Exodus 14, Exodus 14. Most of the world does not, they
do not believe that there was an actual Exodus of the Jewish
people from Egypt. In fact, most people reject the
whole Bible as being just a Jewish fable. Simon Peter addressed
that. He said, we have not followed
some or made up some cunningly devised fable. He said, we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. We heard a voice. We heard the
father speak to him. And so have God's true people. God's true people have heard
his voice. He speaks. through this word. He doesn't
speak audibly, but he speaks very really and very personally
to all of his people. Our Lord said, my sheep, my sheep,
not goats, my sheep hear my voice. They do, and we've seen his glory. Not completely, not fully, but
we have seen his glory. And all of God's people are going
through this exodus. All of God's true people are
being brought out of the world, and they want out. We're going
to see that all of Israel cried unto the Lord. All Israel. Egypt
wasn't crying unto the Lord. They didn't know the Lord. Didn't
believe there was a Lord. They liked Egypt just fine. But
all of Israel were crying unto the Lord. Look at chapter 14
beginning with verse 5. It's told that the king of Egypt,
Pharaoh, that the people fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and
his servants turned against the people. And they said, why have
we done this, that we've let Israel go from Serbia? And he
made ready his chariot. He took his people with him. the most powerful man on earth
and all of his people and this nation, the richest nation on
earth. That sound familiar? He made ready his chariot, took
his people with him. He took 600 chosen chariots and
all the chariots of Egypt, all the forces he could muster, all
the power that was in his hand to go after and do away with
these These Jews. The captains over everyone read
on. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Why
did he do this? Because the Lord had him do it.
I mean, he did what he willed his evil heart wanted to do and
willed to do, but he did that because God left him to his own
will. left him to his so-called free
will. Free will hates God and hates
God's people and hates the truth, against the truth. So the children
of Israel, now the children of Israel went out with a high hand,
a mighty hand. The hand of God brought them
out. Salvation is up in the Lord. They all knew it. Lord brought
them out, and they're going to see it, their whole journey through
the wilderness of sin. They're going to see the hand
of God in all their lives, just like we have, haven't you? Clearly
seeing the hand of God. You have stories. I have stories.
I should be dead many times. Oh, well, you can only die one
time. But I've been through so many things. I look back, God
spared my life. Can you look back on things like
this? I can't. It's the hand of God. No other
explanation for that. They all came out with a high
hand. And when they were all going out, boy, they were just
so happy and so joyful and so full of faith and assurance and
we're out of here. All our troubles were over. Three
days went by. Verse 9, The Egyptians pursued
after them all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen,
his army, and overtook them, encamping by the sea beside Pi-Hi-Ruth
and the fort at Baal-Ziphon. All the forces of Pharaoh and
Egypt went after Israel. Think about that. They were unarmed.
They're unarmed, poor, former slaves. Listen to what our Lord
said in John. You go to Ephesians 6, and I'll
read to you from John 15. Ephesians 6, you go there. Our Lord said this, Now all of
Pharaoh and Egypt went after, and all the forces that he could
muster went after these people of God. Now, here's what the
Lord Jesus Christ said. And again, I remind you that
the world, when they say these things are
a lie or a fable and all that, they're calling Jesus Christ
a liar. Now, who are you going to believe?
Who do you believe? I believe Jesus Christ, and I
think the world's a bunch of liars. Don't you? Our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the truth, who cannot lie, said this. He said
this. If the world hate you, now this is a private conversation
with his disciple. If the world hate you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own, but because you're not of the
world, but I've chosen you out of the world, like history. Therefore,
the world hateth you. Remember the word I said unto
you, the servant's not greater than his Lord. They persecuted
me. They'll also persecute you. If they've kept my say, if they
believe what I say, they'll keep yours also. But they don't, because
they don't know him. And he said in his prayer to
the Father, listen to this, he prayed to the Father, not for
the world, he's not praying for the world, he's praying for his
people. And he said, they are not of the world. He said to
the father, he said, I've given them thy word, and the world
hath hated them. Why did Egypt hate the Jews so
much? Oh, the Jews were just, just
believed God, just received his word. And they said, we believe
God. They're not of the world, he
said. I've given them thy word, and the world has hated them
because they're not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. They've
got to go through it. But keep them from the evil,
the evil one. Now, we're not wrestling with
flesh and blood. Look at Ephesians chapter 6,
verse 12. Ephesians 6 verse 12, we wrestle
not. Verse 11, put on the whole armor
of God. Where's that fan? What is the
armor of God? Right here. It's in your hand right now.
Put it on. Put it on. Steep yourselves in this word. This is your safety, your protection,
that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
He's got everything at his disposal, and he's after God's people. It's not a fable. God's people
know this. The children of Israel had a
very real adversary that was chasing them. And the world they
went through was very real, the temptations of it, and their
whole life was spent going through this wilderness and all these
temptations. And so it is with God's people.
Very real, from God's words, very true, and from our experience. The world doesn't have an adversary,
folks. The world's friend with the God
of this world. They willingly do his bidding.
I did, I know. Willingly did his bidding. Follow
him, follow the world. We like Egypt just fine. Why
don't y'all want out of this place? God's people were not wrestling
with flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. So take on the armor of God.
The world scoffs and laughs at all this Jewish fable, this nonsense,
this wives' fable about a devil. I didn't say this. Men didn't
say this. God said it. Jesus Christ said
it. And he revealed it to God's people who were born again, going
through this world of sin and all these temptations. He's bringing
them out. And it's very, very real. Very real. Go back to our text. In verse
10, Exodus 14. When Pharaoh drew nigh, the children
of Israel lifted up their eyes. Behold, the Egyptians marched
after them. They were sore afraid, and the
children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be what? Well, whoever doesn't call won't
be saved with her, will perish. Do you call on the name of the
Lord? Is there a day goes by that you
don't call on the name of the Lord? There was a time you never
called on the name of the Lord with her, except to use his name
in vain, right? But God, rich in mercy, came,
chose you, revealed Himself to you, put within you His Spirit,
gave you a new birth, His Word, His promises. You believe God.
And therefore, He's your friend and the world's your enemy. It's very real. All cried unto
the Lord. Every single Israelite was crying,
calling out unto the Lord. Help. Save us from Egypt. Is that you? If we don't call, we're not God's
people. If we don't keep calling, we
don't keep calling. We're not God's people. I call now more than ever. I'm
older now. Surely I've got great faith and
assurance and peace and no worries and doubts and fears. Oh, my. Did you hear Brother Roland's
message from Ecclesiastes 12? The older you get, you start
reverting back to a little child, and your fears come back, and
you cry louder than ever. What do babies do when they come
out of the womb? What's the first thing they do? Why? They're in the world. And then the trouble starts. Oh, your troubles aren't over
when you're born again. They just begin. Troubles with what? Not with God. Your troubles with
God are over. But your troubles in the world,
if you're a new creature born into this world, you're a stranger
in a strange place, a fish out of water, a sheep in the hog
pit, a lot inside of them. Is that you? Is it? They cried. All cried. All cried. Here's what they said. I'm going
to make a shocking statement. Some of you know what I'm talking
about. Listen. Read verses 11 and 12. They said unto Moses,
Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away
to die in the wilderness? Wherefore, why hast thou dealt
thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this what
we said to you, the word we did tell you in Egypt? Say, let us
alone who may serve the Egyptians. It would have been better for
us to serve the Egyptians than die in the wilderness. Better off in Egypt. There's
no fight, no trouble. We weren't having any problems.
And now we're out here, we've got nothing to trouble. Now listen, let me say this so
you understand something about these types and pictures. Israel is a type. of God's people, chosen of God,
called of God, revealed, the truth revealed to them. They
were spoken to by God. Every single one of them were
brought out of Egypt, right? That's a picture of all of God's
true Israel. But Israel is not a perfect type
of God's people. Do you understand? They are not
all Israel of Israel. It wasn't the children of the
flesh that were God's people, but the promise. There was a
remnant in Israel. In fact, Israel mostly represents
professing believers, false religion. Judah was a people of God. Israel, eleven tribes worshipped
a golden calf. Religion for money, in the name
of God. They didn't know God, they didn't
worship God. One out of twelve worshipped the living God and
worshipped the Lamb. That's a picture, isn't it? You
see, no type is perfect. Most of Israel did not go into
the Promised Land. Are you with me? This is the
reason I want you to read all the time 1 Corinthians 10. Don't
let a week go by that you don't read it. Hebrews 1 through 4.
The first four chapters of Hebrews. He uses the Hebrews, the children
of Israel, going through as warnings and promises. Oh, don't let us... He said, they heard the gospel
like we have, didn't they, in Hebrew. Don't let these things
slip. Today is a day of salvation.
On and on it goes through Hebrews 1 through 4. Read that. Please. Please. It's just that serious. Because
most of Israel didn't go into Promised Land. Only two over
the age of twenty. Two adults. And what does that tell us? That
if we don't receive the Word as a little child, we're not
going to enter the Kingdom. In other words, most in here
have heard what I'm saying right now thousands of times. John, we need to hear it like
it's the first time we've ever heard it. You ever tell your
children something? Remember telling your children
something when they're real little and they just, oh, really? Oh. And you promise them something?
Good. You know, Hannah, we'd take her on vacations. She was
just a little child. She was so excited. I can't wait
to get there. How much longer? I mean, we had,
we'd been in the car 30 minutes. How much longer? Isn't that the
way it was when you heard the gospel? How much longer? Oh,
it's just too good to be true. It's just wonderful. And then
you get older. Oh, brothers and sisters, don't
miss Christ. Don't let the world or anybody
or anything in this world fool you into missing Jesus Christ. Don't do it. Don't get swallowed
up by this world. It's a dangerous play. The God
of this world has everything at his disposal and you're easy
pickings. What do you do? Keep calling. Keep crying. Keep believing. Keep looking. Stand still. Sit still. I said it's going to make a shocking
statement. You know, David, in Psalm 73,
I was going to have you turn there, but we don't have time.
In Psalm 73, David is envious of the wicked. You've read it.
We all love it, don't we? Because we have the same thoughts.
He was envious of the prosperity of the wicked. He said, they
don't have troubles like I do. I'm a child of God. I believe God. I've got nothing
but trouble and the world doesn't. He said, I've cleansed my hands
in vain. This is all in vain. I said, no, I can't talk like
that. I'd offend those who have gone on before me. I can't do
that. He said, then I went into the sanctuary. Then I went into
the house of God and a preacher, God sent a preacher, and he stood
up and reminded me of the end. I lost sight of the end. Oh, that they were wise and would
consider this, their latter end. It's not how you begin, it's
how you end. It's not what you have here,
it's what you have laid up there. Have you ever thought, I'd be
better off back in the world. I have less trouble. I wish I'd
never become a believer. I wouldn't have these troubles.
I've had those thoughts. I just quit. I'm tired of this
struggle. I'm tired of this battle. I'm
tired of this constant struggle. I'm going to give up and go back
and just have my way in the world and have fun. This is hard. Anybody? Be honest. I'm the preacher. I'm supposed to be one of the
most honest people in here. I quit. I'm going back. I'm just
going to give in. Give up. Anybody? And if you can, you will. If you can leave, you will. But
if you belong to... Here's the comfort. If you belong
to Jesus Christ, you can't. You can't. If you're a sheep,
you may fall in the ditch, you may fall to sin, you may fall
in the pit again, again, but here's your hope. Here's your
confidence. He'll leave the 99 again after
he'll come out to the war and pick you up out of the ditch.
A sheep may fall in the ditch and get filthy dirty and look
just like a goat, but here's the thing. He hates it. He won't wallow in it. He or
she will help. And what's the Lord do? How's
He do it? Preaching is the power of God.
And He comes and pulls you back out of that slime pit. Cleanse me. David, that's what
David said in Psalm 51, didn't he, John? Cleanse me. Create
in me a clean heart. What's wrong with me? I don't
want to lie in this pit. I don't want to go back to those
slime pits. I don't want to go back to the
dung heap. I want to sit among princes. Is that you? That's
a sheep. Goats love the hog. Pigs love
the hog fence. Sheep don't. Want out? Cleanse me. They all cried. Listen, people. None of you,
if you're a child of God, you wouldn't have come out of this
world if God hadn't chosen you. You wouldn't be here today if
God hadn't chosen you. You wouldn't be here by choice.
You wouldn't be here. And you wouldn't come out if
God hadn't sent a preacher to preach the gospel to you. He
kept telling Moses. How did He bring these people
out? How did He comfort these people? How did He speak to His
people? How did God speak to them? God
never spoke out loud to one of these Israelites. How did He
do it? Through a preacher. He kept sending Moses. Tell them! Tell them again, Moses. None would continue if the Lord
didn't keep telling them these things. Now what did He tell
them? Look at verse 13. Look at verse 13. The first thing the Lord told
Moses to tell the people was, fear ye not. Does that sound familiar? How
many times have you heard that? You know, our Lord said that
to His disciples more than anything else. He was constantly telling
them, fear not. Why? Why does He keep telling
them? Because this world is a fearful place. We have a fearsome enemy. We have a fearsome enemy inside
of us. This scares me to death. Don't let him have me. Do you say that? Do you say that
to the Lord? Lord, don't let this old man
in me have me. He had me. I don't want to go
back there. Do you? Isaiah 8. Listen to all these.
And you know, I'm my own worst critic. It's
not a message I've ever preached. I don't go home and grieve over
it. How I should have said it or didn't say it or what I said
or how I didn't say it or something I misquoted or whatever. But
brothers and sisters, I mean this with all my heart. I'm serious
about this because it's very serious. It's very serious. Today is the day of salvation.
Right now, what the Lord said to these Israelites, He's saying
to us right now, if you hadn't been here, you wouldn't have
heard this. That's how important it is. If you hadn't been here,
you wouldn't have heard this. It's not the same. Mixer is not
the same. People use that as an excuse
not to come to be with God's people. God won't bless that. Isaiah 8, listen to this, verse
11. The Lord spake thus to me with
a strong hand, instructed me that I should not
walk in the way of the people that these people say, and say
not of confederacy. Don't join up with them. Don't
be unequally yoked with them. Don't do it. Confederacy. What do you think of when you
think of the confederacy? Rebels. I want to break the union. They lost it. Don't say Confederacy. Don't fear their fear. Verse
12, don't fear their fear. Whatever the world's afraid of,
don't fear it. But be afraid of what they're
not afraid of. What? God. Yeah. They don't fear God. They don't
know God. They don't fear missing God.
They don't care. I fear missing the Lord, missing God, missing
salvation more than anything else. Don't fear their fear. Verse
13, sanctify the Lord of hosts himself. Let him be your fear.
Let him be your dread. And you know what he'll be? He'll
be a sanctuary. My dog, Abner, he loved me. I loved him. I bought him, taught
him, brought him, kept him, trained him. He constantly sitting at
my feet. Every now and then he'd run off.
Every now and then he'd act like a dog. That's what dogs do. One time I caught him in a pack
of dogs. Dogs that were nothing but trouble. And he was right
in the middle of it. And I, all I had to do was call
him. I didn't have to call his name.
Come. And out of all those dogs, one
dog came up to me. You know, he'd come, he'd come
quickly. Like Peter, dove out of the boat
to get to Craig. Even though he'd gone back. He dove out of the boat. My dog
would come running to me, but he'd look like he was so contrite. He didn't have a tail, he had
a little stub, but he'd tuck that under. He'd hang his ears,
his ears hanged over. He'd get just as close to me
as he could. He knew I should have just whacked him, whacked
him. I loved him. I loved it. He knew
it. He knew he deserved it. I didn't do it. But he'd get
just as close to me as he could, like, I'm sorry, I won't do it
again. I don't know what's going to come over me. That's God's people. The Lord
taketh pleasure in them that fear Him. Fear not their fear,
but fear Him. Look at verse 13. Fear ye not
the world. He's saying, but fear God. Stand
still and see the salvation of the
Lord. Stand still. Go to Isaiah 30 with me. Isaiah 30. Stand still. Sit still. Be still. That's foreign language to this
world today. Sit. That's the first thing I
taught my dog. Sit. Lie down. And I taught him to follow me. He'll, if he doesn't, he's going
to get in trouble. And he did. Most of the time. Every time
he didn't, he got in trouble. Okay? But the world is busy,
busy, busy. Let's go here. Where are you
going? We'll go after them. What are you going after? This
is the way. It's destruction. That's what
that is. I saw a sign on a man's-this
is very revealing-a sign on the back of a man's pickup truck
along with 400 other signs of everything he believed and didn't
believe, you know, coexist and, you know. A sign said, I don't
know where I'm going, but I'm going there as fast as I can. That's the world. That's this
world. You know what your strength is?
You know what your salvation is? You know where you'll get
strength and where you'll get comfort and where you'll get
courage and where you'll get faith and hope and be without
fear of this world? Sit still. Stand on the promises. What you're doing right now.
Look at Isaiah 30 verse 7. Verse 7, Isaiah 30, the Egyptians'
help is in vain. They're just men. It's to no purpose. So I cried
concerning this, their strength is to sit still. Come. Get out of the rat race. Get
out of that cage. You ever seen those rats and
hamsters? You ever have a hamster? What's he doing? Why does he
stay in that gate? Why does that hamster keep staying
in that gate? What's wrong with him? Look,
hey hamster, get out of there. You're not going anywhere. Hey
neighbor, this is an unending circle, a vicious cycle. What
are you doing? Where are you going? What are you after? We come, we sit still, and the
Lord says He brings us out and sits us down. Enclosed in our
right mind, we hear who God is, what man is, what this world
is. See the pits, the traps, the
snares. Our eyes are open. Our ears are
open. Our eyes are set in the right
direction. Our faith is in the right one,
only one. It gives us wisdom and understanding
and knowledge and peace. And that's my next message. That's
the reason one. That's the whole Bible for God's
people. Look at verse 15, Isaiah 30. Thus saith the Lord God, the
Holy One of Israel, in returning, and returning. What do you mean
returning? We go out in the world, don't we? We go out in the world. We go out to... We're in the
world. We're not out of the world. How
do you know? How do you know God's people? They return. They return. The sheep go in and out. The shepherd lets the sheep out
of the fold and they go out there. But what do they do at night? What do they do? They come back
in the fold. That's how you know. So, he said, in quietness and
in confidence. You are forced to sit here at
this point. Well, I hope you're not forced.
Yes, you are. The Lord in his sovereign power
and providence has made you to sit down like the gracious master
he is. He's told you, Sarah, sit, Sarah. Rest, Sarah. Lie down. Vicki, lie down. Shut up. Be still. Stop barking. Listen to me. I'm going to make
some wonderful promises to you. In quietness and confidence. We only need to hear one voice. There's so many voices. This
noisome pestilence called this world. Everybody's got a voice.
And they're all wrong. One person we need to listen
to. Is that not right? So we come in here. We sit. And we shut up, and we cock our
ears, and we hear the truth from God's Word. He says, now, rest. Be still. Know, I'm the
Lord. I'm the Lord over this world.
I'm the Lord over you. What a verse. So, listen to this,
and I'm going to take a few more minutes. He said in verse 13,
the Egyptians whom you've seen this day, your enemies, your enemies, all your enemies,
you're going to see them again no more forever. Does that sound
good to you? Charles Spurgeon asked him, if
you could have anything you wanted, anything, what would it be? He
said this, without hesitation, he said that I would never sin
again. Now that means nothing to the world.
To the world that means no more fun. But to God's people, they're
vexed with sin like love. Sin without sin within. They're
vexed. I want it out. I want it out
of me. Be done with this sin. Sins. The world. The flesh. The devil. I want out. He said,
You come. You sit. You be still. Fear not. And you're going to
see your sins put away forever. Irene, when this was over, it
says they all saw every single Egyptian dead on the seashore. They all crossed the Red Sea,
and they all looked back, and there they were. Those enemies
that chased them, that adversary that was after them, everything
they feared, dead! Can never touch them again. That sounds good to me. But you
got to go through the Red Sea. You got to go to the cross. How is it that our enemies are
vanquished? How is it that our foes are defeated? How is it
that our adversaries are defeated? He said, this battle is not yours.
Look at the next part. The Lord shall fight for you. The Lord who? The Lord Jesus
Christ. Say unto them, warfare is accomplished. Christ, John, before he went
to the cross, he said, I finished the work. That glorifies you
on earth. And he prayed for his people.
You remember in the garden? Oh, I love you. In the garden,
all those enemies came after Christ with swords and staves
and lanterns and torches and everything that Herod, Pontius
Pilate, could muster against twelve fishermen. And they all came after them
and they all wanted to put them all in jail and kill them all.
What happened in the garden? What happened? Jesus Christ went out in front
of them and said, who do you see? He went out. The captain of their
ship went out in front of them and said, Who do you seek? They
said, Jesus. And they said, If you seek me, let them go. Peter got his sword out of him.
Whack! Cut the man's ear off. Why didn't they get him, Mike?
Why didn't they grab him and put him in jail? Couldn't our
Lord just say it? You take me, you can't have them. You deal with me. Christ dealt
with the forces of evil. Christ dealt with our actions.
Christ dealt with our sins. Christ was made sin. Calvary
is Armageddon. Calvary is where Jesus Christ
fought this battle. You and I aren't going to fight
no more battle like that. No. He fought this battle for
the man's soul. Christ fought it up. And he won. Sins are gone. That's the only way you're going
to get peace. You say, what about the battle, the struggle we have
with them? Well, it's not for your soul. It's not for your
soul. You can't do anything to save
your soul. But we've battled with these
corruptions. We've battled with the flesh. We've battled, you
know, to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. We've
battled. Look at this. Did you remember
the title of this message? Stand still, but go forward. I saw something I hadn't seen
before. Look at it. The Lord said, Stand
still. See the salvation of the Lord. The Lord shall fight for
you. You're going to hold your peace. The Lord is going to make
peace for you by the blood of His cross. You're going to hold
on to Him. Maintain your peace. He's going
to give you peace, not as the world giveth. They can take it
away. And nothing and no one will take
away the peace Christ made by his blood. Verse 15, Then the
Lord said unto Moses, Why cryest thou unto me? Speak unto the
children of Israel that they go forward. Well, which is it? Do we sit
still? Or do we go forward? I've never seen that before.
I have, but I haven't. That's why the gospel is good
news. That's why we're like little children. Doesn't matter if you're
the preacher or whatever. You learn. Which is it? Stand still or go forward? Which is it? The fight's not
yours, but fight the good fight of faith. Which is it? I'm confused. Yes, you are. Yes, we are. But it's both. It's both. The battle is not
yours, but your soul. Only one can save your soul,
Jesus Christ. But he says go forth. See, faith
is to believe and trust the Lord and the Lord only. That's faith.
But we've got to walk by faith. We've got to walk by faith. Faith
without works is dead. We've got to live in this world.
We've got to go out there. No, we can't sit and just read
scripture all day. Anyway, we can't just be here
seven. I wish we could be here seven
days a week, not go out there somehow. We don't. We can't. What do we do? We got
to go out there. Well, how are we going to get
by? Same way. Look into him. But you see, We're
in the world, but not of the world. When we're told to go
out into the world, we're told to live by faith and trust Him
and walk in this world, and that's how faith is proved. That's how
true faith is proved. You've got these religious people
now and in the past that were like monks and lived in monasteries
and people that would, you know, try to shield themselves from
the world. You've got people like the Amish and, you know,
they try to keep themselves and their children completely out
of the world, not be, not have anything to do with those Englishers. No, that's not what God's people
are to do. You see, if God's people are
not in this world, there's no need for the world. They're the
salt of the earth. They're the light of the world.
Right? So they're to go out into the
world as salt and light. They're the only witnesses of
God in the world. What good's a witness if they
don't go out there? And so he says, now come, sit
still, gather your strength, know that I'm the Lord, be still,
fear not, fear not, now go. Go out there. And we go out there to battle
against the world. But Christ won the battle for
our souls, didn't He? He did. And we get wounded, We
get down, we get dirty, and we come crawling back to do what? Gather our strength again. That's
it. No giving.