２０００年３月１２日　出エジプト記４：１８ー１２：５１

『何者にもて折られぬ我らの神』

テーマ：なぜ神の永遠の御目的は信頼しうるのか

１　神の御計画は私達への愛にねざしている（４：１８ー７：７）

２　神はこの世のいかなる力よりも強い（７：８ー１２：３０）

３　神はいつでも御計画を成就することができる（１２：３１ー５１）

Why can we have confidence in God's plans?

I. God's plans are rooted in His love for us (4:18~7:7).

II. God is more powerful than the forces in this world (7:8~12:30).

III. God is always able to fulfil His plans (12:31-51).

Introduction:

Napoleon, the great general and emperor, was once the most feared man in　all of Europe. At the height of his career, one of his aides asked him if he thought that God was on the side of France. Napoleon is reported to have said cynically, "God is on the side with the most guns." But then came the battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon lost both the battle and his empire.
Years later, when he was in exile and completely humbled, Napoleon isreported to have said this: "I see now that man makes plans, but only God's purposes endure." (pause)
This is the lesson with which history confronts us: life and circumstances are basically out of Man's control. We cannot guarantee thatour best plans in life will succeed, because we're not God. However, God's plans are guaranteed to succeed, because God is in control. He created this world; He created us; He knows the past, present and future. And God not only knows history, scripture shows us that God is even guiding history towards His purposes. But what are God's plans?
God has a plan to call people from every nation into the body of Christ.
So that by faith in Jesus Christ, people from all nations can have a relationship with God. By faith in Jesus Christ, our sins are washed away and our hearts are made clean. By faith in Jesus Christ sinful human beings can be adopted into the family of a holy God. God started His plan for a people of God a long time ago by calling Israel out of slavery in Egypt--
that is what we are going to read about today in Ex. 4-12. And despite resistance from Egypt, God was able to successfully deliver this entire nation from slavery. (slowly) Because nothing can stop God's eternal purposes.
Today, each of us can become God's people-- not by joining national Israel-- but by having faith in Jesus Christ alone. And God wants to call as many people as possible from all the nations into Jesus Christ, // so that they can spend an eternity in heaven with Him. That is part of God's general plan for the world.
But did you know that God also has individual, specific plans for each one of your lives? We live in history. You were born at this time and in your own country for a reason. The family that you have been given have been given to you for a reason. Every event that has ever happened to you, whether good or bad, has happened for a reason.
(pause) God has a plan for your life, and he has molded you through these events to accomplish that plan. The problem for us, however, is that God does not always tell us what that specific plan is ahead of time. All we can really do is to trust that God knows what is best, because in the end nothing can stop God's eternal purposes.
But on what basis can we have confidence that God's plans are best? Today in Ex. 4:18~ 12:51 we will see three reasons why we can trust God and His plans.
But let's hear what Moses himself has to say about this.
I. God's plans are rooted in His love for us (4:18~7:7)

God had told me to return to Egypt to free my people from slavery. So my wife, children, and I mounted a donkey and we started our journey. As we got closer to Egypt, God spoke to me again. He said, "When you go to Pharaoh and tell him to free Israel from slavery, make sure that you perform all the miracles that I have put in your power. Then Pharaoh will know that God has sent you. But even though Pharaoh sees these miracles He will not let you go, because I will harden his heart. Pharaoh's heart is already hard against Israel, but these miracles will make his heart even harder. Israel is my dearest first-born son. And since Pharaoh will not free my first-born son from slavery, I have no choice but to eventually kill his own first-born
son.
Only then Pharaoh will let you go free."
I was touched by God's love for us. You know, for over 400 years God was silent while my people were slaves in Egypt. We were really discouraged and we thought that God hated us. But do you know what? Just because God is silent does not mean that God is absent. Just because God is silent does not mean that God hates us. Even though we are experiencing hardship, God says that He loves us as a son. God loves all the people of God, not just Israel, like a first-born son. He hasn't forgotten us. We just need to trust that he loves us, and that our present circumstances are part of His mysterious plans for our lives.

(pause)
Anyway, we met with my brother Aaron, and together we went back to Egypt.
Aaron and I gathered the elders of Israel, and we told them that God had promised to finally deliver us from slavery. They were so excited! They were so touched that God still cared about them that they bowed down and worshipped Him right there. At last, the people of God had hope!
But when Aaron and I went before Pharaoh the next day, it did not go so well. We said, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go! Let them go so that they may worship the Lord in the wilderness.'" But Pharaoh said, "Who? I don't know this God of Israel. Forget it, you're just lazy and you don't want to work! I am going to increase the labor so that
Israel won't pay any more attention to your false words!"
And so my people's hardship actually increased. Their hope in God's love disappeared and they became angry instead. And Israel blamed us for their new hardship, and they cursed us.
I cried out to God, "Lord, what are you doing?! Why have you brought false hope to your people? You haven't delivered them at all!"
But God said, "Patience, Moses. I am the LORD. Remember, my name means I' am with you'. Tell Israel that I am the LORD and 'I am with them'! I have heard their groaning and I WILL deliver them in my time. I will takethem out of Egypt, and bring them into the land of Canaan in my time. They will be my people, and I will be their God." (pause)
I ran back to the tell Israel that God still loved them and that he still had a special plan for them.. But they didn't really listen. Because now their anger had turned to sadness and depression. They just refused to believe that they could suffer so much if God really loved them.

(pause)
Then God spoke to me again. He said, "It's time for you and Aaron to go back to Pharaoh and confront him again. This time, with great signs and wonders. Then everyone will know that nothing can stop God's eternal purposes."
Application:

Ex. 4:18~7:7 have shown us that we can have confidence in God's plans //
because God's plans are rooted in His love for us (repeat). Our God is
very
relational. He is not cold-hearted and distant from His people. God has a
special plan for each one of your lives because He loves you. And every
event that happens to you, whether good or bad, happens for a loving reason
in order to shape you for God's purposes.
But why did Israel have to experience such hardship? 6:7 tells us that
it was so that... "you may that I am the LORD you God, who brought you out
from under the burden of the Egyptians." (pause) And why did God have to
harden Pharaoh's heart? 7:5 tells us it was so that... "the Egyptians may
know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out
the sons of Israel from their midst." (pause) Why do we need to go through
hardships in our lives? (slowly) It is so that we too can learn that He is
the LORD, and not us.
It is so that we too can learn that HE is in control of this world, not us.
We human beings can be so arrogant. We actually think that we can
successfully handle our daily affairs without God. We think that we don't
need Him. Hardships have a way of humbling us. They open our eyes to the
fact that a powerful, loving God is out there // and He wants to be with us
and wants to carry us through our trials. Hardships show us that HE is
LORD,
and not us.
Like Israel, we have the opportunity in our hardships to experience God's
love and power in our lives. Because God is so relational, God wants us to
know Him intimately. But we are often so distracted in our daily lives,
that
it often takes trials to get our attention. Hardships get us to listen to
God. In 4:22, God says that Israel is His first-born son. If you believe
in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are part of the people of God. And
God
sees YOU too as his beloved, first-born son. And as His children, we can
have confidence that God's plans are rooted in His love for us.
If you are experiencing hardship, that does not mean that God hates you.
Rather, you now have the opportunity to be stretched by your circumstances
and know God in a deeper way. Israel first had hope in 4:31 (read) / but
then their hope moved to anger in 5:21 (read) / and then finally their anger
moved to depression in 6:9 (read). Israel just couldn't believe that that
God could love them and still allow them to suffer so much.
But when you go through hardships, I want to encourage you to fight the
urge
to get angry or to become depressed as Israel did. Rather remain hopeful
and
trust God, because His plans are rooted in His love for us. (slowly) He
loves you. [back to MOSES]
II. God is more powerful than the forces in this world (7:8~12:30)

Aaron and I came before Pharaoh many times saying, "Thus says the LORD,
the God of Israel, 'Let my people go! Let them go so that they may worship
me in the wilderness." But each time Pharaoh refused. So now it was time
for the Lord to demonstrate His power, and to show all of Egypt that nothing
can stop God's eternal purposes. And so God brought 10 different plagues
upon Egypt.
First, God turned the Nile blood-red. It was so polluted that a lot of
the fish died, and nobody could drink the water because it smelled so bad.
But Pharaoh's heart remained hard and he would not let Israel go.
Then, God caused a plague of frogs all over the land. They were
everywhere; in people's beds, in their dishes, in their ovens. But
Pharaoh's
heart remained hard and he would not let Israel go.
Then God sent a plague of lice, and then a plague of insects, but
Pharaoh's heart remained hard and he would not let Israel go.
Then God sent disease over the land. Then a plague of boils on the
skin.
Then fierce hail from the sky. Then a plague of locusts which ravaged the
crops. Then he sent total darkness over the entire land for three days. But
Pharaoh's heart remained hard and he still would not let Israel go.
Then God spoke to me again. He said, "I will send one more plague on
Pharaoh and Egypt. Since Egypt will not free Israel, my first-born;
tonight,
at midnight, all the first-born in Egypt will die. But in order to protect
your families, tell Israel to take the blood of a perfect, unblemished lamb
and put it on the doorposts of their houses. When I see the blood of the
lamb on your houses, I will pass over them and nobody in your household will
die. Thus, I want you to always remember, and never forget, (slowly) that
your lives were saved by the blood of the lamb."
Well, we did as God had said. And when midnight came, every house that
was not under the blood of the lamb had someone dead, including Pharaoh's
palace. And there was a great cry all over Egypt.
Application:

We have already seen that we can have confidence in God's plans because 1)
God's plans are rooted in His love for us. Ex. 7:8~12:30 have given us
another reason why we can have confidence in His plans. Because 2) God is
more powerful than the forces in this world. (repeat). If God has a plan
for
your life, He has the power to accomplish it without any problem.
In this passage we saw God's power over animals, / disease, / weather, / the
sun in the sky, / and even over life and death. As powerful as Pharaoh was
politically, he was no match for the King of the Universe. (slowly) Nothing
can stop God's eternal purposes.
We can trust God's plans for our lives because 1) we know that He loves us,
and 2) because we know that He is powerful enough to accomplish it. God is
all-loving and He is all-powerful and He wants the best for you. And God is
able to finish the work that He has begun in you. (pause)
My wife Keiko is facing a big trial right now. There were some things that
God revealed to her last summer, and He showed her a specific plan that He
had for her: / His plan was that He wanted her to write a letter
confronting
her father about a certain problem. But in order to do this, she had to
first face numerous difficulties: 1) confronting a painful past, 2) the
fear of facing her dad, 3) the risk of rejection, 4) causing waves in a
seemingly peaceful family, and other things.
However, each time she had to this face one of these obstacles, God revealed
His love to her by sending her people that would pray for her and give her
wisdom. Whenever she started getting scared, God revealed His power when He
Himself spoke to her specifically through Scripture. After almost 8 months
of dealing with this trial, Keiko and I have both learned that no matter
what
happens, God is there for us. He will lift Keiko up and support her through
this hardship. He will finish the work that He has begun in her.
What I am trying to communicate is this: God has special and specific plans
for your life, and it often involves hardship. But God doesn't expect you
to
be able to handle the challenge in your own strength. He is the one
responsible to equip you to overcome whatever comes your way. God is more
powerful than the forces in this world, whether human or demonic. And
nothing can stop God's eternal purposes.
III. God is always able to fulfil His plans (12:31-51)

When Pharaoh saw that his first-born son was dead, He told Israel, "Get
up and get out! Go worship the LORD as you said." At last my people were
free to go! After 430 years, God had finally ended His silence and He saved
Israel from their hardship in Egypt. (slowly) At last, we had finally
experienced that He is LORD. How about you? (pause)
I have told you the story of our Exodus for a reason. You see, the Exodus
is
like a microcosm of every believer's life. In a way, all of us, like
Israel,
find ourselves in hardships that never seems to end. We just don't know why
life has to be this difficult. And we pray and we pray, yet God seems to
remain silent for so long. When that happens to you, and it will, I want
you to remember this story of my people-- because it is also the story of
your people. For you, too, are now the people of God.
I want you to remember that your hardship is all somehow part of His divine
plan. Remember that He loves you-- even if you find it hard to love Him
back. Remember that He is more powerful than the obstacle you are facing--
nothing is to big for our God. And remember that He is always able to
finish
the work that He has begun in you. He has not abandoned you, He is shaping
you for His purposes.
And you can be confident that if you are on God's side, you are on the
winning side. You'll be OK. Because nothing can stop God's eternal
purposes.

Application/Conclusion:

I'd like us all to pray now and reflect on some of the obstacles that we are
facing that seem, in our eyes, to be bigger than our God can handle. (let's
pray)
(Father, show us our hearts....what area of our life are we still stubbornly
clinging to, determined to master in our own power? Help us to listen)
- If God has shown you an area of your life that you have still refused to
trust
God in, confess to God right now your pride and lack of faith.

- ask God to demonstrate to you that He is more powerful than this obstacle
that
he has shown you, and that he will carry you through it.

- Ask God now to lift you up in your trial, and equip you to finish the
work
that
He started has started in you.

- Ask God to help you be confident in His plans for your life and to trust
Him.

(close)

Optional Ending: altar call

God commanded Israel to remember how he saved their first-born children
from death, and how he saved all them from bondage to Egypt. This ceremony
is called the "Passover"-- because God passed over their houses at midnight
and no one died-- and it is still celebrated by Jews today. This Passover
is
actually a picture of what Jesus Christ was later going to do for all of us
on Calvary centuries later.
In 12:5, God commanded each household in Israel to find a perfect,
unblemished lamb. Jesus, being fully man and fully God, lived a perfect
life
completely without sin. In 12:6, we read that all of Israel is supposed to
kill that lamb at dusk. Jesus, likewise, was crucified on a cross in
Israel,
and immediately darkness covered the land. In 12:7, we read that the
people
were to take the blood and put it on the doorposts of their house. 12:13
tells us that if the house was under the blood of the lamb, then death would
not enter. Jesus, likewise, shed His blood for us so that we, too, would
not
see death.
Jesus is our Passover lamb. If any of you want to be free from the bondage
of sin and want to enter into a new life with God through Jesus Christ,
there
are some things you need to know. 1) Our own personal rebellions against
God have separated us from Him, this is called "sin". 2) The Bible says
that the penalty for our rebellion against God is death, that is, we all
deserve to go to hell. 3) God has given us a second chance for
reconciliation with Him: Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb. 4) If we humble
ourseslves, confess our sins, and ask Jesus Christ to come into our hearts,
we will be protected by the blood of the lamb. God will forgive us for all
our sins-- past, present, and future. If you would like to do this, please
bow your heads and pray along with me. (pray)
If you made a decision to ask Jesus into your heart today, please see
Chiozaki-sensei, Mitusko-sensei, Keiko, or myself after the service. We
would love to talk to you.