Sermon Notes

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THE WORD

Al

The Preaching Ministry of Ashley River Baptist Church

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Throw It Down Exodus 3:7-12, 19; 4:1-5, 19-20 7

Exodus 3:7-12 And the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. 8"So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 9"And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10"Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.“ 11But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?“ 12And He said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.“ Exodus 3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. Exodus 4:1-5 1Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?“ 2Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied. 3The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5"This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers-- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob -- has appeared to you." THAT WHICH IS THROWN DOWN TO GOD IS TRANSFORMED 1. God understands our needs in the midst of our circumstances (3:19) 2. God transforms the ordinary to the extraordinary – the natural to the supernatural – to be used as an instrument of His will. (4:1-5) The Rod of God (KJV) - God transformed a simple tool of the Shepherd from a “staff” (4:2) to the “staff of God” (4:20) because he yielded it to God and threw it down!

What in your “hand” of life do you need to throw down before God that He might transform it to an instrument of His will. THAT WHICH IS THROWN DOWN TO GOD IS EMPOWERED The simple tool of the Shepherd became a powerful instrument of God. 7:9 …'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,' and it will become a snake.” 7:17 … “With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.” 8:5 “…'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.” 8:16 “'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,' and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats." 9:23 “When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground.” 10:13 So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the LORD made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; 14:16 “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” 14:15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.” The life yielded to God can overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to move on! 17:5-6 “The LORD answered Moses…. take in your hand the staff…and…Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” A life yielded to God can be empowered to receive spiritual blessings of living water in the “deserts of live” The life yielded to God will be satisfied, sustained and victorious. It can overcome the obstacles of life….. Marriage, Aging, Relationships, Finances, Physical Needs, Emotional Needs, and Eternal Security Throw it down before you throw it away! What is that in YOUR hand? Just a staff? 4:17 “But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.” 4:19-20 Now the LORD said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt…So Moses took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand.” The Staff represented the same promise, presence, provision and power of God that we also have today through faith in Christ. The symbol of the life yielded to God is “Lord, I throw it down”