Our Deliverer
Notes
Transcript
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
3 and all ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”
Prayer
Introduction
Have you ever seen how UPS or FedEx handle your packages? Not that long ago, we had a package that UPS came to the house to pick up - it was an item we had purchased that didn’t work like it was supposed to, so we were returning it. Anyway, the UPS driver delivered our package and then took the item we were returning and literally threw it into the back of the truck. Sometimes, people do not take great care with what they are delivering. Sometimes the deliverer doesn’t really care about deliverance, but fortunately, that is not the case with God who takes great care in His deliverance of His people which we will see this morning.
Scripture
We are going to be looking at a few different passages this evening, but we will read together. If you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word, but bear in mind that it is a long passage this morning. We do this to show appreciation to God for His Word and in recognition that these are among the most important Words we can hope to hear today. says,
1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them.
13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
14 The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16 Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O Lord, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
17 You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
Thank you , you may be seated.
“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name. “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’ You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them. “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased. You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. The LORD will reign forever and ever.” Thank you , you may be seated.
Sermon
I know that was a long passage, so let me explain why. That was the song of worship that Moses and Israel sang after God delivered them from Egypt. It was a song of praise to God for His might, and frankly there was no place I could cut in the middle of it – It would be like singing one verse of Amazing Grace.
Before we dive into the sermon this morning, let me quickly remind us of a few things about Exodus. The two main things that I want us to remember is, first and foremost, Exodus is not primarily about Moses, Israel, or Pharaoh. Instead, we must constantly remind ourselves that Exodus is about God and what He is doing.
Secondly, what is God doing? God is bringing the people of Israel out of slavery, into service. God is breaking the bonds of their futile servitude to Egypt and freeing Israel to worship Him – the One True God who made a covenant with their forefathers.
At this point in the story of the Exodus, 9 of what would be 10 plagues have occurred. Pharaoh has been hard hearted and refused to let the people of Israel go. He would at times agree to let them go, but then he would change his mind as soon as the plague was over, so now we’ve really built up some tension. Pharaoh threatened Moses that if Moses say Pharaoh’s face again, Moses would die, and Moses said, “Yup, your right, I won’t see your face again.” We have reached this climax. God has threatened one final plague and it is going to be terrible.
All the firstborn of Egypt will die in the night, but Israel will be spared – like they have been before. However, they must make some arrangements if they are to be spared. They had to kill a lamb and use the blood to paint their doorposts – and they must stay in the house lest they die. Thus, the very first Passover was instituted. Let’s look at which says,
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb.
22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
Unfortunately, I do not have the time to expound on all the awesome symbolism within the Passover, but there are a couple quick things I don’t want us to miss. In this final act, God finally (completely, ultimately) breaks the hold of Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s power over Israel is broken, and they are now able to leave. They have been redeemed.
Unfortunately, I do not have the time to expound on all the awesome symbolism within the Passover, but there are a couple quick things I don’t want us to miss. In this final act, God finally (completely, ultimately) breaks the hold of Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s power over Israel is broken, and they are now able to leave. They have been redeemed.
But, we should also notice that their freedom came at the cost of an innocent lamb. Because they were covered by the blood of the lamb, God passed over them and did not destroy Israel with the wicked Egyptians. I’m not going to belabor this point, because the parallel to Christ is already very obvious.
In the text, it is very clear that if the Israelites had gone outside, or had disobeyed the Lord and had not sacrificed the lamb and put the blood on their door post – if they had not done those things, they would have been stuck down just like the Egyptians. What does that tell us? It tells us that Israel was redeemed not based on their own merit, but based on God’s grace. They were redeemed only if they were covered by the blood. Likewise, we are not saved by our own merit, we are redeemed only by the blood of the Lamb. If we are not covered by Christ’s blood, if we are not hidden with Christ, we will be destroyed.
Again, per the theme of Exodus, this is a story about what God is doing. God has redeemed Israel – not based on Israel’s might, power or wisdom, but based on His grace, mercy and faithfulness. Israel is safe because God decided to redeem them and pass over their houses – based on the merit of an innocent Lamb. Likewise God passes over our houses based on the merit of the Innocent Lamb, Christ Jesus.
After that terrible night, Pharaoh and all the Egyptians had had enough and they sent the Israelites on their way – begging them to leave. So the Israelites immediately left, a great multitude which had been promised to Abraham marched out of Egypt. But we know the story well enough to know that this is not quite the end. tells us,
4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”
6 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him,
7 and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.
9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.”
God has not finished glorifying Himself through Pharaoh’s hardness of heart and ultimate destruction. God has intentionally led the people to a place where they would have no place to escape. Pharaoh sees this and starts licking his chops – He’s going to make those Israelites pay. Of course, the Israelites get scared and cry out, some of them sinfully. Moses tells them to stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord.
Now I know that we have all seen the movies depicting this scene, but what happened is not a matter of special effects or CGI. God is delivering His people. God is saving them from Egypt. This is a mighty work of God.
The pillar of cloud which had been leading the Israelites moved between them and Pharaoh to provide a buffer while God divided the sea and caused a strong wind to blow on it all night so that the Israelites could walk across on dry land. God is showing, yet again, that He is sovereign over all of creation. Even the wind and the sea obey Him. Israel walks through the middle of the Sea with a wall of water on each side of them and dry ground beneath them. The people experience the salvation of the Lord. Only a real, powerful, true God could work such a mighty feat.
Naturally, Pharaoh tries to pursue Israel with his army and chariots, but God confuses his army and disrupts the chariot wheels. Then, once Israel is safely on the other side, with Pharaoh and his army following, God returns the sea to its normal course. The waters close in on the Egyptians and they perish. Israel is now fully safe. They have been delivered safe and sound. Israel is now a free people – free to serve the Lord.
Now, I don’t want us to miss an important correlation between Israel’s passing through the sea and baptism. Our Scripture reading from 1 Corinthians this morning draws this parallel for us. Ultimately, Israel – while remaining unique in her own way – Israel also serves as a type or symbol of the Church.
We’ve already seen how Christ is the true Passover lamb and we are saved from destruction by being covered by His blood. We can see how we – the church are like Israel in that sense. In a similar way, we are told in 1 Corinthians that as Israel passed through the waters, they were symbolically baptized.
They had already been redeemed and were now delivered from slavery to worship God. Or another way to put that, is that the crossing of the sea specifically, and finally separated Israel from Egypt. They had completely passed from the bondage of Egypt. That crossing was the final, completed deliverance. Similarly, we gather that baptism is for those who have been redeemed. It signifies that the person who is baptized, has, in fact, been delivered from the bondage of sin and death. Not to sound like a broken record here, but this is why we only baptize those who give a credible profession of faith. We are not like our Presbyterian friends who baptize with a hope that one day the infant will be delivered. Frankly, that is not what we see here. Just as the crossing of the Sea marked that Israel were no longer slaves, so too does baptism mark that a person is no longer in the bondage of sin. They have passed from death to life. They are now free to serve God rightly. Why on earth would we give the sign of deliverance – baptism – to someone who has not actually been delivered?! Well, we wouldn’t because we are Baptists and we understand that baptism is an outward sign which reflects an inward reality. But I digress.
God has redeemed and delivered Israel, so what is their response? Worship! The long passage that we read together at the beginning is a song of praise and worship. When God delivers a people from bondage – when He breaks the chains and leads them into life, their response is worship. God is worshiped and glorified in His work of salvation. God orchestrated the entire situation so that only He could receive the glory and honor. Israel didn’t fight for their freedom. They were given their freedom so that God would be glorified through His mighty work of salvation. And glorified He was and is and forever shall be.
Let’s again think about this from a New Testament perspective. There is a reason that we say celebration of the Lord’s Supper and celebration of Baptism. Because we are celebrating, worshiping, glorifying God for His great redemption and deliverance. We praise Jesus because of what He has done on our behalf. Listen, I’ve sat in churches where when people are baptized, and this is the response: (quiet, subdued “golf clap”). We aren’t on a golf course. Where is the song and praise and dancing with a tambourine? Where is the excitement that God has delivered a person from bondage? Have we forgotten the depth of our own sin? Have we forgotten how enslaved, blind and dead we were in sin? I only see two options. Either we have forgotten how awesome salvation is, or we never knew how awesome salvation is. And I’m not quite sure which is worse.
I’m not saying we have to yell and jump up and down and act all crazy. What I’m asking is, “Is our response to salvation accurately reflected in the way we worship?” Does the way we praise, glorify and worship God accurately proclaim His awesomeness and might and power and goodness and majesty and mercy and justice – does our worship correctly reflect who God is, or have we become lethargic and apathetic, maybe even bored or lazy?
What do we do if our worship has become rote and routine? Do we just try harder and sing louder? Do we just try to “mean it more”? Do we pick more upbeat songs to try to liven things up? Not that all those things are bad in themselves, but I don’t think they are the answer. The answer to correcting boring worship is not to focus more on ourselves – that’s probably what got us into this mess in the first place. The answer is to focus on Christ. To recognize what He has done for us. To remember the depths of our sin so that we can extoll the height of our salvation. To correct our worship problem, we must reclaim a correct vision of God so that we can proclaim, “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation!”
When is the last time you could honestly say that the Lord is your song. I know we are using poetic language here, but when was the last time that God Himself was the melody of your worship? I promise I’m preaching to myself here as well and I’m not trying to bring guilt or shame. My hope is that we are drawn into deeper worship of our Deliverer. My hope is that we become so enthralled by Christ, that we can say that He is the melody of our praise – that He is the source and fountain. My hope is that we, as a body of Christians – as a church – and as individuals would proclaim the salvation of Christ in a way that accurately reflects how truly awesome it is. After all, why have we been delivered from bondage? For worship. To glorify God. We are redeemed to bring God glory – it ought to be our life goal, and that ought to be evident when we gather together.
Conclusion
In a moment we will transition to a time of worship through response. We believe that any time a person hears the Word of God, they respond in one of two ways: either in rebellion or in worship. Often, the worshipful response is repentance, other times it is excitement and joy. Sometimes it’s a mix of emotions. Rebellion on the other hand sometimes tries to mimic worship, but the heart is not in it. The heart is not captivated by the glory of God in Christ Jesus.
During the time of response, we will sing a song to the Lord. I will be on the front row worshipping with you, so if you need to talk with someone or pray with them, I’d be delighted to do that, just come talk to me. I will also stick around after service if you have questions or need to talk then. Finally, if you would like to pray up front, you are welcomed to do that as well. Let me address a couple more things, then we will worship in response to the Lord.
If you are here and you are not trusting in Christ, then you should know that you are not covered by His blood. On the day of judgment, if you are not covered by Christ’s blood – clothed in His righteousness, then you will be destroyed. You will pay for your sins and wickedness like the Egyptians. The floodwaters of God’s wrath will crash over you. Deliverance comes only through Christ to those who repent and turn from their sin and trust in Christ. Please do that today.
Brothers and sisters, if you are here and you feel like your affections towards Christ have grown cold, and your worship has followed, the way we correct that is by repenting of our sin. Recognizing that we were made to worship, and we have been redeemed to worship. Let us focus on Christ – the author and finisher of our faith, and let our view of Christ fuel our worship. May god give us a renewed vision of His great salvation. Let’s pray.