I had thought to move on to Exodus chapter six tonight, but just couldn't leave this chapter without saying more about the first two verses. Exodus chapter five, if you would please. Verse one, and afterward, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my people go. that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. Now I want to point out to you, I know you probably noticed, but Moses and Aaron didn't ask Pharaoh to let God's people go. They went in and they told Pharaoh to let God's people go. It's a pretty bold, pretty bold request considering who Pharaoh is. They didn't plead, they didn't beg. We don't plead and beg when we preach the gospel. They declared God's word to Pharaoh, and that's what we do. We declare God's word to sinners. They told Pharaoh what God sent them to say. That's what a preacher ought to concentrate on, telling sinners what God told them to say. Thus saith the Lord. Oh, if we could just stay right there in our preaching, we'd be much better off. Sometimes we want to say what David wants to say. That usually doesn't work out. This was a message from God. That's what gospel preaching is. It's a message from God. This wasn't Moses' message. This wasn't Aaron's message. This was God's message. Moses brought a message of deliverance. And that's what gospel preaching is. It's a message of freedom from bondage. God's message to your captors is a simple one. Let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me. Let my people go so that they might serve me. This is all about serving God, not to merit salvation, no, but out of love for God who saved us by his mercy and grace. This is a gospel message. It's a message of good news. Let me show you that. Look back at chapter four, beginning in verse 27. And the Lord said to Aaron, go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went and he met him in the Mount of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him and all the signs which he had commanded him." In other words, Moses preached the gospel, the gospel of deliverance to Aaron. God said, I'll send thee to Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of God out of Egypt. Moses told Aaron all the words that the Lord had spoken. Moses told Aaron about all the signs that the Lord had done. That's what the gospel is. It's simply proclaiming all the things that God has spoken, the things that God has promised concerning his people and his son. God revealing to chosen sinners all the signs of deliverance in Christ. Do you remember those three signs? The rod and the serpent, the rod and the serpent beautifully pictures how Christ was made to be sin for us and put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself. The leprous hand, all that very well pictures the new birth. God's people have been made new creatures in Christ. Man was created clean and became leprous by sin. And man was then leprous in sin and was made clean by regeneration. That's a beautiful picture of that, the leprous hand. The sinner wasn't made a reformed creature. He wasn't an improved creature. He was made a new creature. Then there was the blood poured out on the ground, what a picture of substitution that is, in order for Christ to die, the just for the unjust, in order for there to be remission of sin. The blood of God must be shed, not just any blood. Not the blood of just a good man, but the blood of God, the God man, he who was perfect, perfectly righteous, perfectly holy. Not just any blood would suffice. Oh, I'm telling you, friends, the blood of God must be shed. And these three signs picture the gospel of salvation. In verse 29, and Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses. You see the pattern here? And he did the signs in the sight of the people. Moses preached the gospel to Aaron, and now Aaron preaches the gospel to Israel. And we know what happened. Look at verse 31, and the people believed. What is the gospel message that God's people believe? It tells us, and when they heard that the Lord had what? Visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, Then they bowed their heads and worshiped. The gospel is the Lord has visited his people. The gospel is God has looked upon their affliction. The gospel is God has demanded that his people be released from the bondage of their slavery and the bondage of Pharaoh's law. That's what this is about. This is a true story, but it pictures what God does for sinners in Christ. And it's the same today. God delivers us from our slavery and sin. God has delivered us from the curse of the law. How? By being made a curse for us. And we're right back to the Lord Jesus Christ. When did the people of Israel believe? They believed when the Lord visited them. When the Lord visits you in power, you'll believe. His power is effectual. His spirit is effectual. It always accomplishes. We looked at it Sunday. We don't preach the gospel in vain, do we? No, God sends his word out to accomplish what he sends it to accomplish. He said, it won't return unto me void. It won't return unto me empty. It won't return unto me fruitless. It'll accomplish that that I sent it to do. Beloved, it was God that heard your cry. It was God that saw your affliction. It was God who came and died. And that's what makes this gospel so amazing. That God would be mindful of such a one as I. That he would come and do for me what I couldn't do for myself. I've never gotten over it. Never gotten over it. That's the gospel message. It's a message of what? Deliverance. It's a message of what? Freedom. It's a message of liberty. And this is God's message. It's the best message that someone in bondage has ever heard. And when sinners see and hear what God has done for them in Christ, the result will always be the same. It tells us here that the people bowed their heads and worshiped. That's what we do. We thank God for his mercy and his grace to us. So undeserved as it is. But some won't hear the glorious gospel. Some are not moved by the good news. Do you know why? They don't know God. When Moses went into Pharaoh and told him what God said, pay particular attention to what God said. It's very important. And again, in verse one, he said, let my people go that. Don't miss that word. It's here that God gives us the reason for our deliverance. He says that, let my people go that or because they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. Now that word feast in the Hebrew language should shine some light on the gospel for us. It means to celebrate, to celebrate. To celebrate what? To celebrate God, to celebrate our Savior. God said, let my people go that they may hold a feast, that they may celebrate me in the wilderness. This was to show and give proof that Israel was the people of the Lord God, Jehovah. And don't ever forget that God delivers his people out of the hands of their enemies, that they may serve him, that they may worship him, that they may serve him cheerfully in this wilderness of a world in which we live. There's freedom in serving God. There's liberty in serving God. God's people serve him because they want to. They've been made willing in the day of his power to serve him. And then in chapter five, verse two, we read, and Pharaoh said, 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. Now, first let's consider Pharaoh's question. You know, this is actually in and of itself a very good question. Who is the Lord? Who is the Lord? Actually, it's a great question. It's a question that many don't know the answer to. Pharaoh certainly didn't. And I think most of you know that in talking to folks that God is not who most men and women think he is. Seems that everybody today is some sort of believer in it. Now I've commented on this before, but it's just increasingly Becoming more apparent, you can't go anywhere. I don't know if people really believe or they just say these things, but anywhere you go, it's have a blessed day. I wish we'd go back to just have a good day, even have a rotten day if you want to, but I'm tired of having blessed ones. God doesn't bless days. He blesses sinners in Christ. Big difference. And it doesn't matter if Buddha is your God, you're a believer. That's the way people act. It doesn't matter if Mohammed is your God, you're a believer. But if you declare the God of the Bible, you know this is so, you've done it. If you declare the only true and living God, men and women will say, well, I don't want a God like that. I don't want that kind of God. God never debates or defends who he is. God proves who he is. It won't be long, God's gonna prove to Pharaoh and show him who the Lord is. God never argues his existence. The scriptures say, in the beginning, God. Good enough, enough said. In the beginning, God. I know people that have never opened their Bible and they say things like, well, I think God is this, and I think God is that, and I just wanna just scream. You don't have any idea who God is. You've never looked in his word. You've never sought him. You've never had any interest at all who God is. Who is the Lord? Men and women better find out. Roth Barnard used to say, sinner, before you go to hell, you better buy a Bible and find out who God is. And that's a fact. That's where you'll find out in this book. Men and women today, they bow before statues of dead saints and they bow in front of the Virgin Mary and without audibly saying it, they're saying, that's my God. That's who we're bound to, that's your God. And even Israel, after their deliverance, as you know, built a golden calf and worshiped it and said, this will be the God that delivered us out of Egypt. You just made it. How is that so? And even Aaron, Moses' own brother, I just picture that. Of course, it's almost comical when you read it in the scripture, but it's not funny at all. Moses looked at Aaron, I can just picture it. He said, how did this come about? And Aaron said, well, we just threw some gold in the fire and out popped this calf. Oh, I'm telling you, friends. But who's the Lord? Who's Jehovah? Folks better find out. I know this, he's the head of the body, the church. And we can't survive without him. We can't live without him. He's that king on God's holy hill, I know that. He's that one in whom all fullness dwells. That's what this book says. In him, the Lord Jesus Christ dwells, the Godhead bodily. He is God. He is God. He's the one mediator between God and man. If you're gonna have any dealings with God, you're gonna have to go through Him. He's only one mediator. You can't get to God by anyone else. That's what a mediator is, isn't it? A go-between. There's only one. He's a just God and a Savior. He's just and the justifier of them that believe. I know that much. He's the sovereign potter who works all things after the counsel of his own will. Of the same lump, he can make one an honor, a vessel of honor, and another a vessel of dishonor. It's at his discretion. He holds the clay. He forms and fashions the clay. Many don't know him. Men and women have a God, but they pray to a God they cannot save. My God can. My God can save. Their gods are silver and gold, and the work of man's hands. They speak not. They have got eyes, but they can't see, ears, but they can't hear. They have noses, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. They have feet, but they walk not. Neither speak they through their throat. And then there in Psalm 115, it says this, they that make them are likened to them. What does that mean? They're just as dead as their idols are. They're just like them, they're dead. So is everyone that trusts in them, they're dead. But our God, David said, where is our God? Well, he's in the heavens. He's ruling and he's reigning in all power and he's doing and has done whatsoever he's pleased to do. The problem with men and women is they don't know God. They think that God is altogether such a one as themselves. That's the problem, let's just be honest. They've made a God of their own imagination and they've likened God to be like them. He's nothing like us. Matter of fact, Minds are so corrupted by the sin that so easily besets us that we can't even begin to fathom God as he is. And God is not who we say he is, God is who he says he is. And he says so right here in this book. If you have any interest in all who God is, open this book and ask God to show you who he is. You know, if God was who men say that he is, there'd be as many gods as there are people. Because everybody's got their own idea of who God is. And some might even ask, I've had folks do it, well, is it really a problem? Is it really such a big deal if everybody believes in some higher power? We're acknowledging there's a higher power, whether that higher power's name is Baal or Dagon or Buddha or Mohammed. Does it really matter? Is it really a problem? It's a big problem. It's a big problem. And here's why. John 17 three, and this is life eternal. If you're interested in eternal life, this is life eternal right here. That they might know thee, the only true God. Just one God, only one true God. And eternal life is knowing Him and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast said, whom God has sent. No life eternal apart from knowing God and His Christ. So yeah, it is a big deal. It really is. And it's important to know them in truth. A lot of people talk about a God, but he doesn't resemble the only true God. A lot of people talk about Jesus, but he doesn't resemble the Christ of the Bible. Now, back to Pharaoh's question. This might seem to be a sincere question if asked this way, who is the Lord? Who is the Lord that I might obey his will? In 35 years of marriage, Teresa and I have always had a debate. It's not what you see. We both said this. You probably have yourself. It's not what you see. It's how you said it. Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey him? Same words, but a whole different meaning. Pharaoh's not asking who is the Lord so that he might obey him. He got no interest in obeying the Lord. What Pharaoh was saying was, who is the Lord to me? Who's the Lord to me that I should obey him? Why he? I don't know your Lord, and I ain't a bit concerned about Him. He means nothing to me. I don't know Him. I don't want to know Him. And I definitely don't care what He said. Pharaoh's problem is the same problem that sinners have today. They don't need God. He goes back to that. They don't need God. They're doing all right as their own God. Everyone has everything figured out on their own, don't they? It's not only that sinners don't know anything about God, it's true that sinners don't know anything about themselves. The God of the Bible declares that all men are totally depraved. Totally depraved. Because of Adam's fall, man is unable of himself to, in a saving way, believe the gospel. Can't do it, unless God intervenes, unless God gives him a new heart to believe. The sinner's dead, he's blind, he's deaf to the things of God. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, because he's dead, dead and trespasses in sin. The heart, oh, he's got a good heart. No, he doesn't. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and only God can know it. And I forget who I heard say it not long ago, some preacher, some good preacher. He said, you can take two little maggots and you can dress one up in a tuxedo, but it's still a maggot. We, a lot of times, good to us is relative. Compared to me, someone may be good, but compared to God, not at all. There are many who serve a God who teaches that he enables every sinner to repent and believe and never interferes with man's freedom of choice. That's not the God of the Bible. Who is the Lord? That's not him. They believe that every sinner possesses a free will. The sinner's eternal destiny depends on how he chooses to use his will. And I know that we make decisions in and out, and they often affect us one way or the other, but that's not what this is talking about. This is talking about a man willing to save himself by his own work and righteousness. They believe that man is not sinfully enslaved to his evil nature, therefore he or she is able to choose good over evil. You try it sometime. They believe the sinner has the power to cooperate with the Spirit of God. The sinner has the ability to collaborate with his maker, supplying assistance to God. That just doesn't even sound right, does it? Assist God. My, my. Especially in the matter of salvation. Those who believe such things believe that they're God's choice of certain individuals and the salvation was based upon God foreseeing that they would sometime in the future respond to His call. And I don't care how you type that up. That's salvation by works, salvation by man's choice and not God's. They say he selected only those whom he knew would of themselves freely believe the gospel. If that's the case, there's none that'll ever be saved. Election, therefore, they say, was determined by or conditioned upon what man would do. That's no sir. The faith which God foresaw and based his choice upon was not given to the sinner by God, but it resulted solely from man's will. It was left entirely up to man to choose God, and because of that, man's choice, because of man's choice, he'd be elected unto salvation. God chose those whom he knew would of their own free will choose Christ. If that's so, I'm lost. That's not my Lord, it's not. Those should have asked, who's the Lord? Maybe the Lord would have revealed himself. The sovereign God of the Bible, the true God of salvation, chose certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world, and it rested solely on and in his sovereign will. That's my God. His choice of particular sinners was not based upon any foreseen obedience by them. I know that because God tells me right here in the word that there's none that doeth good, no, not one. There's none righteous, no, not one. How can I do anything that would appease God and cause him to be mindful of me in any way? Our salvation's not based on foreseen obedience nor such as faith or repentance. Oh, God saw that I was gonna one day repent of my sin. I would have never repented if God hadn't first come to me in the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. How about you? On the contrary, God gives faith and repentance to each individual whom he chooses. And these acts are the result, they're not the cause of God's choice. Election, therefore, was not determined by or conditioned upon any quality or act foreseen in you and me. And God's people say, that's right. Know that from experience. Those whom God sovereignly elected, he brings by the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance of Christ. Matter of fact, I think back now, I can't imagine how I ever did without him. I got to have Christ, got to have him. I think it was maybe Brother Montgomery that said years ago, if there was one square foot, one square inch of ground that the Lord wasn't in control over, I'd be constantly fearing that that's where I was standing. But he's in control over it all. And he has my best interest at heart and his people's best interest at heart. I don't want any God other than a sovereign God. Do you? Pharaoh is saying, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? What Pharaoh is saying is he's not my Lord. You can obey him if you like, but I'm not. He doesn't mean anything to me. I have no intention of knowing him and I have no intention of obeying his command. I know not the Lord and neither will I let Israel go. Now hear me on this. Pharaoh did not know God. That's pretty obvious. There's a lot of our friends and family that do not know God. That's pretty obvious. But God is still God. God was still Pharaoh's God, whether he knew it or not. And stiff-necked men and women can deny God's existence, but that doesn't change the fact that he's still God. It doesn't change the fact that he's still their God. This is the God with whom we have to do. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. And it's not gonna change how God deals with Pharaoh's rebellion, and it won't change how God deals with ours. He's still God, he's on the throne. He's the one we've offended, whether we acknowledge it or not. Against Him and Him only have we sinned and done this evil in His sight. It's all against Him. God's gonna do what He will with Pharaoh. And that's exactly what He did. Paul talked about it in the book of Romans. And God is gonna do what He will with you and me. He'll have mercy on some, and He'll harden others. He'll draw some to Himself, and He'll pass by others. God's glory is gonna be honored whether he saves or whether he condemns. God's gonna show forth his power either in grace or in judgment. The hardened heart of Pharaoh said, okay Moses, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do for you and your Lord. The people of Israel can now make bricks without straw. Try that on for size, see how you like it. But, One other thing, I still need the same number of bricks. Still need the same number. You gotta go get your straw where you can find it, and that's on you now. Your work shall not be diminished. You gotta produce the same amount as you were. And again, verse 12, chapter five. So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. I've thought a whole lot about this subject since we looked at it last. I've got a bulletin article going in this Sunday on this. I was thinking today, what a picture this is of modern day religion. Nothing I don't think describes Religion, any better than this? Men are making bricks out of stubble. I told you last time that stubble means sapless, it means lifeless, it means fruitless. Well, that's what religion is, isn't it? You know, religions require slaves. That's what we are, slaves to sin. Sold under sin, Paul said. Requires slaves to produce a righteousness that they cannot produce. God requires perfect righteousness. I can't produce it. You can't make bricks without straw. You can't achieve the righteousness of God by keeping the law, not because there's anything wrong with the law, but because everything's wrong with you and everything's wrong with me. It's weak in the flesh. We can't keep it. We can't produce bricks with stubble. You can't wash anything clean with a filthy rag, can you? You ever tried to clean something with a filthy rag? It just gets what you're cleaning dirt. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves." That's the key right there. And submitted themselves into the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Oh, I'm gonna believe. Lord, help me to believe. I love the fact that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. He is my righteousness. I quit brick making a while back. Secondly, religion demands a redemption without a Redeemer. Did you know that there was no Redeemer? I found this out from my friend, Darwin Pruitt. There's no Redeemer in the religion of Egypt. They had God for everything, over 80 gods from what I'm able to gather. They had a God for this and a God for that, but they had no God that redeemed. In modern day religion, Christ doesn't redeem anything. The Christ of religion doesn't redeem anything. He only made salvation possible. In modern day religion, Christ did all that He could do, but He left the rest up to the sinner. Isn't that what they tell you? He didn't redeem anything. In religion, Christ didn't pay for anything. Oh, He put a little down, He gave a little earnest money, but he didn't pay it all. No, you've got to pay some. In religion, Christ took a few steps, but he left the coming up to you. Some are going to hell, others are going to heaven. Some will be saved, others are going to be lost, but it's all up to you. Thirdly, worldly religion, that's what it is, like Egypt, That's what Egypt represents, works, religion, worldly religion. Worldly religion serves a king that has no affection or compassion for their people, for his people. Religion's slaves serve out of fear. That's what the people of Israel did. They serve for reward. Religion requires taskmasters. There's work to be done. And that's what a lot of preachers are anymore. They're nothing more than just taskmasters. They're stubble to be gathered. They're bricks to be made. Crack the whip. They're rules. They're laws. But there's no freedom. There's no liberty because there's no Christ. Do you think that Israel loved Pharaoh? Well, I imagine they probably, if they're anything like me, probably lay on their bed at night thinking how they could take him out. Love Pharaoh? No, sir. Don't love Pharaoh. You see, you can't love a king that keeps you in bondage. You can't. Oh, but there's the king of kings. There's freedom and liberty with him. There's no bondage. No, sir. Fourthly, religion promises nothing better than what sinners already have. In Exodus chapter five, they're in their fourth generation of slavery and absolutely had nothing has changed from the day that it started to now. 400 years later, nothing changed. Do more, build more, build bigger. Pharaoh's never satisfied. You know, people talk about going to heaven, and most of them can't stand to hear the gospel for 30 minutes. That's the truth. People talk about streets of gold. They talk about the pearly gates. They talk about being in mansions of glory, but I don't hear them talk about being in Christ. I don't hear them talking about forever worshiping Him. What is that song that the saints will forever sing? Revelation 4, 8, and they rest not day and night saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. When people talk about it in heaven, I don't hear them say anything about that much, non-believers. Believers I do, not believers, no. And fifthly, in man's free will, works, religion, there's no eternal life in the message of God, just servitude and then death. Servitude and death. For over 400 years, just servitude and then death. What are you doing tomorrow? I'm making bricks. Pharaoh's building another pyramid. We're working overtime this weekend. Can't do enough. You don't have straw for your bricks now. You can't do good enough because your bricks are made with sapless, lifeless stubble. You can't build anything solid. All your work is sinking sand. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is what? It's sinking sand. But I tell you, I can rest. I can't rest in due, because it's never done. But I sure can rest in done. It's finished. I can rest in that. And that's where we find freedom in Christ who fulfilled. That fulfilled means finished, doesn't it? He fulfilled the law and he satisfied, he appeased, he finished the holy justice of God and God is satisfied. And there's deliverance and there's freedom and there's liberty, but it's only in Christ. Who is the Lord? Well, this is the Lord, I profess to know. He who does all things well. And I'm going to obey him perfectly in Christ. I'm not gonna brag about what I do for God. I'm gonna brag about what Christ has done for him. And that's my standing before God, what Christ did. It's mine by substitution. And it's yours by substitution. Not by works of righteousness which we've done. Not by works of righteousness that we've done. Go home and say that 100 times tonight. That's your homework. But according to his mercy he saved us. Say that over and over. According to his mercy he saved us. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. All righty. John Hibbs, will you dismiss us in prayer, please?