The story of the book of Exodus is one that we perhaps know all too well, don't we?
Whether it's through, sitting through many Exodus sermon series, or whether it's just because your kids repetitively make you watch The Prince of Egypt.
It begins, doesn't it, with the birth of Moses.
A boy who providentially is rescued by God from Pharaoh's plan to kill all the sons of Israel.
By rescuing him, being placed in a boat, placed into the river Nile, only to be discovered by Pharaoh's daughter and raised up in the presence of the man who sought to kill him.
And by the time we get to Exodus 3, Moses is now grown up to a man, and he's killed a fellow Egyptian, an Egyptian slave master.
He's fled to the land of Midian, which is in the back end of nowhere, and he's become a simple shepherd who tends the flocks of his father-in-law.
And in verse 1 of our passage today, Moses, while wandering the wilderness of Horeb, is confronted by the living God.
In such a remarkable way.
And he's given a colossal message of salvation.
It plays itself out throughout the rest of the book of Exodus, but throughout the rest of history.
And in our time today, that's what we're going to be thinking about.
We're going to be thinking about this colossal message, this salvation of God.
Next time, we're going to be continuing looking through Exodus 3, thinking about the God of salvation.
But as we walk through our passage today, through our narrative, I want us to just marvel at the salvation of God.
Because it genuinely blows away our small, individualistic, me and my personal relationship with Jesus attitude towards salvation.
And it gives us a picture of salvation that genuinely should cause us to gasp.
It should genuinely cause you to be comforted.
And realign maybe why you think God saved you in the first place.
Why is it that God saves people like you and me?
So let's just dive straight into our passage.
Under our first heading, first of three, thinking about salvation.
And our first heading is, Salvation is Shocking.
Salvation is Shocking.
Verses 1 to 5 of chapter 3.
Now these verses are very familiar.
Moses, he's now tending flocks in the wilderness.
And out of the corner of his eye, he sees something unusual.
And he does a double take.
I'm not from London, so I've done a lot of double takes while I've been on the tube, seeing unusual things.
But what's unusual about this,
is not that there's a bush burning in a dry, barren, hot desert.
What he does a double take for, is as he looks closer,
he saw that although this bush was on fire, it wasn't being consumed.
He does a double take because what he's seeing is miraculous.
That he heads closer and moves in.
And we know that from verse 2, don't we, that it's God who has appeared to him in the fire, in the midst of this bush.
But Moses is unaware of this.
He just sees this remarkable sign until God speaks.
God speaks from the bush, calls to Moses, and tells him,
I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
And that he must take his sandals off, because this is holy ground.
And before he has a chance to kind of kick off his flip-flops,
he's on the ground, covering his face, trembling with fear.
Trembling with fear before a holy God.
Before we carry on, just a quick side point.
What is it that makes things holy?
Is it the function they perform?
Is it because this object does holy things?
Is it the actions that someone does?
They do holy things.
Or is it just arbitrary?
This is holy, this isn't, and it's just kind of, there's two lists.
What makes you holy?
John, the burning bush makes it really clear, isn't it?
That the presence of the living, holy God is what makes things holy.
Holy, this is just massive implications.
The reason that you are holy is because the presence of the living God
has made his home in you by his Spirit.
He has transformed you from the very ordinary to the very unordinary.
He has taken his residence in you, and we manifest his holiness in our living and actions.
That's what's going on with this bush.
If we could spend hours talking about this, but God, by being here, has made us holy.
And God, by being there in that story, has made this ordinary bush holy.
So he kicks off his sandals and falls to the ground.
And there's something right about that, isn't there?
Being confronted by the God of the universe, it is right that he trembles.
But why is it that he hides and trembles with fear?
What is it?
Because I think this is what makes salvation really shocking.
And this is what makes it so shocking.
The God, who is above creation, has come down to his creation.
And therefore his creatures tremble.
Because God is so big.
We talked about this, didn't we, kids, in the Sunday school.
God is so big, and we are so small.
Think about it.
It's like a great bear meeting a baby.
You know, it's so extreme.
It's scary for finite beings like you and me to meet the infinite creator.
But there's something else going on.
Although we know intrinsically there's something right about that trembling before a holy God who is so great.
He hides.
Where immediately does your mind go?
It's back to Genesis 3, isn't it?
Confronted with God, Adam and Eve, having sinned, hide.
And are afraid.
They're afraid because they knew they deserve punishment before this holy God.
They knew that in the same way that Moses knows, confronted with the same God,
that it's not just the greatness of God that causes them to tremble,
but the pure perfection of God too.
So we tremble before this God, in and of ourselves.
Not just because the distance between the creator and the creature is so great,
but because he is so perfect, and we are so sinful.
Or as you put it with the kids, he is big and perfect, and we are small and sinful.
Our sin and its consequences make it impossible, impossible for us to get to know God on our own.
Now, do you really believe that?
Do you tremble at the prospect of coming face to face with this God?
Because he is so great, and we are so not.
The only way is that he must come down with a message of how this holy God can save people for himself.
If God is going to be known personally, if he's going to be known savingly,
he must take the initiative.
But salvation is shocking,
because it comes to people who don't deserve it like us.
like Moses, the great Moses,
who did not deserve to hear this message of salvation.
That's important to remember, isn't it?
Is God about to save his people because they're better?
No.
Is he about to save his people because they're less sinful than the Egyptians who have enslaved them?
No.
Absolutely not.
God saves people.
Saves people like you and me,
because we belong to him.
He saves because we belong to him.
We are his children, his bride, his treasured possession.
Yet these are descriptions of you,
if you are trusting Christ this morning.
Here this morning, we are so small and sinful,
and yet God has revealed himself as the God who saves people,
because he is great.
Not because we are.
And this message of salvation,
which is so shocking,
is unpacked for us in verses 7 to 9.
The message of salvation is outlined,
and it is astounding.
Verse 8,
his plan to act in history
is to save his people from slavery to Pharaoh,
and bring them, verse 8,
into a land flowing with milk and honey.
Not slaves,
not slaves,
but free in a perfect land,
unparalleled in their known world.
And we all know, don't we,
how great salvation is.
But look at what provokes it in verses 7 to 9.
It sandwiches this promise of salvation in verse 8.
Verse 7,
surely I have seen the affliction of my people.
I have heard their cry.
And verse 9,
the cry of the people of Israel has come to me,
and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them.
Think.
If salvation arises because God cares about his people,
the small sinful people that we just talked about,
salvation arises because of their cry to him.
It seems so simple, doesn't it?
That the holy God of the entire universe,
the infinitely high and great one,
in need of nothing,
stoops down and even cares
for people like you and me.
Doesn't it just make you want to sing with that psalm?
What is man that you are mindful of him?
Or the son of man that you care for him?
God sees, hears,
knows the plight of his people,
and it moves into action.
God sees your plight,
your struggle,
and as we cry out to him on our knees,
as we corporately confess
and need for his help.
God sees.
God knows.
God cares.
And it moves him to action.
Joy, it is a universal truth, isn't it?
That no one runs faster
than a mum running after their toddler
who has just tripped and fallen.
Yeah.
And what moves that mum
as she sprints across the playground
to try and catch them
before they graze their knee?
Well, it's the distress
and plight of their children.
And God's love for his people,
those who belong to him,
well, it moves him to action
when he sees them struggling.
But,
we've got to be really clear here.
We've got to be really clear.
Because there's something
that feels almost a little bit odd,
isn't there?
Because we could end up thinking,
you know, God,
he's busy over here,
and then he suddenly sees
that his people are in distress over here,
and he thinks,
I've got to come up with a plan
to go and rescue them.
God's plan seems to be failing.
You know, the plan A?
The plan A with Abraham
to go and make for himself a people,
a great nation where they'll be blessed?
It seems to be failing,
so quick,
God have come up with a plan B
to go and get these people out of slavery.
But look at verses 24 and 25
of Exodus chapter 2.
Because the same idea
of God responding to the pleas
and cries of his people
come up again.
Read with me.
They cried out for help.
Their cry for rescue from slavery
came up to God,
and he heard their groaning.
But then look what God does.
He remembers.
And God remembered his covenant
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
God saw the sons of Israel,
and God took notice of them.
What does the Bible mean
when it says God remembers?
Because it sure is clear
that it doesn't mean that he's forgotten.
So what does it mean
when God remembers?
Well, this is a much richer idea
than forgetting and recalling
some information.
It's the idea that God acts
on the promises he's formerly made.
God acts
in a way that he is formally promised.
God recalls who he is
and what he said he'll do,
and he acts.
And that's what we have here
with the salvation of his people
from Egypt.
The salvation of God
revealed to Moses
is rooted in what he's already promised
long, long, long ago.
Israel's exodus from Egypt
is God's fulfillment
of his promises to Abraham.
This is not,
we've got to be really clear on this,
this is not God initiating plan B.
A new plan never heard of before.
Instead, he's simply fulfilling
what he's already promised
to the great, great, great
grandparents of the faith,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
You know, when God hears
his people's groans,
he remembers his covenant
with Abraham
and acts to keep his promises.
Taking Israel out of,
taking Israel out of Egypt
was part of this perfect plan all along.
From the beginning,
and part of the blessings,
promised in that relationship,
he's established already
with Abraham in Genesis 15.
You don't have to turn to it,
but I'm going to read it to you.
Do you remember that great promise
with Abraham that God makes?
Well, this is part of it.
Know for certain
that your offspring
will be sojourned
in a land that is not theirs,
and they will be servants there,
and they will be afflicted
for 400 years.
But,
I will bring judgment
on the nation they serve.
No plan B.
This has always been plan A.
You know well,
don't you?
It didn't have to happen
yesterday,
but any time a church
organises a church picnic,
they always need
a wet weather plan,
don't they?
You know,
we long to be sat
in the sunshine
eating tiny sausage rolls
and playing frisbee,
but every organiser
of a church picnic
knows we need somewhere
to dash quickly.
But the thing is,
God has no wet weather plan.
God has no plan B.
It's just not that way.
It's not as though
there was plan A with Adam,
plan B with Moses,
but then his people
got put in slavery,
so plan C was getting
out of Egypt,
and then,
you know,
what we are on plan J
with Jesus.
It's not the way
it happens.
salvation,
and in which God's people
are free from slavery,
not from Pharaoh,
but from sin and death,
in which he gives
not the land
of the Canaanites,
but a new creation.
You know,
this,
this has always been
God's plan A,
and we see the shadow here.
Jesus coming is for us,
is part of plan A,
and the way that we know that
is because we see it here
pictured.
If you're anything like me,
do you ever feel like
God's plan is failing?
Do you ever look at your
situation and your
circumstances,
and you go,
it doesn't really seem like
God's kingdom's advancing.
when loved ones die,
and things are difficult,
and there's real struggle,
and that person isn't
responding to the gospel,
and you go,
IBC should have built
their new building by now,
and we should have
filled it.
Do you ever feel like
God's plan is failing?
Take great comfort
in knowing there is
no plan B,
but every step of the way,
God is fulfilling
his purpose,
exactly as he planned
from all eternity.
I just think that's
amazing,
isn't it?
Just always remember,
God is 100%
on plan,
on track
with plan A.
Jesus has come,
conquered sin and death,
and is freeing people
like you and me
who were formerly slaves,
and is gathering his church
slowly and surely,
and he will come back
to deliver all that
plan A has promised.
And we know that
because we see it
pictured here in Exodus.
Take comfort.
There is no plan B.
Well, that was
our second point.
And our final point
is something, again,
that we might know,
but we very,
very quickly forget.
And that is
the goal of this salvation.
Look down at verse 12.
Verse 12.
He said,
But I will be with you,
and this shall be
the sign for you,
that I have sent you.
When you have brought
the people out of Egypt,
you shall serve God
on this mountain.
It's just before
we get to that amazing,
the huge revelation
of God's personal name,
I am.
In verse 14,
which is what we're
going to be spending
a lot of next week
looking at,
we're given this insight
into Moses' reservations
about taking this message
of salvation,
both to the Israelites
but also to Pharaoh.
And he kind of says,
Who am I?
Who am I
that I should go
to Pharaoh
and take this message
of salvation?
Or more precisely,
who am I
that I should go to Pharaoh
and that I should bring out
the children of Egypt?
Who am I
to do this great thing?
Now,
is this Moses being humble?
We always have that,
don't we?
We're given
callings by the Lord
and we go,
Who am I to do
this great thing?
Is it really humble?
Is it just kind of
being the British
self-deprecating nature?
I don't think it is.
I think what we're reading
is the response
of a man
who has wrongly
fixed his eyes
on himself
and his own circumstances
rather than
looking to the one
who's going to be
doing the saving.
The one who is going
to be accomplishing
his plan A.
But what's even more amazing
is that
God's answer
is sign.
It's not just
I'll do it.
But the sign is
when everyone
is worshipping
at the end
you will know
that he has done it.
In other words,
he's saying,
Moses,
look, here's the sign
that it's
me that's going
to be doing it
and not you, Moses.
But I'm going to
bring the people out
and not you.
Because they're going
to come to this mountain,
the mountain that
you're stood on,
Mount Samui,
and they're going
to start worshipping.
And they're not going
to be worshipping you,
Moses.
They're going to be
worshipping me.
And this is the goal
of my salvation.
The purpose
for which I am
saving people.
The goal is
that you will be
saved.
If you're a non-Christian
neighbor,
as you bump into them
on the way home
from church today,
or they pop over
there at the head
of the fence
this sunny afternoon,
or maybe,
kids,
when you go to school
and your friends say,
I know you go to church,
why is it that
God saves people?
What's the purpose
in God saving people?
What would your answer be?
I'm sure we've come up
with lots of good answers.
So we don't have
to go to hell.
Maybe so we get
to go to heaven.
Maybe so we don't
feel guilty anymore.
Maybe so we don't
have to fear death.
Maybe so we can go
to a school hall
each Sunday morning
and hear from
God's word.
So all of these
are really good answers,
but they all serve
a much bigger goal.
And that is that
we might become
worshippers.
Exodus,
chapter 3
and verse 12
makes this point
beyond doubt.
Israel are led out
so that they
can become
worshippers of God.
But it's a pattern
that keeps going.
If you want to
flick with me,
Exodus 3.18
And they will
listen to my voice
and you and the
elders of Israel
shall go to the
king of Egypt
and say,
Lord,
the God of the
Hebrews has met
with us
and now please
let us go
three days
journey into
the wilderness.
Why?
So that we may
sacrifice to the
Lord.
Or 4.23
Look down again
with me.
4.23
And I say to you,
let my son go
that he might
serve me.
Or 5.
Chapter 5
verse 1
Thus says the
Lord God of Israel,
let my people go
that they may
hold a feast
to me in the
wilderness.
Or 5.
Verse 3
5.
Verse 3.
Thanks.
Sorry.
And then he said,
God of Hebrews
has met with us.
Please let us go
three days
journey in order
that we may
sacrifice to the
Lord our God.
These are just,
it just keeps
going and going
and going and
builds and the
message of
scripture keeps
unfolding and we
keep going until
we reach the
climax in Revelation
when God has
gathered people
from every tribe,
tongue and
nation and
they are all
around the throne
crying holy,
holy,
holy.
The reason that
God saves people
is that he might
have a people
that worship
and know him.
All of history,
all of planet A,
God coming down
to give this
salvation that is
shocking,
is that we might
gather on a mountain
and declare his
glory.
I just want to
close with this.
Salvation is
really incredible
because we don't
deserve it.
God is infinitely
great and we are
infinitely small.
He is pure and
perfect and we are
sinful and rebellious.
But from the
beginning he has
always had a plan
to save a people,
not because they are
great but because
he is.
And the goal of
this,
Exodus tells us,
verse 12,
that they would
come to Mount
Sinai to worship.
And think of the
joy in that day,
no longer in
slavery for 400
years.
Their first day
off in 400
years and they
gather on the
mountain and
worship the Lord.
The thing is,
we're not
covered, are we,
at Mount
Sinai.
that we're
gathered somewhere
far greater.
Now hear how
Hebrews puts it.
Hebrews 12,
for you have not
come for what
can be touched.
Here this morning,
you have not
come to what
can be touched.
But you,
sat here this
morning,
because of the
salvation that
God has given,
God's plan A,
we have come to
Mount Zion,
to the city of
the living God,
to the heavenly
Jerusalem,
to innumerable
angels in
festal gatherings,
and to the
assembly of the
firstborn,
who are enrolled
in heaven,
and to the
God,
and to God,
the judge of all,
and to the
spirits of the
righteous made
perfect,
and to Jesus,
the mediator of
a new covenant.
That has been
God's plan A,
from the very
beginning.
Moved to action
by the struggles
of his people,
and all that we
might glory in
what he is,
and what he has
done.
Let's pray.