🎵Piano Music🎵
Good morning! Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Let's all find our seats.
As you find your seat, go ahead and grab a song book. Turn to song number 377.
Song number 377, Rescue the Perishing. Let's all stand together for this first song if you are able.
Song number 377. All together nice and strong on that first verse.
🎵Rescue the perishing, care for the dying🎵
🎵Slept them in pity from sin and the grave🎵
🎵Plead for the erring once lived up the fallen🎵
🎵Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save🎵
🎵Rescue the perishing, care for the dying🎵
🎵Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save🎵
🎵Though they are sliding him still he is waiting🎵
🎵Waiting the panicking child to receive🎵
🎵Leave with them earnestly, leave with them gently🎵
🎵He will forgive if they only believe🎵
🎵Rescue the perishing, care for the dying🎵
🎵Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save🎵
🎵Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter🎵
🎵Feelings lie buried, that grace can be sore🎵
🎵Touched by the loving heart, waken my kindness🎵
🎵Gods that are broken will vibrate once more🎵
🎵Rescue the perishing, care for the dying🎵
🎵Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save🎵
🎵Rescue the perishing, duty demands it🎵
🎵Back to the narrow way, patiently win them🎵
🎵Tell the poor one where a Savior has died🎵
🎵Rescue the perishing, care for the dying🎵
🎵Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save🎵
Amen, wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer.
Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, I thank you for giving us this day.
Another day that we can come to your house, Lord, and hear the preaching of your word.
And I thank you for all the souls that are in this building this morning, Lord.
I thank you for bringing us all here safely.
And I thank you for rescuing us, Lord.
I pray that you would please just bless us today as we go out there and do so.
Preach your word unto the lost and the dying world that's out there.
And I ask that you please bless this service.
Please fill past me here with your spirit as he preaches your word unto us.
That we may leave here at five. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
You may be seated.
Please turn your songbooks to song number 120.
Song number 120, Jesus Save Your Pilot Me.
Song number 120, all together nice and strong on that first verse.
Jesus save your pilot me, over life's tempest you see.
Unknown waves before me roll, hiding rock and trench with shoal.
Chard and compass come from thee, Jesus save your pilot me.
As a mother stills her child, thou canst touch the ocean wild.
Boisterous waves obey thy will, when thou saves to them be still.
I am the footprint of the sea, Jesus save your pilot me.
When at last I near the shore, and the fearful breakers roar.
Twixt thee and the peaceful breast, then while leaning on my breast.
May I hear thee say to me, fear not I will pilot thee.
Alright, good morning. Thank you so much for being here.
Just a few announcements here before we sing our next song.
Which will be song number 10 near the cross.
If you want to get that ready in your songbook, song number 10.
If you did not get a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand.
One of the ushers can get one for you.
Some important information on there.
Of course our Sunday morning service is at 1030 Sunday evening at 5 p.m.
And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock.
We are currently going through the book of 2 Samuel on Thursday evening.
So I encourage you to be here for that.
We are a family integrated church.
Infants and children are always welcome in the service.
Now for your convenience we typically have a mother baby room.
But this Sunday we don't actually.
The storm actually kind of messed up a little.
Some stuff back there.
So that room is closed.
So we are using half of the fellowship hall temporarily as a mother baby room.
So you can go in the fellowship hall if you need to take your children out.
To give them some distraction there.
And bring them back in at your discretion.
But make sure you just stay out of the room there.
Because we need to make sure.
That needs to stay closed until Thursday.
So just keep that in mind.
And then you see the soul winning times and teams.
If you want to learn how to preach the gospel.
You can see me after the service to be placed on the team.
So you can receive some training there on how to go soul winning.
And then we have the list of expecting mothers.
If you can continue to pray for them.
And the important reminders there at the bottom.
And of course this Friday.
This coming Friday March 3rd at 7 p.m. is the men's prayer night.
And that will be here at the church building.
We'll have pizza for everyone who comes.
And so men I want to encourage you to be there for that.
You can invite your sons of course and have them with you.
And we'll have a good time of fellowship.
And then of course we have the ladies tea party on Saturday March 18th.
And then the big thing is Easter Sunday is on Sunday April 9th.
I want to encourage you to invite your family, friends, coworkers.
Anybody you know to that service.
Of course that's a great time throughout the year.
That people are just mindful about being in church.
We want to take advantage of that.
And so invite them.
We'll have a breakfast that morning and then a special service.
And so that will be on Sunday April 9th.
The regular reminders there at the bottom.
No food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee.
Make sure you're not loitering in the foyer fellowship hall during the preaching service.
Of course unless you're out there in the mother baby room.
And then the quiet time is from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the whole building.
And please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching.
So as to not be a distraction during the service.
Please pray.
Our team has gone out this morning to Belize. Amen.
And so they should be there in the next couple of hours.
And by the time everything's said and done.
They'll be there around 5 p.m. 6 p.m. or so.
They'll have dinner and they're going to go over the plan for the week.
But essentially tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. is when they're going to start.
So they'll sew in for about 8 hours a day.
Collect a lot of information. A lot of contacts.
And Lord willing in November we can have a preaching service there.
And some baptisms.
But please pray that they have a prosperous journey.
Amen.
That they see a lot of people saved.
That God will protect them. Use them in a great way.
And they're in our thoughts and in our prayers.
And so make sure you text and message them letting them know so.
Alright.
And that's pretty much it.
Let's go to sing our next song.
Song number 10.
Near the Cross. Song number 10.
All together nice and strong on that first verse.
Free to all a healing stream Flows from Calvary's mountain
In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river
Near the cross a trembling soul Love and mercy found me
There the bright and morning star Sheds its beams around me
In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river
Near the cross O Lamb of God
Before me help me walk From day to day
With its shadows o'er me In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river Near the cross I'll watch and wait
Hoping, trusting ever Till I reach the golden strand
Just beyond the river In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river
Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time the ushers will come forth to receive the offering.
You can turn your Bibles to Exodus chapter 17.
Thank you.
Exodus chapter 17, the Bible reads
And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin
After their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim
And there was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses
And said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide you with me?
Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted there for water
And the people murmured against Moses and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt
To kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord
Saying, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee the elders of Israel
And thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there
Upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it
That the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
And he called the name of the place Massa and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel
And because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not?
Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel and Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua,
Choose us out men, and go, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
But Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat there on it.
And Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side, and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua,
for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-Nissi, for he said,
Because the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek, from generation to generation.
Let's pray, O Lord God, we thank you for your word, and for this opportunity to hear you preach,
just ask that you would be with our pastor now, please strengthen him, fill him with your Holy Spirit,
and please just bless the preaching, help us to be edified and equipped to be better Christians, and in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Amen. Okay, we're in Exodus chapter 17, look down at your Bibles at verse number 1.
It says, All the congregation of the children of Israel journey from the wilderness of sin,
after their journeys according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim,
and there was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses,
and said, Give us water that we may drink.
And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?
And what I want to preach on this morning is the adversaries of Moses, the adversaries of Moses.
When you read the story of Moses, and basically from beginning to end,
you basically see that his life was surrounded by conflict.
I mean he had a lot of people who were against him, a lot of people that would fight with him,
a lot of people that would be in opposition to Moses, and one thing you'll quickly see is that
much of the opposition that he experienced were from people that were the closest to him.
Obviously he had opposition from the enemies of God, and we're going to look at Pharaoh in just a bit,
but the vast majority of the list that we see, not including the wars of course,
is from those who were in his own camp, it's from Israel themselves.
And we see here in verse number 2 that they would chide with Moses, they fought with him,
they would oppose him, they began to complain and murmur against him.
So this morning I want to go through the list of all his adversaries that he had,
and share some principles in that regard, and the reason I want to do this is because of the fact that
many of the people that we're going to cover in this sermon, I wouldn't necessarily spend an entire sermon on them,
so I just want to give a synopsis of each in this particular sermon, and then of course as I mentioned share some principles.
But go to chapter 2 of Exodus if you would, chapter 2, the first one we're going to look at of course is Pharaoh.
Now when you think about the story of Moses and the children of Israel delivering the children of Israel out of the hand of Moses,
that's basically where it starts right? We think of him delivering God's people from the house of bondage, from the house of Egypt,
but actually Pharaoh was an adversary to Moses a lot long before that.
And in fact when he was born of course we know that he was essentially adopted into the house of Pharaoh,
and Pharaoh's daughter raised him up through Moses' mother of course,
but we see that later on he has conflict with Pharaoh because of a sin that Moses committed.
Now look at chapter 2 if you would, and look down at your Bibles at verse 11, it says here,
And it came to pass in those days, this is referring to when Moses was part of Egypt,
he's skilled in all the knowledge of the Egyptians, he's being raised and being educated according to the Egyptians,
it says in those days when Moses was grown, then he went out unto his brethren and looked on their burdens,
and when he spied an Egyptian smiting in Hebrew one of his brethren, he looked this way and that way,
and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
So let me explain what's going on here, Moses, the implication here is that maybe Moses does know that
he wants to deliver the children of Israel out of the house of bondage, he obviously favors them to a certain extent,
and he's going out to see his brethren, the Hebrews, and of course they're enslaved by Egypt,
and he basically sees at the corner of his eye that there's an Egyptian that is essentially beating a Hebrew,
he is smiting him, and we don't know exactly why, but there's some sort of scuffle, there's some sort of conflict where he's beating him,
and Moses, the first thing that comes into his mind is he's going to kill this Egyptian,
I mean the Bible says there that he looks this way and that way, making sure that there's no witnesses,
and he slays the Egyptian, and to add insult to injury, what does he do?
He hides him in the sand, so he commits murder, and then he hides the body in the sand.
Now think about this, this is Moses previous to God selecting him to be the deliverer of Egypt,
he's trying to deliver the children of Israel but in the wrong way, by sinning, by committing murder,
by transgressing, and essentially committing this great crime of murder here,
and he hides his sin by hiding the Egyptian's body in the sand.
Now what's funny is that later on we see that the Bible describes Moses as being one of the meekest man in the world,
but when we look at this particular story it doesn't sound very meek,
I mean the guy's murdering someone, he's hiding their bodies in the sand,
I mean this is like forensic Bible stuff here, you know?
Look at verse 13,
And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrew strove together,
and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore mightest thou thy fellow?
And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?
And tendest thou to kill me, as thou killest the Egyptian?
And Moses feared and said, Surely this thing is known.
So we see that Moses sees his brethren having conflict,
and this is what also implied that maybe he's trying to be a judge over them,
he's trying to help them, he's trying to deliver them,
and they basically respond with, Hey, you know, we saw what you did to that Egyptian,
we saw that you committed murder, are you intending to do the same thing to us?
Which caused them to realize, Oh man, people know about this murder.
And then in verse 15, it says, Now when Pharaoh heard this thing,
he sought to slay Moses, but Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian,
and he sat down by a well.
Now there's a famous movie out there called The Prince of Egypt,
now my kids love that movie, and I'll be honest, there's a special place in my heart for The Prince of Egypt,
but I always explain to my children that this movie has a lot of unbiblical things in it,
they either add to it or take away,
now one of the reasons I really like that movie is because they got a King James song on it,
Thus Sayeth the Lord, and it's referring to all the plagues and stuff,
and they use King James language, and so I'm always bumping that in my car,
Thus Sayeth the Lord, and whatnot.
But there's a lot of unbiblical things in that movie obviously,
and they have to make it palatable for the audience or whatever,
and I hate when Hollywood does stuff like that, because they always screw it all up, right?
But one of the things that they try to portray in that movie,
is that because Moses grew up in the household of Pharaoh,
that somehow Pharaoh really loves Moses.
It's like his stepson, and he cares for him, and he loves him or whatever,
but that's not what we're looking at here, Pharaoh's trying to kill Moses,
he's trying to slay him, and it's because he slew someone,
but the thing is that if the story was right according to the movie,
he probably would have made an exception for Moses,
but obviously he's looking for a reason to slay him,
because he knows that Moses is a Hebrew, and he doesn't like the Hebrews, right?
So he sees that he's trying to slay him,
Moses flees from his face, and this is when he leaves the Midian, he meets Jethro,
and of course that's later on down the road,
he gets called by God to deliver the children of Israel out of the hand of Pharaoh here.
Go to chapter 5 if you would.
Now one thing I want to explain here, and the reason I went over this story,
is because when you think about it, when you study the Bible,
Egypt is always a picture of the world, right?
Over and over again we see that there are certain parallels of the principles of Egypt,
that are synonymous with the parallels that we see in the New Testament regarding the world.
And so if Egypt pictures the world, and if Pharaoh is the king of Egypt,
Pharaoh would be a picture of who? Of Satan.
Which the Bible says, Satan, the devil, he's the god of this world,
who hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.
So essentially Satan, just as Pharaoh, has people in bondage,
he has people enslaved and in bondage and enslavement,
he is essentially tormenting them, and that's exactly what Satan does today, right?
He's essentially keeping people captive from the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
because he doesn't want them to be saved.
Now one thing I want to point out in regards to Moses and Pharaoh picturing Satan,
is the fact that even previous or prior to Moses getting right with God
and serving God and being used of God, Pharaoh is still his enemy.
So yeah, we know that when Moses begins to serve God,
Pharaoh becomes an enemy of Moses, but even prior to that he sought to slay Moses as well,
even though he's not serving God.
Now what's the point that I'm trying to make there?
The point that I'm trying to make is that, you know, Satan doesn't favor the unsaved of this world.
Don't ever think that, oh man, you know, those people out there,
Satan favors the Hollywood people, he favors the unsaved, the natural man.
No, Satan hates all mankind, he wants all mankind to go to hell,
he wants them to remain blinded to the truth so that they don't get saved and they split hell wide open.
You know, the Bible tells us that the thief cometh not before to steal, to kill, and to destroy.
And he's referring to, of course, saved people, but you can include unsaved people there as well,
because he doesn't love anyone.
It's not like he favors the Hollywood elite.
Yeah, of course, he's using them and they're puppets in his hand.
Of course, he favors the politicians in a sense because they're carrying out his will, right, of this world.
But at the end of the day, he doesn't love them, he doesn't care for them, he's seeking to slay them.
He has no favor for them, he doesn't like them.
And you know what, you say, well, you know, I feel like there's people out there though that are prospering.
I feel like there's people that are prospering, that have riches,
they look like they're having fun, and they're enjoying life, and they don't have Christ, they don't have the Bible.
But folks, it's a fallacy, that's a complete fallacy, it's not true.
Because if you're to talk to any one of those people, and if they were to search deep down inside,
they would tell you that there's something missing.
They would tell you that they're miserable.
Don't believe the Instagram posts and the social media that tries to paint their life as being perfect without Christ or something like that.
You know, the reality is this, is that Satan wants to keep people on a specific course.
And that's a course for hell, right?
You know, the Bible says,
You have to be quick in who are dead and trespasses in sin, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
Wherein in time past ye walked, and he says, in the lust of your flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
You see, Satan's agenda for the unsaved is to keep them on a course, blinded by the truth, not knowing the word of God,
not hearing the true gospel.
And if it just so happens that a person begins to move in the right direction, right?
They start moving in the right direction in a sense of they're looking for the truth, they start looking into Christianity.
You know what Satan's going to do?
He's going to try to sell them a fake Christianity.
A fake gospel, a fake message to what?
Deceive them because the only true way of salvation is through Jesus Christ, and by faith in Jesus Christ.
Plus nothing, minus nothing, not by repenting of your sins to be saved, not by doing good works, not by keeping the commandments,
not by changing your life, not by any of those things, but by your faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Folks, the vast majority of Christians in this world don't preach that message.
You know, the Bible tells us that straight is the gate and narrow is the way, and few there be that find it.
And it's not that it's narrow and straight because it's hard, it's narrow and straight because there's going to be few people that go to heaven
in relation to how many people are going to hell.
More people are going to be deceived by lies and by a false gospel, by false teachers,
than those who actually believe the true gospel and the word of God and what it actually says.
But the point that I'm trying to make here is that, you know, Pharaoh didn't favor Moses prior to him serving God,
just as Satan doesn't favor anybody in this world.
He's still trying to keep them blind.
He still wants to destroy their lives and keep them in bondage to vice, to alcohol, to fornication,
to all these types of transgressions and sins that will just keep them blinded from the truth.
And again, if they start moving in the right direction, he's going to try to deter them into a false religion.
You know, that's why sometimes you hear about these Hollywood people, right?
They find God.
They mention Jesus, like in a speech, and all of a sudden everyone is just like, oh, he's a Christian, you know.
But then you come to find out they're like a Jehovah's Witness or something.
It's like, what?
You know, you find out they're like Mormons or something like that, and they claim to believe the Bible,
they claim to believe in Jesus, but when you actually ask them what they actually believe, they adhere to some false religion.
You're like, who?
You know, a prince.
You know, wasn't he a Jehovah's Witness?
And I'm sure there's many others who adhere.
You've got Mark Wahlberg, by the way.
He recently came out and he just took a stand for Christ because of the fact that he had ashes on his forehead,
for Ash Wednesday, and said that he's not ashamed of his faith in Christ.
Let me just explain something to you, folks.
Catholics don't have faith in Christ.
You say, oh, you shouldn't judge.
Folks, the Bible tells us that the spiritual judges all things.
And just because someone has ashes on their forehead doesn't mean that they have faith in Christ, my friends.
Catholics are not saved.
And you say, well, that's mean, why are you saying that?
I'm not saying that to be mean, I'm saying that so that it would motivate us to actually give them the right gospel so they can get saved.
I was a former Catholic, what's up now?
I'm glad that this former Catholic had someone come give them the gospel, the true gospel.
And you know what, we've won many Catholics to Christ.
We have a group out in Belize right now who are going to win hundreds of Catholics to Christ
to tell them that the Catholic religion is wrong, it's going to send them to hell.
But don't they believe in Jesus?
Yeah, obviously they believe in Jesus because that's what they teach.
But hold on a second, they add a whole bunch of stuff to that.
And in order for someone to get saved, they have to exclusively believe in Jesus Christ plus nothing, minus nothing.
You can't add anything to salvation.
It's not like, well, I believe in Jesus, but you also have to keep the commandments.
Wrong.
Then you're not really believing in Jesus now, are you?
Because you're basically saying that the death and the resurrection of Christ is insufficient to save you.
We need to add something to that.
We need to add being a good person and keeping God's commandments and repenting of my sin and all these things.
Well, you're basically saying that the sacrifice of Christ is insufficient.
Whereas we believe, according to the Bible, it's sufficient to give us eternal life.
And so Mark Wahlberg needs to go wash his forehead, you know, and get those ashes off his forehead.
And look folks, you're like, well, why are you saying that about the ashes?
That's their tradition or whatever.
That signifies when they begin to fast, you know, something during Lent.
Well, that's completely contrary to God's word because Jesus said, I mean, Jesus Christ, Christians, right?
We believe what he says.
He said that when you fast, you should anoint your head and wash your face.
Because he doesn't want Christians to appear as though they're fasting.
So it's just like actually anoint your head, you know, wash your face, clean up.
Don't be like these, you know, hyper spiritual people who put ashes on their forehead to let everyone know they're fasting or something.
It's like a modern day Pharisaical method of just nonsense, folks.
And so, you know, but here's the thing is that, you know, a lot of Catholics, they practice that.
You know why? Because they're blinded by the truth.
I'm sorry, they're blinded by the lie.
Satan has blinded them to the truth.
And that's why they have to practice those things because they feel like that'll justify them before the eyes of God.
But it's wrong.
Okay.
And so Pharaoh doesn't favor Moses at all.
You know, Prince of Egypt got it wrong.
Okay.
He doesn't love him.
He doesn't care for him.
He doesn't favor him.
He doesn't want him to be in the kingdom.
You know, he's seeking to slay him.
Now you're in Exodus chapter five.
Look at verse number one.
So we know that, you know, Moses goes to Midian.
He sees the burning fiery bush that is the I am that I am that essentially calls him and tells him like,
I want you to deliver my people out of the hand of Egypt, out of the hand of Pharaoh.
And so, you know, after this discourse, he basically tells them, look, you're going to take the staff, this rod in your hand,
and you're going to throw it on the ground.
It's become a serpent that's going to signify that I sent you.
And then he tells them, here's a second sign.
You can put your hand into your bosom.
And when it comes out, it'll be leprous, as white as snow.
You can put it back in a room and it'll go back to its normal state.
That's the second sign.
And then he says, you can turn the water into blood.
These are the signs that you can show into Pharaoh that you are sent of God.
And of course, he does many other things.
Look at verse number one.
It says, afterward, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh,
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold the feast unto me in the wilderness.
And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?
I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.
Now, here's the second thing I want to mention regarding Pharaoh,
is that he was an enemy of Moses prior to Moses serving God,
but now he's really an enemy of Moses,
because now Moses is seeking to deliver people out of the hand and the clutches of Pharaoh.
And let me say this, is that Satan was your enemy before Christ,
but he's now so much more your enemy now that you're saved,
and you're saving people out of the fire.
You're preaching God's Word.
I mean, he hated you before,
but now his hatred for you and his animosity towards you is even greater,
because you are seeking to deliver the children of Israel, so to speak,
out of the hand of Egypt, out of the hand of Pharaoh.
Go to Exodus chapter seven, if you would, Exodus chapter number seven.
Now, what does this teach us?
You know, it teaches us that not every Christian is essentially an enemy or is a threat to Satan.
You know, the only Christians who are really a threat to Satan are those who are actually fulfilling his will
and getting people saved, preaching the Word of God, taking a stand for righteousness.
These are the people that pose a threat to the devil, right?
Because of the fact that, you know, Satan would be happy with you just being a docile Christian,
just doing nothing for the Lord, not going to church, not reading your Bible,
not actually learning how to share your faith with others.
You know, that's exactly where Satan wants you to be.
He thinks you're dangerous and you pose a threat when you actually get off your high horse,
when you get off your rear end, and you actually begin to do something for God.
You actually begin to actively preach the gospel.
You actually actively begin to lead your family in the ways of the Lord.
You begin to raise your children in the nurturing and the admonition of the Lord.
You believe God's Word.
Okay, now you're posing a threat, because the Bible tells us that we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which he hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
And once you begin to do those works, all right, now you're a threat.
Once you approach Pharaoh and say, let my people go, then the fight is on, okay?
Here in Exodus chapter 7, I'm going to read to you from Luke chapter 4, verse 18 says,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, this is Jesus speaking here, quoting from Isaiah,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor,
he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, the Bible says.
2 Timothy 2 24 says, The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men,
apt to teach, patient and meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves,
if God peradventure will give them the repentance to the acknowledging of the truth,
that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
You know, if you're a Christian, you don't have to worry, man, it might call to be a pastor,
it might call to be a missionary, it might call to be a deacon, or an evangelist,
because at the end of the day, everyone's called to preach the gospel to someone, right?
If you're ever wondering what your calling is in life, just fulfill the one calling that you know that's in your life,
which is to preach the gospel to every creature.
You know, to give the gospel to your mom, give the gospel to your dad, give the gospel to your family,
give the gospel to your friends, give the gospel to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that you know,
and then once that's done, you'll come out with us to go preach the gospel to just complete strangers.
Right? That's, we know for a fact that that's God's will for our lives.
To essentially pull people out of the fire, as the book of Jude puts it, because they're captive by Satan.
And so, you know, we see here that the first adversary that Moses had was Pharaoh,
prior to him serving God, even after him serving God.
And it's, you know, when you read that story, you see that it's just like chapter after chapter after chapter
of him just striving against Moses and striving against Moses, I'm striving against Pharaoh, I'm striving against Pharaoh.
What does that teach us? It teaches us that our fight against Satan just never ends, this side of eternity.
It's not like, well, you know, I did my duty, you know, I fought Satan this week, you know,
I overcame the temptations of Satan this week. No, but there's another battle coming next week, though.
There's another battle coming tomorrow. There's another battle coming next month.
The fight against Satan just never ends, my friends.
And so we need to recognize that we're not to befriend the world, befriend Egypt, or even befriend Pharaoh.
We need to make sure we constantly fight against them and he remains our adversary.
Okay. And the Bible tells us that Satan is our adversary who walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Now, where have you turned? Go to Exodus chapter seven, Exodus chapter number seven.
The next adversary that we're going to look at is Pharaoh's magicians.
Okay. Pharaoh's magicians. Now, the Old Testament doesn't explicitly say their names, right?
We just know them as the sorcerers and as the magicians of Egypt.
But the New Testament refers to them as Janus and Jambres.
Okay. And historically, it's accepted that Second Timothy chapter three, when it talks about Janus and Jambres,
is referring to those sorcerers for various reasons, of course, because we see in Second Timothy three that they withstood Moses,
but also because Janus and Jambres aren't necessarily like Greek names or even Hebrew names.
It's kind of like off the wall type names, possibly Egyptian names.
But it's widely accepted that it's probably referring to these sorcerers, these magicians, who would picture essentially the agents of Satan.
Okay. Look at Exodus seven.
Brother Maury, if you can turn up the AC just a little bit, please.
No, turn it up. No, don't turn it off. Please don't turn it off.
Look at Exodus seven, verse 10, it says,
Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord commanded, had commanded, and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh,
and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
So this is an awesome miracle, right?
I mean, they have this rod, and they drop it on the floor, it just becomes this serpent, which is a snake.
You know, you don't want to just drop this anywhere, obviously, you know what I mean?
It's just like, only when necessary, right?
Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers.
Now the magicians of Egypt, listen to this, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
So he calls Janus and Jambres, and they're like, oh, we could do the same thing.
So they take a rod, they cast it on the ground, and it becomes a serpent as well.
Now, why does Pharaoh do this?
He does this to essentially discredit Moses as being someone sent from God.
Because Moses is saying, you know, let my people go, the God of the Hebrews is coming to me to tell you,
let my people go, you know, release Israel, and let me just show you that I have authority that God has sent me,
and he has this rod, and he's like, well, you have no authority, because look, we got a rod too.
So they throw it down, it becomes a serpent, and it's meant to discredit Moses, not just before Pharaoh,
but just before Egypt and the Hebrews as well.
Has everyone seen this? This isn't like an isolated situation, everyone is viewing what's taking place here, okay?
So they do in like manner with their enchantments, their magic or whatever it is.
Verse 12, look at verse 12.
For they cast down every man his rod, so there's multiple rods, and they became serpents.
Oh, but hold on a second, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.
So yeah, they were able to have all these rods and cast them down and make serpents out of them,
but here's the difference is that the rod that God provided for Moses and Aaron ended up eating theirs up.
Now what does this teach us?
It teaches us that the agents of Satan, the false prophets of today, the false teachers of today,
they're able to somewhat duplicate what we can do, right?
They can have church services, they sometimes will preach the same messages,
they can have somewhat outward success, right?
Where it almost seems as though they're doing the work of God, but folks at the end of the day,
our rod will swallow up their rod.
Because our rod is actually from God, it actually has authority.
You know, they can act like they're preaching from the Bible even though they're not using a King James.
They can preach certain sermons using an NIV, an ESV, an NASB,
but at the end of the day, the King James Bible swallows all three of those rods up.
Because you can do nothing against the truth before the truth.
So they're trying to discredit Moses by casting down rods and showing that they can do the same thing.
Look at verse 20.
And Moses and Aaron did so as the Lord commanded, and he lifted up the rod,
and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and the sight of his servants,
and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
Now, I want you to notice something here that's not, you know, there's no necessary principle here,
but I was thinking about this on the way over here, is that God originally told them,
cast down the rod, first sign, then take your hand and put it in your bosom and it'll come out as leprous,
second sign, and then do the blood.
So Moses just skipped the leprosy part, which I don't know why he did.
I thought that would have been cool.
You know, he basically cast down the rod and he goes straight to the blood, right?
I would have just been like, leprosy, what's up now?
But he turns the water into blood, verse 21, and the fish that were in the river died,
the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river,
and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt,
and the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments.
So what did they do?
They duplicated that same miracle, and it says,
And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them as the Lord had sent.
Now, think about this, okay?
When you read these stories, you need to really think about what's going on here.
When Janus and Jamborees duplicate these miracles, what's the purpose of it?
Moses still turned the water into blood, all the fish are still dead, everything stinks.
So what's the point of you doing the same thing if you can't fix the problem?
Right?
Well, we can do the same thing, too.
Yeah, but can you destroy the work of God, though?
No.
So yeah, there's people out there that can duplicate the ministry
and make it seem as though they're sent from God as well,
but at the end of the day, they can't destroy the work of God.
They can say all manner of evil against our church, and say that we're a hate group,
and say, you know, all manner of evil, and duplicate the sermons, and duplicate the persecution,
and duplicate this and that, but at the end of the day, they cannot destroy the work of God going on.
You know, I hear this all the time, oh, the new IP churches are just crashing down,
it's a deck of cards, it's going to come crashing down, but what do you mean?
The church is filled today.
What do you mean? There's all kinds of salvations that are going to happen this week.
You can try to duplicate what we have going on, but at the end of the day, you can't destroy the work of God.
So Janus and Jamborees, I don't know what the point is of showing that you can also turn water into blood.
I mean, you're basically making matters worse for Egypt, actually.
Like, so why would you do that?
It says in verse, look at chapter 8, if you would.
But here's the thing is that you know why, one of the reasons why Janus and Jamborees were duplicating this is to harden Pharaoh's heart.
Right? Because that's what it says, it hardened his heart.
It caused him to be closed to the actual truth.
Look at chapter 8 and verse number 5.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying to Aaron, stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams and over the rivers and over the ponds and cause frogs to come up out of the land of Egypt.
And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
Now this is every five year old's dream, right? Just having all kinds of frogs everywhere.
But frogs smell when you have them in multitudes like that.
And this is insane that all the frogs are living too.
I'm sure some of them are dying.
So you have just the land just infested with frogs, they're dying and it smells and it's noisy, they're jumping all over the place, they're slimy.
I mean this is very uncomfortable, it's a grief to Egypt and to Pharaoh to have this.
Because Moses, or Pharaoh, he's not exempt from this, this is in his household as well. This is everywhere.
Oh, verse 7, and the magicians did so with their enchantments and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.
Well good job. Thank you for bringing your five extra frogs to the table.
It's just like Moses infested the entire land of Egypt with frogs and then they're like, we can do it too.
Well thank you for adding to that. You really made a dent in the service, in the miracles of God here.
So what's the point? What's the point of duplicating the frogs if it just does nothing?
I'll tell you why, because Pharaoh's heart is being hardened because of it.
One, and two, they're trying to discredit even though they can't deny that this is God's hand working against them.
Look at verse 16.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, then it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
And they did so, for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man and in beast, and all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
Now this is rough. I mean the blood is bad, because you know when fish die, first of all they smell, but you mix that with blood, it's just putrid, right?
So you have that going on, and you have frogs all over the place.
Now you're just like scratching, you have lice all over your head, and it's tormenting them, and it's just like not a little bit of lice.
All the dust of the land becomes lice.
So you got to picture this, okay? It's not just a little bit of lice, all the dust of Egypt, which is a place that's a desert, all the sand becomes lice, and they're just infecting not just the humans, but also the animals as well.
So everyone is just miserable, okay?
And by the way, you know, the Egyptians historically would shave their heads because of lice.
I kind of wonder if this is why.
Verse 18 says, and the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice.
So they're just like, we're going to do the same thing too, as they're like scratching their heads.
But they could not.
So there was lice upon man and upon beast.
Now at this point, Pharaoh should have been like, I don't care if you guys can do the same thing, make something to make them go away.
Why isn't he having the magicians do something to make all the plagues go away?
Instead of duplicating them, they're like, we could do the same thing too, but they couldn't.
They're so busy scratching their heads and being tormented by this plague.
And verse 19, then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, this is the finger of God.
It's always been the finger of God, Janus and Jamborees.
And Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he hearkened not unto them as the Lord had said.
You know, why didn't Janus and Jamborees, why didn't Moses just give Pharaoh the gospel?
Why didn't he just like tell him that God loves him and that God wants him to be saved and all these things?
You know, why didn't he just do that?
Well, folks, Janus and Jamborees said it was the finger of God and he still didn't want to listen.
So it kind of shows you there's a certain people out there that hate God and hate the gospel so much.
Someone can just tell them from their side, hey, this might be God doing this and they'll still ignore it.
They'll still harden their hearts to it.
Go to 2 Timothy chapter 3, 2 Timothy chapter 3.
It's like, I think this is the finger of God. Yeah, you think?
I mean, it's a fool's errand to send the magicians to duplicate the miracles because it doesn't do anything.
It doesn't remove the plagues.
It only adds to them if they're legitimate, right?
And at the end of the day, it doesn't fix any problems.
And here's the thing, it doesn't discredit Moses at all because Moses is still greatly feared.
And in fact, even after they leave Egypt, the nations are just trembling before the children of Israel.
They hear that they're coming in their direction and they're like, our hearts are melting because we've heard what was done in Egypt.
No one said, yeah, we heard about Janus and Jamborees.
Oh yeah, we heard about those magicians. They didn't hear about them.
Look at 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse number 5. It says,
Having a form of godliness, this is referring to the false prophets in the end times, perilous times shall come.
It says that they have a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turn away.
So what does this tell us?
You know, just as Janus and Jamborees had a form of godliness and a sense of they were able to duplicate what Moses and Aaron were doing to a certain extent,
at the end of the day, they denied the power thereof because it was deception.
It wasn't real, right?
He says, for of this sort are they which creep into houses and leave captive silly women laden with sins,
led away with diverse lusts, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Now as Janus and Jamborees withstood Moses, so did these also resist the truth men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith.
Reprobate means what? Rejected.
What does faith mean? To believe.
They are rejected from being able to believe the truth.
Look what it says in verse 9.
But they shall proceed no further.
Now, Janus and Jamborees were able to do the rod with the serpent, the blood, the frogs, and then they tried to do the lice, but they weren't able to proceed any further.
What does this show us?
It shows us that at the end of the day, we can become frustrated with the false prophets of this world, but they will proceed no further.
And it says there that their folly shall be made manifest unto all men as theirs also was.
Who's they? He's referring to Janus and Jamborees.
How embarrassing was it for Janus and Jamborees after the lice?
It's just like, they're probably ashamed, they're embarrassed.
You know, Pharaoh's calling the men to do the plagues and they're like, I'm sorry, we got our own problems to deal with, we got boils on us too.
But you know what, at the end of the day, the false prophets of this world who are preaching a false gospel, they will proceed no further.
Their folly shall be made manifest one day, God will expose them for who they truly are.
Go to Numbers chapter 16, Numbers chapter 16.
So we see Pharaoh's an adversary, that's an obvious one.
We see that Janus and Jamborees, the magicians are adversaries, they're pretty obvious, but their folly shall proceed no further.
But now we're going to get into the adversaries that are actually within the camp of Israel.
You see, the previous ones, those are fun, you know what I mean?
Because we know that they're enemies of God, we know that they hate the Lord, we know that they're reprobate,
but there are certain within the camp of Israel, the church in the wilderness, as the Bible puts it,
they were also adversarial towards Moses himself.
Now, who am I referring to? Well, we're going to talk about Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
This is referring to the usurpers of authority.
What is a usurper of authority? Someone who doesn't want government, they don't want dominion,
they don't want anybody telling them what to do, they hate pastoral authority, they hate governmental authority,
they hate any type of authority, and most of all, they hate God's authority.
Now look at Numbers chapter 16, this is a pretty crazy story.
If you've never read this, it's awesome.
Look at verse number 1, it says,
Now Korah, the son of Ishar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab and On,
the son of Peleth, the sons of Reuben, took men.
And they rose up before Moses with search into the children of Israel, 250 princes of the assembly,
famous in the congregation, men of renown, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
Now, Korah and Dathan and Abiram are essentially of the house of Levi,
which is essentially the household that is qualified to be the priesthood, to fulfill the office of a priesthood.
So they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said unto them,
Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them,
and the Lord is among them, wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord.
So let me explain to you what's going on in this story.
Korah and Dathan and Abiram, Korah and Dathan and Abiram essentially recruit people from the children of Israel
to essentially cause an insurrection against Moses.
They don't like Moses, and it sounds like they probably never like Moses, right?
And they come to him and they don't say, hey you're wicked, hey you're not qualified, hey you're teaching heresy.
What do they say? You're taking too much upon you. You're biting off more than you can chew.
We're all holy, we're all qualified to fulfill your position. We all know the Bible.
And you know what, the Lord is among them too. He's like, you're not the only one God's with, God's with all of us.
And then they make this railing accusation, wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord.
Why are you so proud Moses? Why are you lifting yourself up above everyone else as though you're like the most important person or something like that?
So what are they trying to do? They're trying to usurp the authority of Moses. They want him to step down.
They want him to go away. You say, well do they want everyone to be in charge? No, they want to be in charge.
Coradathan and Abiram are trying to usurp the authority of Moses not because they really believe that everyone's holy and everyone is qualified.
They want to take over. You say, man I've never experienced something like this. This happens even today.
These usurpers of authority, these coradathan and abiram of this world.
Now Moses is a very wise and experienced man. So look what he does in verse 4.
And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face. Now why would he fall upon his face?
He falls upon his face because he knows God's about to kill a lot of people. That's why.
He's like, you guys screwed up. He just gets on his face like, man a bunch of people are going to die right now.
Because he obviously knows the nature of God. He knows God's nature. He's a friend of God.
I mean one of the people in the Bible that the Lord really loves and he's very close to is Moses.
You read the story of Moses, it's like God has this, you know people talk about a personal relationship.
Well you know what, that can really be said of Moses. Most people who say they have a personal relationship with Jesus, they don't.
They don't even read the Bible. They don't go to church, they don't obey God.
Moses is probably the only one who can say I have a personal relationship with God.
Because you know with other prophets, as we'll see later, God would speak to them in a vision, in a dream, through signs.
God didn't do that with Moses. He would talk to them mouth to mouth.
He was just talking, you know, and Moses was just talking to him back.
I mean there's not a lot of people in the Bible that he would do that to.
So Moses is pretty important. Even to the point that Moses had one pallbearer when he died.
You know who his pallbearer was? God.
God, he didn't let anyone bury Moses, he buried Moses.
He gave him his own burial. He's just like, I'll take care of the funeral arrangements.
I'll put them somewhere and he buried them. No one knows where he was buried.
He just levitated somewhere and took them off.
So Moses falls upon his face, he says in verse 5,
And he spake unto Korah and to all the companies, saying, Even tomorrow the Lord will show who are his, and who is holy,
and will cause him to come near unto him, even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.
This dude take you censers, Korah, and all his company, and put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow,
and it shall be that the man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy.
Now, what Moses, look up here, what Moses is about to say is one of the most savage statements in the Bible.
Look what it says, Ye take too much upon you.
Remember, they came to him like, You take too much upon you Moses, and then he tells him all this and he's just like,
You bit off more than you can chew. Oh, you want to take over? You're in it. You're in for a huge rude awakening.
You seem to have bit off more than you can chew. He's sons of Levi. Look at verse 25.
So you know, God basically tells Moses, that's cool, I'll kill them all.
He's just like, I'm paraphrasing here, but he's just like, I'll just restore them all.
You know, and Moses obviously has to intercede for the children of Israel.
He says in verse 25, Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him,
and he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men,
and touch nothing of theirs, lest he be consumed in all their sins.
Now, keep in mind is that Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, they're not just by themselves.
Like, they've recruited a lot of people to go against Moses.
So there's a lot of people who don't like Moses because of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
And so Moses comes up and he says, hey, you guys got to get away from Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,
unless you want to be consumed with them. Verse 27.
So they got up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side,
and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood in the doors of their tents, and their wives, and their sons,
and their little children, and Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord sent me to do all these works,
for I have not done them of mine own mind.
If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men,
then the Lord hath not sent me.
He says, look, if these guys just, you know, they have a heart attack or something,
or they just die in their sleep, or, you know, just something random happens to them,
then you know what, God didn't send me.
If they just go the way of all men, and just die of natural causes,
they just pass away, you know, then I'm not your guy then, right?
Verse 30. But, if the Lord make a new thing.
Now what's a new thing? Well a new thing is not a heart attack.
A new thing is not, you know, food poisoning, just fall over and die, a rock falls upon them,
they drown or something.
You could think of any way a person has ever died.
Any way a person has ever been put to death or died, he's like, that's not a new thing.
A new thing means what? Something that has never happened before to any human being, right?
If the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth,
and swallow them up with all that I pertain unto them,
and they go down quick into the pit,
then you shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.
So he's like, this is the only way you'll know that these people have provoked the Lord,
and that I'm sent from God, is that the earth has to open up,
and they all just fall into the earth alive.
When it says quick, it doesn't mean like how, you know, with rapidity,
it's not like they went fast, right? Quick means alive.
And it says into the pit, pit is another word for hell.
So he's like, he's going to open the earth, and they're going to fall in alive into hell,
and then he's going to close it back up again.
Now, would you agree that that's a new thing?
I mean, people have fallen into pits before, but never into hell, right?
Now, this is some pretty tall words, right?
I'm sure there's people in Israel who are just like, nah, whatever.
Moses, you take too much upon you.
Verse 31, And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words,
that the ground, look at this, Clave, asunder that was under them,
what does clave mean? It means it's split, asunder, apart,
that was under them, and the earth opened her mouth,
and swallowed them up, and their houses,
and all the men that I pretended to call, and all their goods.
So as soon as he was done saying it, he's just like,
He's just like,
They, and all that I pertained to them, verse 33, went down alive into the pit,
and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation.
And all Israel that were around about them fled at the cry of them,
for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
So they were like, oh man, this actually happened.
And there came out a fire from the Lord,
because you know, they think they can run away from the earth opening up,
and swallowing them,
there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the 250 men that offered incense.
Now just remember this, you can never hide from God.
Like you may not suffer the same consequence as Koradathan and Abiram,
but God, you know, God's very creative.
He just sends fire.
And he just kills all these people.
Now you won't hear a sermon like this at your Sunday school class.
I don't like talking about this stuff.
It's not very nice to talk about it, it's God's word, and you know what?
The Lord did it, and the judge of all the earth will do right.
He was justified in doing this.
So he just destroys these people.
He cleaves the earth asunder, they fall him.
He said, why did God do that?
Because of the fact that Koradathan and Abiram hated Moses' authority,
which in turn signified that they hated God's authority.
Like how? They were sons of Levi.
There's all types of people who claim to be Christians,
who are not saved, who hate the Lord.
Don't be fooled.
There's people out there who are paraded under the guise of being a Bible-believing Christian,
but they actually hate the Lord, they hate the truth, they hate the Bible.
And you know what? You say, what's their end?
Their end is that the earth might not cleave, and they may not go down quick into hell,
but once they die, they will go down quick into hell.
Let me read to you from Jude, verse number 10 of Jude says this,
But these speak evil of those things which they know not,
but what they know naturally as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Woe unto them, for they have gone the way of Cain,
rang greedily after the error of Balaam for reward,
and perished in the gainsaying of Korah,
referring to Korah.
These are spots in your feast of charity,
when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear,
clouds they are without water, carried about of winds,
trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.
Folks, let me just say this, God's people should be characterized as loving authority.
We should love authority.
Why? Because we love the Bible.
We love the Bible, and you know what?
Teenagers love your parents.
Why? Because they're your authority.
Show them honor, show them respect, obey them.
Love your boss.
Love me.
Because I love you too, right?
You know, love the Bible, love authority,
and our default setting as Christians should always be a spirit of submission.
Wives, love your husbands, amen?
And obey them, why?
Because that's what God has ordained for us to do, my friends,
is to have a default setting of just loving authority,
not despising magistrates, despising governments,
because it's only an indicator that you do not respect the authority of God.
Because the powers that be are ordained of God.
That's what the Bible says.
Look at verse 41, because we're not done yet.
So, you know, he kills Coradathan and Abiram,
and then the men who followed Coradathan and Abiram
to essentially offer the fire of incense,
just burns them all, okay?
And look, folks, during this time, you know,
when it was like God and Moses,
there's many times where God came to Moses,
just like, how about I just wipe off this entire nation,
and I'll start new with you?
Huh? You like that?
I mean, is there anybody in this world who he's made that offer to?
Where he was just like a million people,
he's just like, why don't I just destroy this entire nation,
and I'll just start with you?
And Moses, of course, because he's meek,
he's like, no, you know, you delivered them,
your reputation's on the line,
people are going to speak evil of you, you know.
That's why I'm not Moses.
Because I would have been like,
sounds cool.
Not my will but thine be done, you know what I mean?
But I'm telling you, there is instances in the Old Testament with Moses
where God was just like, I mean, the wilderness,
I remember my old pastor used to say this,
you know, the wilderness is just a huge funeral.
All kinds of people dying in the wilderness.
It was just a, what do you call it,
a festival of funerals, just people dying left and right.
But let's continue, look at verse 41.
But on the morrow, the day after,
all the congregation of the children of Israel
murmured against Moses and against Aaron,
saying, ye have killed the people of the Lord.
Oh man.
What's wrong with these people?
So they get a good night's rest,
they just saw what happened,
and they get up and they're just like,
you killed Korah,
you killed David and Abiram,
this is your fault.
It's like, do you not know
that they died for what you're doing right now?
Like me, I would be like,
Moses!
What do you need done, my friend?
Whatever it is you need.
Like, ah, you know,
we're cool, right?
I didn't mean all those things.
But they literally get up and they start
railing against him again.
And it came to pass, verse 42,
because God's not going to let that slide.
You see those comments?
If that was me, I would not let that slide.
I wouldn't let that pass.
And it came to pass when the congregation
was gathered against Moses and against Aaron,
that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation
and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared.
And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation
and the Lord spake it to Moses saying,
Get you up from among this congregation that I may consume them as in a moment.
And they fell upon their faces.
So he says,
staff meeting.
Get away from these people because I'm going to just destroy them too.
So what did they do? They fall upon their faces.
So, and there's a lot that's not said in these passages.
Because Moses like intuitively seems to know what's going to happen.
It's like God, like God like put within him the wisdom
to know what was going to come next.
Right?
So either like God divinely bestowed wisdom upon him
or he just knows God so much that he just knows what God's about to do.
It says in verse 46,
And Moses said unto Aaron,
Take a censer, put fire therein from off the altar,
and put on incense and go quickly into the congregation
and make an atonement for them, for there is wrath gone out from the Lord,
the plague is begun.
Aaron took as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the congregation
and behold the plague was begun among the people
and he put on the incense and made an atonement for the people
and he stood between the dead and the living and the plague was stayed.
So please picture this.
He's like run.
So as he's running to go make an atonement for the children of Israel,
bodies are just dropping left and right.
Because the plague has begun, it's just like,
people are just dying.
And by the time he's done making the atonement,
he was standing between the dead and the living.
So he had living people on his right hand,
a bunch of corpses on the left.
Verse 49,
Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred
beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
And Aaron returned him to Moses and to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
and the plague was stayed.
Now what does this teach us?
What can we learn from this particular graphic story?
Well let me say this, the plague has already begun.
What's the plague? The wages of sin is death.
And you know what?
People have been dying for thousands of years and they've been going to hell for thousands of years
and it's up to us as Moses and Aaron
to go make that atonement in the sense of go reconcile these people back to God through Jesus Christ.
And you know what our life is characterized by?
Standing between the living and the dead.
You know what we're doing today?
We're standing between the living and the dead.
Those who are alive in Christ because they were quickened by the Spirit
and those who are still dead in their trespasses and sin.
And the plague has begun my friends.
And you know what?
We as Aaron need to run.
Understand that the time that we have here on this earth is us running this course
seeking to get as many people saved as we possibly can
because people are dying because of their transgression.
You know and it's just like yeah but it's God who's doing it.
Yeah of course it's God who's doing it.
Because he's the judge, he's the just one who's justified in condemning wicked sinners to hell.
But you know Jesus Christ has already made the atonement
so let's go and give them the gospel and tell them about that so they can live.
Right?
And just remember this, there's an Aaron in your life that ran to make an atonement
and that's why you're still alive.
You're still alive.
The graveyards of this country are filled with people who the plague got
and they're suffering the consequences of their actions.
And you know what?
You know what I see here too?
Is that the people who are fighting against Moses the most are Israel.
You know what that tells me?
You know the people who fight against us the most are not necessarily unbelievers
who don't claim to be Christians.
It's often people who claim to be Christians.
Well you can't win people to Jesus like that.
How are you going to win people to Jesus like that?
You're going to scare people away with that message.
Don't preach like that.
Don't say that.
Don't use that.
They're doing more damage to the cause of Christ by doing so.
They criticize us for our preaching and our methods of soul winning
but they can't get off their rear end to even just go share the gospel with someone.
So often the people who are the most guilty of being in opposition to Moses
was Israel themselves.
I mean Pharaoh was a big deal.
Jenison Jambres was pretty annoying.
But for 40 years you know who were the greatest adversaries of Moses?
Israel.
And you know who we have to fight against all the time is other Christians.
Other Christians who teach a false gospel.
They're constantly criticizing us.
They're constantly saying you guys are too mean.
You're mean spirited.
And all this nonsense.
It's just like dude the plague is going to get you.
You know instead of criticizing us for how fast we run to atone.
Why don't you run with us?
Right?
Instead of criticizing us because you think that we are scaring people away from the Lord.
Why don't you actually put on your running shoes and come running with us to go preach the gospel to every creature.
Why don't you join us in Belize.
Why don't you join us on a Sunday afternoon.
Why don't you join us throughout the week to go preach the gospel.
Why don't you stand between the dead and the living.
Oh that's right because you're dead.
Go to Exodus chapter 4.
I got to hurry up because he's got a lot of enemies.
Alright.
So you have Israel who's an adversary.
But you know who also was an adversary to Moses?
His wife.
Zipporah was a major adversary to Moses.
And she was essentially a hindrance to him to serving God.
Look at Exodus chapter 4 and verse 21.
Now this particular.
Well let's read this and I'll make some comments.
It says in verse 21 the Lord said unto Moses.
This is prior to him going out and confronting Pharaoh.
Pharaoh it says.
And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return unto Egypt, see thou do all those
wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand, but I will heart in his heart
that he shall not let the people go.
And thou shall say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn.
And I said unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me.
And if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
Sounds like God just doesn't mess around.
Right.
Like what he says is going to happen.
He's not careful to who he talks to basically.
Right.
Now look at verse 24.
And it came to pass by the way of the inn that the Lord met him.
Met who?
Moses.
And sought to kill him.
Whoa.
What?
He was going to kill Moses?
Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at his
feet and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me?
So we let him go.
Then she said, A bloody husband thou art because of the circumcision.
Now this story is pretty wild, isn't it?
So what just happened in those few verses, Pastor?
The implication here is that God wanted to use Moses, but his children weren't circumcised,
which is something that was necessary and commanded by God to do.
Right.
But the implication here also is that Zipporah did not want to do that.
She was the one who was kind of hindering Moses from obeying God in that manner.
And you know what?
God was going to kill Moses for it.
So what does this tell us?
It tells us that God is no respecter of people.
He's like, Circumcise your son or I'm going to kill you.
Now I don't know how that looked like when he got out of the inn.
He's like, you know, he's like closing his door or whatever.
But somehow the Lord appeared unto him and somehow communicated to him very clearly,
you're about to die right now if you don't obey me.
And so, you know, he might have had some discussion with his wife.
And his wife, with a bad attitude, cuts off the foreskin and then, I mean, this is gross.
Circumcision is just bad, period.
Let me just say that, you know.
But then he throws it at his feet.
She just throws the foreskin at the feet of Moses and blames Moses for it.
But hold on a second.
She should be blaming God, right?
Because he's the one who commanded it.
So really she's just mad at God.
So what does that show?
She's not in obedience to her husband which ultimately shows she's not in obedience to God.
Right?
Now I'm pretty sure at this point Moses realizes, you know what, God is no respecter of people.
I was about to die right now.
And goes to his wife and says, hey, unless you want to keep me around,
we need to obey God in this little matter before we accomplish greater matters than this.
And, you know, she has a bad spirit about it and she does it.
Now what does this teach us?
It teaches us, first and foremost, that even the little instances of obedience are important to God.
Right?
Number one.
Number two, it teaches us, hey, wives, don't be a hindrance to your husband serving God.
And when you obey God by obeying your husband, do it with the right attitude.
Amen?
Don't throw the foreskin at the feet of your husband and say, fine, we'll go sowing.
Fine, we'll go to church.
Fine, we'll read the Bible.
Fine, we'll live a holy life.
Fine, we'll put away worldliness.
Fine, we'll do this and that.
Bloody husband.
Thanks?
And he just cleans it up or whatever?
Be a joy to serve your husband with.
It should be a joy that you guys serve God together.
And you know what?
Zipporah is one of the examples in the Bible who is just a terrible wife.
Because later on, it doesn't say it explicitly, but we know that it happens, he sends her home.
He sends her home.
Because later on in Exodus, Jethro, who's his father-in-law, comes back
and he comes back with Zipporah and his kids because Moses has sent her back.
So, you know, he's like trying to save the world.
He's like trying to rescue the children of Israel.
And then who knows, I mean, you know, based upon what she's doing here,
she's probably doing other stuff too.
He's just like, you're going home to your dad.
I can't deal with you right now.
She's probably nagging him or something.
I don't know.
Who knows?
And he just sent her home.
He's like, you're going home.
I'm not dealing with you right now.
Now, was it right for him to do that?
No, he should have just like led his wife, right?
But you know what?
Moses is not a pastor.
He's not like necessarily a deacon or something like that.
He's a general.
And so, you know, he's doing the best that he can, I guess.
Okay?
But he sent her home.
And, you know, that isn't right, but it kind of shows you.
And look, when Jethro comes back, he doesn't even greet his wife.
He just has a good time with the father-in-law.
He's just like, oh, how's it going?
He's just like, then they started talking together.
They fellowship.
They hug one another.
I mean, he gets along pretty good with the father-in-law.
It's just that Zipporah, you know, she's just kind of like a thorn in his flesh, apparently.
Don't be an adversary to your spouse.
Support your spouse in serving God.
If your husband wants to go all in for God, don't hinder him from doing that.
If your husband wants to obey God in the smallest of matters, don't disregard that.
And if you go with him on that, don't have a bad attitude about it either.
Don't throw the foreskin at the feet of your husband.
I mean, I have no other way of saying that.
It's just according to the story.
You know what I mean, right?
God forbid someone should tune into the live stream at the moment when I just said that.
Really.
Go to Numbers chapter 12.
She was an adversary unto him.
And there are many instances where people can't serve God because of their spouse.
And not just wives.
I mean, it could be that a wife wants to serve God and the husband doesn't.
I mean, that's devastating too, right?
You know, it should be that you guys compliment one another and encourage one another.
Provoke one another unto love and to good works.
To keep serving God.
Okay?
All right, here's the last one.
Aaron and Miriam.
So it's just like it went from Pharaoh, Janus and Jambres, Coradathan and Abiram,
Israel as a whole, his wife, but even his own brother and sister were adversaries unto Moses.
Which is crazy because Aaron is a priest.
Now, this isn't a sermon about Aaron, but Aaron's a weenie.
You read the story of Aaron, the guy's such a weak leader.
He's such a weenie.
He's constantly compromising.
He doesn't know how to lead.
And in this particular story, Miriam is the one who's leading Aaron against Moses.
Look at Numbers 12, verse number 1.
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married,
for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
Now, why are they against Moses?
Because apparently they're racist.
I mean, does it say anything else?
It says they spake against him because he took an Ethiopian woman, for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
Which, by the way, means that Moses had a black wife.
All right?
Because Ethiopians are black.
Am I correct on that?
Does someone want to Google image that for me or something?
It's correct, right?
So Miriam and Aaron are a bunch of racists.
You know, first of all, Miriam and Aaron, you guys are Hebrews.
You're not much lighter.
Because sometimes the Israelites were confused for being Egyptians, which are also dark.
But they have this issue with Moses because he took an Ethiopian woman or whatever.
He married outside of his race.
Such a stupid thing to fight about.
And that's like an issue even today.
Or I just want to keep my race pure.
No one's pure here. What are you talking about?
Go to 23andMe and you'll find out, you know, unless you're just as white as snow or something,
unless you're like Eric or something, you know, Eric.
Eric looked up his 23andMe and he's like all English.
Not a drop of anything else in him or something.
He might be like Irish or something.
Maybe like a smidge of Irish, but he's mostly like just English.
But for the most part, we're all mixed.
And people try to point to Old Testament passages and say,
yeah, but God didn't want the children of Israel mingling with other nations.
Not because of race.
Because of religion, because of their beliefs.
He didn't want the children of Israel intermingling with the Canaanites, with the Hibites, with the Perizzites.
Why? Because they had false gods.
And if you're not careful, you could become like Solomon,
who married a bunch of foreign wives that believed in other gods like Asheroth.
And then he began to want to appease his wives and began to worship false gods.
And so, you know, it's not a color thing.
And we need to make sure that we never turn into a church that makes that an issue.
Or just like, oh man, you know, these Mexicans, your pastor's Mexican.
Or at least I look like one.
These black people, these Chinese people, whatever.
Folks, do they believe in Jesus Christ or not?
The only Mexican I hate is the Mexican who hates the Lord Jesus Christ.
Right?
The only Chinese person that I hate is the one who despises Jesus Christ.
The only black person I hate is the one who despises the Lord Jesus Christ and speaks evil of the Bible.
But you know what, there's black people in our church, there's Asian people in our church, there's Mexican people in our church,
and they love the Lord.
And you know what, if you don't like the way that is, you're going to have a hard time in heaven.
Because heaven is filled with just all nations and tongues, my friend.
So Aaron and Miriam, you guys are being dumb, especially you, Aaron.
Verse 2, and they said, hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses?
Hath he not spoken also by us?
And the Lord heard it.
So it was just like, you know, they're kind of going the Kord, Dathan, and Abiram route.
But it's funny that it said, and the Lord heard it.
Like he's just like, oh, okay, I hear that same talk again.
Verse 3, now the man Moses was very meek above all men, which were upon the face of the earth.
And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam.
Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation.
And they three came out.
Now at that point, as Aaron and I would be like, you guys are in trouble.
We're in so much trouble right now.
Because it's just like, you know, it's just like me when I talk to my kids, like you three upstairs right now.
We're not having a good meeting.
Someone's in trouble.
And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle.
Verse 5, and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forth.
And he said, hear now my words.
If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream.
So he's saying, look, prophets of the Lord, I'll give him my word through a vision, through a dream.
My servant Moses is not so who is faithful in all my house.
With him I will speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches.
And the similitude of the Lord shall he behold wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses.
So what is God doing? He's going to bat for Moses.
He's like, I talked to Moses face to face.
Mouth to mouth is what he's referring to.
And he's like, so why aren't you afraid to talk to him like that?
Verse 9, the anger of the Lord was kindled against him and he departed.
Now that's the worst way to end a conversation.
He's mad and then he just leaves.
Because he's just like, what is going to happen, right?
Obviously Moses knows.
And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle and behold Miriam became leprous.
White as snow and Aaron looked upon Miriam and behold she was leprous.
Now why is it that only Miriam became leprous?
What do you think?
It's because she's the one who's leading the whole thing.
She's probably the one responsible for turning Aaron against Moses.
And Aaron said unto Moses, alas my Lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us,
wherein we have done foolishly and wherein we have sinned.
Aaron, by the way, is the older brother.
Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of the mother's womb.
And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
So even after all that, Moses still wants to help his sister,
which most brothers, you know, spank them for what they did.
He's just like, please don't be merciful to her.
And the Lord said unto Moses,
If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days?
Let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.
He's like, if her father spit in her face, shouldn't she be waiting outside of the camp for seven days?
Well as a leprous woman, she's going to wait seven days.
You know what those seven days are for? To think about what you've done.
This is the only time God institutes time outs.
Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days into the people's journey, not until Miriam was brought in again.
Now what's the principle that we can learn here?
Well, you know, we often talk about a little leaven leaven at the whole lump, right?
And here's the thing, when there's leaven in the church, in a congregation,
just like it says in verse 15, we can't go forward as a church if sin remains in the camp.
Until you get right with God.
Right?
Sometimes we can't prosper as a church if we're not cleansing the church, making sure there's no sin in the church.
I mean, the whole camp had to wait for her for seven days.
A million people, over a million people, had to wait to move until she was done getting chastised.
Verse 16, and afterward the people were removed from Hazeroth and pitched in the wilderness of Peiram.
Now what's the last thing that we can learn here is that, you know, sometimes our greatest enemies, unfortunately,
can even be our own family.
Our own brothers and sisters who hate on us, who are trying to hinder us, criticize us.
What I'm trying to say this morning is that Moses was not exempt from having conflict and adversaries from all angles.
So you shouldn't be surprised if you have conflict from all angles as well.
You're obviously going to have Pharaoh against you.
You're obviously going to have Janus and Jambres against you.
You know what, you might have your spouse against you.
You might even have, you know, your brother and sister against you.
You're going to have Israel against you, other Christians against you.
And you're definitely going to have Korah, Dathan, and Abiram who are always hating on you too.
Just know this, it's always going to happen.
You're always going to have people who have conflict with you.
And that's just the way life is, my friends.
And, you know, we just got to deal with it as Moses did on a case-by-case basis.
And, you know, learn from Moses that we should walk with God closely enough that we know the cause and effect to all these things.
As soon as something happened, he's just like, he's like, I know what's about to happen.
Well, we should know that too, right?
We should know the nature of God and how he deals with these situations.
And that's it, let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
We're so thankful for Moses' example.
And I pray you help us to take this to heart.
Help us as your people to be aware of all these instances here, Lord.
Of course, we know we have Satan as our enemy, his agents as our enemies.
But we also have Korah, Dathan, and Abiram usurpers who try to come under the radar, Lord, to disrupt our service for God.
But sometimes our enemies come from within.
They come from spouses, they come from siblings, from family members, Lord.
I pray you help us to take it in stride and recognize that you still will go to bat for us, Lord, as long as we're in obedience to you.
We love you. We thank you, Lord. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Please turn your hymnals to song number 281.
Song number 281, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior.
Song number 281, all together nice and strong on that first verse.
Pass me not, O gentle Savior, hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Let me at a throne of mercy find a sweet relief.
Kneeling there a deep attrition, help my unbelief.
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Trusting only Thy merit, heal my wounded, broken spirit.
Save me by Thy grace.
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Thou the spring of all my comfort, more than life to me.
Whom have I on earthly side be? Whom in heaven but be?
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Amen. Wonderful singing. You are dismissed.