Matt Chandler - Days of Darkness

Happy Labor Day weekend! Unless you have to work tomorrow, then just, hey, how are you? If you have your Bibles, go ahead and grab those; we’re going to finish Exodus chapter 1 in our time together today. I think it’s a difficult text, but I also believe it’s a really beautiful text, and we’ll have to navigate that so we can land encouraged in the Lord. So, we’ve said so far in our study of the book of Exodus that Exodus is part two of five parts that tell one story, right? The story of the Pentateuch. We need to keep before us this narrative arc of what’s going on. Last week, we said that God has a plan. That plan is good, but it rarely works itself out as we think it will. If we’re not careful, we’ll develop expectations about how God does things that are misaligned with how God is actually going to accomplish that good plan. Since this will happen—and likely has happened to most of us already—there are some key ideas we need to weave into our lives so that we can be well-rooted in the good God of the universe. There has to be an acknowledgment of our limitations, right? We are limited in a way that God is not. So, I am smarter than my 13-year-old, my 13-year-old is smarter than my seven-year-old, and the infinite God of the universe is smarter than all of us. It doesn’t matter how many books I read or the different fields I can become an expert in; there is only one Sovereign who sits outside of time, sees everything at once, and puts it all together—one event into the next, into the next, into the next, without ever growing weary, needing a nap, or feeling stressed out. That’s God. Therefore, I need to acknowledge my limitations when difficult days come. I have to be able to say, «Gosh, I don’t know.» The second thing we discussed is that we have to read the Scriptures honestly. If you ever hear someone who doesn’t want to believe in God start talking about the Bible as if it’s been messed with and tweaked, like it’s the worst propaganda job in the history of mankind, that’s concerning. «In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart; I have overcome the world.» That’s not bad propaganda; it’s reality. The Bible’s heroes are flawed and continually recount how we will suffer. In fact, the only way to come to life is to die. That’s not good propaganda. Good propaganda would say, «Give your life to Christ, and your dreams will come true.» The testimonies backing that up might be, «I gave my life to Christ and never craved a drink again, ” or „my addiction to heroin vanished.“ Someone might say, „I came to Christ, and my wife and I suddenly connected in ways you can’t even imagine.“ Another might share, „I came to Christ, put my ATM card in the account, withdrew ten bucks for ramen noodles and a Dr. Thunder, and found an additional $400,000 in my account.“ That’s good propaganda! The Bible is terrible propaganda, but it’s true because it meets us in the world we actually live in, and that’s good news. The grimness of the Bible, the faults of its heroes, and the power of God working through broken people should be a stunning encouragement to the people of God. So, we need to read Scripture honestly. Lastly, we said that regardless of life’s hurdles, we look to the cross, which clears those hurdles. If you’ve come today feeling like this can’t possibly be for you—perhaps it’s Labor Day weekend, and you’re visiting your „weirdo religious friends"—and you think, «I get the whole faith and God thing, but I believe I’ve sinned too much; this cannot be for me”—well, all you need to do is look to the cross to clear that hurdle. The cross represents Jesus dying for all your sins—past, present, and future—and absorbing all of God’s wrath toward those sins so that there’s no wrath remaining for those who repent and put their faith in Him. Or maybe you’re thinking, „Whatever, bro, I’m awesome. I don’t need anyone to die for me.“ Okay, but you, limited in knowledge and understanding of everything going on, have a sovereign King of the universe looking at you and saying, „Oh no, no, bro, you’re in a lot of trouble—so much trouble that blood needs to be spilled, and because I love you, I’ll spill blood that isn’t yours.“ The cross clears those hurdles, and so if we’re…