[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Alright, thank you Bob. If you wouldn't open it to the book of Exodus chapter 10. We go to Exodus chapter 10 and we're going to read one verse there before we go back through these scriptures.
[0:16] Let me back you up and remind you what's going on. Joseph came down, if you recall, he was sent down to Egypt by his brothers. He was sold as a slave and he got down to Egypt.
[0:28] And everybody thought they were hurting Joseph, but God was using that plan to get Joseph to Egypt so we could see the nation of Israel saved so that they would not perish from off the land because of the famine that was coming.
[0:42] And so God had a great plan that he was working all that time. They spent 400 years as slaves, 400 years waiting on someone to take them out, waiting on Moses to come along.
[0:53] Of course, they didn't know who Moses was. They were waiting. And then at the beginning of the story, if you recall, there's this woman, who tries to save her baby's life by putting him in a basket, putting him in the river. And Pharaoh's daughter takes the kid, raises Moses.
[1:07] Moses is raised in the house. Moses at 40 decides that he will go out and try to be with his people. He decides he's going to serve God. As he steps out to do that, he kills a man.
[1:18] He runs for his life. Lives 40 years out in the wilderness. Lives 40 years out taking care of sheep, which is as low a job as you can get for an Egyptian. And he's now 80 years old.
[1:28] His brother Aaron is 83 years old. And they've come back to Egypt. And they have said God wants his people to leave. He wants his people to go free. He wants his people to leave for three days to worship him.
[1:42] And Pharaoh's been putting conditions on that and saying, I don't know who your God is. I don't respect your God. I don't believe in your God. And so the God of heaven is saying, well, you will believe in me before it's over.
[1:53] And you will know that I am God. And you will know how powerful I am. And so constantly the story is, go in and ask Pharaoh if you can leave. Pharaoh says, no, you can't. He says, if you don't let us leave, there's going to come this plague.
[2:05] Plague comes. Pharaoh calls. He says, look, I tell you what, I'll give you a chance. Y'all can leave. If you just get the plague to stop, plague stops. Pharaoh changes his mind. Moses comes back out.
[2:16] God said, go back in here and tell him, I won't let y'all let my people go. And he goes back in. Plague stops. Pharaoh changes his mind. Goes back in. It's over and over. And every time they're moving a step closer.
[2:28] And so in chapter 10 and verse 26, Moses looks at Pharaoh and says, we are leaving. And we're taking everything with us. Look at verse 26. Our cattle also shall go with us.
[2:40] There shall not a hoof. We're not leaving one hoof behind. For thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God. And we know. And we know. Sorry about that.
[2:51] I'm getting a phone call from Peru. I don't know. Where does that work? And we know not what we must serve the Lord until we come thither. Now let's have a word of prayer.
[3:02] Let me get me back on track. I'm going to kill her. That was my daughter. Does she not know I go to church? Let's have a word of prayer. Father, I love you. And I thank you for the chance to serve you. And I pray that you'll work in the service.
[3:14] Help me to think clearly. I pray that you would allow this message to bless your people and challenge us. And we'll give you praise in Jesus' precious name. Amen. There are lots of plagues coming on Egypt in this passage of Scripture in chapters 9 and 10.
[3:29] Their cattle are going to get killed. While none of the cattle that belong to Israel will die. Boils will come from the poorest to the richest and the most powerful. Pestilence comes on them.
[3:39] Hell and fire will destroy everything. Locusts come and kill and eat what the fire and the hell has not destroyed. Then a thick darkness comes on them where they can't see their hand in front of their face.
[3:51] They literally don't get out of their house and their beds for three days. All of this so that we will all know that God is the one and only true God.
[4:03] Pharaoh and Egypt will know it. Israel will know it. The world will know it. The children will hear the stories of the great God of Israel. God wants everyone in the world to know that he is the one and only true God.
[4:16] People that weren't Jewish actually began to fear the word of God. Fear the word of the Lord and to believe when they hear what's going to happen. Others lied about being sorry and wanted to get God to forgive them.
[4:29] Some wanted to please God but only to protect their financial investments. So I want to take you through like seven things tonight that happen in these two chapters that I think apply directly to our lives.
[4:40] Number one. Go with me to Exodus chapter 9 and verse 1. God wants his people to serve him no matter what the world thinks. That's the big lesson. God wants his people to serve him no matter what the world thinks.
[4:54] The Bible says in Exodus chapter 9 and verse 1. The Lord said unto Moses, go in unto Pharaoh and tell him, thus said the Lord God of the Hebrews, let my people go that they may serve me.
[5:07] Now here's lesson number one. I just hope you'll take this to heart. Lord, I know, I know that people feel like we're foolish. We come to church. We study the Bible.
[5:18] We give our money. We give our time. And lost people drive by and think, what a bunch of losers. What about a bunch of waste of time. They always are going to mock us.
[5:28] They always have. And that's exactly what goes on in the story. But if there's one lesson that's being screamed in the book of Exodus, in this part of the passage, it is that God says, I want you to serve me. And I don't care what it costs.
[5:39] I don't care what people say about you. I don't care what people think about you. I don't care if it means you've got to make more bricks and you don't get straw. I want you to worship me.
[5:50] Our God believes that he is God. Say amen. Our God believes that he is God. Our God wants to be worshipped and he expects.
[6:01] The big problem in all this story has been that God wants his people to worship him. And the world is doing all in its power to stop them from worshipping. The world is willing to compromise but not surrender.
[6:13] If you read the passage, we're not going verse by verse, going really slow. But if you go through the passage, you'll find that Pharaoh starts making deals with them. He'll say stuff like this. Why don't you all just let the men go and leave your wives and your children and all your stuff at home?
[6:28] And then they go back in and they say, no, everybody's got to go. And he says, all right, why don't you men and the women go but don't let any children go? And then they come back in and he says, well, everybody can go but just leave all your stuff here.
[6:41] But any way the world can, they will get you to compromise in worship. Do less for God and more for the world. They're trying to get you to not surrender to God and obey him.
[6:53] Pharaoh has offered to let them go. If only the men go, the children go. He's offered to let them go. Just don't go very far. That's another thing he said. Leave your stuff at home. But he truly wants them to go.
[7:04] He never truly wants them to go when he always finds one way or another to say, don't go. Now, I am probably a unique individual.
[7:16] I think everybody knows that. That's a nice way of saying I'm a weird guy. I grew up in church. I've been in church all my life. I never missed church in my life.
[7:27] And Betty and I got married. I knew I was going to be a preacher. I've known it since I was a little kid. I have wanted to preach. So many other things are happening in the world. All the other kids were doing stuff. I wouldn't do it because, boy, God had this plan for my life and I knew it.
[7:41] And Betty and I got married and I worked in our first church. And, boy, God blessed. And it was great. And then I went to the second church and God blessed. And it was great. And then I moved to Atlanta. And I just want to tell you that the world slowly drags you out of worship.
[7:55] And this is my testimony of my confession of sin. We joined Forest Hills Baptist Church. At that time, it was the largest independent Baptist church in the state of Georgia. It was a great church.
[8:06] They ran thousands of people on Sunday morning. The preacher could preach the house down. He wasn't some guy like me that wouldn't even be worthy of a Sunday school class there. I'm telling you, he was known all over the country.
[8:17] He preached all the time. He was great. So I had to get a job. I'd never had a job in my life except preaching. That's all I've ever done. I'm not qualified to do anything.
[8:28] And so I had to get a job. I drove a Legs pantyhose truck for a while. In fact, that's when Legs had just come out. And on all the commercials, real pretty girls with long legs and a lot of stockings would show up.
[8:41] And when I would pull up in front of the store and I'd be rolling in the Legs pantyhose, all the guys would start hooting and hollering and say, What did you do with the girl? Because that was me. Then I got a job at a grocery store. And I was in management at this grocery store.
[8:54] And the guy told me, he said, you can't have a job unless you'll work all week long. You've got to work. And I said, well, I've got to be off and go to church on Wednesday night. He said, nope, you can't have a job if you're not going to work Wednesday night. So I told Betty, I said, look, I've been a preacher all my life.
[9:07] And I know you all not miss Wednesday night. But so I'm going to have enough money to do it. So I started missing on Wednesday nights. And then it wasn't long until he told me, he said, Austin, he said, I really need you to work on Sundays. And I said, man, I can't work on Sundays.
[9:18] That's just ridiculous. I can't work on Sundays. But he said, I'll pay you double time. And it wasn't long until it was getting really hard. And I sent Betty to church quite a few times. And I didn't go.
[9:31] The world will do everything in its power to say money is more important than going to church. Work is more important than going to church. Education is more important than going to church. Anything you can do to get, I don't want you to worship.
[9:43] Let me find some way to get you out of worship. That's one of the big stories in the life story of Pharaoh in Egypt right now. If you see that, say amen. It's happened in my life. I have fallen for the trap.
[9:55] And I can remember talking to Betty and her later on expressing her disappointment. She never expected that Austin, the preacher, would pull such a thing. But the world will do anything it can to keep you from worshiping and serving the great God of heaven.
[10:11] That's lesson number one. Number two. Lesson number two. Go with me, if you would, to chapter 9 and verse 4. God has been showing Pharaoh in Egypt that these aren't just coincidences and natural phenomena.
[10:25] You have to understand that there's these great plagues happening all over Egypt. And we'll read chapter 9 and verse 4 in just a second. Can you not imagine what CNN and Fox News have to say when the news comes on at night?
[10:37] The weirdest things are happening right now. This polar vortex has come down and it's like the worst thing that ever happened. And there's climate change going on and they're trying their best to figure out what's going on.
[10:49] Well, what's happening in Egypt? You've got plague after plague happening. And we know why it's happening because God's telling us the story. It's happening because God is doing something. I'm not saying that about the polar vortex.
[11:00] I'm just saying that about the story in the book of Egypt. God's doing something. And so look at what he says in chapter 9 and verse 4. And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt.
[11:12] And there shall nothing die of all that is the children of Israel's. Now, it could be a natural phenomena. It could be a natural phenomena if it happens to all of us.
[11:23] But here's what God did. He said, well, let all your cows die and all your cows die. Going to let all this stuff happen. But when he gets over here, the dying is going to die, die, die, die, die, die, die. Get sizzled.
[11:33] Nope, no dying. Y'all are okay. You're my people. Now, can you understand what's happening on the news at night? CNN comes in the report and they say, we don't understand what happened. There's some kind of difference over in the land of Goshen, over where the Hebrews are living.
[11:47] This plague is not happening over there. And what God was saying, this is not just a natural phenomena. I am God and I am in charge. I'm in charge of weather. I'm in charge of plagues.
[11:58] I'm in charge of stuff. You need to understand, I know what I'm doing. God wants Pharaoh to know that he is acting and that it's his judgment on Egypt. And Israel is not suffering from the same consequences or natural disasters.
[12:11] He causes the pain to get all the way to the palace. And now the magicians are suffering from the curses. Pharaoh's leaders are starting to realize that this is not some game that's being played.
[12:23] Look if you would at chapter 10 and verse 7 in the passage. Chapter 10 and verse 7. And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, the cabinet met and said, how long shall this man be a snare unto us?
[12:36] Let the men go that they may serve the Lord their God. Knowest thou not that Egypt is destroyed? You see, I don't know if you read the story.
[12:47] You've got to read the story. You've got to go along with the story. You've got to see it like a movie happening in your eyes. You've got to see all this happening. And what happens in the very beginning is Moses comes in and he and Aaron, and the first thing they do is Aaron throws his rod down and his rod turns into a snake.
[13:01] And over here on the other side, the demon-possessed magicians, they simply go, ha, ha, we can do that too. Boom. They throw theirs down and his eats theirs up and the magicians go, wow, that was one better than us.
[13:12] But no, no real, not really impressed that much. And then they stick their hand in, comes out leprous and everything. They're doing everything that Moses and Aaron can pull off. They've been pulling it off until God takes it far enough to say, I am God.
[13:27] And now, Pharaoh and his pride won't give in, but they're starting to catch on. God is at work. I'd like to ask you to consider with me for one moment a lesson that might apply to you.
[13:42] Old country people, 100 years ago, they might have thought God controlled the wind and the rain.
[13:55] They might have thought you could pray and see God do a work in the weather. But we're too modern for that. We have finally figured it out. God doesn't really have anything to do with hardly anything that's ever happening.
[14:07] It's just coincidence. It's just natural phenomena. And we no longer really believe there is a God in charge. I'm sorry. That's a horrible indictment on us.
[14:20] Pharaoh, you better catch on to something. I am God. And if I want to let the wind blow, I'll let the wind blow. And if I want to let the rain come, I'll let the rain come.
[14:30] And I am God. And could I tell you that I think one of the biggest things that we ought to confess is this. We have gotten so used to living life on automatic pilot, knowing that everything is going to work out, knowing what every turn to turn take, knowing that the scientific things that are happening, that we have forgotten.
[14:46] We serve a real, live God who hears and answers power and who is a prayer and is involved in our lives. If you think that's at least possible that I'm on target there, say a little real quiet amen.
[14:58] Is that possible? Haven't we gotten there? Haven't we gotten to the point? Haven't we gotten to the point where it's like, life's just life. We'll get up in the morning. The sun will come up in the morning just like it came up yesterday morning. Everything's going to be okay.
[15:10] And we never consider maybe God's got a plan and maybe God's doing a work. And I think that's what happens with Pharaoh. Go with me if you would to chapter 9 and verse 14. Third lesson I think we can learn. Chapter 9 and verse 14.
[15:22] God wants Pharaoh in Egypt to know that he is the one and only true God. And there is none like him. None like him. You remember, they worship and serve hundreds if not thousands of gods.
[15:40] Everything's a God. God's in everything. Everything's a God. Chapter 9 verse 14. For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart and upon thy servants and upon thy people.
[15:52] That you might know there's nobody like me on the whole earth. That's what he said. God is interested in all of us catching on to this.
[16:07] There is only one God. There's not a Muslim God and a Confucius God and a humanistic God and a whatever kind of God. There is only one God. And he says to Pharaoh, he says, I'm telling you, I'm sending these things on you.
[16:23] And I wish you'd underline that in your Bible. I wish you'd underline that in verse 14. He says that you will know there is none like me in all the earth.
[16:35] Blessing our food is not a joke. Asking God for guidance is not a joke. Asking for God to protect our family to lead us is not a temptation. It's not a joke. There is only one God and he is God.
[16:47] And he does hear prayer and he does answer prayer. And he is powerful and there is none other like him. The lost world needs to know that there's only one true God. The lost world needs to know there's only one true God.
[17:01] There are not a bunch of ways to get to heaven. There's not a bunch of gods at work. There's only one God. He said there's none like me. And all the earth. God may have to deal strongly with them to cause them to realize that he is God.
[17:14] He is the Lord. He is sovereign. He is king. He is powerful. The plagues and curses are not accidents. Natural disasters.
[17:25] Climate change. Or any other excuse that people could make up in that day. It was God. At work. The God of heaven was saying. I'm God.
[17:36] And I'm at work. And I want you to know. There is no other like me. Anywhere. The magicians. The politicians. The smart people of the day.
[17:47] Had no answer. And no solution. For what God was doing. There was no way. The greatest nation of the day. Could protect itself. God could bring the greatest from the top to the bottom.
[18:01] He will destroy Egypt in these few chapters. God wants them to know. I am God. In chapter 9 and verse 15. He says.
[18:11] I will stretch out my hand. That I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence. And you will be cut off. From the earth. Thou shalt be cut off. I want you.
[18:22] I just challenge you. Sometimes when. When we talk about hell. I think we don't. I think those. I think sometimes those words become words to us. Because we live in such comfort.
[18:34] Everything is great. I mean we have good medical care. We have. We live good. We eat good. I mean. I mean. I can remember the first time I brought some Peruvians back to the states.
[18:46] And you know the roads that we lived on in Peru were. I can't. You've never. You'd have to go four wheeling in the mountains to understand a city street. Back then. We were riding down the road.
[18:57] And we were running about 70 miles an hour. And as we were riding down the road. One of the guys looked up and saw a sign. He said. What's that sign? I said. It says there's a bump coming. And we were running 70 miles an hour. And we ran across this little.
[19:09] And kept on going. And he said. When's the bump coming? I said. We haven't been over the bump. He said. My soul. We wish we had bumps. We live in a way that makes us think.
[19:22] We're so comfortable. Egypt's at the top. And Egypt is so used to their comfort. We have become so accustomed to it. Is there really a hell?
[19:32] Is there really a heaven? Is it for real? Is God for real? Is this really the truth? And the only way Egypt will ever recognize that. Is for God to break them. And destroy them.
[19:44] And to bring them to their knees. And to cut them off. That ought not happen to us. You and I should know. That he is for real. And he is God. And he is all powerful.
[19:55] Go with me if you would to chapter 9 and verse 16. Chapter 9 and verse 16. God's at work in Egypt in the life of Pharaoh. Because he wants the whole world to know about him.
[20:07] Jehovah God. And how strong he is. Now listen to this. This is a world evangelism church. I mean we talk about missions all the time. We talk about sending mysteries out.
[20:18] There are 19 pictures back there. There need to be 21's missing. And another one's going up there. Going to be 21 missionaries sent out of this church pretty soon. But we are a missionary church. We talk about missions all the time. We talk about the world knowing about him.
[20:31] And some of you might think that is just kind of an unusual church. This church is different because it is so missions minded. And some of you might think that God never intended that in the Old Testament. He did not get around to thinking like that until the New Testament.
[20:44] But read the verse that we are about to read. In chapter 9 and verse 16. Our God said. I want the world to know me. Look at chapter 9 and verse 16 if you would. And in very deed.
[20:55] For this cause have I raised thee up. For to show in thee my power. That my name may be declared throughout all the earth. Pharaoh buddy.
[21:07] I'll just be honest with you. I brought you here. And I brought this crisis on us. And I brought us to this point. And I brought Egypt right here. In this position.
[21:19] And in your rebellion. And you're attacking me. And you're not believing me. And you have all your gods. And all your power. And all your magicians. And all your stuff. I'm bringing everything to bear. So the world will know.
[21:31] My name. Did you want to know that in your Bible? That my name. May be declared. Throughout all the earth. I think he has a right.
[21:42] To want it to be declared. Throughout all the earth. How many of you do say amen? Well he had a right. Because in the beginning. God created the heaven and the earth. We saw that when we came through the book of Genesis. He has a right.
[21:54] Because when man got into sin far enough. He sent a flood. In Genesis chapter 6. And the whole world started over. And now. And now. In the tower of Babylon. He came down and said. I am God.
[22:04] And I want y'all to know I'm God. I want y'all to get off track. And forget that I'm God. And now we're in Egypt. We're in the second book of the Bible. And he's saying. I want them to know. I want them to know. I'm God.
[22:15] I want them to know my name. We can never take for granted. That God wants the world to know who he is. And God wants the world to know his name. We can't realize.
[22:26] We cannot read this passage. Without realizing. The urgency. To get his name declared. To the entire earth. Stop.
[22:37] Back up with me. And sit down on the couch. And look. And imagine. All the calamity. And the tragedy. The animals that are dying. The fish that are stinking and dead.
[22:47] And the river. And the frogs stacked up. And the lice. And the pestilence. And the cows that are dying. And a city. And a country that's decimated. And people are dying everywhere.
[22:58] And God says. You know why I'm doing this. Because I want everybody to know I'm God. I want everybody to know there's one real God. Pharaoh you claim to be God. And y'all worship lots of gods. But I'm God. Great things are happening.
[23:10] That are literally shocking the world. So all will know. That he is God. All will know. That he is God. This isn't happening.
[23:23] In some small little country. In the backside of nowhere. These are the smartest people. On the planet at the time. This is the most advanced society at the time. This is great people.
[23:35] And God says. I brought you to a time like this. So everybody will know. Well I am a God. Of power. I'm not some man made God. I'm not some man made idea.
[23:48] You didn't write my story. I wrote your story. I'm not an idol you made up. I am God. I'm eternal. All powerful. Everlasting.
[23:59] Sovereign. God. But Pharaoh. Like so many of us today. Is unwilling to humble himself before God. God. You know he thinks he's a God.
[24:11] He thinks he's a God. He really thinks. The Caesars. They thought they were gods. Many Americans. Humanists.
[24:22] We tend to think we're gods. Evolutionists. We're the top of the chain. Of the evolutionary ladder. We're semi-gods. We're half-gods. Chapter 9 and verse 17.
[24:34] He said. As yet. Exaltest thou thyself. Against my people. That thou. That thou wilt not let them go. After all. I have done. And I have proven.
[24:45] Who I am. You still have the nerve. To stand up. On your back legs. And look at me. Like I'm not God. And you should not obey me. After all this.
[24:56] After all this. Look at chapter 10. In verse 3. Look at chapter 10. In verse 3. Moses and Aaron. Came in unto Pharaoh. And said unto him. Thus said the Lord God of the Hebrews.
[25:08] How long wilt thou refuse. To humble thyself before me. Humble thyself. Underline that. Before me. Let my people go. That they may serve me.
[25:19] You understand what's happening. Don't you? You know. We don't want to recognize him as God. Because I should get to decide. What I do with my time. I should get to decide. What I do with my money.
[25:31] I should get to decide. To do what. What to do with my talents. And my abilities. I should be the one. That's making decisions. About my life. I mean. After all. I'm in charge of my life. It's my life. And it ought to be lived my way.
[25:43] That's the same. Attitude. Here's what he's wanting us to do. It's time to humble ourselves. And say. Back to the pastor. And not to the church. But to the God of heaven.
[25:54] You are God. You are almighty God. You have all power. You own me. You made me. You bought me again. You saved me.
[26:05] My life is not for me. I humble myself. But we don't want to. Humble ourselves very often. God has always wanted the world to know who he is.
[26:17] And to know his name. He wants us to humble ourselves. And to admit that he's God. Chapter 9 verse 20 if you would. The next thing is. Amazingly.
[26:28] Some people begin to believe the word of God. Even some of the lost people. Begin to believe. Chapter 9 and verse 20. He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh.
[26:39] Made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses. And he that regarded not the word of the Lord. Left his servants and his cattle in the field. Moses and Aaron go.
[26:50] And they talk to Pharaoh. And they say here's what we're going to do. We're going to send hail and fire down on the earth. And it's going to kill everything that's outside. Now everybody's hearing this.
[27:02] And some of them are just like. I don't believe it's God. I don't believe it's a coincidence. Those guys say it. Something happens. But the two don't really go together. They don't really believe that.
[27:12] They're not accepting that. But some of the Egyptians begin to say. Hmm. Seems to be that when those boys speak. It really does happen. When they say that God says it. It really does happen.
[27:23] And I wish you'd just look at some of the words that are used here. He that feared. Look at that. Fear. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. He that feared the word of the Lord. Among the servants of Pharaoh.
[27:34] Pharaoh's own people said. I think that God thing is real. I think that when he says he's going to do something. It is for real. And so they ran home. And they said. We heard.
[27:44] While we was down at the palace. We heard that hail is coming. Get our cows in. Get them under the roof. Get everybody in. We got to protect our cattle. We believe. Look at you.
[27:54] What? Chapter 9 and verse 21. And some of them said. I ain't going to believe the word. Said. And he that regarded not the word of the Lord. Left his servants and his cattle in the field.
[28:07] I think that goes on here. Among us. We read. And some of us really believe it's true. We really believe he's the God of all power. We believe he's the God of salvation.
[28:19] We believe he's the God that can do things. And we trust him. And we look to him. And we expect the right things. And some of us. We ignore his word. And he said. You'll suffer the consequences.
[28:30] Some people see enough of the power of God to believe him. They put their cattle and their livestock undercover. And they saved him. Others ignored the word of the Lord. And suffered the consequences. Again.
[28:40] God is showing all of Egypt. That he is the God of Israel. As he protects them. Look at chapter 9 and verse 26. Chapter 9 and verse 26. Only in the land of Goshen.
[28:52] That's where the Jews live. Where the children of Israel were. Was there no hail. Can you imagine now.
[29:03] Have you ever been driving down the road. I'm comfortable. I've seen this tons of times. Have you ever seen the rain. You can see it. Man it's just flooding right there. And you can see it. It's like a wall of water. And there's none here.
[29:14] And you're like. Man look at it. It's raining. And in a few minutes. It may come your way. Sometimes it just stops. It just stands right there. And you're like. What in the world is going on. Here's the hail. Man it's moving across the place. And stops. At the land of Goshen.
[29:25] Because God wanted everybody to know. Those are my people. Something that shouldn't surprise you. Is that there are always false professions. False confessions.
[29:36] They're simply tricking. Simply playing tricks. To try to get God's blessings. Look at chapter 9. And verse 27. If you would. And Pharaoh sent. And called for Moses and Aaron.
[29:46] And said unto them. I've sinned this time. Well finally. Look at that. I love the way he put it. I have sinned. This time. The Lord is righteous. And I and my people are wicked.
[29:58] Boy it sounds like he's right on the road to repentance. God is right. And I am wrong. And I admit it. Please pray to God. And treat the Lord. I've had enough. It's enough.
[30:08] Uncle. Uncle. Uncle. I cry uncle. Uncle. I've been whipped enough. That there. Please. That there will not be no mighty thunderings in hell. I'll let you go. You don't have to stay any longer. But he was lying.
[30:20] He was lying. You'll find over the years. As you stay in the ministry. You're going to find so many people get right with God. When things go wrong. Their marriage breaks apart. Their family breaks apart.
[30:31] Their health falls apart. Their finances fall apart. Many people come and seek God. And as soon as it's over. They're going again. Chapter 9 and verse 29. What's he trying to get across? The earth and everything belongs to God.
[30:44] Read chapter 9 and verse 39 with me one more time. The Bible says. And Moses said unto him. As soon as I'm gone out of the city. I will spread abroad my hands unto the Lord. And the thunder will cease.
[30:56] Neither shall there be any more hail. That you might know that the earth is the Lord's. That he's in charge of weather. He's in charge of hail.
[31:08] That you might know that the earth is the Lord's. In many ways.
[31:18] I think tithing is one of the biggest mistakes maybe. That some of us have made. Because as good Baptists we have learned. That God owns 10% of what we have.
[31:31] And we own 90%. That's the tithers. You know the non-tithers. They think they own all 100%. Some of us got real spiritual. And think God owns 10%. And don't get me wrong.
[31:42] Tithing is a good place to start. But you know how much God really owns. According to the Bible don't you? He said I own all of it. 100%. He said if I was hungry. I wouldn't ask you for food.
[31:53] I own the cattle on a thousand hills. And he doesn't say it in that verse. But he said. Basically he's saying I own the cattle on a thousand hills. And I own the hill too. And in other places. All the gold is mine.
[32:03] And all the silver is mine. In other places. All the people. All the souls are mine. Moses walks out. And he says. We'll stop the thing. But just so you'll figure out one big lesson. It all belongs to God.
[32:16] It all belongs to God. I have a beautiful home. But it belongs to God. I have a beautiful wife. But she belongs to God. I have beautiful children and grandchildren.
[32:28] But they belong to God. I have a bunch of beautiful toys. And things I get to play with. I got some beautiful vehicles. I get to drive. And here's what the God of heaven says. Remember something buddy. It's all mine.
[32:41] On the way home. From my house. You go by that Mullinax. I don't know if you remember one of them big wind storms that came through. They had this car sitting out there for sale. And a tree.
[32:52] Kaboom. Right on top of that car. I highly doubt there was any insurance on it. It was just sitting there for sale. I'm sure they thought they had that truck car well protected. But God can do whatever God wants to do.
[33:03] Whenever God wants to do it. I'm not in charge. He said. It's mine. I own it. God has proven to Pharaoh that he is the owner of everything. By his great power.
[33:15] We ought to learn that lesson. And apply it for our lives. We think we own things. God you can't do that to my child.
[33:27] God you can't do that to my life. God you have no business interrupting my schedule for what I want. And it's just a backwards way of thinking. We think like Pharaoh.
[33:40] That we are little kings. Little gods. Owners. And controllers. When he is the one. And the only. Last thing I'd like to show you tonight.
[33:52] Chapter 10. Verse 2. God is doing all this to prove to Israel. That he is God. Wait a minute. I thought Israel knew. He is their God.
[34:03] You would think they know. But look at what he says in verse 2. Exodus chapter. Sometimes the people of God. We are so dense. We don't get it. Read chapter 10 and verse 2.
[34:15] That thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son. And of thy son's son. Tell your son and your grandson. What things I have wrought in Egypt. And my signs which I have done among them. That you can know.
[34:27] That I am the Lord. Man I wish you don't know that part. That you. Can you hear what he said? He said. Hey guys. You watching all this stuff happen? You watching how I'm bringing Egypt down to her knees?
[34:39] You watching my great power? I'm not talking to Pharaoh right now. I'm talking to you Austin. Listen Austin. Austin pay attention. I want you to tell your son. I want you to tell your grandson. I'm God.
[34:50] And I want you to know it. I'll stand back and say. Woo. You are God. That's what he said in that verse. Isn't it? He said. I'm going to tell your son and your grandson. But read that last part. Would you read it with me?
[35:00] Would you just read it out loud? That ye may know. That what? I am the Lord. That ye may know. That I am the Lord. God wants his people telling their children.
[35:12] The great things that God has done. He wants the parents to believe. That he truly is God. And then to tell the stories about him as God. To their children.
[35:24] God wants Israel to have great stories of his power. And his grace. He wants their children to be thrilled. To hear the great things. That God has done. God protected Israel in the middle of a great crisis.
[35:37] God wanted complete. Undivided worship. From his people. I saw something in Peru.
[35:49] First generation Christians. They really believed. But sometimes second generation Christians. They grew up in a Christian home. They took the Bible for granted.
[36:01] They took worship services for granted. But those first believers that we saw getting saved. That had never heard the gospel. They were so excited. I can still remember the day. I decided to try to start Sunday school in church on Sunday morning.
[36:16] The missionary who had started the church I took. Only had Sunday school for children on Sunday morning. And if any adults showed up. He would meet with them. And I told them all. I said we're going to start studying the Bible. I'm going to teach you the Bible verse by verse.
[36:27] I'm going to explain the Bible to you. And they came. And the more I taught. They were so excited. Everybody told me they wouldn't show up on time. They showed up on time. They got there early. You couldn't get a seat if you didn't get there on time.
[36:39] Of course the room was very small. Don't get me wrong. Only 40 seats. But they were coming. And so one morning I said to them. I said. How do y'all like this? And they said. We love it. And I said. How would y'all like to add another hour in?
[36:51] We'll call it Sunday school. And they said. Well what will Sunday school be like? I said. It'll be a lot like what we do this hour. We'll just do it two hours in a row. And they all started clapping. And said. Yeah. We want that. New Christians.
[37:03] You know how the Christians are in 2014. In the United States. Don't you? Sunday school's gone. Sunday night's gone. Midweek's gone. One hour will get her done. We don't need him anymore.
[37:14] He said. I want you to know I'm God. In chapter 10 and verse 26. God wanted complete and undivided worship from his people. Our cattle shall go with us.
[37:26] We're taking all the cows and all the sheep. We're taking all the goats. We will not leave a hoof behind. Because we don't know what our God might want from us. We take to serve the Lord our God.
[37:37] We know not what. With what we must serve the Lord until we come thither. There will be no conditions placed on our worship. We will go as a family. We will take all of our stuff.
[37:48] The material goods that we have will be available to God. So we can worship him. We're going to go surrendered. Yielded. Open handed. Ready to worship God. As he desired.
[37:59] To be worshipped. I got a couple questions and I'll close. It's always interesting. There's a camp meeting that takes place.
[38:11] In North Georgia. And the guy is famous for taking offerings. He's getting older now. He's a great man of God. A good friend of mine. A man I highly love and respect. But he's famous for getting.
[38:23] When he takes an offering. He gets whatever you got in your pocket. You'll end up giving before you leave. So we used to joke. If you're going. Don't take your checkbook. Don't take your checkbook.
[38:34] And don't take a lot of money. Take 20 bucks maybe. Because he has been known to take an offering for four hours. He'd have them take the offering up. Bring it up front. He'd count it and say. Not enough. We're going after it again.
[38:46] And so you know. I take as little as you can. That's kind of how. Pharaoh wanted them to go worship God. Isn't it? Go but don't take your stuff. Because government serve.
[38:57] God costs money. But they went. And they said. No. Not a hoof will be left behind. We're taking it all. Do you want to serve and worship God. No matter what the world thinks. That's a real question. Have you seen God blessing those that love him.
[39:12] Serve him. Even in the worst of times. Did you. I don't know if you realize this. But. When crisis comes on Egypt. God's somehow taking care of Israel. And even in crisis here.
[39:23] God's going to take care of you. You're his. You can trust him. Do you realize how hungry. God is for the world. To know who he is. And to have his name proclaimed all.
[39:35] Are you sharing the word of God with others. That they may. Not have shown interest before. Sharing the word. So the people that may not have shown interest. Are beginning to show interest. Are you seeing them realize.
[39:47] That God's making a difference in your life. That his word is true. And his word is worth believing. I want you to know. That it's easy for us to take credit. I'm smarter than other people.
[39:58] I made a higher grade on the college exams. I'm a smart guy. It's easy to think like that. And not realize. Boy God. Is the one. Who kept me healthy. God is the one that's kept my mind working.
[40:10] God is the one that's kept my family together. It's easy to boast. And say. Boy I've got a good marriage. Because I'm such a good guy. The truth is. God needs all the glory. And he ought to be mentioned. Do you realize that everything you have.
[40:22] Belongs to God. Does that affect the way you manage your time. Your talents. And your treasure. Do you seek God's will. About how to use what you have. For his glory. Since it all belongs to him.
[40:34] Do you ever say God. I can sing. Let me see how it can be used. God. I can be an usher. God. I can teach a Sunday school class. God. I can run a vacuum cleaner. God. I can play a musical instrument.
[40:45] God. Whatever. I just want to serve you. God. Here's my time. Here's my talent. Here's my treasure. God. Here it all is. Because he wants it. That's what the story's been about.
[40:56] There's no other God like him. And he wants the world to be known. To know about him. He wants his name declared. Throughout the whole earth. Father in heaven.
[41:07] I thank you so much for your word. And I pray you'd help us as Christians. To grow in you. And to learn. And for these truths. To settle deep into our hearts. To change our lives. To motivate us.
[41:17] To bring us forward. To do things like we've never done them before. To serve you. And to honor you as the great God that you are. And I will give you praise. For all that you do.
[41:28] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church. In Alfredo, Georgia. For more information. Log on to www.visionbaptist.com Where you can find our service times.
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