Exodus 13:1–16Scripture
Exodus chapter 13. Everybody turn your Bibles there, Exodus 13. How many of you, while you're looking, have completed your Christmas shopping? I did. Two of us. So actually, Brook, you did too? No, I said how many... How many have you not even started? How many of you have not finished yet? That's the rest of us. We typically do it on Christmas Eve. We've run into J.R. Multiple times on Christmas Eve at Walmart as we're shopping for last-minute gifts. And so we're ahead of the game, and so we're kind of excited. Maybe it's because we're getting older. The nearer I get to 50, the more I don't want to do stuff last minute anymore. Is that old age, or is that wisdom, or is that boredom? I don't know. It's something. Exodus chapter 13. I'm excited about today. Let's pray before we go into his word. Lord, we love you very much. In advance, we want to thank you. Thank you, Lord, for working humility into our hearts and lives. It is a painful thing to be humbled, but it is a wonderful thing to magnify the Lord. And I have come to find, Lord, that there is no such thing as separating those two, that it is in magnifying you that we are humbled. And sometimes when humility is not given as an offering, it's taken as a lesson; it's taught to us. And so, Lord, when our life gets so focused on self, and this season is a good season for us to become culprits of that, when it's really about you, we make it about us. And, Lord, you work humility in us so
Introduction
That your name will be glorified. And I've found over the years, Lord, that you have repeatedly worked humility in me, but I glory in those moments, because my distraction of self should never overshadow the glory of the cross of Christ. And so we're thankful today as we near a season where we were given the greatest gift the world could ever know in Jesus Christ. In your name we pray, amen. As we read this Old Testament text, and we begin to notice things, or maybe become familiar with certain practices of the Jewish people, of the nation of Israel, maybe practices or traditions that we are not familiar with, let us not too quickly forget that all of this symbolizes what we have now in Christ. And that's the point, isn't it? That as we exit out of Romans, after being in there for two and a half years, and now we are in Exodus, we are able to see Old Testament shadow and type of the new Testament Christ, which we so much cherish in our hearts and in our lives today. Our assignment is Exodus 13:1 through, what is it, 16, something like that. Let's read that together. "The LORD said to Moses, 'Consecrate to me,'" or some translations say "sanctify to me," "'all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.'" Whose is it? It's the Lord's. It's the Lord's. "Then Moses said to the people, 'remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.'" I love that. Some translations say "by a hard hand." Both are relevant today. If you look at the original greek, one of the things that I loved, the actual Greek word, or not Greek, the Hebrew word that is used here, it means to be so strong you can hold on to something and no one can remove it from your grip. I love that, because we think of God holding his children in his hand, then no one will take us from his hand, that once you're his, you're his. That's good news, right? It's particularly good news, because we see the hand of God doing many things, like reaching into troubled waters to pull out people who are drowning. His hand is constantly... It is one of the strongest and most tender parts of the body. And Jesus Christ, as we see him walk on the earth, we see him demonstrate both softness and hardness. We see God doing the same in this nation. He is tender toward the Israelites, but he is hard towards the Egyptians. His hand can demonstrate both softness and tenderness and hardness at the same time. It applies where it's needed. Okay, I got to go on. "Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites," and all them -ites, "which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory." Not just in your house, not just out of your cupboards, not just out of the open spaces in your house, but in your entire territory. It needs to be eradicated. "You shall tell your son on that day, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt." Notice that the law of the Lord should not just be in your mind, but it's got to make its way to your mouth. Some of us parents today, we have a lot of law, a lot of gospel, a lot of the word in our head, but it doesn't do very well at getting out of our mouth.
That's why our children are leaving the church by the droves, because we talk more about us in our home than we do the Lord.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 7:21
Oh, we know him. Oh, we think about him. Oh, we know his word. But we don't speak it in our home. And the reality is we are raising what is becoming a depraved generation, because we have forgotten him in our home. Oh, we know him mentally. We have mentally assented, but we have not verbally spoken these things in our home. And it is paramount that you speak the good news of Christ.
The greatest sermon ever preached will be by a mother to her child over a dinner table.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 7:55
"You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year. When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstlings of your animals that are males shall be the LORD's.
Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb." Why is that? It's an unclean animal; you redeem with a clean animal. "Or if you will not redeem it, you shall break its neck." Bummer for that donkey. "Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem." Listen, it's the Lord's, and if you can't redeem it, then it will die. It will not go to you. You don't get to keep it. It's either his and redeemed, or it's dead. Just like the Passover: every firstborn will be redeemed or it will be dead, but it's all the Lord's. "And when in time to come your son asks you..." But when in time... "And when in time to come your son asks you..." I don't even know what that means. That don't even make sense to me right now. Well, it actually says next: "'What does this mean?'" I don't know. I just read it and I don't know what it means. "You shall say to him, 'By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.' It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt." That's good stuff, guys. I mean, honestly, I don't know if you guys read some of this stuff, and then, I mean, you have to sit with it a little bit. I don't know, have you guys experienced that? You kind of got to sit with the stuff a little bit. But the more you read it, the more you sit with it, the more you ask questions, the more pops out of there. I mean, did you catch some stuff in there as you read that? Like, "Whoa, I didn't catch that before. Oh, interesting. Oh, wow." There's more in there than you could ever imagine. I want to just talk about three things today that I think are fitting, three main things that I think we could extrapolate out of that. There's tons
Point 1Sanctify: setting apart the firstborn is a command
Of things for us to talk about in here. First point is this: they were to sanctify the firstborn. Let's just call this first point "sanctify." You can call it "sanctified," you can call it "sanctifying," call it whatever you want, it's your notes. But it says at the very beginning, Exodus 12:1–3, or 13:1–2, "The LORD said to Moses, 'Consecrate...'" You can call your first point "consecrate," because most of your translations say that. I'll say "sanctify." "'Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.'" It's mine. This sanctification of the firstborn was required by divine commandment. God said it, and it was going to happen because God said it. Listen, it wasn't like, "Hey, if you think you'd like to consecrate your firstborn, that'd be cool." That's not what he said. It's not one of these things where it's like, "Hey, what do you think about possibly consecrating it? I mean, y'all have some free will and stuff, so you decide." No, not that. "Well, let me, let me do a poll. Let's do a church vote and let's decide. I recommend that you consecrate your firstborn, but we'll do it by plurality. What do you think?" Yet in every part of our life as believers, most of us have this tendency to think that things are up for debate with God. We pick and choose what part of the gospel we want to live by. The reality today, if you look out at greater evangelicalism, one of the things we're experiencing is the church is going a multitude of ways. When we talk about morality in the life of the church today, the different churches have different standards regarding what is moral and what is not moral, because we think it's up for debate. God has clearly spoken what is acceptable and what is not acceptable for a believer: that you would be set apart from the world, that the world would not infiltrate the ranks of the church and make the church look like the world.
When you look at the church, we should see something different than the world.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 13:43
Amen? What has happened? How did we get here? We have elevated our sense of self-worth, our opinion, above God's. The reality is we, much like the Egyptians, act like we are God, and it's a problem. And honestly, setting apart the firstborn is not a request; it is a command.
There is a sanctification that is required. There is a consecration that is required.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 14:18
God told Moses that the israelites were to sanctify their firstborn unto him. It wasn't left up to their opinion. It was not the outcome of human device. It was not the unauthorized suggestion of a grateful heart because he had done so much. It was a command given from God, directly from heaven. And the reality is we don't like religious duties. I mean, if you grew up in the church... So I'm from the South, all right? And some of you are like, "oh, trust me, we know, man. We get it. We totally... We sit here every week under your preaching. We know what fire and brimstone is. We get it. We feel it in you." Right. And I grew up in a particular denomination that was very... My grandfather couldn't even wear his wedding ring, because it was jewelry, and it was adorning him, or, you know, it was ornate, and he was, you know, covering himself with something. And tattoos, you're basically the devil. That's not good. I remember a story of my grandfather, precious man, going downstairs in the basement, pulling sheets off of a TV so he could watch TV, covering it back up, and going upstairs, because the church didn't think that it was acceptable to watch TV in the house. I later wondered, why are we doing it down in the basement? It's kind of weird. Kind of weird. Because if you think it's wrong, the leaven just shouldn't leave the open areas of your house; it should leave the entire territory. Are you with me today? But what we've done is we've created provisional space for sin to make it to private areas of our life, just not in the open ones. Track with me here. Listen. I had a question this week come to me from a dear soul, and the question was, "Why do you got to get up in my business all the time on Sunday? Can we just get a break?" And I'm like, I'm not getting up in your business.
It's the gospel. The gospel sheds light in the darkest areas, and light is obtrusive.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 17:04
I don't know, it's some word, make it fit right in your head. I don't... Obtrusive, obtuse, intrusive. It gets into places you don't want it to go. And I know you guys want flattery and you want to feel good, but man, it makes me feel good to know that I'm out of place and God's trying to move me. He loves me enough to show that broken part of me and move me to a healthy place. Right?
That's what the gospel does. It finds us where we're at and refuses to leave us there.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 17:45
And that's every time you open the Bible. Why do you think people don't like reading the Bible? "It's because they don't like reading." No, it's because they don't like being corrected. Good luck reading that thing and not being like, "Oopsie daisy, there it is again. I got another problem." Guys, you are the problem.
Christ is answering a problem, and it's you. He's remedying the you problem.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 18:16
The gospel reveals that we have a problem. The reality is we don't want religious duties where God commands or demands anything, puts any kind of pressure on us to obey in any kind of way. What we prefer is a cheap religion, and many would rather do without any of this sanctifying their firstborn to the Lord. The divine command to man is that he give the best of his possessions, not the hand-me-downs. You know, whenever we do a food drive, you don't go get the name-brand stuff that you buy for yourself when you're making your chili. You give the leftover beans you bought from some other place that you don't like, because they don't taste the same as whatever. You pull all that out of your cupboard and you donate. And when you feed somebody who's hungry, the Bible says you're feeding him. Hand-me-downs, second best. The reality is he demands the best of your possessions, the best of your territory, the best of your physical ability, the best of your mental state, the best moral behavior and spiritual, all of that to the Lord. It's the best, not second best, not second rate, but the best. Man, who gets the best at Christmas, your kids or God? We're not even talking about money.
We're just talking about your time. How much time do you think about your children and your family and yourself at Christmas, and how much time does God get? "Sanctify to me" the best of your time, of your energies, of your resources. It's funny, because it's a party celebrating Christ and what he did for the world by coming into the world, but we end up celebrating ourselves more than we even end up talking about Christ. Just consider with me for a moment how much... Just this Christmas, just reflect, just keep tabs on how much Christ is mentioned at your home. Keep tabs. Do you see the benefit of this? Because what it's trying to do is help us understand that we have a self-fixation problem. The sanctification of the firstborn was a grateful acknowledgment of the divine mercy in sparing the firstborn from the midnight destruction. Are you grateful for the Lamb that was slain for you? And those who were covered by the blood, and he passed over, and you're now saved. For those who believe in Christ, and he's the Lamb, and you are covered by the blood of the Lamb, and the death angel is passing over you, and now you're saved, do we see that gratefulness in the way you conduct yourself? Or could it be that when someone comes into your home, they don't see you're grateful that the Lamb saved you? They don't even know you're saved at all, because your home's no more saved than a pagan home, by the conduct that ensues there. Oh, you're like, "Well, when visitors come over, I'm godly, but the moment they leave, I'm busting heads." It's like that story of a mother who's yelling at her kids, and then the phone rings, she picks it up: "Hi, how are you?" Is it bad to get on to your kids? Absolutely not. Do you have to yell at them?
Maybe.
But it is amazing how we can be in control with one person and out of control with another.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 23:01
Men, do you talk to your boss better than you talk to your wife? The reality is the leaven, or the sin, was to leave the whole territory, not just the parts that are seen by people you want to impress. Because the reality is some of us want to give off a better impression of ourselves than we do God, because we are God. The firstborn of the Israelites had been mercifully preserved from the stroke of the destroying angel, which had inflicted death upon the firstborn of Egypt in the silent midnight hour. Hence, what more reasonable than that the life that had been thus spared should be separated unto the Lord? It seems reasonable. God did not arbitrarily and unjustly demand the property of men. He only requires what he had already given and what he had preserved from the grave. And those who refuse to devote their best things to the service of the Lord show that they are insensible to the richest mercy and therefore to the highest claims.
Heaven never asks more than it gives, or more than is consistent with the gratitude of the devout heart to bestow.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 24:32
All its requirements are based upon the bestowment of past mercy. I just want to pause here for a moment and say this: that God, although that firstborn is consecrated and dedicated unto the Lord, left it under the charge of the parents. So notice that the duty of being set apart is not just bestowed on the child. Notice the duty of being set apart is also on the parent. So parents, could it be that we often don't understand that the duty is on us as well for our children? Could it be we become a stumbling block to them being set apart with our very lives? Could it be? I think it's really one of these interesting things, because I sat and pondered for a moment. So we know that in consecrating a child, we know that there's certain things that were done in this text. You can go figure out what they are; I don't want to belabor them.
Right? We know that in being set apart, there were certain things that needed to be done, that they were set apart. But how does this then apply to us today? How are we to be set apart under the New Testament covenant and context? Because the Lamb that was slain for us is Christ. He passed over.
And what is set apart today? I'm glad you asked. Believers are spiritual firstfruits, James 1:18, and are called to live lives of holiness, dedicated to God.
Sanctification, or being set apart, or being consecrated, involves the life of a believer. Okay? Those that were passed over, that's you, if you're a believer. Here's the way that we're set
Point 2Believers are set apart through faith, sacrifice, and witness
Apart in the New Testament context. Number one: dedication through faith in Christ. This is the number one and most important way we're set apart. Just as the firstborn were redeemed in the Old Testament, in Exodus, believers are redeemed by the blood of Christ. He's the Lamb. Listen, I mentioned last week: death's coming to everyone's house. It's either coming to you, and you're going to have eternal damnation, or it's coming to Jesus, who is the Lamb slain, and he's passing over you in spite of you. But death will do its work in each of our houses. So we celebrate today. We dedicate our life unto the blood of Christ, who is the lamb. 1 Peter 1:18–19: through this we're consecrated. Okay? By the blood of the Lamb. The Bible says in 1 Peter we're consecrated to God as his people by believing in him, believing in what his blood accomplished, and trusting in the work he accomplished on the cross. All right, number two: we are set apart by sacrificial living. Paul urges believers to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, as an act of spiritual worship, Romans 12:1. This is not a request. It was not a suggestion, and he didn't take a poll and ask what your vote is. It's a command. Our lives are to reflect total devotion to his will, not yours. It's not a request; it's a command. For those who are redeemed, being a living sacrifice means we do not live subject to our whims and our wants, but his will. Purity and holiness: sanctification is both a definitive act, we are made holy in Christ, amen, we are made holy in Christ, thank goodness. No matter what you do, you can never be holy, because you can't undo what you've done. And the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Bible also says you're born into sin. So as you come out of the womb, you're doomed. Before you even become a viper in a diaper, you are doomed. Are you with me? Before you say no to your mom the first time, and sass somebody, lie, or disobey, you are doomed.
You are born into sin, and the only remedy for that is Jesus Christ.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 30:03
Now, those that are hidden in Christ become holy. It's his holiness, his righteousness. Jesus lived without sin, and when you believe in him and are covered by the blood, there is the transfer of his righteousness for your unrighteousness. And that happens; that's a definitive act that happens through belief. And then there's an ongoing process. How many of us know that there's an ongoing process, that we are being made holy through the Spirit, which is given to us? This involves turning from sin and pursuing righteousness. It's a command, 1 Thessalonians 4:3–7. Go read it. It's not the grand suggestion; it's a command. How else are we set apart in the New Testament? Living as witnesses. Just as the firstborn symbolized God's deliverance, believers are to proclaim his excellencies as a holy nation and a royal priesthood, 1 Peter 2:9. When's the last time you proclaimed the goodness of God and what he's done for your life? "Well, but I'm arm wrestling, and there's a bunch of pagans in there. They don't want to hear about God's excellencies." Didn't ask for your opinion. "Shawn, you don't arm wrestle to arm wrestle." Wherever you go, declare his excellencies. "Well, I mean, when am I going to have a chance?" You have a chance. You have a chance. When was the last time you found a restaurant that was awesome? Restaurants. Do you guys eat out? Or let's just not say restaurant: a place you like. "This is the jam." Can you say "jam," young people? Is "jam"
Still acceptable? "This is the fire." I don't know what you guys say. Okay, so, "This is the fire. This is fire. That place is fire." Right? What else do you guys say now? If it's really awesome... Let's not go there. And so there are words that... So basically, you're really excited about something. Do you really have to think about an opportunity to share what you're excited about? Like when I watch a movie that's really good, I put it on my suggestion list, and I tell everyone. Literally, I do, I have a list. If you want a list of good movies, I got it for you.
And it's hard to make the list, because I don't want my reputation to be, you know, destroyed. So to make the list, it has to be good. But if it makes that list, I'm telling everybody about that movie. I don't have to go, "When am I going to find time to tell them about it?" It's amazing. We're more excited about restaurants, movies, and event spaces than we are the Master of the universe, who sent his Son to die for us, who was slain for our sins, who saved us from ourselves, and delivered us into the promised land, and made us holy when we were not holy. But like, "We need to look for an opportunity to share him"? What in the world? Do you love him at all? If that's your bag,
I propose some of us love restaurants more than we love God.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 33:44
But we profess God at church; we just don't profess him in some other places that are dark, because we don't want to offend the darkness, or be embarrassed, or whatever. I...
Listen, when you're excited about a thing, you don't care. You're like David dancing in an ephod. So, me... That's a churchy joke.
That's a churchy joke. That's a churchy joke. Listen to this: 1 Thessalonians 4:1–12. I'm going to read the whole thing. Just listen to this.
This is what a sanctified life is. Listen, this is beautiful. New Testament. This is what setting apart, being consecrated as a believer, as a firstborn... You know, so everyone that's alive, you have a first birth, meaning God's coming to kill everyone, and that's an act of justice. Why is that an act of justice? In Genesis he says, "If you sin, you will surely die," that the just punishment for sin is death. You sin one time, one oopsie daisy, death is the punishment, and it's just. And he's coming to everyone who's born the first time. He's coming. This is why the Bible says you need to be born again. And when you're born again, that first spiritual birth, then your life is to be consecrated and set apart. We just talked about what that is. But listen to 1 Thessalonians, as Paul writes an epistle to the church in Thessalonica: "Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more." Notice that it's progressive. "For you know what
Point 3God's will for you is your sanctification
Instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God." What is the will of God? What's his will? Should I have that job or not have that job? Should I marry that girl or not marry that girl? What's his will? What's his will? Should I buy that house or not buy that house? What's his will? "I don't know his will." Well, this is the will: "your sanctification." I'll buy that house. I mean, buy it. I'll marry that girl. I mean, marry her. I mean, get that job. I mean, get that job.
But this is his will: your sanctification.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 36:25
Did you know that you can be sanctified in any job you're in, with any woman you're married to, with any house you live in? Try it. Now, this blows your mind. "They're the one." Just... He's the one; you're the bride. Are you with me here? "This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality." Whoa. That's where you go? Why that? In case you didn't know, he didn't really talk about anything else except for one more thing in this next paragraph. "That each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you." Now, this is troubling in light of the percentages that I see of men and women in the church who have an issue with sexual immorality. I think it's funny, because there are people who will look across the way and judge a man or woman for their use of pornography, but are having premarital sex. Sexual immorality. That's his will for you, that you be pure. It's not a suggestion; it's a command. Then it goes on: "Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves..." So what is the next one? Brotherly love.
Notice what he says. Being sanctified, consecrated, and set apart as a new believer in the New Testament, not the Old Testament with the israelites and their specific practice, but notice what a dedicated, set-apart life for somebody who's born again is. Notice what it is: it's purity. It's abstaining from sexual immorality, and loving your brother, which is more connected than you might imagine. "Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." In this text, verses 1–12, we see this: we see sanctification being set before us as something that is necessary in our lives. And then we see two expressions of sanctification. One is abstaining from sexual immorality, or to say it in a positive light, to be pure, to be sexually pure. And the other is love. These two things are two of the greatest manifestations that you're truly growing more and more in Christ. And to not have these things is one of the greatest demonstrations that you are like a new convert at best, that you have not attained to the place you want to attain, if there's a lack of love or sexual impurity in your life. Now, some people would look at this and say, "Sexual impurity and love? Why these two things?" Well, not just because these two things are great expressions, but there's a very real sense in which these two things go together.
Love, true love for God, true love for others, will lead to sexual purity.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 41:06
And sexual impurity is one of the greatest demonstrations of lovelessness, of self-love, of self-gratification, of self-idolatry, of lovelessness to God. It is a demonstration that you hate him, not that you love him, and of lovelessness to those around us. And I know those are hard words, but they're true, and I just can't back away from them. It's true. And I don't want to give you one second of comfort regarding this, because this is a pervasive problem in the church today. And so, in order to take away all comfort from you, I'm going to say this. Sometimes I hear men especially use this excuse, and I talk to men often about this: "Well, all men struggle with sexual immorality." I want to take that away from you. That's not true. It's just not true. All men should fear sexual immorality.
Let me say this: godly men definitely should fear sexual immorality. All men should constantly be aware of the dangers. But I want you to know not every man struggles with it. So you don't get to take yourself off the hook regarding this. You need to understand that, and not use it as a comfort to continue on in that sin. Now again, that's very hard, but it's true. We all may struggle, we all struggle in certain areas, but don't use it as an excuse to continue on in that sin just because you struggle in a certain area, and say to yourself, "Well, everyone else does it, so do I." You don't want to give your flesh comfort in this. There is power. There's power. Everybody say "power." In the hand of God. It just said it in Exodus: they were delivered by his powerful hand.
How do you know if someone's in his hand? They're delivered.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 43:34
Are you with me today? We should question at some point in a person's life, if they remain undelivered from sin in an area habitually for years after a conversion with Christ, we should ask at some point if they're actually in God's hand. As a matter of fact, the New testament epistles tell us to consider it ourselves and test that we are actually saved if we habitually practice sin. 1 John says... 1 John, actually, the guy, the disciple that Jesus loved, that was all cuddly with Jesus, said, "I question whether you're saved at all if you habitually continue on to
Point 4Remember the strong hand that delivered you
Practice sin." He actually calls people a liar. We were told to remember. And I need to close quick. Remember: Exodus 13:3, "Then Moses said to the people, 'Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.'" Listen, "Remember this day." God's mighty deliverance calls for a life of remembrance, of worship, and obedience. I'm going to give you some key points to think about. The call to remember: Moses instructs Israel to remember the day of their deliverance from Egypt, emphasizing that it was by God's strong hand they were freed. Why does that matter for us as believers? We're called to remember and reflect on our spiritual redemption through Christ's sacrifice, to remember that God's mighty hand has delivered us from sin, just as he delivered Israel from Egypt. That's important.
Why do we remember that? Because too often we forget.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 45:32
Number two: deliverance from slavery. The text highlights God's power to free his people from the house of slavery. Just as the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, we were enslaved in sin.
God's grace alone provides true freedom, and we must live in the light of that liberation.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 45:58
Number three: a call to holiness. It's the part we don't like. The prohibition of leavened bread symbolizes a separation from the old life of sin and a commitment to purity and obedience. As redeemed people, we're called to live holy lives, not pagan lives cloaked with Jesus.
God doesn't make mutts in the kingdom. You're pure bread, so stop living like a mutt.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 46:23
As redeemed people, we're called to
Point 5Keep the feast with sincerity and truth
Live holy lives, setting aside the leaven of sin and walking in obedience to God's word. Now, number three, and the last and final point: keep. "You shall keep this service." Guys, I don't even have time. I didn't even make it past the first couple verses. Guys, there's so much in here. "You shall keep this service." The New Testament does not explicitly command Christians to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the same way the Israelites were instructed under the old covenant. We're just not. However, the apostle Paul uses the imagery of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in a verse, and this is the verse, 1 Corinthians 5:7–8. So let us reflect on it a bit. And he exhorts believers to live holy and pure lives. "So are we supposed to practice the Feast of Unleavened Bread?" Well, I mean, knock yourself out. But here's how we do it under the New testament context. 1 Corinthians says this: "Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump." Who? You. What's the old leaven? Sin. Who's cleaning? You, with the help of the Holy Spirit and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. But you're involved, man. "Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened." Notice that it professes what you are, but then we see a dispensation that there's leaven there.
"For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread..." What's the new? What's with the unleavened? "...Of sincerity and truth." Why do you think Satan today, with our young people and old people alike, is trying to make truth relative to you? To abort you honoring him with your lives. How do we get the leaven out of the house? With sincerity and with truth.
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