I invite you to turn with me to Exodus chapter 9. I'll be reading Exodus 9 beginning in verse 13 through to the end of the chapter. Exodus 9 verse 13. Then the Lord said to Moses, rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, let my people go that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself and on your servants and your people so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as has never been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them. Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses. But whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field. Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt on man and beast and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt. Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail and fire ran down to the earth, and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hell struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hell struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hell. Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go and you shall stay no longer. Moses said to him, as soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease and there will be no more hell so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's. But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God. The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up. So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the Lord. And the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses. Let's bow in prayer. Father, please take your word that we've just read and help us to consider it seriously, to learn from it, We pray that, once again, You would do that good work in us of conforming us to the image of Your Son, that we might be like Him as a result of our time in Your Word. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. There are some scenes that you experience in life or see in life that leave a lasting mark and influence you. I recall seeing something when we lived in California that left a mark. I had been considering buying a motorcycle. Because we had one car, Priscilla and I needed to get to different places. And so trying to figure out an economic way to do that, and so considered buying a bike to get around. I was driving on, I didn't buy one, but I was driving in our car on an LA freeway. And if you've seen anything or know anything about the traffic there, it can be pretty horrific. And there was a bit of a traffic jam at one point. came up to where the traffic jam was, and there were no emergency vehicles there yet, but saw what the incident had been. To the side of the road, in one lane, there was a lady, a young lady, who was crying hysterically. And I looked just beyond her, and there was a motorcycle that was flipped over. And then, beyond that, there was a motorcyclist on the ground, clearly dead. That convinced me I was not going to buy a motorcycle in LA and use it. That stayed with me. That scene is something that you can't necessarily get out of your mind. I'm sure you have experienced things of that nature, where there is an indelible image that is placed on your mind that influences decisions that you make and the way that you live. The Bible is to be that for us. It provides for us images, scenes that are so gripping and unmistakable that they are meant to leave a lasting influence on you and inform the decisions that you make. The Scripture is given to us for instruction, and for reproof, and correction, and training, and righteousness, and so we come eagerly to every portion of God's Word to see what He has for us. The book of Exodus is full of this kind of imagery for us that is so remarkable that it makes us ponder and think about what our lives are to be like as a result of what we read. We have, in Exodus 9, a remarkable portion that unveils to us, yet again, this hard-hearted Pharaoh, who is dealing with a powerful and sovereign God. And as we see Pharaoh interacting with God, we are given lessons that ought to inform the way we live our whole life. It ought to be remarkable to us, this man who was so obstinate in the face of the Almighty God, that it should shock us about how we make our own decisions on a day-to-day basis. The story of the Exodus is so familiar to us, and maybe Pharaoh is such a historic figure in our minds, that it's hard to connect to what he's doing. And yet, this scripture really is present for us, so that we would take heed to learn from the way that he conducted himself, and that we might not go and do likewise. At the same time, we get exposed to the sovereign power of God, whose purposes can't be thwarted. And so we see a God with whom we have to deal, we see an example of somebody we ought not to be like, and we take from this some lessons that we need to learn. As Pharaoh is engaged in some sort of relationship with the sovereign God, we learn about what a relationship with him ought not to look like, based on Pharaoh's encounters with him. But if we were to put a positive take on it, we want to go through this text in Exodus 9, so that we would see four actions that we should take in order to have a right, real relationship with the Almighty God. Certainly, Pharaoh is an example to us of what we ought not to be like, but also teaches us what we ought to be. First lesson, in order to have a real and right relationship with God, we need to know our purpose in God's world. Of course, it's always important that you know the purpose for which you exist, or even the purpose for which you exist in a certain relationship. If you don't know your purpose as a husband, you're going to make a mess of your marriage. If you don't know your purpose as a wife, you will make a mess of your marriage. If you don't know your purpose in the home as either a parent or a child, then things get inverted pretty quickly. If you don't know your purpose if you're in management in an industry, you're going to make a mess of that industry. If you don't know your purpose as a captain of a ship, then unruliness will prevail. Purposes, of course, are important. As we think about purpose in the context of Exodus, and particularly chapter 9, we want to consider two levels of purpose that God would show to us. One is a revealed purpose that He has for our life, and the other is a more of a mysterious or sovereign purpose that God has. Those would be the two categories or level of purpose that we might be able to think about this from. As Pharaoh thinks about what God's purposes are for him, he shouldn't really be scratching his head. He's made it really clear. The Lord sent Moses to Pharaoh in verse 13 of chapter nine, telling Moses to go back to Pharaoh, rise in the early in the morning and speak to him. And what he says to him is what he's been saying all along. Let my people go that they may serve me. There ought to have been no confusion in Pharaoh's mind about what God's purpose was for him. He was to let the people go, that they might serve the Lord. It gets a little tricky, however, because, and we tend to do this, we can play some mind games. You put yourself in Pharaoh's shoes for a moment and don't stay there for too long. It's not a pleasant place to be. He could start thinking if he knew something of biblical theology and saying, well, I know that God has told me to let the people go and that's his purpose for me, but I know that he said he was going to harden my heart. Therefore really in order to fulfill the purposes of God in my life I ought to disobey God not let the people go keep them under this repressive slavery and in that Doing I will be doing the purposes of God We tend to play that game too we tend to try to rationalize our sin, if we hold to a real understanding of God's sovereignty over our lives, we could say something like, I know God is sovereign over everything in my life, so if I go ahead with this sin, then it's okay, because no purposes of God can be thwarted, and so he will still fulfill his purposes in my life, so I'm really doing the will of God when I engage in this sin that I know is wrong. We try to rationalize things like that, but that's not the level at which we are to live at least in obedience to God for His purposes for us. Romans 6.1, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? May it never be. We don't live with the authority to try to manipulate God's sovereign purposes to bend to our will for our purposes for our life. The level that we are to live at is God tells you to do something. You do it. Let my people go that they may serve me. Pharaoh's responsibility before God was to let the people go. No mind games that he can play. And yet, simultaneously, there is the reality in verse 16 that there is a sovereign purpose that God has for Pharaoh. But for this purpose, I have raised you up to show you my power so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. That comes right after the Lord speaking to Pharaoh in verse 15, that by now, if God had wanted to, He could have wiped Pharaoh and the Egyptians off the map. Pharaoh's disobedience was so severe that God would have had every right to eliminate Pharaoh and the Egyptians at the snap of His fingers. But God didn't do that. Why? Well, because God had a greater purpose for Pharaoh. His purpose was that he has raised him up to show his power so that God's name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Pharaoh indeed is an example of somebody who blatantly disregards the revealed will of God. And yet, in his blatant disregard, he cannot overcome God's sovereign purposes. This is a mind-bending way of thinking. Because you think Pharaoh is completely responsible for his hardness of heart and his rebellion against God, and yet you also have to simultaneously grasp the truth that God is absolutely sovereign over all that's going on in the life of Pharaoh right now. You have a little hard time trying to put those things together. Does your mind get a little bent out of shape by thinking through those things? How can both of those coexist? Part of the problem with trying to bring some reconciliation to that is we give ourselves way too much credit for how smart we are. How did you do in high school math? Chemistry? History? How did you go on to do? Did you go to college? Did you do calculus or linear algebra? How'd that go? How about philosophy? You want to give me your report cards? Maybe you did well on those, but you fail every day as a husband, or as a wife, or as a child. We certainly don't live up to the imagination we have of ourselves as far as our intellect. And we think, even if we perhaps can get a grasp on math or on science or on philosophy, and we might be able to get one small area of human knowledge down, we have to concede that there are so many other realms of human knowledge that we know nothing about. You can't describe how an engine works, or perhaps you can't describe what's inside of a cat. You can't do everything that's out there. You don't know biology and chemistry and philosophy all at the same time to perfect level. Why then would we think, as we start to deal with the transcendent mind of God, that we can wrap our minds around this? This is a level of knowledge that exceeds our ability, and yet we have to take what is revealed to us in the scripture Romans 9 speaks to us with a level of clarity about this. It's not calling on us to figure it all out, it's calling on us to accept these truths. Romans 9 is probably the pinnacle chapter of these truths. There's a chapter that's summarized in verse 6 as to the point people look at the history of Israel and wonder why Israel has rejected the Christ they people might wonder has Has God's promises to them failed in chapter 9 verse 6 of Romans says but it is not as though the Word of God has failed and so this is building a case that God's Word never fails and And it's perhaps even more summarized in chapter nine, verse 16, when it says, so then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. The case is being built that God is sovereign over all things, that his word will never fail and it will always come to pass in agreement with what he has ordained. we might come to wonder then, how can anyone resist God's will? Well, chapter 9, verse 14 begins a part where there is a bit of a commentary on Exodus 9. It says, what shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? by no means. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will? But who are you, oh man, to answer back to God? Well, what is molded, say to its molder, why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy which he has prepared beforehand for glory? It's a bit of a commentary on Exodus chapter nine, where we find Pharaoh disregarding what God has commanded him, and yet God expressing that he has a purpose for which he has raised Pharaoh up. Why has he put Pharaoh into this position? So that God's power might be fulfilled in him. For us, Our responsibility is unmistakably, if God speaks, obey him. But never think that your disobedience will thwart the ultimate purposes of God. You don't have that level of power in this universe. Only God stands in that position where his purposes cannot be thwarted. We need to humbly submit ourselves to God, both in obeying Him and what He has revealed to us, and accepting Him as the sovereign ruler over all things. That's our purpose. A position of humility with God as ruler. That will get you off to a good start with the right relationship with God. Second, We also, in order to have a real and right relationship with God, we need to fear God's Word. We need to fear His Word. This plague, the plague of the hail, the seventh plague back in Exodus 9, offers a unique opportunity for Pharaoh and the Egyptians. There have been other plagues that have issued a warning, God saying, this plague is going to come, and then giving the people a time to respond. But this one's a bit unique because it's more specific. Here in verse 19, the Lord speaking to Pharaoh says, Therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter. For every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them. The Lord has declared there's gonna be the worst hailstorm Pharaoh has ever seen. And now he gives Pharaoh this command, send your livestock. There can be life preserved here. Pharaoh shouldn't just sit there. This is a command that Pharaoh is supposed to heed, send your livestock, but it's also an offer. It's a merciful offer. He's just been told that there's going to be a hailstorm that's gonna destroy everything. But if you don't want everything destroyed, get your livestock, your servants, bring them inside. It's an offer of mercy, an offer of life. But it's also a test. Will Pharaoh comply? If he doesn't, It's clear that the blood of the livestock and of his servants that die will be on his own head. What reasons does this mighty King Pharaoh have to comply with the word of Yahweh? What reasons does he have to comply? Well, I can give six good reasons. Six plagues that preceded this that would prove unmistakably that God is powerful, that He can execute His plans upon Egypt. But there's also the reality of Pharaoh's injustice, that he's been administering to the Israelites, he's been harsh and unruly with them, and he ought to take soberly to mind that he's been unfair to them, and that he deserves this hailstorm. And so an offer of mercy would be compelling reason to comply. Further, it would be reasonable to comply because this is a real and imminent threat. By this time, he should know that God has the power to execute what he says. What does he have to lose? Even if the hell doesn't come, all that he's lost is a little bit of time to bring in his herd inside and to bring his servants inside. No big deal. Why not just do it? Well, because if he does it, he will show that he has listened to Yahweh and given some credibility to the word of the Lord. So he has reasons not to comply. He doesn't want to comply because he doesn't consider himself a subject of this God of the Hebrews. He himself considers himself to be a God, and so why should he yield to another God? He would just be showing that he's not in charge. Also, if he were to comply with that command, He would be forsaking the gods of Egypt who offer protection. One commentator puts it this way with the option that the Egyptians had before them. They could take their chances with the gods of Egypt. There were plenty to choose from because many of the Egyptian gods and goddesses were personified in the elements of nature. Pharaoh's officials could trust in Shu, the god of the atmosphere who held up the heavens. They could pray to Nut, Sky goddess who represented the vaulting sky they could depend on Tefnut the goddess of moisture or on Seth who was present in the wind and storm Maybe just maybe there was something that one of their gods could do to save them Pharaoh didn't have to comply because he could trust in some other gods But of course Pharaoh does not comply verse 21 Whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field. Quite literally, they did not put the word of Yahweh to heart, is what it says in verse 21. Why not? Because their hearts were hardened. The word of the Lord just bounced off. They did not take it to heart. Their foolish, stubborn heart resisted fearing God's word, and so they didn't put the cattle, they didn't put their servants inside. They left them outside for the hell to come upon. But some did fear the word of Yahweh. Verse 20, then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock. into the houses. Notice that they did exactly as the Lord said. They didn't spiritualize this, thinking, you know, we just need to take the cattle of our hearts and bring them into the safety of our spirit, and that's really what God's talking about here. They took God at His word, was exactly what He said. They believed God said, hell is gonna come. They believed hell is gonna come. And so they, God said, bring your livestock in, your servants in, and that's what they did. They didn't complicate it. They didn't mess around with it. It was just as the word of the Lord was spoken. They feared it. They believed that God would do this. Quite literally, hell, like they had never seen before, was going to come. And they believed it. Of course, every word of God proves true, says Proverbs 30, verse 5. When you fear the word of God, you put yourself in a position to be wise. When you don't fear the word of the Lord, you put yourself in a position to be a fool. After that hail came, who is going to look like the wise one? The one who brought the livestock in. These two categories of people still exist. Those who fear the word of the Lord and those who ignore it. We need to heed the Word of God. Believe Him, take Him at His Word. What does He say to us now? He's not forecasting a hailstorm, but now He's telling us that there is only safety and refuge in His Son. John 3, 17 says, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Listen to this, whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Do you take God at His word? He has invested all salvation into His Son, and if you don't believe in Him, you are condemned already. Who will be the wise one? The one who goes to the Lord Jesus Christ will be the foolish one, the one who disregards the word of the Lord. To have a real and right relationship with God, you need to fear His word. Third, to have a real and right relationship with God, you need to take refuge from God's wrath. This, God promised, was going to be the worst hailstorm that Egypt had ever seen. This is the first plague that is going to bring death to humans. Others had foreshadowed it with the Nile turning to blood. It showed that death was coming. Other plagues were an inconvenience or difficult, but this one is the first one that brings death to humans. Those who were in the field would die from the hail. I'm sure you've all seen a good thunderstorm or been in one. It's an amazing, powerful experience. When you hear the crack of thunder, it doesn't really matter what you're doing, it just kind of makes you stop where you are, and you feel the power of the storm that's come. When God sent this storm, he sent rain, he sent hail, he sent, it says in verse 23, fire ran down to the earth, Thunder. This is a powerful storm, more than you've ever experienced. Some scientists describe lightning coming to the Earth as turning the surrounding air to a temperature that you can't even wrap our minds around, 48,632 degrees Fahrenheit. It's a rapid expansion and contraction of the air and a change in pressure that issues a shockwave out that you feel and hear as thunder. It's a mighty experience. Hail, of course, can damage people's properties, homes, aircraft, cars, can cause injury, even death. This is an awesome show of power. The largest hailstone that's been found in the United States was found in South Dakota. It was 8 inches in diameter and weighed 1 pound, 15 ounces. I don't know how big the hailstones were here. It says in Revelation that there will be hailstones 100 pounds. God has the power to create these things. And it causes us to pause for a second and realize the kind of world that we live in. We get used to rain and thunderstorms to some degree, and we see the weather forecast and know what's going to be happening. But for a moment, just pause and reflect on the amazing reality that these storms exist in the first place. Think of the world that we live in, that from the sky above, fire shoots down to earth. Think that we live in a world that can create a sound that makes you stop dead in your tracks. Consider that you live in a world that can form Stones in the sky and hurled them down to the earth that speeds in excess of a hundred miles an hour What kind of world are we living in where fire and stones come from above Now you may be able to give scientific explanations for that and rightly so but that doesn't diminish that there is a God who created a world that exists with those types of things and he can manipulate them towards his end and In this case, Egypt is going to experience a storm that is sent with deadly precision. God clearly says he's sending it on Egypt. In fact, he's even more precise on than that. He says in verse 14, this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, quite literally on your heart. The plague is meant to show Pharaoh his impotence and compared to God's power. We should constantly remember that. As this storm is sent, in this particular instance, it's an expression of God's wrath. Storms are not always an expression of God's wrath. They are an expression of the cursed world that we live in. In this case, it is an expression of God's wrath and judgment on Egypt, and it is specific, and it is precise. It is intended only to hit those Who are culpable for their oppression of the Israelites God says that he will set apart the land of Goshen It says in chapter 9 verse 26 only in the land of Goshen where the people of Israel were Was there no hell? God never misses in his aim. He is a true marksman a By this time, if you're an Egyptian, you might be thinking, you know, I haven't taken a vacation for a while. I hear the weather's pretty good in Goshen. Maybe I'll go there. Forecast looks sunny. No hailstorms of wrath and judgment there. Think I'll go. When you know that God's wrath is coming, you ought to find the place of refuge. There's no Goshen now that's safe from the cataclysmic storms that will come on this earth. but there is a person that's been offered to us. And if you hide yourself in him, you will be protected from all of the plagues that God has to bring on this planet. The Lord Jesus Christ came to rescue us from the wrath of God, to deliver us from the wrath to come. You can't travel to a country, you can't build yourself a fortified bunker in the hills of Montana to save yourself from nuclear holocaust, but you can put yourself in the Lord Jesus Christ who is safer than any other refuge. Come to him and you will find him to be safe and secure for all eternity. And you will never taste the wrath of God. You only taste his blessing, his favor, his love, his mercy. You will experience him as a loving father and not as a judge. There's only one refuge for us now. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Only one name given among men by which we may be saved. take refuge from the wrath of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and then you'll have a real and right relationship with God Almighty. Finally, to have a real, right relationship with God, you need to be a doer of the Word. Pharaoh has experienced this hailstorm, It smashed everything, it says in verse 25. It struck down everything that was in the field and in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and the hell struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. Just decimation. Well, Pharaoh responds, verse 27. He sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, this time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go and you shall stay no longer. This sounds right on. If you were to write a script for Pharaoh to recite, you might write something Very similar to this. Say, this sounds great, Pharaoh's got it. He says, he's sinned. He says, God is right. He says that he needs to have the Lord pleaded with for him. He says, it's been enough. He says, I'm gonna let you go. You're not gonna stay any longer. And you think, Pharaoh's come to the Lord. He's gotten saved. Sounds exactly right. What's lacking What's lacking is that his words do not come from a heart softened to the Lord They are still coming from a heart. That is stone-cold Pharaoh would be equally content with both the absence of God's plagues and the absence of God. If things could just go back to the way they were before God had ever made any word in Egypt, that would be just fine. He would be fine with a life without God altogether. That is not a heart humble towards God. As you think of this confession that Pharaoh's made and you think of it a little bit closer, maybe you notice a few things. He mentions, this time I have sinned. Really? This time? What about The other times, remember those? Remember the thing with the flies? How about the gnats? Remember that? How about the frogs? What about that whole Nile turned into blood thing? Remember the serpent staff that ate up all of your staffs? What about then? This time I've sinned? Notice also that he asks Moses to plead for him, and he has no prayer for himself. He has to request some mercenary prayer here. He only has faith enough to know that God will condemn unless there is some intervention. He doesn't have faith enough to go to God himself. Notice also that he seems irked when he says in verse 28, plead with the Lord for there has been enough of God's thunder in hell. Does Pharaoh get to set the limits on God's judgment? Do any of us get to say, that's enough God, no more. Do any of us get to say when it's enough of God's punishment, of His chastisement, of His discipline? Do any of us have that place of authority to be able to say to God, enough of this, it's plenty? Only God has that prerogative. Only He gets to say when it's enough. Notice also that Pharaoh makes no mention of his past failure to let the people go and then not letting the people go. Think also, this is inadequate because Pharaoh knows that while everything is decimated right now, there's still hope outside of God. I think that's what verse 31 is about. Moses has agreed to pray for Pharaoh to the Lord. He mentions, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord in verse 30, but then verse 31 is this interesting interlude. It says, the flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in the bud. The wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late and coming up. Okay. You can live without flax and barley. There's still wheat and emmer that are coming. Perhaps Pharaoh knows that and thinks we can get by. Pharaoh has not emptied himself of all hope in himself yet. His heart is still hardened towards the Lord God. He says the right words. He says something that looks like a great confession. He makes a great promise. I will let the people go. but he's all talk and no walk. There's a character in Pilgrim's Progress called Talkative. He's very eloquent. He comes on the scene and can talk about spiritual things until there's no tomorrow. But as the main character, Christian, evaluates talkative, he says of talkative, he talks of prayer, of repentance, of faith, and of the new birth, but he knows but only to talk of them. I have been in his family and have observed him both at home and abroad. And I know that what I say of him is the truth. His house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is of savor. There is there neither prayer nor sign of repentance for sin. Yea, the brute in his kind serves God far better than he. He is the very stain, reproach, and shame of religion to all that know him. Thus say the common people that know him, a saint abroad and a devil at home. His poor family finds it so. Pharaoh could talk the talk, but that's all it was. There was no sincere repentance. He was not a doer of the word. And sadly, there's so many like that. You learn the jargon. You learn that it impresses. You can talk up a storm about theology, but when you get to the personal details of your life, it's a wreck. There is no manifestation of repentance. There is no godliness in your home, no godliness in your work, no godliness in your life. It's all a show. It's all a sham. Matthew 3, 8. John the Baptist says, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. John says in 1 John 3.18, little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. James says in James 2.26, for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. Paul in 1 Corinthians 4.20 says, the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power. Jesus says in Matthew 22 verse 2 the scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses seat So do and observe whatever they tell you but not the works they do for they preach but do not practice James 1 verse 22 says but be doers of the word and not hearers only You cannot just talk the talk your life has to be transformed in order to have a real relationship with God. Still in Pharaoh's case, Moses goes out, prays to the Lord, and the Lord relented Verse 34, when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses. In the end, the Lord God will always be the one whose purposes stand. We may rebel, we can fight and kick against God and His ways. We will not overcome the Lord. Much better, submit yourself to God. Live according to His ways. Fear the Word of God. Know your purpose in this world. Take refuge from the wrath of God in Christ. Be a doer of the Word. Those will all yield a real right relationship with the Almighty God. Let's pray. Father, we would ask you for your mercy. You say that you will have mercy on whom you have mercy. We ask you that you would have mercy on each of us, to have softened hearts, to live according to your ways, to fear your word, to take refuge in Christ. Father, keep us from hardening our hearts. If there are things that we know we ought to be doing, living by, and continually reject your purposes for us in our lives. Help us, Lord, to yield to you, to truly repent, not just to make a show of it with our words, but to truly live for you. Oh, Lord, please keep us from walking down that path that is of a hardened heart. I thank you for the many who are here who do continually yield to you each day. Lord, encourage them in their walk with you, strengthen them. May they worship you and praise you for your kindness and grace. We thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.