Well, last time we were in the book of Exodus, we covered basically the first 13 verses. And I made the statement that I'd read somewhere, it covered two old men and a piece of wood. And because we've got to remember Moses at this stage was 80 years old, Alan was 83, and they had a piece of wood, a stick. But we said then that two old men and a piece of wood, plus God, is a majority. And that lesson I trust that we took away with us then, that when we're faced with the unknown, when we're faced with things, and since last month, each one has been faced with something, some very serious, some perhaps not so, but we've all faced things that we didn't know about a month ago. The stress of life. faced with what appears impossible challenges sometimes, we must remember that with God, sustaining Christ, you have the majority. With God on your side, what is it Romans 8 31 says? If God is for us, who can be against us? The message puts it like this. It says with God on our side, how can we lose? The verse we know well, but remember always to look at that verse with the passage of what went before. Paul said in particular, we were saying that too, yes to the Christians in Rome, but at the beginning of that chapter, he makes it clear that it applied to those who were in Christ Jesus. That's how you have to look at that word who can, if God is for us, who can be against us. In other words, those who are living a life of the Spirit of Christ, those who are trusting Christ as Savior, repented and turned to him. And the question asked to come from this pulpit this morning, is that you? because you need to be trusting in Christ as Savior to believe and experience those words in Romans 8, 31. And see that the God who was with Moses and Aaron will be your strength today and in the future if you trust in him. And then when we find ourselves being attacked by the problems around us, We will remember the power of our God is greater if we call on him. Recognizing all that we have comes from God in the good times, in the good times. Sometimes we forget that, as well as the bad times and difficult times. Remembering what he has done for us, just like Moses would need to remember what God showed him then. Moses would need to remember that as he goes forward, and so should we remember all that God has done as we go forward. Well, Pharaoh had the warning of words and ignored them. Last time we saw, we had the warning of a sign with the serpent and ignores it. So now God takes action with 10 terrible plagues to strike at the heart of Pharaoh and the Egyptian nation. Have you ever thought about times in your life when you may have been going down a certain route because you felt that was the right thing? And then perhaps a word was said to you, may have been through God's word, it may have been by someone who just spoke a word. And it might have been just a little warning sign of the direction you were going, but you ignored it. And then perhaps an incident or another comment was said and you ignored it and then God by His grace and love stopped you in your tracks because you didn't listen to the words you didn't see the sign so God in His love and His grace is that to make you sit up and listen I can remember we moved house in 1981 and I remember saying to Chris then, oh I'm not doing this again, this is too stressful. I remember that was years ago, I was a lot younger then. And I've stuck to that, we're still in the same house. But because it took about 14 months, and those of you that are moving house or trying to move house, you know how long it takes. We'd only really visited the house the first time when we put in the offer, and perhaps once more in about that 14 months. So by the time the day came and we moved in, we'd not been in that house in Goodwood Avonfield a long while. And I remember the first night we sat up in bed and Chris says, this wallpaper's gonna have to go. I'm counting the flowers. Yeah, don't worry, we'll get that done. Oh, and the wallpaper in the lounge, that's awful. I never realised it was that bad, we'll have to do that. And the kitchen, oh, I forgot all those units, they're awful. Yeah, I'll get that sorted. well we did the paper and decorating I was good with the bush but Chris was very good at hanging paper so she did that but the kitchen I set about remember I was still working reasonably long hours in the bank and yeah I was getting a little tired and somebody said something to me you need to slow up probably my mother but you ignore mothers don't you and I thought no no and then somebody else said something and I started to feel a little bit stressed and what have you but I thought now I'll carry on and I ignored it and then suddenly one afternoon when I was playing football on concrete yard that I'd played as a kid for years with my kids suddenly I fell over and I smashed my wrist so badly the first hospital I went to said they couldn't do it and I now have a bent hand to remind me that I didn't listen to the first words I didn't listen to the signs and God by his grace stopped me because I had to stop working in the kitchen for a long while because in those days remember the plaster was like a ton weight wasn't it you know and everybody signed it But you see, I ignored the signs, but God, by his grace, took me down and said, look, you didn't listen, you didn't see the signs, so I'm taking action for my good. Don't miss or ignore the signs God sends you to avoid him taking action for your own good. Well, these 10 plagues were going to be God's action. The first three will bring distress. The next three, pain and cost. And the final four bring danger and destruction. And as we see, the longer Pharaoh resisted, the longer he said no, the more serious the judgments get. So we have the first plague in Exodus 7 verse 17. This is what the Lord says, by this you will know that I am the Lord and with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the waters of the Nile and it will be changed to blood. I mentioned before, Chris and I have had the privilege of going down the Nile years ago on a Nile cruise, and I can remember one evening, we were sat as the boat was gradually going down the Nile, and I remember Chris looking and saying, can you imagine all this as blood? And it really brought it home, the power of our God, the power of our God to change those waters to blood. But we read on and it tells us it was not just the Nile itself, but the streams, the tributaries, the ponds, the reservoirs, even the water they stored. Now you know if you get a note through your door from Seven Cent Water saying they're going to cut your water off for eight hours, what do you do? You fill pots and pans, don't you? You fill buckets. You want to boil water to have a drink. You need buckets of water in case you need to flush the toilet. You store the water because water is important. Did you know today even 95% of Egypt's 102 million people live along the banks of the Nile? or the Nile Delta. That's how important this river was to the people of Egypt back in Moses' day, but still so today. Well, at the time we were looking here in Exodus, it was no different. People, mainly the women, would come down to the Nile and fill their pots for the day. So they'd carry them back, back to where they lived so they could have water to drink and wash or whatever. but we're told here in verse 19, and there shall be blood throughout the land, both in buckets of wood and pitches of stone. There was no escape in other words. So although the Nile turned to blood, well we stored this this morning, it'll be okay, that turned to blood as well. No escape. Don't know whether you know, but blood in any quantity smells. I don't know whether you've ever, I did this the other day funnily enough, I bought, because there were only two of us, I bought a big piece of beef and I got my cleaver and I chopped it in half to put in the freezer and all this blood ran out so I got paper towel and cleaned it all up and I threw it in the bin. Next night, that night or the next morning, I thought, poor what smells in that bin and it was the blood. You know, blood everywhere instead of water in this country. What would it have been like? Just think. What would Pharaoh have thought? You know, I believe we take water for granted, don't we? Like so many things. Alice reminded us last week about taking for granted, holding on to the faith we have and the freedom that we have. We take so many things for granted, and water's no different, I believe, for us, because we moan if there's a hosepipe ban. But in many countries, it was the lifeblood, and it's so, so important. Never take the things that God gives us for granted. Our health, our strength, the food we can buy, the life we have. Don't take it for granted. Thank God and trust Christ to save you and thank him for the things that you have. Just as an aside, I don't believe Chris or I would ever take water quite as free as we did when we spent two weeks in South Africa, when you had to have a shower in three minutes, stood in a bucket, because the reservoirs were dry, they looked like a beach. And since then, I believe I've treated water as really a gift. So God, like at the outset, was striking their source of life, the Nile itself, this vital source, life to the nation. But remember what I touched on last month when I said God directed each of these plagues against a particular idol of Egypt. These were not random plagues. They're all attacking what the Egyptians held as their God with a little g. Let us remember there is nothing random about the work and the laws of our God. God is a God of order. Nothing random. Well, Pharaoh thought his God, Qum, would always protect the Nile. And I've asked Andy if he will just put up to show you. This was Qum. This is who they worshipped. He was treated by the Egyptians as the guardian of the Nile. Pharaoh thought his God, Osiris, was great. And Osiris looked a bit like that. Osiris was treated with reverence because he was said to have the Nile in his bloodstream. That's what they believed. And then Pharaoh worshipped Hapai. Hapai was said to have the spirit of the Nile in his blood. Such was the importance of the Nile. Thanks, Andy. Such was the importance of the Nile to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. They had three gods who they thought would protect them. But God, but Jehovah God, the one true God, shows he alone is greater than any of those. Not only did this plague and those who follow bring punishment to get to Egypt, it clearly answered Pharaoh's original question that we covered months ago when he said, who is this Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go? I don't know this Lord, I will not let Israel go. In other words, he was saying, who's this Lord? Why should I obey him? Well, now perhaps he's beginning to see who this Lord is. But although we read that some of Pharaoh's magicians did the same things by their secret arts, however, they could not reverse what Almighty God had done. One commentary I read said this, these secret acts were done by legidimain. Colin will know all about this. I didn't even know what that is. My English isn't that good. So I had to look up what this meant. And it said that these were not supernatural powers. I looked up the word and it said this legidimain means sleight of hand. It comes from the Norse word sleigh, little bit of trickery. And then many scholars have debated whether this action was a trick, was a sleight of hand, or were the miracles from Satan's hand. And the majority favor the latter. as I've started to study God's Word to preach, I realize so many, and Colin mentions this quite a lot, so many of these commentators, they argue with each other, and they put one side, and then you have to come to what you see, what you believe in God's Word. Well, form your own view how they did this on this instant, but I believe, as one commentator said, these men were ignorant of what Satan could do by them. and as Matthew Henley put it, see what mischievous work sin makes. We must never ever underestimate the power of Satan and sin has on mankind and his deceiving powers. Two Corinthians remind us, it says, the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ who is in the image of God. You remember the Apostle Paul reminded the Christians at Ephesus, they too must be aware of Satan's schemes. Remember those five points, donkey's years ago now, in those six chapters we said we were accepted in Christ, we have union with Christ, and because of that we have access to God through Christ, but then we must walk the life. But what was the last chapter brought on? We would have warfare. and it talks about Satan's schemes. You know acceptance, union, and access in Christ must be as Colin rightly and regularly mentions, you must repent and trust in Christ. God's word instructs us, submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Well, the sign was there for Pharaoh to do that. But we read that his heart became hard. So once again, Moses and Aaron were commanded to Pharaoh, let my people go. And they warned him another plague was coming. And as Psalm 105 says, their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers. Now you see the Egyptians also had their god for fertility and this god was, I don't know how to pronounce this, see it was the frog god of fertility. Notice it has a head of a frog. So God attacked the Egyptians with frogs. Thanks Andy. This was the goddess of resurrection, fertility and childbirth. Again, Almighty God was showing His power is much mightier than anything this world can offer. The Lord's warning was specific that these frogs would be everywhere. Yes, in the Nile, but they would come into their houses, their pots, their pans, their ovens and their beds. Can you imagine that? It's one thing waking up with your cat or your dog asleep at the end of the bed. But just imagine, frogs all over you and in the bed, everywhere. And of course we read Pharaoh's magicians again counterfeited the miracle. But each time they did that, remember they did not have the power to overrule and reverse what Almighty God had done. We then read God was merciful to Pharaoh. This shows the grace of our God. And I was pleased what songs we had this morning showing about the grace of God. It's God was merciful to Pharaoh. He actually stopped the frogs. We read that the frogs stopped and Pharaoh gave some empty promises in the next verses. Once he saw there was some relief. But then he hardens his heart again. Sometimes people do that, don't they? They think the critical situation has passed, so we'll forget about God again now. But if anything comes back, we will pray to the Lord again. So this third plague, which caused the dust to become gnats, it says all the dust became gnats. And believe me, in the land of Egypt, there's a lot of dust. There's a lot. It is said that Egypt has three deserts, and it covers 90% of the country. You know what desert's made of? Dust, sand. The Eastern Desert, the Western Desert, Sinai. Again, we've traveled across the Eastern Desert, and there's nothing but sand. Supposed to be in an armed convoy, but the guns disappeared. And we've also been into parts of Sinai. Desert, dust. And the thought of all the dust in Egypt becoming gnats is mind-blowing, certainly to me. But then the important thing is here in verse 18 of chapter eight, but when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they couldn't do it, since the gnats were on people and the animals and everywhere. And the magician said to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened again. And he still wouldn't listen, despite his so-called magicians saying, this is the finger of God. The fact that the desert dust became gnats was judgment against Set, who was the Egyptian god of the desert. And you see Set's drawings on the side of so many of their temples. And once again, God was showing, you may have your little God, but I am greater. So in closing this morning, what can we take from this passage and these three plagues? Well, I believe the first three plagues were all demonstrating God's authority and power. while showing his mercy because remember he did remove the fogs and we must in our lives know God's strength and God's power and God's authority sometimes we don't like to think of God taking action like he did with me because he loved me that wasn't because he wanted me to suffer pain it's what he stopped me from perhaps going down They demonstrate that this same God has the power to overrule in your life and in my life. And that his mercy is shown to the Christian today. We had a prayer meeting on Thursday and we were so thankful for the way God had overruled in certain people's lives. Simple little things, but not so simple really. He has the power to overrule our lives and his mercy will be shown to you if you trust in Christ. They show people cannot be free without suffering. The people of Egypt have to go through suffering and pay a heavy price for God's people to be freed. You cannot be free from the penalty of sin, which we're all born with, without a price being paid. And that price was paid by Christ on the cross. Because he suffered on that cross, shed his blood, that those who repent and trust Christ can be set free from the penalty of sin. So the question I have to leave with each one of us this morning, is that you? Are you trusting in Christ? Well, God wasn't through with dealing with Pharaoh, we know this, and there was more to come, but perhaps we may have a chance to look at that another time. Let us pray.