't be curse, wouldn't be disease, wouldn't be death, but would be blessing, health, and life for those who belong to him and those who would see their need for him spiritually and physically. All people can see today is disease. And Jesus wants us to see past that and see the life that he gives to us beyond the disease. See, in so doing, as Jesus did that, he showed that he was God in the midst. And for those whose trust is in him, that's the life and that's the blessing that you have and will have for time and eternity. You might have disease now. You might know somebody who does. You may die physically before Christ returns, but when you are in Christ Jesus, your end is not like those with the boil or with the flu or with corona, because that's how most people, I think, today are living. That's the end. It won't be. Now, instead, what's going to happen is that you won't have the eternal judgment of God that's worse than the boils infinite. And that's because Christ bore our sins, carried our sorrows, who took our infirmities and bore our diseases. Those who refuse to see what the power of Christ's life-giving presence brings live the life of death now and an eternal death when Christ returns, whether they get corona or not. And they're not gonna be able to stand in the presence of Christ any more than the magicians could stand before Moses of old. We are not to refuse the Son. We are to kiss him lest we perish. My friends, Pharaoh's dishonor of God and his people, that was ripening the wrath of God. We know that, right? We know the story. It was ripening in the wrath of God. But it wasn't just for His own name, for God's own name. But it was also because He cared for His people. And He delivered them. And when Christ returns on the clouds of glory, the wrath that is against God and against those who don't like his people or are aloof to his people, that will ripen for the same reasons, for Christ's honor, but also because he cared for his people and he'll deliver them. The disease of the boils, that was a reminder, as disease does, that we're not the Almighty, but that God is. and that each person is truly in need of him for everything, for salvation, direction, time, and eternity in Jesus Christ. This is the God who will be honored. And this is the God who's going to care for his people through Jesus Christ, who can bear our sins, carry our sorrows and diseases like nobody else can. No one. Now, may we find ourselves honoring this God and caring for his people as well. Amen. Let's respond in prayer, shall we? Father, we want to thank you for this portion of your word we could read and have ministered to us today. May it bring consolation and challenge to our hearts where needed by the blessing of your spirit. We'd ask that you'd hear us in Jesus' name. Amen.