Can We Do The Wrong Thing For The Right Reason?
Opening
You can know the difference between right and wrong but wrong will find you at the right time. You might be put in a situation where you will do the wrong thing at the right time.
It’s Black History Month- There are numerous heroes in history that have done the wrong thing for the right reason. The law of men contraindicates the laws of God and good people go into action:
Harriet Tubman- broke the law to liberate men & women from slavery
Fredrick Douglas- campaign for abolitionists in the United States & England
Nat Turner- A preacher who led a slave rebellion
Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Rosa Parks- Defied the laws of the land to honor the laws of God
Life has a way of pushing you to the point to justify wrong in your own mind
Sermon Key Points
Exodus begins in Egypt and begins with the burden of oppression to the Hebrews
The Hebrews are growing in strength and in numbers. Becomes a threat to the Egyptian empire but they do not see themselves as a threat to the government.
When people show promise and potential then government authorities view it as a threat even in today’s times.
God sometimes brings together the outer events of life along the side the inner events of your person so the Holy Spirit can order and reorder the unseen events of life so that nothing that happens is coincidence
You don’t have to be at the center of the empire for God to use to liberate the empire that oppressed you.
In Exodus 2, Moses is born but his mother decides she was not going to kill him. She decided to nurse him and then put him in a basket in the Nile River. She is trusting God by putting her baby in the water.
The Egyptians does to Sarah’s kids what Sarah did to Hagar’s kids
Moses comes to understand who he is in light of who his people has been and who God has made him
The work that God has done has not started with us. Therefore, we should not be arrogant.
God created institutions (family, government, church) and this is why we still need institutions
Moses is discerning God’s Will for his life while wrestling with his own sense of identity
Moses was raised in Egypt but has not forgotten he is a Hebrew. Exodus 2:11, Moses made it but he didn’t forget the oppressed people (Hebrews). Moses still had a burden for his people
It is also about Moses’ inconsistency. He watches an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and then decides to take justice into his own hands.
Exodus 2:12, Moses looks in both directions before killing the Egyptian because he knew what he was doing. He was discerning that God had made him liberated but he was going about it the wrong way.
What bothers you? What makes you so angry that you would hurt someone to fix it? If you have no answer to the question then you have not discover the joy of living
This picture of Moses can be a warning as well. The fact that he had to look both ways demonstrates Moses was not acting in the Will of God. Moses was hiding what he was about to do.
Moses wanted to deliver God’s people but he wanted to do it his way. Deliverance can only happen God’s way. Justice can only be accomplished God’s way or else it will all fall apart.
Moses may have wanted to slay one Egyptian but God wanted to slay them all
God may not do what you want him to do in the lifetime you have. God has a way of writing every wrong to deliver the masses
Exodus 2:14- The very people who needs deliverance sometimes do not want the deliver
God sent someone better than Moses…….JESUS!!!
Jesus will deliver us ALL from sin and all other oppressive empires
