Deliverance

It's homecoming season, isn't it?

Past weekend, Bethesda, Brownsburg had their homecoming.

I think next weekend Tri West has their own homecoming.

But I want you to take your uh imagination cap and put it on with me right now.

A few of you are too cool for school.

Let's do this again.

Grab your imagination cap and put it on, all right?

And uh here's what you're imagining that a friend of yours was in the last year's graduating class.

And this friend of yours has been dating a guy who is bad for her.

It's an unhealthy relationship.

You might call it a toxic relationship.

But this past summer, they broke up.

And you and your friends and your families were quietly, or not so quietly, thrilled.

Hooray! They finally broke up.

They went to college, and you thought, okay, good, that was that was good for everybody here.

And then they came back for homecoming.

It's a song as old as time, right?

And they're they're looking around, they're seeing each other.

Over the loudspeaker at the soccer game or the football game, the song plays, and they're like, this was kind of our song.

And the sights and the smells, they're familiar, and he looks over at your friend with that look that's like, I want you back.

And you're looking at her like, why are you going back to him?

You don't have to do this.

You broke up already, you're not tied to him anymore.

And what does she say?

I know, I know, but it's not that simple, it's complicated, there's layers, you probably wouldn't understand.

To which you want to say, No, you probably don't understand.

Right?

Like you've you've seen this play out.

Now, I do I do realize in giving that example, like there is a chance that that is someone's story from this homecoming.

Like, I don't, I have nobody in mind, I promise, and I am, if that is you, I don't say that to shame you in any way, shape, or form.

Uh what I do use that story to illustrate is a very relatable point.

That sometimes you're free in one way, and yet there's those voices that draw you back into things you shouldn't be drawn back into.

Right?

For some it's romance, it's easy to see that.

Uh for others, it's the bottle of jack that just kind of whispers and sweetly calls your name.

I get you.

I know the stress you're under.

I'll make you happy.

And whether it's a substance or whether it's a relationship, there is an illustration of how spiritual battles work.

What we might call heart-level idols.

Hey, look, if we can just grab a little more control here, then we'll be happy.

Hey, if you'll just work a few more hours here, then you'll be successful.

Then you'll have the influence that you're after.

And you look at these situations, whichever one it is, feeling conflicted.

Because on the one hand, you're like, I know that I'm free.

That thing cannot keep its promises, it won't deliver.

But on the other hand, I don't feel very free because when it calls my name and it whispers, I feel like I have to go back.

To put it in the terms of the Exodus, you say, I know I've been delivered from Pharaoh, but when Pharaoh calls my name, I don't feel free from Pharaoh.

Now, all of a sudden, the story in Exodus starts to hit really close to home because this is a huge part of the human experience, is it not?

And God, knowing what it would be like to face this battle in our own hearts, in abundant grace, gives us Exodus 13 and 14 to guide us through circumstances like these.

You know, this is a long time ago this took place, but what happened in the hearts of the Israelites is happening in our own hearts as well.

You think about them for just a second.

They are objectively free from Pharaoh.

They have been delivered.

Passover has happened, judgment has fallen, the Egyptians have given them all their gold and all their silver, and they're on their way.

After 430 awful years of oppression to the very day God has delivered them.

And Pharaoh comes along and says, I want you back.

And Pharaoh doesn't come whispering sweet nothings in their ear.

Like he comes with an army to crush them.

And they look at the army and they say, Ah, you can make me happy.

Remember when we lived in your land and had good food to eat?

That those were the good old days.

And the friends that are hopefully good friends are like, Oh, yes, the good old days when they murdered all your children and brutalized your husbands.

Yes, those were the good old days, weren't they?

Talk some sense into you, but you want to go back.

You see, the Israelites, they're objectively free from Egypt.

Christian, you are free from sin.

You've been delivered.

You broke up with your old boyfriend.

But subjectively, you don't feel delivered.

So, what does God say to us when we know we're free but we don't feel free?

We know we've been delivered, but we don't feel delivered.

He gives us maybe the greatest story of grace in the entire Bible.

And then I realize it's like ranking system, like what's the greatest story?

Is maybe not the best way to approach the Bible, but I'll just say this: the number of times the rest of the Bible speaks to this story and the grace it gives as a picture of God's grace, God's deliverance, God's victory throughout the rest of Scripture means we should see this one on a different level.

This is enormous for you, Christian.

So we're calling this morning's message homecoming deliverance.

In part, it's a play on words of homecoming season, but also recognizing that it is the deliverance that comes through the grace of God that not only brings your salvation, but brings you all the way to your final home, coming in the promised land, before the face of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in eternity.

And we're gonna see three things in this passage.

There's reminders of deliverance, there's how we receive deliverance, and third, how you respond to deliverance.

Reminders, receiving, responding.

Number one, reminders of deliverance.

Now there's three real quick in chapter 13, so I'm gonna run through them and it will be rapid, but they are a feast and then a consecration of the firstborn and the cloud and the pillar, the presence of God.

Those three things together flow from this idea in Psalm 103, where God says he remembers that we are dust, he knows we're merely humans, we're flesh, we're forgetful, and he gets that.

And he's like, look, I know that it's easy for you to forget.

So I'm gonna give you some tangible reminders to help you along the way.

I'm looking out for your good before you even get lost on the path.

Now let's look at chapter 13 and verse 7 and read about this feast of unleavened bread.

This is in addition to the Passover, but it's pointing to the same reality as the Passover, the great saving work of God.

13, 7, let's read.

Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days.

No leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory.

You should tell your son on that day, it is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.

It shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth.

For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.

So you see, God knows that Israel will be in the wilderness.

They're gonna face hunger, they're gonna face war, they're gonna face loneliness, they're gonna face anxiety.

And when that happens, where are they going to turn?

And he tells them where to turn in at the very end of verse 9.

It says, Turn back to this truth, for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.

Look, what he's saying in modern terminology, and I'm gonna give you a term that would be good to write down, it is easy to lose the functional centrality of the gospel in your life.

The functional centrality of the gospel.

It's easy to know the truth of the gospel, but when I face hunger, war, loneliness, anxiety, whatever it is the Israelites are facing and you're facing, to lose track of the functional centrality of the gospel in my life.

There's a truth in my head, but not a reality in my heart that decides how I live each day and what I focus on and where my heart is drawn.

And so God gives them a feast to help them remember that engages all of their senses.

He says it's a sign for your hands, you're gonna touch it, and of course you're gonna taste it.

He says it's a memorial to put between your eyes that you'll look at it, and it's a law to be in your mouth.

In other words, God knows that all of our senses are engaged to form memories for us.

Now you ask, Justin, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, does that still apply to us today?

Well, the short answer is no, not in the same way.

It doesn't.

But the principle remains.

Like, one of the ways we try to embody this is as we gather together as a church, we want it to be real consistent, what you're gonna hear every single week, that when we gather, we're gonna preach the word and pray the word and read the word and sing the word, and then the last one we say, see the word with our eyes, and that's through the ordinances, the Lord's Supper and baptism.

That in those ways our senses are formed to see the word, to remind ourselves of the truth.

Like, of course, a preacher's gonna make it about Sunday, you say.

I hear you, but I do think that's what God has ordained for us in His Word, that we don't just come for a concert and a TED talk on Sunday morning, but all of our senses are engaged in actually seeing this same great, saving work of God that the Israelites have seen throughout all history.

But I do think there are ways that we can take the principle beyond Sunday morning.

Let me give you one way that I would encourage you to do as a family.

Our family has done this sometimes, uh, especially it's easier in the winter than the summer.

You'll understand why, because the darkness helps.

You're gonna sit down for a meal, put a couple of candles, about three candles on your table, turn all the lights out.

One person grabs a match or a lighter, you light the first one, and as you light it, this is a tangible, senses-engaged way of remembering the gospel, you're gonna light it and say, Christ is light.

And the kids respond, Christ is light.

You light the second one, he drives out the darkness.

They respond, he drives out the darkness.

Third one, light it, may we reflect his light.

They respond, may we reflect his light.

Simple thing: engaging the senses, reminding ourselves of the saving work of Christ, the functional centrality of the gospel in our lives.

God gives these people a feast to engage their senses to remind them of what's true.

That's the first one.

The second one is the consecration of the firstborn.

To consecrate, like not a word I probably used in the last seven days.

My guess is you probably didn't either.

It simply means to dedicate or to set aside.

So this dedication is in a very real way there to remind them of God's deliverance.

The act of dedicating their firstborn, their most valuable.

Secondborn, thirdborn kids, you everybody say amen there?

Okay.

Dedicating their most valuable is a reminder God saved us.

We were his firstborn.

And he would give his firstborn to redeem us.

And so for us to take our firstborn and dedicate it to God is a reminder that based on what he did for me, to consecrate my firstborn is nothing.

It reminds me of the greater work he did based on the lesser thing I do.

Now, again, this is not one that applies directly to us in the same way today.

How do you live this out?

You give God the first part of every day, getting up and spending time with him in the morning.

You give him the first part of every week, being here on Sunday morning, and you give him the first part of every single paycheck.

And it's a not a duty, like it's my God tax.

It's what my giving is, it's what my morning time is.

Sometimes it feels like duty, but when you look at the scriptures, the point is a delight to say, boy, for me to give the first part of the day, the first part of the week, the first part of the paycheck is actually a way of remembering.

God, look what you've done for me.

And to give you the first of the day, the week, and the paycheck is actually nothing compared to what you've done, and it reminds me of your worthiness.

Like, parents, what a gift you can give your kids to embody these rituals, to remind them how good God is, how worthy he is.

Like Joe B.

Martin, pastor in Florida, he says it this way, and I think it's really good.

He says, God is first, God gave his first, and God deserves your first.

That's a good way to think about that.

God is first, God gave his first, God deserves your first.

And in that act, it reminds us of how much he has done for us, and everything we do is just an overflow.

I wonder if your devotional time or your church attendance or your giving has become more duty than delight, and you've forgotten what you're to remind yourselves of in each of those.

The third thing in Exodus 13 is this presence of God in the cloud and in the fire.

In other words, God is saying to them, Israel, I did not just come to you in your distress, but I'm going with you in your journey.

This is not merely delivering grace, but homecoming grace, because I'll be with you all the way.

Let's look at chapter 13 and verse 21.

Here's what God says: the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

So clearly there's a visibility thing going on here, right?

The fire allows them to see at night, they can go.

The cloud gives them coverage, they can go.

But I think there's more than just the visibility.

Like, some of you have been to the desert and traveled in the desert.

Give me a show of hands.

You've been to the desert and traveled there a little bit.

In the middle of the day, in the desert, what is the weather like?

It's really hot during the day.

And at night, what is it like?

It's really cold.

So in Exodus 13, you have the first air conditioning unit and the first heating unit.

So I'm gonna show you where to go.

I'm gonna help you be cool during the day, keep you warm at night, and I will see you from the way out of Egypt all the way home.

I will anticipate your needs before you know your needs.

I'm looking out for you, God says, I see you.

I know the journey's long, I know the path is hard, and I'm gonna remind you of what I did for you back in Egypt, and I will be with you as you go.

It's a reminder of his deliverance and his grace, and he's gonna stick with you.

So between the feast and the consecration and the presence of God, we're taken back to this reminder of deliverance.

When you know you're free, but you kind of want to go back.

Be reminded of God's act there.

Help to rediscover the love of Christ to you.

Or as we would say, in our core values, these are reminders to help you delight in the gospel.

Not just to know trees in your head, not just to know action steps to walk out of here with, but to actually have your heart stirred, your affection stirred to Christ, say, ah Lord, look what you did for me.

I'm so grateful.

How could I withhold anything from you?

Reminders of deliverance.

Brings us to the second point, receiving deliverance.

Receiving deliverance.

The question, how is it that we receive deliverance from God?

And the answer in this text, by sheer grace.

Undeserved favor.

If you're taking notes, you're writing it down next to receiving deliverance, just write this: sit and receive.

Sit and receive.

You should know as we come into this, maybe you're you're newer to Parkside, you've not been here for the whole series.

There's there's a cycle through the book of Exodus.

Here's what happens: God comes to Moses, says, Moses, I'm gonna use you.

And Moses has all these excuses for why he's not gonna be able to get the job done.

And God is gracious, and he still uses him.

And then he sends Moses to the people.

He says, Here's what we're gonna do.

God's gonna work mightily.

And the people reject.

And yet God is gracious despite their own hard hearts.

And then they get delivered from Egypt and they're out on their way, and their master comes and says, I want you back.

Maybe by this time the people will respond in confidence, be like, Nope, we're on God's team.

No, their lack of faith will continue to show up.

Let's look at chapter 14 and verse 10.

See the cycle continuing here.

When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly.

The people of Israel cried out to the Lord.

They said to Moses, Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you've taken us away to die in the wilderness?

You just pause there for a second.

Like, what's the one thing Egypt is known for?

The graves inside those enormous pyramids?

Like, you want to you want a just a quick snapshot of how sin makes you stupid?

Like you forget the number one marker of that country.

It happens to all of us.

Okay, let's keep going.

They said to him, What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

Is not this what we said to you in Egypt?

Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians.

For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.

Look, there's a cycle going.

These people are not exactly spiritual all-stars.

They've not been delivered because they have good spiritual genes.

They've not been delivered.

They haven't received grace because they've got a good track record.

None of these people project as spiritual first-round draft picks.

So if that's you, you're like, man, I feel like I don't have my stuff together this Sunday.

Well, you found good company, and we're real glad you're here.

And the Israelites would be right there saying, Yeah, we just find ourselves continually messing up and forgetting what God has done.

It's grace, undeserved favor.

So let's pick up in verse 13.

Moses said to the people, fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.

And for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.

Wow.

Now, quick anecdote.

Men, when your wife wants to tell you about her day, never quote this verse.

You have only to be silent, honey.

That doesn't work well.

That's called ripping scripture out of context.

Don't do that.

Okay?

Now, here's what it's actually talking about.

It says the battle comes, and God gives this salvation.

He says to the Israelites, I will destroy your enemies, and you can't contribute anything, not even a single word.

But that's kind of like humiliating, isn't it?

Like you can't bring anything.

You can't even bring one word.

Because deep in us, like we want to contribute in some way.

Part of this is who's your hospitality?

Right?

You get invited over.

Hey, can we bring a dessert?

No, you can't bring a dessert.

You get over to the house, and what are the what are you gonna say?

Well, you wouldn't let us bring anything, so at least let us do the dishes.

Right?

We want to contribute, we want to give.

And that impulse is not a bad impulse, but what we find in our spiritual lives is we want to contribute as well.

We want to have a part in this.

This is why so many world religions have some kind of a salvation by works mindset.

Because we want to contribute, we want to have a part in it.

And among Protestants who rightly say, no, we're not saved by works, we're saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, amen.

Do you know what still happens?

You say, I know I was saved by grace, but I'd kind of like to be changed by works.

Like I know God got me in the door to eternity, but I'd kind of like my effort to be the one that wins the day.

And this is actually the exact mistake that the Galatian church made.

So in Galatians 3:3, Paul writes to the church in Galatia and he says, Hey, foolish Galatians, do you think that you began by the Spirit, saved by grace, but you're now perfected by the flesh?

Galatians 3:3

No way, dude, that ain't how it works.

It's grace from beginning into the middle, and grace all the way to the end.

It's conversion by grace, growth by grace, homecoming by grace, all of grace.

That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, he says, Yeah, I worked harder than anybody else.

Like grace.

Motivates me to work, but then what does he say next?

Yet it was not I, but the grace of God working in me.

It's all of grace.

You know, one of the things that I heard Pastor Tim Keller say before he passed away, kind of how we are navigating this sense within ourselves of wanting to be better, is that deep down we all know that we should be perfect.

Because we are made in the image of God, we long to be in the Garden of Eden like Adam were, and we we sort of have this sense like I should be perfect, I should walk with God in the cool of the day.

And yet we also know that we're not.

And so then we we have this deep down kind of sense, and what we do with it is really, really significant.

Like some people you know, maybe this might even be you, you berate yourself with all kinds of harsh self-speech, self-loathing, I don't measure up, I'm an idiot, I'm a failure, I'm a constant screw up.

Maybe you treat your kids that way.

You shouldn't.

But in a sense, you're your own abusive taskmaster, trying to beat yourself into the law, beat your kids into the law.

And constantly applying the law harder and harder and harder is okay for temporary compliance, but really horrible for long-term transformation.

Because it's grace that changes us.

Paul says in Romans 2, it's God's kindness that leads us to repentance.

But there's another side, it's not the law-heavy side, there's another way that we we look at our not measuring upness, our not perfectness, and try and cope with it.

And this one I want to have a little bit of fun with from a modern illustration.

How many of you remember the old show on PBS Reading Rainbow?

How many of you don't remember ever seeing Reading Rainbow?

Boy, this is what's wrong with the world.

LeVar Burton, forever host.

So here's how the song starts.

It's the little intro theme song, it's kind of techno deal.

You can look it up on YouTube.

It says, A butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high.

What kind of nonsense are we filling the minds of kids with?

You can't go twice as high as a butterfly.

And it goes on to say, I can go anywhere, I can do anything, I can be anyone.

Okay, full disclosure, LeVar Burton, Reading Rainbow, I love you.

I realize that through the book you're saying you can experience these things.

But that is an allegory for what an entire generation has been told.

You can go twice as high as a butterfly, you can be anyone, do anything, go anywhere.

And the fact of the matter is, bubble popping pastor, you can't.

Like my parents told me I could sing.

I tried out for the sixth grade choir.

And the director looked at me and said, Oh, Justin, have you thought about basketball?

Like, here's what's gonna happen.

You tell kids forever they can go do anything, and eventually that builds this sense of entitlement.

That how could you ever tell me I'm wrong?

And it goes horribly for them.

And so you can beat people down and tell them they're horrendous and they lose sight of their need for grace, or you can tell them you've got the power in you, you can do anything.

And eventually what's gonna happen is they're gonna realize in the sixth grade that they can't sing and they need grace as well.

So we get this deep down sense that we don't measure up, and eventually it's gonna drive us to grace.

And if it doesn't drive us to grace, here's what happens.

Here's what happens.

We end up living enslaved to our lack of perfection.

Constantly berating, I'm just a screw-up, or false dreams, I can do anything, and you lived enslaved to both of them, disconnected from reality without the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's all about grace.

And what is it?

What is it in this context that God says to the Israelites, 1414, the Lord will fight for you.

You have only to be silent.

The message of the gospel of how you get saved and how you grow as a Christian is receive not do.

Stand still, don't say a word.

Which, if you think about for a second, really starts to not make sense.

Because if we're just gonna get real practical, like boots on the ground, you said, Justin, sit and receive, stand still, don't say a word, the Israelites are like, yeah, that Egyptian army looks huge.

Stand still, don't say a word doesn't make sense.

I think we should do some target practice this afternoon.

And in our context, it's like, wait, when my anger spikes and that blood pressure goes through the roof, you're telling me, Justin, it's stand still, don't say a word, sit and receive.

Like I need a breathing tactic here.

Or when you're so twitchy that you have to refresh on your finance page to see what the markets are doing every single eight minutes?

Or when anxiety is overwhelming you and you're not sure you can get out of bed for the third day in a row, you're saying, Justin, it's sit and receive, stand still, don't say a word.

Like, kids, can we talk about this just real boots on the ground, what it looks like at school?

Like we've been in school a month or two now.

I'm almost certain there's somebody in your life, in one of your classes, on one of your teams, that their words have a horrible condemning effect on you.

Like they say something and it wrecks your entire day.

And you know who that person is.

And you hope you can get through the day without them saying something mean.

In that context, as a seventh grader, sit and receive, stand still, don't say a word.

How do I do that, Justin?

I want you to know, as we're starting to realize how difficult this is to receive grace and be changed by it, number one, it's not unique to our time or to you.

There's an old sermon I was reading this week from about 200 years ago from a guy named Charles Haddon Spurgeon in London.

And here's what he says in just one short sentence.

He said this I find that marching and quick marching are much easier for God's warriors than standing still.

Can I get an amen there?

It's a lot easier to get people to set up chairs than it is to actually get people to receive grace.

Because we like to do, we like to contribute.

But here's the thing you gotta realize.

Grace is the only medicine that can actually transform your heart idols.

It's the only medicine that can.

It's like if you get allergies and you take ibuprofen, it's not gonna help.

It's the wrong medicine.

God's saying, receiving grace, sit still, don't say a word, don't say a word.

So if I go back to this example of our kids, let me let me apply this here, what this looks like.

Essentially, what you're telling me is when this person speaks up and it has a crushing effect on me, what's the heart idol underneath?

I need their approval.

And kids, you should know I'm not, I'm not just picking on you here, because you talk to any adult in the room, and they'll tell you this is really, really hard, well beyond your middle school, high school, and collegiate years.

But to receive grace and be changed by it means this.

I'm gonna reflect on this thing that God says, because of Christ's perfect righteousness that you have received by faith, you have my full approval.

And the approval of Christ lands heavier on your heart than the approval of this person.

When God says, I will get glory over Pharaoh, that word glory means heaviness.

I will show that I am heavier than Pharaoh.

I squash Pharaoh, and so you receive his kindness and his grace.

Like Jesus says that I am enough, that I'm made in his image, that I am a treasured, beloved, forgiven, holy, adopted child of the King.

Who Jesus says about me is way more important than what you say about me.

That's what it means for the glory of grace to land heavy on my heart so that I don't have to stand up and defend myself because I've already got what this person is trying to take and they can't take it away.

And when I get that, then it's utterly transformational.

Because when I need the approval of that person, then you know what I'm gonna do?

I'm gonna keep up my walls and make myself look like I've got it all together so they have nothing to critique.

But when I realize I have the approval of Christ, not because I was perfect, not because I had my act together, not because I was a first-round draft pick, but because I'm a royal screw-up.

He still says, You're mine, I want you, I'm gonna pursue you and chase you down.

Then and only then can I be honest about my own failures.

I don't have to keep up the walls and pretend like I have it all together so as to gain someone else's approval.

In other words, grace gets me out of Egypt and it gets me to the promised land.

This is what we mean, and there's the old hymn, Rock of Age is cleft for me.

Some of you know that song, some of you don't, and you should know it.

But one of the verses that says this be of sin, the double cure.

What's the double cure?

Save from wrath and make me pure.

Get me out of Egypt and get me home.

That's why this morning, song we sang, Lord, I need you, I need you every hour I need you.

My one defense, my righteousness.

Get me out, get me home.

Same exact thing.

We're singing this all the time.

Like, think about these words, embody them.

Let them just come over you and sing them through the week.

And I will tell you, learning to just receive grace, sometimes it's like waiting for the Thanksgiving turkey to bake.

Anybody ever been at a Thanksgiving meal and you just think that turkey is never gonna bake?

I've been there.

Now, sometimes that's good news because the football game is close and I want to watch some more of it.

But a lot of times it's bad news because I'm hungry.

Now, here's a couple things I know.

Number one, the turkey always gets baked.

It just usually takes longer than I want it to.

So if you're discouraged about your progress and receiving grace, it'll be okay.

Grace does its work.

It just takes time.

So stick with it.

And number two, every time I'm tempted to take the turkey out and get a blowtorch and heat the process up, I'm reminded that's a bad idea.

And isn't it tempting sometimes to take the turkey out and try and take matters into my own hands and say, I can fix this?

And your whole family just laughs at you, like, bro, what are you doing?

It's easy to try and take our own changing into our own hands.

Sit, receive grace, don't white knuckle it spiritually, but recognize it's all of grace from beginning to end.

And learn to reclaim the functional centrality of the gospel in your life.

So there's reminders of grace, and then real clearly, here's how we receive grace, and then the last thing, responding to grace.

Responding to grace.

Here's what we read.

Israel saw the great power that the Lord had used against the Egyptians.

So the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

What'd they do?

They saw and they believed.

That's it.

That's the message.

That's the tweet.

They saw and they believed.

What did they see?

They saw that the waters of judgment fell on those who didn't believe.

That if you turn away from the Creator, what comes is what we might call, instead of creation, decreation.

This has been all the plagues.

You turn away from Yahweh, and the good gifts of creation start to fall apart.

They disintegrate, destruction comes, and it leads to death.

And this has been a pattern throughout the Bible.

Right, you go back to Genesis 1.

What happens?

There's chaotic waters.

God comes in as creator, he gives order that allows life and peace.

And then we turn away from him, and just six chapters later, what happens?

He goes back to the waters in Genesis 6 of the flood, and he turns them chaotic because they've turned away, and the waters turn into judgment on those who've turned away from God.

And here we are in Exodus 14, seeing the same thing.

For those who've turned away from God, judgment comes through the chaotic waters that fall on them.

Listen, if you're here and you're not a Christian, this is incredibly important for you to see and remember and take to heart.

Turning away from God will bring death and destruction on your life in eternity, like it brought on the Egyptians here.

They didn't know it was gonna be their last day.

And you don't know when your last day is gonna be.

But the message is see the salvation of the Lord, turn to Him, respond in faith, trust Him, not yourself, so that you can be saved from death.

That's what I want from you.

That's what every single member of this church longs for from you.

Turn to the Lord today.

At the very end, because I think there's something curious here that should make us ask a question.

Here's what it says that they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

I read that this week and I thought that is a strange way to end.

Because it feels like they should say they believed in the Lord, period, end of chapter, next chapter.

Why do they believe in his servant Moses?

Why is that included there?

I think there's a hint in chapter 14, verse 15.

So look back a few verses with me.

Here's what it says.

The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me?

Tell the people of Israel to go forward.

Okay, what has just happened?

They saw the Egyptian army coming, they cry out.

But what's interesting here, there's no record in this book, in this passage, about Moses complaining or crying out to God.

But God says, Why do you cry out to me?

Now, there are some liberal scholars that say, well, clearly Moses was complaining to God, it's just not recorded.

That's possible, but I don't think it's the most likely thing.

Here's what I think is far more likely.

You've got a man in Moses who identifies with his people so closely that God actually rebukes him for their sins.

And in Moses, you have a man who is so close to the power of God, so close to God that the power actually flows through him.

As he raises his staff, God does his amazing work in and through them.

So in this guy who's super close to his people, identified, rebuked for their sin, super close to God, the power of God flows through him.

You have judgment and salvation flowing through him all at one time.

Now, if you're in the gifted class, you're gonna be automatically jumping ahead to Jesus on the cross saying, Hang on a second here.

Judgment, salvation, all at one time.

Not just a man closely identified with the people to be rebuked for their sins, but actually beaten, tortured, murdered, and killed for their sins.

And a man not just close to God, but God Himself, the sinless Son of God incarnate, coming, bringing judgment, but not just bringing judgment, but bearing judgment, so that any who trust in him can be saved by faith.

There you have Moses is the man in the middle between the judgment of God and the salvation of God, foreshadowing the Christ, the man in the middle, bringing and bearing the judgment, so that the salvation can be had for any who will receive him by faith.

Christian, allow the beauty of this man, the God man, to capture the wonder of your hearts, to be the functional center of your life.

And God in his great mercy looks down and says, I know that's gonna be hard for you to remember.

I know you'll be easily distracted.

I know it's hard to walk by faith when the craziness of this world compounds, compounds, compounds.

So, what does he do in his mercy?

He gives you these ways to remember.

Reminders of deliverance.

Sit and receive, see and believe.

Try to add to it like a blowtorch on the Thanksgiving turkey, and it's just gonna mess it up.

Freely confess.

Return to Christ.

Maybe your confession this morning as we get into these reminders, like we're about to observe the Lord's Supper, the most tangible of all of them, is to say, you know what, I've been trying to add to this change business, and I'm just not sitting and receiving grace.

Like I can white knuckle my way through this.

Maybe that's your confession this morning.

Maybe you're not a Christian.

You've never trusted in the Christ.

And that's the confession to make.

Lord, I realize I've turned away from you, and death is coming to me, and salvation has been made possible.

Or maybe it's something different.

But what we're gonna do here in just a moment is take two minutes, full minutes of quiet prayer, reflection, silence, getting ready for the observance of the Lord's Supper.

And after we do that, Pastor Jake will come and lead in the elements as a tangible reminder of the deliverance that you're objectively free from sin.

And even if you don't feel free, his grace makes you free on a daily basis.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus, we come with grateful hearts, glad hearts, because you are the man in the middle, who stood in the gap, who brought judgment, but bore our judgment so that salvation could be had, that we could walk through on dry ground.

Would you capture our hearts with grace this morning?

Would it stir our affections at the wonder of who you are and what you have done?

We ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.