← ArchiveSunday, April 30, 2017DateApril 30, 2017Speaker—TextPsalms 51Passages in this sermonExodus 25:192 Samuel 920:09Psalms 5121:21Genesis 624:13TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00"Moses, Moses, your fathers called me God, and I am Him. I have made you an orphan of grace. I have sustained you in the house of a king. Now see your purpose. For I have heard the cries of my people. I have seen the weight of their oppression. And I have come down to deliver them.0:24And I will stretch out my hand against Egypt and guide my people to a land I have prepared. I will make you my mouthpiece. I will make you a shadow of one greater to come. I will lead you as I have led you. Now go, and you will see what I will do to Pharaoh."0:53British forces in World War II. And it's said that he is a very unlikely war hero. In college, it was recorded of David that if he ever opened a book, that was not recorded in history.1:02And he barely passed by. Some of you are saying amen to that because that was by the grace of God that you passed.1:29And even worse than that, David enlisted in the army to serve his country that he loved in the midst of the European war. And he, in that process, could not march correctly, had a lazy work ethic and desired to not apply himself to his trade. And they gave him in the army a nickname of the giant sloth.1:56So this is the man that we are talking about. But one day, his biographer, many years later, said this about David. This was a man that failed at peace, but thrived at war. You know people like that, that they just fail at peace like Rambo, right? He's not going to do well at Walmart, but you put him in Burma, I mean, he's going to blow up everyone. You know, it just reminds me, this is not scripted, but one of the first things when Eli was born, our oldest, he's five now, and I brought him home.2:20And I would get home before Casey, who was a school teacher still at that point, and he would just curl up on my chest and go to sleep, about three o'clock in the afternoon. And so we would watch sometimes on the channel, I guess, TNT or whatever it was, we would watch Rambo. So I'm introducing my three-month-old, as a good dad should, to Rambo. We're eating a turkey leg and things like that.2:49But Rambo thrives at war, not at peace. And it was one day in a failed parachuting attempt that Sterling is lying in his hospital bed with being numb from the waist down that he concocts this crazy scheme. And this is his scheme. He said, "I failed at marching. I failed at really living a life that would honor the military."3:14He said, "I wonder if it's possible if a group, a small group of five or six men could be put behind the front lines of the enemy and wreak havoc." This was unheard of. And so he begins to pitch this to his superiors. He said, "I wonder if we could send a small group to Libya to conquer and destroy airfields, and then on the way back if they could blow up as many German and Italian planes as they could."3:40So in 1941, in November 16th, he and five men were parachuted in the Libyan desert to bomb five airfields and destroy German and Italian planes. Well, history records that this was a failed, horrible experience. Most of the men died and nothing was blown up. David was retrieved, thankfully.4:09But he did not give up. By the time, he began to research and the British forces, the air forces, they're called the special air forces, would develop this craft of sending small troops behind enemy lines, specialized troops, to do their bidding. And even today, David Sterling's legacy lives on. With the United States and the Delta Force, with the Navy SEALs, they can trace their heritage and history back to this one man who was at one time named the giant sloth.4:35When he was promoted in the army, he had a tendency to say, "What, what?" after every command. So they know him now by "General, what, what?" He was a very unlikely hero. And we're going to meet a man today in Scripture thousands of years before David Sterling that was an unlikely hero of the faith.4:58So the sermon this morning is entitled this, "Unlikely deliverance and an unlikely savior." So if you would, turn with me in your Bibles, if you have them, if you take them out or take your electronic device out. Exodus chapter 2. Exodus 2 verse 1. The second book of the Bible. Exodus chapter 2.5:31"Beginning in verse 1." "And a man of the house of Levi went and took as his wife a daughter of Levi. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him three months." Now, just background here, the Hebrew word is not "beautiful," it's actually "tov," which is "good." So when the mother saw that her child was good, she hid him.6:00Let me just stop and say this. Every mom thinks their child is beautiful. Every mother thinks their child is good. I've been in a lot of hospital rooms and seen a lot of non-beautiful kids. Not mine, of course. My kids are beautiful. Right? But I've never met a mom who would look at their child when they were first born and said, "Man, what an ugly child."6:25Every child. Parents, you know what I'm talking about, right? Every child, when you hold that baby, it is a beautiful sight to behold. Moses' mom takes that child and verse 3, "When she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, dabbed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river bank.6:40Her sister stood afar off to know what would be done to him. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and when her maidens walked along the riverside, they saw the ark among the reeds, and she sent her maid to get it.7:00And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept." Well, let me stop here because I'm not going to say this later. So we have this picture of Moses in like a little rowboat, right? Moses is rowing down. But the picture we get in Scripture is they had to open the boat. So almost as if it's a rectangular shoebox device where they had to open the boat, the ark for Moses.7:29And she had compassion to him. Verse 6, "And said, this is one of the Hebrews' children." Now, this is going to push us deeper in our faith. So what did she have towards Moses? Love and compassion. Whose daughter is this? This is Pharaoh's daughter. The same Pharaoh a chapter before has issued an edict to kill every male child.7:58She's coming from a house of no compassion, and yet she has compassion, but by the grace of God. Verse 7, "His sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, 'Shall I go and call a nurse whom you might need from the Hebrew children, that she may nurse the child for you?'" And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the maiden went and called the child's mother.8:28Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away, nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, saying, listen to this, "Because I drew him out of the water." Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you are a God who draws us out of our circumstances to bring us before the throne of grace in our time of need.8:55Lord, I pray for someone that's in the midst of trials and difficulty right now. Lord, that's sitting here and they don't know where the way is. They don't know the way of escape. Lord, I pray today that in unlikely ways you will deliver them and you will restore to them your salvation.9:19Lord, I pray that we would not put you in a box, but that you would exceed abundantly anything we can think, do, or ask. We pray this in the name of the most sovereign Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen and amen. As unlikely as David Sterling was a war hero.9:48Here we have a young boy pulled from the Nile River who would one day deliver God's people from their plight. This is Moses, an unlikely deliverance and an unlikely Savior. So how can we grow in our faith through the scriptures, through the ancient text? A man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. Something interesting as we gloss over this first verse.10:17We do not have the names of Moses' parents here. We later get them in Exodus. But I think this is what the book of the Bible is pushing us deeper. It is this in verse 1, that at first glance, it doesn't look like much, but Moses was born into a family. The only family that would allow him to do the mission that God had called him to later in his life.10:41Moses is going to be a prophet. Moses is going to be not only prophet but priest and king, a forerunner, pointing us to what Christ has done. And he is going to intercede on behalf of the people to God. Because of that, he has to be born to the family of Levi. Not Judah, one of the largest and strongest families of God's people that camps on the furthest to the east where the sun rises.11:06Not Benjamin or Issachar or Reuben or Simeon, but Levi. When Moses realizes he needs it, he is born into a family that God is using to prepare him for his life. And similarly in our life, God uses our circumstances and our upbringing to prepare us for our mission.11:29God uses your family and your upbringing and the things that you've been in your life to prepare you for his mission and what he wants to do in your life. We're going to unpack that shortly, but we know this, that no one picks their family. None of you, before you were born, sent a text message to your mom or dad and said,11:54"You know what, mom? I would really want to be born at St. Vincent's, not UAB." Or, "I really want to be born from a women's hospital." You know, our kids did not have a choice. We don't pick our families. So, "Were you born into a poor family?" That wasn't your choice. You had no say-so in that. Born into a rich family. Wasn't your choice. Yeah, I love this comment. Some people are born on third base and they think that they've hit the triple.12:24That's not the way it works. Maybe you were born into a family that was dysfunctional. You're not alone. Not your choice. Maybe you were born into a family with a great reputation. Pillars of the community. Not your choice. And you say, "Well, Pastor, why are you bringing this up?" Because God is using your upbringing to accomplish His mission in your life. And we can spend our whole lives running from our upbringing.12:52But God wants us to run to the Savior. And if we do that, if we are carrying shame because of our family, God will use that for His glory. Because you who are born in humble circumstances, God has given you a door to reach those in humble circumstances. You who are born in mansions, God has given you an opportunity to reach those who are born in mansions.13:17You who are born in families of divorce and dysfunction, God has given you a chance to speak truth and hope to those who are going through the same things in your life. And may we look at God and say, "God, I'm not necessarily thankful for the way I was raised if you were raised in difficult times." But you can say, "God, I want you to use this through me for your good and for your glory."13:42God, work in me. God, deliver me. Unusual circumstances, but God, we have a wonderful Savior. This is the story of Moses. And we can spend our entire life running from our past and never finding escape. But we are not alone. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was born into a crazy time, into a crazy family.14:09Born into a family that they were pregnant before they were fully married. I know that would never happen today. But many of us, many of you have that story, don't you? Born into a family where mom and dad really weren't yet mom and dad or difficult. And it gets worse, they're traveling to a town and there's no room to be birthed.14:35Now, Dad, think with me for a second. Can you imagine driving up to the hospital and your wife is screaming at you, "I'm about to give birth." The labor pains are coming and you have to walk back out to the car and say, "Honey, bad news, there's no room." Your life in that moment will end. Right? But can you imagine?15:04This is the Son of God. And the world's saying, "Hey, we don't have room for you." Born into the house of bread. Bethlehem. The people are trying to kill the babies, King Herod, and so they flee to Egypt. This is the circumstance of the birth of Christ. And yet we see that in the birth of Christ, in this dysfunction, God uses that to prepare and to fulfill scripture.15:28We know that Jesus Christ himself said that, "I am the bread of life." It's no accident that the bread of life was born in the house of bread. And it was no accident that God sent his son to flee to Egypt because the scripture says, "Out of Egypt I will call my son." God used the circumstances of Jesus' upbringing to prepare him for ministry and prepare him for the mission that God wanted to work out in his life.15:57The same is true for you today. I pray that you would take time to reflect on the way God has worked in your life. That he would mold you and make you into his image. You see, God is using the unlikely or even unwanted circumstances in our life to prepare us for an unlikely savior.16:22Because I really believe there are people here this morning that don't believe in Jesus. You're here because your parents brought you here, your friends brought you here. But you don't fully believe what the Bible says about Jesus Christ.16:49I just want you to know this, you're not here by accident. You might be here crossing your hands and out of spite, but the Holy Spirit, like a hammer, is beating on your hearts. And I pray that hammer will break through in your life this morning. God is working in you for his glory and for his mission. Listen. Listen, Moses. He is working in your life. Verse 2. You see, the first hero we see in the story of Moses is who?17:19Who's the first hero in Moses' life? Many, for us, it's the same hero in our life. Who's the hero of your life generally when you're young? Your mom. Right? When our kids, even today, when they fall down and they're hurt and they're crying, they're going to run past dad and to mom.17:44There are even points in my life. If I get a stomach bug, the first person I think of is, "Mom, I need some chicken noodle soup." Then I realize, "Mom's been long gone, right? She can't come. She can't come help me." But there's a natural desire, I think, that God's given us to have that hero in our life. Every person in Moses' life, it's his mom. And when he was old enough to be recognized, his mother decided to use other means to protect this child.18:14You see, she hid Moses. The ancient Hebrew Midrash says this about the Egyptians. Midrash is simply the Hebrew commentary to the Hebrew Scriptures. The Egyptians, I want you to gather the inhumanity here. That the Egyptians, this is tradition, that they would go to houses that they thought would have a child.18:39And they would bring their baby. And they would bring the Hebrew baby in the house. They'd bring the Egyptian baby to the Hebrew house and they would make the Egyptian baby cry. With the hopes that that crying child would draw out the crying child of the Hebrew. And that way they could dispatch the baby boy if they found one. Think about just the turmoil and the heartache of Moses' mom.19:04So she hides this child and at the point where she could not hide him anymore in verse 2, she finds another way to protect him. Now this is where we transition spiritually to our life. Moses' mom was not sinning by hiding this child. The opposite is true. She was protecting her child. But there are times in our life we need to realize it's at the point where we should quit hiding that God offers us deliverance.19:32It's at the point where she quit hiding Moses and putting him in the river that God offers salvation. And it's the same thing spiritually. Many of us go and hide behind veiled faces, whether it's at church, whether it's at home. We feel like we are the tov people. We feel like we are the good children. And we hide behind that mask.20:02And yet God says, until you quit hiding, you can't be saved. I think of the story in 2 Samuel 9-10 of David, king. And Samuel goes to him and tells a story. He said, Nathan, the prophet said, David, I want to tell you a story. Here it is. There's one man and there's another man. First man's rich, has a lot of flocks of sheep. There's another man, he's poor, he has one sheep.20:29And this sheep, this one sheep is his pet. And so he, every day he lets it play with his little girls. And it eats near the table that they eat. And it drinks at the table that they drink. It's his only prized possession. And one day the king is having guests come in town and he wants to put on a great party. And so instead of killing and eating one sheep of his flock, he goes and he steals and he kills the one sheep from this poor man.20:58And the king rises up and says, how dare this person? He should repay him fourfold. If not, he should be killed. And Nathan says this, you are the man. And from that comes this psalm, Psalm 51. And David reveals his heart to God.21:26It says, God against you and you only have I sinned. I want you to listen to Psalm 51. I want you to listen to Psalm 51. Because we have to quit hiding if we want salvation. We have to quit hiding if we want deliverance. And we can hide at church. Right? How's your day? Man, it's awesome. Well, I know some of your weeks. It's not awesome. And so we need to quit hiding.21:54This is Psalm 51. David says, be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love, according to your abundant compassion. Listen to these words. Blot out my rebellion. Wash away my guilt. Cleanse me from my sin. For I am conscious of my rebellion. My sin is always before me.22:23Against you. You alone I have sinned. I have done this evil in your sight, Lord. So you are right when you pass sentence. You are blameless when you rush. David was a man who stood before God and said, God, I cannot hide anymore. And it was at the moment where David quit hiding that he found salvation. He found deliverance and he found protection.22:52And it's at the moment where Moses was taken out of the protection of his hiding place and put into the ark that God provided for him. So I ask you right now, what are you hiding from? Or what are you trying to hide from God? We all hide something, don't we? Whether it's addictions. Whether it's pride. Whether it's our resources or our time.23:22Whether we just don't like people and we're going to hide behind that mess. What is God calling you to unveil this morning? This is David pouring out his heart. And we see that we will never recognize our Savior until we recognize our sin. We will never recognize our Savior until we recognize our sin. God is using your history for his glory if you listen.23:50God is asking us this morning, quit hiding. See deliverance. It is offered freely. Quit playing church. Jump in the river. We say, well that's kind of scary. Let's look at the protection now God offers to us. The Bible says that Moses in verse 3 was put into an ark. It's the same word "tava" used in Genesis 6 for the ark that Noah built. God offers us protection in sometimes the most unlikely of places, doesn't he?24:20God often delivers us in a way that we're not expecting. I believe sometimes we come here to worship or we come to our life and we say, God, I want you to do this in my life. And I want it done this way and at this moment and in this place. And God, I'm going to keep my eyes gazed on this spot until you offer me deliverance. And yet God is offering us freedom here.24:51Right, God, I'm going to hide my child and I'm going to wait for you to protect. And God says, well, why don't you just throw your child in the river? That makes a lot of sense. Right, why don't you put him in a little basket and cover it up and throw him in the river. Now, before you go back to your childhood days and picture Moses in a little, in Louisiana, a P-Rogue. Right, a little boat with oars rowing down the river. That would have been the opposite of what Moses' mom wanted for him.25:21You see, Moses' mom covered that ark in a sealed covering. And on top of that covering, she bathed it in tar. And they would have put it in reeds. That way it would not go anywhere. Moses didn't want her son, I mean, Moses' mom did not want her son to be seen. Why? Because Moses had a death sentence. And if you think about it, what would motion on the open water do to predators?25:48That's a blinking light. Come eat me. Come investigate. And we know the Nile is teeming with predators. Or, Moses would have traveled on the open river north into the Mediterranean ocean. But that's not what Moses' mom wants for him. She is protecting him. And we see that God offers deliverance and salvation in the most unlikely of places.26:13Look at the people in Moses' life that God used to deliver him. Verse 2. So the woman conceived and bore a son. What is the woman's name? Good job. We don't know. Verse 4. And his what stood far off? Sister. What is his sister's name? Some of you just cheated, right? We don't know here, but it is Miriam.26:42So Moses' mom and Moses' sister are just hanging out, just watching. Verse 5. Then the daughter of Pharaoh. What is her name? We don't know. We don't know if it's the daughter of Ramses or the daughter of Thutmose III. These are major leaders in Egypt. God is almost as if God's word skips over the major pharaohs in Egypt and goes right to the daughter.27:10And dad, you know where this goes, right? When daughter comes home with a pet, it's hard to say no. Even if you have said throughout the entire nation, every boy will die. When little girl comes home and says, Daddy, look what I found in the river. As much as you want to be the king, it's hard to say no.27:35And that Pharaoh's daughter had compassion. And it not only ends there. Look who we have in verse 7. His sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, shall I go and call a nurse? It's like she has one in her back pocket. Hey, I know a lady that would love to nurse this child and raise it. It's his mom. See how God is orchestrating all this for his glory?28:03God has his fingerprints upon everything. In verse 9, Pharaoh's daughter said to her, take this child away, nurse him for me. Listen to this. I will even give you wages. I'm going to pay you to raise your child that my father should kill. Often times in our life, God's deliverance comes in unlikely ways and from unlikely sources.28:30And the child grew and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She called his name Moses saying, behold, I drew him out of the water. See, I think we see this truth unfolding in the book of Exodus. That as much as we want to, you and I can never plan our life in a way that mirrors or supersedes God's plan.28:56We cannot plan our way. How do I know that? Because the Bible says that God's ways are higher than my ways. That God's plans are greater than my plans. You know, if God said, Josh, I want you to write, I want you to write a proposal to protect your children.29:20You know what they're not going to include? I'm not going to sit down and say, you know what? I'm going to, I'm going to stuff my son in a box. And I'm going to throw him in the little cahaba. And I'm going to let his sister watch him. Because the Lord knows that brother and sister aren't really looking out for one another. I'm going to confess something to my wife.29:49I had the kids all alone by myself last Sunday, last weekend. And they're at church running around because I'm watching them like I should be. And the young girl comes and she's crying, boo-hooing. I'm like, what's wrong? Here's brother. Oh, she slammed her head in the door. I'm like, you're supposed to be watching her. He said, I was, Dad. Okay, got it. So, I'm not necessarily writing a protection plan with Bubba watching Sis.30:13Or Sis watching Bubba. That's not my plan. But sometimes God's plan interferes with our plans. And when it does, God's plans are always exceeding anything that we could have in our mind. And often today we say, God, I'll do anything you want me to as long as I'm okay with you.30:41And God says, but Josh, that's not what I asked you. I asked you to take up your cross and follow me. We say, well, Lord, I'll let you do anything to my kids except put them in a basket and throw them in the aisle. And God says, but that's what I want you to do. But here's my promise. This is the promise of Scripture. That if you will walk according to my ways, I will be with you.31:11I will not leave you. I will not forsake you. And if we understand that truth, we will be okay with God saying, do this. And we say, God, I don't understand it. God, the Mediterranean is to the north. God, the crocodiles are to the south. And you know that Pharaoh, dude. God, this is not right. This is not safe.31:40And God says, but you don't understand my protection and my provision. Oh, that we would be okay with opening our lives up this morning and saying, God, use me. God, mold me. God, deliver me in a way that I'm not expecting because I trust in you. It is so sweet to trust in Jesus. Oh, for grace to know him more. And think about the protection that Moses had growing up in the house of Pharaoh.32:10The bondage of slavery was removed. The bondage of difficult was removed. And Moses was put in a place where God was now grooming him to set the world on fire by his grace and by his mercy. So, pastor, how does that relate to my life?32:36How do we respond to God's working in his people? You see, as the child grew, she named him Moses. She named him Moses. Meaning what? What does Moses mean in verse 10? Saying, behold, I drew him out of the water. That's ironic on many levels. The Egyptians believed that the Nile had magical characteristics.33:04That anything that brought out of the Nile was from the gods. Sounds familiar. They didn't know that it was from the gods. And we know in scripture that Pharaoh was so frustrated that he told the Egyptians that to kill these children, you should throw them in the Nile. See what the Lord is doing? What was a place of death by the world's standards?33:34In the hands of the Savior is a source of life. And we see this in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want you to listen to this passage in Isaiah as we wrap up this morning. This is who Jesus is. Jesus Christ, the one and only God, died on a cross. The cross is a symbol of what? It's not a symbol of life. The cross is a symbol of death and destruction.34:03Yet, by the grace of God, the cross for those who believe has gone from a symbol of death to a symbol of life. The Nile, that was a picture of death and destruction. It was a picture of life and grace. Listen to an unlikely Savior here in Isaiah. Verse 1 of chapter 53. Listen, who has believed what we have heard, the prophet says.34:31And to whom has the arm of the Lord revealed? Jesus grew up before him like a young plant. Like a root out of dry ground. He had no impressive form or majesty that we should look at him. No appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men. A man of suffering who knew what sickness was.35:00He was like someone that people turned away from. He was despised and we did not value him. If I were to write a narrative of what the Savior of the world would look like. He would be tall. He would be strong. He would be someone that would walk in the room and the gaze of people would turn. And yet we see in Scripture that our Savior was not impressive in form.35:25He grew up as a dry plant. He was despised. He was rejected. We have an unlikely Savior in Jesus Christ. He loves us so much. The Bible says that God so loved the world. He gave his only Son. And whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.35:52And it sounds so simple, doesn't it? Some of you are thinking, how can that be possible? Is that all it takes to believe and to be saved? Yes. And you might be saying, well, that's unlikely. That does not make sense. It doesn't make sense that you would throw your child into the Nile and God would protect him and offer salvation. It does not make sense that God would send his Son to die on the cross. That if we believe, we would be saved.36:21And yet, that is exactly what God did. That if we believe here, if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. And we know that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will find salvation. Maybe you're here this morning, you walked in and you are going. And you don't know the way out.36:49I want you to know that Jesus Christ is the answer. And maybe that's not the answer you were expecting when you walked in here several hours ago or maybe several minutes ago. But I want you to know Jesus is the deliverer that you are looking for. Will you not put your faith in him? And in so doing, at the cross, a symbol of death is a symbol of life. At the cross, we walk to the cross and we die and we find life in Jesus.37:16Why don't you put your faith in Christ today? We're going to give you a time to respond. If you want to fill out that connect card on the back and respond via that card and put that in the offering plate. If you want a pastor or counselor to come to you, we would love to encourage you to do that. But we're going to give you a chance to make a public display of your faith this morning. Maybe you're here and you say, well, you don't know how I grew up.37:43I'm ashamed of my past. You don't know, you don't know what my parents did. You don't know the abuse I suffered. And maybe you lived a life where you have been running shamefully from your upbringing for years. I pray this morning that you would come to the altar and lay that down. And that today, as you lay down your shame, that God would give you healing. That is what our Savior is about.38:14But may we not miss a chance to find the Savior that loves us. To know that he draws us out to draw us in. And to know that he is using your history to work today in your presence. And to build you to reach the world tomorrow. Won't you listen? Won't we respond? Let's pray. Father God.More sermons on Psalms →
