Come Out
- 7 days ago
- 21 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Pastor Stan Mons
Sermon Transcription:
The title for this message is “Come out. Come out.” And it is something that I pray you will be able to hear in your heart from the Holy Spirit. Not from me. Not even as we read the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit needs to make the Scriptures come alive in our heart so that we can actually hear what the Word is saying and actually see with the eyes of our heart what the Word is saying. So it is my prayer that you will be able to hear that in your heart, that you can come out this morning. I want to thank the worship team as we go into our first Scripture. I've shared it with you, church, many, many times, and there's an intention behind it. This is one of those Scriptures I want you to kind of know off the top of your head because it defines the way that you read the Bible. Romans 15, verse 4: “Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
And so, as the Holy Spirit speaks to our minds today, as He brings things to our mind that Jesus is willing and able to deliver us from, I want you to remember and understand that when we go to Old Testament stories, all of those things—the Bible claims in the New Testament, the one that a lot of us find easier to read—the New Testament tells us that all those things that were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
So there's something for us to learn as we look into the Old Testament. But not only that, the Old Testament has the power to cause hope to arise inside of you. No matter what you're going through today, no matter what you're facing—even if you don't know Jesus yet—the Scriptures of the Old Testament have the power to cause hope to arise because you learn something. And it's going to produce something inside of you that only could have happened by an act of God—God speaking, God having all of this written down, God's Spirit ministering to your heart—and all of a sudden, where there was no hope, now hope is in your heart. It gives direction to your life and direction to how you are to trust in God. And so there is a call that we're going to look at that we see arise in the hearts of people that were supposed to be the people of God. Now I say “supposed to be” because they could have argued that they kind of were, but they were not living as the people of God. And in a very same way today in our lives, it doesn't matter if you have given your life to Jesus. You were made by Him, made in His image, and you were supposed to be one of the people of God. But you may not be fully living like it. Even though you may say, “Well, I grew up in church. I even call myself a Christian,” you could still be not living as a prince in the kingdom of God, so to speak.
You could still be living saying, “Well, you know, I have this really cool identity story. I'm technically family of that really awesome family who got it all together, every provision and resources, seated in heavenly places, all that cool stuff. I know I'm not fully living that, but technically I'm family too.” We can have this “Yes, I'm a Christian,” but in reality we're not really living like one of the followers of Jesus who has received the strength in His Spirit to live differently and to also enjoy the things that God has made for us without becoming distracted, confused, or tainted, if you will, by the things of the world. And when that begins to happen, from time to time a cry starts to come up in what was supposed to be the people who live as the people of God.
We read of it in Exodus. I'll read to you chapter 3, verses 7 and 8—the Lord speaking to Moses.
Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.” Here we see the Lord speak to Moses—Moses, who had a very clear understanding of what was going on among these people that God was referring to. And God says, “I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers.” You see, there's no cry here that goes, “Oh, they have remembered how great I am and what I can do, and they have remembered Me and they are crying out to Me.” God doesn't say, “I've heard their cry. I was busy somewhere else, but I heard their cries. They kind of snapped Me back into My job, and now I'm going to show up.” No, the Word says very particularly, “I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers.” And it doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter where you are or what you've been through. You know what this means. Either you have experienced this in the past or you are still experiencing this oppression. Even though you say, “Well, I'm kind of supposed to be one of those people of God,” in all reality you kind of have harsh slave drivers in your life.
You struggle with guilt. It won't leave you alone. There are certain sins that, when they come and find you, they enslave you and they make you do stuff that you do not want to do. There are parts of your character that you cannot keep under control. And then you are embarrassed to honestly share how you sometimes can get with your family or with your spouse. There are harsh slave drivers in the lives of people that are called to be children of God. And God doesn't say, “Well, they never got strong, they never figured it out, and they never properly fought back.” No. He shows us in the Word that at times in our life it is because we are so stuck somewhere—unmovable, stuck—that a cry can begin to arise in our heart. But it's not a composed cry. The Word calls it a cry of distress. “I'm going down. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm tired. I'm about ready to give up and to give in. I'm in distress.” And it's often a cry that we're not even lifting up with our voices. It's quiet in our heart. We're half defeated already, ready to lay down in the situation that we are facing. And here's how God responds in verse 8. I'll read verse 7 again and then verse 8:
Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live.” He says, “I have come down.” But if you know this story—and if you don't, we're going to go into it—but if you know this story, you know that God ended up sending Moses and Aaron. Yet He says, “I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians.” You go, “Moses and Aaron?” What is He getting at? He also mentions the power of the Egyptians. And keep in mind, all these things were written before for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Amen.
Every single story—there's a reason God wrote it down for us today, a reason for hope, a reason for learning. And I'm going to suggest to you that this story of God delivering in Egypt is a direct parable of God foretelling the entire gospel story for your and my life today. He says, “So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians.” There is a true power of the Egyptians. But this is a spiritual picture of any time where an enemy kingdom is allowed or able to oppress, in measure, the people that were called to be the people of God. And again, I want to remind you: every person made in the likeness of God is supposed to be a son or a daughter of the living God. There is room for every person ever created in heaven. But many live under the power of the Egyptians, so to speak. Now, the Egyptian power is really caused by the law. The law doesn't do that to people that are called to be people of God. There's nothing wrong with the law. But because you and I cannot keep it, it now gives the Egyptians power. It now gives the kingdom of darkness power. And now the enemy gets to harass me with guilt.
Now the enemy gets to buffet me with, sometimes, chains and bondage to sin that I cannot even get free from anymore. There is a real power of the Egyptians, so to speak. There's a real power to the kingdom of darkness. And Egypt was not supposed to be that. Egypt was not supposed to be a place of bondage, just like the law was not supposed to put you in trouble. That's not what it was sent to do. Joseph was one of the first stories that we read of somebody being sent to Egypt. And again, the intention was deliverance. A tough journey for Joseph, but deliverance for many. And for a moment, it looked like it was producing deliverance for so many. I'll read to you Genesis 42:2. Joseph's father speaking, and he said, “Indeed, I've heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.” Joseph had been sold by his brothers into slavery. He got out of slavery in Egypt. And Joseph was being used by God to start this process of deliverance, to the point that the people of God began to hear about it. His father and his brothers began to hear about it, and they say, “We’ve got to go there. There's grain there, that we may live and not die.”
But Egypt ended up turning into this place of bondage and harsh slavery. The Word says that which was sent to deliver in Egypt could not—the strength of man could not—accomplish the intentions of God. That's really what we begin to see in Egypt. God sends good. God sends good. But somehow, some way, man cannot work with it. Man cannot pick up the tools and just work with it. And then Moses is born in that place, in Egypt. And Moses has, like, the perfect situation going on. When you're in the beginning of the story of Moses, you're like, “Yo, this is all God. This is great. This is incredible.” But then God doesn't do anything with it. What's the point, right? Moses is born. He's supposed to be killed. He's not. He's rescued. Then he is found by the daughter of Pharaoh, and he ends up living in the palace. He gets the best education of his time. He gets to live and grow up with the wealth and the resources of Egypt. And now, in the strength of his life, he thinks, “Clearly all my people get it. Clearly God is doing something. He's doing it right here with me. He's going to deliver all the people through me. They must get it.” And he gets so worked up in what he thinks is all happening in his life, and he is the next best thing since sliced bread. So when he sees a situation that needs dealing with, he steps in and he deals with it. And the Word tells us that he thought he was going to be received with banners and glory and songs.
Acts 7:25. “For he supposed his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.” And so Moses is standing there. Everything is right in Moses’s life. It is that picture of the law explained. Everything is right. He’s slipped through the cracks. He has all the resources. He has all the strength in the flesh. He would have been trained in battle. He would have been trained in literature. Everything is right. But in the strength of the flesh, no deliverance at all is possible. And so the Lord sets Moses up in this perfect situation, yet it can accomplish nothing. And the people go on in their slavery and in their pain. But God—and we already read it together—God is the One who delivers. But He also reveals to us in this story how He will deliver. And that is where you and I come into play.
Because when we have areas in our personality, in our heart, in our thinking, in our walk, in our life, in our purity that are lacking, that are broken, there’s no power. Someone else seems to have the power. Someone else seems to decide how we're going to end up from time to time.
What is really happening is there is a need for deliverance—someone who is stronger, who can rescue you out of that situation.
Now, for some people, if you are not saved, you don’t know the voice of Jesus in your life. You have not been made family yet. You need to be delivered from your sin debt. You need to be delivered from your guilt. But even if you have been delivered from your sin debt, you can have areas in your life where you're getting so hurt, so broken, so discouraged, so fed up with yourself, and maybe at times even with God or with the devil, because you want to, but you just can’t get it right no matter what you do. No deliverance. I’ll read verse 8 again of Exodus chapter 3: “So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and the Jebusites now live.” He says, “I will bring them into a fertile and spacious land.” In other words, a land where things can actually grow and where you do not feel boxed up.
You see, the enemy always tries to make you feel boxed up, cornered. And very often we crawl away into a corner when we get so hurt and we get so disappointed and we just cannot live up to the standard. And you may not even be thinking of the Ten Commandments. You may just know in your heart that there are certain things that you shouldn't be doing, certain things you should be doing, and you just can’t get it right. You’ve tried. Some days it kind of worked, and it gets you all excited and encouraged. Then the next day you are the greatest disappointment to yourself you could have ever encountered—especially because you know there was another day where you did it right, so you should be able to do it.
God says, “I have come down.” What is He getting at? He says, “I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians.” He says that, and then all of a sudden a staff shows up—a piece of wood. Exodus 4:2: The Lord said to him—that is, Moses—“What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” He says, “I have come down,” and then He starts to point at that piece of wood. All of a sudden, then a lamb shows up. Exodus 12:5: “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.” Then the blood shows up. Verse 7: “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.” Then the bread shows up. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
Here we have all these things showing up that we by now know point to Jesus. Bread that has to be eaten seven days—the number of fullness, the number of perfection—a perfect bread. Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” The blood shows up that needs to be put on the doorposts, which were made out of wood. And Jesus said, “It is by My blood that you will be delivered.”
The lamb that shows up—the Lamb of God sent to pay for the sins of the world. And a staff, a piece of wood, that would go before them, causing miraculous power that would break away the power of the Egyptians over the lives of people. But remember Romans 15:4: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and the comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” And then we read this story where God tells Moses, “I’ve heard the cry. I’ve seen the abuse. I’ve seen the pain. I’ve seen the harsh slave masters. And I have come down to take away the power of the Egyptians.”
He says it’s going to be through a piece of wood that is going to cause the miraculous power. The lamb is going to show up. The blood is going to be spilled. And the perfect bread is going to come into your life and produce life. And people are going to be delivered from their slavery and from their bondage. From the very first mention of God saying, “Okay, now I’m going to deal with Egypt,” He’s talking about the gospel. He says, “I have come down.” Now, we know that didn’t happen right then and there in Egypt. But He says, “I have come down.” And then He points to a piece of wood. He points to a lamb. He points to the blood. He points to the bread.
He’s seeking to help you and I learn something that would cause hope in our hearts in our day and age, where there’s still similar slavery going on—similar harsh slave masters that set their heart on what was called to be the people of God. And Egypt, church, never seems to give up. Have you ever noticed that Egypt seems to never give up?
Here you have plague after plague—miraculous plague after plague—destroying the power of the Egyptians, all the way to the point where the blood of the lamb causes an entry into that incredible freedom. Now the people of God are on their way to a land with more space, a land where things can grow, and they’re barely out of the gates when we hear in the story that Pharaoh’s heart hardens and the Egyptians come right after them. And so many times, for the believer, this is the experience. Yes, you may have experienced an exodus out of your spiritual Egypt, and Jesus set you free. But it can be that Egypt just won’t leave you alone. It goes into pursuit, and it goes after you. Now, Egypt only has power—never forget this—Egypt only has power through your failure. And you can only walk in failure when you are still trying to somehow keep a law, still somehow trying to perform in your own strength, whatever it may be.
And so when Egypt pursues, it is always seeking to bring back in a standard that you will feel you are supposed to keep or perform by yourself.
The same happened in the New Testament—Acts chapter 15. We’re not going to read it, but there’s a letter there. You can read it on your own time. Because what had happened, somehow, some way, the law had tried to creep into the new, young, planted churches again. And now there was the first big meeting with all the bigwigs. It was called the Jerusalem Council. And they all got together, scratching their heads, saying, “What do we do?” Because the Jews that had gotten saved were trying to bring in the law again into these Gentile churches who had received Christ. They had received the Spirit. They were full of joy. But now they were being taught that they should also honor and observe the Ten Commandments.
What do we do? See, Egypt always tries to creep back in. Because if Egypt gets you to work and to work and to work, you will always end up in slavery. And so they write a letter saying, “We have never said this. We have never sent out anyone to bring the law into your churches. Just abstain from sexual immorality and from sacrificing to idols, and you will do well. Farewell.”
Incredibly short letter.
This whole story of Egypt is pointing forward to Jesus so that you and I would have hope.
I have come down to deliver. When my people are stuck because of their own failures, when my people are stuck, when they suffer under the power of another kingdom, a kingdom of darkness, it is by the lamb of God, by that piece of wood, by the blood, by Jesus Christ, the bread from heaven, that you will see deliverance. It's not because you've learned to be a good Christian. It's not because you figured out how to read a couple of really handy books and now you learned how to step away from your addiction or your struggle or whatever it may be. None of it will ever last. But when you hear the voice of the Lord in your heart call you forward, come out, because the coast is clear now. No one is trying to take you into slavery anymore. No one is trying to measure you up to a standard that you will always fail against anymore. When you can hear that Jesus has come into this world for you, there is a peace that comes into your heart. There's a joy that comes into your heart because you know now that you'll never be rejected ever again, that you'll never fall short ever again. Not because you will live such a perfect life, but because nobody is waiting to catch you anymore.
Romans 8 verse 1:3. So now there's no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the lifegiving spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body, God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for our sins. The Word literally says, “What the law was unable to do, God did.” He says, “I’ve come down to deal with it.” This is how Paul explains it in Romans 7:10. He says, “The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.” He says, “God sent a way of deliverance just like He sent Joseph. God sent a way of deliverance, but I am so bad and I am so broken and I am so unable that even though God did send a way of deliverance, that was not going to work for me. For me, all that meant was that I would always fall short. I could not serve this way of deliverance.” And that law that was sent was sent to be served. The law came to be served. We have to work for the law. We have to live up to the law. We have to do all these things. And when we fail, all of a sudden, Egypt increases in power over us.
The more we try, the harder we fail. The more power Egypt seems to gain over us, the more difficult the slavery begins to become, the more painful the failures begin to become. Because you love God and you’re trying, but all you seem to prove is that there’s so much reason for you to be rejected, you can’t even keep track of it anymore. That’s what Paul says. “The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.” The law had to be served in a perfect way, but we just couldn’t. And it gave Egypt power, spiritual power, over us. And God foretells what He’s going to do when He says, “I’ve heard this cry of distress. People that love Me, they want to get close to Me. They want to get to know Me, but it’s just never enough. The slavery doesn’t end. They’re never really getting anywhere. And they do genuinely want to figure it out.” And He says, “I’ve heard it. I’ve seen it. And I have come down to take away the power of Egypt.” And we read of Jesus something very different than what we read of the law.
He explains it himself in Matthew 20:28. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served—the law came to be served—He says, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life, a ransom for many.” That’s the gospel of the living God. Jesus came into this world to serve you, not to give you assignments, not to place work before you that would finally make you perfect. He’s come down Himself to deliver those stuck under the burden of guilt and sin and slavery. He came down to our spiritual Egypt. He became submissive to the law. He fulfilled the law perfectly and then, innocently, as a perfect Lamb, hung on that blood-stained piece of wood and took on the death that was mine, the death that was yours. 1 John 2:2: He Himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins, but the sins of all the world. [snorts] Do you understand? No matter who you are this morning, it doesn’t matter if you feel your standing is right with God or not. No matter if you cannot even imagine that you would ever personally know the Lord and know His voice. Or maybe you say, “I’ve known His voice as long as I can remember, but there are areas in my life… I’m in distress. It hurts. I’m disappointed in myself.”
You have to understand: you and I were destined to die in Egypt, in our slavery. But you get to walk away. You get to walk out. And that’s what Jesus says. He says, “Come out.” He’s very different than the first way of deliverance, so to speak. Jesus says, “Come out. Leave—leave the whole thing behind. Leave Egypt behind. Turn from your sins. Turn from Satan’s desires and come with Me. You can come with Me. I am here now.” He speaks to people that are stuck—not even in Egypt. In the time that Jesus was walking among the Israelites, He is now speaking to people who, again in their own time, are stuck. They’re stuck under harsh slave drivers. They’re stuck under the power of the Egyptians. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the religious elite are trying to set an example that is unattainable for the average person. And the people are sighing and are going heavily burdened under a lifestyle that is supposed to be serving God, but the joy has been robbed out of it. The happiness is gone, and everything has become heavy because they just could not live up to the standard. And here again, they're approached by Jesus just like they were in Egypt, as if they are in slavery.
Matthew 11:28–30: He says, “Come to Me, all you who labor, all you who work and are heavy laden. You are weighed down so much, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” See, here we have Jesus, and all this prophetic picture of that story in Egypt is now beginning to come to pass. Jesus has now come down from heaven, as was foretold. That cross is waiting. The Lamb is now here. And Jesus comes to His children. He comes to those that He formed in the womb. And He comes to them, and they are hurt and wounded—they’re traumatized children whose hearts have suffered so much more than they can handle. And, as it were, these traumatized and hurt kids, they have hidden themselves, like rolled up in a ball in the corner, just not knowing what to do anymore spiritually speaking. Just abused and broken, not knowing what to do because they cannot do anything to stop the abuse.
They’re too small. They’re not strong enough. They can’t stop it. It just keeps going no matter what they do. And there comes, all of a sudden, forth the voice of the Son of God, who has come down to deliver from the power of the Egyptians and to deal with the suffering of His own children, that He formed in the womb, knowing every single one of their names. And it’s almost as if He kneels down where they are hurt and wounded in the corner. And as a loving parent, He says, “Come out. You can come out now. I’ve dealt with the abuser. I’ve dealt with the pain. You’re not going to be hurt anymore. You can come out now. I’ve come home. I’ve come for you.” And I believe with all my heart that He is speaking it out unto our hearts this morning. Come on out. The threat is gone. You’re not going to be rejected. You’re not going to be measured by that same law anymore. You’re not going to be a failure to Me ever. You’re not going to be pushed to the side because someone else is doing better. You can come out now. You’re not going to be hurt anymore.
Oh, church, I've been there so many times where there were areas in my heart, my personality, or my life, where I just knew I wasn't measuring up. Now, I believed Jesus for my forgiveness, but in some areas of my life, I was miserable. And there was distress in my heart because of the harsh taskmaster, the slave master that seemed to still, in some area of my life, have a grip that I just didn't even understand why it was still there. But I'm telling you this morning, He wants to free you. He's seen it. He's heard the cry of your heart. He's present to deliver you. And as I prayed before the service, I believe with all my heart that it is on your mind—the very thing that God is ready to deliver you from, the very thing that He is ready to break you free from, to change it forever in your life. I believe the Spirit has put it on your mind in this service. And it's going to be a small step of trust , like a child that has been so hurt and has hidden themselves, to say, “Okay, Lord, I'll come out. I'll come out of hiding. I'll trust You. I'll trust that You will protect me. I trust that You will cause me to never be rejected. I'll trust that when I come to You with all that I am and everything I ever failed to be, I'm going to be okay. I'm going to be loved. I trust You.”
Now, this morning, if you believe that, if you believe that Jesus came down to deal with the power of Egypt in your life, that Jesus came down to serve you, not for you, to serve Him—if you believe that and there's something the Spirit brought to your mind this service, I want to invite you to come to the altar so we can pray together. Because if the Lord brought it to your mind, He's ready to take it out of your life. And all we're going to say to the Lord is, “Lord, here I am. I've come out. I've come out of hiding because I trust You.” And if that is what you want to say, come and join me here so we can pray with one another. Hallelujah, Jesus. Hallelujah. Jesus, You're calling us to come out.
-Pastor Stan Mons
