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Just over in the glory land there with the mighty host I'll stand just over in the glory land. I am on my way to those mansions fair just over in the glory land there to sing God's praise and his glory share just over in the glory land. Just over in the glory land I'll join the happy angel band just over in the glory land. Just over in the glory land there with the mighty host I'll stand just over in the glory land with the joyful thought that my Lord I'll see just over in the glory land and with kindred saved there forever be just over in the glory land just over in the glory land I'll join the happy angel band just over in the glory land just over in the glory land there with the mighty host I'll stand just over in the glory land with the blood washed throng I will shout and sing just over in the glory land glad o's and us to Christ the Lord and King just over in the glory land just over in the glory land I'll join the happy angel band just over in the glory land just over in the glory land there with the mighty host I'll stand just over in the glory land. Good evening and welcome back to church on this Wednesday evening and just some announcements here make sure I got the right one yes we have normal church services coming up this Sunday so nothing should be different there we'll have our main sowing time at 1 p.m. and then obviously the regional sowing times during the week there but everything should be just like clockwork there Colossians chapter 1 is our memory chapter for the month and if you're on the whatsapp there a lot of us men are working on that and so just keep plugging away and and we're kind of all different spots kind of going through that chapter but I've been enjoying it definitely a lot of good verses in there to have memorized but not too late to jump in on getting Colossians memorized chapter one's one of the bigger chapters if you can get that one down the next three shouldn't be as bad and then Matthew 6 21 is memory verse for the week and then we have upcoming events we have the men's prayer meeting on the list here but also be in prayer for the missions trip coming up next week and so just be in prayer for all those that are gonna be going out to the Virgin Islands and just hopefully see a lot of a lot of souls saved so but just be in prayer for that and so I'm excited to hear how that goes and everything it should be a fun trip so we're not you're not exactly going out into some like trudge of society to obviously though that the people there you know it's not like they're gonna go witness to people that are on their honeymoon or something like that it's gonna be like the locals and everything but should be a fun trip and I'm hoping for a lot of Salvations there and then on on the back there obviously we want to give a congratulations to the Slagle family when we see them or if you talk to them outside of church and everything for Jack Slagle being born and then also just being prayer for all the ladies on the pregnancy list and and be in prayer for all the ladies with new new babies and all that and so a blessing there and just praising the Lord for all the children in our church and seems brighter in here see how long that lasts so that being said that's about all graph for announcements brother Dave's gonna sing one more song brother Anthony's gonna be reading Exodus chapter 5 for us all right take your song books and turn to song 106 song 106 will sing abide with me song 106 all right with me fast falls the even tide the darkness deepens Lord with me abide when other helpers fail and comforts flee help of the helpless so abide with me swift to its close ebbs out life's little day earth's joy grow dim its glories pass away change and decay in all around i see oh thou who changes not abide with me i need thy presence every passing hour what but thy grace can for the tempters power who like thyself my guide and stay can be through cloud and sunshine oh abide with me oh thou thy cross before my closing eyes shine through the gloom and point me to the skies halves morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee in life and death oh Lord abide with me all right take your Bibles and turn to Exodus chapter number five Exodus chapter five we'll have brother Anthony come and read that for us Exodus chapter five Bob reads and afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh thus that the Lord God of Israel let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness and Pharaoh said who is the Lord that I should obey his his voice to let Israel go I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go and they said the God of the Hebrews hath met with us let us go we pray thee three days journey into the desert and sacrifice unto the Lord our God lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword and the king of Egypt said unto them wherefore do ye Moses and Aaron let the people from their works go get you unto your burdens and Pharaoh said behold the people of the land now are many and you make them rest from their burdens and Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people and their officers saying ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick as heretofore let them go and gather straw for themselves and the tail of the bricks which they did make heretofore ye shall lay upon them ye shall not diminish ought thereof for they be idle therefore they cry saying let us go and sacrifice to our God let there more work be laid upon the men that they may labor there and let them not regard vain words and the taskmasters of the people went out and their officers and they speak to the people saying thus said Pharaoh I will not give you straw go ye get your straw where ye can find it yet not all of your work shall be diminished so the people were scouted abroad throughout all the land of Egypt of Egypt to gather stumble stubble instead of straw and the taskmasters has tasted them saying fulfill your works your daily tasks as when there was straw and the officers of the children of Israel which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them were beaten and demanded wherefore have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today as heretofore then officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh saying wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants there is no straw given unto thy servants and they say unto us make brick and behold thy servants are beaten but the fault is in thine own people but he said ye are idle ye are idle therefore you say let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord go therefore now and work for your there shall no straw be given you yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks and officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case after it was said ye shall not diminish ought from your bricks of your daily task and they met Moses and Aaron who stood in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh and they said unto them the Lord look upon you and judge because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh in the eyes of his servants to put a sword in their hand to slay us and Moses returned unto the Lord and said Lord wherefore hast thou so evil and treated this people why is it that thou has sent me for since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name he hath done evil to this people neither hast thou delivered thy people at all let's pray Lord thank you for the service tonight and thank you for this message we'll have tonight from Pastor Robinson I pray to you be with him filling with your Holy Spirit help us all learn in Jesus name I pray amen amen so you're there in Exodus chapter 5 and we are continuing our study through the book of Exodus and we got done with the burning bush in chapter 3 and then going into chapter 4 and then at the end of chapter 4 we're back where we have Moses coming back into Egypt and chapter 5 here is actually where he's back in Egypt and he's going to speak to Pharaoh okay now this is going to be a little different than you know what's portrayed on film and what's portrayed in Hollywood meaning that they kind of skip this part they they don't really mention this or they get these things kind of mixed up meaning this is that if I was going to put a title on the sermon it's Pharaoh's Last Chance actually this is before I believe Pharaoh's heart is hardened by the Lord okay and just something I really just want to point out here is that I believe God wanted Pharaoh to get saved you know God wants everybody to get saved but you know what there comes a point in some people's lives where he hardens them okay and it doesn't happen to everybody but as far as every unsaved person obviously but some people God will harden or he'll give them over to a reprobate mind and all that and look at verse 1 here so Exodus chapter 5 verse 1 it says and afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh thus saith the Lord God of Israel let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness now what I want you to notice is that there's no signs that are shown to Pharaoh in this whole chapter okay so when Moses and Aaron are going up to Pharaoh the first time and all the stuff that happens no sign was given the the the staff that turned into the serpent any of those signs were given to him that's stated here basically he's just going up to them going up to Pharaoh and telling him what the Lord hath said and basically giving him the word of God if you will and notice Pharaoh's response in verse 2 there says 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 okay so I would say that that's probably to say that Pharaoh doesn't know who the Lord is it's probably not necessarily true but let's say it is well Moses is going to tell them who it is in the next verse it says and they said the God of the Hebrews hath met with with us let us go we pray thee three days journey into the desert and sacrificing the Lord our God lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword so he's giving a warning here to Pharaoh that you need to let us go on sacrifice or there's going to be pestilence there's going to be the sword basically there's going to be things that are becoming against Egypt if you don't let if you don't let us go and go back to Exodus chapter 4 Exodus chapter 4 because I believe that maybe other things were said to him besides just those two things we will like the fact that Moses said to Pharaoh let my people go that we may hold a feast unto that we may hold a feast unto him in in the wilderness and you know that we may sacrifice lest these things come upon us but in Exodus chapter 4 verse 21 notice what it says here is then the Lord said unto Moses when thou goest to return into Egypt see that thou do all these wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in thine hand but I will harden his heart that he shall not let the people go notice in verse 22 thou shalt say unto Pharaoh thus saith the Lord Israel is my son even my firstborn and I say unto thee let my son go that that he may serve me and if thou refuse to let him go behold I will slay thy son even thy firstborn so sometimes in the bible you'll see places where there's a there's something there's an exchange but maybe you don't see everything that's said and we know this to be true because a lot of times in the gospels when you have a parallel passage sometimes you'll get more information in one passage than another and there's no contradiction there it's just the fact that that gospel is giving you that part of what's being said in that conversation this gospel is giving you some more information that about what was said and so sometimes when you're reading through there there's other things that are said uh other other information is given um but maybe it's not pertinent for that specific you know gospel for bringing up that information right so that being said is I believe that not that when he's stating let my people go he's stating this information about if you know Israel's my firstborn my son if you don't let him go I'm going to kill your firstborn and then he's saying and then he's he's saying well who's the Lord you know and basically Moses response to that is the fact that the God of the Hebrews that's who the Lord is okay and if you don't let us go and do sacrifice then this is what's going to come down you're going to have pestilence and the sword okay now we know the story so we know that does come upon them but I look at this passage as pharaoh's last chance you know to basically heed the preaching of God okay think about how Jonah went into Nineveh and preached 40 days and Nineveh is going to be destroyed right well what happened well the king actually repented in sackcloth and ashes so much so that he caused all the animals to put on sackcloth and cause the animals not to eat or drink right he's like you know the cows are not going to eat you know the sheep are not going to eat we're not going to eat we're putting sackcloth on everything and basically he's like you know who knows if the Lord will be gracious and repent of this evil that he said he would do unto us and God was gracious and he did repent of the evil that he said that he would do unto them and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way by the way so they repented of their sins and God didn't destroy their their country so it's kind of similar in this although Pharaoh doesn't do that right Pharaoh doesn't you know put on sackcloth and make all the animals put on sackcloth no actually he does you know the complete opposite but I want to point out something here is that nowhere in this passage does it say that God hardened his heart yet though okay I want you to you know when you look at chapter four it says I will harden Pharaoh's heart so obviously we know what's going to happen right God's stating to Moses this will happen I'm going to to harden his heart but it doesn't state when he's in the at the burning bush or when in chapter four it doesn't state I hardened Pharaoh's heart or Pharaoh's heart is hardened does that make sense in the story it says I will harden his heart go to chapter seven now chapter six we're going to be getting into some information about God's name and and to the genealogy of Moses and all that chapter seven is really where we start getting into the you know the cool stuff with you know the the serpent being you know the the staff being turned into a serpent the water and the blood and getting into all the plagues right but so in chapter seven here after or notice in verse three here so in verse three it says and I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt notice it's still like I'm going to do this right and it's not until after he does this the the the staff turned into a serpent and we'll get to that passage that in verse 13 notice what it says and he hardened Pharaoh's heart that he hearkened not unto them as the Lord had said in the Lord said unto Moses Pharaoh's heart is hardened and he refuses to let the people go believe at that point he was done okay so you say what what what's your point with this is that Pharaoh had a chance Pharaoh had a chance now obviously God knew what he was going to do God knew that he was going to refuse and he was going to reject right but this really this is this is a classic example if you ever want to show somebody okay you know what are you talking about this reprobate doctrine you know well Pharaoh's the the the example as much as Abraham's the example of faith Pharaoh's the example of being hardened of someone being turned over to this reprobate mind because notice what did he say about the Lord he says who is the Lord right he's stating who is the Lord right he he's he's questioning who he is he's like who's the Lord that I should be should obey his voice right well look at Romans chapter one Romans chapter one and notice that same type of language but here's the thing he couldn't really say that after Moses preached to him after Moses said the God of the Hebrews that's who he is right so at that point he knows who he is okay so when you're dealing with Pharaoh you're not dealing with someone that's ignorant okay you're dealing with someone that knows and verse 18 there of Romans chapter one it says for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth and unrighteousness and the key here is that Pharaoh had the truth and he rejected it he held the truth and unrighteousness it says because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God has shown it unto them for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seeing being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and godhead so that they are without excuse so he's basically saying you know even creation itself things that are made people are without shoes to say who's the Lord you know who's God right but at the same time he didn't just have creation as you know basically the reason that he knows who the Lord is or anything like that he has a preacher that's telling him this is the Lord you know this is who he is and preaching that to them to him and notice what it says in verse 21 it says because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened so this is a classic example of you know Pharaoh rejecting the Lord once he knew who the Lord was and this chapter is is basically a testament of like this is he he's he's done because when you get to chapter seven when he sees those signs God's hardening his heart okay I don't believe it's like well he rejected that sign and then he and then God hardened his heart no he saw the sign God hardened his heart and he would not hearken unto what Moses had to say okay and this all comes down to the fact that you know what the just shall live by faith you know what a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no be sign given unto this generation but the sign of the son of Jonas you know you think about what he said to uh you know Judea when he was here on the earth but also when you think about Pharaoh listen when it comes to getting saved it's the power of the gospel right it says for you know for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it to the Jew first and also to the Greek and the idea is that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God and it's not about like seeing these signs and wonders once they get to the signs and the wonders he's done okay and I just want to point this out because when you when you see when you see like the movies that are portraying this you know what always happens he goes up there shows them the serpent you know the staff turns into a serpent then that's when he's like all right now I'm going to make your labors more abundant all this stuff and then you know basically all of Israel's mad at him after that is that what you see here no actually he went up there didn't show him a sign he just went up there and said thus saith the Lord let my people go that they may serve me and it was all about preaching the word of God to him and it wasn't about giving him a sign yet now the signs are going to follow but he's you know what God keeps bringing up over and over again is that I'm going to harden his heart that I may show my signs and wonders the whole point of him hardening him is so that he can just he can show all these signs and wonders and he's not going to change he's going to basically keep going and still be stubborn and and not let them go to the point where God's going to part the Red Sea and destroy all the Egyptians and their chariots in the Red Sea right I mean that's how far it gets to and you know in the end game of everything that that's going to happen so what's the reasoning like I said the reasoning and we'll get into this later but the reasoning for hardening his heart it says in Romans chapter 9 if you're in Romans 1 Romans chapter 9 says this and again this is like I said if you want to understand the reprobate doctrine we're not Calvinists we don't believe that Pharaoh was born totally depraved and unable to get saved okay but there came a point and I believe in chapter 5 he was still able okay now that's just my you know thoughts on that maybe he wasn't okay but as far as I see God is saying I will harden him I will harden him and even in chapter 7 he's saying I will harden him meaning he hadn't hardened them yet okay so Pharaoh still had a chance up to that point where Moses came in with the staff and showed you know and the staff turned into a serpent and at that point it was over you know that's when you know he hardened his heart and after that you'll see you'll see not only God hardening his heart but but Pharaoh hardening his own heart after that you'll see that exchange going down the line okay but in in Romans chapter 9 verse 17 it says for the scripture said unto Pharaoh even for this same purpose have I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee that my name might be declared throughout all the earth therefore hath the mercy on whom he will have mercy in whom he will he hardeneth now like I said Calvinists will take this and say well see people are born into this world and some he has mercy on and some he hardens no everybody that's born into this world is able to it has the ability to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ has the ability to get saved God wants them to get saved and there comes a point though where he can harden them and let me ask you this I mean how Pharaoh is not a baby right here Pharaoh's not a child I believe he's a full-grown man and he still isn't hardened in chapter five according to the Bible he's not hardened until chapter seven so that means there's a time where that happens in someone's life where they're hardened okay and I just want to make that distinction because there's a lot of red herrings out there and a lot of you know false arguments and straw arguments about what we believe about the reprobate doctrine and you know we don't we do not believe that that basically someone's born into this world being reprobate okay someone could become reprobate there's a point where God can harden them that's where we stand on that and at that point yes they are totally depraved and I preached on that when I went through the all the the tulip and how it's all wrong okay every five every single point of that tulip is false because even the total depravity they're saying everybody's totally depraved that's false okay but there are people that can become totally depraved and obviously people that are in hell are totally depraved at that point but not everybody's born into this world totally depraved and you know that's a false doctrine that shall be preached against at another time now when it comes to oh I already turned the page I was like I'm way ahead there I turned the page and and forgot okay so now let's think about this okay when it comes to Pharaoh there's someone that comes to mind when you think about someone that that has the choice to be made right how about Paul go to first Timothy chapter one first Timothy chapter one here's two men I call this Paul versus Pharaoh two men that took two different choices here Pharaoh had a choice he had a choice to believe in the Lord to to basically believe the preaching of the word and you know have faith in the Lord or he had a choice to reject it and Paul is given that same circumstance and you know what Paul took the right route Pharaoh took the wrong route and I want you to notice this wording that's used here because remember in roman chapter 9 it says the Lord will have mercy on whom he will have mercy in whom he will he hardeneth notice what it says here in first Timothy chapter 1 and verse 12 it says and I thank God I'm sorry I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who had enabled me for the for that he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious but I obtained what mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief there's the key Paul was ignorant he did not knowing he was not knowingly being injurious he was not knowingly going against the truth he didn't know that he wasn't he didn't hold the truth in unrighteousness he didn't know God and glorify him not as God he just was ignorant about it okay now keep reading there it says in verse 14 it says in the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus this is a faithful saying and worthy of all expectation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief now that phrase where people say that or like well he's the chief sinner that must be he must be a homosexual a pedophile all this no okay all that stuff's on natural sins first of all the reason he's saying this is because I believe that Paul was literally at the cusp of becoming a reprobate like he was like at the cheapest as far as like as far as you can go before God hardened you I mean he was hailing people into the prison he was giving consent under under Christians being put to death I mean that's just basically he's right on that line and I believe the reason what he's stating here is that you know I was chief among sinners basically he was chief among sinners that could get saved okay because he was right at that cusp to basically you know be done and notice what it says in verse 16 how be it for this cause I obtain mercy so why did he obtain mercy well it says that he did it ignorantly in unbelief but another reason why he obtained mercy okay why God had mercy on him and and you know basically knocked him on his rear end you know so that he'd see the truth and get saved is it says how be it for this cause I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting and he's basically saying I'm an example of God's long suffering right I mean think about what all Paul was doing and wreaking havoc upon the church right and how that was God's long suffering and he's saying I was chief among sinners because basically he was great I mean just towing that line about about to get brought over to a rubber bait mine and be a child of the devil like all those Pharisees and everything else that were trying to kill Christians right and he's saying I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly I obtained mercy because I was to be an example unto all those that would believe after me because of God's long suffering that he had on him okay so Paul's a great example of something you say well who's someone that could get saved right when you think of false teachers when you think of different things and people and if you think about it Paul his biggest his his crime was that he was overzealous and he was basically you know a minion to persecute those that were against his religion right you don't really even see Paul preaching his religion do you you don't really see him saying like you're wrong about what you're saying right there and preaching a false gospel or anything like that I mean just things to think about with Paul here and this sermon is not about Paul but I wanted to show you that that the comparison there that Pharaoh he he was told who God was he knew God glorified him not as God you know what happened his foolish heart was darkened but you know what when when Paul knew who God was when he realized that it's the Lord Jesus and that he was actually going against him you know what he did he got saved he believed and God had mercy on him and you know those are two great examples and if you're going to look at that verse and say the Lord will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth those are two great examples not like two babies coming out of the womb and saying well this one he hardened and this one he had mercy on okay and people try to do that because they they rip Romans 9 out of context and they're not seeing exactly what it's talking about as far as you know what they're applying as far as the Jacob and Esau and they're not talking it's not talking about the person Jacob and Esau but the people of Israel and the people of Esau and the fact that he loved the one and he hated the other and what those represent which is the children of God and the children of the devil another sermon for another day but go back to Exodus chapter 5 Exodus chapter 5 and verse 4. I mean this passage is pretty simple on the face right I mean he goes up and says let my people go Pharaoh's like no and I'm going to make your burdens worse that's essentially what this chapter is about right so it you know basically Moses went up there asked for him to release them he doesn't makes their burdens worse and then they're in despair at the end of this chapter I mean that's essentially face value what's going on in this story so you take out all the spiritual stuff you know like taking up the spiritual stuff I'm trying to put in here and show you like applications that's what's going on but in verse 4 here it says in the king of Egypt said unto them wherefore do you the ye Moses and Aaron let the people from their works get you unto your burdens now that term let the people from their works sometimes in the bible let will actually mean hinder it actually mean the opposite of what we usually mean actually in this passage it's going to use let multiple times as being allow right and the way we usually use it but in this case it's used in a term of like hindering holding back okay and there's a couple places in the new testament I think this is a great example if when you go to those places as far as to define it you could look it up in a dictionary right and show that there's different definitions for let but this is a great one because it wouldn't make any sense if you said you know wherefore do ye Moses and Aaron allow the people from their works right that wouldn't make any sense but if you understand that let can mean hinder you're hindering them from their works and you know one example of this is you know I wanted to come you know Paul says in Romans 1 I would come I would have come unto you but I was let hitherto meaning I was hindered from going hitherto from going to you right or heretofore and another place one of the pre-tribs famous verses that they love yet it's one of the most cryptic verses in the bible it's like it's always funny when pre-trib version is like I got my proof text and it's like one of the hardest verses grammatically to understand it's like of course you're going to pick that one but it says it says the mystery of iniquity does already work only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way and in one way to really show it's actually very easy to understand that let means hinder there or to withhold because in the verse right before that it says you know what withholdeth until he be revealed and then it says the mystery of iniquity does already work only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way so it means withhold it means to hinder right and so that's just a this verse is always one that I go to if someone has trouble with that verse I take them back here it's very clear that they're hint he's accusing them of hindering of them of their works okay or their burdens right and it says in verse five it says in Moses I'm sorry and Pharaoh said behold the people of the land now are many and you make them rest from their burden so if you didn't get all I said right there what's the the same thing of letting them from their works is to cause them to rest from the works basically to stop right from their works this is in verse six it says and Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people and their officers saying you shall no more give the people straw to make brick as heretofore let them go and gather straw for themselves and the tail of bricks which they did make heretofore ye shall lay upon them ye shall not diminish ought thereof for they be idle therefore they cry saying let us go and sacrifice to our god let their work more work be laid upon the men that they may labor therein and let them not regard vain words what's he talking about when he says let them not regard vain words the word of God you see that you see that that that just rejection that's going on there he's saying that what Moses told him were vain words it sounds familiar like they came became vain in their imaginations right and their foolish heart was darkened see the spiral that's going down before the hardening happens as far as uh you know the process of like they're the ones that's rejecting God they're rejecting God they don't want to retain them in their knowledge and therefore God's going to give them up therefore God's going to give them over to a reprobate mind okay so you kind of see this spiral coming down with Pharaoh right here but so what do we have here he's basically like you're not getting any straw you're going to go find straw okay so he's basically making their their work uh extra hard uh and basically saying you know you gotta you gotta do the same amount same amount of work but now you gotta do you gotta find all the straw and all that for the brick uh verse 10 here it says in the taskmasters the people went out and their officers and they spake to the people saying thus saith pharaoh i will not give you straw go ye get you straw where you can find it yet not ought of your work shall be diminished notice that he's not even saying like okay here's a field of straw go get it bring it over here he's like you gotta go find it right they're not even gonna tell you where it's at they're not gonna have a supply of it it's not it's not a matter of like we're not gonna hand it to you now we're not gonna deliver it to you you gotta go get it and it's over here it's like you gotta go find it go find it wherever you can find it go find it right um and it says so the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of egypt to gather stubble instead of straw and the taskmasters hasted them saying fulfill your works your daily tasks as when there was straw and the officers of the children of israel which pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them were beaten and demanded wherefore have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today as heretofore okay so this would be very frustrating right you're already in just hard bondage where you're just being forced to make these treasure cities uh for pharaoh and you're being forced you're like in the brick pits you know and making all this brick and now on top of that you're saying yeah we're just not going to give you all the material now you gotta go get the material and his whole reasoning is that you're idle that's why you're asking to go sacrifice under god that's why you want to go out and do this is because you don't have enough work right you know what this is really showing me is that well what we're going to see here is that the the fact that pharaoh is implacable and unmerciful okay see where i'm going with a lot of this stuff and showing this the the idea here as far as pharaoh's heart and how he you know in in in uh when we're dealing with matthew 13 um and the fact that god spoke to them in parables it talks about how he hardens their heart and how he darkens their eyes and and all that but it also talks about how they do it okay and really when it comes to people that become reprobate they start hardening their hearts they start closing their ears they start just you know basically blinding themselves off to the truth and god's like all right you're blind you're done and that's the progression you see here but those are verse 15 so basically at this point it's not you don't want to be someone that's uh high up in israel and this really shows you too that um you know the the authority of the ones that have to give account whether good or bad right you think about being not many masters for for you know um i'm going to misquote that now be not many masters for many things you shall offend all because the idea is that um you know what it's all going to come back on them they're the ones getting beat right these officers that are over because you can think about it like if you're having all this this rigor be like i want to be an officer because i can just kind of tell people what to do and i'm just sitting here like i'm the foreman while they're in the brick pits and they're doing all this stuff until this happens and now they're getting beat because it's not going down like it should be right and uh notice when verse 15 says then the officers of the children of israel came and cried unto pharaoh saying wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants there is no straw given unto thy servants and they say to us make brick and behold thy servants are beaten but the fault is in thine own people so basically i don't know if they didn't know that like that that pharaoh made this decree but he's basically stating like they're telling them you know what it's your own people that's not giving us straw that's why we can't do this notice what what pharaoh says here it says but he said your idol your idol therefore you say let us go and do sacrifice to the lord go there for now and work for there shall no straw be given you and ye shall ye shall yet yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks so he's basically implacable you know basically he doesn't move an inch on that does he he's like you're idle and you know what you're not getting straw you got to do it just not moving on it and you obviously think about romans chapter 1 where it talks about those that are given over to a reprobate mind or the it says in romans 1 28 i want you to turn to ephesians chapter 4 ephesians chapter 4 romans chapter 1 verse 28 says and even as they did not like to retain god in their knowledge god gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient then it says that they're being filled with all unrighteousness fornication it goes down this whole list of different items that they're filled with or full of right but then it says the fact that they're without understanding covenant breakers without natural affection implacable unmerciful who knowing the judgment of god that they which commit such things are worthy of death not only do the same but have pleasure in them to do them so there's obviously a long list of things but those two right there now another place to talk about how they're incontinent fierce right but the idea of being implacable when you think about being placated it's kind of like being pacified meaning that they can't be pacified and unmerciful okay now obviously as christians we can kind of be unmerciful to a certain extent right i mean we lack mercy or we should have mercy and we're commanded to be merciful and to be gracious right these people that are giving us this reprobate mind they are completely void of mercy completely void of it completely void of natural affection they're they it says that they are without understanding they can't understand they're ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth but go to your infusion chapter 4 and verse 17. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 17 says this i say therefore and testify in the lord that he henceforth walk not as other gentile other gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind that's how you know uh the vain word you're like all these vain words but their vain imaginations that they have right the vanity of their mind it says in verse 18 having the understanding darkened being alienated from the life of god through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart who being past feeling right that gets into that implacable unmerciful they can't even feel they they don't feel remorse right i mean you think about psychopaths they talk about psychopaths just in the world and the fact they lack completely they completely lack empathy like they if they saw like someone just get completely like just murdered in front of them just wouldn't feel it just don't feel any empathy or any affection or any type of emotion to that just stoic to it completely seared conscience that's seared with a hot iron it says who being past feeling have given themselves over onto the lasciviousness notice this to work all uncleanness with greediness if you think about with pharaoh i think a lot of this has i mean they're building him treasure cities i mean that's what the bible says as far as you know their hard rigor and why they're building this brick and everything else and they're building these cities for him is that what do you think one of the big reasons why he doesn't want to let them go he's losing his workforce his free labor if you will as far as his slave labor that he's got working for him and you know what greediness is involved in that and being implacable being unmerciful without natural affection just completely callous to the idea i mean if you think about it i mean the pharaoh that that basically gave the decree to have all the the man children to be thrown into the river you gotta be at that point right i mean to to give that kind of decree like harrod did in jesus day to have all the children from two years old and under killed just because you're like well i you know we gotta we gotta find whoever this christ is because i don't want him to take my spot just the wickedness and just the the fierceness and incontinence and all that is in there now uh so when we get to the end of the chapter here in verse 19 this is kind of a chapter where i feel like defeated right i mean the whole the whole story is like you're coming in there and god's going to to bring them out with a mighty hand they go up to pharaoh pharaoh makes their work harder and then they're basically just whipped right i mean this is what comes out to in verse uh in verse 19 it says and the officers of the children of israel did see that they were an evil case after it was said ye shall not diminish off from your your bricks of your daily task so i think at this point the officers realized all okay this is because moses went in there and said hey you know let my people go because he's saying the reason that you don't have trawl is because you're idle and you want to go out and serve the lord do you see how it's kind of like clicking with them in verse uh 20 there it says and they met moses and aaron who stood in the way as they came came forth from pharaoh and they said unto them the lord look upon you and judge because you have made our savior to be a port in the eyes of pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants to put a sword in their hand to slay us now a poured is another word for hate okay actually i when i think of a poor or loathe i think of a stronger like i'm not saying it's stronger okay so don't quote me on that you're like oh you're saying you're putting it on a level i'll say this if i say i hate something and then i say i abhor that they put a little more salt than that right but i say i loathe it you know and you know what that's what what he's basically stating here but you know what the the righteous are going to be an abomination to the to the unjust and vice versa and meaning this is that um you know what those that hate the lord are going to those that love the lord i mean that's just a fact of the matter that's another sermon for another day uh why did why did cain kill abel because his brothers worked for a righteous and his own were evil i mean uh just many reasons on why they would hate you but you know what they're you know they're despisers of them to do good okay so um that being said uh go keep reading there in verse 22 it says and moses returned unto the lord and said lord wherefore hast thou so evil and treated this people why is it that thou has sent me for since i came to pharaoh to speak in thy name he had done evil to this people neither hast thou delivered thy people at all so notice how this kind of ends on a sober note you're just kind of like i mean let's say you just let's say you never read exodus right you didn't know the story because we're all kind of going into the story you know what happens you know what the end game is but if you were just reading this story and you're kind of leading up to this as far as god's going to lead them out and then you get to this part you're just like what's going on what they do wrong like what happened right i thought he was going to take them out you know what this is a good lesson on things are going to get worse before we're delivered out of this this world this is a great example as far as like if you think about our world right now where we're at things are going to get much worse for us before we're delivered and that's exactly what happens right i mean weren't things bad i mean already for them they were in bondage they were you know and doing hard rigor but now it's just like just adding salt to a wound if you will at the end now we know that it's about to kick up god's going to start working right miracles are going to start happening and all the egyptians and pharaoh are going to be the ones being punished and they're going to be in gochun just not being touched by everything that's about to happen right but i want to make this point is that things will get worse before they get better and go to uh second timothy chapter 3 verse 8 and we're really kind of done with the chapter but i kind of want to just end on this note as far as how this applies to us like how could we look at this and how does how does this story uh you know what does it represent i mean it it also kind of makes you think about the fact that in judges right you had judges 19 where you had that horrific story about the concubine and and the sons of belial right and then you get into the fact of where they go to to basically take out these sons of belial and they're getting destroyed by them and you're just like what in the world but it really just shows you that you know what there's going to be it's going to get harder it's going to have you're going to have losses before the win before you have the win of the war or the battle if you will and uh the same thing here when it comes to when you think about the world and the time of the world is that it's going to get worse and you just have to prepare yourself i'm not saying to just like go home and just worry about it i'm not worried about it i just know what's going to happen okay and when it comes to when it comes to this if you're prepared for it and you're mentally prepared for it then you're not really worried about it you just know that's going to happen and you're not you're not going it's not going to take you by surprise in second timothy chapter 3 and verse 8 it says now as janice and jambres withstood moses so do these also resist the truth men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith so it's interesting the point i'm going to make up is actually a little further down in the passage but it's interesting because moses is actually brought up here and janice and jambres i i personally believe that these are the priests you know in egypt that he was you know because they put down their staves and their staves and whatever and they turned into serpents but then it talks about how the magicians would basically duplicate what moses did until it came to the lice and then they couldn't do it after that but that being said is i i personally believe that's who he's talking about i don't think i could prove that i don't know if anybody could prove that because their names aren't brought up in the old testament but um keep reading there it says in verse nine it says but they shall proceed no further for their folly shall be manifest unto all men as theirs also was this also shows you that you shall know them by their fruits you can know a reprobate you can spot a reprobate you can mark a reprobate because there's things that they produce and things that you can see that will mark them and it says that their folly shall proceed you know and basically they're going to be manifest okay now keep reading there verse 10 it says but thou has fully known my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering charity patience persecutions afflictions which came unto me at antioc at iconium at lystra what persecutions i endured but out of them all the lord delivered me yay and all that will live godly in christ jesus shall suffer persecution okay so if you realize this is that you're going to suffer persecution that's coming right if you're going to live godly and that's what it says in verse 13 but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived let me ask you a question do you think it's getting better i think it's getting better out there i think there's like you know basically you know ebbs and flows if you will you know there's there's high points and low points in history as far as societies maybe not as a world as a whole but just maybe societies will kind of do that when it comes to living godly and getting wicked and living godly and getting wicked but ultimately as you go down through time things are getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and you know what when christ comes back it says it's going to be like the days of sodom and gomorrah the days of lot right it's going to be like the days of noah when there's violence the earth is filled with violence it's like the days a lot we all know what that's talking about with sodom and gomorrah so it's getting worse and we shouldn't be surprised because the bible told us it's going to be that way now second thessalonians chapter 2 says this it says in verse 3 second thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 3 it says let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come talking about the day of the lord the day of christ except there come a falling away first and the man of sin be revealed the son of perdition so before we even get to the anti-christ there has to be a falling away first now this is talked about in uh first and second timothy in the fact that uh first timothy chapter four and you can turn with me if you want um or you can just take notes here but in first timothy chapter 4 and verse 1 it says now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits doctrines devils speaking lies and hypocrisy having their conscience seared with a hot iron so evil men and seducers are going to wax worse and worse as we get closer to the end in the latter times there's going to be some that are going to depart from the faith there's going to be what you'd call the apostasy right and the the great falling away if you will that a lot of times people will term it that way but really it's just the fact that there's people departing from the faith obviously these aren't saved people we're talking about basically as a whole society is departing away from the things of god they're departing away from christianity they're departing away from the bible and there's going to be this falling away that's going to happen before the end uh it says in first thessalonians chapter i'm sorry uh second timothy chapter 3 and verse 1 it says this know also that in the last days perilous time shall come so let me ask you a question do you think it's getting better or worse when we get down to the end it's gonna get worse but here's what we don't do we don't lose faith because of that okay if you know if you know the word of god and this really comes down to you think about the sower and the seed right those that are rooted and grounded when tribulation persecution comment you know it says by and by they're offended because you know they didn't have root but if you're rooted and grounded in the truth you know what when tribulations and persecutions come you know what you say well we must be living godly then oh the bible's right right do you see the difference that when when you're not rooted in ground you think well man and all this stuff's happening i must be doing something wrong you know we must not be doing something right because the world hates us marvel not if the world hates you right hated me before it hated you you know actually you should you should uh it's it's a bad thing if the world loves you because woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you for so did they the false prophets unto the fathers of the false prophets right so uh when you know the bible when you know that this stuff's coming it's just kind of expected right none of us it's not gonna take us by surprise they take pretty triggered by surprise i don't know because when they get here and it's getting worse and worse and worse and they thought they're gonna be taken out before that happened but ultimately we know that it's going to get worse before it gets better and i just want to show you this in uh in matthew chapter 24 and then we'll be done okay this progression if you will and i think exodus is a great example because if you think about it what comes next on this timeline god's wrath this one's coming next so if you think about it in the progression of things you have uh the fact that things are getting worse for god god's people then god's wrath happens right things are going to get worse for us but then what happens god comes saves us out of it and then his wrath is poured out so it actually fits lock and step with everything that we believe as far as what's going to happen in the end and it's a great picture on top of that matthew 24 in verse 12 i'm not going to read through the whole chapter here but just going to give you kind of a timeline snippet as far as how this fits perfectly with what happens in exodus in uh matthew 24 in verse 12 it says and because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold but he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved so same thing right evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse and because the iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold meaning people are going to become callous and cold and you know because iniquity is abounding right and then then it goes on to say go to verse 21 there he's like well see you got to hold out faithful unto the end well let's see what that's talking about well in verse 21 here it says for then shall be great tribulation okay now it's not just great tribulation notice what it says such as when that was not since the beginning of the world to this time no nor ever shall be so not only is it going to get worse it's going to be the worst it's ever been okay because when you look at i mean you think of exodus right you think of how it progressed down right i mean when you get to the beginning of exodus before moses was put into the ark and all that and they were trying to kill the children you see how it kind of progressed and got worse and worse and worse he's like they kind of put him in the bondage but then he made him hard rigor bondage then he's like trying to get the midwives to kill their children then that didn't work so then he just starts throwing them into the river so now they're in this hard bondage they're in the you know they're making bricks for these treasure cities then moses comes in and is is stating to them hey you need to you're gonna it's coming if you don't let us go and what does he do he had he has toil and hardship on top of what's already there okay and notice it says nor ever shall be verse 22 and except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened and that's talking about the fact that christ is coming in the clouds we were supposed to go through three and a half years of tribulation if you will and being under the under the anti-christ for 42 months that's cut short christ comes in clouds in the same day that he he returns in the clouds just like the same day that lot went out of uh sodom and gomorrah fire and brimstone came down on sodom and gomorrah in the same day that noah went into the ark the flood came upon the earth and destroyed every single person that was outside of that ark and in matthew 24 and verse 29 it says immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together as elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other so what we may not be in the day when this happens i tend to think that we are okay if you want my honest opinion but if it isn't our day don't be surprised don't be in despair if anything you know what what a glorious time to be in the day when christians are going to be doing great exploits for god we can be a part of that but don't be like don't be like the children of israel and like moses just like i thought you were going to deliver us i thought this was all going to be taken care of okay you need to know okay no it had to get worse before it gets better okay and obviously uh god reaffirms that with moses in the next chapter chapter seven at that point it starts it starts going against pharaoh and egypt and and it's really just this tour de force of god's wrath being poured upon them and really the children of israel just being blessed throughout that whole time and they're going to be blessed and as they go out of egypt they're going to be blessed as they go across the red sea and going into the wilderness obviously once they get into wilderness you know that's another story for another day as far as how they don't obey the lord but um so i just you know it's a great chapter like i said if you didn't know what was coming if you didn't know the end of the story you'd be like what in the world you know i thought you said you were going to deliver us and you'd be like moses you'd be like i thought you said you were going to deliver us this is getting worse but um i think it's a great lesson for us to realize that sometimes in life and this could be on a smaller scale too that sometimes in your life things are kind of going downhill and you feel like you're just like man it just seems like everything's going wrong everything's just going downhill sometimes things have to get worse before they start getting better and and know this is that tribulation work in patience and i think trials and tribulations that god put you through if we just if we were just happy and just you know uh everything was just going perfect every single day that wouldn't be good for us our flesh needs a little bit of hardship our flesh and in and you know what in our infirmities then are we that we strong in the lord meaning this is that when you get sick and you let's say you get like you get the covid you get the bars you know and and you get sick no you just get sick right you know what when you get well don't you feel like just ready to take on the world and you just realize like how awesome it felt to be well right you're like this is great it but you take it for granted you take it for granted when you're when you're well all the time until you get sick and then you're just like oh man this is horrible and you're like put down for a little bit you know what sometimes we have to be put down a little bit to kind of just recharge and be like all right now it's time to do something right and uh and so that being said sometimes you know things are going down and and just know this if it gets worse sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better okay and so um great lesson in the bible i think in exodus to kind of remind us of that uh let's end with a word of prayer dear heavenly father we thank you for today thank you for your word thank you for the book of exodus and just praise you to help me to preach this these passages and these chapters rightly and uh just help us to glean everything we can from it and to apply it to our lives but just thank you for the stories and and everything that we have in here uh that we can just look into the past and see what you did with your people back then and lord we just uh thank you for it pray to be able to go back to work and as we go throughout the week and pray also in jesus christ's name amen brother they will come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed all right song 310 in your song books song 310 if you would stand we'll sing footprints of jesus song 310 sweetly lord have we heard thee calling come follow me and we see where thy footprints falling lead us to thee footprints of jesus that make the pathway glow we will follow the steps of jesus