Sermon Cloud

Moses’ Rescue from Slavery (Exodus 14)

My underline conviction for the current sermon series is best explained here by Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY:

“Many of our people are dying of spiritual starvation because they do not know the Bible’s whole story, and thus they do not find themselves in the story.  True, they know many little stories.  They have a bag of facts.  But a little bit of knowledge is not a big picture.  As we preach, we need to bring every text into accountability with the big story of Scripture. 

Mainly what I want you to see this morning is how the crossing of the Red Sea is a beautiful picture of God’s Great Rescue Plan to bring us salvation.

Read Exodus 14.

Genesis 3:15 gives us the first glimpse into the window that God has a great Rescue Plan in the story line of redemptive history.  And then we see the unfolding of this plan by God making promises to fulfill His Word.  We even see new reminders or new promises made through the storyline of the Old Testament.

One of those reiterations is found in Exodus 6:1-8.

And through the fulfillment of this promise, God is teaching his people and teaching us what a glorious and graceful act of redemption He has planned for His people.

Pharoah condemned the Israelites to death when he sent the command for the chariots to pursue them.  So, on this side of the Red Sea, they were condemned.  But the moment they passed through, they found a warrior God was fighting for them.

John 5:24, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

I don’t know how else to say it this morning, but to say simply that when we trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, Jesus has set us free through the cross!

I have been using the Jesus Storybook Bible to teach my kid’s better the storyline of Jesus in the Bible.  Here is what the last page reads to wrap up the story of Moses crossing the Red Sea.

·         When the Egyptians tried to follow, the walls of water crashed back down on them and swallowed them up.  God’s people were safe.  They danced and laughed and thanks God- where there had been no way out, God had made a way.  Many years later, once again, God was going to make a way where there was no way.  From the beginning, God’ children had been running from him and hiding.  God knew his children could never be happy without him.  But they couldn’t get back to him by themselves – they were lost, they didn’t know the way back.  But God knew the way.  And one day he would show them.

How do you define freedom?

·         Freedom from an Lord or Master

·         No restrictions from my personal choice

·         To be your own (be yourself)

How does God define freedom?  What does God mean when He says He wants us to be free?

·         Real freedom is worshiping the Lord God (Exodus 5:1, “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to (WORSHIP) me in the wilderness.”

·         If you are not worshipping God, you are not really FREE.

·         In the Bible, freedom always means spiritual freedom…no political, not personal, not financial, but spiritual freedom.

The danger for us is that we can deceive ourselves and not FEEL like we are a slave, but when we look deeper we see that we are paralyzed by the past, anger, and fear.  And if you don’t know Jesus Christ then your heart is wrapped in bondage.

The Bible is very clear that we are born into captivity. 

·         The Bible teaches that we are chained to sin.  The Bible says we are born into sin, we willfully sin, and you are a sin.  Now, no matter how hard to try NOT to sin, you sin.  You wake up saying you will not sin, but you will fail every time.  Because you are chained to sin.  Unless someone comes and sets you free.

·         The Bible teaches that we are chained to self.  You don’t have to teach a baby how to be selfish.  It takes no time for kids to learn to lie.  You live for yourself when you are outside of Christ.  We are naturally selfish.  All your relationships are seen as something that can benefit YOU.  You only do nice things for others so that they will do something nice for you.

·         The Bible teaches that we are chained to shame (guilt/comdemnation).  The devil goes around telling us that we have messed up and we are worth nothing.  It makes us feel empty.  The devil tempts us to sin, we fall into sin, and then he reminds us how horrible we are.  You just feel dirty.

·         The Bible teaches that we are chained to fear.  People are afraid of loneliness, failure, exposure (someone might really know who they are), and death.  People are living afraid of everything.

The exodus is the end of captivity, but it is only the beginning of freedom.

But, unfortunately, we often trust in Christ, but then find ourselves brining back into our lives those chains that enslave us. 

How do we break the bondage of sin? 

We break the bondage by exposing the false promises of sin and trusting in the true promises of God’s Word.

Whatever it is in your life that you are in bondage to, you say to it, YOU CAN’T DIE FOR ME, JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR ME.  This is how you take hold of your freedom.

Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”