THE ALMIGHTY GOD IS OUR LORD (Outline)
August 29, 2010 -
Pentecost 14 -
EXODUS 6:2-8
INTRO: There are many names that describe the only true God. God is powerful, called Almighty. The Lord loves, eternally. Our heavenly Father is forgiving, divinely. Jesus Christ is the sacrificing Savior for our sins and the sins of the whole world. The name of the Lord is important to us and also to Almighty God. "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols" (ISAIAH 42:8). Nor should we ever give any glory or praise to any other false gods.
THE ALMIGHTY GOD IS OUR LORD.
I. The Almighty God promises. II. Our Redeemer Lord delivers.
I. THE ALMIGHTY GOD PROMISES
A. The setting for our text takes place after the Lord God called Moses to be his leader for Israel.
1. God used the burning bush to get Moses’ attention. Moses made many, many excuses.
2. God answered them all. Moses returns to Egypt, Pharaoh, and God’s people, the Israelites.
B. Verse 2. Moses came before Pharaoh to ask him to let God’s people go. “I am the LORD”.
1. Verse 3. This was the same Almighty God who made himself known to their forefathers.
2. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did know Almighty God. They also grew to know the LORD.
3. Verse 4. The Lord God Almighty had promised an inheritance. It was the Promised Land.
C. Verse 5. The prayers, the groaning”, of the Israelites reached to the very throne of God’s grace.
1. This generation of Israel was about to experience the fulfillment of years of God’s promises.
2. God “remembered” Israel. God had not forgotten. God promises to show kindness to them.
D. God’s promises need our close study. Our world is filled with people who make promise after promise and rarely keep them. At times we may even make promises without considering the full impact of keeping the promise. Our society is insurance fanatical. We have or can obtain all kinds of insurance for any and every kind of disaster that may or may not happen. Insurance is a promise made to help in time of need. But trying to collect can often be very difficult. All too many break contracts when offered more money. Another promise is broken. God is not like us at all. Our confidence and blessings as Christians is in knowing that the promises of God far surpass the empty promises that we might make and break. "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" (NUMBERS 23:19). God does speak and acts.
E. Why do we not always put our complete trust and confidence in our Almighty God? On this side of heaven we still have our sinful flesh. Worse we live in a society that feeds on fear. Almost every news story contains something to scare the wits out of anyone without a firm faith in Christ. This worldly fear and dread quietly creeps into the very fabric of our earthly lives. We get caught up in the worry about the bad that might happen or the good that might not happen. Worldly care and concern is nothing new. Jesus warned his disciples about too much earthly worry. No one can add a single hour to his or her life with worry. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (MATT. 6:34). Enjoy the present day. The Almighty God promises.
F. How are we to overcome the fear and dread and worry that surrounds our daily lives? Like the Israelites we can come confidently, boldly, and often before the very throne of our Almighty God. Our Almighty God is the only God to invite his followers to pray. God promises to hear. God always answers."Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (PHILIP. 4:6). Thankfulness washes away the worry that infects our lives.
This world and much of humanity would rather worry than trust the name of the Lord. Satan sows seeds of doubt among mankind. No matter all these attacks:
THE AL MIGHTY GOD IS OUR LORD!
II. OUR REDEEMER LORD DELIVERS
A. The Israelites must have felt at the end of their rope and their hope. They were slaves 400+ years.
1. God sends Moses to them as their leader. Moses asks Pharaoh to let God’s people go.
a. Pharaoh is angry. b. Pharaoh orders twice the bricks. c. Israel is to find their own straw.
2. The Israelites are not impressed with Moses. He lived in Pharaoh’s palace for 40 years.
3. Moses fled Egypt for another 40 years after murdering an Egyptian. Now he is their leader!?!
B. Verse 6. Moses leadership comes from the power that is the very name of the LORD. “I AM!”
1. The LORD God Jehovah, the I AM, would free and deliver the Israelites from their slavery.
2. The LORD would do all of this with and by his great power and mighty acts of judgment.
a. The plagues changed Pharaoh’s mind. b. Egypt’s power was destroyed at the Red Sea.
C. Verse 7. Israel belonged to the LORD. They will know the Lord God who redeems them.
1. Verse 8. All of the promises that Almighty God made would finally be fulfilled for them.
2. No longer would the Israelites be slaves to the Egyptians. “I am the LORD”.
D. The Lord God Almighty is the only true God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the Triune God: three persons yet only one God. There is no other way to heaven except through the knowledge of and faith in the Triune God. There is only one way, only one truth, and one life that can lift mankind out of this world of sin into the gates of heaven. "The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him" (PSALM 37:39,40). The Almighty God is our Lord.
E. We are saved by grace. There is no reason at all that any one of us should ever have eternal life. But the Almighty God, our gracious and loving Lord, makes sure that heaven is our home. On our own we are totally and completely lost and condemned creatures. We are born into this world as the very enemies of God. We live sinful lives that oppose the goodness of God at every turn. All of this makes it absolutely impossible for anyone to think that he or she can come to a saving knowledge of God on his or her own. We are saved by grace, God’s gift to us. "For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ"(2 CORINTHIANS 4:6). Almighty God who created all things makes his light shine in our heart.
F. By grace, by the living and active word of the Almighty God our loving Lord delivers us from the very power of sin, Satan, and even death itself. Once outside God’s kingdom we have now become members of the very family of God. "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (ROMANS 8:15,16). As God’s children we can call out to him, “Father, Father”. Our Father hears, listens, and answers. The Almighty God is our Lord.
CONC: Promises, promises. Many are made. God keeps all of his. The very name of the Lord guarantees that all God says is true. Even more our Lord God Almighty does all he says he will do. God’s plans are always carried out according to his time. The disciples were in the upper room. Jesus appeared to them on Easter Sunday. Thomas was not there. But the next Sunday we have Thomas’ reaction to the sight of the Savior. "Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ " (JOHN 20:28,29). THE ALMIGHTY GOD IS OUR LORD. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
PENT. 14 rdgs:
ISAIAH 66:18-24;
HEBREWS 12:18-24;
LUKE 13:22-30;
(PSALM 72)
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