Welcome to SuccessfulSavior.org, the ministry of Harmony Primitive Baptist Church in Donaldson, Arkansas. Well, good afternoon. I say good morning, but we done passed that a long time ago now, and I know everybody's eating and ready for that Sunday nap. So I'm gonna do the best I can and pray for me. And God's in the matter, you can't go wrong. And if he's not in the matter, you can't go right. So Brother Dan talking about the darkness, not comprehending the light. That was me and you. The darkness not comprehending the light. That is me and you. You've got a nature that can't even comprehend God and it's still there. It's still inside of you. Now you've got a new nature that is in his image that can't understand spiritual things. But you've got that old nature that cannot even comprehend God, can't even comprehend His statutes, His precepts, His judgments, who He is, what He's done. That's something big to think about. But just like Brother Dan was talking about humbling ourselves, you know, I love Brother Dan, but I think he'd be the first one to tell you that if something happened to Brother Dan tomorrow morning, he could just raise up another Brother Dan that quick. Sure could. I mean, that's the God that we deal with. That's our God. It's not like all of a sudden everything would just come to a screeching halt because one man died or one man got sick. That's not our God. You know, and sometimes maybe you can get to feeling pretty good about yourself and think, oh man, these people would be in trouble without me, or that group needs me, or the case may be. Well, guess what? God doesn't need you. And he can remove you and add somebody else who may do a better job than you've been doing. I mean, that's our God. He doesn't need anybody or anything to fulfill his purposes. All right, let's open up to Romans chapter nine and verse 17. Romans chapter nine and verse 17. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, okay, even for this same purpose. We've already talked a little bit about purpose. Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. Notice that God did not need to wait until he had an opportunity to bring glory to his name. He didn't need to wait until the situation was optimal to act. He didn't wait until things had just kind of worked out in his favor to where then he may judge Pharaoh and Egypt to bring glory on his name. He didn't have to. God doesn't have to wait on anybody or anything anywhere. And I just wanna, we're gonna examine this today. I feel like I've talked about Exodus every time I come over here. So what's one more time, all right? For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. For why did he raise Pharaoh up? Why did he raise Pharaoh up? That I might show my power in thee. That I might show my power in you. Okay? Just think about that. That I, God, might show my power in you, Pharaoh. Was Pharaoh a God-fearing man? If you've got some evidence, now's the time to show it, okay? I don't find any, and I'll just put it like Moses put it, and we're gonna get to that here in just a second. But that I might show my power in thee. Did Pharaoh have any earthy idea what was going on? He didn't have a clue. Did Pharaoh, what's crazy to think about, Pharaoh in his ignorance and in the hardness of his heart was following God's purpose and had no idea about it the entire time. This is arguably, well, I would say he was the most powerful man on earth at the time, was he not? Is that safe to say? He seemed to be. And here's God using Pharaoh the most powerful man on earth to the glorifying of his name and Pharaoh has no idea about it. And here we are, thousands of years later, still talking about it. Pharaoh still doesn't know what happened. That's several thousand years ago, okay? All right, that I might show my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. So why did he raise Pharaoh up that I might show my power and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth? Basically, to show my power and to show my glory, to bring glory to my name. That's what he did, okay? And to declare his name throughout all the earth. If you remember in Joshua, remember Rahab the harlot who was in Jericho? She remembered Egypt. That was a long time prior. I mean, at least 40, 41 years prior that all of that had happened, and Rahab remembered it in Jericho. That my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Would you say mission accomplished? We're talking about it today, aren't we? I'd say God set out, He had a purpose to set out, that His name might be declared, that He'd bring glory to His name. I'd say He accomplished that purpose, didn't He? Though Pharaoh fought it, though Pharaoh had no idea, though Moses had no idea, though the Israelites had no idea, it didn't stop God, did it? And He didn't need any help doing it. He's God. Let's turn back and look at some of these things, okay? Let's go back to Exodus, chapter five. Exodus, excuse me, Exodus chapter five and verse two. You know, when you're trying to speak about God being sovereign, It's almost like God is God and you can just stop there, you know? I mean it's, but you try, but then when you really try to dive into a talk about it, it's kind of hard to talk about. Sovereign is something that we, our nature can't comprehend. Because we are the opposite of sovereign. We're the opposite of independent. We're dependent on things every single day just to maintain our moral life for a short time period. And then we have God who needs nothing. It's harder to speak on than you think. And if you don't think so, give it a shot and see what happens. I mean, really, really. All right, Exodus chapter five, verse two. All right, so Moses' burning bush has happened. He has gone back, talked to Pharaoh the first time. Okay, Exodus chapter five, verse two. And remember Moses told Pharaoh that they were going to have a feast in the wilderness. That's why they needed to leave if he just let them go for three days. Pharaoh wouldn't let that happen. Verse two, and Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? Now that's interesting, isn't it? Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? He's Pharaoh, the most powerful man on the earth. And here's Moses telling him that this God is telling him to let his people go, that he may go worship him. Obviously that didn't sit too well with Pharaoh. Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? Think about Moses now. walking back, he's already had to flee this country because he was gonna be killed, right? That was 40 years prior, but nonetheless, still, he's been gone 40 years. And he comes back, and God tells him to go straight to Pharaoh and tell Pharaoh to let his people go. Now, Moses had some mishaps, he had some downings he wouldn't have, but he did it, didn't he? Eventually, God took him up there. And you can only imagine the fear and doubtings that Moses had. He was an Israelite. Were they not abominations unto the Egyptians? They hated him. And Moses is going to go to the Pharaoh, the head man, and tell him to let God's people go. He was pretty brave. He was pretty brave. God gave him courage. You know, back then you'd go to a king in such a manner and you could just lose your noggin that quick. I mean, really. You could walk up to a king back then or that day and say, hey, let these people go. And he'd say, well, ax him. I mean, really. And nobody would have thought twice about it. He's the king. He can do whatever he wants to. Well, he could do whatever he wanted to as far as Egypt was concerned. But as far as God's concerned, he had no power. Alright? So, who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord. Neither will I let Israel go. How straightforward is that? What do you think Moses is thinking at this point? You know, Moses has probably been, I'd say your prayer would be in overdrive if you're going up to Pharaoh and you're fixing to tell him to let my people go, okay? And you go up there and you tell him that, and you've been praying about it like, okay, great, God's gonna work this thing out, I'm gonna go tell Pharaoh, and Pharaoh's just gonna let the people go that quick. And then Pharaoh says, who's the Lord that I shall obey? His voice, I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. Don't you know Moses just thought, he probably got knocked down into the ditch after that. He probably thought, man, this is, I'm going to lose my life, they're going to be treated with rigor a lot harder, and this was all for nothing. Let's keep reading. Let's go over there to verse 22. By the way, how about the faith of the Israelites? Hard to find. Hard to find. Verse 22. 5 and verse 22. All right. After that little trick, Pharaoh obviously, y'all know the story, he got mad and told them to treat him with harder rigor. He removed the straw, so then he made them go get the straw and make the brick and build the temples. All right. In verse 22. And Moses returned unto the Lord and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil and treated this people? Did Moses understand what was going on? No, he didn't. Wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? Why is it that thou hast sent me? He's thrown the towel in already. He got told no one time. Pharaoh told him, I will not let the people go. Moses is down in the dump. Okay, he's feeling sorry for himself. And honestly, who can blame him at this point? Moses has no idea what's going on behind the scenes. He has no idea what God is doing for his own glory. He has no idea. All right, 23, for since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people, neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. Now, Moses is a little bit aggravated there, you can tell too, you know. Now, let's read chapter six, verse one. Then the Lord said unto Moses, now, now, okay, now, now that you have seen Pharaoh's, now that you have seen that Pharaoh knows me not and won't obey me and doesn't care about you, now shalt thou see, talking to Moses, now shalt thou, Moses, see what I will do to Pharaoh. Okay? Now, if Moses had just gone to Pharaoh the first time and said, hey, the Lord said, let my people go, and Pharaoh just said, all right, you can have them. How much glory would God have had in that? We probably wouldn't be talking about it too much today, right? Rahab probably wouldn't have been talking about it 40-something years later. Not a whole lot of glory in that. But see, when God acts, it's in the most magnificent, astounding, glorifying thing that we know. It's beyond what we can even comprehend, regardless of where of it happening or not. Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh, okay? All right? and said unto him, I am the Lord. All right, now let's, I'm just gonna skip around here a little bit. Chapter six and let's go to verse 11, okay? Chapter six and verse 11. Go in, here's God speaking to Moses again. Go in, speak unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. And Moses spake before the Lord, saying, behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me. The Israelites did not believe Moses. And so Moses' point is, how then shall Pharaoh hear me? Your own people are not hearing you. Your people do not believe what you're telling them. So how is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, doesn't know God, will not obey God, how is he supposed to hear me? Legitimate question. Hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips." Remember, he had the speech impediment. I guess you could say that. He wasn't an eloquent speaker, is what I gather. He wasn't going to hoodwink Pharaoh into letting the people go. And he knew it. All right, so he says that. In verse 30, he says it again. I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me? That's chapter 6, verse 30. He says it again to God. Notice this in chapter 7, verse 1. And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh. That is an interesting language. God told Moses that I have made you, Moses, a god in Pharaoh's sight. That's amazing, isn't it? Can God not make himself God and anybody's sight who he wants to? Can He not reveal Himself to whoever He wants to, whenever He wants to? I have made thee a God to Pharaoh. A man who doesn't know God, doesn't fear God, here you have Moses who can't even speak proper, and God is telling him, I made you a God in Pharaoh's eyes. That's the power of God. Now that's amazing to think about. If he can make a man such as Moses seem a god in somebody's eyes, can he not make himself a god to anybody, reveal himself to anybody whenever he wants to? And Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. All right, let's keep going here. Verse 3, Exodus 7, verse 3, And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you that I may lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth mine armies and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. He's got a purpose here. that Moses has not quite grasped yet. Aren't you thankful that our understanding of God's purposes do not hinder those purposes from Him fulfilling them? Our understanding has no bearing on God fulfilling His purposes. Our understanding, our action, we have nothing to do with the fulfilling of election, of predestination, of God saving His people, has no effect on it. It didn't here, it doesn't anywhere in the Bible. Let's go to chapter nine and verse 16. I'll just skip a little bit here. Chapter nine, Exodus chapter nine verse 16. And in very deed, this is going back to Romans nine, but Exodus chapter nine verse 16. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up for to show in thee my power and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. And yet exaltest thou thyself against my people that thou will not let them go. Isn't it amazing reading through here and seeing all of this stuff that's happening to the Egyptians, happening to Pharaoh? It's like, why in the world would he not just let these people go? God wasn't going to let them go. God was going to destroy Pharaoh. He was going to destroy Egypt for the glory and honor of His name. And the Egyptians knew nothing about it. Okay? And in very deed for this cause have I, God, raised thee, Pharaoh, up, for to show in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. All right? I think I read 17. Also, here's a, let's go to chapter 9 and verse 20, just a little side note here. How about Pharaoh's servants down here? This is, I've always thought this is funny. He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses. The hail was coming, all right? God was fixing to send hail. And the servants had seen enough. Some of those servants of Pharaoh's feared God. And when they heard Moses warn about this hell, you know what they did? They went and got their cattle and their slaves and they put them in the house. They weren't fixing to lose nothing else, okay? They feared the word of the Lord. And then what about those that didn't? And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field. They lost their cattle, they lost their servants. Those that feared God, they saved their cattle and they saved their servants. Big lesson in that. All right, let's keep going here. Let's go to verse 27, Exodus 9 verse 27. All right, the hail has occurred, all right? And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said unto them, I have sinned this time. He's finally saying, I've messed up. It doesn't take a child of God to see all this stuff happening to figure out something's not right, okay? It doesn't. All right, signs and wonders, that can, you don't have to be a child of God to see all this stuff happening and think, okay, something's going on here, something's up. I mean, really, this was what? This was the seventh plague, okay? He's got his servants running out of his throne room, going to grab their servants and cattle to hide. He knows something's up here, all right? All right. The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. You say, well, that sounds like a child of God. Well, just hold on. And treat the Lord, for it is enough that there be no more mighty thunderings in hell, and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer. Let's read verse 29. And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the Lord, and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hell, that thou mayest know how that the earth is the Lord's. He's telling Pharaoh, this is God's, this isn't yours. You think, okay, message received, hold on. Verse 30, but as for thee individually, as for thee, Pharaoh, and thy servants, I know that ye will not fear the Lord God. Moses knew that they weren't going to. He tells him that. And he didn't, did he? After all those plagues, what'd he do? Just say, well, God is good, I just did something I shouldn't have done, or I was part of some great, no, no, no. He went after God's people trying to kill them. All right, let's read chapter 10, verse 1 and 2, and I think that's it. And the Lord said unto Moses, go in unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him. Why? Verse two, okay. And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them, that ye may know how that I am the Lord. That's why. my honor, my glory. That's why God is doing this. God took an unregenerate Pharaoh, you could say the king of Egypt who was the greatest ruler on the face of the earth at the time. He took him, destroyed his kingdom, slew him, slew his son for his own honor and glory. That's what he did. You know why he did that? He's God. He can do whatever he wants to do. And he does whatever he wants to do. Let me put it that way. I can clean that up a little bit more. He does whatever he purposes to do. And it doesn't matter if the king of Egypt, the president of the United States, the head of the European nations, it doesn't matter. He does what he purposes. And it doesn't matter if I understand it, it doesn't matter if you understand it, if they understand it, he fulfills his purposes. He keeps his promises, he fulfills them. I tell you what, let's go to Romans 9, verse 18. I'll finish there first. Romans 9, verse 18. Did he harden Pharaoh? You bet. What was it for? The honor and glory of his name. Declaring his name throughout the entire earth. How do you think all those nations surrounding Egypt, Egypt no doubt was probably the wealthiest nation on the earth. They had really fertile cropland, which if you had fertile cropland back then, you were going to be the wealthiest. Where they were positioned, they could trade around the Mediterranean, right? They had plenty of free labor. They had just about everything you could ask for. They had gold. They had all the riches of Africa. But God destroyed them for the honor and glory of his name. All right, let's keep reading here. Therefore, have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Okay? Verse 20, Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Did Pharaoh even have an argument to say, God, why did you hard my heart? No, he didn't. He didn't. He had no argument. I love the potter and the clay. Have you ever seen a ball of clay say, hey, make me a kettle or make me a big old fancy pot and lay some gold around the edges? No, clay is not that. Clay is basically worthless. But in the hands of a skilled potter, it's valuable, isn't it? I don't know if y'all have ever made any pottery like that. It's a little bit more, I think I've done it one time. And it's still at mom and dad's house. It's this little lumpy looking thing that they throw change in. It's just a lumpy deal, it's cracked. I'm sure I didn't do something right and they throw change in it. It's still at their house. I wasn't very skilled. That's why it looks so bad. If you threw it in the trash can, it would hurt my feelings. I mean, it's terrible. I don't have that kind of talent, though. I don't have that kind of ability, okay? We are the clay. He is the potter. Did he not take of the same lump, where do we say, okay, let's see here. Did he not take of the same lump of Pharaoh and make Pharaoh to honor and glorify his name? He did. Pharaoh wasn't a child of God, I'm not saying that, but he shaped Pharaoh, raised him up so that his name, that he would bring honor and glory to his name. Now, think about you and I here, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. How much honor and glory does it bring to his name when we see a child of God in his image? Can you imagine that? Anytime you see a child of God, you need to think God has made, God has made that individual into His image. That's our God, okay? He had no problem with Pharaoh. He had no problem with the Israelites, and he didn't have any kind of problems making one of his children in his image, taking them and forming them in his image. I know that it's a creation. I know that it's regeneration. But there's a whole lot of making in the Bible, too. There's a bunch of making. All right? What does it say? Ephesians 2, for we are his workmanship, are we not? You know, we are his workmanship. I know that if, you know, well, I don't know, I shouldn't even say that. But I know that if I breathe my last, and all of my hope and everything was wrong, and I go to hell, and I deserve to go to hell, I do, and y'all do too, me more than y'all, but we all do. I know that it's because I was not made meat in his sight, made acceptable in his sight. The clay has no power to make itself acceptable. It has no power. It's clay. And God took of the same lump and can make one unto honor and another unto dishonor. That's God's business. He's God. He's Sovereign. Okay? We are made accepted in the Beloved. Well, I'll read one thing. Let's go back to Jeremiah 18. I got myself sidetracked there. Jeremiah 18, verse 1. I'll read four verses and I'm done. The word which came to Jeremiah, and I am not talking about before the world began either, okay? I ain't talking about that. God did not predestinate some to fall and some to his image, okay? As far as I know, and I don't know a whole lot, but predestination relates to us being conformed to his image, soul, body, and spirit. That's it as far as predestination is concerned. God did not predestine some unto dishonor before the world began. If he did, then he'd have to predestinate to save them from his own predestination, okay? That didn't happen. All right, let's read Jeremiah 18 verse one. The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, arise and go down to the potter's house and there will I cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter. It was messed up. So what'd he do? So he made it again another vessel as seemed good to the potter to make. Whose standard is it? Does the clay have a standard? No. The potter sets the standard. He's the one that makes us meet in his sight. He's the one that made you meet in his sight, okay? And by the way, what is God's standard for perfection? Is it not Jesus Christ? Is that not the standard? I say that, and I probably should say that more, but that is perfection. That is the fulfillment of the law. That is what we would have had to been in our lives to be acceptable in His sight. Impossible. No way, okay? I'm not even gonna get into all that, but. All right, verse five. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? Did he not do with Pharaoh what seemed good in his sight? Can he not do with America what seems good in his sight? Can he not do what seems good in his sight with every single child of God out there by his own power, by his own purpose to make them acceptable in his sight? Yes, he can. He's the potter. We're just the clay. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. All right, one thing and I'm done. Psalm 17 and verse 15. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. That's the vessel that you look like in the eyes of God. You are shaped in the image of Jesus Christ. You are in his likeness. God has put His robes of righteousness on you, and you're acceptable in His sight. You're perfect in His sight. Holy, unreprovable, blameless in His sight. The only one that can do holy, unblameable, unreprovable work is God Himself, is it not? Can we do anything that is absolutely perfect, totally? There's no way. You can hire the 15 best contractors in Arkansas and tell them to build a 10-by-10 shed and there'd be imperfections in it. Give them an unlimited amount of money and say, I just want a 10-by-10 shed with one small door, there'd be imperfections. That's our nature. We defile, we corrupt. God is uncorrupted. He is undefiled. He's perfect and holy. That's who I want making me. That's who I want making his children in his image. I'm gonna stop right there. Thank y'all for the really good attention. I know it was a, it's a warm afternoon and everybody's sleepy, but thank y'all for the really, really good attention. And thank you for listening to SuccessfulSavior.org, the ministry of Harmony Primitive Baptist Church. Come and join us as we worship God in the simplicity of Christ every Sunday morning at 416 North Hall Street in Donaldson, Arkansas. At Harmony, we don't have many things you'll find in the popular churches of our day, but we do have a successful Savior. We invite you to come and see.