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Today on from his a lesson about what to fret and what to forget, here's Pastor Jeff Shreve.
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You know what is so sad and so tragic and so terrible? Today in America, people are way more afraid of climate change. They're way more afraid of getting Covid than they are of dying and having to stand before Almighty God and give an account of their lives.
Jesus said this: "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." That's the one you need to fear.
Every scar.
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In chapter nine of the book of Exodus, God brought plagues upon Egypt to make a mockery of their gods and to bring Pharaoh to his knees. Each consecutive plague intensified in devastation and finally began to cause death. But did Pharaoh soften his heart? Not a bit. And that was a bad idea.
Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, he'll share four attributes of God's character that can be seen from plagues seven through nine and what they can teach us today that really demands our attention. Today's message is titled "When Bad Gets Worse, Part Two." It's from the eight-message series, Faithful and True, introducing the one and only God, a study of the Book of Exodus.
If you missed part one from last time, you can go to promisheart.org and click the Listen link. If you can, now turn in your Bible to Exodus chapter 9 as Pastor Jeff helps us to learn to trust God, even when things go from bad to worse.
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Worse, Pharaoh is thinking as these plagues are coming, surely we've seen the end of these plagues. Surely it's going to get better now. But it just keeps going from bad to worse. And I've entitled this message when Bad worse because the plagues that came upon Egypt, they were intensifying plagues. Now we're getting ready with the hail to see a plague that's going to start killing people. It kills the livestock in the field, it kills the servants in the field. The other plagues, although the pestilence killed the livestock, the other plagues didn't kill people. They hurt people. I mean, you get stung by an ichneumon fly and you get boils and things like that. Those are awful. But now God is starting to cause death in Egypt and bad is getting worse. We want to look today at four attributes of God that we see from this last triplet of plagues so that we would know that there is no one like God in all the earth. Some of us don't really know that? We know some things about God, but we're not solid in the truth of his character, of his attributes. How do I know that? It's because when bad things happen to you, you begin to question the love of God, the goodness of God, the character and the nature of God. God wants us to know that there is no one like him in all the Earth and to know these four key attributes. Attribute number one. God is merciful. There is no one like God in all the Earth. God is merciful. Now, you could think the way God deals with Egypt, that God is being cruel to Egypt, that he's playing with Egypt almost like a cat that catches a lizard or some kind of a bug or something littler than the cat and the cat will mess with it for a long time and it tries to get away and then it pounces on it. He's not being cruel to Egypt, he's being merciful to Egypt. He's being patient with Egypt. Look what he says in verse 15. For if by now I had put forth my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would have been cut off from the earth. Pharaoh kept hardening his heart and hardening his heart and hardening his heart and hardening his heart and hardening his heart. Seven times he hardened his heart before the Lord ever began to to harden Pharaoh's heart. God was being merciful to Pharaoh and to the people. Verse 18. Behold, about this time tomorrow. You have 24 hours to respond, Pharaoh. Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will send a very heavy hail such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. God is merciful. That's the first attribute we see. Secondly, God is purposeful. God has a purpose in everything he does. All these plagues are strategic. All that come upon Egypt, they are hitting a particular God. And as I told you, Egypt just had scores and scores and scores of false gods. And so the hail goes against the nut goddess, the sky goddess. Seth and Isis are gods over the crops. They're not doing too well with the hail mixed with fire. Shu S h u he's the God of the atmosphere and not doing so well in the atmospheric conditions there. Shu he's just showing that your gods mean nothing. They can't do anything. Plague number eight, the locusts. They had a God that controlled the locusts and protected the land from locusts. Serapia was that God. He got an F for his efforts to fight the real God. Nepri was the God of grain. Didn't do very well with the plague of the hail and locusts. And then the darkness comes. Ra is the God of the sun. And we have that name, Amon, Ra, which is related to Ra, another name for Ra. And then you have Thoth, T H O T H, that is the God of the moon. But the sun and the moon and the stars, there are going to be no light during plague number nine. God is very strategic in what he's doing. He's not haphazard at all. And he's showing to the Egyptians, to the Israelites, and to the world, to the nations surrounding them, that he is God. Look what he says in verse 15. For if by now I had put forth my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. But indeed for this cause I have allowed you to remain. In order to show you my power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth. God has a purpose. Now, the same is true when it comes to your life and my life. God has a purpose for us. And when things happen to us, why, you know, we like it when good things happen. Oh, God, this is all wonderful. Good things are happening to me. But how about when bad things happen? Oh, we don't like the bad things to happen. But nothing comes into your life, Nothing comes into my life unless it first filters through God's fingers of love. And so God allows those things to come in. Why? So that he can show to the world. And the world may be your neighborhood, just the people at your office, the people at your school, to show to them that you love God, you trust God. And even when the hard times come, you're walking with God and you're trusting God. And you're saying, with King Jehoshaphat, we don't know what to do. But our eyes are on you. But you know, here's the thing. Things can happen to you and you can say, God is picking on me. Why is God picking on me? He's not picking on you. He's working on you. Big difference. Big difference. So just know God's plan for your life is to bring him glory. That's the only reason that you exist. That's why he created you. That's why he created me. Isaiah 43:7, he's created us for his glory. And Paul said, whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Because that's why you were created. And people notice. Not in the good times, they notice in the hard times. If your Christianity is real, who can't praise the Lord when everything's going good? Who can't praise the Lord? If you say, hey, I won the sweepstakes. They're coming to my house with this big old fat check, and it's a million dollars. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't it great to be a Christian? And the person said, well, yeah, I'd be praising God too, if I got a million dollars. But how about you get sick? How about you're in the hospital? How about you lose a loved one? Now, let's see what you do. You know, you have a choice. You can follow the advice of Job's wife, curse God and die, or you can follow the footsteps of Job and says, naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Hey, God is merciful. God is purposeful. Attribute number three. God is almighty and all knowing on these plagues. And with these plagues, God calls the plague, and he calls the time of the plague. And then he has Moses pray and the plague goes away in response to Moses. See, some have tried to say, well, you know, these are just coincidental. Yeah, very coincidental. I mean, how did God do? We're gonna see with the locusts. God causes a wind to blow the locusts into the land of Egypt, and then he causes a west wind to blow them into the Red Sea. God is controlling everything. And he might do something just by a miracle. I mean, he could have just created locusts to just come out of the earth, and all of a sudden, they just fill the land. But he blew them into the land. God can do it however he wants. But here's the thing. God is large and in charge. He is the one who is calling the shots. He is almighty God. So this is what happened to Pharaoh. Verse 27 of chapter 9. Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said to them, I have sinned. This time the Lord is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones. Make supplication to the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. And I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer. And Moses said to him, as soon as I go out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease and there will be hail no longer. That you may know that the earth is the Lord's. But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord. God. Now the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in the bud. That's January, February time. But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they ripened later. They ripened in March. So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the Lord. And the thunder and the hail ceased and the rain no longer poured on the earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he did not let the sons of Israel go. Just as the Lord had spoken through Moses. God is in charge of all the plagues. Not Nut, not Isis, not Osiris, not Imhotep, not Seth, not Shu, not Hecat, not Geb, not any of these false gods. Not Ra, the sun God. Not Pharaoh, who thought he was God. It is the Lord. He is God. The Lord, he is God. He's the blessed and only sovereign. The King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the one in charge. He is almighty God, and he is all knowing God. See, Pharaoh says, hey, pray, I've sinned this time. You've sinned every time. You're just owning this one. I've sinned this time, he says, and so pray for me and I'll let you go. And isn't it interesting? Moses says, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God. You can talk a big game, but I know that you don't yet fear the Lord. See, God knows the truth about your heart. He knows what's in your heart. And he knew what was in Pharaoh's heart. And he knew that Pharaoh was admitting, but he wasn't confessing. That's a big difference. Pharaoh had worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is regret. Worldly sorrow is. I don't like these circumstances. I'll say anything to get these circumstances to stop. Godly sorrow is a confession of sin. That's when you agree. You say, God, I didn't just break your law, I broke your heart. And God, I'm so sorry. Pharaoh didn't have that. And the Lord knows the truth about your heart. And he knows who means business and who's blowing smoke, who's just saying words. Because man, God sees not as man sees. Man sees the outward appearance. But the Lord looks at the heart and God sees who means business. God knows the difference. God is almighty and he's all knowing. And he is a God to be feared and obeyed. The Hail is gone. Pharaoh is given a reprieve, but he doesn't let the children of Israel go. His heart is hard. And so Moses tells them, the locusts are coming. Whatever was left in the field that wasn't destroyed by the hail and the rain and the fire, it's going to be destroyed by the locusts. And the Scripture says in Exodus, chapter 10, verse 12, then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt and eat every plant of the land, even all that the hail has left. So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord directed an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. And when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled in all the territory of Egypt. They were very numerous. They were heavy, like Pharaoh's heart. Same word. There had never been so many locusts, nor would there be so many again, for they covered the surface of the whole land. So the land was darkened, and they ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Thus, nothing green was left on tree or plant of the field through all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh hurriedly called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, I have sinned again against the Lord your God and against you. Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once and make supplication to the Lord your God that he would only remove this death from me. It was bad. It was really bad. And then the ninth plague comes, you say, well, the ninth plague is darkness. Darkness doesn't sound so bad. Darkness was terrifying. Terrifying. Verse 21. Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand toward the sky that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt. So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. Hey, you have plagues that are devastating. So the plague of the hail was severe, Devastating. The locusts devastating ate everything, you know. Did you know that locusts can eat their body weight every single day? And when you have a locust swarm come in, it is hundreds of millions of those little herbivores. They just come in with an appetite and they're ready to go to town. And God sent them by the Billions. They just came in, just a flood of locusts and they just ate everything. It looked like it had been scorched by fire. It was awful. But then God sends the darkness and there's no warning on this plague. It's just, it's coming and it doesn't. The Lord doesn't tell him how long this is going to last. So all of a sudden it just becomes dark. Pitch black. In Egypt, you can't see your hand in front of your face. You are freaking out, scared to death, because the darkness is such that you can feel it. God is to be feared. His judgments are severe and terrifying. Do you not realize they told Pharaoh that Egypt is destroyed? The Bible says it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Our God is a consuming fire. You know what is so sad and so tragic and so terrible? Today in America, people are way more afraid of climate change. They're way more afraid of getting Covid than they are of dying and having to stand before Almighty God and give an account of their lives. Jesus said this. Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul. Hell, that's the one you need to bury. Climate change is a joke. The Lord is over the climate. I've read the end of the story. We don't die by climate change. But now when God wants to change the climate, the plagues of Egypt are coming again to this land in spades. You read what happens when he breaks the seals and he pours out the trumpets of wrath and the bowls of wrath. You have hailstones during that time period. They weigh a hundred pounds. I mean, softball sized hail will do some serious damage. You don't want to be outside and get hit with softball sized hail. You could die. That was what was coming down in Egypt during the tribulation period. It's hailstones that weigh a hundred pounds. There's like meteors that strike the earth. And you know how people respond in the book of Revelation to the plagues that come? They blaspheme God. They don't repent. They wouldn't repent. They blaspheme God. Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes. Hey. The Lord's judgments are severe and terrifying. He is a God to be feared and he is a God to be obeyed. His commands are non negotiable. Pharaoh is all the time trying to negotiate with Moses. Okay, I'll Let you go. But you sacrifice in the land. Moses says, no, we're not going to do that. We're taking all that we have. God has told us to go three days journey and sacrifice to him. Well, I'll let you. You don't go very far. No, we're not going to do that. And then before the plague of the locusts come and they say, do you not realize that Egypt has been destroyed? So then Pharaoh calls Moses and says, tell me, who's going to go with you when you leave? He says, I'll let you go, but not your little ones, not your babies, not your kids. You leave your kids here, you adults go out in the wilderness. And Moses said, no, we're not doing that. And then Pharaoh's like, well, okay, after the locusts, I'll let you. You and your kids go, but none of your livestock. Your livestock can't go. And Moses said, no, we're all going. We're not negotiating with you. Pharaoh and the commands of God are non negotiable. How many times do people try and negotiate with God on his clear commands? I mean, Lord, here's the thing, Lord, you know, we're dating and we really love each other. So surely it's okay if we have sex before we're marri because we love each other. And surely that would be okay, right? And God says, no, let the marriage bed be undefiled for fornicators and adulterers. God will judge. Commands of God are not negotiable. This is the Love of God. First John 5:3, that we keep his commandments. Pharaoh tried to negotiate. They're non negotiable. Listen, God is merciful. He's patient and merciful. He's good and kind and loving. He is the God of purpose. Everything he does has a purpose. He is almighty and all knowing. He is to be feared. He is to be obeyed. The end of the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon says this. The conclusion when all has been heard is fear God and keep his commandments. Because this applies to every person. For the Lord will bring every act to judgment. Everything which is hidden, whether it is good or or evil. Fear God and obey God.
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Have you ever surrendered your all to Him? Have you ever done that sincerely from your heart? He created you to do just that. Will you come to him today? You say yes, but you don't know how. We've prepared a section on our website that can help you read, watch, and listen to all the things you need to know. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart and give you understanding and peace. Just go to fromisheart.org and click the "Why Jesus" link. If you'll do that and sincerely seek His face with gratitude, you'll find His arms open wide. God bless you on your journey.
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Well, not only do we want to thank you for your support today, but thank you for listening to From His Heart. I'm Larry Nobles, trusting that you'll be right back here next time for the sixth lesson in the "Faithful and True" series called "The Passover." We hope you have a great weekend and join Pastor Jeff next time right here on From His Heart.
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From His Heart.
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From His Heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Find out more@fromisheart.org.
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