Good evening. As most of you are aware, our
pastor has been in New Jersey this weekend preaching at the
Bible Conference where Brother Clay Curtis pastors, and he and
his family are going to take a few days, and they'll be back
here with us this weekend, and Brother Luke will bring the midweek
service message to us. It's good to see you all. Your
brethren in Cottageville, West Virginia, send their greetings.
Told them we send their greetings and You know we rejoice to know
that We love our brethren if you will turn with me for our
message tonight to the book of Exodus chapter 14 Exodus chapter
14 Exodus 14 and verse 13. And 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 ye have
seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The title of our message this
evening is Today. He says, stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today. And my prayer is that that might
happen for us, that the Lord might show to us sinners his
salvation, Now for our message, we're going to look at three
passages where this word today is found. And I pray that by
the grace of God, we'll see his salvation in all three. I truly
pray the Lord will bless his word to us this night. Now first,
here in Exodus 14, we have Moses leading the children of Israel.
out of Egypt. The ten plagues came and Pharaoh
finally said, okay, I'm going to let the children go. Then
they go and they head out into the wilderness and he says, No,
not letting go. And he gets his 600 or so chariots,
and they take off. And here they come. They're chasing
down the children of Israel and Moses. And we'll pick up in verse
10 of our text. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the
children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the 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
that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we
may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us
to serve the Egyptians than that we should die. in the wilderness. As we can imagine, the children
of Israel were scared to death. They were so tired of Pharaoh
and his armies coming after them. And they just, why didn't you
just let us serve him? Why didn't you just, did you
just bring us here to let us die? Was this all for nothing?
That's how they feel. They're afraid. And I hope that
we can see ourselves in them. Many enemies And we're afraid. We get to this point. We become very afraid. But I
love what Moses had to say to them. He had a word of comfort.
Let's read it again. Verse 13. Moses said unto the
people, fear ye not. You know what our Lord says to
his children? Fear not, little flock. God's
doing everything just for you. It's his good pleasure to give
you the kingdom. Why are we so fearful? Oh, you have little
faith. Fear ye not. Fear ye not, stand still. I thought of that song, be still
my soul. Why? The Lord is on our side. All
is well. If the Lord is on our side, all
is well. And this was not only a word
of comfort, but this was a command. We're commanded to be still.
We're commanded, come to Christ, rest in him. We're commanded
to be thankful, and I pray God would cause us to. These things
are so contrary to this flesh. But God is able. God is able. Now, the children of Israel,
they were about to behold firsthand the salvation of the Lord. He
was truly about to deliver them. He was about to do the impossible.
You know, I love this story because you think about the Lord parting
the Red Sea. Is that not amazing? You know,
we read the book and we just think, ah, well that, I don't
know if that really happened. You know, there really was an
ark that eight people and all the animals went and floated
above the mountains, and everybody else died. These things truly
happened, and it's glorious. And I pray that we will see the
power of our God in this. Our Lord is able to deliver us. And I'll point this out. I love
how the end of verse 13 tells us, Moses told the children of
Israel, you're gonna see them today. You'll see Pharaoh and
his army today. But it says, you shall see them
again no more. Forever. Picture of our sins. God's put them away. Christ took
our sins and he buried them. They are no more. They are no
more. Now, as Moses told the children of Israel to stand still,
we likewise must stand still. Again, we're so fearful. Trust thou in God. I pray God
will help us too, that he will cause us to. You know, you're
looking at my biggest enemy. I've got many enemies, but this
is the biggest one right here. I've got two, I've got a battle
going on in here. A battle that I can't fight,
a battle that is the Lord's. And look at verse 14, it says,
the Lord shall fight for you. Battle's not mine, it's the Lord's.
The Lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace.
I pray God will cause us to rest in Christ and his finished work.
To be content whatever state we're in. This is the will of
God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Now, the focus of our message
is that word today. The children of Israel have been
through so much. It just seemed like it was never
gonna end for them. And we just don't, we just don't
understand. We just can't enter into what
they went through. We really can't. And right after this,
they, about to spend 40 years in the wilderness, and we know
how that went, don't we? We loathe this library. Lord,
why? What have you done with us? Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. Let me show you this in chapter
15. Chapter 15, verse 1. I wanna show you that they really
did see the salvation of the Lord. I'm not just telling you
this. Chapter 15, verse one says, Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will
sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse
and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my
strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. They saw God's salvation. He
has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare
Him in habitation, my Father's God, and I will exalt Him. They saw the salvation of the
Lord today. Oh, wouldn't it be something
if God shows us the salvation of the Lord today? We come here,
and God's pleased by His grace to show us. It never ceases to
amaze me. Week after week, He shows us
His salvation. Christ again and again and again. The children of Israel did nothing
but sin, nothing but be afraid. Again, that's me. But God can
show us his salvation and I pray he will. I pray today we might
see it. We might see Christ. And if you
will turn with me to the book of Luke chapter 19. This is the
second account I want us to see. Luke chapter 19. Luke 19, we'll start in verse
one. And Jesus entered and passed
through Jericho, and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus,
which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And
he sought to see Jesus, who he was, and could not. for the press,
because he was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed
up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that
way. And when Jesus came to the place,
he looked up and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make
haste and come down. For today, I must abide at thy
house. Do you not love that? I never
get tired of reading that story. I must abide at thy house today. Today's the day. I pray today
might be the day. Now, we must see the purpose
of God in all the scriptures. And we certainly must see the
purpose. God shows his salvation to sinners. on purpose. God saves sinners on purpose. God, the Lord Jesus, God manifest
in the flesh, came to Zacchaeus on purpose. Now, this got me
thinking, what must God do? God must do his purpose, right?
Well, what is his purpose? Look over a few chapters at chapter
24, Luke 24. You know, someone might stand
and say, God must save everybody. Some, a man might say that. What
does God say he must do? Well, I'm gonna show you. Luke
chapter 24, verse 44. This is our Lord speaking, verse
44, and he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me. What must come to pass? Everything written in this book
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. From Genesis 1 to Revelation
22, there's one message. Jesus Christ crucified. That's the message. Look and
live. There's salvation in Christ and
only in, come see a man. Our salvation is a person. It
is the Lord Jesus Christ, and he must do his will. He must do that which is according
to the eternal purpose of God, and that's the salvation of sinners,
to the glory of his name. God purposed to save Zacchaeus,
and so here we see him come to him. You know, we have loved
ones. I have many. And I pray God would
save them. I did nothing to save myself.
Children of Israel didn't save themselves. Zacchaeus didn't
save himself. Salvation is of the Lord. We beg, we pray, Lord,
be merciful. Lord, be merciful to me and to
my loved ones, to my friends, to my co-workers. Gabe prays
all the time. Lord, I pray that you would show
mercy to this town. The Lord raised up a work here,
and he's able, and we pray he will. but it's gonna be in God's
time. Everything's on God's time. He
can't, yeah, Zacchaeus, he went up, he heard the Lord, he heard
Jesus was coming by, he climbed up in the tree to see, you know,
who he was, and next thing you know, the Lord came to him. The
Lord came to him, and we're gonna see what happened next. Well,
I want us to consider, who is this man, Zacchaeus, if you'll
turn back to Luke 19? Who was this man? Why did the
Lord come to him? Luke 19 verse 2 tells us that
Zacchaeus was the chief among the publicans. He was a publican. He was a tax collector. He was
a sinner. Publicans and sinners go hand
in hand. Our Lord dwelt with publicans and sinners. This man
received the sinners. Praise God. Praise God. This man was a sinner. He was
an evil man. That's what sinners are. That's
what I am, evil man. The end of verse 2 tells us that
he was rich. He was a sinner, and he was rich. What shall it
profit us to gain the whole world, lose our soul? If this night our soul is required
of us, what good is all this going to be? What's it going
to mean in that day? Verse 3 tells us Latin. Zacchaeus
was little of stature. He was short. He was a little
man. That's why he climbed into the tree. He couldn't see. He
had no ability. We must see ourselves in this
man. I'm a sinner. Christ came to save sinners,
of whom I'm chief. I'm an evil man. I think I'm
rich. Do we not covet whatever we have?
I got a better job. Make more money. Shouldn't I
make more money? We want more. We're not satisfied
with anything. We always want more. We think
we have something. And really, this word rich, we
think we've got some goodness in us. We don't. Scriptures are
very plain. There's nothing good in this
flesh. Nothing pleasing to God. Not in me. Only by the grace
of God. This man Zacchaeus, he was a
sinner, he was rich, but in reality, He was nothing. He was so small. He was so insignificant. Like
Paul said, I'm nothing. And that's us. That's got to
be what I am. How hardly shall they that have
riches enter into the kingdom of heaven. We must be small enough
to pass through the eye of a needle. That's what the Lord said. He
said the way is straight and narrow. The way is Christ. We
must be sinners, mercy beggars at the feet of Christ. And just
as our Lord came to Zacchaeus, and he said, I must abide in
your house today, there's a time called the time of love when
the Lord has purposed to reveal himself to each chosen sinner
he came to save. Again, I pray today might be
the day. For somebody, it may not be here,
but I pray somewhere, God's speaking life into a dead sinner. Just like he said, Lazarus, come
forth. Oh, I pray he'll cause a sinner somewhere to come forth
this day. Look at verse five. When Jesus
came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said unto
him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide
at thy house. He was commanded to make haste. He was commanded to come down. God commands, we're commanded,
believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another
as he gave us commandment. Well, what did Zacchaeus do? What was his response? Look at
verse six. And he made haste and came down. God commanded
and he came. God makes his people willing
in the day of his power. Praise his name. You will not
come to me that you might have life. No man can come to me,
except the Father which has sent me draw him. He commanded, and
he came. Can we relate to him? I would never come to him had
he not drawn me with everlasting cords of love. That's the only
way we're going to come. And I love this, he wasn't commanded
to receive him joyfully. But you notice this, just look
at it. Verse six, he made haste and came down and received him
joyfully. If we ever find ourselves by
the grace of God coming to Christ, you know how we're gonna receive
him? Joyfully. If that doesn't put a smile on
your face, I don't know what will. He receives his people
joyfully. Oh, we receive him joyfully. We love him. We really do love
him. But it's only because he first loved us. And that love,
that goodness of God drew us to him. And praise God, we're
never gonna leave his side. Look down at verse nine with
me. Jesus said unto him, this day is salvation. come to this house, for so much
as he also is a son of Abraham, for the son of man has come to
seek and to save that which was lost." You know, Zacchaeus wasn't
this man who was found and he had it all together. He was a
firm believer. God said he was lost. He came
to him to save that which was lost. He came to save sinners. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. Are you sick? Oh, Lord. Show
me my need of you, and he'll meet every need we could ever
have in Christ. He did for Zacchaeus this day
as salvation come to this house. I pray that salvation might come
to this house, to this house. Everybody here, we have children.
May salvation come to their house. Oh, I pray that it would. Now,
the last passage I want us to look at is a couple pages over
in Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23, and look with
me at verse 42. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today Shalt thou be with me in paradise
today. Does that not bless your heart?
Today, you're going to be with me in paradise. What a promise. What assurance. You know, we're
so prone to look everywhere for assurance except Christ. There's
no assurance anywhere else. What assurance? This man had
more assurance than any of us. He said, today. Today. Lord, come quickly. You know,
today might be the day. We really don't think that, do
we? Today might be the day. No man knoweth the hour when
the Son of Man cometh. We just don't know. I pray today
might be the day. One thing I got to thinking about
was, I envy that. I really do, because I prayed
the Lord would come today. You know, we think we've got this
life to live. And we do. We might, if the Lord permits. We've got a life to live. But
we've got a death to die. And this man was, he was about
to die. And I envy him because of the
blessed promise the Lord made to him. You say, well, Cody,
don't you know who this man was? Yeah, we're told a little bit.
And we're about to look at who he was. But I envy that man. You know, God's people, we, we,
paradise awaits us. It's never entered into the heart
of man, the things God prepared for them that love him. We've
got, paradise awaits us, it absolutely does. But today, today, thou
shalt be with me in paradise. Who was this man? Why did the
Lord say that to him? Look at verse 39. And one of
the malefactors, These were two malefactors, convicted criminals,
thieves, potentially murderers. They were being put to death
for sins that they committed. Verse 39, one of the malefactors,
which were hanged, railed on him, saying, if thou be Christ,
save thyself and us. But the other, this is the man
to whom our Lord was speaking, but the other, answering, rebuked
him. Saying, dost not thou fear God,
seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man, oh, let me tell you about this
man. But this man hath done nothing amiss. This thief, this criminal, He
was hanging on a cross right beside our Lord. Our Lord was
numbered with the transgressors. That thief was one of them. I'm
one of them, by the grace of God. You know, as far as this
world goes, we don't envy criminals, do we? We don't envy people on
death row. This man was on death row, literally. And yet he had nothing to fear. You know what he did? To have
no fear, he didn't do a thing. Lord, Lord, look at all these
wonderful works I've done. Which work do you think this
thief boasted of? Really, our Lord said, today you'll be with
me in paradise. If boasting's not excluded, what did he have
to recommend him to God? Nothing, nothing, it's all by
the grace of God. He saw Jesus Christ. Everybody else just saw Jesus.
Much the same in our day. Verse 35 says, the people stood
beholding. What did they behold? I'll tell
you what this man beheld. He beheld Jesus Christ crucified.
God gave him faith to see my Savior. My Savior. Everybody else just saw this
self-made king, so they thought, if you come down from that cross,
if God will have you, This was the Son of God and this thief, he saw the salvation of the Lord
with his own eyes. His eyes saw God's salvation. I can tell you this much, the
Lord showed him the salvation of the Lord as he hung on that
cross. Salvation came to his house,
just this house of his body, this flesh. Salvation came to
his house in his dying moments. You know, as long as we've got
a breath to breathe, there's hope. Let's not lose hope. I'm
so prone to lose hope. Let's not lose hope. God, if
he's able to save me, he's able to save anybody. Oh, and I mean
that. And I pray he will. Lastly, I
just want to briefly consider his dying prayer. Verse 42, he
said unto Jesus, Lord, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. Do we know him as Lord? We know
what the scriptures say, God hath made him both Lord and Christ,
but is he my Lord? Can we like Thomas say, my Lord
and my God? Do we know Do we believe, are
we sure that this is that Christ? I pray he would make himself
known to us again. This thief prayed, Lord, remember
me, and I just mentioned he had nothing, he had no claim on God.
Here's our claim on God. Would you be merciful to me?
I'm just a sinner. Lord, be merciful to me. Remember me as a nothing, as
a nobody, begging for your mercy. If you save me, it's not gonna
be because of me. It's gonna be in spite of me.
Look at me. It's gonna be to your glory, my Lord, my God. Verse 43, and Jesus said unto
him, verily I say unto thee, today. I just can't get over
that. That's so glorious to me. Today,
today, shalt thou be with me in paradise. What is paradise?
You know, there's some beautiful places in this world, but there's
no paradise in this world. You got sin everywhere you go.
Anywhere in this world, sin is ever present with us. Paradise
is a person. Notice what the Lord told him.
Today shalt thou be in paradise. Nope. Today shalt thou be with
me. That's paradise. Paradise is
a person. Paradise is being with Christ.
You read about our brethren in the scriptures. Read the Psalms.
What did David say? I'll be satisfied when? When I'm in paradise? No, when
I awake with thy likeness. Where do you want to be? Dwelling
in the Lord's courts. What do you want to do? I want
to sit there at his feet, singing worthy is the lamb that was slain. It's not about us. Heaven is,
it's not just a place, it's a person. The salvation of the Lord, I
said it, I pray God would show us the salvation of the Lord.
It's not a thing, it's a person. It's a person. I pray that today we've seen the
salvation of the Lord. If we have, it's not because
of us. It's not because of me, it's in spite of me. It's in
spite of me. If salvation has yet to come
to your house, oh, may God send it. May God put Christ in us
today. I pray that's been a comfort
to somebody. Amen.