Sermons
Discipleship for Evangelism II
Series: Direction ForwardLink to sermon video: Discipleship for Evangelism II - L Siegle
Discipleship for Evangelism II
“Preparation for the Second Exodus II”
(Romans 15:4-7)
Series: Discipleship for Evangelism
Thesis: The greatest sensation in life is knowing the value of looking ahead to what is next
INTRODUCTION
1. The title of this series is Discipleship for Evangelism
2. This is the introduction to the study: Preparation for the Second Exodus II
3. Did any of us wake up this morning, look into the mirror and say, “Wow, I look like the image of God today!” (Gen.
1:26-28).
a. The Hebrew word for image is tselem that means ‘shadow, image, or visible outline’—the image has the quality
and characteristics of the reality. It is a ‘representation’ that calls attention to what it actually is.
b. The Hebrew word for likeness is remesĖ as when a ‘son resembles the characteristics of his father or mother’
1) When we see the person of who Jesus is, we have seen who the Father is (John 14:8-11).
2) We are the image of God as we become more like Jesus in our thoughts, words, and actions (Rom. 8:28, 29;
Eph. 5:1; I Pet. 2:21-25).
a. Every human being was created “in the image of God” and “according to His likeness”—but what that
means in bearing His “image” is determined by who and what each of us becomes:
“…it is a status conferred by God on all humans, that of representing God. God created humankind to extend Eden over all the earth. That’s what the commands ofGenesis 1:27, collectively referred to by theologians as the dominion mandate ,are about. Humanity was to multiply, steward the creation, and govern on God’s behalf. The goal was to care for the earth and harness its gifts for the betterment of fellow human imagers, all the while enjoying the presence of God” –Unseen Realm, 55, 56
4. Discipleship is the process of being molded and shaped into the very best representative of God that each of us can
become through spiritual growth and development as believers in Christ.
a. The idea of a discipler (one who makes disciples) is that of duplication becoming like Christ as one of His disciples
(John 8:31, 32).
b. Disciples are not spiritual “clones” but rather individual expressions of the ‘nature of God’ working in each one of
us.—Each person is “gifted” with various desires, talents, and abilities to use in this world for God’s purpose.
THE NECESSITY OF EVANGELISM
1. It is vital for the “church” not to become ‘self-absorbed’ into a closed community in which we only see ourselves here.
2. God’s ‘call’ is that in the bearing of His image that we remain open and aware of others around us to need Jesus and
to become part of God’s family.
3. Just prior to His ascension back into the heavens, into the presence of the Father, Jesus gave His disciples instructions
of what was to be done (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15, 16; Luke 24:44-48).
a. The “gospel of Christ” was to be taken “to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16, 17), preached as a
“witness to all of the nations” (Matt. 24:14) and then “the end” would take place.
b. The ‘called out ones’ (church) (Matt. 16:18)—a “remnant” of Israel (Rom. 11:5), and the restoration of the very
“nations” that had been set aside (Gen. 10, 11) before the ‘calling’ of Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3).
c. Thus God’s “purpose of the ages” (Eph. 3:11), or “eternal purpose” would have come to completion and the
“everlasting covenant” with God (Heb. 13:20) was fully established.
4. We so often wonder, how does each of us fit into the plan and purpose of God?
a. Who we are, our identity as believers is demonstrated in our response to the situations and circumstances of
everyday life.
ISRAEL AND THE EXODUS
1. There was a change coming for the people of Israel after having spent 400 years in the land of Egypt (Exod. 2:23-25).
a. The tenderness of the heart of God is demonstrated in this passage. Nothing about our situation escapes His
notice (Luke 12:6, 7; Matt. 7:7-11).
2. Does God only choose the more qualified to represent Him?
3. Moses did not believe himself to be qualified to represent God before the Pharoah in Egypt (Exod. 3:5-8, 18; 4:1-16).
a. It is so easy to find excuses and reasons why we cannot adequately represent God.
b. God is the ONE who qualifies us to be exactly what is necessary for us to accomplish His purpose in our
neighborhood, town, city, state, nation, and the world.
ISRAEL AT MT SINAI
1. After Israel crosses the Red Sea (baptized into Moses) (I Cor. 10:1-12), and came to Mt Sinai where the nation was to
remain for 11 months.
2. The “wilderness” is described as a ‘desert, uninhabited, desolate, empty place’ (not a plush, comfortable
environment)
3. The weather in the region (then and now) – hot and dry in the summer months, cold and rainy during the winter
months—not the best environment for living in tents.
4. It should have taken Israel approximately 11 days to cross the ‘desert’ and to reach the promised land—but we know
that it actually took 40 years because of the people in the hardness of heart and disobedience.
5. Comparisons between Old Covenant Israel and the FIRST Exodus and the New Covenant people of God (Church) and
the SECOND Exodus in the first century.
a. There was forty years of “transition” between leading Israel out of Egypt and into the “land” that God had
promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 12:1-3) and the forty years “transition” of Christ and the “church”
He promised to build (Matt. 16:18).
1) Moses was ‘called’ to lead Israel out from under the bondage they had experienced in a period of 400 years,
and when Christ would lead the “church” out of the bondage of “sin and death” after the 400 years of
‘silence’ from the time of the prophet Malachi to the birth of Christ.
2) Moses had “fasted” for 40 days in receiving “the law” and God giving direction to His people, and Christ
“fasted” for 40 days (Matt. 4:1-10) and began the work of preaching the “gospel of the Kingdom” (Matt.
4:17).
a) The “forty years” of deliverance from Egypt was a time of “grace” as the movement of God’s Old
Covenant people moved forward, and the “forty years” between the Cross and the “end of the age”
(Matt. 24:3) was the “grace period” for Old Covenant Israel to respond to the “gospel of Christ” (Rom.
1:16) prior to the day of judgment that took place at the “end of the age” (Acts 17:30, 31).
b) We often talk about the ‘overlapping’ of the “ages”—but in all reality, the “forty years” of the first
century was life “between the ages” when what had been established was in the PROCESS of “passing
away” (II Cor. 3; Heb. 8:13).
CONCLUSION
1. In 2025 God wants to bring to our attention what it really means to become representatives of God in our thoughts,
words, and actions—to demonstrate HIS love, and HIS characteristics to those around us.
2. We are going to spend some more time in the comparison between the FIRST Exodus described in the OT, and the
SECOND Exodus described for us in the NT and begin to see the reality of how God’s “image” and “likeness” are to be
manifested before the world around us.
3. Jesus came as the “author” and the “trailblazer” of faith, to clear the pathway back into the presence of Almighty God (Heb. 12:1, 2
