The Inquest - Johnny Elmore 5-8-05

Wild beloved, we've come to the last service in this series of

gospel meetings. And it certainly has been my

pleasure to be with you. These few days and to speak

concerning the word of God. Well, lady asked me one time.

She said, well, when the preachers come and preach for

us, that it is so encouraging. But she said, I often wondered

who encourages the preachers? Well, I don't know about others,

but I can say from my own experience that when I see

people consistently attending the services and doing the

things that we believe the new, It teaches them to do.

That's the thing that encourages me and encourages me to go on.

I want to read from the passages that we have on the board here.

I'd like to read first, Exodus, 9 and verse 16.

And in this place we hear the Lord saying to Moses And in very

deed for this cause have I raised the up for to show Envy

my power and that my name may be declared throughout all the

Earth? And then the passage in the 14th

chapter of Exodus and verse 30 which says thus the Lord saved

Israel that day out of the hand of Egypt of the Egyptians and

Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.

That will be the introduction for our reading tonight for our

study. We've had a marvelous day today

and it's just been also thrilling and so wonderful.

I don't know how the meeting today could have turned out any

better unless we had seen numerous people obeying, the

gospel that would probably been the only thing that could have

made it better, but it's wonderful to see the house

almost feel this afternoon and people waiting expectantly to

hear the word. God.

So many times, I could only wish that I were capable of supplying

that need better. But nonetheless, we are met this

evening to worship, God to study his word and to call upon his

name. So, at this time, let us go to

God In Prayer. In Exodus 14 and 19.

We read these words and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the

seashore. I believe that probably is verse

30. This is a rather ghastly and

gruesome sight. And the soldiers of the once

proud, Army of Egypt are lying dead upon the seashore.

There are all sorts of positions these dead men, some have their

heads pillared peacefully upon their arms.

As if asleep others have their faces half buried in the sand.

Others still lie, prone upon their backs with bits of seaweed

in their hair and their sightless errors, staring and

Terror at nothing. They're very much alike, these

corpses but there's one corpse that is different.

And when we look at his Rich costume in which he is dressed,

were able to discern the difference.

Look at the jewel fingers. There's no Crown now upon its

brow, there's no scepter in that nerveless hand.

Yes, it's easy to Guess that this corpse, this pocket that

death has turned outside and emptied was once a king.

Yes, this is the body of pharaoh, the one-time ruler.

Of all the land of Egypt. But here he lies today among the

meanest of his soldiers, he spoiled and on kingly fashion

upon his face, as if the Sea of just spit him out and sure knows

you and discuss. And now comes the big question

that we want to answer this afternoon.

How came this famous Egyptian here he was once the king, you

know, he was ruler over the proudest and the greatest nation

in the world at that time. And here, we find him dead.

He died away from whom he died, a violent death.

So I proposed this afternoon to hold an inquest and concern

ourselves with how he came to die.

He didn't leave Egypt and Mark in a March into the Red Sea for

no purpose at all. He never intended that life

should end thus nor is he here because his enemy Israel?

Oil has proven stronger than himself.

What's the cause? The question is answered by the

voice of God and we read it from Exodus 9 and 16 for this.

Cause have I raised the up that I might Shew forth my power in

thee? Have you noticed, what?

This strange text says and implies without the least

equivocation it says that God raised this man Pharaoh up that

he might show his power. In him and that purpose, he

accomplished. This piece of rottenness has not

been thrown upon the seashore by the hand of man as we look at

him, we see in him a monument of the power of God and strange to

say, he's not the power, the Monument of God's power to save.

But rather the power of God to utterly wreck and Destroy and in

his destruction, God tells us that he has sir Served his

purpose. Now, believe that you will agree

with me that this is an amazing statement.

The teaching seems to be that God raised this man up that he

might glorify himself by making a complete and utter wreck of

him. And I wonder if that could be

the truth, we agree. I suppose, all of us who believe

in the Bible that God has a plan for every life.

In fact, all nature tells Silver planning.

God all Revelation teaches that God is the kind of a God, who

plans and we have the message direct from the lips of the Lord

as well, when he said as my father, hath sent me even so I

send you. But in admitting that, God, has

plans for every life, can we believe that he plans for some

to go wrong and some to go, right?

Can we believe that he plans for one to become a Judas and the

other to become a John, is it the purpose of God, that one

shall develop into a Moses while another develops into that

miserable distorted. Wreck that we call pharaoh.

Well in other words is Judas as much a part of the plan as John

if so let me tell you folks we are of all men most miserable

because we have a wicked God who consigns one man to one end and

another man to a different end at his choosing and Disposal,

but we know that's not the case. Listen, God never planned that.

Any man should go wrong. The About tells us over in the

letter of the Apostle Peter that God is not willing that any

should perish, but that all should come to repentance God's.

The eternal lover he loved Moses, but he loved Pharaoh, no

less. And Judas was his dear to God's

heart, I believe as was the Apostle John and whatever

failure they made of their lives, whatever failure you and

I make of Our Lives. We do not make because God

forces us Us to do. So we do it because of our own

willfulness because of our Wicked Rebellion against God.

In other words though, God plans, your life and mine God,

of course, cannot in the very nature of things, Force us to

enter into his plan. You who are fathers and mothers

this afternoon, realized that many parents have beautiful

plans for their children. Only to realize that those

children are going to despise those plans because our children

are not ourselves, they have independent Wheels.

God has given them free moral agency and so they have the

capacity for entering into our purposes for them and thus,

bringing us joy unspeakable, and they also have the Today for

despising those purposes and breaking our hearts.

But then how do we explain this strange passage of scripture for

this cause have I raised the up that I might Shew forth my power

in thee, because it is a fact that this death in the Red Sea

was not an accidental death. In fact, this corpse Europe on

the beach is not here by Lucky chance.

The King was flung here by the power of a disappointed and

grieved and rejected God. And he lies here dead upon the

shore according to the deliberate plan and purpose of

God. But while this is true, we need

to keep this big fact in mind, even though Pharaoh lies here,

according to the purpose and the plan of God, this was not God's

highest purpose for him, but Pharaoh resisted and rejected

every noble and worthy purpose that God had in his life and by

his own Rebellion, he made it impossible.

But for God to realize any purpose in him, save the last

and the worst. Do you remember that story over

in the book of Jeremiah? Who one day went down to The

Potter's House and the Prophet Jeremiah said to him, arise and

go down to The Potter's House. And there I will cause thee to

hear my word. So Jeremiah went down and he

heard the Message, he arrived within The Potter's House and

there were three objects that immediately drew his attention.

There was a man working, there was the Potter, and there was

the instrument with which he worked, which was the potter's

wheel. And there was a substance upon

which he worked, which was the clay.

And in The Potters hand, we're told the clay was misshapen and

unsightly. The cup was not yet finished in

The Potters hand but there was a place where it was finished.

And that was in the mind of the Potter.

The Potter could already see the finished product in his mind,

and he was trying to make the cup according to the plan that

he had in his mind. But we read that the cup was

marred in the making. That is there was something in

the clay that resisted the hand of the Potter now.

What did he do with that marred cup?

That was made, we would have expected him to throw it away.

But he did not, he made it again.

What a gospel that is for failing in sinful men like

ourselves, how glorious it is that when we resist God's

purpose and we all but wreck ourselves, God doesn't throw us

away, he will make us again. And truly, we would be a

hopeless race, but for the fact that we have a mighty God, who

is able to remake us, even when we have rebelled against him,

Yes. And have thwarted his blessed

plans for us. He made it again, but notice

this, he made it again. Another vessel a different

vessel. He changed his plan for this

latter vessel, and he realized that he couldn't make it

according, to that fine ideal that he originally had in his

mind that one refuse to realize the best, therefore, he made it

into another vessel, he sought to make it real.

How's the second-best? And there's a truth of

tremendous importance here, friends that we're prone to

forget. And the truth is that after we

have rejected and resisted God for days, for months or years,

listen, God cannot make of us what he could have made.

If we had entered into his plans from the beginning, and if you

reject God's best for you, then he tries to get you to realize

Why's the second best and of course if you reject that, then

he tries to bring you to the next best.

But remember this, God cannot in the very nature of things.

Make as much out of a fraction of a life as he can out of a

hole of a life. Now suppose the clay upon which

the Potter had been working was marred again.

Well again he would have undertaken to have made it into

another vessel but all While he's working with that clay,

don't you see? It becomes less and less

plastic, less and less of Verve subservient to his purposes and

all the while it's going to be more and more difficult for the

Potter to shape it, according to his purpose and then the time

would inevitably come when it would no longer being shaped at

all. And then what would be the

result all you have to do to determine that is to step out in

The Potters backyard. Hard and they're in Potter's

field around you lies broken, pottery and shattered

earthenware. Why is it there?

Not, because the Potter made Vessels for the stupid purpose

of just breaking them to pieces. They're there because there was

something in the clay that so resisted the hand of the Potter

that he was able to make nothing of them, but be shattered and

misshapen and broken pieces of pottery.

Now, that's the story of Roll the king of Egypt, God had a

noble purpose in this man's life to begin with and he gave him

every opportunity. He brought the bear upon Pharaoh

all that infinite love and mercy could bring to bear to get

pharaoh to be a good man. The reason Farrell Ended as he

did is not because God didn't love him not because God didn't

do his infinite best to save him.

It was because cuz Pharaoh resisted and resisted and

rebelled and rebel till at last he threw himself, a corpse upon

a sea shore in a distant land and the message we hear from his

clammy lips, is this look at me and see what a terrible thing.

It is to rebel against God, behold me and see the tragic

failure of the man that persistently throws himself in

Wicked Madness against the plans and the purpose.

Is of the Lord God Almighty. Look now, how hard God tried to

make something of pharaoh in the first place?

He gave him a great and a faithful Minister Pharaoh had

the privilege of knowing Moses, one of the greatest men and one

of the greatest leaders that is ever grace, the face of the

Earth, he had an opportunity of hearing about the greatest

individual. The world has ever seen Seen he

threw himself away, did Pharaoh? He chose God's worst instead of

God's best, but he didn't do it because he didn't know better.

No, he chose God's worst instead of God's best.

Neither are you wasting your life?

Because you don't know better if you are.

If you've not had a teacher as great, as Moses still, you've

been warned, haven't you? And in your sin, you are without

excuse. Well, God gave Pharaoh a chance

to cooperate with him to help him in Saving Israel, in making

Israel of a great nation. Moses first word to Pharaoh, was

this the god of Israel? Saith.

Let my people go. Now, pharaohs answer to this.

Demand was Hardy enough. He answers.

Who is the god of Israel? I do not know him.

And he didn't know God even though he might have known him

but you don't God didn't throw him away.

After this one chance on the contrary, he cave payroll and

ample opportunity to know him and when they sinned and view

God brought his infinite energies into play Wonder after

wonder, he worked in the presence of pharaoh.

By the hand of Moses that first, these wonders were imitated by

The Magician's. These fakes with their cunning

ways, made it easy for pharaoh to resist God for a while.

You see, they help the king to close.

His Royal eyes to the truth. They helped him start on his

decision of rebellion, but the magician's were soon outdone

because Moses began to perform Wonders that they couldn't

imitate. And they themselves were forced

to believe in the presence and the might and the Do you have

god Jehovah and they who had helped their King to go wrong?

Tried to turn him to the right way by their acknowledgement of

the truth. They said it's the Finger of God

you know it's easier to lead a man to stray though than it is

to lead him back and it's easier for you by your Godless and

worldly life to lead your children to despise Christ in

the church than it is to lead them back after they've gone

astray. Ray.

Hey we'll listen to The Magician's when they counseled

him to do wrong but he turned a deaf ear to them.

When they counseled him to do right then followed that series

of plagues upon Egypt that were always preceded by the demand of

God, through the lips of Moses. Let my people go.

That they may serve me. You see what God was demanding

of pharaoh. Listen, it's the same demand

that he makes of you and me, and that is complete.

And utter obedience to his will, that's all he's commanding us to

surrender ourselves to him, to enter into his plan and purpose,

for our lives. And the one thing that God

wanted was, the one thing that Pharaoh did not want, but he was

becoming afraid. And so he proposed to

compromise, finally, Pharaoh, in his fright tells Moses that he

will obey. He will let the people go.

That is, he said, I will that part of them go.

I'll let the men go. But you leave the children here?

Pharaoh new so long as he kept the children in Egypt.

That's how long he would keep Israel in Egypt.

And the devil knows today, that just as long as our homes remain

unchristian, just that long, will the world remain

unchristian. Now, what to tell you something?

Folks will never evangelize the World by simply seeking to save

And adults generation. We must give a god, a chance

that our children are the cause of righteousness, is going to be

defeated. We know that.

So, if we'd kept all of our children, the church would be

three or four times as large as it is today.

But you know, if we will save the child will save the world

then Pharaoh offered a second compromise after that was

rejected. He said I'll let you and the

children go. But you must leave your cattle

and your sheep. Eep.

You must leave all your flocks and your herds all yes, you can

go into Canaan if you will, but leave your business in Egypt and

you know the devil today is like that he's perfectly willing that

you and I be just as Pious as we want to be on Sunday provided,

we get a forget all about it on Monday.

You see. He's willing for you to be

religious. If you can find your religion to

the church, Don't tell you something, a religion that

doesn't permeate and purify and uplift, and sanctify business.

And business relations Is Not the religion of Jesus Christ.

Now, I'll tell you something else.

If I had a kind of a business that I couldn't mix the teaching

of the Lord, Jesus Christ with it.

I've changed my business. If I had the kind of pleasure

that I couldn't mix the religion of the Lord, Jesus Christ with

it. I'd change my Recreation habits.

Yes, sir. Then Pharaoh said, well, I'll

let the people go but they must not go far.

Why was that for the very human reason that he wanted the

opportunity of getting them back?

He said I'll obey God but I don't want to make too.

I don't want to promise to make that obedience permanent.

You see, I want to be where I can be within easy reach of

them. And you've seen plenty of

instances of that. Here's a man who decides that he

wants to be a Christian. But he doesn't want to be a

member of the church. He wants to see how he gets

along. First, you know, that kind of a

man is already making provision for going back.

Take up thy bed, Jesus said to that paralyzed man over there

that the for brought to him take up thy bed and walk, he wants us

to make a complete break with the past and the last we do,

we're not going to make a success of living the Christian

life. But then the plagues grow worse,

Pharaoh is becoming more and more frightened.

And while the scare is on, he promises to be good.

And the obey the Lord unconditionally.

There was a terrible storm. You remember, the hailstones

fail like shrapnel the lightning dropped from the clouds and

played along the Earth and Terror ripped Pharaoh's, heart.

He sent for Moses and when Moses comes, he tells him, I've seen

this time, I will let the people go but all, when the, when the

storm ceases and the sun shines through, then he's quite a show.

Ashamed of his weakness and he's so ashamed that he forgets all

together, the promise that he's made, when the fear of death was

upon him, this is a side of human nature.

That's a little bit disgusting to any gospel preacher and to

any right-thinking person yet we dare not shut our eyes to it.

There are many people who have acted for all the world as

Pharaoh acted. And they've done it with all of

the light that he had an even more.

You know, I don't know of a man Who is more in danger of being

ultimately lost than that man who never cares for religion,

except when he's badly scared. Because the truth of the matter,

is that a man of that kind doesn't care anything about the

goodness of God at all, not even in his moments of most abject

Terror. Does he truly want to be saved?

He just simply wants to escape the results of sin.

That's all he doesn't want to pay the penalty for doing wrong.

He wants to defeat the Ends of Justice why he's not interested

in being good and pure and true. He's just interested in keeping

out of hell. That's all how patient God was

with. Pharaoh, we're amazed at it

until we think how infinitely patient he's been with us by

storm by Black Knight by adversity.

After adversity, God is doing his best to bring Pharaoh back

from the Red Sea. He's doing all he can to turn

him away from committing suicide.

Aside and Body and Soul but pharaohs like some of us.

Hey Rose seemed absolutely greedy for damnation.

He seemed completely banned on working out his own destruction

and after the king had broken one vow after another and it

lied and lied and lied again, God brought the last dark

Providence into each life. He made one final effort to save

him from his ruin. Robots called to kneel by the

coffin of his firstborn son and his hard heart seemed soften At

Last by the grave of the Crown Prince.

He made a solemn vow that he would obey God and he said about

putting the vowel into execution at once.

The children of Israel were not only allowed to go, but they

were hurried out of the land of Egypt At Last At Last.

We say with what Infinite Experience, the man is brought

to obey, God. God.

But would you believe it? The grass hasn't even grown

green on the grave of his boy until he forgets his vow and

turns back to the old life again.

Oh what a grip sin gets on us, how blind we become if we

persistently and and continually refused to follow the light.

So if a little brush, the tears out of his eyes gathered his

army and set out after the Already host of Israel and I see

the hustle and the hurry of setting out.

I see the look of hate on the Kings face as he comes with

inside of his one-time slaves. Probably he laughs a mirthless

laugh as he sees their predicament.

Oh, I have them now they're shot in on either side.

On either side, there's a trackless Wilderness before the

is the Red Sea and behind them is me and my Army, what?

Sweet Revenge. He's going to have, but look,

something has happened. There's a path through the Red

Sea. These hundred slaves are

Marching In all, but it doesn't matter because wherever Israel

can go, the Egyptians can go. So he and his army and March in

behind, they keep the Israelites inside and now the distance,

they see that the last Israelite has reached dry land, but look,

There's a great shriek and the Seas collapse.

The Waters of come together again.

The waves or about these struggling soldiers, like liquid

hate, the King has forgotten, his men are madly trying to save

themselves, a jeweled hand flashes in the light for a

moment. There's an oath cry, go and then

silence, and the hungry sea has its its prey Payroll, why are

you here? And if those dead lips could

speak, he would say this. I'm here because I persistently

refused to obey, God, he offered me the best and I spurned it and

spurned it again. Until last, he had no option,

but to throw me here, he did it because I made it impossible for

him to do anything else. And as I look at this, wreak

upon the Sands of the seashore. I think how different the story

might have ended all listen, this man could have had a part

in the making of Israel of A great nation, he might have been

associated with Moses in giving this new nation to the world, he

might even now be in the in the fellowship of Moses among the

tall sons of the morning, or the difference between this man.

And the great man, Moses is the fact that God purposed is not in

the fact that God purposed evil for one and good for the other.

But it's rather in this that one was obedient to the heavenly

vision. Vision as the Apostle Paul would

say and the other was not obedient.

The Apostle Paul, could say the grace that was bestowed upon me

was not in vain, but this man resisted, and resisted and kept

resisting till he ran by every blockade that God had put in his

path and he plunged headlong into destruction.

Now this afternoon, let me tell you this.

That God. Has put some blockades in your

path to keep you from the pit of Hell to keep you from making a

terrible mistake with your lives, God's given us the Bible,

he's given us the church. He's given us gospel preaching,

he's given us sweet. Encouraging songs that encourage

us to obey the Lord, and to do his will, he's given us Brethren

and Sisters in Christ who pray for us.

In many cases he's given us a devout mother and father who

encouraged us to live the Christian Life.

And at last when the Christians reward, This afternoon, I may

speak to someone who's never yet obeyed.

The gospel who has resisted God's purpose and God's plan for

you. Wouldn't you resist, no longer,

wouldn't you yield yourself to the tender pleadings of the Son

of God who stood over there? And even though he was rejected

and rebuffed still with outstretched arms and tender

voice and beckoning hand. He said come unto me all ye that

labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke. Upon you and learn of me for.

I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your

souls. For my yoke is easy.

My burden is light. That's what Jesus wants for you

this afternoon, he wants you to be a part of that great company

of the redeemed who have washed their robes and made them white

in the blood of the Lamb. He wants you to have a part in

that in that City. That hath foundations, that old

Abraham was looking for a back Yonder.

When he said he searched for a city, which hath foundations,

whose Builder and maker is God. I don't know how you stand with

God this afternoon. The Apostle Paul said no man

knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in

him. So I don't know what's in your

mind. I don't know what your spiritual

stance with God is But there are two people that do know that's

God. And you, you know, whether or

not believing on the Lord you have ever repented of your sins.

That means you changed your mind and set your face toward heaven

and home. You know, whether or not you've

ever stood before me and confess that Jesus is the Christ, the

son of God. And you know, whether you've

ever been baptized for the remission or the Forgiveness of

sins. If you haven't done those

things, then when you stand at a guilty distance from God and you

need to obey him while time and opportunity affords.

Maybe I speak to those who have heard in some respect, who need

very much to make wrongs, right? There's a guilty distance

between you and God, and that won't be resolved.

Until that matter is cleared up, repent of those wrong, confess

them and seek God's forgiveness. We thank you for listening to

our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans.

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