#5
(The “Great Escapes”
Series)
"ESCAPE FROM
TEXT: Ex.
3:7-10;
INTRO: The
greatest tyranny on our planet is not communism. It never was! It isn't dictatorships, as horrible as
many of them are! The greatest
enslavement of humans has not been in the political arena as much as it has been
in the heart! The greatest slavery
man has known since the dawn of time is SIN! This problem of slavery is still with us
today. It is so powerful that our
entire human race is held without hopes of freedom, is there an escape from SIN?
– YES!
PROP.
SENT:
As powerful as sin is over
the human race, God has provided a means of escape by His Son Jesus Christ! This escape route is available to all
who wish to escape from "
I. FRUSTRATIONS IN
A. Slavery!
3:7-10
1. There is nothing humorous about sin
though TV likes to joke about it and those who preach against
it!
a. The truth about sin is that it
brings misery to both those who practice it and those who are affected by
it!
b. Sin is the breaking of God's laws,
laws designed to do good for all!
2. Some people pat themselves on the
back because they believe they are pretty good and don't sin much, they don't
see themselves as being enslaved although they would admit to breaking a few
commands once in a while.
3. Some of the Israelites were a
little better off than perhaps others -- yet none of them were completely free.
They belonged to
a. They were miserable! The honest sinner admits the misery that
sin brings over his/her life and those of their loved
ones!
b. Sin keeps God's intended best from
coming to us.
4. The first decades in Egypt were
perhaps not too bad, but now nearly 400 years later the toll of bondage was
showing it's hold and pain on the people!
a. Sometimes bondage takes time to
reveal itself and its true nature.
b. This is why sometimes people don't
see much wrong with sin at first!
c. People who sin may be having a good
time until people get hurt from their sins or they hurt
themselves!
d. People always convince themselves
that they can help themselves without their need for
God!
ILLUS: Near
5. It is very difficult for any one to
be rescued if they don't see their need to be!
a. God was willing to come to their
rescue because they finally were crying out in recognition that they were
enslaved without hope through their own efforts to free
themselves!
b. For years they had enjoyed great
prosperity in Egypt ... they had really grown numerically, they had felt safe,
but now the reality of slavery had dawned on them!
c. The consequences of slavery were
making it noticeable now!
6. They wanted to be free but couldn't
do it by themselves! They cried out
to God for help! (The right step toward true
freedom!)
B. Suffering
3:7-10
1. God is not indifferent to man's
suffering and pain. Sometimes it
seems like it goes on and on forever, but God is moved by our
pain!
a. Their suffering had been a useful
tool to get
b. God sometimes allows pain in our
lives to draw us to Him, to keep our attention!
c. Pain also reminds us of our true
nature, that we are weak and need help!
2. There is a time when God says “enough” to our suffering and pain, and
in compassion He responds.
3. The suffering of sinners from the
consequences of sin should move the hearts of God's people to have compassion on
them, to condemn sin but not sinners!
ILLUS: William
Booth could not sleep one evening where he lived in
4. God hates slavery! The only reason someone can go to Hell
is that God will NEVER make a slave out of anyone -- if they choose to reject
His love and go their own way God will permit this, even though it breaks His
heart and they choose to reject heaven!
It is not God that rejects us; it is the other way
around!
a. God's love frees us, from ourselves
and from sin!
b. Thus we can enjoy a real
relationship of love by turning to Him!
c. Otherwise we keep ourselves in
slavery to sin!
5. Israel was sick of slavery, it was
a miserable way to live.
a. All the glory of
b. The prosperity no longer existed,
it was gone!
c. There was no security in
bondage!
d. The reality of being slaves was now
obvious to all! They wanted
out!
e. There was no future to
slavery!
II. FLEEING
A. Strength
1. Israel lacked the strength to
escape, God therefore sent the 10 plagues to let Pharaoh know that he had better
release God’s people!
a. What little strength
ILLUS: Sometimes
people think that if they try hard enough they can overcome sin without God's
help. They might have some measure
of success in the short run, like the man who set out to prove that flight was
possible by human power. On
b. Our human strength over sin leaves
much to be desired, and those few times we have had some measure of success in
our own power are not that worthy of bragging about!
2.
a. It is interesting to note
however that this help through the plagues did make their life more miserable in
the short run while still in
b. Becoming a Christian may not always
make your life here in "
c. When it does make matters more
difficult just remember the future ... you're heading for the
3. With God's power at work on their
behalf the Egyptians were only too happy to let them go! In fact they insisted on
it!
a. They even paid
b.
4. All the efforts at trying to save
themselves without God had failed until they recognized 2
things:
a. The source of their failure to help
themselves … their sinful heart!
b. The source of power to get free ...
God's enablement!
c. The failure to recognize the SOURCE
can leave one still in bondage!
ILLUS: Many
years ago in a mental hospital an unusual test was designed to determine whether
a patient was ready to leave and go back into the world, or whether they needed
to remain captive in the unit. They
would bring a candidate for release into a room where a water faucet was left on
so that the sink overflowed and was pouring onto the floor. They would hand a mop and bucket to the
patient and ask them to mop up the water.
IF, the patient had enough sense to first go to the source and shut the
faucet off and then mop up the water they would release them. But if they started mopping up water
first, they kept them! All their
efforts were in vain if they could not first recognize the source of the problem
before putting forth great effort to clean up the mess! This is true with all "GOOD" programs in
this world that try and solve the problems of crime, poverty, sickness, hatred
... they are doomed for failure or little good unless we deal with the source of
the problem -- SIN! Change the
human heart (which only Christ can
do!) and you have a chance to make these programs work! Otherwise the mess will continue to
pour out just as fast as you clean it up!
– Source Unknown
B. Salvation
1.
2. This escape by God's help got
a. Their initial salvation took them
out of
b. The next 40 years God would work
with them to free them from the influence of
c. It was easier getting
d. While our initial salvation
experience is immediate and dramatic the process of salvation unfolds throughout
our lifetime and takes a number of steps.
3. The "great
escape:"
a. The initial escape was quite glorious
... crossing the
b. The ongoing escape in the wilderness was
difficult ... the journey to the
c. This is still true when God helps
us escape "
d. It had been a long drawn out
captivity, 430 years total ... but at least they were now free ... God's power
brought about their escape and His power would keep them in the journey
too!
III. FREEDOM EXPRESSED Ex.
12:43-51
A. Separation
1. The Passover became a model acted
out of their salvation experience, the same way in which we celebrate
communion!
a. Therefore it was not to be
celebrated by "outsiders" or "foreigners"... those who didn't participate in
their faith in God!
b. The Passover was only valid for
those who EXPRESSED their faith through obedience to the commands of God
earlier, those who were real followers of God!
c. This "faith + works" is not a foreign concept
in the Bible ... James links them.
d. Real faith has works to
show!
2. It is important to realize however
that non-Jews by birth were not rejected by God's love here ... ANYONE who
participated in obedience to God's Word and who embraced God was free to
celebrate the blessings of Passover!
3. God states clearly here the
importance of "SEPARATION."
a. The word "HOLY"
means this, “to
separate.”
b. Like Passover, communion is not a
rite where you receive God's grace, it is a celebration of having already
received God's grace!
c. Even in 1 Cor. 11 Paul mentions that a man "should examine
himself to see if he is in Christ" and says that some in Corinth were
sick and had even died because they had eaten “in an unworthy
manner” ... meaning without being saved or right with
God!
4. We are to be separate from the
world, not physically, but certainly in every other way. We are different! Our actions and values should reflect
it!
5. When salvation is real so are the
actions that flow from it!
ILLUS: Luis
Palau, a missionary evangelist was holding a crusade in
6. Freedom is only real if it is
expressed!
B. Symbolism
1. The point of making Passover a
regular annual practice was to continually remind
2. Just doing "Christian" rituals
however adds nothing to you spiritually!
3. If you understand the meaning of
those practices and you let the meaning minister to your heart it will however
have great value!
4. The escape from
"
CONCLUSION: