Second Presbyterian Church Sermons

Mary magnified God, because she saw her and her people’s needs so clearly and thus recognized how God’s attributes of mercy and might would meet them all.    

Before any of the disciples wrote their Gospels, Mary announced to her world the kind of Savior her son would be. This poor woman who lived under the oppression and tyranny of evil Herod, proclaimed to her fellow prisoners that a Messiah was coming who would mercifully release them. Specifically, this passage shows us that God shows mercy to the undeserving; the searcher (vv. 46-48); those who fear him (v. 50); the helpless (v. 53); and wanderers (vv. 54-55).

God’s might makes God’s mercy the more appreciable, because we realize that with it God could have annihilated us in our sin.  But because God is merciful, his might only reinforces our redemption because it assures us of the power that not only has secured and maintains our salvation but promises complete redemption of our whole world. Specifically, this passage shows us that God Exalts the humble (vv. 49, 52, 53); Humbles the proud (vv. 51, 52); and Wins the battle (vv. 51-54). 

In discussing how we properly take the Lord’s Supper, the Westminster Shorter Catechism says we must examine ourselves for “repentance, love and new obedience” (Q.97). Those three themes are anticipated in God’s institution of the Passover, one of his ways of convincing us over and over again that we are his beloved children.

I. Repentance

The Passover reminded the Israelites to repent of living as slaves, because it was the beginning of their calendar year and the first observance of Passover was the first time in over 400 years they would be living free from slavery. The Passover also reminded them to offer holy lives to the Lord (cf. Lv. 22:20-22). Each household large enough to consume a whole lamb was to select the best one-year old male specimen from its flock of sheep or goats. Later in the chapter, God tells the Israelites to light a candle and remove every bit of leaven from their homes (15), a symbol of searching for and removing sin from every dark corner of their lives. The Passover also reminded them to repent of selfishness, as they were to entrust their best lamb to God as a sacrifice.

II. Love

Love was demonstrated in the Passover by the Israelites by eating the whole lamb. By doing so, the worshiper was ingesting God’s provision of a substitute. By uniting himself or herself with the prescribed meal, the worshiper was uniting himself or herself with the Lord. The Israelites who ate the Passover declared their love for the one true God who had defeated all the false gods on their behalf and was freeing them from their bondage. The Passover also demonstrated God’s love to the Israelites, as the lamb pointed them to the atoning sacrifice God was making and would make through Jesus for their sins.

III. New Obedience

As God had provided materially for the Israelites through their neighbors’ silver and gold jewelry, now he is providing spiritually and emotionally for their journey toward the Promised Land. By obediently keeping the Passover, they will be equipped to obey the Lord in their long journey. So what does the Lord give his people in the Passover to equip them for that long journey of obedience? The same he gives to us. . .himself. As the Lord supplies all we need for salvation from shame, fear, and guilt, he supplies all we need for living in new obedience.

Through God’s Son, we become God’s sons. If you commit your life to Christ, he will not merely raise your body to life, he will openly acknowledge you as a son of God as genuinely as Jesus is.    

I. From Slaves to Son

When God originally commissioned Moses to liberate his people from Egypt, he put it in familial terms: “Then say this to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me” (Ex. 4:22-23). The Exodus then is the story of God’s liberating his “son” Israel from their slavery to live freely and happily in his love.

II. From Sin to Son

As Christ the Son of Man hung on the cross, he carried out the plan he, the Father and the Spirit made before creation. On the cross God “made him to be sin for us.” God imputed the guilt of our sin to Jesus. God leveled all his judgment on him. This judgment was rightfully due to us, but Jesus took it so that we could be pardoned from our sin. 

III. Sons in the Son

The climax of the Father and Son’s excruciating emotional pain is marked by Jesus’ cry, “My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?” The pain of the cross for both the Father and the Son was not the legal transformation of an innocent citizen into a condemned criminal. The pain of the cross was the estrangement of the Son from the Father. Jesus was being forsaken by God so that we could be adopted into God’s family. God preserved his son in the Exodus so we could be saved; God punished our sin in his son so we could be forgiven; and God temporarily abandoned his son so that we could be adopted. 

We must look up to God for light, because we need it desperately and Jesus supplied it sacrificially. 

I. Our Need for Light

Most striking is the statement that the darkness could be “felt.” This palpable darkness in Egypt was absolute, oppressive, and claustrophobic. The miraculous nature of this plague is further emphasized by the fact that the Egyptians could not even make light. Apparently not even a flame could be lit. Humanly, this experience was utterly terrifying, even to a king who thought he was a god. The plague of darkness was theologically devastating but infallibly proved Egypt’s gods were nothing and that the true God had not only defeated their gods but was punishing the Egyptians for giving glory to them that belonged to him alone.

II. Jesus’ Supply of Light

Jesus experienced darkness on the cross when “the sun ceased to shine” (Luke 23:45). Just as suddenly as the darkness came on Egypt did the guilt of all our sin come on our faultless Christ. The most devastating of all Jesus’ sufferings on our behalf was his abandonment by the Father. Jesus screams, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” Now the complaint Jesus uttered preemptively through the sons of Korah becomes existentially his, “the darkness is my closest friend” (Psalm 88:18).

The plague of Boils reminds us that God is sovereign, so nothing seen or unseen is any match for him. To persist in rebellion against him will eventually result in God’s punishment. However, to surrender your heart to him will result in comprehensive renewal and spiritual victory even over the powers of darkness.

I. Over Evil Spirits (Exodus 9:8-11)

The conflict in Egypt was never merely between Moses and Pharaoh. God was defeating Egypt’s gods and demonstrating that their gods were powerless to save them. As Numbers 33:4 says in commentary on Exodus, “On their gods also the LORD executed judgments.” We must be realistic, too, about the unseen but no less real forces affecting our lives. However, we must also rely on Christ’s sovereignty over those evil forces and go to him alone to be delivered. 

II. Over Human Hearts (Exodus 9:12)
This passage also demonstrates that Christ is sovereign over human hearts. He alone can give the gift of faith and repentance. Up until this point, the Bible tells us that Pharaoh had hardened his own heart against God, but in this passage, it says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. These passages are not at odds with one another; they simply demonstrate a truth we see explained in Romans 1. That is, when people continually harden their hearts toward God after he has provided opportunities for them to repent, he eventually “gives them over” to what they want. Only the grace of Christ can prevent us from becoming as evil as we possibly can be. 

We must trust in God alone, because he always disciplines out of mercy and protects out of love.

I. God is Judge: disciplines out of mercy (vv. 1-3)

Even in this fifth plague, God demonstrates his mercy. This is only the fifth plague, but it is the seventh time God has warned Pharaoh, giving him a chance to repent. Furthermore, other places in the Bible, such as Jeremiah 18:7, show us that when we repent, God relents his judgment. Although it at times seems harsh, God disciplines because he loves us even more than we love ourselves, so he disciplines us to turn us from that which is self-destructive. Even when our suffering has not been brought on by our own sin, repentance is always appropriate, because repentance is turning to God. 

II. God is Protector: protects out of love (vv. 4-7)

Verse 4 says that the Lord will put a division (or literally, “redemption”) between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. Jude 5 shows us that this redemption is Jesus Christ: "Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” With the same hand that he exercises judgment on those who will not repent, God also exercises protection for those who do repent. When Herod issued a decree to kill all male babies after Jesus’ birth, Jesus’ family fled to Egypt. Jude 5 shows us that Jesus leads his people out of Egypt. It shows us that Jesus enters into whatever we experience and leads us out of it. It also shows us that whatever the reason is for our suffering, it can’t be that Jesus doesn’t care. He has proved his love by experiencing all the suffering we experience so that we could be saved. His suffering gave us the chance to repent. 

We must live without compromising our commitment to Jesus Christ, because he promises flourishing life, provokes courageous worship, and provides redemptive grace. 

I. Promises Flourishing Life (vv. 20-24)

Our text clearly states that God spared the Israelites of this plague of flies. Later he saves his children from losing livestock, breaking out in boils, crop devastation by hail and livestock, locusts, and death of the firstborn. Likewise, when Moses prayed for the frogs to be removed he refers only to ‘[Pharaoh] and your houses, your officials and your people”(8:9). Moses does not ask for the frogs to be removed from the Israelites. Clearly, even in this oppressed condition, God made his children’s lives more pleasant overall than that of the Egyptians.

II. Provokes Courageous Worship (vv. 25-28)

When God commanded Moses to confront Pharaoh, he literally said, “Go to Pharaoh and stand your ground.” This whole narrative is ultimately about the glory of God. Pharaoh has asserted himself in the place of God and God is demanding his proper place in the lives of his people as well as in Pharaoh’s estimation. Because every human being is crafted in the image of God, everyone worships. And because God alone is worthy of worship and has the sovereign authority to insist on it, he will ensure that by the end of your life you acknowledge him alone—either willingly or unwillingly. 

III. Provides Redemptive Grace (vv. 23, 29-32)

Israel never did anything to attract God’s favor above the nations. Even after God heard their prayers and sent Moses to rescue them, they initially rejected Moses and asked to remain in their slavery. Despite their unworthiness, God pursued their redemption. In this passage, Moses uses that very word “redemption” to explain how a holy God can choose to make a sinful people his own and love them as his very own children. What we have translated, “I will distinguish between my people and your people” literally reads, “I will set a redemption between my people and your people” or“ I will put a deliverance between My people and thy people.” To treat the Jews with favor required making them worthy of it by applying to them protection they did not deserve. 

1. Promises Flourishing Life:

2. Provokes Courageous Worship: 

3. Provides Redemptive Grace: