with this today, aren't I? This is our last message in our series on how to know and do the will of God. As we continue our study from last week in seeking to do God's will, God's way. And so let me invite you to open your Bibles to the book of Romans to begin with. Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. And let me call your attention to two verses that you should know well. Romans chapter 8, verse 28 and 29. They read, and we know that all things work together for good. To those who love God, to those who are the called, according to his purpose, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. One of the darkest blotches in the history of the 20th century has to be the meaningless and incredible extermination of some six million Jews by Nazi Germany in the Second World War. We refer to this terrible and tragic event as the Holocaust. Many Jews recognizing the tremendous oppression which was happening in Nazi Germany fled their homeland for their lives, leaving behind their homes, their jobs, their possessions, in some cases their relatives, almost everything they had. One such Jew was Abraham Poljack. As time would go on, he would insightfully pen these words. I am one of the Jews who escaped from Germany. I thank God for all the strokes with which I was driven from darkness to light. It is better that we arrive beaten and bleeding at the glorious goal than that we decay happily and contented in darkness. As long as things were all right with us, we did not know anything of God and the salvation of our souls and the world beyond. Hitler's arrows and our misery have led us to the innermost heart. We have lost our earthly home, but found the heavenly one. We have lost our economic support, but won the friendship of the ravens of Elijah. On the bitter ends of immigration, we have found Jesus Christ, the richest of all the worlds. Can you relate to all of that? I certainly can't relate, obviously, and you can't either, to all that transpired in World War II Nazi Germany. But we certainly can relate to the fact that it's not better, is it not better to arrive beaten and bleeding at the glorious cross of Jesus Christ than to decay happily and contented in darkness? Is it not true that when everything in our lives seems to be going right, that we have a little concern about God and the issues of eternity? Do you know at all what it is to be crushed by some sorrow or adversity in life only to find through it the perfect peace and comfort of God? And I say that because before one is saved, they must see their need to be saved. They will see that normally in two ways. One, they will see that need, first of all, because they have a personal need in their life of some kind. something in which they realize they need divine help. Or it could be they see that need on the pages of Scripture in which, upon seeing that God is holy and they are sinful, that they are deserving of eternal hell, and they say, I have a need to be saved. But regardless of the case, When they put their faith in Christ, they're safe forever. But even as believers, are we not prone to go astray? When everything seems to be going right in our life, are we not prone to disfit the Lord, and maybe when it's convenient, if we need Him, on the big things of life? But otherwise, we pretty much waltz along as if we were sufficient in ourselves. And yet we all face, during our lives, problems, pressures, difficulties, trials, adversity, suffering, heartache, pain, discouragement, and despair. And this is true for the person without Christ as well as for the individual who is trusted in Jesus Christ, for believers are not exempt from problems. And though the most important problem has been resolved in our lives, the issue of our eternal destiny, because the moment we put our faith in Christ, we're saved forever and we have eternal life, yet nevertheless, as believers, we still face problems and troubles in life, and yet we face them with the Lord. We face them with His sufficient grace. We face them with His great and precious promises. We face them in which we can turn to the Lord and find His strength and comfort in those trials and be matured, or we can react in our flesh, have our own pity parties, our own temper tantrums, and our own adult ways. and live in absolute misery in the process. And that's why it is essential that we know, that we remember and we believe, that God in His sovereign grace is working out all things together for good, so that He can conform us into the image of His Son, so that in everything, Jesus Christ might be preeminent. that he would receive the honor, that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And dear friends, trials, difficulties, and sufferings, and even failure are part of that all things that work together for good in our lives. He specifically directs and He permits them in order to spiritually maturus. He allows them to try and purify our faith that we might learn to trust Him. And that is why the overriding principle of this message today is that you must remember that walking by faith allows the Lord to fight your battles for you while you enjoy God's rest. Walking by faith allows the Lord to fight your battles for you while you enjoy God's rest. Now, we saw that at salvation. We saw that we couldn't save ourselves. We saw that Christ did it all, and we put our faith in Him to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. And God says, I want to duplicate that truth every day in your Christian life as well. And that's why Galatians 2.20 is the Christian life in a nutshell. Paul says, I've been crucified with Christ. That's your position. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That's your power. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. That's your posture. And what is your personal motivation? You love me and gave Himself for me. But notice again, it's a life of faith. In Jesus Christ, motivated by His love, in light of our position in Him. That is why Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7 says, As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, how did you do that? By faith in His sufficiency. So walk in Him. Here is the command now. Walk in Him. How? The same way you received Him. By faith in Him and His sufficiency. Rooted is in the perfect tense. Having been rooted, This is your position in Christ. And now presently being built up in Him and being established in the faith, the Word of God, as you have been taught, that's essential for your growth. And what overflows when this is true? A bounding in it with thanksgiving. Because grace leads you to thanksgiving. You see, we walk by faith and not by sight. We saw that at salvation, John 3, 16, how were we saved? By faith in Jesus Christ. And therefore we knew, we knew that we had eternal life. I write these things to you, believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. But in the same way, by faith, you can know that all things work together for good. But remember, for God to get the glory, he must fight your battles for you. If you roll up your sleeve and say, I'm going to handle this, I'll take care of it, then you're going to get the glory if it's accomplished. And that's why the Christian life is lived by faith. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And that's why we need our thinking renewed day after day, so that the Word of God can be on the launching pad of our thinking, And we can mix the promises of God and the principles of God's grace through faith. In fact, years ago, what did God say to King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20? Beginning in verse 12, Jehoshaphat says, will you not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on you. Notice their focus. It wasn't on their circumstances. It wasn't ultimately on their enemies. Our eyes are on you. Now Judah, with their little ones, their wives and their children, stood before the Lord, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jehaziel, And he said, verse 15, listen all of you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord to you, do not be afraid nor dismayed because of the great multitude. Notice, it was a great multitude. We acknowledge that. But why are you not to be afraid or dismayed? For the battle is not yours but God's. You see, when your eyes are on the Lord, you can begin to factor Him in. You can begin to realize, I can't, but He can. And you can remember the battle is not yours, it's really the Lord's. Whether it's the battle with the flesh, the world, and the devil, or even the difficulties and trials of life. He says in verse 17, you will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourself. Stand still. Keep this in mind. We'll see this in Exodus and see the salvation of the Lord who is with you. So when our eyes are on the Lord, we remember the battle is not ours, but God. We remember He's the one who's going to fight. What do we do? We just stand still. We don't help Him out. We just trust Him. And we remember He's with us. Do not fear or be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them for the Lord is with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. Notice, they took God at His word. They believed He was going to come through, that He was going to fight their battle, and they bowed down in absolute gratitude and humility and faith and worshiped Him. And not only do they worship him, they stood up the Korahites to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high. Now, before you see the Lord pull off the battle in your life, are you willing to stand still? Are you willing to trust him? Are you willing to even stop and bow in absolute gratitude for his promises and praise to him and say, Lord, I don't know how you're going to do this, but you've promised this and I trust you. In fact, I'm going to praise you ahead of time. Because I believe that you're going to fight the battle. Now, one of our problems is we take that back and we try to help him out. And we try to start fighting the battle and we screw it up. And at those points, we just need to confess, I've sinned against the Lord. And what do we do? Get our eyes back on the Lord. Remember, he's got to fight the battle. Remember, he's going to pull it off. So therefore, and the Lord is with us, and therefore we can worship him and we can praise him in advance for who he is and what he's done. What a wonderful, wonderful truth to remember. Both in the Old Testament and the New, but obviously in the New and under grace in Christ, obviously these things are expanded and clarified in a more tremendous way. You see, instead of God, instead of you trying to help God out, God is trying to show you that apart from His grace, you will fail. He wants you to admit your failure and your self-dependence. He wants you to trust Him. In doing so, reap from your trials great spiritual benefits towards God. In fact, you can learn Bible doctrine here over this pulpit. And it can be on the blackboard of your thinking, but it's trials that move it to the blacktop of your life. It's trials that cause those truths then to be taken by faith, embraced, and woven into the character of your life. Those truths move from gnosis to epignosis, from knowledge to experiential knowledge, to intimate knowledge. You not only know all things work together for good and you kick it out, but you know all things work together for good because you've trusted the Lord and you've tasted and seen He is good. And you know you can believe His promises. And that's why in this series on how to know and do the will of God, we started out with a wonderful promise. a promise that I hope that you repeatedly appropriate. Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6. We then looked at a biblical premise in John 7, 17, and we underscored a basic principle to know God's will always start with the known will of God. And we're going to see it today in the life of Moses again. As we look at the will of God, we've underscored God wants us to be saved and spirit filled and spiritually growing, sexually pure, submissive, suffering for Christ's sake, saying thanks and serving the Savior in all you do. Not cranked out through your own flesh. That's why you first have to be saved and controlled by the spirit so that these things could happen in your life. We then began looking at how to discern the unknown will of God. And we've said, in essence, again, remember to always start with the known will of God. In doing so, recognize any biblical principles that apply and any biblical priorities that should be considered, and then rely on the unfailing promises of God, especially his promises for guidance. bathe this issue in specific prayer. And remember, God leads you one step at a time. And don't forget to factor in the providence of God. He has to work out the circumstances, the details, and so forth. But you don't start with seven. You start with one. You don't start by, well, there's an opportunity here. It must be the will of God. No. You start with, what does God want? What does his word say? So I would know whether this is a wise move to go through that door and how to perceive that circumstance or not. Now, as we make our way back to Exodus chapter four, we have seen in our previous study these truths being illustrated in the life of Moses. We have seen in Hebrews chapter 11 that by faith Moses made a decision that pleased the Lord. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. And he wanted to do the Lord's will, but then he miserably failed when he didn't check in with the Lord, didn't rely on the Lord, took things in his own hands, killed the Egyptians and buried him in the sand, and did a bad job at that. We then looked at God's faithfulness as he ran for his life to Midian, and there God still blessed him with a wife and blessed him with a child and blessed him with a time to grow spiritually and learn to walk with the Lord, though he had more learning to do. We then saw last week that on Mount Sinai, God calls Moses to be the one who would be the instrument in God's hands to deliver Israel from Egypt. but that he begins to object. And there are five objections we looked at last time, and it's interesting to know, the first one was, who am I? He went from, I can do it, to, who am I to do it? And the response in essence was, God said, you have me and my promise. His second objection was, I don't know all the answers, and the answer God gave was, you have me, and tell them just what you know from my word. The third objection said, in essence, they will not believe me. And his answer was, you have me and my power. The fourth objection was, I don't have the speaking ability. God's answer was, you have me and I will teach you. The fifth objection was, I don't want to go alone. In fact, I don't want to go at all. And the answer was, you have me and your brother. You know, in talking to Scott Johnson about this message, as he and Beth watched it last week on a live webcast, he said to me something very insightful. He said, what more could God have offered Moses? He offered him himself. He offered him his power. He offered him his promises. He offered to teach him. What more could he have offered? And in the same way, what more could God offer you? The issue isn't God's insufficiency. The problem is our unbelief and our unwillingness to trust the Lord. And so God does graciously utilize Moses with his brother and They go to Egypt to fulfill the will of God How do the people in Egypt the Israelites respond chapter 4 verse 31 says? so the people believed and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and That he had looked on their affliction. They bowed their heads and they worshiped Notice they believed Moses that he was God's deliverer And they bowed and worshipped the Lord out of gratitude again that God was going to deliver them. They believed the Word of God. But keep in mind, the children of Israel in many ways are just like us, in the sense that trusting the Lord at this step doesn't mean we'll trust Him in the next step, or the next one, or the next one. So they respond favorably this first time, and in doing so, we begin to see in chapters 5 through 12, God's defeat of Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. We read in chapter 5, afterward, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, thus says the Lord God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. Pharaoh said Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go in essence? He's saying I'm the Lord around here Who is this Lord? I do not know the Lord nor will I let Israel go So they said the God of the Hebrews has met with us Please let us go three days journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God Lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword And the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor. And Pharaoh said, look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor with all this deliverance talk. So the same day, Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers saying, you shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. Now, straw wasn't readily available. This would obviously involve a lot more work, but the demands for bricks would remain the same. In other words, the burden got worse. Isn't it funny at times when one steps out to do the will of God, it may create actually a greater burden on someone else? Verse 8, And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry out, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words. And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and thus spoke to the people, saying, Thus says Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Go get yourself straw where you can find it, yet none of your work will be reduced. So the people were scattered abroad. They were running around all over, throughout all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble instead of straw, which Pharaoh had previously provided for them. And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw. Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, so there was Pharaoh, the taskmasters, then there were Israelite masters as well, were beaten and were asked, why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today as before? Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, Why are you dealing thus with your servants? There is no straw given to your servants. And they say to us, Make brick, and indeed your servants are beaten. The fault is in your own people. They're not giving us the straw we need. But he said, You are idle, idle! Therefore you say, Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord. Therefore go now and work, for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks. And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota. Then as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. Now let me pause for a minute. What do you think they said? They said, oh, we're so glad you're here, doing the will of God. No, no. Verse 21. And they said to them, let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand, to kill us. So Moses returned to the Lord, and he said, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, neither have you delivered your people at all. He's saying, Lord, why? I don't get it. Here, I'm doing your will your way, and the result is worse, not better. You know, sometimes people in walking by faith think that all of a sudden, then God is going to clear up all your circumstances and certainly everything's going to get better. Now, sometimes people reject you more. They think you're nuts. They don't get it. They're not wired for sound. Remember, unbelievers aren't wired for sound. They don't have the spirit of God. They're not going to view things the way you do. But even believers here. are murmuring and complaining as well, because their eyes are where? Not on the Lord, not on his word, but on their circumstances. And certainly our heart goes out in the sense that who wants people's burdens to get worse? And yet we know that all them that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, even as a believer today. So, in light of this, we see God's defeat of Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. And there's the beginning of these curses, these plagues that are placed upon Egypt. Now, as we think of these plagues, they're very interesting to observe. We don't have time to examine them closely, but there are 10 of them. And each one is a personal challenge to a god of Egypt that the Egyptians worshipped. in order to prove that the true and living God is the only real God. Furthermore, as we think of the first plague turning water into blood, this was a challenge to three gods of the Egyptians. But what is interesting is that the magicians of Pharaoh were able to duplicate this same miracle. And the result was dead fish and a putrid smell everywhere. Now we know the names of two of those magicians, according to 2 Timothy 3. They're Janus and Jambres, and they withstood Moses. And we're reminding him this, that Satan is the master deceiver and he has his own religious magicians that at times can do what appears to be the miraculous and duplicate the miracles of God and yet be contrary to the true and living God. That's why you must exercise biblical discernment. Everyone who claims to be from God and does a miracle from God isn't really from God. On the heels of the plague of blood became the plague of frogs. Now, I don't know how many of you like frogs. Nothing wrong with frogs, but how would you like billions of frogs? Everywhere, as it were. And again, this was a challenge to two of the Egyptian gods who were involved with frogs and fertility. This again was duplicated by the Egyptians. to a degree which shows you again Satan has power. It's just that he is not omnipotent like God is. On the heels of the plague of frog came the plagues of lice and gnats. I don't know if you've ever had lice or your kids have had lice. Not fun. How would you like to have lice and gnats everywhere? Everywhere. And this, again, was a challenge to the earth god of Egypt. This was not duplicated by the Egyptians, though. Fourth was the plague of flies. Now, if you think army worms are bad, and I heard they may be back this summer, when you look at blood frogs, lice gnats, and flies, army worms, praise the Lord. They're nothing compared to what they went through here. And again, this was a challenge to the fly god of Egypt. I can't pronounce his name. But what is interesting is at this point, the plagues no longer affect the children of Israel in Goshen. They only affect the Egyptians, as it were. There then was the plague of pestilence. This involved a disease on cattle and again was a challenge to two of the Egyptian gods associated with bulls and cows, affecting property and death of livestock. So there was carnage everywhere. Following that was the plague of boils. Boils, which obviously affects your body. In fact, it was so bad that Pharaoh's magicians did not even appear in court because they were hurting so bad in light of these boils. Which again was a challenge to three of the gods of Egypt, including the god of healing. Oh, you worship the god of healing? Let's see if he can heal these boils. And they were everywhere. Number seven was the plague of Hell. Now, you know, Egypt is not used to receiving hail. We are, Egypt's not. And again, this was a challenge to three gods, including the god called Nut, or Nut, depending on how you pronounce it. And you know, to get hail in Egypt is nuts. I mean, they just don't get hail like this. And here is when Pharaoh admits, I have sinned. You can go, and then he changes his mind. And the plague of hail was followed by the plague of locusts. And again, this was a challenge to an Egyptian deity who was supposedly the protector of the fields from locusts, Serapia. And here, Pharaoh offers a compromise, but it is rejected. And Pharaoh again admits he has sinned, but he's not willing to yield to the Lord and let his people go. Thus, the plague of locusts is followed by the plague of darkness. And here, this again was a challenge to the Egyptian sun gods, and there were two of them. Darkness in Egypt at midday obviously was a miracle of God, especially as apparently there was light still provided for the Israelites in the land of Goshen. We know that the 10th plague was the death of the firstborn. This was a judgment on all the Egyptian gods, including Pharaoh himself. with great ramifications that would transpire in the land. And to see this, I want you to turn now to chapter 12 of Exodus, verse 1. How could they escape the death of the firstborn? Verse 1, Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be your beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of the month, every man shall take for himself, number one, a lamb. According to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons. According to each man's need, you shall make your count for, number one, the lamb. Number two, your lamb shall be without blemish. Number three, a male of the first year. You shall take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. So it had to be a lamb, a male lamb of the first year without blemish, and it had to be sacrificed. Verse 7, and they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. That blood had to be applied. Verse 8, then they shall eat the flesh on that night, roast in fire with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. They shall eat it. Do not eat it raw nor boiled at all with water, but roast it in fire, its head, its legs, and entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, ready to leave Egypt. So shall you eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover." Now, why do they call it the Passover? Verse 12, for I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will what? Pass over you. And the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Verse 29. And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead." You see, when this plague finally affected Pharaoh personally, not the people around him, but him personally by way of the death of his oldest child, finally he caved in. Finally he was willing to say, okay, you can go. But keep in mind as we think of the Passover, that the Passover involved a male lamb without blemish who must be sacrificed and whose blood must be applied. Now, the Egyptians could have got in on this, and I'm sure as they heard of the Israelites doing this, they've wondered, and there were people who asked questions, but they didn't believe the Lord, they didn't believe His word, they didn't have the blood applied, and thus when the angel of death came to their house, he did not pass over it. but he struck the firstborn dead. Now, what can you learn from this conflict? I want to point out four things that Dr. Thomas Constable underscores in his excellent notes. Number one, in this conflict, God displayed his superior power and sovereignty over Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. You must remember that we see through this, God is the all-powerful one. God is the sovereign one. All other gods are merely idols with demonic forces behind them, but not of superior power or sovereignty. And that through this, God would show that he alone was the true and living God. Number two, God strengthened the faith of his people so that they would trust and obey him and thereby realize all of his gracious purposes for them as a nation. In the trials of life, God seeks to strengthen our faith and to teach us that he is a reliable object of faith so that we might trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey, like the song says. and here to realize all of his gracious purposes for them as a nation, that they were his chosen people, that God had not forgotten them, that God would keep his covenants with them, even though they had been disobedient, that there came a time when God would deliver them just as he said. Now they would falter in their faith, time and time again. But it's not because God gave them reason to not trust Him. Number three, God used these events to heighten anticipation of and appreciation for the redemption He would provide. You see, it was due to the slavery and the bondage and then the plagues that their anticipation and appreciation for the redemption that he would provide would grow. And the Israelites would forever after look back on the Exodus as the greatest demonstration of God's love at work for them. That's why to this day, the Jews celebrate Passover. When they think of the power of God, when they think of the redemption of God, they go back and look at the Passover and how God delivered them from the death of the firstborn and opened the Red Sea so they walked on dry land. But as believers in Jesus Christ, we don't look back to the Passover, though we appreciate it. We look back to Calvary. We look back at the blood that was shed, the work that was done, the price that was paid at Calvary, and the power that was demonstrated on the third day when God raised Him from the dead. Thus, we celebrate the Lord's Supper. as a means of remembering the great work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. In fact, this demonstration of God's power was so great that 40 years later when the reconnaissance team would go into the promised land and come to Jericho and meet a prostitute, former prostitute, by the name of Rahab, She would tell them that she believed in the true and living God of Israel because she heard what God had done 40 years earlier. In the Passover and in the Red Sea. Dr. Constable says, number four, these conflicts show how divine sovereignty works with human freedom. God exercises his sovereignty by allowing people a measure of freedom to make choices for which he holds them responsible. And this is worthy of some comment. You know, if you follow closely the Exodus account, you will see that Pharaoh hardened his heart, Pharaoh hardened his heart, Pharaoh hardened his heart, Pharaoh hardened his heart, Pharaoh hardened his heart, God hardened his heart, God hardened his heart, God hardened his heart, God hardened his heart, God hardened his heart. In fact, the same amount of times it says Pharaoh hardened his heart, it also says God hardened his heart. So who hardened Pharaoh's heart? Well, directly, Pharaoh did, and indirectly, God did. You say, well, how does that happen? It's not by God jumping in and pushing the harden button, as if He wants you to harden your heart. But when you hear His word, you either say yes or no. Every time you say no, your heart gets harder. Every time you say, in essence, yes, your heart gets softer. This is not only true with Pharaoh, this was true in Acts 19 when Paul preached in the synagogue, some hardened their hearts and they did not believe. And he took those who believed and separated them to the school of Tyrannus where he taught them for the space of three years. In Hebrews chapter three, believers are also told, don't harden your heart. Because as you hear the word of God, you either say yes or no. But we see here a wonderful balance that though God knew Pharaoh would harden his heart, God did give him that option. Pharaoh chose to harden his heart and God held him responsible for it. And that's why God is not responsible for the condemnation of any person on this planet. because He's not willing any should perish. He wants all to be saved. Christ died for all. The Spirit of God has been given to convict the world. We're to go and preach the gospel to every creature. Every person has some truth. The question is, what do they do with the truth they have? And if they say no, they harden their heart. If they say yes, they're given more truth. And that truth ultimately leads them to the gospel of Jesus Christ. which they are responsible to believe, which leads me to what can you learn from the Passover? The only way to escape death is through the death of a blood sacrifice or substitute. That was the only way. They could have put oil on that doorpost and they would have died. They could have scrubbed the windows and said, isn't this nice and clean? Look at what we're doing. And they would have died. They could have put a bowl of chocolate chips out front and they would have died. Why? Because the penalty for sin is death. And only death could satisfy the angel of death. But not your death, but the death of a substitute. That Lamb of God who ultimately would come to take away the sin of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ was without blemish and without sin. And thus the only way to escape death was not merely through the death of a blood sacrifice, but the application of the blood of the Lamb by faith to you. If you sacrifice that lamb but did not apply that blood, you would still die. And in the same way, Christ died for all to be saved, but only those who in essence apply that blood by faith are saved. That blood does not get personally applied to you, as it were, unless you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and are saved. So we see a wonderful picture of redemption in the Passover. But does God keep his word? Will he deliver Israel? Well, this is what we see in chapters 13 and 14. And I ask that you would turn to verse 20 of Exodus 13. Buckle up. Verse 20, so they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness, and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people. There are two and a half million or so people that come out of Egypt, these Israelites. Two and a half million. And God is there with a pillar of light and a pillar of cloud to lead them each step of the way. And one of the things I said to you at the beginning of the series is that God has always wanted to lead his people into his perfect will. And this is the way God did it on this occasion. So when it comes to God's leading, where should you always start? Chapter 14, verse one. Now the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel that they turn and camp before Pihathoroth between Migdal and the sea opposite Baal Ziphon. You shall camp before it by the sea. You see, when it comes to God's leading, you always start with the known will of God. God is telling them very specifically here exactly where they are to go. And He is going to lead them one step at a time. And so where do you always start? With the known will of God. But don't expect the unsaved to pat you on the back, applaud you, clap and say, way to go, your trust in the Lord. Verse three says, for Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they are bewildered by the land. The wilderness has closed them in. He's going to not understand the leading of God as God is going to lead them to a strategic situation in which from a human standpoint, it's absolutely impossible to be delivered. And this is going to be interpreted by Pharaoh as, we got him! And God says, oh, you do? Watch what I will do. Now, if you follow God's leading, does this mean you'll escape all trials? Well, not at all, verse 4. Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will pursue them. Well, that sounds fun. And I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord." And they did so. So he leads them to the Red Sea. The mountains will be on the side. The chariots are at the back. The Red Sea is before. They are stuck. This is a serious, serious trial in their life. Unless God intervenes, they are dead meat. They are going to die. But then again, it's better to die with your boots on, trusting the Lord and doing His will, than dying of, you know, gout in the hospital. And if you're afraid of what's going on in your life, and if you're going to cry, who should you cry to? Well, verse 5 tells us, Now it was told the king of Egypt, that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people. And they said, why have we done this? What were we thinking? That we have let Israel go from serving us. So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. And he took 600 choice chariots and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Remember, he's saying no again. And he pursued the children of Israel, and the children of Israel went out with boldness, so that the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and the chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them, camping by the sea beside Pyhothorath before Baal-ziphon." Which was exactly the place God told them to go. They were stepping out on the known will of God. God was leading them one step at a time. And he's going to bring them through this trial. Verse 10, And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes. And behold, the Egyptians marched after them, so they were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Notice, where did they get their eyes? They lifted their eyes and they looked at the Egyptians. And they became afraid. They lost sight of the Lord. And they cried. But if you're going to cry, you need to at least cry out to the Lord. Which they did. You see, God was leading them each step of the way. The Lord knew Pharaoh's responses was the worst strategic move that the Hebrews could have made from a human viewpoint. The more difficult the situation God would lead you into, the greater the deliverance. The greater the glory. the greater the honor for the Lord he will receive, and the greater spiritual development you will receive. There is no victory without conflict. There is no growth without trials. There is no comfort without grief. There is no appropriation of grace without need. There is no claiming of God's promises without faith. And if you're going to cry, you need to cry to the Lord. So when they took their eyes off the Lord, who did they say led them out of Egypt? Verse 11, then they said to Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Boy, that's a real pat on the back at the door after the message, huh? Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt? Notice, for dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt. Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness." Really? Isn't it funny at times we forget the bondage we were in, the slavery we had? Sometimes as believers, when believers go carnal, sometimes they say, I wish I was never saved. Oh, really? You really did want to go to hell after? Well, of course not. But you're not responding to the Lord. So they took their eyes off the Lord and they said it was Moses that led them out. No, no, no, no. It was the Lord through Moses that were leading them. But they forgot the Lord and they put the blame somewhere else. You know, wouldn't it be great if right now we read here that the children of Israel said, Thank you, our Father of mercies, the God of all comfort. Thank you for leading us into this trial so that we could better know you and trust you, and by your grace be conformed into the image of your Son. It's painful, Lord. I feel very stretched, and at worst times I want to die, and at better times I want to faint. But you are with me, and your grace is sufficient for me, and your strength is made perfect in my weakness. Thank you, God, that you have saved me and led me in this direction. Thank you that the Egyptians are coming after us, and we thank you that the Red Sea is before us. We thank you. that the mountains are all around us so that you could glorify yourself greatly through all this. We just want to praise you right now and thank you. No, they didn't respond that way and we don't normally either. We think, I hope you're having fun, you cosmic killjoy God. Why did you leave us here so we could die, you know? Which looms bigger in your thinking, God or your circumstances? They could have had rest and peace had they believed God's promises. But God is gracious. Because there was a man who was looking to Him. And that man's name was Moses. And because Moses was looking by faith to the Lord, what instructions were the people given? Verse 13, and Moses said to the people, do not be afraid, stand still, just like the prophet said to Jehoshaphat, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall again see no more forever. He says, stand still, don't try to help me out. Just get your eyes on me and trust me. You know, have you ever heard, God helps those who help themselves? Wrong answer. God helps those who admit they are helpless and put their faith in Him. And He tells them to stand still. Well, I don't feel like this is going to happen. It doesn't matter what you feel like. This is what God says. Now mix it with faith, and if you do, you can find rest for your soul. So when you stand still and trust the Lord, who then fights your battle for you? Verse 14, the Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. They didn't say, man the lifeboats, bring in the Israeli Air Force, obtain the Israeli Corps of Engineers. Let's design a pontoon bridge. We got to do something. Oh no. The Lord can't fight for you when you're fighting your own problems. Are you letting the Lord take care of your problems? After Moses checks in vertically, though, what was he now to do horizontally? Notice, when you're walking by faith, it doesn't mean you never do anything. It means you go vertical, trust him, you step out horizontally. Verse 15. And the Lord said to Moses, why do you cry to me? Now, that's a nice way of saying, shut up. I'm tired of your crying. Tell the children of Israel to go forward, but lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. You've checked in with me, quit crying to me. Now trust me and step all by faith and do what I tell you to do." Exactly what he's communicating in essence here. And instead of going around your problems, what does God many times have you do? Verse 16, and the children of Israel shall go on dry land through the midst of the sea. You see, we're prone to want to go around it. God says, no, I'm going to bring you through this trial, but I don't want to go through it. No, I'm going to bring you through it. That's the way your faith will be fine. That's how I will be honored. That's how you will grow. You're going to go through the trial. See, we really like trials to end, and end quickly. We don't like going through trials. Now, it's true that sometimes we delay going through a trial. You know, we in essence have a little hissy fit, and as a result, we at times prolong the trial. But what is the ultimate purpose of this trial? Not only for them, but for you. And I indeed will harden the hearts of Egyptians, verse 17, they shall follow them. I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all the armies, his chariots and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen. You see, the ultimate objective in your trial isn't even to refine your faith. It's to bring honor and glory to the Lord. And if you're thinking, Lord, this is a difficult trial, but I just want you to be honored in it. I want you to be glorified in it. I don't want to take it into my own hands. I want to trust you and your promises in it. Oh, how the Lord is delighted when we're thinking that way. So what did the Egyptians even recognize as all this transpired? Verse 19, and the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So he came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus there was a cloud and a darkness to the one and gave light by night to the other, so that one did not come near the other all that night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. And the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on the right hand and on their left." Wouldn't you have liked to have seen that? Now, you know, there are some liberals and even some conservative Bible scholars who have embraced the false thinking that the children of Israel really didn't go through the Red Sea, they went through the Reed Sea. And the Reed Sea is only about four feet high. And this does not line up with what we know from the Bible. But then again, if we believe the Bible, we'd have to believe in a supernatural miracle. And God forbid we'd ever do that with our rationalistic mind, is what some of them think. But this is exactly what the Lord did. Verse 23, and the Egyptians pursued and went after them in the midst of the sea, all Theros' horses, his chariots and his horsemen. I'm sure they said, hey, this land is dry. They made it through. We can do it too. Now it came to pass in the morning, watch that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he troubled the army of the Egyptians. And he took off their chariot wheels so that they drove them with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, let us flee from the face of Israel. For what did they recognize? For the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians." Now that has to be scary. After those ten plagues, to think, we thought the Israelites were dead meat. We're dead meat. The Lord fights for them. And that is why with underwater cameras, they have actually found crystallized images of chariot wheels in the Gulf of Aqaba, which is probably the far more likely place where they crossed the, quote, Red Sea. Did God keep his word and deliver Israel's plan? The answer is yes. And when the Lord fights your battles for you, what should he cause in your heart? Verse 30, so the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt. So the people feared the Lord. They believed the Lord and his servant Moses. To fear the Lord means you stood in awe of the Lord. You took him seriously. You stood back and say, wow, what a God we have. And they believed the Lord as well. At least on this occasion. They would later falter with several trials that would be forthcoming. As again, our Christian life, per se, is lived moment by moment. So, let me leave you with five truths as we bring our message and series to a close. Number one, it takes trials to refine your faith and the Word of God to fuel it. If you're going to live by faith, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word. But again, those truths, unless you have trials, will not be refined in your life. Number two, when you censure insufficiency, reckon by faith upon God's sufficiency. Upon God's sufficiency. We're not sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves. Our sufficiency is of God. It's not God, make me stronger. It's God, cause me to sense my insufficiency, that I might rely upon your sufficiency. For our sufficiency is from God. Number three, if the Lord is going to get the glory, then he must fight your battles. You see, if the Lord's gonna get you the glory, then He has to fight the battle for you. You're helping Him out, you know what? He's not glorified at all. You're no different than an unbeliever, if that's the case, because that's what He's trying to do to you. And remember, we walk by faith and not by sight. Number four, Red Seas open and close at the Lord's command and timing, not yours. That Red Sea did not open until the Lord says it's gonna open. It was at His command and it was in His timing He opened the Red Sea, not at the children of Israel's timing. And in your trials, the same is true. God does not open that Red Sea until it's His time. And the timing element is one of the most difficult factors of the trial. Because we want God to have done it yesterday. Number five. If you're going to do the will of God, and that's what this series is all about, you must learn to walk by faith in God's plan and promises and be led one step at a time, even through trials. Are you learning to walk by faith? Are you applying the promises, plan of God to your life? Are you desiring to glorify God in what you do, believer? Are you going to soon forget this series on how to know and do the will of God, or will it be mixed by faith into your life? And by the way, if you're here today and you've never been saved, the blood of the Lamb has already been sacrificed. Jesus Christ has already died for your sins and rose again. But it needs to be applied to your life, and it can be applied. the very moment you transfer your faith from your church, your rituals, and your works that cannot save you, and you trust in the blood of Jesus Christ to save you, to forgive you, to give you eternal life through faith in Him alone. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this series in How to Know and Do Your Will. O Lord, may we review our notes, may we study these passages, may we take this by faith, may we incorporate this into our lives. And thank you for the demonstration of your great grace and your great power in delivering Israel from Egypt. And thank you for the great lesson with the Passover lamb, reminding us of how we are personally saved from the angel of death, as it were, through faith in Jesus Christ. And He has shed blood on the cross. And thank you for the food we're about to eat and the fellowship we are about to enjoy. May it be a time in which we edify one another and encourage one another and fellowship around Jesus Christ with one another. So we thank you for all of these things now, and may in our trials we be thinking, in our decisions may we be pondering, that we want to bring honor and glory to you. For it's in Jesus' name we pray, and Amen. Before Tom comes up and gives a closing song, we went a little late today, but you're going to eat here, right? The instructions are basically this. When you're done, if you want to, you can leave your Bible, your things in here. You're going to go out this door and take a left. Now, if you have children, you're going to want to find them. And if you have kids in the nursery, you're going to want to go there. In fact, we'll let the mothers with kids in the nursery, you can leave right now, if you would like. And what we're going to do is we're going to go out this door and you're going to take a left and go down those stairs. You're gonna go past the bathrooms, back to the nursery area, come up the stairs that way, and there's two tables, four lines, everyone here will be served in a half an hour or less. So it'll be quick, there are rooms, a number of rooms where you can eat and enjoy some fellowship with one another. You gotta eat somewhere. Miles will join us today. In fact, this will be the fastest meal you can get. So, Tom, would you come on up and lead us in our closing song? Encamped along the hills of light, ye Christian soldiers rise, and press the battle ere the night shall veil the glowing skies. Against the foe in bales below, let all our strength be Faith is the victory we know that overcomes the world. Faith is the victory. Faith is the victory. Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world. Verse 2 is our last. His banner over us, his love, our sword, the word of God. We tread the road, the saints above, with shouts of triumph drawn. By faith they, like the whirlwind's breath, swept on o'er every field. By faith by which they conquered death. is still our shining shield. Faith is the victory, faith is the victory, O glorious victory that overcomes the world.