Exodus 4:18–23Scripture
Today we're going to be looking at Exodus chapter 4, and I want to zero in today. There's much to talk about in this section of Scripture, oh, so much to talk about, so much that I want to talk about that I'm not going to be able to talk about. I mean, for instance, verse 25, I would love to talk about that, where Zipporah circumcised her son, just randomly. Let's have a conversation about how that went down. I would love to talk about that for about four weeks, because there's so much really wonderful, revelatory truth in there that I think would be beneficial for us. But today I just want to talk about Exodus 4:18–23, mainly because I think it summarizes this chapter well. You might pick something different, and that would be great, but it's kind of where I'm at. So I want to give a preface before I enter today, and then I, so I had it all prepared, and then I want to give a preface to my preface, and then I want to share, right? Because I think the preface to the preface helps you not think that I'm an egotistical maniac. And so I want to say that the goal of the preface before we move into the lesson today that I'm going to give, I'm going to give a preface, it's a pre-preface, right? But the preface is not to make you implicitly trust what I'm saying today. That's not the goal of the preface. All right, so now let me give the pre-preface. That was the pre-preface: that I don't want you to think that I'm trying to get you to implicitly trust everything that I say because of what I'm about to say in the preface. That's my pre-preface. Here's my preface. There are two people in my life over the
Introduction
Years that have been the most influential people that have been teachers. So two of the most influential teachers in my life, both of which, in fact, I could not stand. So you're excited about this message already, aren't you? And the goal is not to put me in a position of, well, if you can't stand me today, then just know that eventually this will be beneficial to you. That's not what I'm necessarily saying. I'm just saying, just be careful to not write off everything I'm saying because you don't like what I'm saying today. That's what I'm saying. That's really what I'm saying. So this is not me-centric; it's message- centric. The reality is, so I had one teacher who has been popping up on my Facebook lately, and I have just been thinking tons about her, who was an english teacher in high school. Her name was Valerie Walker. She was nuts. Literally, I thought, when I was a teenager, certifiable. There were days when we would be talking about Shakespeare, she would come in dressed up like a wall, like an actual wall, like with a wall. She would be a wall, and she would jump up with this big square costume, jump up on her desk and act like a lunatic, and then just start quoting Shakespeare about a wall or something like that. And I just thought she was nuts, but intriguing enough to pay attention to her, because the reality is most of the time I would go to classes, I wouldn't pay attention. So I was intrigued by this crazy lunatic who was jumping up on desks and trying to get her attention, and so I began to put a certain amount of effort into the class. I mean, I really wanted to impress this lunatic. I would write these papers, and I would spend hours writing these papers and always get a C on my paper. She just literally would not, I mean, I felt like, and then, you know, and then my sister was taking her class too, and I would read her papers. No offense to my sister if she watches this back. I just, you know, I would read her papers, and they were not anywhere near as good as me, and she would get an A, and I thought that was wrong. That was wrong. I actually began to think that maybe she's a feminist, she hates men, I don't know what's going on here, but something's wrong with this situation. I could not stand her. I could not stand that I could not impress her. I could not stand her. But over the years, her impact on my life, the struggle I had in her class, shaped who I am today.
Are you with me? Then there was a professor who was, he was like one of those bobblehead characters that you put up on your dashboard, that head bobbles and the body's big and it bobbles opposite of the head, with a bow tie and a shirt that was always too small for him, the buttons that were being pressured beyond comprehension. I'm like, just buy a bigger shirt, brother. And bow tie, nice pants, a shirt that never fit, and buttons that were about to pop and put somebody's eye out in the front row. And he would sit on the desk, and he would do crazy things, like come into the class, sit on his desk, bounce his feet against the desk, and say nothing for the entire class, and do that for class after class, until somebody would say something, and then he would go off on a, he would go off about our inability to sit in silence. He was the most dynamic, annoying, irritating. And he would talk about stuff. He would just come in, he would come in, sit on the desk, bob his feet on the desk, and he would say, "I wanted to make a statement today. There is no such thing as unconditional love. God does not love you unconditionally." And he would say, "Have a good day," and he'd walk out. That was our class. Most people would love it. I followed him out, chasing him down, telling him he was going to hell. He was the wrongest wrong of all wrong you could possibly be. I dropped his class. He just infuriated me. I could not stand the man. I dropped it within the drop time. That man impacted my life. And I mean, I was only in there in the period of time where you could drop the class, just a few weeks. Impacted my life more than any other teacher I have ever had. Valerie Walker and tight-shirt-wearing, bow-tie- wearing crazy professor at college, they impacted my life. They irritated me immensely, but the truth of what they spoke and the way that they were used, I believe even by God, had a shaping force on my life. So I don't say that necessarily, let's go back to the pre-preface, I don't say that so that you will then implicitly take everything that is said today. And although it might be possibly frustrating to you, there will be some that this is frustrating to, to go, "Well, I must take this, because, you know, Shawn said if I'm annoyed, it must be the best thing since sliced bread." That's not what i'm saying. But I am saying, don't write it off too quickly, because our growth comes through much opposition. Oftentimes muscles develop through tension. And somehow or another we have gotten into the place in the church where pastors steer clear of subjects that bring tension in the hearts of men, and we wonder why men never grow into the full measure and the stature of Christ.
It's a problem. It's a problem, because we'd rather be popular
Pastor Shawn Gray · 8:02
than be
Point 1Whatever God decrees will happen
Truthful. I want to talk this morning about God's decrees. He makes them, and whatever God decrees, it happens. When God decrees the thing, it happens. I was thinking the last two years about the Super Bowl. And the reality is, every time we go into a Super Bowl and we're watching the Chiefs, I mean, maybe not all of you are chiefs fans, but we watch the game, whatever side we're cheering for, and we sit with bated breath on the edge of our seats, cheering and hoping that our team will win. I think of the picture of us going, I think of the conversation that happened in our small group, that when I, you know, kind of get annoyed or bored of the game, and I saunter off to go to my bath time, and people are hanging out at my house, because that happens. I don't care if I want a bath. People can be in there. I'm going to go take a bath, and you can still hang out. I'll take a bath. And then they noticed that when I sauntered off to bath time, that we would win. When I'd get out and come down, we'd start losing. So everybody in my small group, when we start losing a game, would say, "Go take a bath." They would rush me out. I mean, try to encourage me to get out of the room. And we sit with bated breath, waiting and moving through history as it unfolds, to see which team will win.
Isn't it good news that we know who wins, as believers in Christ? That we don't sit and wait, and then, more importantly, that what God decrees in his Word happens? That he doesn't deal with history like we deal with history. And the problem is, we tend to evaluate God and place on him characteristics that are carnal and human. When he decrees the thing, it happens because he decreed it. And when we deal with history, we kind of move through time, so then we attribute those behaviors to God, as if he's sitting and watching and hoping that what he wants to happen will happen, much like a football game. And the reality is that all of us, 100% of us, are guilty at times of seeing God this way.
Point 2God is no anxious spectator of history
And so with that, there are three main ways that people believe God engages the events of history, and I'm going to give them to you. Some of them are more expansive; I'll just kind of give you three general ideas. You can write them out how you feel is best, and more comprehensive, a better summary than what I was able to do. And there are more than this, but these are three of the main ways that we believe God engages the events in history. Number one, some of us imagine that God observes the events of history like a spectator watching a nail-biting game, anxiously hoping that his team wins, uncertain of the outcome. That's the first one we just talked about. Number two, some believe that God is merely sitting on the sidelines watching events unfold.
However, they further think he has already chosen the winner, and occasionally God will intervene to ensure that the outcome he's decreed will happen. He lets the game play out naturally, but if an unexpected contender comes too close to winning, he steps in to prevent it, and that's the only time he steps in. Yet he only intervenes when absolutely necessary, preferring to allow events to proceed with minimal interference. And there's another way, the third way that people believe God engages the events in history. Others believe that God knows all possible outcomes and watches events unfold without being surprised, not because he knows exactly what will happen, but because he's aware of every conceivable possibility. When one of the possibilities occurs, God is not taken aback, and it's not due to his control over events, but because of his immense knowledge of all potential outcomes. These are the three ways that people believe that God engages the events in history. However, none of these perspectives accurately reflect how God perceives events unfolding in time, and all of them fail to capture what is depicted in Exodus chapter 4, much less all of Exodus, much less all of Romans. Okay? What we see here in Exodus 4 is a picture of God's complete sovereignty. Now, that's a dirty word in the church, no matter what side of the track you're on. Everyone, regardless of your position regarding God's sovereignty, everyone at some time or another has an issue with God's sovereignty, and you're going to experience many opportunities today to have an issue with God's sovereignty. I promise, because I'm going to talk about all the stuff that disturbs you about God's sovereignty, because I'm disturbed about God's sovereignty.
Did you know that you can be disturbed about something but know that something's true?
Pastor Shawn Gray · 14:09
You don't have to like it, but it just is what it is. It's okay that we don't like a thing.
Listen, God ain't going to get his feelings hurt because you don't like what he does.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 14:20
But just because I don't like it doesn't mean that I don't know that it's true. See, what we have done in the church is we have attached what we like to truth, and we have an inability to be able to separate what we like from truth. And so many of us go lay our head down to bed in the evening not trusting that what God says is true, because we don't like it. So we have moved the goalposts on truth and attached it to what we prefer. All right, today I want to kind of dive into this crucial theological idea of the decrees of God. Let's read Exodus 4:18–23. That was a huge opening. Sorry it took so long to get to Scripture, but we're here. Exodus 4:18–23 says this: "Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, 'Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.' And Jethro said to Moses, 'Go in peace.' And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, 'Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.' So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey," yippee, "and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand." Isn't it amazing how it was the shepherd's staff of Moses, now it's the staff of God? Whose staff is it? God's.
Be careful to not think that what's in your hand is yours.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 16:13
And see, that's the difference: we think we're working with stuff that's ours, but everything is his. Everything. And everything that's his is used for his purpose. See, problems come, and we see it with Moses, when he uses what's in his hand his way. What happens when he uses what's in his hands his way and becomes a rock star? Remember that? He didn't speak to it, but he cracks the rock. What happens? Water still comes out, but he's punished, because he thinks that what's in his hand is his to be used his way.
It has to be used God's way, the way God decrees, not the way you decree.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 17:12
And the moment you get off kilter and think that you can begin to decree things in your life, and then you no longer acquiesce to how God decrees things in your hand to be used, problems arise. How many of you have been beneficiaries of problems arising because you think that what's in your hand you get to decree and use how you please? It's a problem. It's a problem that all of us are guilty of.
We're all guilty of it. Okay, so moving on, verse 21: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.'" Just sit with that one for a second. Think about miraculous encounters today happening all across Christendom. Think about the opinions of miraculous encounters all throughout Christendom today in our current culture, the way they're used, the way they're seen, the way they're exhibited, what we believe their purposes are. And then look at this, because God is commanding him to do the miraculous, but then he's hardening Pharaoh's heart. So what we think the miraculous is for, it doesn't accomplish that. In other words, we think that the miraculous will make Pharaoh believe and release the people. That's not what's happening, because if that was God's purpose, why would he harden pharaoh? If the miraculous is assistance in greater evangelism, in making people believe, if that's the purpose of it, if that's why God did it, why harden pharaoh's heart so he won't ever believe? Are you with me today? And the reality is, we don't, be careful, let me just say this: be careful to not assign purpose to why God does what he does too quickly. Be careful about that. "I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go." I'm going to give you these miracles, and then I'm going to harden Pharaoh's heart so he won't do what you think he will do, what you think I want him to do. And I eventually want him to do it, but not yet. "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, "Let my son go that he may serve me."'" But I'm going to harden his heart, well, he doesn't. "'If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.'" He hardens his heart until he does kill his firstborn. What God does that? What loving God does that? I mean, can we just ask the question that you're already asking, or is that too, does that make it too uncomfortable in church? I know we've gotten used to listening to a lot of motivational speaking in church, the kind of speaking that helps you make it through another 24 hours but doesn't really establish you in the faith, because it's a faith, but it's not a faith in God, not the God of the Bible at least. It's the one you fashioned for your comfort and for your good pleasure and for joy that will not sustain you evermore, but just
Point 3God tells Moses exactly what will happen
Temporarily. Okay. Okay, this is not a picture of God sitting on the sidelines, watching the game unfold and rooting for his favorite team, nor is it God occasionally intervening to nudge things in favor of his team. What this is a picture of a sovereign God who's telling Moses exactly what will happen, because it will unfold according to his decree. He's telling Moses ahead of time exactly what's going to happen, when it's going to happen, how it's going to happen. Well, why? He don't say that, not to Moses, not yet. We struggle with this idea because we don't understand it. We resist it because it challenges our belief that we're in control. I mean, reality is, we want control of our lives, and if God is in control, then that means what? You are not. This is why this whole idea of God decreeing things and God's sovereignty is wrestled with so much in every denomination in the church today, because we have a control problem.
We live our lives as if we are in total control of everything, until, listen to me today, until something goes wrong, and then we blame God for not acting as we think he should have acted.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 22:17
We want it both ways: complete freedom to do whatever we please, and when it's convenient, sovereignty over our own lives, while holding God accountable for anything that doesn't go as we wish.
We desire a God powerful enough to fulfill our desires and free enough to control everything outside our concerns, yet we don't want him to exercise that freedom when it comes to us. He can exercise that freedom with the rest of the world, just not with me. Just not with me. That's the way we think about it. But that's not what we see here. It isn't just people running around free, doing what they please. Moses can't do what he pleases. Pharaoh can't do what he pleases. Israel, the nation of Israel, can't do what they please. Nobody can do what they please. He has a plan. He's decreed it. The plan will come forward like he's decreed. He's already, he's telling them ahead of time what's going to happen. He ain't going to say, "Hey, if you go down there, well, Pharaoh might do this, and this might happen, and I don't know, and it may be a year, it may be two years, it might be after this plague, it might be after the seventh plague. Not sure, we'll just see what happens." No, he decrees it. He says it. There is this theological phrase, the doctrine of God's decree. It's a doctrine in the church today. I'm going to give you four different quotes from four different theological backgrounds, all of them supporting one another. Four different quotes from four different theological backgrounds.
"Well, Shawn, what does the Wesleyan and Arminian think? What does the Calvinist think? What does the Reformed think? What does the charismatic think? What do they think?" I'm glad you asked. I will be happy to share a quote from all of them. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, Presbyterian, deals with it in question- answer seven. Here it is. Question: "What are the decrees of God?" Answer: "The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass." Well, that just must be Westminster, and those Presbyterians are nuts, and they're a little extreme for my flavor of the week. I'm not sure I can get with that view of God's sovereignty. Well, let's see what Wayne Grudem says. Wayne Grudem mentions in his Systematic Theology book, "The decrees of God are the eternal plans of God whereby, before the creation of the world, he determined to bring about everything that happens. This doctrine is similar to the doctrine of providence, but here we are thinking about God's decisions before the world was created rather than his providential actions in the midst of history. His providential actions are the outworking of eternal decrees made long before the earth was created." Oh, man, there's got to be something out there that will disagree with him so I can sleep at night tonight. Well, John Gill, a legendary theologian, says the decrees of God are, number one, eternal to God himself. Number two, they are eternal. They are eternal decrees. They are, number two, they are eternal. He decreed these things in eternity past.
God doesn't watch what's going on and make decrees as history unfolds. He decrees everything in eternity, before things even began. The decrees of God are free. He does not make them because of anything acting upon him. The decrees of God are wise. Why? Because God is all-wise. There is no one wiser than God, and anyone who is wise only because they have wisdom from God. Therefore, it is only God who is able to decree whatever comes to pass. We don't want anything else in control of what comes to pass, because no one has the wisdom of God to bring those things about. God's decrees are immutable. They don't change. Why? Because his wisdom is infallible. Why would they need to change? And God's decrees are effectual. They accomplish whatever God set out to accomplish. Okay, that was a mouthful. And use some punctuation, man. I don't know where I snatched that from. Abraham Kuyper. Abraham Kuyper: "There is not a square inch in the whole of creation over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, 'Mine!'" I love that. That's simple, man. "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence," some of you are not going to like this, "in human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, 'Mine!'" We go, "Well, yeah, absolutely, that's right." But there's one area where this becomes problematic, and let's just speak candidly to it.
Okay? I'm just going to really just stir the pot and then leave and pray, because it's your job to work out your salvation with fear and
Point 4God's sovereignty reaches evil and suffering too
Trembling. All right, there's one problem, there's one part that this is problematic, and it's the issue of evil and suffering in the world. We love to say that God is sovereign when things work out well for us. We love it when we're riding down the street, nodding off at the wheel, and just before we run into a telephone pole and kill ourselves and everyone else in the car, we wake up, swerve, and we're back on the road, and we give all glory and praise and honor to God for being sovereign and saving us. Praise the sovereign God of the universe, whose hand protected me. But what happens if we don't wake up, if we don't swerve back on the road, and we do hit the telephone pole? If you do kill yourself and everyone else in the car, now all of a sudden we want to protect God from the doctrine of sovereignty, and we say, "Well, he doesn't control all things, only the good things." Well, that's problematic in this chapter, because God ordains the slaying of sons. That's problematic in this chapter, because Pharaoh lets the people go and then chases after them, and he kills him in an ocean. It's not just problematic in this chapter; it's problematic through the whole Word. It's problematic to me that every single one of his apostles who dedicated their life for him were tortured and killed, except for John. I mean, you know, man, you know they got some questions about John, but they tried to kill John. You know when Peter is arguing with Jesus about, hey, why are we all getting offed, and John gets to live? You know, when that got noticed, what Jesus says? Look it up later today. He says, "If it is my will that he remain until I return, what is that to you?" You mean he willed it? I thought it was just, well, evil running rampant, and you saw through the corridors of time, and you saw that would happen. But you willed it? What kind of God wills that? You have some wrestling to do, don't you? Don't you? Because maybe, quite possibly, God's decrees can move beyond just the good stuff that you want to label God's decrees for. Maybe God will decree some stuff that you would not label good, but he would. Are you with me? It's things that you would label evil, and he would label good, because it brings him glory. Now, you don't have to like it. I, I warned you that you may not. But let's just look at what Scripture says. Let's not contemplate what we think about what happens in our life. Let's look at what Scripture says. We eisegete and determine our theological position based on our experiential fruit, and we don't consider the Word, the word. Matter of fact, some of us don't even read the Word. We just read our life.
And the reason we don't know the nature of God is because we would rather read our life than read the Word.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 32:33
It's a problem. What of evil men? I've said it before, and I'll say it again: before you get upset with God for using evil people, and he does, and their actions, you have to find him one person in the whole world who's not evil. "Well, I don't like the fact that he uses evil people to accomplish his will." What do you think you are? You know, "Well, Shawn, you know, God looked to and fro across the whole land to find one that was righteous, and he could not find one, but you know, he did find Noah." You know what Noah did right off? He got off the boat. If you don't know, go Google it. "Oh, he's so righteous." He's righteous because God decreed it, not because he was it. Are you with me?
Guess what? You're righteous because God decreed it, not because you were it.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 33:41
That's why you're not saved by works, but you're saved by grace through faith in him. And he grants repentance to you, turns and changes your heart, and brings knowledge into your life for the development of the saints. And it is his work in you, for you, through him. It's actually for him, through him, to him. That's what we learned in Romans. So I said that wrong. It's all about him. Oh, man, goodness gracious. Given that all men sin, here are your two choices: either you have the God of the universe who looks at sinful men and allows them to sin indiscriminately, or you have a God of the universe who is all-wise, who restrains, constrains, and even uses sinful actions of sinful men to bring about his glory and the salvation of his elect. Those are your two choices. That's it. I'm not telling you which choice to have; I'm telling you which choices exist. And there are people in here today that are on both sides of that equation, some that hold to point one, some that hold to number two. Those are your choices. This is clear in the statement where God says, "I will harden Pharaoh's heart." God hardens Pharaoh's heart. We see it in chapter 3, we see it in chapter 10, we see it in chapter 9, we see it in chapter 8. We see it, we see it all through the Bible. And then we also see a few times Pharaoh hardens his own heart. Oh, and there's the elusive reshaping of God's decree.
Because is his heart hardened because God hardened it, or is his heart hardened because he hardened it? Well, now I'm just confused. Is God in control, or is man in control? Who's in control? This thing's out of control. But God has decreed it. God's already decreed it. So whether or not it's God or whether or not it's Pharaoh, God decreed it, so it's ultimately God. So even if Pharaoh does it, God decreed it. Pharaoh doesn't harden his own heart apart from the hand of God, or apart from the decree of God. Who made Pharaoh? God did. Who put Pharaoh where he was? God did. Who had Pharaoh raised when he was raised? God did. Who used Pharaoh? God did. We often use this situation, and maybe this will help you with this whole perplexing thing of, well, is it God or is it Pharaoh that did it? Or did God do it only because Pharaoh did it first, and because Pharaoh hardened his first, then God didn't actually? That's wrong.
Pharaoh didn't harden his heart first; God hardened it first. So you even get that wrong. Read the Bible. But these are the debates. We use this illustration, and I'm going to read it so I get it right. This is often used in theological circles: I can put before you ice cream, different flavors like chocolate and vanilla and strawberry, and say to you, "Choose which ice cream you want," and you are free to choose. You're free to choose. But there are a few things you're not free to choose. You didn't choose your taste buds. You didn't choose your first encounter with ice cream. You didn't choose any of that. So when you walk up to exercise your free will, there are things you have absolutely no control over that will lead you in one direction or another, that God decreed.
Are you with me today? So no, you're not an automaton. You're not a robot. You do have a will that is semi-free, but it is not ultimately free. I would say it this way: there are two ways that it explains creatures in the earth. One is that you are a slave to sin, meaning you're not ultimately free, are you? Because you're a slave. And people actually believe that when you're freed from sin, now you're free in Christ. Wrong. Now you're a slave to righteousness. So freedom, absolute freedom, is an illusion. That is not biblical. It's not biblical. In other words, if you're in prison and you're in the yard, there might be somebody here that's like, "I remember yard time." You can lift weights, you can shiv someone. I mean, let's just be real, that must happen all the time, because it's in the movies, right? You can get in a fight, you can stand, you can sit on the bleachers. Why do they have bleachers in the yards in the movies? Can we just have a conversation about that? You know, it's like, what are they watching? People imprisoning? Well, I don't know. And so you can play basketball. You can do all kinds of things in the yard. You have freedom, but you ain't leaving the yard until yard time's over. And matter of fact, your freedom isn't absolute, because you can't leave the prison. And when you're in sin, you're a prisoner, and you can do lots of stuff as a prisoner to sin, but you ain't going to not be a prisoner of sin until you're set free. Are you with me? And who sets you free? God does. "Well, I just decide." That's not what the Bible says.
The Bible says God decides. And you can wrestle with that all day long, but you're going to have to do some serious calisthenics and acrobatics to get around it. Just read Romans, just read First John, just read Romans, just read Ephesians, just read, well, read the whole Bible.
We have a control problem.
If I'm going to be in anybody's hand, I would much rather be in God's hand than my hand, because let me tell you, if it was up to me, I'd be unsaved by the end of the day.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 40:01
All I have to do is play Clash Royale, that's it, and I'm going to hell. Are you with me today? "Oh, I thought you were just always happy, and you just always, when something bad happens, you're like, 'Yeah, that's fun.'"
No, that's not me, in case you didn't know. I got a little bit of flesh wrapped around me. And so it is God who keeps you, sustains you, knocks the rough edges off you, sanctifies you. His sanctifying and saving work is continual. He's doing and keeping you. If it were up to you'd choose you. But when you're saved and filled with his Spirit, you can't choose you long-term. It just don't sit right. You're a prisoner to righteousness, and when you're unrighteous, you can't stay there long.
You don't know how to set up camp in unrighteousness.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 41:12
You might, oopsie-daisy, you might do that for a season, but you cannot stay there. It's unrestful to live there. Okay, can we talk about signs and wonders that are about to go down? Many people think that God gives the signs and wonders to convince Pharaoh, and I talked about this earlier. However, if it was for the purpose of convincing Pharaoh, why would God continually harden his heart? It should dispel that idea. It should also dispel the idea that we need signs and wonders to do effective evangelism work. Let's talk about this today, because this is a big thing today. Let's talk about it. "Shawn, are you against signs and wonders?" No. "Shawn, do you not believe in miracles?" I most certainly do believe in miracles, but I don't believe about 99% of the trash that happens out there on TV. I don't. I believe God does it. I believe he still does miracles, and I believe he still heals, and I believe he does all of that. But I believe a lot of the stuff is conjuring, because we have fallen into this idea that signs and wonders are for the sake of causing and helping people believe. That's not what God said would make people believe. He says the gospel is the power of God for salvation. It doesn't say anything about signs and wonders in there. You know, every time there is a sign and a wonder, whether that be in the Old Testament or the New Testament, whether it be with the apostles or whether it be with Jesus, whether it be with Moses or with anybody else, or any prophet he ever used in the Old Testament, you know that signs and wonders were always attached to validate the Word that came by God before the canon was closed, because it's in support of the Word, to validate the Word.
It's not signs and wonders that bring people to faith. It's the gospel that brings people to faith.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 43:08
It's the sovereign God of the universe that awakens sinners, that they may come to faith. And I'll say this too: God's decree is not contingent on anyone or anything. Thank goodness, because if what God decrees is contingent upon brook's obedience, she's pretty awesome, but yikes. I think she can handle that, right? Let me move it off her, because that just seemed way too personal, right?
I mean, literally, it was funny, some people went like, "He's going to die." You know, anyway. Because as sweet as someone might be, and she's pretty sweet, as sweet as someone is, we're all fallen, and there will be seasons in our life we do not abide. We will not abide. I'm encouraged by the fact that his decree is not contingent on anyone else. This section we read in four, that I read to you, this section of Scripture contradicts the idea that the will of God is dependent upon the will of man. And we hear this in the church today: "Well, you know, God can't do anything beyond the will of men." I disagree. I don't think that's what we learn here, because God's will is bigger.
If God's will and your will were in an arm-wrestling match, God would win.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 45:00
I mean, right? I thought it was really cute when Moses said he shouldn't do it: "I don't think I should be the one to do it." That was cute. Guess whose will won out there? What we do find is God saying, "Here is what you're going to say and do, here is what I'm going to do to pharaoh, and here is what is going to happen because of what I have decreed and I have done." That's God's will, all the way, in every part, and his will is not contingent on anyone. God tells us exactly how the encounter with Pharaoh is going to go. It's not because he can look through the corridor of time and see it; it's because he decreed it. And I'm going to say this last point. I think this is my last point. It's my last point. And I have way more to say, many more pages. I'm out of time, in 30 seconds I'm out of time, so I'm going to stop here. It's going to seem abrupt. I do know how to close a sermon: repeat point one, point two, point three. I'm, whatever, I'm out of
Point 5A good God uses pain to shape us
Time. So, I mean, it's not like you're grading me or anything in here. Would a good God decree pain? Can we just pull the Band-Aid off? This is the scariest part of my sermon. Think about the ways, and here's how I'm going to approach this. Let us for a moment consider the ways in which God has shaped us as believers. Has it always been good times? If your experience is anything like mine, here's what you know to be truth: the greatest changes in your life, in terms of conforming you into the image of Christ and making you more like Jesus and less like the sinful wretch you are, usually happen in your darkest hours. It's in those hardest hours, when you cannot fathom how you will ever be okay again, or even comprehend how to put one foot in front of the other, good thing God orders our steps, that God works most profoundly. It is in those times when you are in the valley of the shadow of death and utterly dependent upon God, when you are tempted to shake your fist at him, that God chisels away at you and conforms you into his image. These are the times you would never wish for and don't ever want to be in again, yet it is those times that God uses to build, to strengthen, and to equip you, drawing you closer to him. Don't despise those times. God's decree covers and brings about the salvation of his elect and the condemnation of the wicked. Keep in mind that ultimately, when we think about what God is doing in history, in our lives, and with his people, he is saving us for his glory, and sometimes he saves us in pain.
And as hard as it is for me to say it, sometimes he saved me through suffering.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 48:53
Here's the problem: I often don't think about my life from that perspective. I just think about my life from the perspective of here and now, what I want, what I like, what I need, and on. When I focus only on the present, and something difficult, hard, or painful comes, all I think about is how difficult, hard, and painful it is, and I begin to forget that God is making me fit for heaven, and that whatever loss I suffer here, I receive great gain in the heavenlies. I don't need, many of the things I've lost, I don't need it in heaven, and I don't need it to be conformed to the image of Christ. And that is God's ultimate aim.
And some of your painful moments have greater conforming value than some of your most pleasant ones.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 49:55
Just know that God decrees things that you might never decree on your children. Come on now, just track with me here. You don't have to like it, but know we serve a good God who cares about their eternal worth.
And if you are his, if your children are his, don't be guilty of trying to save your children from pain while God is trying to save them for heaven through pain.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 50:22
Because you can't abort it, because God decreed it, but you get what I'm saying: you become this constant interference.
Not your will over his will, but his will above our will.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 50:52
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