Lord of the Heart
Exodus • Sermon • Submitted
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· 11 viewsExodus 4:18-31 describes 3 hearts that God is looking for in the man or woman of God.
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Transcript
Please open your Bibles to Exodus 4:18
Please open your Bibles to Exodus 4:18
* Read Exodus 4:18-31
We are in the early chapters of Exodus.
We’ve met Moses.
Moses was a Hebrew, who was spared death by Pharaoh’s family.
At about the age of 40, Moses tried to bring justice to his captive brothers, by killing an Egyptian.
Pharaoh wanted him dead, so he fled into the Midianite wilderness.
There he met the love of his life, Zipporah.
They got married and had a child.
One day, while out near Sinai in the Wilderness, he encountered God at a burning bush, Yahweh.
God sent him to go back to Israel.
He sent him to communicate to:
Israel
The Elders of Israel
And Pharaoh himself.
God gave him signs to validate the message.
In this next section, we see the kind of heart that God is looking for in His people.
If you remember in our time in James, God cares how we live.
It matters what our intentions are.
It matters what our desires are.
What your heart is like matters.
God commended David, because he was a man after God’s own heart.
The heart is sometimes said to be the driving force behind the will.
What we see in the next section are 3 attitudes of the heart, or 3 kinds of hearts that the Lord is looking for, because this heart decides how we live.
What is it God wants from you?
We see 3 descriptions of the heart God desires.
First, God desires a Willing Heart - v. 18-23
First, God desires a Willing Heart - v. 18-23
What is a willing heart?
A willing heart is a heart that desires to do what is right.
It is the heart that reflects the work of God upon it.
It loves what is good.
It desires to please God.
Within verses 18-23, I see 2 attributes of a willing heart.
There is a a heart that is Willing in Danger - v. 18-20
God has just sent Moses back into danger.
Egypt has not been a safe place for the Israelites.
It wasn’t safe for Moses when he was there.
And it’s not safe now either.
Moses is going to confront Pharaoh.
“You know all these slaves you have? We are going in to the wilderness to worship God.”
You don’t tell Pharaoh what to do.
And that is exactly what Moses sets out to do.
But before he goes, he returns to Jethro, his father in law, to ask permission to return to Egypt.
Grandparents, imagine having this conversation with your son-in-law.
Sit down.
Talk about your day.
Then the conversation gets somber.
“So Jethro, guess who I met at a burning bush today ...”
Your son-in-law, says he’s taking your daughter and grandchildren into one of the most dangerous places.
That’s the conversation that Moses has with Jethro.
Jethro, surprisingly, gives Moses his blessing.
Verse 18, “Go in peace.”
Moses takes his wife, sons, and they ride on a donkey back to Egypt.
Moses is on a mission from God.
A dangerous mission
It could cost him his life.
He was going from the freedom of the Midianite wilderness, into the land of oppression.
A challenging mission.
It’s going to be taxing on him.
He’s 80 years old.
He’s outside his comfort zone.
He doesn’t like speaking.
He doesn’t like leading people.
But that’s what God has called him to do.
He was willing to do it.
He was willing in danger.
This means denying yourself.
Going forward is going to bring discomfort.
How often do you know the right thing to do, but you don’t do it, because it’s going to hurt?
A conversation you don’t want to have.
An apology you don’t want to make.
Life is easier when all I have to look out for is myself.
But God isn’t calling for us to live for ourselves.
You aren’t called to live for only you.
You have been purchased by a price.
If you are a believer, that price is the life of Christ.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
This life is not yours anymore.
It belongs to Christ.
He bought you.
He’s going to use you how He sees fit.
He’s going to put you in uncomfortable positions.
The heart that God is looking for is the heart that is willing in these uncomfortable positions, in danger.
There are similarities between Moses and Christ.
Christ was a better prophet than Moses.
He too was sent on a mission.
God gave Him a task.
You find Jesus talking about this task in John 17:4, “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”
He was given something to do.
This was a dangerous mission
But Jesus’ mission didn’t come with the threat of violence.
It wasn’t a threat.
Violence was what He came to endure.
His mission would be His death.
It was a challenging mission
He put on the weakness of human nature.
He was tempted, personally by Satan himself.
He was abandoned by his friends, experiencing deep loneliness.
And He was righteousness to the very end.
A costly mission.
The price was His life.
The lamb of God, laid down His life.
Jesus was willing.
He obeyed the Father’s will.
Jesus was never forced into this position.
He wasn’t coerced into it.
Out of a love for the Father and a desire to glorify Him, He accomplished what He set out to do.
Moses is not only a precursor for Jesus, but he becomes a picture of what God is looking for in our own hearts.
A willing heart.
God isn’t looking for grudging obedience.
You know, the kind of obedience that drags its feet, with its head down.
Mumbling, and murmuring under your breath.
This obedience has a desire behind it.
A desire to obey God.
Moses was absolutely predestined for this job.
He was spared from Egypt.
He was chosen.
God called Him.
And yet, none of that removed the importance of obedience.
I love theology.
I love reading the old dead guys.
I like reading systematic theologies.
We don’t get to sit on our theology, or our soteriology, our doctrine of predestination, and become proud, saying , “God choose me, I’m good.”
God has chosen us with the expectation that we will obey.
That we will desire to obey.
Before I move on, here’s an observation.
This isn’t a complete point, but it’s worthy of pointing out.
Consider this free of charge.
Before Moses left for Egypt, what did he do?
He was commissioned by God to go back to Egypt.
But before he went, he sought permission from Jethro.
Did Moses need permission to leave?
No.
He was well past the age of needing Jethro’s permission for anything.
He was under orders from God.
But he displayed courtesy and respect for his father in law.
Sometimes in our strong convictions to obey God, there’s a danger of running over others.
We drive over everyone in our way.
We say, “Here’s my conviction” and we assume everyone has the same conviction.
Moses displayed some patience here.
He followed the customs of his land and still obeyed the Lord.
He showed some compassion even in his willing obedience.
There’s a second attribute of the willing heart, and that is being Willing in defeat - v. 21-23
Going into something, where you know you’re going to lose.
You know you don’t have a chance at winning.
Moses is being sent to confront Pharaoh, but Pharaoh will not listen.
Some would consider that a failure.
Why try, if you aren’t going to succeed.
Why try if you know you’re going to lose.
That’s why its being willing even in defeat.
Look at this text with me.
Let’s reread verses 21-23.
Read verses 21-23.
We learn that God has unique and specific plans for men.
No one simply exists in life.
God knows everything about every individual that’s ever born.
Pagan.
And saint.
No one’s life is unknown before God.
And God has every bit of authority over every person that’s ever born.
We’ve seen in the past, that it is God who shapes us from the mother’s womb.
In Jeremiah 18, God told Jeremiah to go visit a potter.
So Jeremiah goes there, and watches a potter, shaping the clay, like a scene from Ghost.
There it is, the clay is spinning on the wheel.
The potter is able to shape and reshape the clay till its exactly how he wants it.
It might spin into the shape of a bowl.
Then the potter will smash it and flatten it into another shape.
This becomes a picture of God’s sovereignty over mankind.
Jeremiah 18:6, “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”
God has every right to do to His creation what he wants.
I told you this is about being willing in defeat, because Moses is being sent to bring a message to Pharaoh.
He’s being sent with miracles.
A staff turning to snake.
Hand that becomes leprous.
Water that turns to blood.
Will any of these miracles convince Pharaoh?
No.
From the get go, we learn that Moses’ mission will not succeed in convincing Pharaoh.
Verse 21 - “And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power.”
Do all the miracles that you’ve been sent with.
God sends him in power.
We read on, and catch this, “But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.”
Moses is sent with miracles to convince Pharaoh.
God will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he doesn’t listen.
Moses is sent on a losing mission.
Over the next 9 chapters, Pharaoh’s heart is going to be talked about a lot.
Sometimes its described as God hardening Pharaoh’s heart.
Sometimes its described as Pharaoh hardening his own heart.
And sometimes, no one is credited with hardening Pharaoh’s heart, it’s just described as a hard heart.
10 times, God is credited hardening Pharaoh’s heart.
And equally, 10 times Pharaoh is credited with hardening his own heart.
What does this tell us?
First, it tells us that God claims responsibility for hardening Pharaoh’s heart.
This is a decree of God.
This is the plan.
God’s will is for Pharaoh to have a hard heart.
Did God harden Pharaoh’s heart?
Yes.
The text says so.
10 times in fact.
Did Pharaoh harden his heart?
Yes.
The text will say this also.
10 times.
Did Pharaoh freely make this decision to harden his heart?
Yes, he did.
I’m sure you’re sitting there, and scratching your head.
“Luke, you can’t answer yes to both questions! Make up your mind.”
God takes responsibility over Pharaoh’s heart.
God is sovereign over Pharaoh’s heart.
God is sovereign over Pharaoh.
This reminds us that the human heart, is not an impenetrable black box in the human soul.
God has full authority over it.
Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.”
So God has complete authority over a man’s heart.
Listen closely, God can be completely sovereign over the human heart, while that human heart makes decisions on its own.
God uses means to accomplish His goals.
His means, do not always have to be extraordinary intervention.
God doesn’t have to treat a human like a robot or a puppet, to have sovereignty over the human heart.
God can use ordinary experiences of life, and the character and nature of a man, so that that person does what God has planned for and predestined all on his own.
Put on your thinking caps and look at a couple passages with me.
Acts 2:22-23, Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost.
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”
Do we see this in play?
Yes.
God had a plan.
It was a definite plan.
And it was something that He foreknew.
He didn’t just know the future, He planned the future.
And since He planned the future, He knew it would happen.
God knows the future, because of His will
What was the plan?
That Jesus would be killed and crucified by the hands of lawless men.
He says at the hands of lawless men.
Were those who killed Jesus guilty?
Yes.
Were they sinful?
Yes.
They were called lawless.
They acted according to their nature, which was wicked and sinful.
They did what they did, because it’s who they were.
And yet, God claims responsibility for their actions.
The death of Christ never took God by surprise.
It was something that was planned, and predestined before the foundation of the world.
And the plan was for sinful men to kill Jesus.
The plan was for Jesus to die and redeem people.
And the plan was for it to happen by the actions of men.
This is God’s sovereignty on display.
He can claim responsibility, while allowing men to do what they do naturally.
Flip forward in your Bibles to Acts 4:24.
The apostles are released from prison.
They gathered with the church and began praying, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, ...”
Move down to verse 27, “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.”
Who is God?
Sovereign Lord
He’s sovereign.
He has all authority.
Creator.
Sustainer.
Appoints leaders.
He removes leaders.
His will is eternal.
There is nothing that ever happens that is outside of His decree.
What was the plan?
The death of Jesus.
How did God achieve this plan?
There were those gathered in Jerusalem, including Herod, Pilate, the Romans and the Jews, and it says “to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.”
It mentions - Herod, Pilate, Romans and the Jews.
Are they guilty for their actions.
Yes.
Did God plan it?
Yes.
Is God sovereign?
Yes.
We’ve seen examples of God hardening someone’s heart.
Whether it’s Pharaoh, or those who condemned and killed Christ.
But God can also open a man’s heart and give him a new heart.
God can do the reverse of a hardened heart.
He can soften a man’s heart.
Conversion is exactly this.
It’s where God removes that old hard heart, and sovereignly, graces you with a new heart that no longer desires sin, but desires Him.
He change you from being hard hearted, and stiff necked, to freely loving Him.
Ezekiel 36:26-27, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
So God hardens Pharaoh’s heart.
Moses is being sent to a man who’s heart God has hardened.
It’s a hard mission to preach to those who have already made up their minds about you.
It’s a hard mission knowing that those who hear you, are looking to attack you.
Having a willing heart even in defeat takes endurance and steadfastness.
It takes patience, because you’re not going to see the results you want.
We have been called to evangelize the lost, and to make disciples.
But what condition are the lost in now?
I Corinthians 2:14 says, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
This is a hard heart.
Do you know what you can do against a hard heart?
Do you know what you can do against a hard heart?
Nothing.
You cannot change a man’s heart.
You can have the best arguments in the world, with the clearest PowerPoint presentation there is, and it won’t make a scratch or a dent on that hard heart.
Your staff could turn into a snake, hand into leprousy and turn water into blood, and it won’t change a man’s heart.
When you give someone the good news and they reject it, it doesn’t mean that you said anything wrong.
This is the hard heart at work.
Moses was sent to convince Pharaoh, and Pharaoh wouldn’t listen.
But Moses went.
This was a willing heart.
This was a willing heart in defeat.
We have no power over the human heart.
So when you encounter a hard heart in life -
Don’t get frustrated.
Don’t get angry.
These emotions aren’t for you.
It’s not right for you to get angry here.
It’s not right for you to get frustrated over another person’s heart.
They are only acting according to their nature.
The human heart is not your realm.
It’s the part of the human that the Holy Spirit works on alone.
He’s the one that changes the heart.
So when you encounter a hard heart, go to the Lord.
First you do what He has called you to do.
If it’s to disciple, then you disciple.
If it’s to evangelize, then you evangelize.
And pray.
Pray for His Spirit to work.
It’s good and natural to pray for others.
Pray for believers.
Pray for non-believers.
Pray that the Lord would soften hearts, so that when the word preached the heart would be opened the word would have its desired affect.
And even when all is lost, don’t stoop to the level of the hard hearted.
Romans 12:20-21 says, “To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
While we are sent into danger, and sometimes seemingly impossible situations, our motivation is found in God’s love for His people.
He has not abandoned you.
The situation may seem desperate.
Even when the situation seems lost, that does not mean you are lost.
Look at verses 22-23, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”
God calls Israel his firstborn son.
This title of firstborn son, its a position of privilege.
It’s who receives the inheritance.
And God calls Israel this firstborn son.
Who else is called His firstborn son?
Colossians 1:15 says of Christ, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
Christ is called God’s firstborn.
The love that God has for His people, is the love that God has for His Son.
God doesn’t have varying levels of love.
He doesn’t love some people less.
He loves.
He loves completely those who are His.
God says that if Pharaoh won’t release Israel, God’s firstborn, then God will take the life of Pharaoh’s firstborn.
Slamming the door on the godhood of Pharaoh.
Pharaoh was seen as a god.
And when he died, his son would take his place as divine.
God is telling Pharaoh, “You think you are sovereign, I’m the one who places men on thrones.”
God is the one chooses who leads nations.
God is greater than kings.
God loves His people.
He calls Israel His firstborn.
And there is a real threat.
Harm the people of God and judgment will come.
Even if you are a king.
And we look forward to the day, when God destroys the nations that stand proudly opposed to Him.
And God the Son, Jesus Christ reigns over His people.
God wants a willing heart, that desires to be used by Him.
God also desires an Obedient Heart - v. 24-26
God also desires an Obedient Heart - v. 24-26
Look at verses 24-26.
I’m not gonna lie, this is a strange passage, and a hard passage.
It almost comes out of nowhere.
Moses has had this amazing moment, Yahweh appeared to him.
He’s given miracles.
Generally, it seems like lots of excitement, then boom, out of nowhere, God attacks Moses.
He’s in the middle of nowhere.
It’s not a robber, or a crazed Egyptian.
It’s God who is attacking him.
Why?
Back in Genesis 17:10 when God gave His covenant to Abraham, God said, “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.”
Circumcision was a sign of the Old Covenant.
It was to be done to all males.
If someone was not circumcised there were big consequences.
Genesis 17:14 says, “Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
To not be circumcised meant a person was not a part of Israel, they were cut off.
Moses is being attacked by God, and somehow, Zipporah, Moses’ wife figures out that her son wasn’t circumcised.
She’s connected the dots.
It was a clear command given to Abraham, that would have been passed on through the generations.
Circumcision was something that made Israel distinct among the nations.
So why wasn’t their son circumcised?
We don’t know.
Maybe the Midianites didn’t do circumcision.
Maybe it wasn’t popular.
Maybe they just didn’t get around to it.
All we know is that the Moses was not obedient in circumcising his son, and leading his family.
This is called a sin of omission.
There are sins that we actively do, these are called sins of commission.
You lie, murder, commit adultery.
Those are active.
You do something.
And there are sins that occur because of something we don’t do.
Moses had not done something.
Zipporah pulled out a flint knife and circumcised her son.
We also aren’t sure if her words to Moses were an insult or not, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”, it reads like an insult.
So I think it’s an insult.
Moses was spared because of the shedding of blood.
You see, not only are we called to be willing to obey God, but we are to actually obey God.
Not just willing, but we do it.
We are to walk in obedience.
When you turn to Christ, there is supposed to be an actual change.
It’s not popular to talk about the expectation of change within an individual.
It’s not popular to say that if you are converted, your life is to demonstrate it.
It’s very popular to say that God doesn’t care how you live, just have a good heart and that’s all that matters.
Change is expected.
Paul commended the Thessalonians in I Thessalonians 1:9, “For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,”
They showed what it meant to faith meant.
They showed what a willing heart looked like, because of their obedient heart.
Moses was almost killed because of his lack of obedience.
Change is expected.
He wasn’t going to be killed because of something he did, but because of something that he did not do.
It’s going to be a shocking day, when people find themselves in front of God.
They stand before God, thinking that they are saved.
Thinking that because they said a prayer, walked an aisle, checked a box, or said they were Christian, that they will pass those pearly white gates.
Yet, Jesus says something frightening in Matthew 7:21-24,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
You cannot be casual in your walk with Christ.
If you identify with Christ, then you are expected to live in obedience to Him.
That obedience is proof of the changed heart.
Not hearing the word only, but doing the word.
And finally, we have The Joyful Heart - v. 27-31
And finally, we have The Joyful Heart - v. 27-31
Look at verses 27-31.
Read Exodus 4:27-31.
Moses is reunited with his brother Aaron.
We are led to assume that they’ve been separated for about 40 years.
This is quite the reunion.
Moses passes on all the words that God commanded him to speak, and also explained the miracles.
Moses explained that Aaron would be Moses’ mouthpiece.
Aaron spoke to Israel all that God told them to speak.
They did the signs.
And look at verse 31, “And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.”
They believed.
What did they believe?
They believed that God had visited the people.
They bowed their heads.
They worshipped.
God’s word was proven true.
The words were received by Israel.
The words were accepted by Israel.
And Israel worshiped.
What was that worship like?
It was intentional.
It was the worship of sweet relief.
Of knowing there was a rest coming.
That a land of milk and honey was ahead of them.
Is your worship intentional?
I can’t help but get the feeling that many times people come to church, and they want music to move them.
They want the worship to affect them.
As if the singing is for us.
That whoever is leading from up front is singing to us.
Worship should be a response.
A response to Who God is.
A response to What God has done.
It’s coming from us to God.
We are not waiting for the words of the song to compliment us.
We are singing them to the Lord, praising Him for what He has done.
There is a logical flow of events here.
When you hear truth, you believe truth.
Israel celebrated God’s plan to rescue them from Israel.
We celebrate God’s plan to redeem people from our sins.
Like Israel, we celebrate God visiting His people.
We celebrate the Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ.
What a wonderful time to live.
We aren’t hoping that salvation comes.
We know salvation has come in the form of Jesus Christ.
He came.
He lived.
He died.
And He rose again.
What do you do with this?
When you hear truth - you obey truth.
You repent.
And you trust in Christ.
When you hear truth and you know it to be true, you worship.
Our worship is the realization that Christ has come.
That we are freed from our slavery to sin.
Freed from facing death.
Christians, let’s be filled with joy, even when there’s defeat.
Let’s have hearts that worship.
These signs were accepted by Israel in the way they were meant to be received.
We too must receive God’s Word in this way.
We believe it.
We obey.
We worship.
This is the heart God desires.
This is the heart God desires.
A willing heart.
That is willing in danger.
Willing in defeat.
An obedient heart.
One that pursues him.
A worshiping heart.
A life filled with joy in Christ’s saving work.