1.     Back in Exodus 3:18, the LORD gave specific instructions to Moses.  The Israelites were to tell Pharaoh that they wanted a “three days’ journey into the wilderness” so that they could sacrifice to the LORD.

2.     When this request was put before Pharaoh, he defiantly refused, just as the LORD had already predicted (Ex. 5:1, 2; cf. 3:19).

3.     Moses asked again, specifically mentioning the “three days’ journey into the desert” (Ex. 5:3; cf. 3:18).

4.     At this point it would be helpful to remind you that in the Bible Pharaoh is a picture and type of the devil, the arch-enemy of God.  Notice Pharaoh says he does not know the LORD.  He does not recognize the LORD’s authority.  He refuses to obey the LORD, etc.

5.     Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”  But stubborn, unregenerate sinners do not hear the voice of God.  They do not know the LORD.  They will not obey Him (Ex. 5:2).  They consider the Word of God nothing but “vain words” (Ex. 5:9b).

6.     The answer of God to Pharaoh’s defiance was to visit the land with pestilence and the sword – the judgment of God would fall upon Egypt (5:3b; cf. 3:18-20).  The Lord sent ten plagues upon Egypt.

7.     The LORD told Moses, “And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go” (Ex. 3:20).

8.     How much better it is to obey God out of love and gratitude than to obey only after He has beaten us down with His rod of judgment!

9.     Bro. Casillas told us about a wicked Spaniard who used to mock and ridicule him and the church.  The man’s wife was a good Christian and her ungodly husband often made her cry with his railings.

10. Finally he had a heart attack, and then he humbled himself and got right with God. 

11. There are many lessons here.  My message this morning is entitled, “Compromising With the World.”   Just as Pharaoh is a picture and type of the devil, Egypt is a picture and type of the world.

I.      BE RELIGIOUS BUT BE WORLDLY

II.  LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN IN THE WORLD

III.           LEAVE YOUR MONEY IN THE WORLD

I.      FIRST COMPROMISE: BE RELIGIOUS BUT BE WORLDLY (8:25).

1.     Pharaoh offered Moses and Aaron four compromises (8:25, 28; 10:11, 24).    The great Irish expositor, CH Mackintosh, referred to these as “Pharaoh’s four subtle objections to the full deliverance and complete separation of God’s people from the land of Egypt” (Notes on the Pentateuch, p. 176).

2.     The first two compromises are very similar and so we will deal with them together: it’s OK to be religious, just do not be too strict about it.  “Ye shall not go very far away” (Ex. 8:28).

3.     The devil says, “Be religious but don’t be fanatical.”   In other words, be religious and worldly at the same time (see Scofield margin and bottom of page 80).

4.     It is a fact that the biggest churches are generally the worldliest churches.  For the most part, people do not want holiness; they want the world.  People do not want strong Bible preaching; they want worldly entertainment.

5.     It has always been this way.  Over 100 years ago Spurgeon said God called him to feed the sheep, not to entertain the goats.  But entertaining goats brings in the big crowds.

6.     The #1 reason we are not seeing more people saved is worldly people look at most church members and see very little difference. 

7.     We hear precious little preaching these days against worldliness.

·  Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world…”  Worldliness is not simply contact with the world, for we all must have some contact with the world.  Worldliness is conforming to the world.

·  James 1:27 says we are to keep ourselves “unspotted from the world.”

·  James 4:4 says, the “friendship of the world is enmity with God.”

·  Galatians 1:4 says, “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world...”

·  First John 2:15 says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

·  Several times in John 15, the Lord Jesus Christ said that the world hates God; the world hates Christ; and the world hates His followers too (cf. 15:18-25).

8.     And yet we have churches today that are compromising with the world!  They despise the doctrine of separation from the world.  I’m glad Moses and Aaron were not like these modern-day preachers!

9.     Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron, “Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land” (Ex. 8:25).   In other words, you can sacrifice to your God, but stay here in Egypt.

10. Satan (represented here by Pharaoh and his magicians) is always seeking to hinder the Lord’s work and is always trying to break down the division between God’s people and the devil’s people (cf. 8:23).

11. The devil wants to blur that line of separation between holy and unholy; saved and unsaved; good and evil, etc.

12. The Israelites could not keep their testimony for God if they would have stayed in Egypt.  And Christians loose their testimony for God when they compromise with the world.

13. If Israel had stayed in the land of Egypt, the God of Israel would have been linked together with the idols of Egypt.  And when Christians compromise with the world, the testimony of God is hindered.

14. How terrible for our holy God to be associated with rock music and this ungodly pop culture!  It is detestable.

15. The world likes a little bit of religion.  They don’t mind if you sing a Christmas carol at Christmas time as long as you jazz it up and keep the liquor flowing. 

16. They don’t mind if people go to church as long as they don’t start going out and trying to win others to Christ.  Some Muslim and Communist countries allow Christians to meet for worship but evangelizing the community is absolutely forbidden.

17. I remember when I got saved and started going to church.  My dad wasn’t surprised to see me go on Sunday morning, but was shocked that I went back on Sunday night and Wednesday night.  He said, “You’re getting too holy!”

18. He was even more surprised when he found out I was tithing.  It is amazing how worldly people think nothing of wasting lots of money on gambling, drinking, smoking and other sinful activities, but they are shocked that Christians contribute to the Lord’s work.

19. Pharaoh’s compromise may sound reasonable but when God gives us clear orders it is never wise to compromise.  God said it was to be a three days’ journey from Egypt (3:18; 5:3).

20. It has been pointed out that “three days” is the distance between death and resurrection.  “Death to the old and then a new life of power and blessing.  Three days’ journey speaks of complete separation from Egypt, with all its wicked ways, pleasures, pastimes, and pursuits.  Be religious, suggests the devil but do not say goodbye to old Egypt” (WG Heslop, The Coming Collapse. P. 127).

21. I have seen certain individuals get under conviction and make a profession of faith.  They get baptized and join the church but they still hold onto some of their worldly companions.

22. May I remind you that this is dangerous?  The Bible plainly states, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord” (II Cor. 6:17).

23. And, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (I Cor. 15:33).

24. Time after time their worldly friends pull them back to their old ways.  They start skipping church services, and eventually they drop out of church altogether.

25. Soon you cannot tell them apart from the devil’s crowd.  They look like them; they talk like them; they act like them, and so on.  It all begins with a little compromise.

II.  SECOND COMPROMISE: LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN IN THE WORLD (10:8-11).

1.     Moses and Aaron were told by Pharaoh that they could go and worship the LORD but they had to leave the children behind (10:8-11).

2.     The devil knows that if parents train their children for God they will grow up to become strong Christians, so the devil does everything he can to keep children away from the things of God – sports, Boy Scouts, visiting relatives, public school, television, worldly music.

3.     Parents: you ought to take your children to Sunday School (on time) every Sunday.  You ought to stay with them for the preaching service.  You ought to come back with them Sunday evening.  You ought to take them with you to prayer meeting.

4.     Develop in them the habit of going to church every time the doors are open (cf. Ex. 10:9).

5.     If you skip Sunday night service, do not be surprised when they start skipping Sunday morning.  If you listen to worldly music, they will listen to rap and hip hop. 

6.     If you smoke cigarettes, do not be surprised if they smoke dope.   You reap what you sow.  Pharaoh told Moses, “Ye that are men” can go, but not the youngsters.  Keep them here in Egypt.

7.     Some parents think they can protect their children from public school brainwashing and the corrupt influence of wicked children from bad homes but very few can.  Little by little the children are being corrupted by a system that is thoroughly anti-Christian.

8.     The devil says, “You can bring your children to church on Sunday but I want them all day long Monday through Friday.”

9.     Then when they get home they are exposed to more of the devil’s program through television, the radio, and the Internet.

10. Then when they graduate from the ungodly high school, send them off to an ungodly college or university.  Then do not be surprised when they turn their back on God.

11. Listen to this recent report:

TELEVISION PROGRAMS TWICE AS SENSUAL AS SEVEN YEARS AGO. Friday Church News Notes, November 18, 2005 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061,
fbns@wayoflife.org, http://www.wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)
“Television programs in the United States contain double the number of sex scenes compared to seven years ago. This was the finding of a Kaiser Family Foundation survey of programs aired on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, WB, PBS Lifetime, TNT, USA, and HBO. The study found that 70 per cent of all shows included some sexual content, averaging about
five scenes with sexual content per hour. That's up from about three scenes per hour in 1998, and from nearly 4" ("Most Sexed-up Shows on Idiot Box," AP, Hindustan Times, Nov. 10). “I will set no wicked
thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me” (Psalm 101:3).”

III.           THIRD COMPROMISE: LEAVE YOUR MONEY IN THE WORLD (EX. 10:24).

1.     At this point, Pharaoh was willing to allow the children to go with Moses, but he said, “only let your flocks and your herds be stayed” (Ex. 10:24).

2.     Flocks and herds represented the wealth of the Israelites.  Today it is money in the bank, our paychecks, our investments, and so on.

3.     Pharaoh said, “Only let your flocks and your herds stay here.”  In other words, leave your possessions in the world.  The devil says, “If you must go and worship, you can go.  And if you must take your children, then go, but leave your wealth in the world.”

4.     We just concluded our missions conference.  Some members earnestly prayed over how much to give to missions.  Some were burdened for the Puerto Rican Baptist College.  Some want to help support the Galis as they go to Chile.

5.     But some members could not care less about missions.  They want to hold on to their wealth.   May I say that this is foolish (Matthew 6:19-34).

6.     Moses would not compromise, and neither should we (Ex. 10:26).

CONCLUSION:

1.     Pharaoh was angry with Moses (10:28).  The devil does not like it when Christians refuse to compromise.   They will call us names, threaten us, and slander us.

2.     Pharaoh did not realize it but he was pronouncing his own doom (Ex. 10:28, 29).