Trust God - Exodus 6:1-12
This is a sermon by Peter Birnie from the Riverside Church service on 28th July 2024.
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Exodus 6 v 1-12 “Trust God”
Intro: (Slide 1) Last week in chapter 5 we dealt in some detail with an action word, obedience. It is right to obey God, it is good to obey God and it is possible to obey God for those who are in a relationship of worship with him. This week we are dealing with an attitude word that stands behind any actions that we take, that drives our actions in the right direction – last week was about obeying God, this week is about trusting God. And from the beginning I want us to think of trust as truth that is taken hold of. Truth that is believed and gripped onto.
(Slide 2) If you have ever been down to London then you have probably travelled on the tube. And in nearly every carriage on the underground you will find some people who take hold of the hand-grips to steady themselves throughout the journey and you will find some others (mostly young people who are more confident than they should be) who fail to take hold of anything – for some reason it brings me great amusement to see them stagger and stumble whenever the train goes over a bumpy bit of track or suddenly hits the brakes.
I wonder whether in this church family right now there are a mixture of those 2 types of people when it comes to our journey of faith in this world? We are on the train of faith, we have come to Jesus for forgiveness and a new life of following him, so we are journeying towards our ultimate destination and we will get there, God will make sure of that. But perhaps along the way we are getting far more bumped and bruised and hurt than we need to because we aren’t taking hold of the truth that will steady us whatever circumstances come.
(Slide 3) God is trustworthy – the truths that he has revealed about himself already in Exodus (his holiness, faithfulness, fearsomeness, compassion, concern, presence, power, his covenant, and promises and unfailing word) – those are the solid handholds that we can grip onto in the middle of the most difficult times of life, handholds that will help us to enjoy being a Christian, to delight in belonging to God, to be enthusiastic about our church family, to be hopeful about the progress of the gospel and the response of the people in our lives to Jesus. In Exodus 6 as God deals with a doubting Moses and a doubting people we are to be stirred once again to steady trust in God, to a taking hold of truth that will make our journey of faith so much more glorifying to God and so much more joyful for us!
1) In times of doubt take hold of who God is (v1-3)
(Slide 4) In verses 1-3, with Moses in a time of doubt, he is to take hold once again of who God is. Remember the context from last week – Moses has been obedient, he has dared to tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go and stood firm even when Pharaoh raged at him. But all the reward Moses seemed to get from his obedience was more misery for the people, opposition from brothers and sisters within the people, and no sign at all of God actually putting his rescue plan into effect. Times when God seems far away or even absent are to be expected in a believer’s journey through life (this is Moses!). These times are all the harder to deal with when you feel that you are doing the right things as a Christian and yet not seeming to get any real reward from it.
(Slide 5) I wonder if any of you are there at the minute – you have been meeting with God’s people, you have been reading his word and praying, you have been battling sin, you have been serving God and his people hard and sacrificially, basically you have been trying to live an obedient life and yet there is a tangible absence of vital, nourishing joy in the Lord or confidence in his presence with you? (It is different if you have been ignoring God, wilfully sinning, being flakey at church etc – in those times it is obvious you have brought it on yourself and need to repent). What are we to do when we are doing the right things and yet doubt and confusion abound?
We are to take hold of truth (Slide 6). The truth that God’s hand is mighty and is acting for his people (v1). The truth that Yahweh is personally relating to us right now (v2). The truth that God is completely faithful and unchanging (v3). We are to grab and grip these truths with both hands and with fierce determination and we are to know they are real.
That second one is particularly difficult to believe in times of doubt – that God is personally relating to us right now. When we feel dry or left alone by God hearing a preacher proclaiming this fact or a friend ministering this truth can be tough, but when it comes down to it, we must choose between God’s revelation of himself and our own emotions and affections. Of course we want the 2 to be working in harmony, but in times of doubt they don’t. But then we are to understand that whilst our affections and emotions are useful they are not gospel, God’s revelation of himself is.
(Slide 7) This battle between listening to self and believing God is simply a version of the big battle shaping up in Exodus – a battle between the arrogant Pharaoh who doesn’t know God and so demands that the people worship (work for) him, and the one true God who is sovereign over the universe, whose hand is mighty, who deserves and rightly demands our worship, and most importantly WHO WINS. Once more this morning, whatever state your heart or life are in right now, if you are stumbling a bit while following Jesus, take hold once more of who God is – and hold onto that truth tightly.
2) In times of doubt take hold of what God has done (v4-5)
(Slide 8) One of our biggest problems as we live by faith in God rather than by sight is that we have very bad spiritual memories. We forget what God has already done on both a grand scale across time and the universe and we forget what he has done again and again for us and for our church family right here right now. It is as if our emotions and affections act like some sort of tranquilizer on our memory, putting it to sleep allowing us to wade deeper and deeper into doubt and despair. In v4-5 Moses is to take hold of what God has already done – “I established my covenant with them, I heard their groaning, I remembered my covenant.” God has already revealed all of this to Moses – in almost identical words back in chapter 3.
(Slide 9) Yes, the journey is more twisty than Moses thought. Yes, God hasn’t done things the way Moses expected, yes there is more pain and suffering than he hoped for, yes it is taking longer than Moses would have liked – but God says to Moses that he must remember, God says “I HAVE”. Moses is to take hold of the fact that God has made promises and will not fail to keep any part of those promises. The fact is that God has heard the prayers and cries of his people and will respond with concern and compassion. In the midst of deep trials and disappointment, Moses is to remember both who God is (“I AM”) and what he has already done (“I HAVE”) and therefore to trust that God is continuing to do things right – in his way and at his time.
In your life right now, is there more pain and suffering than you would like or ever expected? Is God taking longer than you would like or expect to answer prayer? Is the journey more twisted than you could have anticipated? Clear your head from your memory loss this morning and once more take hold of truth - what has God already done in this world? What has God already done for you? (Rms 8v32 “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”)
(Slide 10) Can I exhort you this morning to spend the time after the service over coffee and tea answering this very question – What has God already done for you? Let us testify to one another this morning, let us stir up one another’s spiritual memories, let us be part of clearing the fog of doubt in one another’s lives and replacing it once again with steady trust. Who is our God? What has he already done for us?
3) In times of doubt take hold of what God will do (v6-12)
(Slide 11) So as Moses goes to God in prayer, filled with doubt and disappointment, God’s reply has been “I AM” and then “I HAVE” and finally “I WILL” – in times of doubt we are to take hold of what God will do (v6-12). Verses 6-8 are packed with God declaring what he will do and the list is a wonderful one for the enslaved Israelites and for the downcast Moses, but even better than this list is to take notice of the “I AM” sandwich at either end;
V6 “Therefore say to the Israelites: I am the LORD and I will …”
- Bring you out
- Free you
- Redeem you
- Take you as my own people (then you will!)
- Bring you into the land
- Give it to you as a possession
And then how does it end in verse 8 - “… I am the LORD.” I am, I will, I am. God links his “I will’s” to his “I AM” – in other words, for God to fail to do what he has said he will do would be to stop being the God he is (REPEAT) (Slide 12).
It is in this that we have the tonic for any disappointment and doubt that we are struggling with. Here is how to trust God. If you are stumbling this way and that as your life hits potholes, as brakes are suddenly applied to your plans, as God takes you in a totally different direction than you thought, or if God just seems to be so slow and unspectacular in answering your prayers, grab hold of God’s “I will” being utterly tied up with his “I AM”.
Application
What does this type of trust, this “taking hold of truth” look like in daily life? (Slide 13) Let’s imagine a Riversider we will call Ashley. Ashley was once full of trust in God that worked its way out in love for God’s people, in a sacrificial way of living, in obedience and in zealous evangelism. But life hasn’t gone the way Ashley hoped – despite trying to go God’s way life has seemed underwhelming, God hasn’t given some of the things Ashley expected him to give and slowly but surely Ashley’s very sense of identity and purpose has waned. Disappointment and doubt are realities in Ashley’s life. There are many of God’s “I AM’s” that might help here but lets go for one we have already dealt with today - “I AM personally relating to my people.”
As Ashley ponders this truth of who God is (and hopefully as other believers around help to do this), and grapples with the fact that God is working all the time throughout all of Ashley’s life then a precious “I WILL” can come into play – “I will redeem my people.” Redeem means to buy back, to pay the price needed so that God can own someone, so that they can be his precious possession, his treasured child. Because God relates personally to his people in love and mercy and compassion, the cross of Christ is a reality (Slide 14).
Moses didn’t get to see this most tangible of proofs that God’s “I AM’s” translate into certain “I WILL’s”. And so this passage for both Moses and the people of Israel ends in a sad way, verse 9-12, the Israelites don’t listen because of their discouragement, and then Moses once more goes to God convinced that his faltering lips are the problem. Moses hasn’t got rid of doubt and disappointment yet – he hasn’t been able to take hold of solid truth yet.
But we do get to see this. And so Ashley (and you and I), with eyes fixed on the cross, the ultimate “I WILL” of God, Ashley can stop stumbling around the railway carriage and instead can grasp hold of solid truth. Solid truth that leads once again to a trust-filled changed life. In the New Testament Paul uses this truth of redemption to tell believers to leave sin and live a holy life once again, that is what Ashley and you and I need to hear, 1 Corinthians 6 v 19-20 says; “You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.” (Slide 15)
So let me finish today by asking you not to hide away any doubts, disappointments or dryness that you are currently going through. We are not to be ashamed of these, we are to expect them and share them and walk together through them allowing God’s revelation of himself to make all the difference. We are to once again take hold of truth, put our trust in Jesus, and then go and live differently, obediently, hopefully, with love for God and peace that because we belong to him.
“Look what God has done” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLmrYxYzINk
Today’s sermon: Exodus 6v1-12 “Trust God”
Intro: Stumbling and handholds
1) In times of doubt take hold of who God is (v1-13)
- God’s hand is mighty and acts for his people (v1)
- Yahweh is personally relating to his people (v2)
- God is completely faithful and unchanging (v3)
“Our affections and emotions are useful but they are not gospel”
2) In times of doubt take hold of what God has done (v4-5)
We have bad spiritual memories!
- Yes the journey will be more twisty than we assumed
- But remember what God has already done for you
WHAT HAS GOD ALREADY DONE FOR YOU?
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8v32
3) In times of doubt take hold of what God will do (v6-12)
“I AM ….
- I will bring you out
- I will free you
- I will redeem you
- I will take you as my own people
- I will bring you into the land
- I will give it to you as a possession
“… I AM”
God’s “I will’s” are tied to his “I AM”; for God to fail to do what he has said he will do would be to stop being the God he is!!!
| Questions to chew on:
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| Memory verse: Exodus 6 v 7 “I will take you as my own people and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.”
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| My own questions for later:
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