Exodus 13. Exodus chapter 13. Read verses 17 and 18 with me. Exodus 13. You know the word Exodus, the
name, the title. The word means going out. Exodus
13, 17 and 18. It came to pass when Pharaoh
had let the people go. that God led them not through
the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. God said,
lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, they
return to Egypt. But God led the people about
through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children
of Israel went up, harnessed, out of the land of Egypt. Now,
let me remind us all what this is about. And I don't just mean
this. I mean this. Why we're gathered. Just like Moses gathered the
people together. You remember that glad gathering?
When everyone heard that the Lord had visited his people and
was going to bring them. And what they all heard was,
we're going out. That's it. And he reminds us
now. Exodus means going out. Do you want out? Out of the miry clay. You want
to go up, out of these slime pits, off the dung hill, sit
among princes. Do you? Then you must be a, you
must be Israel. Because that's who this was for.
And everything the Lord did up to this point was to bring them
out, out of Egypt, which represents the world, unto God. They were going out into the
wilderness to worship, weren't they? That's the whole reason
he says he's bringing you out, that you might serve me. Hebrews 11, we read this often,
and we should. Hebrews is a summary of the whole
Old Testament. Hebrews is the story of Israel,
of God bringing Israel, His people, out. And how He brought them
out. How? The blood of a lamb. And Moses, their leader, who
represents Christ. But Hebrews 11, oh how I love
this book, this chapter especially. Verse 13, it says, all the people
died in faith. I want to die in faith, don't
you? And now they received the promises, but having not received
the promises that are fulfilled, but having seen them afar off,
they were persuaded of them. And embraced them, that is, they
laid hold of them. And confessed, here's what they
said, we're strangers in Philadelphia. And they that say such things,
is this what you say? You're a stranger in a pilgrim
and you've embraced the gospel. The gospel's apprehended you
and you lay hold of that which you've been apprehended. You're
persuaded. Are you persuaded? That he's able to keep that?
Have you committed everything to him? He said, they that declare
such things, Say plainly, let's seek a country. Let's seek a
country. Verse 15. If they'd been mindful,
that is, they kept thinking about where they came out, they would
have had opportunity of return, but no, they desire a better
future. A heavenly, therefore God's not ashamed because they're
God. He prepared them a city. Go on down to verse 24. I can't read this chapter without
thinking of Moses, because this is what every child of God When
it comes to this impasse, when it comes to years, verse 24,
when it came to years, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter. Choosing rather. Now, we know that God chooses
us. We don't choose Him. But after
He chooses us, We choose him. It's like, Philip,
we found the Lord, oh did you? The Lord found him. But they
were looking for the Lord too. So we choose the supper of affliction. You chose to come here today,
did you? Really, God's people have no
choice. It's not only a habit, a duty,
but it's... And there's some habits worth,
that you need to, that you want, like brushing your teeth. It's
a good habit, if you want friends. But, coming to worship the Lord,
says Paul, as his habit was. Always in the synagogue. It's what we need to do, it's
our reasonable service, but it's what we want to do. You must
do it. You must do it. Habit is something
you have done for a long time and it's something you must do.
You can't do it without it. So we choose to be with God's
people. Verse 26, esteeming the reproach
of Christ's greater riches and the treasures in Egypt. Do you
really? Do we? Well, to those who say
such things, this is for you. This is all for you. Go back
to Exodus 13. It says in verse 17, it came
to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go. How did he let
the people go? Did he decide, well, I think
I'll let them go. Oh, no. God sent the Word, sent
the command, and sent everything to make him let them go. He sent the command, salvation
is my command, and now he has given commandment to save me. Thus said the Lord, let my people
go. And verse 14 says they came out
with a mighty hand, a strength of hand, that's how. Salvation
is of the Lord. It's not man's decision, it's
not free will, but it's sovereign power. Sovereign power of God. That's what it takes for Satan
to let you go, to let us go. You see, Satan holds captive
everybody in this world by nature. until the Lord takes captivity. Until he takes those captives
to be his captives. Satan has the world in captivity. We're born in this world. We're
born of this world. Thinking of it, we're born living
for this world, isn't it so? We're captive to the world until
God in sovereign mercy and grace delivers us from the world. We're going to go down with the
world. We need to overcome the world. What is it that overcomes the
world? Faith. That is, looking to the
only one who can overcome, must overcome, the one who overcame
us. You understand that? He gets all the glory. These
people didn't just up and decide to leave. God sent the command
to bring them out. He sent the gospel. The gospel
is the power of God. That's what delivers us, the
gospel of Christ. The gospel is His power. Christ,
the Lamb, we saw that. So the gospel is the power of
God. And if you're not under the gospel, if your children
aren't under the gospel, there's no deliverance. They're not going
to be delivered. There's not. Anybody, male, female,
old, young, if you're not under the gospel, you're going to be
overcome by the world. And we all know it's so. If we
miss, the world gets another hold of us. It does, doesn't
it? Because that's our nature, our
old man. Well, so Pharaoh let them go
by God's command and by blood, redemption that's in Christ.
And it says God led them, verse 18, He led the people about through
the way of the wilderness of the sea. He didn't lead them,
verse 17, through the way of the land of the Philistine. That
was the easy way. That was the fastest way. But
he led them in what we might say a roundabout way. Now if you look at the map in
your Bible, you'll see that the way through the Philistines,
was up the coast, it would have been a pleasant way. Looking
at the, enjoying the ocean breezes, you know. No, they're going through
the deserts. And we'd be hot, dry, thirsty,
hungry. Oh, it would have been so nice. They'd have been singing all
the way. It would have taken, at the most, 14 days. Instead, God led them through
a way that took 40 years. Why? Why? Why? Well, salvation is a lifelong
journey. Salvation is a lifelong experience. It's not how you start. It's how you finish. Many people
start well. Everybody in Israel, every single
person seemed to be going out. They all were singing, they were
all happy, they were all so excited, and they were all so thankful,
and they all listened to the words of Moses very carefully.
They weren't out there three days before many of them wanted
to go. It's not how you start. It's
not how you start. It's how you die. It's how you
finish. Matthew 13. Go to Matthew 13. This is the chapter of the Lord's
parables. Most of his parables are in Matthew
13. And the very first parable, you
could easily say, is the most important. The one he first gets
is the most important, because it deals with the Word of God. The sower went forth to sow. That's me. I'm sowing the Word
right now. Where is it falling? Whose heart? What kind of heart? Who's receiving it? Matthew 13,
verse 17. Well, I'm sorry, Matthew 13,
5. Matthew 13, 5. Now, he says,
the sower went forth to sow, and some of the seed fell on
stony places. It had not much earth. There
was no root, not much earth. But it sprung up. The seed sprung
up. It had no deepness of earth,
no depth. And when the sun came up, it
was scorched, had no root, and withered away. Now look down
at verse 19, he declares the meaning. Verse 19, when anyone
hears the word of God or the kingdom, and understandeth it
not, then cometh, I'm sorry, He that receiveth the seed in
the stony places, the same as he that heareth the word, and
anon with joy receiveth it. That is, that somebody hears
the gospel and they seem to be enthused about it, and great
joy and enthusiasm, and even diligence. They're very diligent about it
in attendance and hearing it, and they seem to be enjoying
it so much. That's not how you start. Verse
21, they had no root. What's the root of the man? Christ. Real heart,
felt, faith, believe, trust, desire, love for Jesus Christ. You can't, that means you can't
live without him. And what we're doing right now
is everything about him, the worship of Christ. This is where
Christ is promised to be. If you love Jesus Christ, it's
where you'll be. And at first, some seem to be,
well, he really loves the Lord. We'll see. We'll see. Judge nothing before it's time. I don't know. Read on. Verse
21 says, There is no root when tribulation and persecution arises
because of the word. By and by he is offended and
they leave. And the children of Israel. Now
go back to Exodus 13. The world is what overcame Israel. The world. Now it wasn't war. You remember he said he didn't
send them through the flesh thing to have war immediately. It was
temptations. The things of this world. The
God of this world uses the things of this world. And this, money,
houses, jobs, land, people, husband, wife, all these things that appeal
to the flesh is what the God of this world uses. The flesh. And He appeals to your flesh.
You need a spirit that's willing, don't you? Flesh is weak. You need a spirit
that's given from God, a new creature created in you, in Christ
Jesus, that's not of this world, that will overcome this flesh
and this world. And so the God of this world
uses the things of this world. And the things of this world,
the heat, they heat up like lust of the flesh. Lust of the eyes. You know how it is. Pleasure
and things you see, it literally boils within you. I've got to
have that. I've got to have him. I've got
to have her. I've got to have this. I'm going
after it. Oh, we need a stronger than him.
We need a new man in us. We need Christ in us. And if
any man is not led of the Spirit, that person is going to leave. They are out of the world. But
those that are of the Spirit, of Christ, the Holy Spirit says,
that looks good, but it's not. That looks sweet, but it's bitter.
That promises you many things, but it's a liar. It lies. Don't go after that. Turn around
and head to Christ just as fast as you can. Don't go there. Come here. Come here. The world is... So, most of the children of Israel... You know, only two people over
20 went in. What does that tell us? If we don't keep receiving
the words of little China, I mean, and hungry and thirsty, we need
to come every time the gospel is preached. Because this life
of theirs was a world strong. God, this world is stronger than
you and me. If we don't come every time and think, Lord, please
speak to me. Lord, please lay hold of me.
Please don't let the world get a hold of me. Please. That's
how we need to hear the Word. Lord, let me hear this as if
it was the first time. Hear it the first time? Nothing
and no one could keep you from hearing the Gospel. Nothing and
no one. You don't care what it is. It's
like love. You fall in love with your spouse
and, man, you swim the deepest sea and climb the highest mountain
and jump over tall buildings in a single mountain. If you
go without sleep, nothing you wanted more than to be with her.
Right? What about Christ? Is He your
first love? That's what He said to the Ephesians.
You've left your first love to your later deceit. You're rich
and increasingly good. You have need of nothing. You
don't understand that you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind,
and naked. I counsel you, try gold, try
nothing. Buy gold, try nothing. If you
don't, you're going to be overcome by this world. You're going to
perish with this world. This world is going to perish
everything in it. I don't want to perish with it.
And there's only one way that God's going to keep me from perishing.
Lay hold of Christ. Lay hold of this hope. Step fast
to the end. Lord, don't let me go. And don't let me let go. Lay hold of the gospel now. Let
go of those things. Let go of those people. Lay hold of Jesus Christ. Everybody
and everything lies to you. There's only one in the universe
that doesn't lie. Jesus Christ. Two people over 20 went in. Two million. Two adults. Joshua and Caleb. What's Caleb's
name? Faithful follower. If you couldn't
get him to go away, like a dog that won't leave you. I'm going to be a Caleb, aren't
you? To the end. Well, in verse 18, he led them
a long way through the wilderness. Deuteronomy 32, I love this.
It says, he found Jacob in a wasteland, howling wilderness. Did you hear
that? In Deuteronomy 32.10, he says
he found Jacob in a waste-howling wilderness. What do you think
about the things of this world, really? That everything you've
accumulated up to this point, everything you've done, all the
time you've spent, and the things you've accumulated, really, what
has it profited you? Or has it just been a waste of
time? Do you not look back and think,
why didn't I give myself to this? I wasted my substance like the
prodigal son. To waste, howl in will. Do you howl? Do you ever? That's grown in him. The whole creation groaneth,
howl. Here are these dogs. My dog used
to howl every now and then. What do you want? Me? You ever howl? Lord. Ever groan? This is for those
in a waste, howling wilderness. What does wilderness mean? Break
the word down. Wilderness. It's a wild place. You know what happens when the
Lord, when new birth comes, you find out you're a wild man. And this is a wild place. And
you've walked according to the course of this world, following
blindly the God of this world. A wild man, untamed. And then taming begins. As soon as
you find out you're wild, this is a wild place, then the taming
begins. Like the Lord and that wild ass
is tied up between two waves. It could have gone either way.
It could have gone either way. But the Lord says, go get him
and bring him to me. No, you can't ride him. Watch
me. I'm the only one that can. Bring
him to me. Where is he? Right here. Wilderness. I've been out there. I still go out there. I want out there. I want in here. I want to be found in Christ,
don't you? I want to be in the ark, don't
you? Noah had all the world he could
stand after 600 years. The sun was shining. He went
in that ark and sat. Oh, this is wonderful. You fool,
look out here, look at all this stuff. I've been there, done
that. I'm happy right here. Right here,
with these sheep. That's me. Is that you? Ways,
Cowling, Weavers. They went up. Harnessed. Harnessed. I forgot to deal with
this. Verse 17. They can go through
Philistines because Philistines were their natural enemies. And
it says they would have seen war. And they went by the way
of the Red Sea. The Red Sea represents this world. I'm going to go through this
world. It's a bloody world. Bloody man. The Egyptians are
said to go through the Red Sea, and their wheels got mired in
the clay, didn't they? The whole world is mired in this
Red Sea called the world. But we're leaving here, and rather
than when we leave here, nothing will be clinging to us, and we
won't be clinging to anything. But it says he didn't take them
through the land of the Philistine because they would have seen
war early on and then they would have wanted to go back. This
is the goodness of God in keeping a young believer from too much
warfare, too many battles and all in the beginning. It's like a young soldier. He's
gung-ho, he's enthusiastic, he's got him a new uniform, got him
a new gun. He's just raring to go. You know, we don't put him on
the front line day one. He ain't ready for that. Right? I'm sending him to boot camp,
advanced infantry, and on I go. I remember as a young believer,
watching old believers struggle, and talk about their sinfulness,
and this and that and the other, and I remember thinking, what's
wrong with them? They're tough enough. I really do remember
thinking, what's wrong with you all? Now I know. I know, after all these years,
I know. Battles, warfare, struggle. The life of a believer is warfare. Struggle. A lifelong struggle. And so the Lord doesn't have
us go through too much too soon. He led them a long way through
the wilderness, through the Red Sea. It says they went up together,
harnessed. Harnessed out of the land. Now
I know what you think harness means, like a horse's harness. No, the scriptures talk about
bridle. Harness in the scriptures is
a suit of armor. A yoke is what ties two horses
together, or two oxen, or two cattle. But we are yoked together. That will work. We are yoked
together. Bound together by love's strong
core. But the word here, harnessed,
means armed. How are you going to get through
this world full of enemies? This battle, this warfare, how
are you going to do it? Ephesians 6. This is what this
means. I was almost disappointed that
it didn't make it. But no, I'm not disappointed.
We need to hear this, okay? It does say they went by rank
of five, five of them together in a row. Two million. But Ephesians 6, you know this. We haven't looked at this in
years. We need to. Ephesians 6.10. Finally, brethren,
be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. That is,
look into him, because without him you can do nothing. Put on
the whole armor of God. Now, all this represents the
gospel. You understand that? You have no ability to fight
against any temptation of the Godless world or anybody or anything
in this world apart from Christ and the gospel, the means of
grain. Zero. You're easy pickings. You're
a dead man. Without a helmet, without a breastplate,
without shoes on, you won't last two days. We're not wrestling
with flesh and blood, verse 12, but against principalities and
powers, against the rules of the darkness world, spiritual
wickedness in high places. So take the whole armor of God
that you may be able to withstand the evil day, and having done
all, to stand, stand with your loins girt about with the truth. Like a belt, and I don't have
time, I don't have time to go through all this. Feet shod with
the preparation of the gospel, and above all, the shield of
faith, so something won't pierce your heart. Quench the fiery
darts of the wicked, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always, always pray. Why? Because without, you can
do nothing. Pray, our Lord said, pray, lest
ye enter into temptation. Pray, our Father, lead us not
into temptation. Every day we go out there, we're
facing temptation. It's just pray that you don't
fall into it. You're going to be faced with
it. Pray that you don't fall to it. We're easy picking. You can't resist one temptation. One look can't do it. Lord, put the hand of the gospel
over my eyes and ears and mouth and grab ahold of my arm. So
I went out armed. Go back to the text. I love this. Oh, I love this. I love this. I love this. Verse 19, Moses
took the bones of Joseph with him. For he had straightly sworn the
children of Israel, saying," Joseph said this prophecy when
Joseph was in Egypt and ruled over Egypt, "'God will surely
visit you, and you'll carry up my bones out of this place.'" Jacob, first, his father. Oh, I love this. Jacob said,
to his sons when he was dying. Don't bury me in Egypt. Take me out of here and bury
me with my fathers. What about you? Don't leave me here. Take me out of this place. Lord,
when you come, don't leave me here. I want to be where Moses
is, where Elijah is, where Joyce is, and Ed, and Mark, and Joseph,
and Shannon. That's where I want to be, don't
you, Ellen? Don't leave me here. Joseph said, his son said the
same thing. Don't leave me here. Take me out of here, bones and
all. And sisters, God is faithful
who promised. You know what He said? He's going
to gather up our bones. If they've gone to the wind,
if they've been buried in the sea, He's going to come and gather
them up and do what? Take us out of here. Is that your wish? They took their journey from
Succoth and camped in Etham in the edge of the wilderness, and
the Lord went before them by day, and a pillar of cloud to
lead the way by night, and a pillar of fire to give them light to
go by day and night. He's going to deal with that
in the next chapter. He took not away the pillar of
cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before thee.
Know this about the cloud and the fire. It represents the word
of God, the truth of God. It represents Christ himself.
It's the difference. It's what separates God's people
from Egypt. It's what separates God's people
from Egypt. It's what makes the difference. It's what gives God's
people life and keeps Egypt in darkness. Know that. Know that
much about it. And he said you'll never take
it away. And I pray he doesn't. What is
that? The Gospel. Don't take it away. Don't take
me away from it. Don't take it away from me. This
is what separates you from the world. Know that much. If we don't get to the next chapter.
Pray that the Lord will keep this cloud and this fire in front
of you. Amen.