If God has been gracious to you
and given you faith in Christ, saved you by his grace, you trust
the Lord Jesus. You're washed in his blood, robed
in his righteousness, and you seek to honor him in all things. But as you make your pilgrimage
through this world, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life. Sometimes it appears that He
has forsaken you. That His mercy is clean gone
forever. Do you know what I'm talking
about? I'm sure some of you do. If you do, I'm confident God's
given me a message for you. The title of my message is when
God isn't there. When God isn't there. You'll find my text in the 14th
chapter of the Gospel of Exodus. When God isn't there. Let's begin in chapter 13. When the children of Israel came
out of the land of Egypt, as they approached the edge of the
wilderness, the Lord God gave them a special visible token
of his presence. A token of his presence that
they could see, by which they were assured that he would lead
and protect them throughout their sojourn through the wilderness.
Look at verse 20 of chapter 13. And they took their journey from
Succoth and encamped beneath them in the edge of the wilderness.
And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud
to lead them the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them
light. To go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of
cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the
people. They saw in the sky above them
a pillar of cloud. When the sun set, that same pillar
of cloud became a pillar of fire to light the sky and light the
earth before them. The children of Israel saw that
column of fire and walked as clearly and as easily by night
as they did during the day. This was a supernatural thing.
God gave it. It was not just a parable that
Moses speaks here, but it was something that God did supernaturally
for the children of Israel in the wilderness. This huge umbrella
large enough to cover the entire millions in the children of Israel
was a pillar of cloud over them by day and a pillar of fire over
them by night. But there's something far more
important to understand than the miraculous aspect of that
pillar of cloud and pillar of fire. The pillar of cloud and
the pillar of fire which constantly was over the children of Israel
throughout the days of their sojourn on this earth as they
went from Egypt into the land of Canaan. That pillar of cloud
and pillar of fire over them was Jesus Christ himself. He's called in our text in Exodus
14 and verses 19 and 20 the angel of God. was Jesus Christ himself, our
Redeemer, our God and our Savior, the one who long before had sworn,
saying, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. He's spoken
to them, we're told in Psalm 99, in the cloudy pillar. Wherever
the cloud went, Israel followed. The cloud was their constant
companion. The cloud was their conductor,
their guide, lest they should go astray. The cloud was for
the children of Israel, their protection from the burning heat
by day. And the night, it gave them clear
light to walk in the way in which they should go. Well might they
sing, as David did later, the Lord God is a sun and a shield. They experienced the fulfillment
of a promise God made many, many years later. The sun shall not
smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. This blessed symbol
of God's presence must have been a very great source of joy and
comfort. Can't you imagine? During the
day they'd look up and there he is. God my Savior, I see Him. There
He is over my head. They'd look up at night no matter
what the night brought. They'd see a pillar of fire.
There He is. God my Savior. Everything's alright. I can see Him. There He is. Moses
declares, He took not away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the
pillar of fire by night from before the people. Now this is
my point. The Lord Jesus Christ, our God
and our Savior, is always with us. He has promised, child of
God, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. In the night
of sorrow and in the day of joy, he's with us. But we don't always
perceive his presence. We don't always enjoy his presence. He never leaves us, but we often
are placed in circumstances where we think he has. We would never
say it. one of the great blessings of
the Psalms you can find an old believer an old experienced man
or woman and pick up the Bible and I'll guarantee you you'll
find the thickest pages in the book are in the Psalms there's a reason for that Bob
when we read the Psalms we can go with the man after God's own
heart into his closet and hear him say things we want to say
but don't dare say Is your mercy clean gone forever? My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? We never say it because we're
not honest enough to speak plainly as the psalmist did, and perhaps
we shouldn't. But the fact is we often, often
find ourselves thinking the Lord has abandoned us. But he never has. And it never
does. Sometimes the sun is hidden from
us. It's always there. But when the
earth turns, it's darkness and you see the sun no more. When
there's a cloud overhead, you see the sun no more. And sometimes
he who is the glory of Israel removes his manifest presence
and stands, as it were, behind us rather than in front of us.
That's what I want to talk about today. What trouble it is when
God isn't there. John Newton wrote amazing grace
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. He wrote these
words as well. How tedious and tasteless the
hours when Jesus no longer I see. Sweet prospects, sweet birds
and sweet flowers have all lost their sweetness to me. This midsummer
sun shines but dim. The fields strive in vain to
look gay. But when I am happy in Him, December's
as pleasant as May. But even when the Lord God seems
to have utterly forsaken us, He's with us. When you can't
see Him, He's still there, fighting for us, saving us, and doing
us good. That's the message of Exodus
14, verses 19 and 20. Read it with me. The angel of
God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind
them. And the pillar of cloud went
from before their face and stood behind them. And it came between
the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. And there
was a cloud and darkness to them, a cloud and darkness to the Egyptians. But it gave light by night to
these, so that the one came not near the other all the night. Israel is at the edge of the
Red Sea. God commanded them to go forward,
to go forward into the sea, and God would open the sea before
them. But as they marched toward the sea, Pharaoh and his armies
are hot on their backs, and the angel of the Lord came and stood
behind them. Creating darkness and confusion
for the Egyptians, but for the children of Israel giving them
light to walk in their way Hold your hands here in Exodus and
turn to Isaiah chapter 52 I want us to look at two or three passages
here in Isaiah that are similar to this Isaiah chapter 52 verse
9 Break forth into joy Seen together,
ye waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord hath comforted his
people. He hath redeemed Jerusalem. For
the Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
God. Depart ye, depart ye. Go out from thence. Touch no
unclean thing. Go ye out of the midst of her.
Forsake, abandon Babylon. God set you free. Be ye clean
that bear the vessels of the Lord. For ye shall not go out
with haste. nor by flight, for the Lord will
go before you, and the God of Israel will be your re-reward."
That word re-reward is the word rearward. It means God, the God
of Israel will be your rear guard. He will be your guard towards
the rear. the Lord God is sometimes out
of sight he sometimes is behind us but he's still the Lord our
God still fighting for and protecting his people look in Isaiah 58
verse 8 Then shall thy light break forth
as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily,
and thy righteousness shall go before thee. The glory of the
Lord shall be thy rear guard. The glory of the Lord shall be
thy rear guard. Then shalt thou call, and the
Lord shall answer. Thou shalt cry, and he shall
say, Here I am, verse 11, and the Lord shall guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones, and thou
shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose
waters fail not. Verse 13, If thou turn away thy
foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day,
and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, the sabbath,
our sabbath, is Christ the Lord. And we call God's sabbath a delight
when we rest in Him, looking to Him alone as our Savior, He
who is the holy of the Lord. who make him honorable, and thou
shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own
pleasure, nor speaking thine own words. We forsake our way,
our words, our work, our will, and we follow him who is our
delight, our Sabbath, resting in him. Then shalt thou delight
thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high
places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob
thy father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. One
more passage. Turn back just a few pages to
Isaiah 54. Truly, God's manifest presence
is our great joy. How sweet to walk knowingly in
the presence of God day by day. If God smiles, none can make
me miserable. But if God hides his face, none
can give me joy. Still, though we see neither
the cloud by day nor the flame by night, God our Savior is with
us. God our Savior is fighting for
us. God our Savior is, even as he
hides his face, saving us by his grace. Look at Isaiah 54
verse 7. For a small moment have I forsaken
thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little
wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment. But with everlasting
kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
For this is as the waters of Noah unto me. For as I have sworn
that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so
have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke
thee. For the mountains shall depart,
and the hills shall be removed, but my kindness shall not depart
from thee. Neither shall the covenant of
my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted! tossed with
tempest, and not comforted. Behold, I will lay thy stones
with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And
I will make thy windows of gates, and thy gates of carbuncles,
and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children
shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace
of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be
established. Thou shalt be far from oppression,
for thou shalt not fear, and from terror, for it shall not
come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather
together, but not by me. Whosoever shall gather together
against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created
a smith that bloweth the coals in the fire. and that bringeth
forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the waster
to destroy. Now watch verse 17. Oh my God, oh my God, how you
proved yourself true. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn This is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of me
saith the Lord Now give me your attention for just a few minutes
and I want to make three statements Regarding our text here in Exodus
14 Number one sometimes our dear Savior wisely though mysteriously
for reasons that he makes known to us in time removes himself
from before us Moses tells us in verse 19 of Exodus 14 the
angel of God which went before the camp of Israel removed and
went behind them so that suddenly the visible, comforting, assuring
symbol of God's presence was removed from before Israel. Just as the fearful Israelites
could feel the hot breath of Pharaoh's horses pulling the
chariots of those armies of Egypt pursuing after them, just when
they were most needful of his presence, he withdrew and went
behind them. Suddenly, the pillar is gone suddenly the visible consolation
the physical means of peace was gone as they were obeying God's
command God said go forward and they were going forward as they
were obeying God doing what God said he stepped behind them sometimes
We are privileged to walk in the light of God's countenance,
enjoying sweet fellowship with Christ our Redeemer, bathing
our souls in the consolation of His Spirit, when suddenly
we look up and see nothing but darkness. I read this chapter and I'm reminded
of the cry of the beloved spouse in the Song of Solomon. I sought
him, but I found him not. Everything seemed bright and
cheerful. We expected to go on from strength
to strength and from victory to victory until at last we came
to the mount of God and everything was well. But it didn't turn
out that way. Suddenly, when everything's just
going exactly like you thought it would. When everything's just
exactly as you expected God to do it. Darkness. Sudden, thick darkness. Nothing but darkness. And nothing
seems sure. Clouds return, fears assail,
and like Job, we're forced to cry, oh, that I knew where I
might find him. As Newton again expressed it,
we start to look within. And when we start to look within,
that's always a mistake. Because when we start to look
within, we see nothing to give us any peace. And we cry with
tears. Tis a point I long to know. Oft it causes anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I his or am I not? Was all
of this just fake? Was all of this just a pretense? Was all of this just hypocrisy? The Lord hides his face and God's
promise seems to fall to the ground. Our circumstances seem
to contradict every promise. Our hearts sink to the depths.
Christ, the foundations be destroyed. What can the righteous do? We
begin to call into question the very Word of God, which calls
us to hope. We have said, this is our God
forever and ever. He will guide us even unto death.
But when He withdraws from us, nothing seems sure. Doth His
promise fail forevermore? And like David we cry, why art
thou so far from helping me? I know some of you know what
I'm talking about. The trouble may be caused by
outward trials. It may be caused by personal
faults. It may be caused by inward corruption. It may be caused
by physical things or by spiritual things. Certainly in David's
case There were outward trials and inward corruptions when he
kept silence and refused to confess his sin but when God hides his
face you Pick up the book and you try to read and you read
and you read and you read Wait a minute, and you go back and
you read and you read and And the pages might just as well
be blank. Because God doesn't speak. You
come to the house of God to hear his word, hoping maybe for a
word from heaven, but when your pastor stands to preach, other
folks seem to profit by it, but all you hear is the voice of
a man. You try to pray, and the heavens are brass. There's no
light, just darkness. What are you to do in such circumstances?
The very worst thing to do is what we're most prone to do.
We're most prone to turn our eyes within. Look out of yourself. When there's nothing you can touch or feel
and look at it and say, now there! That's the reason! That's the
reason! I have comfort and peace. Look
out of yourself, out of this world to Christ on his throne
and believe him. Believe God. That's what he tells
us to do in Isaiah chapter 50. Who is among you that feareth
the Lord? Just listen. That obeyeth the voice of his
servant. That walketh in darkness and hath no light. Who is it? You fear the Lord, you obey him.
You walk in darkness and have no light. He says let him trust
in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. The Israelites
here were in a time of dark necessity. Never did they more need light.
Never did they more need the assurance of God's presence.
But just at the time of their greatest need, He removed Himself
and went behind them. Why? They must have thought,
the Lord's forsaken us. The Lord's going to punish us
now for murmuring and unbelief. But that wasn't the case. The
fact is our God often sends his messengers of love on the black
horse of trouble and sorrow. For the believer, darkness of
soul is not the result of God's anger. But darkness of soul is
the fruit of God's mercy, love, and grace. It is intended to
do us good. We like to talk about living
on the mountain, underneath the starry sky. And thank God for
those blessed, sweet, mountaintop experiences. But I've discovered
something since I started coming to California. Now, we've got
a lot prettier mountains back east than y'all got over here.
Man, the Appalachian Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, oh, they're
spectacular. The Smoky Mountains, oh, they're
spectacular. But our mountains look like molehills. Our mountains like this. Your
mountain's up here. But I tell you what I discovered,
driving across the high mountains, going from Nevada, Reno, Nevada,
somebody picked me up at the airport and they were driving
over into California. The air up there is thin. And you get real busy. And nothing
grows up there. Nothing grows up there. It just
has sort of a good feeling because you're lightheaded. Things grow
in the valley. And God graciously, generally
keeps his church in the valley among the myrtle trees where
she grows. He has a reason for the things
he does. He sends trouble to teach us patience. He sends trials
to teach us faith. He sends difficulties to destroy
our self-confidence. He sends woes to make us seek
Him, to excite our desires after Him. And He sends these things
to make us tender and sympathetic to others when they walk in darkness. When the clouds in the fiery
pillar removed from before the children of Israel and went behind
them, it was because it was most needed behind them. That's where the pillar of cloud
and the pillar of fire was needed that night. Not in front of them,
behind them. So it is with us. When God removes
his manifest presence, there's always a needs before it. God
in Israel sows the seeds of affliction, pain, and toil. These spring
up and choke the weeds that would else or spread the soil. Again,
hold your hands in Exodus 14 and turn to the Song of Solomon.
Song of Solomon chapter 4. The angel of God went and stood
behind them. When the Lord Jesus hides his
self from us for a moment, he does so only to make himself
more valuable to us and to draw our hearts out after him. Song
of Solomon chapter 4, here is the church And she cries, Awake,
O north wind, come thou south, blow upon my garden, that the
spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his
garden and eat his pleasant fruits. That's exactly how we pray as
we come together in God's house. Oh, blessed Savior, come here,
gather your fruits in this place, show yourself here. And so he
responds. Chapter 5 verse 1 He says I'm
coming to my garden my sister my spouse I've gathered my myrrh
with my spice. I've eaten my honeycomb with
my honey I have drunk my wine with my milk eat old friends
drinking drink abundantly Oh beloved come feast with me verse
2 and we respond I sleep but my heart waketh It's the voice
of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister,
my love, my dove, my undefiled, for my head is filled with dew,
and my locks with the drops of the night. And when he calls,
Brother Eric, it's not that we sometimes respond this way, we
always respond this way. I put off my coat. Don't bother
me right now. How shall I put it on? I've washed
my feet. How shall I defile them? But
blessed be his name. He's promised I'll never leave
thee nor forsake thee. He's promised never to leave
us to ourselves. How I rejoice, Brother Cass,
that God didn't leave me to myself, but sweetly forced me into the
arms of his dear son. And how I thank God these 50
years he still doesn't leave me to myself, but sweetly, graciously
forces me into the arms of his son. How so? My beloved put his
hand by the hole of the door. He stuck his hand right in my
heart. He stuck his hand right in my
heart. I'm told by the historians in ancient times, they didn't
have locks on doors like we do, but the fellow who built the
house had a lock that he just maneuvered with his fingers.
He knew the tumblers and he opened the door himself without any
key. The key was his hand. Whether that's so or not, I don't
know, but this is so I know. The only time our hearts open
to him is when he puts his hand in the hole of the door. I rose up to open to my beloved,
and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers were sweet smelling
myrrh upon the handles of the lock. Oh, it's Him! It's Him! Yeah, the Savior's here! And I opened to my beloved. But
my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone. Then my soul failed. My soul failed when he spake.
I sought him but I could not find him. I called him but he
gave me no answer. There's a reason for that. He's
graciously forcing you to seek Him. He's graciously making you
desire Him. He's graciously compelling you
to follow after Him. The watchman, the pastor, God's
servants that went about the city found me. And they smoked
me. That's what preachers are supposed
to do. I know folks go to church to feel good. Our purpose is
to make you feel bad. And make you flee to Christ to
feel good. They smoked me. They wounded me. How's that?
The keepers of the wall took away my veil from me. Not to expose me to others like
me, but to expose me to myself. And now listen to this, I charge
you, oh daughters of Jerusalem, you who know my Redeemer, if
you find my beloved, tell him, tell him something for me. Tell
him my heart breaks for him. Tell him I'm sick of love. Now,
back here in Exodus 14. Let me show you another thing. I've already hinted at it, but
I want you to see it clearly. Though the pillar of cloud and
the pillar of fire was not seen. Though it was removed from before
them, it was with them still. We're told that the angel of
the Lord removed, but he removed and went behind them. He was
just as much there as he was when they could see him clearly.
He went behind them in the rear, and just as plainly He was with
them as when He went before them. It appeared that He had forsaken
them, but He was fighting for them. The sun was hidden from
their eyes, but He was still their sun and their shield behind
them. The glory of the Lord was their
rear guard. Now hear me, children of God. the Lord is with you still and
fighting for you and saving you and serving your soul Michael when everything around
you is black and dark and you can't see a thing people talk about feeling close
to the Lord sometimes I do but not often not often that's not
been my experience But close to Him I am always, I have His
word for it. When you're sighing and crying
after Him, those very sighs and cries after Him are the fruit
of His secret presence. It may be in fact, I suspect
it is indeed, that he's more really near when we think he's
forsaken us and when our hearts break for him than when we are
at ease in Zion and speak confidently about everything look at the
last line of verse 19 Moses tells us that the pillar of cloud went
from before their face and stood behind them. Oh, I like that. It stood fixed
behind them. The angel of the Lord, shrouded
in the cloud, stood with his drawn sword at the rear of Israel,
saying to Pharaoh and his armies, proceed no further. You shall
not touch my chosen. He lifted up the shield before
Pharaoh, and it was a shield of darkness, and held it up before
them all night long so that that tyrant and those who were with
him couldn't see, much less harm Israel. All the night, Pharaoh's
horses chomped at the bit. And they pulled their horsemen,
the chariot drivers, jerked the reins and pulled them and drove
them and drove them and pulled them and whipped them and beat
them and the horses roared and did all they could. But all they
did was circle around in circles chasing each other's tails. They
couldn't even see Israel. No harm came to them. Then they
were still as a stone, till all thy people passed over. O Lord,
till the people passed over whom thou hadst purchased. The Lord
stood there behind the children of Israel, and there their enemies
couldn't touch them. So it is with us. There are times when we can see
nothing before us to give us hope or joy or peace. And if we're honest, there's
never a time when we can see anything in us to give us hope
or joy or peace. Never. Never. People talk about evidences. If you find any in you, let me
know, will you? But I love my brethren, love
them enough to give you peace with God. But I love Christ,
love him enough to give you peace with God. Oh no, there's nothing
in us that we can look to, no experience, no knowledge, nothing
that we've done to give us peace. Nothing out of us to give us
peace. Nothing to give us comfort. What do you do? You look to Him
and you believe God. He has said, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. And I can't tell you much with
certainty, but I can tell you this with certainty. I believe
on the Son of God, do you? I have no hope before God but
Christ. No righteousness but Christ.
No sanctification but Christ. No holiness but Christ. No redemption
but Christ. I rest my soul on Him. And my lack of seeing And feeling
and doing doesn't change God's word one bit. He said, he that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. I believe on the Son of
God. I have everlasting life. Well,
what do you do in such times? Watch this. Here's the children
of Israel. The Red Sea is in front of them.
Pharaoh's horsemen. They're terrified. Scared to
death to turn around and look back. If they had just done this.
Oh! There he is! Everything's alright.
Everything's alright. There he is! Just as real as
he was yesterday. He's right behind us. What do
you do in the midst of the horrible darkness? Look back. As surely as God has worked for
you, He's still working for you. His electing love, Christ redeeming
blood, His saving grace, His preserving us thus far is the
sure word of His grace that He will continue to be with us and
never forsake us. Surely, surely. God chose me. Christ redeemed
me, the Spirit of God called me by His grace. He forgave me of all my sin,
all the wonders of His providence that I see. Surely, surely, surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. I just turned 67. I said the
other day I was preaching somewhere. Where was I? I was in Indiana. Preaching Thursday night in Indiana
for my friend. And I told folks I'm 65 now. I lied to them. I
just turned 67. I didn't really lie to them.
I just got confused. But I look back over my life. All of it. All of it. All of it. And I see nothing
but Christ. All he's done for me is goodness
and mercy. His goodness and mercy chasing
me all the days of my rebellion until it chased me into His arms.
And His goodness and mercy shall chase me, shall pursue me, shall
follow me all the days of my life and when goodness and mercy
have done their work I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Some years ago, I was preaching
in Great Falls, Montana, where Brother John Mitchell was pastor
for so long. And we went on a fishing trip. We took floaters, took
rafts, and went down the Missouri River, fished all day. It was
cold as in the fall of the year. It'd be cold in Montana. It had
drizzled rain all day long. The only person who caught a
fish was me. And I caught him in an area where it had to be
22 inches long before you take him out, so I had to throw him back in.
I was the only one caught one. It was a miserable day except
for the company. But we got done, packed up the rest and we were
probably 40-50 miles from Great Falls and started home. Still
drizzling rain. It was getting late in the evening
and I saw something I'd never seen before. I saw a full spectrum
rainbow touching the ground over here. and touching the ground
over there and we drove right through it. I'd never seen one
before. And you know what we did? About two minutes, drove
right through another one just like it. Just like it. I was
scheduled to preach the next night. I just had to preach on
the rainbow around the throne. Revelation chapter 4. But the
rainbow wouldn't be near so precious if you saw it all the time. It
wouldn't be so much an assuring token of God's covenant certainty
if you saw it all the time. But you see the rainbow only
after the rain. Only after the cloudy day. Only
after the day of dreariness. And God speaks and says, I have
made a covenant for you. Order in all things and sure
and that covenant is all my salvation and all my desire Now one last
thing Look at verse 20 Exodus 14 and
see that the Lord's presence was sweetly revealed when the
time was just right and And it came to pass between the camp
of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and it was cloud and
darkness to them. But it gave light by night to
these, so that the one came not near the other all the night. Can you imagine Israel's joy
when they saw the pillar of fire before them? Lighting the night
in front of them? The children of Israel were commended
of God, go forward! But they were required to go
forward to meet the Red Sea by faith. Trusting nothing but God's
word. Oh hey, God said I'm going to
take you across that sea. That's all they had. And if they
would go by faith, they must go with no signs and no tokens. So the pillar of fire and the
pillar of cloud, the angel of the Lord, step behind them. Step behind them. And they fixed
it so they didn't have any choice but to obey. The only choice
they had was either to face the Red Sea and step into that sea
or turn around and face Pharaoh and the Egyptian armies. Only
choice they had. And God said, go forward! Go
forward! Believe me! Now listen to me. God commands his own to walk
by faith, trusting Christ. And God's going to fix it so
that you do. God's going to force it. He's
going to force you, if you're His, to trust His side. The pillar
of fire withdrew from before them and went behind them. But
you see, faith performs her greatest feats in the darkest places. The Spirit of God says by his
servant Moses, the flood stood upright as an heap and the depths
were congealed in the heart of the sea. Yet the children of
Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea and the
waters were a wall unto them on the right hand and on their
left. Now you try to picture this.
Here you are. The Red Sea, which normally is
not a terribly big thing. The Red Sea, by the hand of God,
is now in turmoil. And God sends a strong wind and
it blows upon that sea until the waters of the Red Sea stand
up on both sides. A wall of water standing there. And God says, alright, go across
the sea. I would dare say that it would
be far more likely that I would step into the stormy sea out
of a little boat and walk across the sea to the Lord Jesus than
that I would walk into that red sea. Walls of water standing
on both sides. I mean, you see them, they're
just standing there. God's holding them up. the path
through the sea. And the children of Israel walked
through that sea and didn't even get any mud on their feet. They
walked by faith, believing God. Millions of them, all at one
time. Not with fear and trembling.
They didn't run across the sea. They walked through the sea,
believing God. That's faith. All of us want
to be coddled and cuddled like babies all the time. We all love sweet delights. We all like things
to go easy. We all want the promises sealed
to our hearts all the time. If we could have our way, we
wouldn't do anything but eat candy and chocolate cake all
the time. And we'd be rolled into heaven in a stroller. But
our Heavenly Father will not have it so. He commands us to
go forward in faith. He commands us to grow in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And He graciously
sees to it that we grow. Job. Oh, what a man Job was. What a man Job was. But Job could
never have been the man he was. When you get to the end of the
book of Job, If he hadn't gone through what you read in the
first two chapters of the Book of Job, he could have never been
the man he was. We would never have known the
name of Abraham. had he not been called out of
Ur-Chaldees called to forsake his father and his mother and
all his kinmen and his homeland and then forced by God's hand
to obey the call and at last made to sacrifice even his son
Isaac and only then After all those things did Abraham meet
the Savior and learn his name to be Jehovah Jireh, God who
provides, God who sees, and God who is seen in the provision
he makes. Jehovah-Jireh, my Savior, that's
Him! Abraham knew Jesus Christ as
Jehovah-Jireh only because God sent him through such trials.
At the best, most suitable time when patience has done her perfect
work through manifold trials the Lord appears in his great
glory and grace and gives light by night to his own just as he
did to the children of Israel here in Exodus 14 Israel knew
his presence though no token of his presence was before them they're walking through the sea God's with us now. Look at their
waters. God's with us now. No token of
his presence. The Lord's still behind them.
Israel walked in the light, though everything around them was darkness.
Israel walked in the light in a straight path, while the Egyptians
were utterly confused by darkness. Let me tell you an experience. 10 years ago, 9 or 10, I'm sure
I can tell you for sure. You all recall when I had to
have the heart surgery, I had a lot of complications. And the
complications caused other complications. And I had an experience I'd never had before
and haven't had since. For two weeks, for two weeks,
God wouldn't speak to me and God wouldn't let me speak to
Him. And it wasn't for lack of trying. The heavens were brass
and there was nothing but darkness around me. Shelby every morning
would read scriptures to me and we'd pray. She'd pray, I'd try. She'd read Spurges morning and
evening. I don't like her to read my stuff to me. And on the
second day of May, Spurgeon's morning reading was taken from
Jeremiah from John 17 and verse 15 And when I heard her read the
text for the first time in two weeks God spoke The Savior said I pray not that
thou shouldest take them out of the world But that thou shouldest
keep them from the evil God calls for us to cast all our care upon
Him who cares for us. But we won't do it. We just won't
do it. We won't do it. We'll run everywhere
we can to do everything we can do to figure out every way we
can to accomplish God's purpose. We will do everything we can
to step in the way and put ourselves in the way until at last you
brought to your wits end and all you do is lift your heart
to heaven and cry to God and as soon as you do he comes in
his mercy and grace and makes himself known the Lord God Almighty
our Savior has removed all our iniquities,
transgressions and sins from us. He's cast them behind His
back and we will soon sing from our hearts perfectly, He hath
triumphed gloriously. And we will rejoice to know and confess He hath done all things well. All of this. All of this. All
of this. God did to bring me to glory. All of this. All of this God
does to sweetly force me into the arms of the Savior. Now look
at the last two verses of Exodus 14. When we are made to know finally
in heaven's glory that the Lord Jehovah has been our rear guard
all the day and he shines in everlasting light before us We
will sing, thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand
of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians
dead upon the shore. And Israel saw that great work
which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the Lord
and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. Amen.