He made water that made the water
deeper to the river. God's love was their guide. Unharmed through the sea, where
perished their foe. He got them with ease and safety
to go. His holy land, gaining in peace,
they were prone to dwell in the mountains. The Lord's men had
all, seventh as the last. He gave them the land, the heritage
fair, the nations that were in division fair. He drove out before them with
great overflows, and they knew him before the tip of the bow. OK, thank you. Thank you, Sherry. All right, go to Exodus 14 with
me. Exodus 14. I hope you follow
along closely and listen carefully. I ask the Lord to give you attentive
ears and receptive heart. And I hope you are enjoying these
studies. I hope you are. My job as a preacher is to rightly
divide the word of truth or in other words, to appropriately
apply it. And we don't get anything out
of this unless we see how it applies to us, unless it's very
relevant. Paul wrote, and I quoted this
to you, he said, Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written
for our learning. Whatever happened was written
for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures,
might have hope. And do you remember this, over
in 1 Corinthians 10, where he said, these things happened unto
them, the children of Israel. For example, they are written
for our admonition. So that's what this story is
all about. That's why it was recorded, for
us to read it and not forget, and to learn from their mistakes,
or rather sin, and rebellion. The book of Hebrews. says so
much about that, but let's not let these things slip, the things
we've heard. The gospel was preached to these
people as unto us. All right, now the rest of the
book of Exodus, we've been studying this book, and the rest of the
book from here on is about the children of Israel. They're leaving
Egypt, and it's about their sojourn in the wilderness, or that sojourn
means wandering. They don't ever stop and stay
there, but they are wandering through the wilderness. And this
is a good picture of us passing through. And that's all we're
doing is passing through this world. Now, they're just starting
out on this journey here in Chapter 14. They're just starting out.
And this is a trip. Every step of the way is directed
by the Lord. Look at verses one and two, the
Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel,
that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdal and
the sea, over against Beelzebub, before it shall ye encamp by
the sea. The Lord had them, they were
heading out. They were heading in a certain
direction, and the Lord turned them and said, no, you're going
here, this exact place, this particular exact place. The Lord directed their steps
to a particular place. Well, that's what the Scripture
says about all of us. It says, man's heart diviseth
his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. And that's comforting
to know, isn't it? If we turn here, we turn there,
we think a lot is cast in the lap, but the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord. Listen to this, man's goings,
this is Proverbs 20, man's goings are of the Lord. How can a man
then understand his what? We can't. We don't know where
we're going. Or like Thomas said, how can
we know the way? And the Lord said. Now the Lord directed them this
way this particular way. To him them in. To him them in. Up against the sea for a reason
it just so that the Lord we find it better said the Lord is trying
for the Lord is him in them in. Putting them in a place where
their defense and their salvation is absolutely impossible with
them. He's going to show that salvation
is of law. He's going to keep showing them
that all the way through the wilderness. The Lord showed them
wonderfully and mightily, bringing them out of Egypt, didn't he,
with all those signs and wonders? Then he brings them into the
wilderness, and the first thing he does is hem them in, box them
up, where it looks like the enemy of God for the verse three and
four Pharaoh will say our Lord speaking here Pharaoh will say
of the children of Israel they're entangled in the land the wilderness
that shut them in and I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he
shall follow after them and I will be honored upon Pharaoh and upon
all his hope that the Egyptians might know that I am the Lord
and they did so. Children of Israel did exactly
what the Lord told them to do, though he didn't speak out loud.
They did what he told them to do. And the Egyptians did what
he told them to do. He didn't even speak to them
through a messenger, did he? Moses didn't run back and tell
Pharaoh what the Lord said. They didn't. Well, the adversary thinks God's
saints are shut in. and will be overcome in this
world. No fact of the matter is, John,
we're shut up by faith, shut up to faith. The Lord's one hymns us in at
times to show us his mighty arm to bring us back. Verses five
through nine, it was told the king of Egypt, the pharaoh, that
the people fled and the heart of pharaoh and of his servants
was turned against the people. And they said, Why have we done this? We've
let Israel go from serving us. Now, just a short time before
that, they sounded like friends of the Israelites, not anymore. Now, he made ready his chariot
and took his people with him, and he took six hundred chosen
chariots and all the chariots of Egypt and captains, mighty
men, over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart
of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children
of Israel. And the children of Israel went out, they went out
with a high hand. We saw that didn't we in the
last chapter, over and over, a high hand, a high hand. So
we have this token. Have you looked at your hand
this week? He brought them out with a high
hand, but the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses. and chariots of faith, all the
horses, everything Pharaoh had at his disposal, his mightiest
men, his most powerful army, all the horses and chariots of
Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army, and they caught up
with him. They overtook them in camping
by the sea beside Pihiroth and the four bales of ephah. Now
Pharaoh and his servants are not willing. To let these children
of Israel go so easily. Lord told him told him to let
him go and he did but then shortly afterward he's not so willing
to let them go by a row represents our great answer. Is a real true. But we cannot see. Satan Once we were captive of him,
that's what Paul said to young Timothy, that, oh, that God might
deliver those who are held captive by the devil at his will. Satan
was once our captor, but now, like Pharaoh, he's the captive. He's doing the Lord's will here.
He thinks he's doing what he sets out to do, what he wants
to do. He's doing the Lord's bidding.
So is Satan. Now, think about this. Satan,
we were once his servant, and he knows when one of his own
is taken from him. He knows that. He knows. And he will not give up so easily. Satan is not, listen to this,
or be reminded of this, Satan is not omniscient. He doesn't
know everything. Satan doesn't know what's going
to happen tomorrow. No, he doesn't, people. There's only one person
who knows the future, and that's God. Satan is not omnipresent. He's got many demons and devils,
but he himself is one person. The Lord our God now is omnipresent. Not Satan. Keep that in mind.
He cannot foretell the future. Well, anyway, the children are
just beginning their journey. They're just beginning their
journey. And they're already in danger. They're already being
pursued and in danger. They've just begun this journey.
I told you last week that the Lord will not put on us more
than we're able to bear. Nevertheless, every one of God's
people, as soon as they start this walk of faith, will be persecuted
immediately. Immediately, they will have trouble. The believer no sooner starts
this walk of faith through this world when he's immediately pursued
and persecuted and hounded and beset behind and before with
trouble. I can imagine the children of
Israel when they were leaving Egypt. I can just hear them.
I went through the same thing. They were leaving with shouts
of joy. Free at last. Singing. We're marching to Zion. Our troubles
are over. Don't you know that, Brother
Henry? They were thinking, our troubles are over. We're headed
to the promised land. And our troubles are over. No. Forty years. You're going to want that. Your troubles with God are over.
But your troubles in this world are just starting. Just starting. In this world, our Lord said,
you shall have tribulation. You shall. Now, remember, all
of this is ordered by the Lord, though, and we're about to get
up. He put them in this, he hemmed them up. Look at verses 10 through
12. When Pharaoh drew nigh, the children
of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, Egyptians marched
after them, and they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel
cried out unto the Lord. And they said unto Moses, Because
there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die
in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus
with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word
we did tell, didn't we tell you before? In Egypt, say, let us
alone, that we may serve the Egyptians. It had been better
for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the
wilderness. Is that right? Is that true? Would they have
been better off in Egypt? No. And it would be better for
us to die, going through this world, passing through this world,
die in faith, to go on to live with Christ and to live in this
world, dead to God. Right? Oh, yeah. They didn't
know what they were saying. A little bit of trouble came
their way. They were ready to quit. Now, these Egyptians, these
Egyptians represent our sins, our past lives, which seem to
pursue us, our sins which hound us. And we once thought they were
our friends. That makes sense. We once thought
they were our friends. Now we're trying to get away
from them. Now we want to escape them, but
they're right on our heels. Isn't that right? But the messenger
of the gospel, the Lord has his messenger of the gospel. Wherever
his people are in trouble, he has his messenger of the covenant. Moses was there. To a fearful
and trembling people, verse 13 and 14, Moses said unto the people,
Fear ye not. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. which he will show to you today.
For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them
again, no more, forever. And the Lord, read on, the Lord
shall fight for you, and you shall hold your people. Go with me to Isaiah 30. This
is, some of you probably knew we had to go over and look at
this. Isaiah 30. I love this, I'll never forget
the first time I read this, Isaiah 30. Through the messenger, the
Lord said, fear not, stand still. See the salvation of the Lord,
the Lord shall fight for you. Or like over there in Second
Chronicles, John, chapter 20, where old Jehoshaphat said, you
don't need to fight this battle. The battle's not yours, it's
the Lord's. Just stand still. Look here at Isaiah thirty, look
at verse seven. The Egyptians shall help in vain
and to no purpose, therefore have I cried concerning this.
Their strength is to sit still. Sit still. Verse fifteen. Thus saith the Lord God, the
Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest shall you be safe. In
quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. That's a sad line, isn't it?
But you would not. Bless God. By God's mercy and
grace, I will. Will you just rest in Christ? Look to Him. Stand still. Stand still. The battle is not
yours, but the Lord's. Go back to the text. Stand still,
He said, and seek. Stand still. This thing of salvation, For
the John Davis, when he first started coming here, I remember
preaching a message entitled Passive, Passive Righteousness. You remember that? And he so rejoiced over that
because there's great comfort to be had. and just standing
still and just being passive and the Lord doing everything
for you and to you. That it's not up to you. It's
not up to you. Stand still and see or behold. Now, these are a bunch of farmers
and brick makers and bread makers on foot. And here comes Pharaoh, a man
who is skilled in the art of war. That's all he's ever done.
And all of his mighty captains, that's all they've ever done
is shed blood. And all of these chariots with his greatest and
mightiest horses, much faster than anyone on foot. And here
they come, these marauders. What can a bunch of farmers do
anyway? They don't have any weapons. They don't have anything. It would be impossible with them,
wouldn't it, to defend themselves. But the Lord says, stop, you
just watch. Behold means to watch. See. Behold your God. He'll save you. Behold your God. He'll come. I love that Isaiah 25. They'll
say in that day, this is our God we've waited on, he'll save
us. Yeah, and John stood one day and said, here he is, behold,
the Lamb of God. He's going to take away all his
injustice. You'll not see him again anymore. He'll remove our
sins from us, put away our sins forever, and it will be said,
iniquity will be sought for. And I see him again forever.
But now they are going to see him. If you pay attention. They
are going to see that he's a chicken. But they're going to see him
differently. Different eyes. Some of you redheaded. They're
going to see him all right. But they're not going to fear
him. See him differently. Verse 15. The Lord shall fight
for you, verse 14, and you shall hold your peace. Let me just
say a word there. You shall hold your peace. That
means you'll just stop your mouth. They were murmuring and complaining
and crying out bitterly, and they're just going to... David, didn't David say that?
I said, I'll put my hand on my mouth. I'm not speaking as a
fool. Job said that. On and on. You shall hold your peace. When the Lord makes peace for
you, you're going to lay hold of your peace. You're going to
have true peace when you seek salvation. It's truly of the
Lord. You're going to have true peace. You are going to rest.
You are going to rest. From then on, you're going to
really rest. They didn't, Henry. Brother Henry, they didn't rest.
That's what Hebrews 4 is all about. They didn't really believe
the Lord in spite of that. But bless God, by God's grace,
We shall. There remaineth a rest for the
people of God. We're resting in Christ. Read
on. Verse 15, The Lord said unto
Moses, Wherefore cryest thou unto me? Apparently Moses turned
to the Lord and cried again unto Him. Speak unto the children
of Israel. They go forward. Don't back up. Don't turn around. Go forward
with the Lord as a seed for Him then. Go on. He said to Moses, lift thou up
thy rod, stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it. And the children of Israel shall
go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. Lift up thy
rod, and I'll divide that sea. What's this speaking of? Well,
the sea, as we said before, represents many things. It can represent
this vast gulf that's fixed between us and our God. Right? Vast gulf that's fixed. And Christ is the way. Christ
is that rod of the still of Jesse by whom we cross over to God,
isn't it? Go right through to God. And Christ was lifted up, the
rod was lifted up, like Moses lifted up. And because he's lifted
up, the way to God is open. Pardon me. Like the veil in the
temple was rent. The veil in the temple was rent. And the rod is God's word. We've
seen that all the way through. The rod is God's word, which
divides and separates them. We go over by God's word, by
his command, the word, by the word, by the word of his power
is how we're going to pass over to the promised land. And by
that same word, these things are kept in store. And what Peter read, by the same
word, the heavens are kept in store. By his word of promise,
by his will and purpose, we're kept by the power of God. from
being destroyed. We're going to pass over by his
word. By that same word, the Egyptians are going to be crowned.
They're going to be destroyed by the same word. God's word,
which justifies us, condemns all the enemy. Verse 17 and 18,
And I beheld, and I behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians,
and they shall follow the children of And I will get me honor upon
Pharaoh and upon all his hope, upon all his chariots, and upon
all his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know
that I am the Lord when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh,
upon his chariot, and upon his horsemen. I will get me honor
even in the death of these Egyptians. God will get honor even in the
damnation of the wicked. That honors God. The world doesn't
believe that. of the wicked will honor God's
holiness. It will honor God's justice.
It will honor God's word. Who say it's going to do it warm. Fairly warm first nineteen. And
they were the camp of Israel. Who's that. Well that's the Holy
Spirit of God. Leads us who leads us read on. The angel who went before the
camp of Israel removes. Did he leave them? No, he just
went behind them, got between them and them. The Holy Spirit
who leads and guides us also surrounds us, gets behind us,
separates us from the world and the world from us. And the pillar
of the cloud went before their face and stood behind them. Oh my, read on, verses 20 through
22. And it came between the camp
of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, this pillar of cloud
and fire. It came between the camp of the
Egyptians and the camp of Israel. It was a cloud and darkness to
the Egyptians, but it gave light by night to the Israelites. Do
you remember that? So that the one came not near
the other all the night. How can light have fellowship? How can the sons of God have
fellowship with the sons of God? No, they won't have anything
to do with you. You really don't want anything to do with them.
How can darkness and light fellowship? They can't. And God has made
the difference. God made a difference between
them. Egypt and Moses stretched out his hand verse twenty one
over the sea and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong
east wind all that night and made the sea dry land and the
waters were divided and the children of Israel went into the midst
of the sea upon the dry ground and the waters were a wall under
them on their right hand and on their left. True story. In the midst of the sea, that's
the title of this message. Passing through the midst of
the sea. Well, you can't do that. Yes, you can. In the world you
shall have tribulation. Can somebody get through this
world and not be overcome by it? Yes. All of God's people
do. They are not even going to have
any mud on their feet when this is over. On dry land, and as
I said, what will be there? What will overcome every all
those of this world? We pass through by the word of
the Lord. Remember his prayer in John 17?
That's why. Father, I will. But you keep
them through thy truth. Keep them. They're of the world,
but they're not of the world. They're in the world, but not
of the world. I pray not that you should take them out of the
world, but keep them from it. They've got to pass through this
world to keep them from being overcome by it. And the waters,
it says, were a wall, a wall under the children of Israel,
could not on them. And when you start to think this
world is, when this world is coming, caving down on you, going
to crash down on you, remember, who upholds all things by the
word of his power? And only he that now letteth
will let. And it's a wall under you. It's
not going to overtake you. No sir, God's promise, freedom. I'm trying to get through all
of it, doing pretty well. Verse 23, And the Egyptians pursued
and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's
horses and his chariots and his horsemen. And it came
to pass that in the morning watch, the Lord looked under the host
of Egyptians through the pillar of the fire. of the cloud, and
troubled the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheel,
that they graved them heavily, that they got bogged down, so
that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel,
for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians. It says
all of Pharaoh's, I want you to turn to this with me, second
Kings, Second Kings chapter 6. Second Kings 6. You got to turn to this. This
is as good as Isaiah 30. All of Pharaoh's horses and chariots,
everything at his disposal went after the children of Israel.
All of them. Now, how many were there? How many captains and
horses and chariots could Pharaoh have? Know this. He had a lot. But there were two million children
of Israel. He doesn't have that much charity.
No way. Because David would be with us. Or more than David would be with
him. I know that's a fact. Satan,
if he had enough demons and devils to hound us, would be hounded
24 hours a day, every day, all day, every day. Thank God. But look at this. The Lord has
that many a second Kings chapter six verse. Fifteen this is a story of a
lot and his servant. And they were surrounded remember
the whole army. Of the police thing I believe
it was a Syrian the whole army of the Syrians came out after
one man. What does it matter if the whole
army is against If God be with us, what does it matter? At any
rate, the whole army went after one man, tried to bring one man,
Elisha. And verse 15, his servant, young
fellow, was risen early and gone forth. Behold, a host encompassed
the city, both with horses and chariots, and his servant ran
back into Elisha. Fear not, for they that be with
us, they that be with us, are more than they that be with them.
I don't see any. You know these servants that,
Master, I've believed you up until now. I believed you up until now,
but look. So Elisha prayed to God that
his servant would look. Elisha prayed and said, Lord,
I pray Thee open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened
the eyes of the young man he saw, and beheld the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about one man. Now if you get it. How many did God send to protect
one. Let alone to be. They before. More than. Every one of us. It's true we've
heard this from a child it's true every one of us has an angel. Watch and open, lest we dash
our foot against the stone. That's right. That's not just
an old child's tale, that's God's Word. God's Word. Watch and open. We are immortal until God is
through with us. And when it's time, the whole
army can't save us. All right versus so remember
that for your own. Comfort. Verses twenty four and
twenty five back in our tent. They took their wheels off so
that you know the way of the transgressors hard. That's what
you're going to say he took their wheels off it made it rough going
through the city. The world thinks they got it
easy. And join yourself yeah I sure am I got all this. Work. The way of the transgressors
is hard. Keeping up with the Joneses is real hard. It says in verse 26, Now the
Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea.
Now the Egyptians are down in the sea and the children of Israel
are coming out of the sea on dry land. The Lord told Moses,
stretch out thy hand over the sea, that the waters may come
again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariot, upon their horsemen.
And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea
returned to his strength when the morning appeared, and the
Egyptians fled against it." Now, the children of Israel apparently
were walking through at nighttime, morning, because this happened
in the morning. And in spite of that pillar of
fire and that pillar of cloud and all you know they were still
afraid. And walking through and though the walls of the water
was a wall to them on the right and the left yet it was still
they were still afraid. You know they were. How long
is it going to hold up? Don't you know? They're walking
through. He's going to break it down,
crashing down on them. But they were still afraid. Still
afraid. Walking all night. Weeping may
endure for a night. And in the morning? Oh, my soul
waited for thee, the scripture says, more than they did watch
in the morning. Everything's always more difficult
at nighttime. Sicknesses, sorrows, worries
are more difficult at night. What a picture that is, that
we're out from under the Word in darkness. We don't have any
comfort. The Word, which is a light, a lamp, It spells our darkness
and our clouds, our fear. Well, in the morning, it says,
the waters came. In verse 27, in the morning they
appeared and the Egyptians fled. They tried to flee, but you can't
flee from God. And the Lord overthrew the Egyptians
in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned and covered
the chariots and the horsemen and all the hosts of Pharaoh
that came into the sea after them. And there remained not
so much as one of them. There wasn't one enemy pursuing
that. And didn't the Lord say that?
Didn't He tell them that? You'll not see these Egyptians
again, no more, forever. And the Scripture says, He that
believeth, he that believeth shall not perish. Your sins are
not going to catch up with you. Your past is not going to catch
up with you if you're resting in Christ. If you're looking
to cry if you're walking by faith and cry your sins will not catch
up with you your sins will not find you. I am not good news. No sir the Lord said. You're
there go. There is a scapegoat that took
him away. I've been born away. And you
can look for him but you'll not find him. And one of these days. We'll see as we read that, didn't
we? We read. You read that. You read
that in 1 Corinthians 13. We'll know even as we've been
there. We'll know. Look at this, verse 29. They
did. The children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of
the sea. And the waters were a wall unto them on their right
hand and on their left. The Lord keeps saying that, doesn't
he? For our comfort. You're not going to be overcome
by this. So you think you are. Keep walking. Go forward. Now,
if you turn back, you're going to perish. You join the Egyptians, but you
keep walking forward. In spite of your sins, in spite
of your fears, and that water will be a wallet. And you're
going to pass over. It's your own dry land. You're
not going to hardly make it through the other side. They didn't all come crawling
up on the shore. Boy, I didn't think we were going
to make it. No, they were walking. Marching. Remember? Harness. Desire. How many have made it? How many have made it? All of
them. How many of their enemies made
it? Look at this, I love this. It
says in verse 30, Thus the Lord saved Israel that day. Now, how'd they get out of Egypt?
The Lord brought them out with a high hand. How'd they pass
over that impassable city? Moses didn't part that water.
The Lord did. How'd they make it across? Salvation
of the Lord. The Lord saved Israel that day
out of the hand of the Egyptians and Israel. And Israel saw the Egyptians.
They did see the Egyptians. Look at them. Dead on the shore. They did see them again, but
with different eyes than they had. Completely different eyes.
They weren't afraid of them anymore. And when we get to the other
side, we're going to know that we were sinners. But we're not
going to have guilt. We're not going to have any guilt. We're going to know that we were
sinners. We're going to know something of what we were in this earth.
But we're not going to have any tears. No shame. No sorrow. Now's the time to
mourn over our sins. But then there'd not be any more.
We're going to know that we were sinners and the Lord saved us
from our sins. And we're going to know as we
were numb. And we're going to look at this past life as if
it was a tale that was told. And those sins and all this,
the Lord is going to show us. It's like the Lord looking on
iniquity, but it has no effect on him like us then. And we've got it, we've got to
know what we've been saved from to fully appreciate being saved
from it. But it won't cause us any guilt. Does that make sense? It won't
cause us any shame. And we'll see our sin, but dead on the
shoulder. And I haven't seen them, and
I'm not bothered. Unto him that loved us and washed
us from our sin, that washed away, literally, our sin, like
these Egyptians. And verse 31, and Israel saw,
what did they see? What did the Lord show them?
That great work which the Lord did on the Egyptians. And the people, what did this
cause? Fear. People feared the Lord and believed
the Lord and Moses for a while. Until the next Sunday. Until
the next Sunday. They went walking and got in
trouble again. And if you'd ask Joshua and Caleb,
ask the ones that passed over, ask them, just ask them, how'd
you get here? Lord. Well, tell them, tell me how
at all. Surely you had nothing to do with it. I was totally
passive. I was sitting in Egypt. Well,
in a pit in Egypt, in a slime pit and didn't even know it.
Thought it was okay, pretty content. But God came where I was, revealed
Himself to me. I didn't even know there was
a God. And sent His messenger, sent His servant, the Christ,
to reveal the truth of God. And He called me by His grace
and pulled me up out of the muck and the mire and set my feet
on a rock and established my going. and brought me out of
this whole world, which would have been my death. And I sojourned
through this world by His power, kept by the power of God, unto
salvation, ready to be revealed the last day. Bless God. And I crossed over because God
brought me here. God, it's salvation of the Lord.
It's so great, salvation of the Lord. But what do you believe? Mr. Israel, what do you believe? I believe God. I believe Christ. I believe the gospel. All right,
stand with me. And Lord, thank you for this
best story that we have created. And we remind you that these are those
days, O Lord, that have never seen or had us throw our pure
minds away from them. So pray for us, pray for us,
let us not be caught up, caught down in this world, so let us
move forward, walk by faith, And I want to hold this up by
your side, so if you would, just take a picture of this. Thank you both for a great celebration. It's proud to serve you in the
United States of America. Thank you very much.