Saved to be Reshaped
Notes
Transcript
TEXT ANNOUNCEMENT
Please turn with me in your Bibles to:
Exodus 18:1—9
Exodus 18:1—9
SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION
We are continuing our series through the book of Exodus…
Where God has fulfilled His promise to rescue His people.
They were slaves, oppressed under the hand of Pharaoh and the Egyptians…
But God saved them.
God is now leading them as they travel toward the land that He has promised them.
This morning we pick up the story as they reach the mountain of God…
the place they where they will camp for about a year.
Let’s Read: Exodus 18:1—9.
1 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.
2 Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home,
3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”),
4 and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”).
5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God.
6 And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,”
7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent.
8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.
9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Lord, we thank You that we can come to You through the blood of Christ.
We believe by faith that Your Word is true, and that it has power through the Holy Spirit to change us.
We ask that You would open our hearts and minds as we learn from it this morning,
that it would be a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path,
as we seek to live our lives for You.
Amen.
SERMON INTRUDUCTION
Two to three hundred degrees celsius…
That’s the temperature of the heating chamber on a plastic injection molding machine.
Some of you have have experience working with injection molding machines making car parts.
Some of you grabbed a water bottle from the coffee cart here at church, which is another common item made through injection molding.
How it works is…
Millions of tiny plastic pellets are fed from a hopper into an auger.
As the auger moves the pellets into the heating chamber, the plastic pellets begin to melt.
Once they reach the end, and are completely liquified, they are injected into a form, or a mold, where they are reshaped into whatever product is being made.
Before we come to know Christ, we are shaped by the world, and our fleshly desires.
We pursue the things we want, and we look out for what’s best for us.
Even as Christians, we can all think of times in our lives when we sinned because our selfishness.
Rather than being led by the Spirit, we are led by our own desires.
FCF
The Israelites had been saved by God, and as Pastor Jake has showed us multiple times already, they sinned by complaining and not trusting God.
They had been shaped by the culture around them when they were slaves in Egypt.
PROPOSITION
What they needed to know, and what we need to know, is that we have been…
Saved to Be Reshaped
Saved to Be Reshaped
This is the purpose of our salvation.
God does not save and let us stay stuck in our old way of life.
He reshapes us, so that we experience the joy of living for Him.
As we go through Exodus 18 this morning, we are going to see how God’s rescue reshapes us.
First…
God’s Rescue Reshapes Our Story
God’s Rescue Reshapes Our Story
Look with me in…
8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.
9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.
10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.”
12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
EXPLANATION
Moses’ father-in-law Jethro comes to bring Moses’ wife Zipporah, and their two sons, and to hear about what God had done for Moses and the Israelites…
and Moses tells him everything.
God’s rescue has become a part of Moses’ story.
But what is Moses’ story?
God is greater than all other “gods”
God is greater than all other “gods”
Exodus 18:8 (ESV)
8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake
God had done many wonders and signs in delivering His people from Egypt.
As we went through the many plagues, we talked about the fact that each plague that God brought represented some aspect of a god that the Egyptians worshiped.
Through this God was showing that He was greater than all “gods”
The very fact that He was able to bring them out of Egypt proved this point.
This was so convincing that Jethro says in…
Exodus 18:11 (ESV)
11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods,”
But that’s not the only part of Moses’ story.
He also tells how…
God is greater than all of life’s hardship
God is greater than all of life’s hardship
Moses also told his father-in-law Jethro about…
Exodus 18:8 (ESV)
all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.
We remember how they came to the Red Sea,
and then God parted it.
We remember how they didn’t have water, and when they finally found water it was no good,
and then God made the water sweet.
We remember how the people didn’t have food,
and then God gave them bread from heaven.
We remember another time they didn’t have water,
and then God gave them water out of a rock.
We remember how the Amalekites came out to fight against the Israelites,
and then God defeated them.
No matter what circumstance came up in their lives, God was able to deliver and provide for His people.
ILLUSTRATION
Last month we had a baptism service in the evening here at church.
The most powerful part of a baptism service is hearing those receiving baptism share about how God has been working in their lives.
There they were before they knew Christ, deep in sin, lost, without hope.
But then God rescued them! He was greater than the darkness in their lives, and He overcame that darkness with the light of Christ.
From that moment, God began reshaping them into the image of Christ.
Now, there Christian lives are not easy. They continue to face hardships…
But God is greater than any and all circumstances, and He will help them experience victory.
APPLICATION
God’s rescue should never cease to be a part of our story.
It reshapes our story.
Once we were lost, but now we have been brought into God’s kingdom of glorious light.
E'er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply
Redeeming love has been my theme
And shall be till I die
When is the last time you have shared the story of how God has worked in your life?
Can you imagine Jethro coming to Moses after all that God has done in delivering them from their enemies and asking him, “So Moses, what’s new with you?”
Moses responds, “Oh, not much.”
That would be absolutely ridiculous!
He would be excited to tell him about all the amazing things God has done for them!
The Bible teaches us that we were on the road to hell before we were saved, but now our debt has been paid by Christ.
The Bible teaches us that we are going to face struggles, but that Christ has overcome the world, and He will complete the work He has started in us.
The Bible teaches us that we are all going to die, but those who trust in Christ are going to be raised to everlasting life.
God has done amazing things in our lives, and it should give us great joy to share that with others.
His rescue reshapes our story, and it continues to reshape our story as we grow in our understanding of His Word.
RESPOND
We can share what God has done in our lives in two ways.
Share your testimony with an unbeliever
Share your testimony with an unbeliever
Maybe you feel uncomfortable with the idea of sharing your testimony… welcome to the club!
This is a part of why God needs to reshape us.
The world around us shapes us, and the world tells us it’s unacceptable to talk about religion.
But God’s Word tells us…
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
One practical way you can be prepared is by writing out your testimony.
It doesn’t need to be long, you want to be able to share it in 2-3 minutes.
You simply write down:
Personal Testimony
What your life was like before Christ
When you came to put your faith in Christ
What your life was like after Christ
If you write your testimony this way, you are framing it like a gospel presentation.
Throughout our testimony, we want to keep the emphasis on God.
Moses is a good example for us in this.
Another way we can share what God has done in our lives is by:
Sharing what God has been doing in your life
Sharing what God has been doing in your life
As we are walking with God, he is
helping us overcome sin
leading and guiding us in our lives
providing for our needs
God is constantly working in our lives if we pursue Him, and slow down enough to pay attention.
Just think of where you are now, and where you were a year ago… 5 years ago… 15 or 20 years ago.
God has been shaping you over the years, and you can testify to that work by sharing that with another believer.
It will be a source of encouragement to them!
TRANSITION
God’s rescue reshapes our story, so that we live to tell of His greatness!
God’s Rescue Reshapes Our Community
God’s Rescue Reshapes Our Community
Exodus 18:13–20 (ESV)
13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.
14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?”
15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God;
16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.”
17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.
18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.
19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God,
20 and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.
EXPOSITION
When Jacob and his family originally came to Egypt, they were 70 persons.
Over the next 400 years we learn that they grew rapidly, and had become their own nation.
Moses was judging all of the cases of these people… BY HIMSELF!!
We don’t know exactly how many people they were, but we can imagine hundreds, maybe thousands of people standing around him each and every day as they bring their disputes to him.
They were a nation, but they were learning to live together. They had issues!
“Hey Moses, I was setting up my tent yesterday, and I realized one of my tent pegs was missing. I’m not blaming anyone, but we both know this isn’t the first time someone who was setting up their tent beside Shimei had a tent peg go missing!”
“Moses, I lost my kneading bowl.”
And maybe…
“Moses, my son is sick, I don’t know if he’s going to make it. Can you please pray to God for him?”
Jethro is right that this is going to wear Moses and the people out!
Moses is going to get burned out…
and the people are going to get sick of picking a number and waiting in line…
He can’t possibly do this all by himself.
There’s got to be a better way!
Thankfully, Jethro has one!
Jethro tells Moses to continue doing what he is doing. You continue helping them settle their disputes.
But then Jethro says…
21 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
22 And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.
What we see here is that…
God gives godly men to help bear the load
God gives godly men to help bear the load
You don’t just pick anyone, their are requirements.
These men must:
Fear God
Their concern is to judge according to God’s standards, not their own.
Trustworthy
They are known by others as people that can be trusted.
Not like Shimei, the tent peg thief!
Hate a bribe
They are not willing to pervert justice to get rich.
Once these godly men are in place, they will help bear the burden of caring for the needs of the Israelites.
All the big cases can be brought to Moses, but these men can take care of the smaller ones.
Notice as well that these men have different capacities.
Some can oversee thousands,
others hundreds,
others fifties,
and others tens.
The point is to lighten the burden off of Moses, so it would be ridiculous to now overburden someone else.
They are given an appropriate amount they can handle.
We also see another reason in this passage of why God gives these godly men…
God gives godly men to bring peace
God gives godly men to bring peace
23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
They have a long journey ahead of them, and it is going to be a long journey if the wait time to see Moses is 3 months!
But God gives godly men, so that there will be peace among the people.
There will be more judges to hear more cases, and so the disputes will be ended much sooner.
Bitterness is not allowed to set in as easy.
These judges will also get a better chance to know the people he is overseeing more personally.
All of this will result in a happier people! They will arrive at their destination in peace!
ILLUSTRATION
I’m guessing that many of you have heard this question before…
“Do you want me to come back there?”
I can remember my Dad saying this to us kids when we would go on road trips.
You want to see a whole bunch of fighting over nothing?
Put siblings in the back of a vehicle and go on a 20 hour road trip!
“He took my toy.”
“She won’t stop singing.”
“He keeps bugging me.”
And worst of all…
“She’s looking at me.”
Parents try everything they can to keep the peace in the back of the car.
At the climax of all the fighting is when Dad pulls out the trump card… “Do you want me to come back there?”
And it works… at least for a while. Because you DON’T want Dad to come back there.
Not only because then there would be nobody driving,
but because you know what’s going to happen if Dad DOES come back there.
Parents endure long road trips with the hope of arriving at our destination in peace… to relax… to enjoy it.
For this to happen, we must intervene in our children’s squabbles… to keep them from killing each other.
This is why God gave godly men to the nation Israel…
to help Moses bring peace, so that they could arrive at the Promised Land in peace.
APPLICATION
Not much has changed...
As NT Christians, we have:
difficult life situations that need to be handled with care,
disagreements/differences of opinion that need to be settled,
we need practical wisdom from God’s Word to help us in our daily living.
We look at the world around us… AND IT’S TERRIFYING!
As our world moves farther and farther away from God, He allows them to go deeper and deeper into sin.
We see the harmful effects of sin in the ideas that shape our society, and we want to know…
WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT GOD’S WORD HAS TO SAY ABOUT IT!!!
For this reason, God gives the church godly men to lead it.
We see this in
Paul knows that Satan is going to try and destroy the church through division, so he encourages them to strive for peace.
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
This is what the life of the church is supposed to look like.
Striving for holiness… striving for unity.
But what reason do we have to be unified?
Paul explains:
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
We are united by our beliefs.
On the core doctrines of faith, we must agree.
and when we do, all peripheral issues take a back seat.
Earlier in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul tells them how Christ broke down the dividing wall of hostility.
Different people, from different backgrounds are united together in Christ.
So how does Paul encourage the church in Ephesus to accomplish this unity?
Let’s continue reading in…
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
God gives the church godly men for the building up of the church.
And when Paul would plant churches he would instruct those he left in charge to appoint elders/overseers. Today we call them pastors.
We see an example of this in Paul’s letter to Titus, who was one of his young protege’s.
Paul says to him…
5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—
Paul goes on to list the qualifications for an elder, similar to the way Jethro gave qualifications to Moses.
Paul knew that in order for these churches to flourish, they were going to need godly men to lead them.
And when there are godly elders/pastors, that means they are the ones who do the work of ministry right?
NO!
Look at verse 12 and 13…
Eph 4:11-13 “11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,”
The church is functioning right, when the leaders are EQUIPPING THE SAINTS to build up the church, the body of Christ.
The result that we all reach maturity in Christ.
RESPOND
What we see here is the principle of discipleship.
Each and every one of us is responsible to help others reach the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
It’s not someone else’s job… IT’S YOURS!
Matt 28:18-20 “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
We are to make disciples!
The discipling process is not complete until the one being discipled, is dicipling someone else.
This is what we are striving for as a church.
We don’t want to be a place where you come to get your spiritual nourishment, and then leave and hope that’s enough to keep you going till next week.
We desire to be a training ground,
where we can all learn how to be faithful followers of God,
who help others grow in their relationship with Christ.
We all have a role to play in helping one another grow in the image and likeness of Jesus.
You are a unique person, who has a unique ability to speak into the lives of certain people.
You cannot sit comfortably on the sidelines, you need to get involved!
We live in a world where we always call in the professional to get the job done,
But that’s not how it works in God’s economy.
He reshapes His community so that is the everyday, common people building up His church!
TRANSITION
God’s Rescue Reshapes Our Desires
God’s Rescue Reshapes Our Desires
24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves.
27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.
EXPOSITION
Moses follows Jethro’s advice and implements the changes that he suggests.
Jethro was not God, so Moses is under no obligation to obey him…
and yet Moses was able to see the practical wisdom in Jethro’s suggestion.
Another important thing to note about Jethro and his suggestion, is that he acknowledged that it would only be successful with God’s blessing.
In Ex 18:19
Exodus 18:19 (ESV)
19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you!
Again in Ex 18:23
23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
Moses obviously sensed that this advice was a blessing from God to help him and the Israelites.
What we see is that…
Humility leads us to obedience
Humility leads us to obedience
24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
Rather than stubbornly insisting that he can do it all by himself,
Moses is willing to admit that he needs help.
He doesn’t think of himself more highly than he ought.
He is humble enough to obey wise advice, with the help of God.
We also see that…
Humility leads us to what’s best for God’s people
Humility leads us to what’s best for God’s people
25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves.
Moses was the big cheese… the top dog… he didn’t need to change anything.
But he understood that he wasn’t in this position for himself,
but to be faithful to lead God’s people and…
to do what is best for them.
This shows that his desire is not for selfish gain, or that he is front and center.
God has reshaped his desires, and his greatest concern is for the good of God’s people.
ILLUSTRATION
The religious leaders in Jesus’ day were completely opposite.
They were supposed to be the ones leading the people to God, but instead they sought their own glory.
They were so interested in their own gain that they rejected the Messiah.
Jesus came born of a virgin as the Scriptures had told
He came fully God, and proved it with healings, miracles, His teaching, and the love and care He showed others.
But the religous leaders hated Jesus because He was threatening their way of life.
They had forgotten that they were servants of God for the good of the people.
But their pride and selfishness led them ultimately to kill Jesus because of their greed.
They were more interested in their own interests than God’s, or the good of the Israelite people.
APPLICATION
As God’s people, we must realize that it is not about us.
God has not saved us so that we can be served as we built our mini kingdom here on earth.
He has saved us for the glory of His name… and for the good of His church.
We must allow God to reshape our desires.
How do we do this?
By humbly submitting ourselves daily to God’s Word!
It is the living, breathing Word of God. It is sharper than any two-edged sword.
When we humbly come to God in His Word, His Spirit transforms us!
Why were all of the Israelites coming to Moses with their problems and disputes?
Because they believed that God’s law had something to say that would help them!
God’s Word has the answer to all of life’s problems!
It tells us how all things came into existence.
It tells us how many genders there are.
It tells us that the human problem is not social structure, but sin!
It tells us of a God who loved us so much that He sent His Son to die in our place.
It tells us of a God who longs to transform us from the inside out.
He does this by the power of His Spirit through His Word.
Are you humble enough to come to God’s Word daily?
By neglecting to come to God in His Word, what you are saying is that you don’t need His help.
You are saying you already have the wisdom you need.
You know how best to live your life, and you don’t need any input from God.
This is the sin of pride.
In our flesh we resist being told what to do: AND…
Satan uses it to keep us from experiencing the good things God has for us.
Christian, you are in a battle!
The Holy Spirit is waging war against your flesh.
Your flesh wants to gratify it’s desires, but the Spirit wants to bear fruit for God’s kingdom in You.
The Spirit longs for you to become holy, becoming more like Christ each and every day.
We must submit ourselves to read… even when we don’t feel like it.
ESPECIALLY WHEN WE DON’T FEEL LIKE IT!!!
CONCLUSION
When God made all things, it was good!
But sin ruins what God made good.
Thankfully, God has made a way for us to be restored through the sacrifice of Jesus.
But we must realize that there is still reshaping that needs to be done.
This is not comfortable! It feels unnatural to us, and we don’t like it.
The closer you draw near to God, the more He pushes you away from your desires, toward His.
You’re going to feel that this week.
When the Spirit prompts you to read, to pray, to share your testimony…
Your flesh is going to immediately push back.
Don’t give in! You are in battle!
You will have victory because you have the power of the living God inside of you, and His desire is for His people to arrive home in peace.
I want to close with the lyrics from a song called…
“I Am Not My Own”
This song is a beautiful reminder of God’s rescue in our lives, drawing our hearts to willingly surrender our will to Him.
The One who made the heavens made my heart and soul
Before I drew a breath, I was loved and known
I am His creation, the Maker's masterpiece
And all that He designs will be done in me
My body is a temple of the Living God
I'll worship in this house that His blood has bought
As I bear His image, oh may I not profane
The holiness I hold in this earthly frame
And if He has redeemed me, I am not my own
The measure of my worth is His love alone
He declares my standing, and He declares my state
So I will know myself by the name He gave
I am not my own and now my heart is free
O Maker come and make what You will of me
There is nothing broken that You cannot repair
So Lord, I leave my life in Your loving care
I belong to the Lord, oh I am not my own
I belong to the Lord, I am not my own
I will honor Him for this I know
I belong to the Lord, I am not my own