This exposition of Exodus 6:6-12 by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, June 10, 2018.
Intro:
Wouldn’t it be great if you could take a vacation from your problems?
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It would be nice to get in the car and drive off leaving your troubles behind. Or hop on a plan and get away from family drama. Or get on a bus and leave your health scare behind. Of course in the real world, your troubles have a tendency to go along for the ride. Even if they don’t they are there waiting for you when you return and usually they’ve added friends! Your troubles have grown while you were away. This is why Scripture never prescribes fleeing from your troubles but rather taking them before the LORD. That’s what Moses did and he found that God was still on His throne and that He always remembers His promises. In the face of trouble we are to remember God is sovereign and God is faithful.
In Exodus 6 when God responds to Moses’ accusations that He had done evil to the people of Israel and that He had failed to deliver them, God said, “I am the LORD.” Moses, don’t forget who I am. That’s the most important thing God ever said to Moses. “Now, that’s quite a statement pastor given that Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible. Given that Moses spoke to God as one speaks with a friend, face to face. Why would you say that this was the most important thing God ever said to Moses?” Because God revealed himself to Moses with that statement. Moses I am the eternal, self-existing, all-powerful, all-wise, all-sufficient God.” That’s all Moses or any of us needs. Jesus said, “This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God” (John 17:3).
Four times in the first eight verses of Exodus 6 God says, “I am the LORD.” God wanted Moses, and His people to understand the He, Yahweh, was the answer to all their problems. Thus they were to bring all of their trials, troubles and heartaches to Him and to rest in His sovereign goodness knowing He is the answer to every difficulty. God was calling them and us to put our trust in Him. We are to rest our hopes and dreams in the One who says, “I am the LORD” for He is the God of salvation. Our text this morning is found in Exodus chapter 6.
Text: Exodus 6:6-12
I remember my grandmother talking about the Old Bible and the New Bible. She meant the Old Testament and the New Testament but I think many believe in practical terms in an Old Bible and a New Bible as if the New replaces the Old. Occasionally I met those folks who are “Red Letter” Christians. They take the words of Jesus recorded in the New Testament as God’s word and the rest is some how discounted. Others erroneously think we are “New Testament Christians.” No, we are biblical Christians. This is our book Old and New Testament. God still speaks through both. Both are His word. The gospel is not exclusive to the New Testament. The gospel is found throughout the Scriptures. Don’t forget on the Road to Emaus the resurrected Lord took the Old Testament and preached the gospel, showing that it was all about Him!
This morning we consider some gospel truths from the pages of Exodus.
The book of Exodus is a God-centered book. It is thus a gospel book. It is about salvation, about deliverance, about coming out from. It is no coincidence that on the Mount of Transfiguration, just before the cross, Moses and Elijah appeared with the Lord Jesus. They spoke of the coming “Exodus.” The deliverance of God’s people. The exodus here in the Old Testament as grand and as glorious as it is, is only a shadow or picture of a far greater exodus. The deliverance of God’s people from the bondage of sin and death.
As we walk through the passage we are reminded that…
Thesis: The gospel found in Exodus reveals the glory of our God’s salvation and the absolute necessity of Divine intervention.
There are two things I want us to note…
- The salvation promised by our God exceeds all expectations. (6:6-8)
- Man’s stubborn refusal to listen underscores the necessity of Divine intervention. (6:9)
Conclusion:
You cannot save yourself. You cannot come to God on your own. Unless and until the Spirit of God awakens you, you will not come to Him. The only way a sinner ever comes to God is by Divine intervention. God, himself, must break the chains of sin and that is what He does through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. John 5:24-25
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:44
You cannot free yourself from sin anymore than Israel could free itself from Egyptian slavery. The glory of the gospel is that God in Christ is setting captives free. Freedom and life eternal and abundant is yours if you will repent and believe.
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