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Stubbornness can be funny and cute when a child is young but not so cute when they grow older.
2. In fact, a person can be so hard-hearted, that their story is tragic. You look at their life and wonder, “What will it take for this guy or gal to get it?” “How bad do things have to get before they hit rock bottom?”
3. Tonight, we are going to study a truly tragic character, Pharaoh.
4. As we examine his life, we will discover the “Symptoms of a Hard Heart” and also learn God’s remedy to reverse the diagnosis.

Exodus 7:14-25

Context
1. This is a new section in Exodus where God brings judgments called plagues upon Egypt.
2. God’s purpose behind the plagues:
a. Reveal Himself as the Lord of all creation
b. Reveal that Egypt’s gods were false
c. Bring Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land

I. Symptom #1 – Pride (14-19)

A. “It’s all about me!”
1. The word translated “stubborn” literally means “heavy, dull, or weighed down” because of pride.
Psalm 10:4, In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him, in all his thoughts there is no room for God. (NIV)

2. God confronted Pharaoh because he refused to let Israel go.
3. God confronted Pharaoh through Moses to demonstrate His superiority over Pharaoh, his magicians, and their gods. (Staff into snake, 8:13)

APPL – Pride seeks two things:
• Glorify self.
• Gratify self.

APPL – Pride is not liberating, it is debilitating.
• When a person is filled with pride they are weighed down with self.
• Their focus is ME, ME, ME.

APPL – When people are “full of themselves” they become dull to the things of God.
• Dullness leads to spiritual blindness.
• They become blind to the warning signs; that there is danger ahead.
• God warns them because He cares for them.

Jonah 4:11, And should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand?

Ezekiel 33:11, “As I live!” declares the Lord God, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!”

APPL – Pride can even infect the church.

3 John 9, I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.

ILLUS – The late A.T. Robertson once wrote an article about Diotrephes for a religious publication.

4. Two things are important to remember when pride fills our hearts:
a. God always wins.
b. God is always opposed to the proud.
5. God sent Moses and Aaron to confront Pharaoh at the Nile in the morning.
6. Religious ceremonies were often held at the Nile and Pharaoh led many of them.

Expressions from Hymn of the Nile, “The bringer of food, rich in provisions, creator of all good, lord of majesty, sweet fragrance…”

Transition – What was the Lord declaring to Pharaoh? “Life is not about you, Pharaoh. . .”

B. Life is all about God
1. God is our true source of blessing.

James 1:17, Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.

2. All things were created by Him and for Him.

Colossians 1:16, For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created by Him and for Him.

3. When a person knows that God is their ultimate good, gratitude and humility fill their heart. God blesses thankful and humble hearts.

James 4:6, God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

II. Symptom #2 – Stubbornness (20-22a)

A. “It’s my way or the highway!”
1. Before their eyes, the Nile was literally changed to blood. (20)
2. Result:
a. The fish died, and the drinking water was tainted.
b. The Nile was foul-smelling.
3. Egyptians worshipped gods associated with the Nile.
a. Isis was considered the goddess of the Nile.

Pastor Rich Jones
Pastor Matthew Dodd
Calvary Chapel Worship Center
Calvary Chapel Hillsboro
Calvary Chapel Oregon
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