Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday morning, April 18, 2004, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia. For more outlines, including a zipped file of all of my 1999, 2000, and 2001 sermon outlines, click on the link at the bottom of this note, and go to our website:
THE SIGNS OF MOSES THAT POINTED TO JESUS
-OR-
SNAKE HANDLING AND DIVINE HEALING IN
THE DAYS OF MOSES
By Michael D. O’Neal Pastor, Gospel Light Baptist Church Albany, Georgia
Scripture Reading: Exodus 4:1-9
Text: Exodus 4:8
Exodus 4:8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
Introduction: I suppose you thought that snake handling and divine healing were only practices of certain extremist charismatic and Pentecostal preachers. Actually, few preachers practice snake handling. Divine healing is pretty easy to fake, but poisonous snakes are DANGEROUS!
Last Sunday Dwayne Long, a minister at a Pentecostal church in Rose Hill, VA, was bitten by a rattlesnake in a snake-handling service. Thinking he had the sign gift that the apostle Paul had, he refused treatment. Of course, Mr. Long was NOT an apostle, he did NOT have the gift, and he died Monday morning. MORAL: Be sure you know and understand your Bible before you endanger your life and the lives of others.
However, there is more to this story than the sensational account of the signs that God gave to Moses. This is a foreshadowing of the signs given through the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ
Remember that Jesus said:
John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
The book of Exodus, the second book of Moses, is one of those scriptures that testifies of JESUS, for Jesus said later in the same chapter:
John 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
Moses wrote of JESUS. Our Lord met with two of His disciples after His resurrection,
Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
I believe that this passage today is one of the things Moses wrote that testifies of Jesus Christ. Let’s look at it.
First, consider
I. THE HANDLING OF THE SERPENT
Exodus 4:2-5
Revelation 12:9 says that Satan is “that old serpent.”
A. There was a surprise
1. Exodus 4:3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent …
2. Because of camouflage
3. Because of circumstances – relaxed, familiar
B. There was a scare
1. Exodus 4:3b … and Moses fled from before it.
2. He (Satan) frightens (1 Peter 5:8)
3. He inflicts pain and death
C. There was a stand
1. Exodus 4:4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it ...
2. Ephesians 6:11 and context
D. There was success
1. Exodus 4:4b … and it became a rod in his hand
2. James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
3. God can nullify Satan’s power
Second, consider
II. THE HEALING OF THE SICKNESS
Exodus 4:6-7 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. 7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
Leprosy is a type, or prophetic picture, of SIN.
The heart is connected with CHARACTER.
The hand is connected with CONDUCT.
A. Sin is CENTERED at the HEART (Jeremiah17:9)
B. Sin is CARRIED OUT by our actions – the hand
C. Sin is CURED by God’s miraculous power!
Third, consider
III. THE HERITAGE OF THE SIGNS
Exodus 4:8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
A. The signs rebuked the sin of Israel (John 4:48; Matthew 12:39)
B. The signs revealed the sovereignty of God
1. The Lord is sovereign!
2. Over Satan
3. Over sickness
4. Over sin
5. Over situations
And finally, consider
IV. THE HERALDING OR ANNOUNCING OF THE SAVIOR
Deuteronomy 18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
Mark 16:17-20 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
A. He came into this world with a sign (Isaiah 7:14)
B. He confounded religious leaders and convinced common Jews with the signs
C. He confirmed His word to the Jews with signs (Mark 16:20)
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Michael D. O’Neal (Proverbs 11:30), Pastor, Gospel Light Baptist Church |