Good evening, everyone. If you
would open your Bibles with me to Psalm 25. Psalm 25. Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift
up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee. Let me not be ashamed. Let not
mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee
be ashamed. Let them be ashamed which transgress
without cause. Show me thy ways, O Lord. Teach
me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth and teach
me, for thou art the God of my salvation. On thee do I wait
all the day. Remember, O Lord, thy tender
mercies and thy loving kindnesses, for they have been ever of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions. According
to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness sake, O Lord.
Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he teach sinners
in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment,
and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the Lord
are mercy and truth, and as such as keep his covenant and his
testimonies. For thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my iniquity, for it is great. What man is he that feareth
the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way
that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease,
and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord
is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet
out of the net. Turn thee unto me, and have mercy
upon me. for I am desolate and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Oh, bring thou me out
of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and
my pain, and forgive all my sins. Consider mine enemies, for they
are many, and they hate me with cruel hatred. Oh, keep my soul
and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed, for I
put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightness
preserve me For I wait on thee. Redeem Israel, O God, out of
all his troubles. Thank God for his word. OK, Sean.
OK, if you would, turn to song number 210. We'll sing Saved
by the Blood. Saved by the blood of the crucified
one. Now ransomed from sin and a new
work begun. Sing praise to the Father and
praise to the Son. Saved by the blood of the crucified
one. Saved! Saved! My sins are all pardoned. My guilt is all gone. Saved! Saved! I'm saved by the blood of the
crucified one. Save by the blood of the crucified
one, the angels rejoicing because it is done. the blood of the
crucified one. Saved, saved, my sins are all
pardoned, my guilt is all gone. you I'm saved by the blood of the
Crucified One. Saved by the blood of the Crucified
One. The Father, He spake, and His
will it was done. Great price of my pardon, His
own precious Son. Saved by the blood of the crucified
one. Saved! Saved! My sins are all pardoned. My guilt is all gone. Saved! I'm saved by the blood of the
crucified one. Saved by the blood of the crucified
one. All hail to the Father, all hail
to the Son. All hail to the Spirit, the Great
Three-in-One. Saved by the blood of the crucified
one. Saved! Saved! My sins are all pardoned. My guilt is all gone. Saved! Saved! I'm saved by the blood of the
crucified one. I think next song will be 196. Turn to 196 and we'll sing Blessed
Be the Fountain. Blessed be the fountain of blood
to a world of sinners revealed. Blessed be the dear Son of God,
only by His stripes we are healed. Though I've wandered far from
His fold, bringing to my heart pain and woe, Wash me in the
blood of the Lamb, and I shall be whiter than snow. Whiter than the snow. Whiter than the snow. Wash me in the blood of the Lamb,
and I shall be whiter than snow. Thorny was the crown that he
wore, And the cross his body o'ercame. Grievous were the sorrows
he bore, But he suffered thus not in vain. May I to that fountain
be led, Made to cleanse my sins here below, Wash me in the blood
of Gwishin, and I shall be whiter than snow. Whiter than the snow. Whiter than the snow. Wash me in the blood of the Lamb,
and I shall be whiter than snow. Father, I have wandered from
Thee. Often has my heart gone astray. Crimson do my sins seem to be. Water cannot wash them away. Jesus, to that fountain of thine,
leaning on thy promise I go, cleanse me by thy washing divine,
and I shall be whiter than snow, whiter than the snow, whiter
than the snow. ? Wash me in the blood of the
Lamb ? And I shall be whiter than snow Right now let's open our Bibles
for our scripture reading to Exodus chapter 13. Exodus chapter 13, we'll begin reading in verse
17 through the end of the chapter. And 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. For God
said, let's put venture the people repent when they see war and
they returned 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. And
Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had straightly
sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit
you, and you should carry up my bones away hence with you.
And they took their journey from Succoth, and he came 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
the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before
the people. We'll end our reading there.
Let's bow before our Lord together. Our Father, we've come into this
house this evening to worship you. Father, I pray that by your
spirit, you would enable us to do that, to have an hour of true
worship, heart worship, as we hear your word open and preached,
that Father, you would apply your word to each heart here,
enable us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, enable our hearts
to be thrilled at being able to trust him and believe him
and rest him enable our souls to be thrilled, to truly believe
that Christ our Savior has taken care of every need. He's taken
care of every need of his people. And he will lead us and guide
us in the right way, the way that we should go until he leads
us safely across Jordan into glory, where we'll see him face
to face. Father, cause this this gospel
of Christ as it's preached to thrill our souls. There's so
many doubts and fears that we live with. There's so many difficulties
and problems that we face that cause us concern. But Father,
show us tonight how much that the believer truly has to be
happy about. Give us joy. in Christ our Savior,
I pray. And what I pray for us here this
evening, Father, I pray for your people, wherever they're meeting
together tonight. Father, bless your word. Give
your people a refreshing by giving us one more sight of Christ our
Savior. Cause your gospel to run well,
to feed and comfort and structure people and to reach your lost
sheep and to bring them to Christ our Savior. Father, we pray for
the sick and afflicted of our number, those that are away from
us and can't be with us. Father, we pray that you'd be
with them, that you'd meet their need wherever it is that they
may be, where you've led them, that you may bring them back
to us again soon, that we might worship thee together. All these
things we ask and we give thanks to that name which is above every
name, not for our sake, but for Christ's sake we pray, amen. Now, I believe tonight that I
have a message that will give assurance and will comfort every
heart here that's trusting in Christ our Savior. I've titled
the message Christ Our Leader. Now, everyone here is familiar
with the cloudy pillar, the fiery pillar that led Israel through
the wilderness we just read about. When that pillar moved, the children
of Israel got up and they followed it wherever it led. When that
pillar stopped, the children of Israel stopped and they camped
and they stayed right there until that pillar moved again. Now
that pillar is a picture of Christ our Savior. Just like the children of Israel
of old, you and I are not going to get into trouble as long as
we follow Christ. Now if we try to run ahead of
Him or we try to go our own way, undoubtedly we'll find trouble,
but we won't find trouble as long as we're following Christ
our Savior. If we stop and stay where he stops, and if we get
up and go wherever it is that the Lord leads us, we'll find
a blessing for our souls. And I promise you, we will not
go wrong. So there are three or four points here I wanna show
you about this cloudy and fiery pillar, Christ our leader. Number
one is this, it's the nature of Christ our leader. Verse 21
in our text, Exodus 13, 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. Now the pillar of cloud by day
and the pillar of fire by night, that was God's presence with
the children of Israel. I don't have any doubt that the
brightness of that cloudy pillar was the Shekinah glory of God,
because God was in that pillar. The same glory that shone above
the mercy seat in the tabernacle. God was in that cloud with his
people. And do you know what? That's
where you always find the Lord. You find the Lord with his people.
One of the places that you can go if you're seeking the Lord
is find where his people gather together and worship. The Lord
is always with his people. And the wisdom of God in giving
Israel his people, this fiery pillar, this cloudy pillar, It's
really awe-inspiring. There's things that I never have
really thought about this before, but that pillar would be everything
that Israel needed to find the way to go all the way into the
promised land, the land that God promised to give them. That
pillar would lead them and guide them. They didn't have to choose
which way to go. They just followed the pillar.
That pillar would give them light and warmth. It would protect
them from their enemies and would stay with them. until they arrive
safely in the promised land. Well, that's Christ our Savior.
The way he came, the way God the Father sent him to his people
is awe-inspiring. He came to dwell with his people,
Christ in the flesh, Christ with God with us. The Lord Jesus Christ
is everything. He alone is everything. that
any sinner needs to go from here, this world of sin, to glory. He's everything that we need.
We don't need anything else. Christ came to where his people
are to save them from their sin. He came to give them life, eternal
life. He came to lead them in the way
of life. He came to give his people the
warmth and the light of life. You know, that pillar that led
Israel wasn't two pillars. It wasn't a pillar of cloud and
a pillar of fire. It was one pillar. One pillar. In the daytime, it was a cloudy
pillar. At nighttime, it was a fiery pillar. And that one
cloud was all the children of Israel would ever need. That
picture's the two natures of our Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ
is both God and man. Two natures in one person. There's one God and one mediator,
And that's Him. The Lord Jesus Christ, as He
walked this earth, that's God. God in human flesh. That's the
mediator between God and men, the Son of God. And He's also
the Son of Man. And that glorious, mysterious
person of Christ. That's all a sinner needs to
be saved. He came in our flesh to be our representative, to
be our substitute, but He's God. to provide the holiness and the
righteousness that's required of God. There's one way of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ. You know,
I was thinking about that today. Now that's very exclusive. That's
very definitive. This is an absolute statement.
There is one way of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ. But you
know, that's not meant to keep sinners out. This is a way sinners
can have life. This is a way sinners can have
forgiveness. This is the way sinners can have righteousness.
If there were several different ways of salvation, I can promise
you this, I'd choose the wrong one. I love it that God's made
it so simple. There's one way of salvation.
Now look to him and be saved. Follow him and be saved. I want
to give you a few examples of how this one pillar of cloud
and pillar of fire is a picture of Christ. He's everything that
we need. You know, that cloudy pillar
gave shade and protection from the burning heat of the desert
sun. I ran a marathon one time in
Detroit, and the day started out cloudy. Man, it was great. It was cool, and I was running.
I was just on my pace, you know. And suddenly the clouds went
away, and the sun came out, and the temperatures went up, and
my time went down. I mean, it sapped me. I just, I was amazed. I was like, what is going on?
It took me a while to realize, oh, you know, the sun came out
from behind those clouds. Will you imagine being in the
middle of a hot desert? The children of Israel are going to go through
a desert from Egypt to Canaan. And while they're in the middle
of that hot desert, No trees, no shade, no nothing around.
There was that cloudy pillar giving them protection from the
sun, giving Israel shade. And that's Christ our Savior.
He gives his people shade, protection from the burning heat of God's
fiery justice against our sin. Because Christ bore it. Here's
how we're shielded from that fiery justice. Christ bore it
as our substitute. And you know, resting in Christ,
it's a whole lot better than on a hot day finding a shade
tree to sit under. Now, when you're under the shade
tree, you have some shade, but you still feel the heat of the
day, don't you? It's less than it is out in the
sun, but you still feel the heat of the day. The shade's just
a little bit cooler. If you're resting in Christ,
you don't feel one degree of the fiery justice of God's wrath.
Not one single degree, because Christ, your substitute, bore
it all for you. His sacrifice protected you from
all the fire of God's wrath against your sin. Let me show you that
in Psalm 57. Psalm 57. This was David's hope.
When David was in trouble, this is where he hoped. Psalm 57,
verse one. Be merciful unto me, O God. Be
merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee. Yea, in the
shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities
be overpassed. Now what's David talking about
there? He's talking about the mercy seat. Remember that mercy
seat was a piece of solid gold, and they had it molded and hammered,
or however they did it, to where the cherubim's wings were covering
that mercy seat. And under their wings, made a
shadow on that mercy seat. And in that shadow, that's where
the high priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice every
year during the day of atonement. Here's what David's saying. I'm
resting in Christ's sacrifice. I'm resting in his blood. I'm
resting in him to shield me from all of God's wrath against my
sin. Now that's a good place to rest,
isn't it? I can rest there. It's not only a good place to
rest, let me tell you, it's the only place to rest. The only
place of safety, the only place we can find rest is in the sacrifice
of Christ. You know, the scriptures also
describe our Savior as the shade on our right hand. The Lord Jesus
Christ is God's right hand. He's the omnipotent power of
God, and he's always protecting his people. He's always giving
his people shade and protection. Our Savior is also described
as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. I can just imagine
being out in the desert and finding a great rock. There's gonna be
some shade. You're gonna find a cool place
there. Christ our Savior is a place
to rest. You can come to him and rest
in him and find salvation, find rest from the burden of the law,
find rest from the fear of God's judgment. But I tell you, coming
to Christ and resting in Him, that's the only place you're
going to find any relief from the trials and heartaches of
this life. It is such a blessing to be able
to find some rest from the weariness of this world by resting in Christ. Now that sounds right religious,
doesn't it? I mean, that sounds like just something you can say
to impress people. I'm resting in God's sovereign
will. I'm resting in Christ who does all things for me. I mean,
that sounds good. You know what's even better?
To be enabled by God's grace to say it and mean it. To rest
in God's sovereign will. Whatever it is that's happening
to me, As much as I don't like it, as much pain as it causes
me, as much uncertainty as it causes me, this is God's will
for me. It's almost like the cloudy pillar
has stopped. This is God's will for me to
be right here, right now, because the cloudy pillar stopped. Then
I'm going to rest in Him. He's going to take care of this,
somehow, someway. Now, He's going to take care
of it. This is God's will, and I can rest in that. If God will
enable us to say that, mean it. we're gonna find so much peace
for our souls. So you're gonna find so much
relief from anxiety and worry. I'm resting in God's will in
this thing. That's the cloudy pillar. But this pillar is also
the same pillar. It's a pillar of fire. That fiery
pillar gave Israel warmth. You know, as hot as it is in
the desert during the day, it's that cold at night. Now that
fiery pillar had to be such a blessing I mean, it's miserable to be
cold and you cannot get warm. That is so miserable. I like
stories about World War II and all these things. You know, I
just watch everything I watch about them, read everything I
read about them. I was reading recently about the Battle of
the Bulge, and it shocked me how many soldiers made this statement.
I was more worried about the cold than I was the Germans.
The cold just was so unrelenting. Well, that's the way Israel would
be out in the wilderness if it wasn't for the fire pillar giving
them warmth. And that's Christ our Savior.
I mean, you talk about miserable. Our cold, dead, hard hearts make
us miserable. They lead us to nothing but more
misery and more despair, more coldness and more hardness. But
then Christ comes to his people. And he puts in a new heart. He
gives a heart of warmth. He gives his people the warmth
of life. He gives them life and he sustains
that life. So that that life for his people
is eternal life. That's a blessing. God's people
are not cold dead corpses anymore. They've been born again. They've
been given the warmth of life. And that pillar of fire also
gave Israel light. in those dark, dark desert nights.
I don't know about you, but if I was out there in the middle
of the desert at night, I mean, there's darkness. I mean, it
has to be so dark there. And there's no light. I'd be
scared to death. I don't know about you, but I
would be. I'd be scared some predator's gonna come up and
sneak up, meet me up, or the enemy's coming, sneaking up.
I don't see him coming. I'd be afraid. But that pillar
of fire, gave Israel light, so they didn't have to be afraid.
Isn't it something how little children suddenly determine they're
afraid of the dark? You know what takes care of the
issue? Just a little old nightlight. The nightlight, if you can say
it that way, that Israel had, was the fiery pillar of God's
presence. No reason to fear, was there?
That's what Christ came to do. Look over at Luke chapter one.
Christ came to give his people light. He is the light of the
world. He gives his people light simply
by appearing to them. Luke one verse 76. And thou child shall be called
the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face
of the Lord to prepare his ways. to give knowledge of salvation
unto his people by the remission of their sins through the tender
mercy of our God. Whereby the day spring, the sun
rising, the day spring from on high hath visited us to give
light to them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide
our feet in the way of peace. Christ is our light. He gives
the light of salvation to his people. so that we see. I don't see my own sin. I don't see how sinful I am until
I see myself in the light of Christ. I have no idea that I
need a Savior until I see Christ, the light of Christ. I have no
idea I need a righteousness. I have no idea that my sin needs
to be forgiven. I have no idea that I need a
blood sacrifice for my sin until I see Christ, the light. Then
I see. Then I see my need, and I see
the one who fulfills all my need. Christ came to give his people
the light of salvation, and he gives his people light to walk
in, to guide our steps. Now that pillar of fire, it gave
it light, it gave warmth, but look back at Zechariah chapter
two. Second to last book of the Old
Testament, Zechariah chapter two. That pillar of fire also
gave, Protection to Israel while they were in the desert. And that's a picture of Christ,
our protector. Look here, Zechariah 2, verse 5. For I, saith the
Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will
be the glory in the midst of her. God says, I, myself, will
be the wall of fire that surrounds my people. Now let me tell you,
no enemy. can penetrate that wall of fire.
Now that just lets us rest in Christ. The protection of his
fiery wall about us, there's nothing to worry about. Just
rest, just rest. Now here's what makes this so
special. This is God's distinguishing grace for his undeserving people. That pillar of cloud and pillar
of fire was only for Israel. It only did good to Israel. Look
back in our text here in Exodus, look over chapter 14. The pillar gave light to Israel,
but do you know it gave darkness to the Egyptians? Look in Exodus
14 verse 19. And the angel of God, which went
before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them. And the
pillar of the 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 it was a cloud of darkness
to them. It was a darkness to the Egyptians, but it gave light
by night to these, to Israel, so that the one came not near
the other all night long. That one pillar, the same pillar
was darkness to the Egyptians. And it was light to Israel. The Lord Jesus Christ is darkness
to those who are in darkness. They can't see, they won't believe,
they can't see. But he gives light to his people.
It's obvious to you, isn't it? It's because God's given you
light. That pillar, that gave comfort to Israel. But you know,
it gave confusion and terror to the Egyptians. Look there
in Exodus 14, verse 23. And the Egyptians pursued and
went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's
horses and his chariots and his horsemen. And it came to pass
that in the morning watch, the Lord looked under the host of
the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud. And
he troubled the host of the Egyptians and took off their chariot wheels
that they draved them heavily so that the Egyptians said, let
us flee from the face of Israel for the Lord fighted for them
against the Egyptians, that's God's distinguishing grace to
his people. What comforted his people caused
terror to his enemies. That's God's distinguishing electing
grace. And every single time a believer
hears about God's distinguishing electing grace, it always humbles
us, always. You just have to ask, why me?
I mean, of all the people that God could have chosen, of all
the sinners God could have been merciful to, why me? A man told me one time, he said,
I'm not so sure about you, you sovereign gracers. He said, y'all
so proud? And I said, proud? I mean, yeah. Maybe this accusation
is true. I sure don't want it to be. I
said, what are we proud of? He said, you're proud that God
elected you. You hear about, you know, God
elected a people and you're so proud. I said, well, I don't
know who you're talking to, but anybody that is truly an object
of God's electing grace is humbled. Lord, why me? Why me? God's electing grace makes us
thankful. Oh, I'm thankful. What comforts
and encourages God's people is a terror to the unbeliever. And
that pillar of cloud and that pillar of fire went with Israel
every single day for those 40 years, all the way through the
wilderness. And you know when it left them?
When they crossed Jordan into the promised land. Well, now
they're home. They don't need the pillar of
cloud and the pillar of fire anymore. But that pillar stayed
with him, because God promised him he would. He promised him
he'd never leave or forsake his people, and he didn't. Now that's
the character of our Savior. He is going to be with his people.
He never saves his people and says, all right now, run along
and do your best. No, he saves his people, and
he leads them, and he guides them in the way that they should
go. And he will never leave you. will forsake you. Never. I don't care how it feels,
He'll never leave you nor forsake you until He brings you safely
into glory. Then you won't need the cloudy
pillar anymore, will you? Then you won't need faith anymore.
You'll see Him face to face. Now that's the character of our
Savior. is both God and man. He's both
that cloudy pillar and the fiery pillar who will lead and protect
and shade and be with his people all the way to glory. Now if
that don't make you trust him, I don't know what will. He's
all you'll ever need. Now trust him, that's his character.
The second thing I want you to see is you can trust where our
leader leads. Look back in our text, Exodus
13 verse 17. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh
had let the people go, that God led them not through the land
of the Philistines, although that was near, that was the shorter
path. God didn't lead them that way, for God said, lest peradventure
the people repent, when they see war and they return to Egypt. Now the Lord did not lead Israel
in the most direct route from Egypt to the promised land, because
the direct route would have taken them through the land of the
Philistines. And if they had gone through the land of the
Philistines, the Philistines had gone to war with them. So the
Lord didn't lead him that way. You know why? He hadn't prepared
them for that yet. He hadn't prepared them for war
yet. So compassion for the weakness
of his people, knowing he hadn't prepared them for him yet, the
Lord led them the long way around so they could avoid war with
the Philistines. Now later on, the Lord's gonna
lead them into war, but not before, until he prepares them for it.
Look back at Exodus, or I'm sorry, over at Isaiah, Isaiah 48. You know, the Lord is leading
his people today the very same way. God hadn't changed. He's
leading his people the very same way today. And you can just bank
on this. He will never lead his people
into something that he hasn't prepared us for. Isaiah 48, verse
17. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord thy God, which teaches
thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest
go. Now I'm the Lord, I'm the Redeemer,
I'm the Holy One of Israel, I'm the one that leads you in the
way that you should go. Now don't worry if the Lord's
not leading you in the way that you want to go, or the way that
you think is the best way to go. Don't worry if the Lord is
not leading you in a straight line. No matter how he's leading
you, it's still the best way. It's the way that you should
go. Don't worry if the Lord's leading you in the way that seems
like the long roundabout way. Just trust that the Lord is leading
you in the way that you should go. You may be going the long
about way, but the Lord could be leading you that way so you
avoid war. Could be. The Lord always has a purpose
in where he's leading his people. You know, if the Lord hadn't
led Israel in that long way around, we never would have seen that
great picture of redemption at the Red Sea. If the Lord hadn't
led his people the long way around, we never would have heard this
famous cry of Moses that has calmed the hearts of God's people
for 4,000 years. Stand still. and see the salvation of the
Lord. We wouldn't have had that if the Lord didn't lead them
the long way around. If the Lord hadn't led the people the long
way around, Pharaoh never would have been destroyed at the Red
Sea. If Pharaoh wasn't destroyed at the Red Sea, suppose Israel
went the direct route and they just went through the land of
the Philistines, and suppose the Philistines didn't bother.
And they just went straight to the Promised Land. You know what
always be in the back of their mind? Pharaoh's back there with
his army. and his chariots and his horses
and his spears and his war machine. What's stopping him from coming
and attacking us and getting us? But the Lord led Israel the
long way around. So they went to the Red Sea,
so their enemy was destroyed and they never had to worry about
the Egyptians again. None of that would have happened
if the Lord didn't lead Israel the long way around. If you're
confused and you're worried, why is the Lord leading me the
long way around? You know, it couldn't be he's
leading you the long way around. So he's going to show you something
more glorious about who he is than you could see any other
way. Maybe if you took the short way, you couldn't see his glory
and whatever it is, you know, he's going to show you. But if
he leads you the long way around, could be he's going to show you
something of his glory that is so amazing, but you couldn't
have seen it any other place. Does that make sense? You know,
all of us would just be much calmer if we really trusted this. The Lord is leading me in the
way that I should go. And he's leading me. He's providing
for me. This is all his will. The Lord
is leading me in this way that I should go. He knows what's
best if we really believe that. We'd be a whole lot calmer, wouldn't
we? Look at Psalm 23. I think I say this every time
before I read this psalm. I know everybody can quote it,
and it's very familiar. But now stop and listen to this
like you haven't heard it before. In light of this point that I'm
trying to make, we'd be a whole lot calmer if we really believe
the Lord's leading me in this way that I'm going. He's going
to provide for me. He's going to protect me. He's
going to be with me the whole way. The way I'm going is the way
my Lord is leading me. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. Are you in the green pastures? It's because he led
you there, isn't he? Who leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
for his namesake. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for thou art
with me. He's that wall of fire about
us. I'll fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy staff, they
comfort me. You use that rod and staff to
lead me in the way that I should go to keep me from falling into
the ditch or falling off a cliff or something. They comfort me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. Surely, without a doubt, goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. because that's where
the Lord leads me. Now, if I remember that, if the
Lord allowed me to truly believe that, I'll be a whole lot calmer,
won't I? Then here's the third thing. Christ, our leader, is
going to lead his people just like he promised. Now look back
in our text, Exodus 13, verse 19. And Moses took the bones
of Joseph with him, for he had straightly sworn the children
of Israel saying, God will surely visit you and you should carry
up my bones away hence with you. Now, you just imagine the scene
that night. There's been the Passover, there's
blood on every door, there's been death in every home, all
the Egyptian firstborns have died. There's a wail going up
from Egypt such as never been heard, never will be heard again.
It's in the middle of the night and Pharaoh says, get out and
get out now. And the people are gathering their unleavened bread
and their belongings and trying to pack them up and they're getting
out now, because that's what Pharaoh told them to do. Somebody
tells me I can be free, I'm going now, you know. In the midst of
that darkness and that confusion and everything going on that
night, Moses stops and takes the time to go wherever it is
that they had put Joseph's sarcophagus or mummified him, whatever it
was they did, and take his bones with him. Why'd he do that? Because
by faith, Joseph believed God. God promised Israel, one day
you're going to leave Egypt. And Joseph told his brothers
as he was dying, God's going to visit you. God's going to
come and lead this people out of here. And when you go, take
my bones with you. Don't even leave my bones here.
That's what he made them promise. Well, sure enough, it took about
400 years. But sure enough, God kept his promise. He visited
Israel, mercy and grace, and he led Israel out of Egypt, just
exactly like he promised. And that promise had been passed
down from generation to generation to generation. Joseph's brothers
told their sons, who told their sons, who told their sons, until
somebody told Moses, and Moses went and got those bones and
took them with him, because that's what they promised Joseph, they
do. God always keeps his promise,
whatever it is. that God's promised to do for
his people, he's gonna do it. The Lord told Israel, all y'all
are leaving Egypt. That night, every last Israelite
left Egypt. Not one of them stayed behind.
Because that's what God promised would happen. The Lord led all
of them out when it was time. When it was time. That's another
thing to make us calmer. If we'd remember this, The Lord
always is gonna do what he promised when it's time. When it's time. But you know, the Lord's still
leading his people. He's leading them like he promised he would
do. The Lord promised he would save all of his people. He's
gonna save all of them. He's still doing it today. He's
still doing it today. The Lord promised that he would
give his people grace sufficient for the way in which he leads
them. You know what? It still is. There's not one
person here or anybody, any believer anywhere that you can talk to
that can honestly tell you, God sent me into a trial that he
didn't prepare me for and didn't give me grace sufficient for
it. He gives grace sufficient for every trial. Everywhere he
leads his people, he gives them grace sufficient for it. The
Lord promised he'd be with his people every step of the way,
and he always has. He has not yet deserted one,
and none of us will be the first. God's gonna keep His promise.
The Lord has promised to bring all of His people to be with
Him in glory forever, that where He is, there we may be to behold
His glory. Now, none of us have experienced
the fulfillment of that promise yet, have we? But if you believe
Christ, you sure will. You sure will. There's a day
coming, you're gonna open your eyes in glory and see the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you believe Christ, I'm telling
you, you will. Because he promised it. He promised it. So when you
don't understand that the way the Lord is leaving you, rest
in the promises of God. Rest in the promise. Whatever
it is, he'll do it. He'll do it because he promised.
And here's the fourth thing. The Lord always leads his people. Always. He never leaves us to
ourselves, our own devices. He always leads his people. Verse
22 says, he took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor
the pillar of fire by night from before the people. Now, like
I said this earlier, the pillar of cloud and fire stayed with
the children of Israel till they entered Canaan. Then it went
away. They didn't need it anymore.
They were home to stay. This is where God promised to
bring them. And that's what the Lord is doing for all of his
people on this earth right now. He's leading us through this
journey here below. And I don't know the path and
where it's going to wind, the ups and the downs of it, the
valleys and the mountaintops of it, but I know where it's
going to end up. It's going to end up in his presence
in glory. Now, right now, The Lord is leading
us by faith, isn't he? He's by faith. We don't see him
bodily, he leads us by faith. That's like following the cloudy
pillar. In the wilderness, the Chur of Israel had that cloudy
pillar. Now, they know God's in that pillar, but they can't
see him. They can't see him face to face.
They don't see his person. They just know he's in that cloud.
They can't see him through the cloud, but they believed he was
there, so when they got up and moved, they followed him. When you and I get to glory,
the cloud's gonna be gone. Seeing by faith is gonna be gone,
and we'll see Christ face to face. When they enter the promised
land, the children of Israel didn't need the cloudy pillar
anymore. When you and I get to glory, we're not gonna need faith
anymore either. We'll see Christ face to face. That's too big. That's too big to say. It's overwhelming
to think about, to see Christ face-to-face. That's where this
thing's gonna end up. But until then, until we see
Christ face-to-face, this is where I can promise you, the
Lord's gonna keep leading you by faith. And I can rest in that. How about you? Can you rest in
that? I hope so. I hope you find some rest and
comfort for your soul. I'm thinking about that. Just
rest in where Christ leads me. All right, let's bow together.
Our Father, we thank you for this time that you've given us
together to open your word and see yet another picture of Christ
our Savior, to see him by faith. Lord, I pray that you would take
your word and that you would be our teacher, that you would
apply it to our hearts, cause us to, our hearts to be comforted,
trusting our savior, that we'd be thankful that you've given
us the faith to trust him, that you'd cause us to be overjoyed
at thinking where this journey's gonna end up, to see him face
to face. Lord, there's a big part of us
that cries, hasten, Lord, the day. But Lord, until it's your time,
give us the faith to patiently, faithfully follow you. To follow
you for our own selves, to follow you in a way to declare Christ
to our generation. Until such time as you see fit
to bring us home. Father, we're so thankful. It's
in Christ's name. For his sake and his glory, we
pray. Amen. All right, Sean. If you would, turn in your hymnal
to song number 127. And stand as we sing, Hallelujah,
What a Savior. Man of sorrows, what a name for
the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place undimmed he stood, Sealed my pardon with his blood. Alleluia! What a Savior! Guilty, vile, and hopeless we,
spotless Lamb of God was He. Full atonement can it be? Alleluia! What a Savior! Lifted up was he to die, In his
finish was his cry. Now in heaven exalted high, Alleluia! What a Savior! When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransom home to bring, Then anew His song we'll sing,
Alleluia! What a Savior!