God Distinguishes His People

Transcript

Good morning. If you will turn to Exodus chapter 8. Our sermon text this morning is Exodus 8 and we will read down from verse 20 rather down to chapter 9 verse 12. Exodus 8 20 through 9 12. So we move now into this third or second rather set of three plagues.

Exodus 8 beginning in verse 20 here now once again the Word of the Lord. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh as he goes out to the water and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord, 'Let my people go that they may serve me or else if you will not let my people go, behold I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies and also the ground on which they stand. But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen where my people dwell so that no swarms of flies shall be there that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. Thus I will put a division between my people and your people.

Tomorrow this sign shall happen.' And the Lord did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt, the land was ruined by the swarms of flies. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, 'Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.' But Moses said, 'It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?

We must go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he tells us.' So Pharaoh said, 'I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness. Only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.' Then Moses said, 'Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh from his servants and from his people tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.' So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. The Lord did as Moses asked and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh from his servants and from his people.

Not one remained, but Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go. Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go into Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord the God of the Hebrews, 'Let my people go that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, behold the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.' And the Lord set a time saying, 'Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land, and in the next day the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died.

Pharaoh sent and behold not one of the livestock of Israel was dead, but the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.' And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Take handfuls of soot from the kiln and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and become boils breaking out and sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.' So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out and sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them as the Lord had spoken to Moses. This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God. Let's pray together. Lord our God, as we come before you once again this morning, we bow with hearts of humility as we acknowledge your sovereign hand that is at work all around us. You are the Lord. You are Yahweh in the midst of the earth.

So may we now come with humble dependence upon your spirit as we seek to understand the things of your Word this morning, and we pray this in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. We now come to the second set of plagues in Exodus. As we learned last week, God has so structured these plagues to show their crescendoing and climactic effect.

We don't just have ten random plagues that are scattered throughout the story. We have three sets of three, each serving a specific function and each increasing in intensity. And those three sets lead then to the tenth and final pinnacle plague. With each of these plagues, we see key aspects of this increase. God increasingly displays his power over the gods of Egypt and those who worship them.

And he intensifies the effects of these plagues on the people. He makes his name increasingly known among all the people and he increasingly hardens Pharaoh's heart. Another important aspect of these sets of plagues is that each set focuses on answering a specific question about the Lord, about Yahweh. And the first set, that question that you'll remember from the last two weeks, is very simply, "Who is Yahweh?" The Lord began to answer Pharaoh's arrogant question that he posed in chapter 5 verse 12, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?" The challenge was launched and the Lord responded. His answer, after only three plagues, was already unmistakable.

Pharaoh's magicians themselves had already at this point acknowledged that this was God's hand. After two instances of measly counterfeit imitation in the first two plagues, they attempted to replicate the third one. But, of course, they were unsuccessful and all they could respond to Pharaoh and say was, "This is the finger of God." And this second cycle, the Lord's response becomes more forceful. And a new question is posed and answered. And that question, which will be key in the study of this passage this morning, is this, "Where is Yahweh?" Not only is Yahweh the one true and living God above all other gods, He is the God who dwells in the midst of the earth.

That's the question of utmost importance in this next sequence. And as the Lord answers this question, He'll make one thing abundantly clear. He is distinguishing His people. He's setting them apart for His own glory and purposes. They must be separated from all who worship false gods and rely on their own wisdom and strength to protect themselves.

In this episode, for the first time, the distinction between Israel and Egypt becomes abundantly clear. God has chosen a people for His own possession. No one else has claim on God's people. Therefore, they must come out from the midst of them so that they might serve and worship Yahweh. We'll focus on four points from this second set of plagues, the second cycle of plagues.

First, we see that God's presence ensures His people's protection. Second, we see that God's people must maintain a holy and distinct separation. Third, we will see that God's enemies will be exposed. And then fourth and finally, we will see how persistent obstinance turns to judicial hardening. In this first cycle of plagues, there was no distinction made, and that first cycle we looked at the last couple of weeks, there was no distinction made between the people of Israel and the people of Egypt.

Those plagues, at least in some sense, affected everyone in the land, Egyptians and Israel alike, Israel lights alike. But that begins to change here when we get to this second cycle of plagues. God distinguishes His people from His enemies. How does He do this? Well, He does it by giving them His very presence, by His presence being with them, abiding with them.

And God's abiding presence with His people then ensures their protection. So this is the first principle found in the text this morning, that God's presence ensures His people's protection. Now, as we enter this new scene, God instructs Moses and Aaron to return to Pharaoh. Though His stubborn heart is hardened, it's time for another confrontation. So just like with the first plague, God tells them to go early in the morning to meet Pharaoh at the Nile River.

Not only was Pharaoh unmoved by the unmistakable display of God's power, based on his actions, we can see that he didn't really believe that he could even be affected by God's power. He went out once again, just like before, for his regular morning ritual. It's a morning ritual that likely, as we said before, included worship of his false gods right there at the Nile River. Though he was affected by the first three plagues, he still worshiped the powerless idols. Moses and Aaron were told to go, and to state it plainly once again before Pharaoh, "Let my people go, that they may serve me." And this time, he gives another warning to Pharaoh, "Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and your servants, and your people, and into your houses." Again, God shows his patience.

This is a warning. Pharaoh can still relent. Now he knows the consequences if he won't. Those consequences will get worse than they were before in the first three plagues. We've seen water turn to blood, frogs everywhere, and gnats all around.

Now God says, "If you don't turn and let my people go, I will send flies, swarms of flies." Now the ESV translation here doesn't really capture the full impact of the Hebrew. We're not simply talking about a bunch of house flies everywhere, what we typically think of as flies. That would, of course, be bothersome enough if we saw flies all around. But we're talking about more than just house flies. These are all kinds of flying insects, house flies, deer flies, horse flies, possibly even wasps and hornets and bees, all kinds of flying insects, both those that bite and those that don't bite, swarming everywhere.

Imagine the way you feel when you have a swarm of flies around your house. They're annoying, they're buzzing, they're hovering over your food, and they're landing on your food, and of course you know what they do when they land on your food and they try to eat it. You try to swat them, but somehow every time you think you have them, they escape death at the last possible millisecond. Now imagine what it's like when you come up on a swarm of wasps, that feeling you get if you're just trying not to get stung and you're trying to get away from them. Now take all those uncomfortable feelings, those uncomfortable thoughts and multiply that exponentially.

The land is swarming with these flying insects. They are all over inside and outside houses. They're on walls, they're on ceilings, they're even covering the floors. The people couldn't sleep without flies all over their faces and bodies. They couldn't eat without flies trying to come into their mouth as they take a bite of food.

They were so bad the text says that the land was ruined by them. But here's the critical point of the passage. Though the land would be ruined by flies in Egypt, what did God say he would do? He would separate and distinguish his people from Pharaoh's people. The land of Goshen, where Israel dwelt, would be protected from the ruinous fly infestation.

Why is it that the Lord now chose to protect his people from this plague and the ones that followed? Well verse 22 says that it is that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. In other words, God makes this distinction not because of Israel's worthiness. He does this so that Pharaoh would know where Yahweh is. But he also does this and probably even more importantly for Israel's sake.

He wants Israel to know that he is the Lord and that he is with them. He is not a God who is far off, but he's a God who is near. So why is this point particularly significant for this context? Well think about this for a moment. Think about the way that most people living in the ancient Near East would have approached their gods and worshiped.

They would have images made of wood and stone and metal that would be visual representations of those gods, those idols that they worshiped. But the true God is Spirit and he does not have a body like man or like beast. And when the law is given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, God will even explicitly, as we know, forbid the creating of any images in order to worship him. A commandment of course that Israel will break almost as soon as it's given to them. So it wouldn't be surprising then for hard-hearted Pharaoh and his servants, his people, to challenge Moses and say something like this, "Where is this God of yours, the one who is supposedly bringing all these plagues?" Well the answer is these miraculous signs, these plagues, are the proof that he is in the midst of the earth.

He is in the very midst of the land and he is here present with his people. In chapter 8 verse 23, God says that he will put a division between his people and between Pharaoh's people. And this can also be translated as your note in your copy of your scriptures might say, as setting redemption on his people. In other words, this distinction between Israel and Egypt is the next phase in God's plan of redemption. That's also made clear when we get to the fifth plague.

There the Lord sent a very severe plague upon the livestock in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. And this was the first time that God brought death that would greatly affect the Egyptians. It's not like the death of fish or frogs. Domesticated animals were a considerable part of the life and the livelihood of the people. They were highly valued and treasured.

And their welfare was closely related to that of humans. So in other words, this fifth plague would be devastating in its effect, not just an annoyance, not just flies buzzing everywhere, not gnats, not dead frogs all around, but the actual killing of their prized possessions, their livestock, which would have been so important to their way of life. But notice once again that the Lord said that he would make a distinction. Nothing of all that belonged to the people of Israel would die. And in that plague, God reminds Pharaoh again that he is the Lord, the God of the Hebrews.

He tells Pharaoh that it is the hand of the Lord that would bring this plague. And then finally when we get to the sixth plague, God will use Moses' hands directly to bring about this plague. Moses was instructed to throw soot from the kiln in the air, and then the soot would become fine dust that would spread over all the land of Egypt. And as soon as it touched the Egyptians, it would become boils breaking out on their skin and sores on both man and all the remaining beasts who weren't killed in the fifth plague. But Moses and Aaron and all the people of Israel would not be affected.

They would be unharmed. Once again God would distinguish. He would separate his people. None of the discriminating between the Egyptians and the Israelites could have been explained away in some sort of natural phenomenon. Yahweh was declaring to them, to everyone, both Egyptians and Israelites alike, that he is the Lord and that he is, in fact, in the midst of the earth.

He was progressively and physically showing that the Israelites were his people and that Pharaoh must let them go. But again, he was also showing the Israelites something even greater. He was showing them that he was with them. They didn't need to leave Egypt and to go into the wilderness in order to have God's presence with them. He was already there and he was working.

And he always had been, in fact. He's not simply a god among many other gods. He is the one true and living God. And there is no other beside him. He is the God who made the heavens and the earth.

He is the one who upholds the heavens and the earth by the word of his power. And he is the one who alone has the power to even undo his very creation. He is putting this on display now for the people to see. Man and his pomp and arrogance is nothing. We are powerless.

No matter how great and esteemed Pharaoh may have been to the people of his land and even among the nations around him, Pharaoh was, in fact, powerless. No matter how great he thought he was, he must bow like all other people before the king of all creation. Because God is present with his people everywhere, we understand that his presence protects them. He protects them from the slave driving and the unjust claims of his enemies. Even more than that, God protects his people from his own wrath which is rightfully poured out because of our sin.

And that's what he's doing. He's pouring out his wrath in judgment through these plagues because of the sin of people. Ultimately, the Lord's redemption of Israel wasn't just about setting them free from Egyptian cruelty. We've said this several times now. Ultimately, God's redemption of Israel was about setting them free from their sin.

God was showing Egyptians and Israelites alike that he is the one just judge over all creation. There's nowhere that anyone can hide from his presence. All must either run to him for refuge or we will be under the power of his judgment. And this truth is fully realized not just in how God displays his sovereign hand through these plagues for the people of Egypt and the people of Israel in the land. This is fully realized through what?

For the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ who himself tabernacled among us, whose presence is with us. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. All who call upon him and run to him for refuge have his very presence with them to protect them from God's just and righteous wrath. But don't be mistaken. God's ultimate, God's protection rather isn't ultimately a physical protection.

Though in these plagues Israel is protected physically from their effects, what's being communicated here, the principle being communicated here to us, is it's simply physical protection. God promises a far greater protection and that is spiritual protection. And he does this even as we suffer many trials and afflictions in this life. And in fact, we understand that through those trials, through those afflictions, and through those persecutions, it is how God is actually drawing us closer and closer to himself. But what we learn from these plagues is that the Lord's presence is discriminating.

He separates his people from his enemies. He sets redemption upon his people and he does so so that his people might serve and worship him. And that leads us then to the second principle that we learn here. Because God separates his people and protects them with his presence, we must then, ourselves, maintain a holy and distinct separation from the world. That's the second point.

God's people must maintain a holy and distinct separation. Now it's clear from the response to the fourth plague of flies that Pharaoh is actually starting to weaken. The plagues increasingly affect him. And so he responds to Moses with some, what we might call, negotiating and bargaining. In verse 25, Pharaoh says, "Go, sacrifice to your God within the land." He's affected, but he still thinks he's king.

Pharaoh still believes that he can set the terms, but of course this won't work because no one sets the terms but God. So Moses responds, but he does so with patience and notice this even a measure of gentleness and how he responds. Notice that he doesn't yell and say something like, "Who do you think you are? Are you such a fool that you would somehow think you're still in control?" No, Moses says plainly and clearly, yet directly, why this won't work. Pharaoh wanted to give the Israelites what we might call a national holiday.

With one day break from their employment, their slavery in the land so that they could worship. But they would of course remain as Pharaoh's possession. They would be Pharaoh's people. And after their short break from worship in their national holiday, they would then be back under the oversight of the slave drivers that we've been learning about. Moses gives three reasons why this just won't work, and each of these three reasons really increase in their importance.

First, he says that their sacrifices in the land would be an abomination to the Egyptians. In other words, they would elicit repulsion and anger from the Egyptians as they witnessed the sacrifices taking place. Then, this would second, cause them to attack the Israelites so that they stone them. In other words, the Israelites would be killed in the land because of their worship of the one true and living God through the way that he has told them to worship him. But the third reason, even though those other two reasons are good, important reasons, the third reason is the most critical of all.

Here's what it is. The first two carry little weight when we compare them. Here's what the third reason is. That's not what the Lord has told us to do. The idea of going a three days journey into the wilderness that Moses references here doesn't mean that they expected to actually just go for three days and then come back.

No, this was a common idiom for an official formal foreign visit. The Israelites were to go worship God on the same mountain where God first called Moses all the way back in chapter 3. And that service and worship wasn't just to be a temporary disruption to their Egyptian employment. No, that calling was to be a complete change of life and destiny. They must do exactly as God has instructed them in his word and he's yet to give them many more instructions when they actually do go.

They must completely remain distinct from Egypt and from all the rest of the world. This and nothing less is what God calls his people to do. Because God has distinguished them by his very presence, God's people must then be careful to maintain that distinction by being separate from the world. In other words, they must be holy just as God himself is holy. And the way that this is accomplished is through being careful to abide in God's Word.

They must seek to carefully obey his commandments and this starts with how God is to be worshiped. As we've often said, worship is the center of our lives. It was true for Israel and it's always been true for all of God's people and it's true for us today living in 2026, living in Douglasville Georgia or the surrounding areas. For God's people, renewal and transformation take place through our worship of God. And that's not just when we go alone by ourselves in the prayer closet.

That's important. But it's not the main thing. The main thing is us coming together as we prepare to worship God around his throne as we will do for all of eternity, every tribe, tongue, nation and language. This is why we cannot compromise with the world and how we worship God. We must worship him exactly as he has told us in his Word.

Pharaoh wanted to call the shots. He wanted to dictate the terms for how Israel would worship God, at least in part, but of course that would never work. Even in his response to Moses, this is still evident. What does he do? He agrees, at least initially, after Moses explains the reasons why they can't just stay there and worship in the land, he agrees initially to let Israel go into the wilderness.

But he still tries to dictate how. You must not go very far. Just go a little ways and then come right back. Of course this also would never work. Compromise with the world and especially with God's enemies never works.

Because God has separated us from the world as his people, we must be careful to maintain that distinction just as he says. Think about the way the New Testament puts this. As Paul is writing the second letter to the Corinthians and he quotes from the Torah, from God's words to the people in the wilderness. Second Corinthians 6 beginning in verse 16. What agreement has the temple of God with idols?

For we are the temple of the living God. As God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing. Then I will welcome you and I will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." This is not just a directive to the people in the Old Covenant. This is a directive, a command, a grace to God's people living in the New Covenant.

God's people must maintain a holy and distinct separation. But as God's people seek to do this, the world will not like it. God's enemies are really under the rule of Satan and Satan, of course, is the destroyer. If he cannot get God's people to compromise, then what will he do? He will work tirelessly to destroy them.

We see this in both Pharaoh and his servants, his magicians, in this second cycle of plagues. But here's the great truth. They will not get very far. That leads to the third principle in this text, and that is that God's enemies will be exposed. God's enemies will be exposed.

Pharaoh recognized God's hand. He knew that Yahweh, the God of Israel, was bringing about this devastation, and he was annoyed by it. He was being tormented, so he initially agreed to let the people go into the wilderness. He pleaded with Moses to intercede for him to have God remove the flies, and so Moses agreed. It's potentially true that Moses thought that this could be the end.

Maybe the next thing that would happen would be the killing of the firstborn son. Moses didn't know for sure how many plagues there would be, at least not what we see in the text. So Moses agrees, and Moses, as Moses prayed to the Lord, the text says that the Lord did just as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, and not one remained. Not even one. But as soon as Pharaoh found relief, what did he do?

He exposed his true character once again. No sooner than he had agreed to let the people go into the wilderness to worship, did he renege on his promise. And the fifth plague, after experiencing the death of much of the livestock in Egypt, Pharaoh even sent officials to confirm that the Israelites had not also been affected. And they confirmed it. All the livestock of the Israel were still alive.

Yet even then, Pharaoh did not relent. Finally, and what really is the climax of this second cycle of plagues, God exposed the utter folly of Pharaoh and his servants. Moses stood acting as the hand of God to bring the boils upon the people and beasts in Egypt. And at this point in the cycle, we haven't heard from Pharaoh's magicians at all. The last time we saw them was in the third plague, where they could not repeat.

They could not replicate or counterfeit that third plague. And even there, those magicians, those servants of Pharaoh, they are rendered powerless. But now, here in the sixth plague, their powerlessness is confirmed. Not only are the magicians unable to imitate, they themselves are now overtaken by the hand of God. They are so greatly affected by the boils that it says that they're unable to even stand before Moses.

When God's enemies seem to flourish, it's difficult for us to understand why. When they seem to be winning, it's hard to endure. When their threats and their opposition cause suffering, it's easy for us to lose heart and it's hard for us to persevere. But it is precisely in these moments of trial and persecution that God's people must put their faith firmly in the eternal God. We must remember that He is the one in the midst of the earth.

He is in control, even when it seems like His enemies are flourishing. And we must remember that eventually God's enemies will be exposed. Paul, when he's writing his second letter to Timothy, uses this very account, this interaction, this confrontation with Pharaoh and his magicians to illustrate this point. He says that everyone must understand that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. People will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, abusive, and the list goes on and on.

You remember these words, hopefully. Paul is describing here people who really are enemies of God. And here's the thing we must remember. God's enemies are found both outside the church and inside of it. Paul is actually here in this text as he references this Exodus account.

He's here referring to people who profess faith in Christ but actually live in a way contrary to their profession. They are people, he says, who have the appearance of godliness but deny its power. And he compares these people to the magicians who opposed Moses in the Exodus account to make a critical point. These people seem powerful. They seem influential.

From an external perspective, they seem to be winning. But in reality, Paul shows us that they will be exposed. Here's exactly what he says in 2 Timothy 3 verses 8 and 9. "Just as Janus and Jambres," apparently those are the names of the magicians, "just as Janus and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth. Men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men." Eventually, as God's people cling to the truth of his word and refuse to compromise with the world, God's enemies will be exposed. Their folly will be made plain to all. They will not get very far. But we must be very careful that we do not join them in their folly. It would have been easy, at least temporarily, for Moses to compromise with Pharaoh or to cower under the counterfeit imitation of the magicians.

But that was only if he had looked at things with the eyes of his flesh. Moses, as we've been seeing him progress through this narrative, is learning to see things with spiritual eyes. He's learning to look through the eyes of faith, and his patient perseverance was rewarded as these enemies of God as their folly was exposed. This leads us then to the fourth and final grave principle, and that is that persistent obstinance turns to judicial hardening. Moses clearly saw God's sovereign hand at work.

It was now unmistakable. He was harassed by flies to, or Pharaoh was rather, harassed by flies to the point where he begged for relief. But as soon as he found it, he was unmoved. Pharaoh experienced the death of livestock all throughout the land of Egypt. He spied out the place of the Israelites dwelling and confirmed that they had been unaffected by the plague, yet still his heart was hardened.

Finally, he saw the folly of his own magicians as they were unable to any longer even stand before Moses, and yet he remained unmoved. Now, for the first time in the narrative of the unfolding plagues, the text says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. This is just as the Lord had told Moses would happen. Here, once again, the text illustrates the principle that God gives those who persist in their sin over to a debased mind. Those who continue to see the Lord's handiwork but reject his call to repentance, those people will go on hardening their hearts.

They will sear their consciences, and eventually God will give them exactly what they want. God will send judgment by no longer applying his hand of restraining grace to them, and that's exactly what happened and is happening to Pharaoh here. Brothers and sisters, this is exactly what happens when we continue to compromise with the world, the flesh, and the devil. When we reject God's word in favor of worldly wisdom, we make it more and more difficult to hear what God is saying. We can expect the exposure of folly in God's enemies to go on to further and further hardening for those who do not repent, but we must also keep careful watch over ourselves as we witness this.

We will be tempted to compromise. We will be tempted to be not only in the world but also of the world, yet we must keep our eyes fixed firmly on Christ. We have to remember the deception of trusting in our own wisdom. We have to remember that though God's enemies seem to be flourishing now, that their end is actually destruction, and we cannot join them in their debauchery. So the question we are left with is how do we ensure that we are not deceived?

How do we persevere when God's enemies tempt us to compromise and when they themselves continue to oppose God and oppose us? But we remember that Yahweh is in the midst of the earth. His presence really is with us. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. God lived here in human flesh, fulfilling God's law and dying in our place so that we might be set free from our sins so that we can serve and worship Him.

And He was raised on the third day and then ascended to the right hand of the throne of God. From there He sent His Spirit to His people that He might make us His dwelling place, as we read earlier. By His Spirit He calls us from the world out of darkness and into His light. He distinguishes us from the world as a people for His own possession, and He has set redemption upon all those who call upon His name and Spirit and truth. Because of these astounding truths we must then eagerly maintain a holy distinct separation from the world.

That is our calling as God's people. We must be holy as He is holy. We should abide in His love by carefully keeping His commandments. We worship Him just as He said we should. We don't allow the world in any way to dictate how we worship Him and then so distract us from the blessing of His very presence with us.

Instead we remember that the folly of God's enemies will eventually be exposed. We must not find ourselves opposing God as we see here with Pharaoh and his servants. God invites each of us to rest and find refuge in His presence. Through His presence He will spiritually protect us from the attacks of His enemies even as we experience the trials and persecution that come because of them. So are you weary this morning as you think about the suffering that you experience on a daily basis.

We'll take refuge in the protecting presence of God's shelter. Have you been tempted rather to compromise with the world because you feel like you're being beaten down by God's enemies. Remember that God will expose His enemies and return to Christ to find comfort in His sheltering presence. Have you been hardening your heart against God ignoring the plain truths of His Word to appease your flesh. We'll flee to Christ and find refuge before it's too late.

Know that He is calling you back to a holy distinction and He provides everything we need. Remember the words of Hebrews chapter 3 verses 12 through 15. Take care brothers lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God but exhort one another every day as long as it is called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end as it is said today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. Dear brothers and sisters find rest and comfort in the only true refuge from the misery of sin.

Let's pray together. Our God as we come and bow before you once again this morning. We do acknowledge our desperate need of your presence with us. We admit to you we acknowledge we confess that we are so easily distracted by the things of this world. We are so easily tempted to compromise with this world to be conformed to it and yet you set us apart as your people so that we might be holy.

Help us to take these things to heart. Soften our heart once again by your spirit we pray so that we might come out of the world and know that you are our God and we are your people. Help us to carefully obey all that you have taught us in your word knowing that when we keep your commandments we will abide in your love. And oh Lord we ask that you would help us to continue to seek to do your will in all things. To live in a way that glorifies and praises and pleases you and everything we think and do and say and may we remain distinct from the deception of Satan.

Help us to trust you. Help us to look to you even in our trials and help us not to harden our hearts that we might send against you. And we pray all of this in Christ's name and now we ask oh Lord as well as we come to this time to respond to your word. We ask that you would help us to respond in thankfulness and obedience with this tangible measure of giving ourselves and our financial gifts to you. We know how easily it is for us to idolize our money to look to our financial position to keep us or to save us or to give us joy but oh Lord as we come each and every Lord's day and we have the opportunity to respond through giving we know that it is one more opportunity for us to show our trust and our dependence upon you.

So help us now as we present these offerings before you help us to be cheerful givers even as we consider that we have your presence here with us and we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.