The Lord's Day Bible Message Outlines
January 17,
2010
Pastor Dana Johnson
"...did God ever
try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst
of
another nation by...a mighty
hand...?"
-Deuteronomy
4:34
"Or did God ever try to go
and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another
nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war,
by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great
terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you
in Egypt before your eyes?"
1. In response to the
presence of sin in His world God's mighty hand is often
engaged in works of judgment.
a. The basis
for this response is God's character.
Deuteronomy
4:24 - "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a
jealous God."
b. Notice some of
the descriptions of the judgment from God's mighty
hand:
Deuteronomy
4:34 -
"Or
did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from
the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by
wonders, by war,
by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great
terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for
you in Egypt before your eyes?"
1) It is divine (an act of
God).
2) It is associated with
war.
Exodus 15:3 -
The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His
name.
3) It is associated with
calamity.
Isaiah
45:7 - 'I form the light and create darkness, I make
peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these
things.'
c. What is the
justification for this display of judgment? Sin.
Luke
13:1-5 - There were present at that season some who told
Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled
with their sacrifices. 2And Jesus answered and
said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were
worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they
suffered such things? 3I tell you, no; but
unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
4Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam
fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse
sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?
5I tell you, no; but unless you repent you
will all likewise perish."
2. God's mighty hand
is also engaged in the deliverance of His own
people.
a. The basis
for this: God's discriminating mercy that delivers His
own people but excludes others.
Deuteronomy
4:31-35 - "(For the LORD your God is a merciful God), He
will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the
covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
32For ask now concerning the days that are
past, which were before you, since the day that God
created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven
to the other, whether any great thing like this has
happened, or anything like it has been heard.
33Did any people ever hear the voice of God
speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard,
and live? 34Or did God ever try to go and take
for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by
trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand
and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according
to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before
your eyes? 35To you it was shown, that you
might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none
other besides Him"
Romans 9:15-18 - For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy
on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whomever I will have compassion." 16So then
it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of
God who shows mercy. 17For the Scripture says
to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up,
that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be
declared in all the earth." 18Therefore He has
mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He
hardens.
b. As harsh as it
may seem God occasionally delivers His people at the
expense of others. It is fair because, while His mercy is
discriminating, judgment is deserved by all.
Deuteronomy
4:34 -
"Or
did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from
the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by
wonders, by war,
by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great
terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for
you in Egypt before your eyes?"
c. As preposterous
as it may seem God delivered His elect (Jew and Gentile)
at the expense of His own Son. This is truly an "unfair"
act of infinite mercy, grace and love.
Romans
8:32 - He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered
Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely
give us all things?
1 Peter 3:18 - For Christ also suffered once for sins,
the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the
Spirit.
(All
Scripture quoted is from the New King James
Version)
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