Our text, we find in the book of
Isaiah, and we find it in chapter 31.
Isaiah 31 from verse 1.
Woe to those who go down to Egypt
for help and rely on horses, who trust
in chariots because they are many, and in
horsemen because they are very strong, but who
do not look to the Holy One of
Israel nor seek the Lord.
Yet He also is wise and will bring
disaster and will not call back His words,
but will arise against the house of evildoers
and against the help of those who work
iniquity.
Now the Egyptians are mere men and not
God, and their horses are flesh and not
spirit.
When the Lord stretches out His hand, both
he who helps will fall, and he who
is helped will fall down.
They all will perish together.
We'll read thus far.
The theme for this message
is, woe
to those who go down to Egypt.
In English, woe to those who go down.
Woe to those who
go down.
We could ignore
the
rest of the text and just stay upon
these first few words, which simply say, woe
to those who are on the downward way
and who are not going upward, who are
not going forward, but who are backsliding.
So right from the beginning, let's ask you
the question, are you going up spiritually or
are you going down?
You might say, no, I'm very stable and
on a plateau.
No, you can never stay put.
If you're on the same level, then you're
automatically going down.
And God cries for you and says, oh,
woe to you who are going down spiritually.
It is a heartbreaking thing to observe a
person who is not going forward spiritually.
And as you look at them, you sense
that they're going down.
I wonder where you are spiritually.
We've heard of certain times like with Dirk
and Ruth being married for five years.
How have you progressed over these five years?
Maybe it's 25 years.
Where are you spiritually?
What growth has there been?
In the letter
to
Hebrews, God says that the Lord says there
are those who should be teachers already if
it went according to the time that they
were crucified.
But no, they still need to be nursed
with milk.
Now can you just picture the scene of
a man with a beard already having to
suckle milk?
In his mother's arms.
And in nappies.
Quite a picture.
But spiritually, many are in that category.
If it went according to time, they should
be helping others, but they still need to
be helped.
Why so?
How is it possible that a person who's
been on the road of faith, they've been
a Christian for 10 years, 20, 30 years,
yet they're still bumping from disaster to disaster.
They still are being deceived and it boggles
the mind as to how such a thing
is possible.
I'd ask Esther just to bring some of
my notes here which I'd forgotten in my
office.
I remember there's a story of two students.
These two students were at Duke University.
And one day it was to be a
certain drama or pantomime and these students dressed
up as devils, blue devils.
And so they were walking along on the
way to the place where this was to
happen.
Now, on the way, it was unfortunately a
place with many offices and buildings and they
walked into the wrong building.
And in that building they had a prayer
meeting.
The Christians were there.
The saved ones.
They were there and had a prayer meeting.
So here were these students.
They'd walked into the wrong service.
They'd meant to go into that drama thing
and here they were suddenly in the prayer
meeting.
Now, those who were praying heard the noise
of these students coming in and they lifted
up their heads and saw these devils coming
in.
And they said,
And
they
said, Now,
one of the ladies who was very well
dressed and was also showing off her clothing
and her jewelry, she tried to shuffle away
through the pew.
And then it was heard as she shouted
out in fear.
And they screamed in terror.
Now,
These two men forgot and didn't understand the
reason why they were all running away.
And when they saw this woman screaming out
in terror, they went to her to console
her and embrace her.
And she screeched even more.
She lifted up her hand and said, And
in that split second, in that moment, the
truth came to life.
And she says, And by the way, these
25 years I've been on your side.
That's what's called a moment of truth.
A moment of truth will come to you,
dear brother and sister.
It will come to you, the moment of
truth.
It will happen one day, whether you like
it or not.
You can be 25 or 52 years old,
but that moment will come in your life.
She thought she was a Christian.
She had claimed that she was a Christian
for the 25 years.
I think she wasn't a believer at all.
And yet, if you look at their lives,
you've got to say that the evidence is
that they've never been a Christian.
Now, we've heard of these in our text,
who went down.
Where to?
To Egypt.
Why?
Because they were counseled in that way.
They were those who advised them like that.
Their reason for going down to Egypt?
They were looking for help.
They sought help from the Egyptians.
That's why I say one marvels that people
can go back after so many years, they
make no spiritual progress.
Here we find them going back down to
Egypt.
They should have remembered that it was from
Egypt that they had been redeemed.
They were the ones the Israelites had cried
out years before for redemption, and God sent
Moses, and they were led out of Egypt.
Now, we mean this in a spiritual and
not a geographical sense.
Children go to school and are taught that,
well, sex is just as natural as can
be, it's just your instinct, you just do
it.
And so the children are counseled and advised
that that's the way that things just are,
that's the norm.
Many, many schools today, most of them are
simply Egypt.
The teachings, the philosophy of it is just
Egypt.
And you find people advising each other with
the wisdom of Egypt.
And so people easily accept these deceitful ways
and that you can be financially dishonest and
do what you please and get away with
it.
One person who had been with us and
was a preacher, very eloquent too, he would
say, but you've got to separate business, your
business life is a completely separate issue, Christianity
must be kept out of it.
Business is
business,
and Christianity is Christianity.
Well, if your faith hasn't reached all parts
of your being, including your pocket, then your
faith hasn't gotten hold of you, you still
have Egypt in you.
And God says, woe to you if you
go down to Egypt, because that is the
way down leads there.
And I'd ask the question, why did they
go down to Egypt?
You see, the
context of this is that they were seeking
help and military support against the Assyrians because
the king of Assyria was threatening to come
with all his armies and they wanted assistance.
And as the enemies approached, God's people said,
well, who are we anyway?
We can't stand, we cannot resist, we've got
no chance against these.
They saw themselves as too few, too weak,
and so they began to shake with fear
and trembling, saying we can't conquer these people.
Just look at their strength, their weapons, we
cannot resist such a mighty army.
And they saw themselves as being in dire
danger.
So down they went to Egypt to seek
military assistance, help us they said, Assyria is
going to swallow us.
Because the Assyrians at that time were renowned
for their chariots, their horse-pulled chariots, and
they were famous for it.
The archaeologists have uncovered some of the art
of that era.
And found that these chariots of the Assyrians
were being pulled by three horses in the
front and there were also some horses behind
them.
Now Palestine and these areas where the children
of the Lord were living were just hills
and dusty places where horses couldn't graze.
But in Assyria and in Egypt there were
these wonderful grassy plains where the horses were
able to be reared.
And as they looked at these chariots of
the Assyrians, they said, These chariots and these
fierce military machines, they felt so incapable of
being able to resist them and they said
that they have no hope.
They felt completely useless.
How would you feel facing such an enemy?
And so they counselled together and they shared
ideas and they said we cannot resist them.
We are going to be annihilated.
We are going to be completely finished off.
They saw this giant Satan in front of
them.
And so as they discussed it seemed only
logical to them that they should go down
to Egypt where they too had these wonderful
chariots and wisdom.
They were known for their intellect and intelligence.
So the Egyptians were known for their strength
and for their wisdom.
Remember that Moses was trained in all the
wisdom of Egypt.
And so God's people said well that's the
end of us.
That's just going to be our finishing off
by them.
We are going to come to an utter
end.
Maybe you're faced with an enormous difficulty.
Perhaps it's a sick child.
Some obstacle that seems such a mountain before
you.
You say well it's hopeless, it's useless, what
can I do?
Maybe your friends influence you.
And your friends influence you.
To be even more afraid.
And so you'll find that there are those
who are counsel will go to those who
can see into the future.
Those who can prophesy for you.
Those who are able to use their occult
powers to give you some advice.
There's nobody who
doesn't come to a point where they'll say
what shall I do?
Perhaps you're from a pagan family.
Perhaps they worship the ancestors, the spirits of
the dead.
And you are there now as a Christian.
And they threaten you.
They say if you don't participate in these
rituals we're going to hit you, we'll hurt
you.
If you don't go with us to this
certain place we'll fix you.
I remember about five years ago Visited by
somebody from overseas Quite
an old person, a mature person, grey haired,
wise.
The grey hair should show it.
He said He
said He
said
to me I noticed that you people are
trying to build a water factory But I
tell you, you don't stand a chance in
the market.
Look, there's Coca-Cola and Nestle in the
water industry.
Who are you?
You small fry.
You don't stand a chance.
You're just a little mission.
This is the Goliath before you.
Don't have a chance.
Even if you try and enter into the
market They'll just squeeze you out of it
and squash you like a fly.
And he said And
he
said And
let them buy the equipment and be in
charge of it And you people can get
a few cents a bottle And you can
get some commission But let it be a
negotiated deal.
Another businessman A multi-millionaire He
said He said to me Hey, I can
see what's going on.
You can never succeed like this.
He said What
you should rather do If you want to
make a success of ministry Is you need
to raise funds You need to go to
Christians and ask them to donate into the
fund And then you'll be able to propagate
the gospel more effectively To invest their money.
Do it like that.
Because if you really want this water factory
to succeed You're going to need at least
33 million rands worth of equipment And where
will you get it from?
Now, that's just in the business arena Where
one must be careful It can be in
many other things Maybe just your own family
life at home There are problems and you're
wondering about it You're pondering as to what
the way out is How are you going
to handle your children You're afraid of this
and scared of that And people do come
with their advice Now,
she said, I've heard, it's been rumored abroad
that you're wanting to start a water factory.
What I've done is I've arranged an appointment
for you tomorrow at a certain very wealthy
businessman owns a number of factories and you
talk to him, let him loan you some
money.
That's how to do it.
That's how to succeed.
Now listen, you preachers in particular, you who
love money and worried by money all the
time, listen to the application of this.
God calls you.
How will I live?
Where will the money come from?
Where will the food come from?
And that's just a sign of the time
of people who can't trust God.
I don't force you to live by faith.
It's not all people, if I live by
faith, trusting the Lord, you say hello, you
don't, you don't trust the Lord.
Look, there are so many things, so many
things.
You've got so much money.
That's not true.
And secondly, I didn't start like that.
I
don't
want to disappoint
the elite, the elite, the elite, the elite,
the elite, the old lady, and seeing that
she had already made the appointment, I then
went to the appointment the next day.
We were, we dressed very well for the
occasion because we were told it's a top
class venue.
It was a glass hotel.
You should have seen what it was like
and the crockery and cutlery and they served
us excellent food.
The thought came to me, how much would
this food cost?
It must be in the hundreds.
And then this businessman said, now that lady
has spoken to me and told me that
you want to build a water factory.
And we would like to help you with
it.
Here's something, here's something to help you with
and they gave 500 Swiss francs.
Now, that amount was less than the value
of the meal we had been eating.
You see, the council of
people.
Now, it is also true that if you're
really in need, don't go to a rich
man, go to a poor man.
They are far more generous.
There are the exceptions.
There are, there is Job, Abraham and men
like that who despite their wealth, they are
also men of God.
And God showed me, do not put your
faith in man.
And don't look to man before the Bible.
So you need to learn also, Africa needs
to know, it doesn't help to have a
culture of entitlement where you say, well, I
want this, I want that.
It'll never enrich you and never make you
prosperous.
It doesn't help to go down to Egypt
and say, well, this is what I want.
The same mistake that Israel and Judah made
again and again, seeking from the armor flesh.
It doesn't help to have a culture
of entitlement where you say, well, I want
this, I want that.
It doesn't help to go down to Egypt
and say, well, this is what I want.
It doesn't help to have a culture of
entitlement where you say, well, I want this,
I
want that.
It doesn't help to go down to Egypt
and say, well, this is what I want.
It doesn't help to go down to Egypt
and say, well, this is what I want.
Your trust is in chariots because of the
quantity of them and the many horsemen.
And you look at these very strong nations,
but you do not look to
the Holy One of Israel.
You do not want to seek the Lord.
Africa doesn't want America at all, but they
certainly like their money.
And it's true, they are very powerful.
There isn't any nation as powerful as they
are.
I was hearing just these days how...
I was hearing these days how the British
are marveling at how the Americans are developing
a robotic warfare department where they predict soldiers
in 10 years' time that the soldiers that
fight will be robots.
But these robots can
calculate and make decisions quicker than humans.
These robots never go on strike.
They don't need a holiday.
It's not scared.
These robots are completely fearless.
They're just given their commands that are programmed
into them, and they just go into battle
fearlessly.
They are machines, after all, not humans.
Now, if there are such soldiers, how can
you ever resist such military force if they
are able to just sit at home and
send robots out to fight the warfare?
After all, there's always complaining and criticism because
of the loss of life of those soldiers.
And then you go and trust in such
nations.
In Africa, in America, in Spain, in England,
in Germany, in France, in Spain, in Spain,
in Spain, in Spain, in Spain, in Spain,
in Spain, in Spain Now, then you
go and beg for money from America, from
England, from other nations, always asking for money,
and what happens?
Lots of money comes, but it just doesn't
help, and there's no progress.
Why?
Because you're looking to Egypt for help, trusting
in the strength of horses and chariots instead
of looking to God.
and despite the money that you're going to
ask for, well, it just doesn't assist, it
doesn't really help, and you end up being
beggarly nations, like hobos in the street.
And God says of his people, they do
not want me, they do not look to
me, the Holy One of Israel, instead they
trust in Egypt for their help.
I do not look to the Holy One
of Israel.
Read in the papers.
One reason the newspapers all the time of
the renewed efforts continually to seek more money
to be poured into Africa, but when will
Africa say we are going to trust in
God, from now on we will look to
God?
And so at any nation, whatever race, they
fall into this type of beggarly mentality.
Even some who are called of the Lord,
they say the Lord has called them, they
want to launch out in faith, but they
say we can't support ourselves financially, who will
provide for us?
Do you think God can send you somewhere
where his grace cannot keep you?
That he will call you and not provide
the means?
Unless of course you've called yourself, and you've
commissioned yourself, then of course you're in a
different category.
If I, as a human, hire somebody to
work in our kitchen or in the garden
and pay them their dues, isn't God going
to make sure that those that he hires,
those that he calls, he will certainly look
after them?
Yes, Paul also had his tent making while
he was in the ministry, but he did
it so that he could financially support himself
and those who were with him.
Remember?
Remember the parable of the sower, where the
Lord Jesus warned about the good seed that
is sown, and then weeds and thorns spring
up and choke the good seed.
And the Lord said that is the cares
of this world that so crush a person
that the good seed cannot come forth because
of the worries and the wants of this
world, worrying about food and that, instead of
trusting God.
So to you who are in ministry, look
to God for your sustenance.
He will care for you.
Don't rely on people.
Don't be like those who say, well, I
think I'll preach in that place.
It's more lucrative there.
That other place I get far less and
the people are so poor there.
God says these Egyptians are but men.
They are not God.
They are horses of flesh and not spirit.
The Lord says, but when he stretches out
his hand.
God says, because you trusted in flesh, in
verse 3, he who helps God will strike
him and he will fall.
And he who has helped will fall too.
End of verse 3, and they will all
perish together.
If you could just learn one thing, trust
God and not men.
No horses, no chariots.
Learn to trust God, Jehovah.
But God says they don't want to.
If only they would remember what God had
spoken to them in the past.
In Deuteronomy, chapter 17, verse 16.
God says, do not trust in Egypt and
the horses because God has said to you,
you shall not return that way again.
God expressly told the children of Israel not
to trust in the horses of Egypt.
And not to go to Egypt.
He says, I led you out of it,
don't go back to it.
They had forgotten.
Dear Christian friends, don't forget what God has
told you in the past.
Don't forget your calling.
Don't forget what you heard him telling you.
Many have forsaken us and gone back.
Left their calling and they forgot where God
had called them and what God had said.
And they went back.
You too may forget.
If they would just remember what God told
them in the beginning.
And what they said.
But they commit the same sin as Israel.
They don't stand on what God had said
in the beginning.
Their vision is only filled with obstacles and
horses and chariots.
And they are so obsessed by it that
they cannot see God anymore.
And what was their sin?
They did not want to pay the price
of looking to God.
And repenting of their sinful ways.
If we have problems, it's good to seek
help.
That we must never bypass God or his
word and what he has spoken to us.
Or
the
directions he gave to us in the beginning.
But then, a pious demon can enter a
person.
He says, oh, I only believe in God.
I don't listen to men.
If you don't listen to the right men,
I can guarantee you, you listen to the
wrong men.
And these people, in the end, had nothing
but man-made objects.
These people had nothing, in the end, but
man-made objects.
Objects they made themselves.
They produced themselves.
They were serving idols.
Such as gold, silver, money, fame,
success.
Those were their idols.
It was very interesting to me these days,
I read about Saint Augustine.
He was born around about 354.
I say, regarding intellect, he was just on
another level.
Paul, firstly, and then Saint Augustine, secondly.
They are those who comment and say, well,
they were never such great thinkers like they
were.
He was born in Africa, northern Africa.
Now, his mother was a godly woman and
reared him in the faith.
I wonder you women, you wives, are you
bringing up your children for God?
Or are you helping them along in their
evil ways?
She cried day and night and wept for
her son, till one priest comforted her and
said, Look, God won't overlook and forget those
tears.
You can rest assured your son, he'll still
get saved.
She cried day and night and wept for
her son, he'll still get saved.
You can rest assured your son, he'll still
get saved.
She cried day and night and wept for
her son, he'll still get saved.
You see, you heard what Ernie read, what
that man said.
It's still the old gospel that saves us
from our sin.
We don't want theological studies that don't teach
us.
Your pride has got to be dealt with.
Your bitterness has got to dealt with.
Till God dealt with him, with sin in
his life, then all his clever words faded
away.
You see, it's still the old gospel that
saves us from our sin.
Your pride has got to be dealt with.
Your bitterness has got to be dealt with.
Till God dealt with him, with sin in
his life, then all his clever words faded
away.
Now I think of Paul.
He says, when I preached to you, I
didn't come with great words and clever words,
but in simplicity, so that your faith won't
rest on wisdom, but on Christ.
And he didn't want to.
I didn't come with the great eloquence of
powerful, persuasive arguments, but rather with the power
of God, that it would rest upon the
cross only.
He didn't want to make the cross to
be in vain.
He even said to them, when I came
to you Corinthians, preaching to you, I came
in trembling and fear.
I didn't come with great and mighty words,
I just preached the simple gospel.
But it's Egypt, if you seek the things
of this world, you run off to sexual
promiscuity, and all manner of sin, that is
Egypt, if you put your trust in that.
And of Egypt, God says, I will destroy
Egypt and those that she has helped.
You who go down to Egypt, you will
be destroyed together with her.
So if you're faced with an obstacle or
problem, don't say, well, I've got to go
back to where I used to be.
Look to the Lord Himself, trust only in
Him.
He can help you.
He helped David to conquer the giant.
And you too, through Jesus Christ, you can
be more than conqueror.
Look to the Holy One of Israel, look
to God Himself.
Don't look to the Egyptians, they are flesh
just like you.
You won't get help there.
Look to Him.
Get rid of your idols, away with them,
part from them, and seek God.
He will help you so that you are
more than conqueror, that you're led in triumph.
Shall we pray?
Lord Jesus, I pray that these words would
reach each and every heart.
Teach your people to trust you.
That their eyes would be upon you, the
Holy One of Israel, never removing their
eyes from you, but rather that they'd
always depend and trust in you and do
what you tell them.
Amen.