Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Exodus chapter 7 as we continue our study through the book of Exodus. Page 49 in your Bibles there in front of you. Looking for that reference, page 49. Last week we considered the prologue to the 10 plagues. We now want to turn to this first sign performed by God in Egypt, the turning of the water into blood. It's recorded for us here in God's word. Starting in verse 14, we're going to be reading through verse 25. Exodus 7, starting in verse 14, this is the word of God. Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you saying, let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness. But so far you have not obeyed. Thus says the Lord. By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, with the staff that is in my hand, I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die. The Nile will stink. The Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile. The Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. The fish in the Nile died and the Nile stank so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. So for the reading of God's own holy word, may he add his blessing to the reading and proclamation of it this morning. Dear people of God, Pharaoh's heart problem is man's heart problem. Pharaoh's heart was hard, stubborn, dead to the truth. The Bible says that we are all born dead in sin. Pharaoh stubbornly refused the Lord. And all people stubbornly refused the Lord apart from his life-giving work, his giving of a new heart. Pharaoh refused to consider God's command to let my people go. The Bible says even this He did not take to heart, even this sign. Well that wouldn't change God's plans and that's our confidence this morning is that God will accomplish His purposes even when man seeks to stand in the way or to resist. The hardness of Pharaoh's heart in fact would magnify the Lord's power and and that God would deliver his people and fully conquer Pharaoh in the end as we see in coming chapters. But the Bible often records spiritual conflict in the scripture and then tells us before it happens what's going to happen in it and after it. Throughout the Bible we see spiritual conflict recorded. The Bible consistently takes us beyond it to show us what the end will be. God will have the victory. And the enemies of God will face great judgment. Well, first this morning we want to consider the blood. of the story, the blood in the story, the death to come upon the hard-hearted. That's what we want to think about first this morning as we look at this confrontation, the blood, the death that is to come upon the hard-hearted. The Lord tells Moses to go down to meet Pharaoh at the Nile. Now, why does Pharaoh go down to the Nile? We want to ask ourselves questions as we're reading the text. What's he doing? Why is he going down to the Nile? There's any number of reasons given. Some would say that he's going down to get water, but Pharaoh doesn't need to go down. He has servants for that, to bring the water to him. He could be going down to wash, that's possible. We see back in earlier chapters in Exodus, his daughter would do that, but he certainly could have also washed in his palace. I'm persuaded of the argument that Pharaoh's trip to the Nile River is for worship. It's for worship. It certainly included worship. He may have gone down for other reasons, but to worship. Why do I say that? Well, Pharaoh was a devout worshiper of the Egyptian gods, and one of the greatest gods in Egypt was the god of the river, the Nile River. It was said in Egypt that without the river, Egypt would not exist. So we want to keep the god of the river happy. We want to make sure that we don't make The river got angry. Egyptians saw their nation as a gift from this God. So they worshipped. There was an ancient hymn, one commentator points out, that said, Hail to thee, O Nile, that issues from the earth and comes to keep Egypt alive. Well, children, we know that these gods are nothing but made up from man's mind. We know who made the river. We know who makes life. We know who preserves life. It's none other than the Lord. But here in Egypt, these people and their leader, who set the example, worshipped the Nile and the God that they believed to be behind it. The Lord told Moses to go and proclaim once again to Pharaoh, let my people go, that they may worship, that they may serve me in the wilderness. The Lord knew that Pharaoh's heart would be unchanged, so he was going to give a sign as well confronting these gods that Pharaoh trusted in, that the people trusted in. He was going to turn the river, all the water, to blood. It's an attack on Egypt's God, showing the inability of Egypt's God to give life or to preserve life. Moses later summarized it that way. When he was talking about what God did in Egypt, he said that the Lord brought judgment on their gods. That's what he was doing. Exodus 12, he says that. It's interesting to note also, and you wouldn't note this if you were reading just the English, but in the Hebrew, it's interesting to note verse 19 and what it says. Verse 19 tells us there's going to be blood everywhere. What does it say there? It says there's going to be blood in the river and in the canals and the ponds and the pools of water. There's going to be blood even in the vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. Well, the English adds that word vessels. where the NIV says, in buckets. It adds the word buckets and jars there. But in the Hebrew, that word's not there. It's possible that this verse refers to the vessels that were holding the water, the vessels of stone and of wood. But the Hebrew simply says that there would be blood in the wood and in the stone. What do we make of that? Blood in the wood and in the stone. We're not sure what to make of that, but it is rather interesting that when the Old Testament, when there's reference to wood and stone, it's referring to idols. It's saying that don't worship the idols of wood and stone. And one Old Testament scholar claims the Egyptian priests washed their idols every morning. That possibility presents quite a picture here. After this first sign, this first plague, what are they doing then if they're washing these idols? They're washing them with blood. We think about what the idols and the pagan nations often called for. They asked for blood. They asked for sacrifice. And yet they could give nothing in return. And here they are washing these idols with blood. And the gods are powerless. They can do nothing. We recognize that nothing and no one but God can give life. And we worship a lot of things. We maybe don't have idols, statues in our homes. We have a lot of things that we worship today that we really think life comes from these things. We worship money, we worship government, we worship advisors, etc. Giving ourselves to these things won't give us life. There's no life in idols. The Bible says that those who worship idols will become like them. In Psalm 135, we read that they'll be blind, deaf, and lifeless. We could say, if we're tying in Pharaoh here, we could say hard-hearted, lifeless, unable to see, unable to hear, unable to understand the truth. Well, after this meeting, there's blood everywhere. There's blood in the river, in the canals, in the ponds, in the pools of water. So Pharaoh calls for his magicians to show their quote-unquote power, and they perform the same sign. But I want you to notice something on how unhelpful that is. If this God is going to be of such help, don't you think he would bring water? The magicians make more blood. But the people don't need more blood. They need the blood to be turned to water. So what we see is a rather strange response. Why don't these magicians, why doesn't their God bring them what they need? Not more blood. Turn that blood, all that blood everywhere, to water. Show that you can bring life if you are so powerful. Well, the magicians can't do that. But Pharaoh's satisfied. He said, well, that's blood for blood. I'm good. And his heart's hard. He refuses to recognize how deadly the situation was, how helpless his gods were, and how powerless to deliver. What's the purpose of the sign? What's the purpose of God's signs? He says in verse 17, to show that I am the Lord. God is God alone. Greater than all the gods of Egypt, the powers that the people put their life, put their life into the hands of these powers, they're being confronted here and shown to be powerless. to bring life, to bring what was needed. The pride of Egypt was confronted. What does the scripture say? Pride goes before a fall. And we see that wherever it's found. We see that here with Pharaoh. We see that wherever it's found. I was thinking of an example in Israel. King Uzziah, great king in the history of Israel. What happened to him? It says that he was greatly helped, marvelously helped, as he sought the Lord. And he became strong. And yet when he became strong, he became proud. And he was brought down. Pride is deadly. Children from an early age, the Lord wants you to have soft hearts to the truth, wants you to listen to your parents as they speak about life being found in the Lord. He doesn't want you looking anywhere else for life. Not basketball, not mathematics, not work. First to the Lord. He wants us to fight against pride, our own hearts, which say, I don't need any help. I don't need to listen. That's a hard heart. Any individual, any nation that becomes proud in that way will will fall, will be confronted. All of its gods will be confronted and God will show that there is no life in them. What do we do today? Well, we worship our gods. Is there life in the stock market? Today as a nation, we act like there is. We follow the stock market, listen to our advisors, look for tax loopholes that we can get through, but we are disinterested or very uninterested in our spiritual state. What if the stock market collapsed? What if our investments tanked? Our nation is very concerned about financial prosperity and well-being. And it's not wrong to be concerned to have the money we need to survive. We don't want to be a burden. We want to work, receive something for the work of our hands. But we work and work and think that money is our life. What if the stock market would collapse? What would we do? Would we turn to God? Would we remember that he is our life or would we go berserk and blame Washington or blame the investors? Would we look for help in God or turn away? One commentator says he's making a modern parallel, Egypt's God was the river, Our God prosperity says if America doesn't turn from her false gods, God will glorify himself in America the same way he glorified himself in Egypt. He will triumph over every false god to show that he alone is God and he alone gives life. We can be sure that God will confront any false gods that we have in our lives to show that they are not going to give us what we need. We can be sure he will show us there's no life in them. Writer of Hebrews in his emphasis on putting faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and looking nowhere else reminds the listeners of the people of the Old Testament how they had hardened their hearts. He says, do not harden your hearts as they did. He says, take care to listen to what The Lord has said to consider his works, exhort one another every day as long as it is called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. We can be deceived. And what does it say? Why could they not enter at the end of that third chapter of Hebrews? It says they were unable to enter because of unbelief. They did not believe in the Lord and his way. They looked elsewhere for their life. All who trust in false gods will be disappointed. In the end, yet all who trust in the one true God, even when everything else is taken away, will stand secure. God saying that to his people in Egypt, he's saying, it doesn't look bright, it looks bleak, but I assure you, I will deliver. God told Moses and Aaron that he would perform signs to show he was the Lord. That reveals that he is a covenant God who makes relationship, who wants relationship with people, who wants to enter into a relationship that is a covenant bond lifelong, forever in the case of God, able to deliver where false gods cannot. Well, the magicians performed the sign which God performed, but this was not what the people needed. The sign of blood should have struck Pharaoh in the heart. that he was in a situation that was deadly, that God was powerful to save, but also the one who was in control over life and death. He was to be worshiped, to be obeyed, and yet Pharaoh would not. There was blood everywhere. I want us to think ahead just a little bit. When the Old Testament Israelites receive their call to go and they receive their Old Testament sacrificial system, what do we see? There's blood everywhere. blood sacrifice, and yet as we have the New Testament to interpret what's going on there, these continual sacrifices, what does it tell us? It says these animal sacrifices cannot atone for the sin of man. There's a possibility that these sacrifices, no matter how numerous, could atone for sin, yet God declared that he would send one who would come to atone. Many years later, God would send his savior into the world. From that very first day of life, the devil wanted to kill him. He continued his assaults on him until the day when he was crucified, and there the devil was certain that he had won. That this was it. This was the last blood to be shed. The battle was over and indeed it was the last blood to be shed. The last blood to be shed for the complete forgiveness of the sins of those who trust in Him. Christ satisfied and turned away God's wrath by His perfect sacrifice. No more blood needing to be shed. Hebrews 7 27. Once for all. And a new sign was given to the people of God. A sign of washing. A sign of life and cleansing, that of baptism. Water, then, is the sign that speaks of life and cleansing, secondly, this morning. And very briefly, water, the sign that speaks of life and cleansing. Death hangs over humanity because of sin, but God, who is rich in mercy, has made us alive with Christ. He's made all believers in Christ alive with Him, rescuing us from death sentence. What the Egyptian magicians could not do, turn blood to water, God did. He sent his son to shed his blood to wash us clean from our sin. To deliver us completely from all our sins. We've witnessed baptism this morning, a sign and seal that God will bring life to those who are dead. We're born dead in sin. Ephesians 2 tells us. But God works life in us and promises to do the same in our children. Now, this is not automatic. It doesn't say, well, it's automatic. You've administered the sacrament. Now, that's just an automatic. It's going to happen. No. But it is a sign of what God will do. Now, he continues to wash. Now, he must wash us internally. Well, Joel and Bethany, you have brought Piper to baptism this morning in obedience to God to receive that sign and seal of the covenant. God says he will be a God to you and to your children, one who gives life, who is able, powerful to deliver from sin and its curse, which is death. And you are to lead her and the boys to love the Lord, to show them what it looks like to love the Word, to speak of how the Lord has worked in you, how He has loved you. You're to pray that God would work in your children that new life that He can give by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the giver of new life. Not that water, it's the Holy Spirit. You're to pray that God would work in your children the new life that He promises to give to His own. The Spirit testifies that Christ has come to cover our sins and to give us life. Listen to what it says in 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5, it talks about water and blood. It talks about these in relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John 5 verse 6, this is He who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree. This is the testimony. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. It doesn't matter what gods you serve. Powerful they may seem for the Egyptians. It was the river God He was the one who brought them life, but it brought them nothing could only bring them more blood No, it is the Lord alone who can deliver and Christ is the one who has delivered from the one who had the power of death listen to those words from Hebrews chapter 2 in verse 14 and Satan had the power of death. He's tempted us to sin and acts as accuser demanding that just punishment be made against our sin. The wages of sin is death. His power is to accuse unto death. Yet that was destroyed when our sin was punished at the cross. Because of what Christ did. Taking our place, those accusations don't stand against us. Therefore the children share in flesh and blood since therefore the children share in flesh and blood. I'm reading Hebrews 2 verse 14. He himself that is Jesus took likewise partook the same things that through death. He might destroy the one who has the power of death that is the devil. And deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps but he helps the offspring of Abraham those who are believers. And Bethany you explain that faith to your children point them to Christ and say there is life in him life forevermore That they might turn from sin and embrace him believe in him and live forever Children are a gift from the Lord We've thought about that in this week gone by, some of us, with the March for Life, Sanctity of Life Sunday last week. We look at children differently than the world does. As Christians, we don't see them as a financial liability, a burden, inconvenience, rather we We see them as investment in the future. That next generation rising up and calling upon the name of the Lord. Pointing people to God who is the giver of life and the sustainer of life. The one who delivers from sin and the one who provides everlasting salvation. We seek to raise them in the truth that they will continue to witness to God. When children are born to us, we're filled with joy, not dismayed or fearful. We know that they're dead in sin, but we know God is faithful to his covenant to be a God to us and to our children. We have a wonderful privilege to raise children to look to him, to live in the truth that God gives. We'll see about that. We'll look at that truth tonight. We'll look at the matter of speaking truth tonight. We're confident that God can give life as our children turn to him, trusting not in their own wisdom, but in him. You have, Joel and Bethany, the weighty responsibility of telling your children what's wrong with them and the world. Their sin is the problem. Sin in the world is the problem. Yet God can deliver. We're sinful in every part, the scriptures tell us. But God is powerful to rescue and powerful to save. He does, over and over. He shows himself faithful. We see that here in Exodus, and we see that every day. Looking back in verses from last week, I know I shouldn't do that, because then we have to stretch our brains a bit. But back in verse 12, we saw that image, that picture of Aaron's staff which had become a serpent and it was Placed on the ground it swallowed up all those other staffs of other serpents that the magicians had made There's a picture of God's power over all the other gods Spurgeon said this about that scene He says when a divine truth is cast into the heart or thrown upon the earth when it's placed in the hands of parents to their children It swallows up everything else. I know the devil may fashion a counterfeit as these magicians did with their magic arts Though it may produce swarms of opponents, though the number of the enemy may seem great, God in his truth will swallow up all his foes. We can call this Exodus parenting, I guess, right? We can tell our children that God gives life, that he protects all those who trust in him, can deliver from death. The gods of this age They may have changed in appearance or in name, but they can't give life. But God, who is rich in mercy, gives life and makes us alive in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is no longer in the tomb, but he has risen to heaven and is on high, interceding for his people. His shed blood washes away all our sin. And there is life and cleansing now in him. That's why we celebrate baptism. That's why we celebrate God's power, because it's unto life. It's to reconcile us to him, the one for whom we were made. God's great sign and seal of life is set before us today, that washing, the one who can Change us, deliver us from death, from blood and death and from hell to life everlasting, to that which is refreshing and clean and pure. Thanks be to God. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, as we reflect upon death and life, upon false gods and you, the true God, it is very clear where we are to look. We're here to find our hope. It is in your son. The eternal son of God. Who took on flesh? To become like us. To bear the judgment that we should have born. Wash away all our sins that we might now have life. As he has life. We thank you dear father for that gift. May we realize what a privilege it is to be able to share that message in a world that's so confused. looks at good things and calls them evil, looks at evil things and calls them good. Lord, may we rejoice when we see the next generation. May we rejoice when we see your promises from generation to generation and see that life endures for you endure forever. Receive our thanks and our praise and guide us by your spirit to teach and to instruct in the truth. Then work faith in the hearts of our children, we pray. to your glory. Amen. Number 340.