Moses, the Unfaithful Messenger

[0:00] Okay, do you know where you're turning yet? Mark knows. It kind of sounded a little bit... Exodus.

[0:16] There's the joy. We're in Exodus chapter 5. Two Sundays ago we finished chapter 4 and we studied some characteristics of the people of God.

[0:27] In the very last three verses of chapter 4 we saw that the people of God gathered together. We saw that they hear the Word of God. We saw that they believe in verse 31 and then we saw that they obeyed or submitted to the Word of God when they bowed their heads and worshipped.

[0:47] And that's something we do. And so praise the Lord, we're doing it again today. So here we are in Exodus chapter 5 and Moses and Aaron met with God's people with a message and now they're going to go to Pharaoh with a different message and get an entirely different response.

[1:05] You can see the drastic difference between the people of God and their response to the Word of God and to the king of Egypt and his response to a message from God.

[1:17] And so let's begin. I want to read the entire chapter with you of chapter 5. It's 23 verses. So if you're able to, do your best to not get distracted and just follow along in your King James Bible.

[1:29] Verse number 1 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.

[1:42] 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. And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us.

[1:54] 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 burdens, or from their works, get you unto your burdens?

[2:13] And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye 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.

[2:28] 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 aught thereof, for they be idle. Therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

[2:42] Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein, and let them not regard vain words. And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.

[2:57] Go ye, get ye straw where ye can find it, yet not of your work shall be diminished. So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.

[3:09] And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfill your works, your daily task, because when there was straw, and the officers of the children of Israel, which Moses' taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick, both yesterday and today, as heretofore?

[3:29] 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.

[3:42] But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle. Therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord. Go therefore now and work, for there shall no straw be given you, yet ye shall deliver the tale of bricks.

[3:56] And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in an evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish aught from your bricks of your daily tasks. And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, and they came forth from Pharaoh, 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, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

[4:25] And Moses returned unto the Lord and said, Lord, Wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? Why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people.

[4:37] Neither hast thou delivered this people at all. Let's pray. Lord God, please help us in this time. Please help us to take some truth from this passage, to apply it to the lives and the place where we live today.

[4:53] Lord, help me to be clear. Help me to speak only that which is right and true. And I pray that we'd have ears to hear and hearts to receive. I pray your people would believe the word of God and would surrender to it.

[5:06] We pray that Jesus Christ be glorified in this time. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So, we read the passage, and to take you right back to the beginning, that is not the same reaction from a message from Almighty God.

[5:26] This response from Pharaoh. And for the first time in his life, it would appear that he is confronted with a message from God. The first time he has a word from God to him, and he reacts by saying, I don't know the Lord, and I'm not going to obey him.

[5:46] Why should I? And that's a pretty common reaction to people who don't know the Lord. That should not be the reaction of someone who does know the Lord. Their reaction ought to be much like we read in the last chapter.

[5:59] But I pointed out a few weeks ago that Moses deleted some details in the message that he was to deliver to Pharaoh. And I want to go back and just clarify exactly what Moses was instructed to do.

[6:13] And for this, we need to look back at chapter 3. And so go back to Exodus chapter 3 and look at verse 18. And this is back there by the burning bush when the Lord speaks to Moses.

[6:36] In verse 18, They shall hearken to thy voice, and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt. Did you notice that he says, thou and the elders of Israel?

[6:49] They're supposed to go? That didn't happen. And ye shall say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us. He said that. And now let us go. We beseech thee three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

[7:04] So he did deliver the portion of the message there. But the thing about the elders, we don't see that anywhere in Exodus chapter 5. Now that's not all. Look at chapter 4. In chapter 4, Moses is still in Midian, and God is sending him back to Egypt.

[7:22] In verse number 21, And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand.

[7:36] But I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn.

[7:47] And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me. If thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

[8:01] So there's three things. Tell him to let my people go three days into the wilderness to sacrifice. Do these signs, the signs that we studied in chapter 4, with his rod turning into a serpent, and the hand into his coat with the leprosy.

[8:20] Do those signs. And inform him, that if he fails to let my son go, then I'm going to do something to your son.

[8:33] I'm going to slay your firstborn son. There's the three parts of Moses' duty. And I might tack on this thought about the elders of Israel were supposed to be assembled with him as well.

[8:45] So, Moses was faithful to give the first part. In chapter 5, verse 1, in the end of the verse, he said, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

[9:01] Pharaoh responds. He doesn't bite. He says, I don't know who that is. I don't know what you're talking about. Not interested? No. Not going to do it. So now Moses has an opportunity to follow through with the rest of the details of his mission.

[9:19] Would he do it? Let's see. Verse 3, When Pharaoh responds, I don't know the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. They respond to Pharaoh. In verse 3, They said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us.

[9:33] Let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Notice this. Lest he, lest he what, Moses? Lest he slay thy firstborn son.

[9:47] No. That's not what he said. What did he say? Lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword. Now, Moses failed to do the signs, to offer those signs as proof that this was of the Lord.

[10:07] He failed to do that in this meeting. He does it the next time he meets with him in chapter 7. But he doesn't do it in this initial meeting. This thing about the firstborn that he was supposed to tell Pharaoh, he didn't say that either.

[10:21] He says that at his last appearance before Pharaoh in chapter 11. But in the initial meeting with Pharaoh, Moses eliminated an awful lot of stuff that he was supposed to say.

[10:33] And so Pharaoh rejects Moses' request and instead says, I'm not interested, get to work. Now, what's interesting is that Moses, instead of telling him that God would fall upon his son with the pestilence or with the sword, he says, he'll fall upon us.

[10:55] Israel is my firstborn. Moses had it totally mixed up. God threatened Pharaoh's son, not his son. Now, you may remember back in chapter 4 in verse 9 where God did tell Moses if they don't believe, look at chapter 4 verse 9, after those first two signs, that was supposed to be enough.

[11:19] They were supposed to believe by word and if they don't believe the word, then they'll believe the sign of the rod turning to the snake, the serpent, and then, if not, you put your hand in the leprosy and then the healing of the leprosy, they'll believe that.

[11:32] And verse 9 says, it shall come to pass if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice that thou shalt take of the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land. The water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.

[11:46] And I pointed out to you that that wasn't a third sign to get them to believe. If they don't believe the first one, my word, and then the first sign and the second sign, then do this.

[11:58] He never says this is a sign for them to believe. But he says, you take water and you pour it on blood. I showed you last time all over the Bible when there's water or water being turned to blood, it's death.

[12:10] It's in the tribulation. It's in Egypt. There's always, it's a picture of death. And I believe the Lord's saying to Moses, if they don't believe you, if they don't listen to the signs that you're showing them, then this is a threat.

[12:24] They'll see that blood on the ground. They'll get the message quite quickly. Now that never happened, this Moses doing this sign or this rather this threat to them.

[12:34] And so maybe, I'm just saying maybe, Moses is saying, Pharaoh, you need to let us go or God's gonna fall upon us with the sword. But God never said he was gonna kill his people if Pharaoh didn't let him go.

[12:48] The Lord was threatening them if they did not believe him, if they did not believe his messenger and obey his word. So, Moses' statement is completely out of line here no matter which way you look at it.

[13:00] You could try to spin it a little bit but it still falls apart. He is not being faithful to deliver the message that God told him to deliver. So, Moses and Aaron are actually standing in front of Pharaoh and instead of reporting what God told them faithfully, they're twisting and even, I'd say, deceiving and fabricating and lying.

[13:25] So, how's this gonna work out? How's this gonna work out for the people of God? How's it gonna happen? What's gonna happen when a God called man with a message plainly given to him from God to deliver to a person and he doesn't deliver it right?

[13:44] How's it gonna work out when he decides to downgrade it a little bit and just kinda brush off those negative tones and hide those and just say, hey, just let us go or we're gonna be hurt.

[13:58] You'll lose your workforce if you don't let us go because our God's gonna punish us. What happens when the word of God is misrepresented?

[14:09] When the word of God is not delivered accurately, not delivered faithfully, or not delivered in its entirety, or when it's altered? Stay right here and find another place I'd like to read a passage, Jeremiah chapter 23.

[14:27] Please find Jeremiah 23 and then we'll come right back to Exodus. The question is what happens when a God called man or a believer or a Christian in that matter of anybody does not deliver the word of God accurately or faithfully when they soften it up.

[14:55] Jeremiah 23 I'd love to read the whole chapter but we already did that so I'll just read your verses 28 and 9. Jeremiah 23 28 The prophet that hath a dream let him tell a dream.

[15:11] And he that hath my word let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat saith the Lord?

[15:24] The answer is it's nothing. Look at verse 29 Is not my word like as a fire saith the Lord and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? What's God saying?

[15:35] He's saying my word will accomplish the work that I sent it to. it will get the job done. My word is sufficient. So if you have my word then it's your duty to report it or to deliver it or speak it faithfully.

[15:55] God does not need man to change his word. God doesn't need man to soften it up a little bit because it may not come across you got to understand this is the king of Egypt and we're his servants.

[16:10] God wants his man to speak his word faithfully. Did Moses and Aaron speak it faithfully? They did not. They are to be found fault with in this chapter and there's some things that come out of this I want to point out.

[16:26] Come back to Exodus 5. There's some things happen when man waters down God's word or when he reduces it to just easy listening or just emphasizes those positive palatable portions of the scripture rather than the whole counsel of God.

[16:43] You realize you should realize God is higher than man. God's word is right no matter how it's received or believed or perceived. It doesn't matter. God's word is truth.

[16:55] He knows what he's talking about. He knows how he meant to say it and so what the Lord says it's your duty to just say sir yes sir and say amen.

[17:07] that's your job. It's not your job to do well let me just try to find a better way to say this so that it can it'll be received wrong.

[17:18] Some dangerous things happen when you are not faithful to deliver the word of God or to believe the word of God. Let's look at a few in Pharaoh's response.

[17:29] Look at verse 2. 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.

[17:41] You know what's a problem Pharaoh has here? Is he underestimates the wrath of God. He does not know who he's dealing with here. He underestimates the wrath of God.

[17:54] Why? Because he did not get the word of God preached and spoken to him faithfully. When all of this is done, we're going to get through it eventually, Lord willing. When all of this exodus is accomplished, Pharaoh loses his firstborn son.

[18:11] On top of that, Pharaoh loses his entire workforce that's laboring for him and building these treasure cities and doing all of his bidding. On top of that, Pharaoh loses his standing army.

[18:25] And on top of that, Pharaoh loses his own life also. Pharaoh's underestimating who he's dealing with. A message came to him from Almighty God and he disregarded it, but there's a reason why.

[18:40] It's because he didn't fear the Lord. Why didn't he fear the Lord? Well, somebody should have given him a reason why he ought to fear the Lord.

[18:52] But he didn't give him that reason at all. God said, you tell him, I'll slay your firstborn son if you don't let my son go. Pharaoh didn't hear that.

[19:03] So Pharaoh just thought, what are you talking about? What happens when you don't deliver the word of God faithfully and accurately? You underestimate the wrath of God.

[19:14] Pharaoh feels like he's safe because he doesn't perceive the Lord as the powerful creator that he is and that God is against him. He ought to be intimidated.

[19:25] He ought to be reverent and he ought to be fearful but instead he says, I don't know him and I'm not going to obey him. I'm not afraid of him either and because he didn't even know why he should.

[19:38] Now you think about it. How is it that you came to know the Lord? How is it that you as a child of God saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, how did you come to know the Lord?

[19:51] Pharaoh said, I don't know the Lord and there was a time when you didn't either. So what changed your mind? Why did you humble yourself and seek mercy? I can speak for myself.

[20:03] I was a young boy but I remember this vividly. I was afraid that if I died I was going to go to hell. What gave me that idea?

[20:15] My cruel parents brainwashing me? Trying to get me to be subdued and be a good little? No. Because somebody, many people as a matter of fact, taught the word of God faithfully to a young child.

[20:30] One that could over and over hear it and hear it and slowly it receives and sinks into his heart and his eyes are opened and realized, I know I'm a sinner. I'm a little boy but I've sinned, I've lied, I've sinned, I've done my sisters wrong, I've done wrong.

[20:46] I know that. But now I'm afraid that I'm going to be accountable to God for that sin. Thank the Lord for some parents and some Sunday school teachers that were faithful with the word of God.

[21:01] What about you? How is it that you came to seek the Lord and to know him? Was it because somebody told you that God loves you so much that he wants to make your life wonderful? Was it because you had financial problems and somebody got on TV and said if you'll just sow your seed of faith, God will prosper you?

[21:20] Is that how you came to Jesus Christ? Were you sick and you just wanted to be healed so you asked the Lord to heal you? Is that your testimony? People hear that, people do that all the time, that's the message they get is prosperity and healing and if you're hungry you can get fed and people aren't seeking peace for their soul.

[21:44] But when a sinner hears that his soul is in danger of the fire of hell and the wrath of God, they'll quickly realize that much money and great health, prosperity and power, none of that can ransom their soul.

[22:01] And then if they humble themselves they find out that Jesus Christ is the only remedy, the gospel of Christ's death, burial and resurrection for their sins is something that can escape them from hell.

[22:13] they can put their faith in Jesus Christ but if they don't ever hear the true message from the Bible about God's angry with the wicked every day that he'll judge a man or woman for their sin, that hell is hot, you know this right, Jesus Christ preached on hell, you know that he preached on hell more than heaven, why?

[22:40] Why? Because he didn't come to call the righteous but he came to call sinners to repentance so he preached on hell because they need to fear God and if somebody doesn't hear the truth of the word of God they're going to underestimate the wrath of God.

[22:56] When Pharaoh asked who is the Lord, Moses and Aaron had a great opportunity to tell them who the Lord is. Look at Exodus chapter 34, the Lord tells us in the first person who he is and this is something Moses could have told him.

[23:20] Exodus 34 and verse 5 and the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord and the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed the Lord.

[23:43] Who is the Lord? The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

[24:00] Oh, don't forget this part. And that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation.

[24:12] And when Moses heard that, down he went. And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped. He found out God's a God of love, mercy and truth.

[24:23] And he's also a God of wrath and punishment. When he got a balanced view of God, whoo, down he went to his face. He didn't stand there and just bask in the big smiley face in front of him.

[24:36] He feared him. He worshipped him. Moses should have given Pharaoh that balanced view of God. Instead, he said, oh, he's going to harm us.

[24:47] He's going to fall on us with pestilence and with the sword. And because of Moses' lack of truth, he lacked, he failed to deliver that message faithfully, Pharaoh underestimated the wrath of God.

[25:05] You have a duty to preach the truth. I have a duty to proclaim the whole counsel of God, like it or not, receive it or not, reject it, receive it, that's on you.

[25:19] Moses had a duty and he failed. And some things happened because of that. And let's take a look at that. Look down at verse number nine.

[25:33] The first thing I'll point out is that you underestimate the wrath of God if his messenger doesn't deliver the word faithfully. The next thing is you undergo more problems. You set yourself up for more problems when you don't get the word of God right.

[25:48] Look at verse nine. This is Pharaoh telling him, he says, let there more work be laid upon the men. When the word of God is not delivered faithfully, the result is more work.

[26:03] It's supposed to be deliverance for the people of God here. That's the message they got. But because Moses didn't do his job, there's no deliverance to be realized.

[26:13] Instead, more work. More work. That was the message to the people. More work. The preacher wasn't faithful to his message and it brought about more problems.

[26:29] If you don't get the gospel message right, you know what you're in for? You're in for more work. To please God, you're in for more work.

[26:41] I'll give you a couple examples. If a sinner in this world seeks peace for their soul and knows their sin is piling up and realizes, I need to get this taken care of, I need to go to church.

[26:55] And they walk into the doors of a Roman Catholic church anywhere around here, seeking peace and forgiveness for their soul. What do they come away with? More work.

[27:08] They're told, you better tighten up, you better fess up, you better show up, you better pay up, you better pray up, you better get busy working if you want to enter into the grace of God.

[27:23] You think I'm picking on one? If that same sinner wants to seek peace for their soul and forgiveness for their sin and they walk into the Mormon temple, what are they going to hear?

[27:34] More work. So much work that they cannot possibly fulfill all of the work that's placed on them. They're going to be just like those taskmasters in verse 13.

[27:45] Fulfill your works, your daily tasks. Work, work, work. They were already working and that wasn't getting them out of Egypt.

[27:57] And now the message of deliverance shows up, but because that man didn't preach the word faithfully, the thing turned out to be more problems for them in the form of more work.

[28:08] But when that sinner gets the gospel right, there's no need for works. When the message is proclaimed right, the work has been done, sinner.

[28:19] Your faith replaces your works when the message is presented faithfully. And that sinner can finally experience rest and peace. But if you don't get the gospel right, it's more work.

[28:31] If you don't get eternal security right, you know what you're in for? More work. More work. I've got to stay saved. But I sinned. Did I lose it? Was I truly saved?

[28:42] I've got to do it. I've got to get it back. Work, work, work, work, work. Fulfill your tasks. You want to make sure that the king of Egypt is pleased with you. So in order to stay saved, you've got to work.

[28:56] If you don't get that message right, I want to read you something. You don't need to go, but I'm going to turn to John chapter 4, and I'm going to read just a little snip here. Remember this woman that Jesus Christ met at the well in Samaria?

[29:10] And he met this woman, and he offered her living water. And she didn't know how to take him at first, but they got into a conversation. And Jesus said to her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall never thirst again.

[29:25] And then he says this, But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him of the... I just said that. Shall never... Read him in the well of water spring up under every last light. Here's what I want to get.

[29:35] The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. What's she saying?

[29:47] I don't have to ever come back to get this water that you can give me. Why? Because when you have it, it is inside of you a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

[30:02] If you get eternal security right, if you get that taught faithfully, you won't have to work. You can rest.

[30:13] You can never have to go back to get saved again. You don't need it. It never leaves you. It's eternal. You get more problems, though, if you don't get the word of God right.

[30:25] And there's more. Not just the work, but you invite more frustration and more sorrow into your life. Look at verse 14 back in Exodus 5.

[30:37] In verse 14, the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten. Why were they beaten? Because they weren't fulfilling the more work.

[30:52] This isn't fair. They go back and say, the faults in thine own people. Why are you beating us? We haven't done anything wrong. Your expectations are beyond what we could possibly fulfill.

[31:07] And now they're frustrated. And look at verse 20, when they met Moses and Aaron in the way. Verse 21, 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 and the eyes of his servants to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

[31:27] What do you see there? Frustration? Anguish? Sorrow? Look at chapter 6 and verse 9. Moses goes back and tries to reason with them.

[31:39] Chapter 6, verse 9, Moses spake unto the children of Israel, but they hearken not unto Moses for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage.

[31:50] For them things went from bad to worse. Why? Because that man did not deliver the word faithfully.

[32:03] You think about this. What amount of suffering did God intend to bring upon his people in the exodus? What amount of sorrow was God looking to add to his people when he sent Moses and Aaron to deliver them?

[32:21] There is none mentioned from the voice of the Lord. He never said to them, Go to Pharaoh, it's going to get rough, but after that it'll get better. He never said that. When you read those plagues, what did God do?

[32:34] He put a separation between Egypt and the Hebrews. He didn't harm his people. Those plagues were for Egypt, for Pharaoh, for those people, not at all for his people.

[32:46] God never intended to bring about more work and more beatings and more anguish of spirit upon his people. Why are they experiencing it? Because Moses brought that on because he didn't deliver the word of God faithfully.

[33:00] He's to be blamed. They're right. They're absolutely right. But now it's worse. They felt like in their hearts we're finally getting out of here one step forward, only to find out two steps backward.

[33:17] And things have gotten worse. When you don't speak the word faithfully, you undergo more problems. While you're hoping things get better and you're expecting things to get better, instead, they can get worse.

[33:35] Frustrations can mount. But the message was about deliverance. The message he was supposed to be preaching for them was a rest from their labor. And when the word of God is preached right, that's what they will experience.

[33:48] Let me point out one more thing. Come back to chapter 5, all the way to the end, to what Moses does. Exodus 5 and verse 22, Moses returned unto the Lord and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people?

[34:11] Really? Is it God's doing? I'm going to make this case in a moment. You'll see this clearly if you listen. Why is it that thou hast sent me?

[34:23] 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. What's Moses doing here?

[34:37] I mean, he's confused, but he's even blaming or accusing God. Why did you send me? You didn't deliver him. And instead, it got worse for this people.

[34:48] Why have you done this? Why have you evil entreated this people? He is pointing the finger at God for these problems and that they're mad at him and they're upset and it's all going bad.

[35:03] And so thirdly, when you don't preach the word of God faithfully and deliver the whole counsel of God, when you try to soften it up and twist it and just make it more palatable, you become a result as you become uncertain about the word of God.

[35:21] You'll doubt, you'll question the word of God, whether it's even true at all, when you don't allow it to say what it says. The people feel like they're facing a sword instead of salvation.

[35:36] Moses is confused and accusing God, saying you didn't follow through on what you promised. Now, remember. Remember something. In this first meeting with Pharaoh, there is no mention of God hardening his heart.

[35:51] You're going to see that going forward often with the plagues. But God hardened his heart. God didn't harden Pharaoh's heart here in chapter 5 with this first meeting.

[36:03] Why? Because Moses didn't do his job. Moses just said, let us go. God's going to harm us. No threat.

[36:14] No signs for him to see and realize, I'm dealing with supernatural powers here. Never saw it. Never thought of it. Never heard the warning about slaying his firstborn son.

[36:27] Moses didn't deliver the entirety of the message. That's established. I believe that what we're looking at here, these hardships, this entire situation was brought on by Moses, the unfaithful messenger.

[36:43] He failed to do the signs. He failed to preach the message that God gave him. And now the people of God are struggling to even believe God. Why?

[36:54] The Lord look on you and judge Moses. You're not here to deliver us. You just made things worse for us. Thanks a lot. They're not believing God anymore. They're not bowing and worshiping like they were in chapter 4.

[37:08] Now they're full of cruel bondage and anguish of spirit. Doubting, uncertain whether any of this is even true. What they had believed in.

[37:21] In chapter 7, Moses goes in. He does the signs. God hardens Pharaoh's heart. And off they go into plague number 1.

[37:34] That should have been chapter 5. They should have went in and did the signs and told him the truth of the message and God would have hardened Pharaoh's heart and off they would have went into plague number 1.

[37:49] But because of Moses' lapse, because Moses and Aaron came up with a little softer version of the story, the people of God had to undergo some problems and then they even doubt the certainty of the word of God.

[38:04] Now come to chapter 6. Look at the very end of chapter 6. God's going to send Moses back into Pharaoh and look at this new commission, this new, his reinstatement of his command.

[38:15] Verse 29, that the Lord spake unto Moses saying, I am the Lord. Speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt A-L-L all that I say unto thee.

[38:30] Look at chapter 7 in verse 2. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee. Next time, Moses, no omissions.

[38:42] You just obey and you speak my word faithfully. When a messenger of God delivers the whole counsel of God, when the word of God is spoken, the truth is spoken in love, when a man holds fast the form of sound words and holds forth the word of life, when he reproves and rebukes and exhorts with all long-suffering and doctrine, a lot of problems can be cleared up.

[39:15] A lot of frustrations can be cleared up. Even some sorrows can be cleared up when you get the word of God right. Christian, be aware of this.

[39:26] Learn from Moses' mistake here. This, it is not up to you to pick and choose the passages, the portions that you're okay with. That is not your duty.

[39:39] Never do you have the right to sit in judgment of the scriptures. These are holy scriptures. Your job is to bow, submit, obey, to read, to study, to learn, to live, to love.

[39:59] Thy word is very pure. Therefore, thy servant loveth it. It is not your job to pick and choose what you like. This book is a dangerous thing to mess with.

[40:13] It's an extremely dangerous thing to mess with. There are souls in hell today because men have messed with the words of God.

[40:23] There are souls by the countless millions and billions headed for hell all the while the holy scriptures exist and they could copy them and they could read them and they could know them and they even have them but they haven't gotten it faithfully.

[40:42] They were told that they need to do this, be good, love your enemies and they've been given a certain portion of the scriptures and they placed their faith in that and attempted to follow that instead of heard the whole counsel of God.

[41:00] This book will leave you confused. It'll leave you doubting whether it's even true at all when you start messing with it. You'll expect something to happen and it won't ever happen but it's right there.

[41:14] There's a friend of mine, he's a real close friend of mine that I still stay in touch with back in Pennsylvania and he grew up in a church, he was attending a church where he was not getting the word of God faithfully.

[41:26] He did not know doctrine, he was getting just milky soft messages all the time and this man was attempting the best of his ability to believe it, to follow it, to obey it and he was so frustrated.

[41:44] He would write down verses of scripture, he would keep them with him, he would memorize them, he would pray them before the Lord and expect God to fulfill his word and nothing happened and he didn't know what was wrong.

[42:00] Is it me? Is it because I don't have enough faith to believe what that Bible verse said? And he was so frustrated until the Lord God heard his prayer and didn't answer the prayer but rather guided him to a man that would preach the word of God faithfully.

[42:20] He then heard the gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time in his life somebody told him you're going to go to hell if you don't trust Jesus Christ as your savior. And that was news to him.

[42:31] He had been hearing the whole time how good I need to be and how kind I need to be. When he heard that gospel escape from hell he took it the first time he took it.

[42:46] And then he said I'm not going back to that church I'm staying where they give me the truth. And he began to grow and he began to rightly divide the word of truth and within about six months his eyes were opened to why his prayers weren't getting answered.

[43:05] Because he was praying some prayers that were promises to somebody else that had nothing to do with him and he had no clue. But he finally in his life got the word of God right.

[43:17] And it relieved him of all of that frustration. And it relieved him of all of that sorrow that he was experiencing. And now he could trust the word of God. Because before he was starting to doubt it.

[43:30] Is this stuff even real? Is it even true? And now that man loves his Bible. He no longer doubts that book.

[43:41] Every time I'm talking to him we're talking about the Bible. Every time. He'll text me at four in the morning with a question from something in Ezekiel. It's awesome.

[43:51] I wonder if you're sitting here this morning confused about the word of God or find yourself expecting things that just never happen.

[44:05] They don't ever come to pass like somebody told you they would. It just never works out. I wonder are you sure you're listening to the right messenger? Are you sure that messenger is delivering the word of God faithfully?

[44:17] And Christian let's learn from Moses. Let's learn we don't pick and choose what we like what we think they want to hear.

[44:32] We don't find a clever way to get it in and hope it works out. Let's just stick to the book. Let's just preach it and present it the way God gave it to us. The same thing that worked for you can work for them.

[44:46] So let's focus on that. Let's be faithful to the message God gave us. It's never been popular to be a Bible believing Christian. It's not going to be popular in 10 years or 50 years.

[45:00] It's never been popular to tell sinners they're on their way to hell and it's not going to be popular in the future. But should they have the right to hear? Shouldn't they fear the wrath of God?

[45:13] Didn't somebody tell you? So let's be faithful. Moses was the unfaithful messenger. We want to learn. These things were written for our admonition.

[45:27] We want to learn not to be that guy. Just because the world wants a positive message and they say to the prophets prophesy unto us smooth things just because they call for that doesn't mean that's what they need.

[45:41] before they get the love and the forgiveness and the heaven they need to know about the sin and the judgment and hell. And so I'll close with this.

[45:53] Getting the word of God right is a big big big deal. It's as big as it gets. You get it wrong you may end up in hell.

[46:04] If you're not faithful to tell the truth your neighbor your mother may end up in hell. It's time to be honest. It's time to be faithful.

[46:16] Stop pretending. Don't let him go to hell and say oh I wish I would have told him the truth. I just didn't want to offend him. I don't want to offend him either. But what are the options?

[46:30] Soak it in prayer and preach the word of God faithfully. There's a lot of Christians today that don't want to acknowledge some parts of this Bible.

[46:45] It's our job to take it serious and to be faithful. Let's pray. Father help us to learn from Moses. I pray you'll put it in our hearts to not be intimidated by whoever the message is for.

[47:00] Give us boldness. May we be faithful. Faithful to you and faithful to your word. You've given us the message to proclaim. You've called us to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ.

[47:14] Help us to man up to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. May each person here be able to put their name in that verse.

[47:27] Him that hath my word let him speak it faithfully. Oh God burden us and encourage us and strengthen us to proclaim the truth without fear.

[47:43] Help us to speak the truth in love. Help us to have compassion like Christ had compassion on the multitudes. But help us to have backbone to take a stand for your word and to be faithful to you.

[48:00] With your heads bowed would you consider for a moment are you like Moses? Are you finding yourself a little more like Moses than you ought to be? A little more cowardly than you ought to be?

[48:12] I know you don't want to admit it. I know you don't want to think of yourself as a coward. You want to think of yourself as a big tough strong Christian. You're not afraid to tell anybody but is it true?

[48:26] Is it really true? Down in your heart where God can look and God can search there's a coward fearful fearful intimidated and doesn't tell the truth.

[48:47] The Lord has the remedy for that. He's got a spirit that He placed inside of you and that spirit has a voice and He's strong.

[49:03] If you'll give yourself to the Lord the Bible says being strengthened by His being strengthened with might by His spirit in the inner man.

[49:15] You can go out here in a few minutes with us and put a door hanger on somebody's door or say to somebody out hey how you doing and try to get the gospel to them.

[49:28] You could reach out with a gospel track something that will tell them the truth or you could be a coward and you could walk by and ignore it.

[49:43] in the end you're going to give account of yourself so I recommend you take take inventory today measure yourself against the word of God ask God to search your heart and if something needs to be worked on let's work on it let's get it right.

[50:11] Lord please speak to your people please move in our hearts please encourage those that need encouraged and strengthen those that are intimidated please cast out the fear that's in our heart replace it with faith and action and obedience and may Jesus Christ be pleased may he be glorified may souls be saved we just want you to be pleased Father we pray this in Christ's name Amen Amen let's sing that song number 393 393 would you join me in standing as we sing if you need to use the altar now's the time if not sing along 393 take my life and let it be consecrated

[51:16] Lord to thee take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love at the impulse of thy love take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee take my voice and let me sing always only for my king always only for my king take my lips and let them be filled with messages for thee take my silver and my gold not a might would I withhold not a might would I withhold take my love my God my God

[52:27] I pour at thy feet its treasure store take myself and I will be ever only all for thee ever only all for thee all right if you feel a little stirred inside don't let that fall away when you walk out the door so soak that in prayer and ask God to keep that alive in you so you can do something with it as we go let's be dismissed together in prayer could I ask brother rich in the back would you close us please in prayer okay in prayer other do I would hear in prayer and I canację and I see to all can m I in m m an

[53:31] Push to your to the Thank you.