Getting Out of Bondage

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[4:16] Thank you. worrying about being cool. And that's when they start listening to country music. Now, Faith Family, when I read that quote, I tried really hard not to be offended by that because as everybody knows that knows me, I love country music and I'm cool. Amen?

[4:39] I didn't think I'd get an amen there, but that's all right. When I read the rest of the article, it began to make sense to me. It was actually an article in all places in a British paper called The Economist. And the point the author was making was how people, when they're in their early 20s, their teenage years, they tend to gravitate towards pop music. And they do that because they think it's cool. They think it's hip. They think they're cool. And so they gravitate to that kind of music.

[5:10] But as they get older, they leave pop music and they move to other music genres. More often than not, whether you like it or not, country music. As Alan Jackson would say, they go on country. That just is what happens. They gravitate towards that. The article explained it this way as terms of why people do this. Quote, country music, unlike pop, is not just all about sexual innuendo or bling, but problems that ordinary people experience. Things like love and loss and family and patriotism and having a good time with their friends, close quote. That is, it speaks to issues that normal people go through. And faith family, I think there's something to that. In other words, the longer that you live, the more of life you experience, the more you tend to gravitate toward music or things that you can relate to. Things that relate to what you've experienced in life. That is, you connect to things that reflect your own struggle. Amen? I mean, that's just true. We know that. Regardless of what your preference of music may be, that is something that every single one of us does, not just in the area of music. For example, you hang out with people and you build friendships with people that you have things in common, that you have similar interests with. You're drawn to them. You feel comfortable in certain parts of the country because it's familiar. It's what you know, right? When I go to the South and people talk normal, it's like, oh, finally, people say, y'all, and how you doing? And I'm fixing to go to the store. And I'm like, finally, normal people, right? It's comfortable. We're drawn to that. Or maybe it's certain traditions or customs that you're just used to doing. And when you do that with your family or you do that with your friends, you feel at home because you're connected there. It's relatable.

[7:18] We are drawn to people and drawn to things we can relate to. Would everybody agree with that? That's true for all of us. And let's be honest. I think that's why many Christians struggle with the Old Testament. I mean, I've been a pastor now for many, many, many, many years. And I've talked to many people that do not know how to handle the Old Testament. And it's because they can't relate to it. It just seems distant. It seems disconnected from everyday life. It's why, be honest, I know you don't want to admit this, but you would rather read the gospel of Luke than Leviticus. Amen? You would rather read Ephesians than Exodus. It's because it relates to you. You have a very difficult time relating to animal sacrifices and names that you cannot pronounce and rules and restrictions that seem strange. Or, for instance, in the book of Exodus, you have never been in physical slavery. You have never had a burning bush or Mount

[8:23] Sinai or Red Sea experience. You know that Moses is important, but be honest, he feels far more a part of the Jewish heritage than your own. That's just true. We feel the disconnect. And so we're reading along in our Bibles and we come to an Old Testament book and we think, boy, I sure wish I was reading the gospel of Matthew. It just feels more relatable to me. So the question for me, as I am taking on this series of the book of Exodus, is if we're drawn to things we relate to, how do you preach Exodus faithfully, but in a way that speaks to your struggle now? How do people in a New Testament time relate to the Old Testament? And that is why just the third sermon in, I'm going to kind of hit a timeout and I want to show you how the Exodus is more than a historical narrative about ancient Israel. Are you with me?

[9:25] It is a historical narrative about ancient Israel. This is a historical book of events that actually happened. It is literal in every way, but how do we relate to that that happened so long ago about a people that most of us do not belong to? That's why for us to understand this, we need to understand how Exodus fits in the bigger story. In fact, let me give you a very deep, deep theological example, okay? It's from the movie Ants.

[10:02] You did it. We did it. Fellas, fellas, please. This is very embarrassing for me. On the other hand, I probably could get used to this.

[10:14] There you have it. Your average boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy changes underlying social order story. So what else can I tell you? We rebuilt the colony. It's even better than before, you know, because now it has a very large indoor swimming pool. Bala and I incidentally are thinking of starting a family. You know, just a few kids, maybe a million or two to begin with.

[10:41] And I'm working with a new therapist, you know, terrific, absolutely terrific. He's been putting me in touch with my inner maggot, which is helping me a great deal. And, you know, I finally feel like I found my place. And you know what? It's right back where I started. But the difference is, this time, I chose it.

[11:00] I love, love, love that example. Because here's what's going on. If you've seen the movie Ants, and you have not completed your theological training until you do, all right?

[11:10] If you watch the movie, the whole movie, you're obsessed in this colony of ants. There's a worker ant who falls in love with a princess ant, tries to save the colony from the evil general ant.

[11:26] I mean, it's very, very captivating. And this whole thing, this whole story and drama unfolds, and all these events are taking place. And you follow the story throughout, and you're consumed in the details of the story.

[11:37] And then the film ends. And that's how the film ends. And the way it ends is that the camera begins to fade back. It begins to pan out. And all of a sudden, the audience realizes, wait, wait, wait a minute.

[11:51] This whole story I've been obsessed with, this whole story I've been involved in the details of, was actually just a small, little bitty story in a much bigger story of New York City.

[12:04] The little story, notice it on the screen, the little story, oh, was actually only a part of a larger story.

[12:14] And I'm suggesting to you, faith family, you do not understand the book of Exodus until you understand how, yes, the little story fits in the larger story.

[12:25] Because in the larger story is where it connects to your story. This is not allegorical. This is how to preach and understand the Bible.

[12:37] These little stories fit in a larger story that's related to you. Let me show you how. Chapter 1, verse 13. Chapter 1 and verse 13. We talked about this the last couple of weeks. Exodus 1, verse 13 says, So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as, say it, slaves.

[13:04] Made their lives bitter with hard service, with mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work, they ruthlessly made them work as, say it again, slaves.

[13:18] So if you know the story of Exodus, it's a true historical story about the slavery of Israel. This happened in time and space. Israel was enslaved to the people of Egypt.

[13:31] But that little story of slavery is actually a part of a larger story of slavery. One that you deal with every single day. Did you know that?

[13:44] You deal with this every single day of your life. This is not some isolated event back in time. It's something you're dealing with on Monday and Tuesday and every day of the week.

[13:58] Here's how. Notice it on the screen. You may not be a slave to Pharaoh, but you are a slave to a spiritual power.

[14:09] You and I are, the Bible says, slaves. We may not actually be in chains, but we are no less slaves.

[14:22] Let me prove it to you from the Scripture. Look at what Jesus says in John chapter 8 and verse 31. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.

[14:38] And you will know the truth. And the truth will do what? Set you free. But they answered to him, Wait, wait, wait. We're offspring of Abraham. We've never been enslaved to anyone.

[14:52] To which you want to say, have you read the book of Exodus? But anyways, we've never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say we will become free? And Jesus answered them this.

[15:03] Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who, say it with me, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

[15:15] Look at Psalm 107 and verse 10. Some sat in darkness in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons. Why were they prisoners?

[15:27] Why were they enslaved? For they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. Listen to the language of Romans chapter 6, verse 17.

[15:40] But thanks be to God that you who were once, what? Say it. Slaves to sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you're committed.

[15:54] And having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. One more. 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 18.

[16:05] For speaking loud boast of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.

[16:20] For whatever overcomes a person to that, say it, he is enslaved. In fact, Ephesians 2 talks about how we are following the small g God of this world.

[16:34] We are slaves to sin. For us to understand the little story of Exodus, we have to put it in the larger story of God's redemptive plan.

[16:48] It's the big story that's happening in the Bible, which means we have to see slavery not just as something that happened to Israel, we have to see slavery as something that has happened to us.

[17:01] We are slaves to sin. And there are four ways the Bible actually talks about this, okay? Hang with me. Okay, this is the bad news. We're gonna get to the good news.

[17:13] And Moses will never be more exciting to you than Moses will be tonight, all right? But we ain't there yet. First, the way the Bible talks about our slavery to sin.

[17:24] First, it's bondage to the law, and I wanna say objectively. Here's what I mean by that. You and I are born under God's law. Romans tells us that the law of God is written on our hearts.

[17:38] We know from the very beginning that there is right, and there is wrong, there is good and evil, that God has given us a way to live and a way not to live.

[17:48] And the reality is, Romans 3.23, that we have all fallen short of God's standard. All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.

[17:59] We are prisoners of the law. That is, objectively, we are enslaved, condemned before God because of our sin.

[18:11] You with me? Say yes. We're enslaved because we are violators of God's law. Every single one of us has fallen short. That leads to why, secondly, we are in bondage to the law, and I wanna speak subjectively.

[18:27] Here's what I mean by being in bondage to the law subjectively. This is so true. Goodness, this is so true. It's true right here. Even after being set free from the bondage of the law, you and I still have a works-based, slave-like mentality, preacher.

[18:48] I mean, I talk about this all the time. If you want a book that really fleshes this out, the book of Galatians. Christians who were freed from the law objectively, still living under the law subjectively.

[19:05] It works like this. I've always gotta do better. I've always gotta be better. I've always gotta feel better because I have concluded that what I do is who I am. You've been set free objectively from the law that you were condemned by, but you subjectively still put yourself under the law because you think that your life and your identity and your righteousness is based on what you do.

[19:31] So you keep trying to be the best person that you can. You're enslaved to the law within. Still thinking that maybe when it's all said and done, you will have done enough to matter.

[19:46] It reminded me of a story about a man that was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. This was back in 1949. Later, his sentence was changed and he was transferred to work for a wealthy farmer in Nashville, Tennessee.

[20:04] In 1968, get this, his sentence was terminated. The State Correction Department had records that showed a letter was written to the prisoner and to the farmer that he was a free man, but he never saw the letter.

[20:24] A year went by, then two years, then five years, then 10. Still, he was never told of the letter.

[20:36] Even after the farmer died, he kept working, serving out his life sentence. He worked every day in unbelievable conditions. Finally, in 1979, a state parole officer learned of this situation and told him about the missing letter.

[20:55] Faith family, listen to this. For over a decade, the authority had already been given for him to live as a free man, but it took him 10 years to actually experience it.

[21:09] That will preach. Amen? Some of us are 10 years into this thing of being set free from the law objectively, and we're still learning how to be free from the law subjectively.

[21:26] We have been Christians for years, and we still think in some way what we do contributes to our salvation or our righteousness before God.

[21:40] We've been set free, and we're still living like slaves. We're still enslaved to that law mentality subjectively as we think maybe we can do enough.

[21:54] Not only are we in bondage to the law objectively, we're in bondage to the law subjectively, but we're also in bondage to indwelling sin. Romans chapter seven would be the perfect example of this.

[22:07] How many of you, don't raise your hands, because I know it's true of all of you, would say something like this. I do the very thing I don't want to do, and I don't do the very thing that I do want to do.

[22:23] Sounds like Paul, because it is. It's a quote from Romans seven, where Paul is struggling with his own battle with sin, but he's not talking about the law.

[22:33] In fact, Paul specifically says, I see a different law within. There's something in my members, that is, there is indwelling sin in my life.

[22:46] Paul was struggling with this sin, these habits and patterns that, let's be honest, are very, very difficult to get out of. Amen? And the list is long.

[23:00] I mean, here's just a few. Things like pride, constantly being absorbed about ourselves, insecure, thinking we're better than other people, or thinking that we're worse than others, both are a form of pride.

[23:20] Envy or jealousy. We want what others have. We wish we could look the way the other people look. We wish we had the money or status that they have. Lust.

[23:31] There's people in this place addicted to pornography, fighting things in their thought life, that have desires and passions they struggle with.

[23:41] There's hatred and unforgiveness. There are some of you that have refused to forgive a family member. You've built up hate in your heart.

[23:53] Your heart is stone cold hard because you refuse to forgive. There are people in this place that are self-righteous.

[24:04] Don't worry, I won't point you out. You think you're better than other people. You think you're always theologically right. And you love looking down your nose at someone else.

[24:15] And you'll jump at every opportunity you can to show other people how you're better than they are. There are some of you here tonight and you are obsessed with worry.

[24:28] You're not anxious for nothing. You're anxious for everything because you think you're in control of your life rather than realizing the sovereignty of God over your life.

[24:40] And so you worry and you worry and you worry and you obsess and you obsess and you obsess. And there are some of you, it's guilt and shame. It's something that has happened in your past. It's a decision that you have made or decisions that you've made or regrets that you have.

[24:55] Others of you, it is anger. You are mad all the time. You are cranky as you can be. You lose it easily. You are like a ticking time bomb. Others of you, it's gossip.

[25:07] You just can't shut up about other people. And you love to tell negativity to anybody that will listen. There's others of you, you refuse to submit to God-ordained authority even if it's not a godly authority.

[25:23] He ain't my president. They ain't my boss. Listen, last time I checked the Bible, the only time you have a reason, a biblical reason not to submit to authority that has been placed in your life is if they ask you to do something that violates the word of God.

[25:40] Daniel? Otherwise, all authority has been ordained by God, even ungodly authority. Or maybe for you, it's ingratitude.

[25:54] You're not thankful. You're not content. You never say thank you, even though the last thing you would consider yourself is someone who's not thankful. Others of you, it's greed.

[26:06] It's the unending pursuit of more. Achievement, achievement, achievement. Listen, I mean, there are one thing after another.

[26:19] I mean, you look at that list on the screen. What is it for you? Or maybe there are several on that list for you. And it's one thing after another in terms of indwelling sin in your life that has you enslaved.

[26:36] Like the Apostle Paul. Like you battle with that thing within and it's got you beat. You tried so hard to kill it.

[26:48] And it's got a hold on you, a grip on you. You see, listen, slavery in the little stories about Egypt, slavery in the big stories about you, we are slaves to sin in bondage to the law in bondage to the law subjectively, in bondage to indwelling sin that we fight with, and there's another, and that's bondage to idolatry.

[27:17] That is, we're enslaved to loving other things more than we love God. Our hearts keeps running after worldly lovers.

[27:29] We are obsessed with things more than we are obsessed with God. See, on and on and on, the Bible talks about our slavery. Just a few other quick things.

[27:39] These things hold us captive. That is, like Israel, we cannot get out of our Egypt. Anybody feel that way tonight? Like, I'm in an Egypt. It's not like a geographical place called Egypt, but it's a place of slavery.

[27:52] It's a place of bondage. It's an addiction. It's a thought life. It's a habit pattern. Like, I am stuck in this Egypt, and I cannot get out. I am trapped.

[28:03] I am powerless. You're like Paul in Romans 7, who's caught in this, I'm doing the thing that I don't want to do, to the point that you end up distressed, and frustrated, and exhausted, and in despair.

[28:14] It makes you contribute. That is, like Israel and Egypt, you have to constantly work this off. I've got to pay back my debts. I've got to make up for my wrongs. I've got to try to do better the next time.

[28:25] I've got to make sure it doesn't happen again. Think about how much money you spend, how much time you waste, how many relationships you sacrifice. Listen, faith family, this is the point. This is the reality. Whether we'll admit it or not, notice it on the screen.

[28:36] Sin is your taskmaster, and it constantly makes you work. Oh, you're not under Pharaoh, but you are under a power, and it is the power of sin.

[28:50] And finally, it has us conditioned. For some of us, we've just accepted that this is how it is. We've become comfortable with it, and you would think that slavery is not something you would ever associate as something being comfortable, right?

[29:02] Like, this is something I would never want to get used to. Let me remind you what Israel said of their slavery in Egypt in Numbers chapter 11, verse 4. Now, the rabble that was among them had a strong craving.

[29:17] This is crazy. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, Oh, that we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers and melons and leeks and onions and garlic, but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.

[29:44] In other words, you end up saying, I'd rather have the meat of Egypt than the manna of God. I'd rather have meat and be a slave than manna and be a son.

[30:01] Sin gets you conditioned. That is, you can get out of bondage and still not be out of bondage. Somebody just say, preach, preacher, because that's good. You can get out of bondage and not be out of bondage.

[30:13] I'll say it this way. Sometimes you can get the Jew out of Egypt, but not get Egypt out of the Jew. The fight continues. The slavery is there.

[30:24] And my point tonight is to simply say the story of Israel and Egypt is not an Old Testament story you can't relate to. It's your story. That if we are to preach Exodus faithfully, a gospel centeredly, we must stop and recognize that slavery is not a their thing.

[30:44] It's an our thing. We are all slaves to sin. But there's good news. Are you ready for the good news?

[30:56] Now we can come to Exodus 2. All that was introduction. Now we're ready for Moses. You say, how in the world does Moses relate to me and my story? You just spent all this time unpacking how my story is just like the story of Israel in terms of I'm not enslaved to Pharaoh, but I am enslaved to a power that is the power of sin.

[31:16] So what in the world does Moses have to do with my life? Look at verse 1 of chapter 2. Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman.

[31:27] The woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a fine child, don't they all, she hid him three months. This story is not just the story of a slave people.

[31:38] This story is a story of a savior. In this passage, we're introduced to Moses. Now we know that Moses is important in the biblical narrative, but again, how does the little story of Moses fit in the larger story of my life?

[31:52] And this is so exciting. Are you ready to be excited? If not, I'll be excited for you. I'm going to give you 10 awesome things about Moses.

[32:03] Yes, we have time for 10. Don't look at your watch. 10 things that are awesome about Moses all taken from this text right out of the book. First, Moses was hidden as a child to avoid death.

[32:20] You remember this. The new Pharaoh comes on the scene. He doesn't know Joseph. He doesn't see Israel as a good thing. They're growing in number and he's concerned about that.

[32:30] And so he begins to shut them down by making them slaves. The problem is, rather than containing them by making them slaves, they continue to multiply and they continue to grow. So what does Pharaoh do?

[32:42] I'm so excited preaching this. He, not this, I'm not excited about what Pharaoh does. I'm excited to show you how this points to you. Pharaoh orders the death of the firstborn.

[32:54] All male sons are to be killed. Moses is born and kept alive, but he has to be hidden and protected.

[33:06] Number two, Moses has limited childhood information. Isn't that exciting? Yes! I'm so glad I came to church tonight to learn that Moses has limited childhood information.

[33:19] Verse 11, look at it. One day, when Moses had grown up, you just want to kind of stop and say, uh, how did we go from baby in a basket to all grown up?

[33:32] There's got to be more information there, right? Fill in the gaps. But the text doesn't do it. It just goes from baby to adult. Thirdly, Moses identifies with his people.

[33:45] Moses identifies with his people. Look at verse 11 again. One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and he looked on their burdens.

[33:57] Moses sees the burden of his people. He sees them in slavery. He has compassion on them. And here's what he knew. I have to intercede.

[34:08] I have to intervene for my people. Here's the fourth thing we know about Moses right out of the text is he fights for the oppressed. He fights for the oppressed.

[34:19] In verses 11 and 12 of chapter 2, Moses sees the man being oppressed and he takes action. Do you know what he does? He shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.

[34:31] Okay? He kills the man. He murders the man. If you don't get that reference, I feel sorry for you. And most people look at the murder that Moses does as a bad thing.

[34:44] But that is actually not how the Bible treats it. Look at what happens in Acts when Moses' deed is addressed. Acts chapter 7 verse 23. When he was 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.

[34:59] And seeing one of them being wrong, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed his brothers would understand that God was giving him salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.

[35:14] In other words, Moses is seen in the book of Acts not as violating the law of God, but upholding it. He's doing a good thing. He's doing the right thing. He's doing what he should do as he intercedes and steps in for his people.

[35:28] Number five, Moses is rejected by his people. Moses actually thinks that because he did this for this Hebrew man, they're going to love him. They're going to embrace him.

[35:38] They're going to realize who he is. Look at verse 13 of chapter 2. He went out the next day. Behold, two Hebrews were struggling together and he said to the man in the wrong, why did you strike your companion?

[35:51] And he answered, who made you prince or judge over us? Do you mean to kill me like you killed the Egyptian? And Moses was afraid and thought, surely this thing is known.

[36:04] In other words, after defending the oppressed, Moses assumes that he's going to be embraced for it, but instead they hate him. And one thing we see in the text is they do not recognize his authority.

[36:18] Who gave you the authority over us? Who makes you judge? Next, Moses is wanted dead by political leaders. Moses is wanted dead by political leaders.

[36:29] When news gets out about what Moses does to kill the Egyptian, Pharaoh hears it and he wants Moses dead. Look at verse 15 of Exodus chapter 2.

[36:41] When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian and he sat by a well.

[36:51] I love that little added part, right? And he sat by a well. Because you didn't tell us anything about your childhood, but you told us that you sat by a well. All right, anyways, Moses.

[37:02] So he's rejected by his people, he's wanted dead by the political leaders, and because of this, here's the next one, Moses becomes a wanderer, right? He doesn't fit in with his people, they've rejected him.

[37:14] He doesn't fit in with the political elites because they want him dead. He's kind of like a man that has no place to lay his head. Next, he leaves the royalty of Egypt to become what?

[37:29] A shepherd. He goes from a place of great status in Egypt to a shepherd herding sheep. Look at chapter 3 and verse 1. Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, a priest of Median, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness.

[37:49] And so, this great man who had royalty in Egypt becomes, of all things, a shepherd. Something of no status, something that held no high class in society at all.

[38:02] Trust me, it was an unbelievably humbling thing to go from the prince of Egypt to a lowly shepherd. Next, Moses' purpose is to do one thing, to lead God's people out of slavery and into freedom.

[38:18] Look at the specific call that was given to Moses' life in chapter 3, verse 7. Then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters.

[38:33] I know their suffering. I have come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, to bring them up out of the land to the good and broad land, a land of milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and Hittites and Amorites and Pezzarites and Hivites and Jesubites.

[38:50] And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me. And I also have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, here it is, Moses, I will send you, and here's my purpose, I'm sending you to Pharaoh that you might bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

[39:12] Moses had one purpose, to get God's people out of slavery. And he lost the royal status to do so. Lastly, is that Moses wins by losing.

[39:26] He wins by losing. How does Moses end up in a place where he would be the one that would lead Israel out? It's through his suffering. It is through the loss of his status.

[39:37] It is through the rejection. It's through the being misunderstood. Notice it on the screen. It was through his suffering that God would bring salvation. Aren't you glad you came to church to learn so much about Moses?

[39:51] Now, come on. if you're brand new to the Bible, you get a pass. If you're brand new to Faith Family, you get a pass.

[40:02] But if you've been around here for very long and you do not know what I just preached, you failed the test. This isn't about Moses.

[40:16] This story is about Moses, but it's more than Moses. Just like the story of slavery is about Israel's slavery, but it's about more than slavery.

[40:29] Who else do we know that was hidden at birth? You know, not like just when Pharaoh ordered the death of the firstborn, but when Herod did, and where did Jesus have to flee to to escape death?

[40:42] I don't know. Egypt! Who else do we know that is given little information about his childhood? We know about his birth, one event that happened when he was 12 years old in the temple, and the rest is adulthood.

[40:55] Who else do we know that identifies with his people and weeps over Jerusalem? Who fights for the oppressed and identifies with the lowly and sick, the leper and the reject? Who is the one that came to his very people and his people rejected him?

[41:09] And not only that, the religious leaders and the political leaders of the day wanted him dead, and he becomes a wanderer, a man that has no place to lay his head. He is not received by Israel.

[41:20] He is hated by Rome. He is a man wandering around, a man that left the ultimate royalty of heaven to be what? A shepherd, one that came to lay down his life for the sheep.

[41:33] And he had one purpose to do so. His one purpose was to lead us out of slavery. And how did he win that victory? through what it looked like losing at the cross until three days later, he walked out of the grave to get you out.

[41:55] That's how you got to understand Exodus 2. Or we're just left with babies in baskets. And I'm not in any way downplaying the little story, but we feel so disconnected from it.

[42:11] It's because you don't realize it's your story. It's because you don't realize you are the slave. And there is one greater than Moses that has come to lead you to freedom.

[42:24] He came into the wilderness to get you out. You see, Faith Family, notice it on the screen, the little story of Moses is pointing you to the larger story of Jesus.

[42:38] So if the little story of Egyptian slavery is about the larger story of sinful slavery, and if the little story of Moses is about the larger story of Jesus, what does it mean for us?

[42:58] If you've zoned out, please zone back in. Listen to me. Come back to this. You came in here tonight if you're willing to admit it, fighting something that's got a grip on you.

[43:21] Some of you don't know Jesus. Some of you are a slave to sin. You were born in sin, and you have never been set free. Some of you, you've been out of Egypt for a while, but there's still a lot of Egypt in you.

[43:34] There's a lot of indwelling things that's got a grip on you. What in the world does Exodus 2 have to do with you?

[43:45] Listen, Jesus is the only one who can get you out. Jesus is the only one that can get you out. There is only one that will get you out of the condemnation of the law.

[43:58] There is only one that will get you out of the works-based thinking. There is only one that will get you out from under the control of indwelling sin. There is only one who can cleanse you of the idols of your heart.

[44:11] There is only one way out of Egypt, and his name is Jesus. And that has everything to do with you on Monday and Tuesday and the rest of the days of the week.

[44:27] you can't see this as just Old Testament history. You have to see this as your story found in Christ.

[44:38] I would say this to you, faith family, what Jesus says in John 8. The slave does not remain in the house forever. The son remains forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

[44:58] I declare to you tonight, in your battle with sin, Jesus is the only way out, the only way to be free. He is the greater Moses. He is the deliverer that God raised up, and if he sets you free, you're free indeed.

[45:13] So I know we're drawn to things we can relate to, things that connect with our struggle of life. today, let it be more than a music style or a friend with common interest.

[45:28] Let it be the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is through the gospel that God takes those who are bound, hands and feet, and through his power, gets them out.

[45:45] And all God's people said, amen, amen. Let's pray. God, thank you for this time tonight. I realize it's a bit of a different sermon, but yet this is how we have to understand the book.

[45:58] We can get so obsessed in the little details of the little story that we miss the big picture. This is about our struggle, our battle, our slavery, and the ultimate Moses who was delivered up, given the purpose, the purpose of getting us out.

[46:22] And so I pray in these few moments as we enter in time of communion and reflection as we think upon the cross that we would be very clear about what we need to be out of, what we're in bondage to.

[46:35] Maybe it's a works-based thinking. Maybe it's like in Romans 7, an indwelling sin that keeps us doing the very thing we don't want to do. But God, help us, help us, by your power and by your grace and by your strength to be able to be set free.

[46:58] And I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.