I have been so greatly, greatly
blessed of God throughout my life by so very many things. And among the greatest of those
blessings and privileges has been the fact that God has allowed
me to have a very intimate relationship with congregations like you around
the world. We've been allowed to be instrumental
in our congregation in Danville in establishing a number of churches.
And I travel somewhere to preach almost every week and have a
close relationship with folks just like you. Many many years
ago when Brother Hap Yates was pastoring in Dingus, West Virginia
Just before I got up to preach the fellow who's there Pastoring
at Dingus now and has been ever since the Lord called Hap home
Brother Gary Vance was a member of the church and he read scripture
and he prayed And I don't think I'll ever forget exactly what
he said As he closed his prayer. He said Lord Brother Don's just
a man preach him. And if God will speak by me I
have a message that you need and I pray he will. Open your
Bibles again tonight to Exodus chapter 14. How does God save his people? That's the question I want to
answer in this message. The first 14 chapters of the
Gospel of Exodus were written specifically to answer this question. How does God save his people?
You might ask, well Brother Don, how can you be sure that's why
these first 14 chapters were written? Because God the Holy
Ghost tells us that's exactly why they were written in the
last two verses of the chapter As he gives us the summary of
all that is written in this book up to this point Exodus 14 and
verse 30 Look at this summary that Moses gives of the first
14 chapters of the book of Exodus Thus the Lord saved Israel Thus
the Lord saved Israel. That's my section. Thus the Lord
saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And
Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel
saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the Lord
and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. When you read
the scriptures, do you sometimes pause and just wonder how things
happened? Did you ever wonder where the
children of Israel got the weapons of war with which they defeated
their enemies throughout their 40 years of wandering in the
wilderness? And by which they defeated the inhabitants of the
land of Canaan when they came into the land of promise. They
didn't have any weapons in Egypt. When they came out of Egypt,
they didn't have any weapons. But on the seventh day after
the Passover night, when all the host of the Lord went out
from the land of Egypt, Israel crossed the Red Sea by the mighty
hand of God, and they looked back and saw the Egyptians dead
upon the shores. All their foes were drowned in
the sea, their bodies washed up on the shore beside the sea.
And there spread before them were the whole army of Pharaoh,
and Pharaoh and the chariots busted in pieces, and all their
weapons laying there. So the children of Israel went
around and gathered up their weapons. By the hand of Moses,
by the command of Moses, they gathered them all up and thus
the Lord God not only defeated the Egyptians for them, but he
also armed them, his chosen people, with the weapons by which the
Egyptians hoped to destroy them. Oh, how God foils Satan's purposes. and how God foils the purposes
of the wrath of man and declares, surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. He takes the weapons out of the
hands of the Egyptians whom he destroyed and gives those same
weapons into the hands of his people. When I think of that
I'm reminded of two blessed declarations of Holy Scripture. I am persuaded
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus the Lord. If
God be for us, who can be against us? And I read in the word of
God, no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. I've lived long enough and experienced
enough in God's grace that I can declare to you with absolute
confidence no weapon formed against God's people, not one of them,
shall prosper. Not in the hands of any man or
any nation. No weapon formed against you
shall prosper, but rather the very things men and hell devises
against you, God will use for you. There's a reference to our
text here in Exodus 14 in the 74th Psalm. Just listen as I
read it to you. In the 74th Psalm, God's people
are described as his congregation which he purchased. They are
his inheritance which he redeemed, his inheritance wherein he dwells. They are his turtle dove, the
people of his covenant. Then in verses 12, 13, and 14,
he describes God's salvation of Israel on the day they crossed
the Red Sea. God is my king of old, the psalmist
wrote. Working salvation in the midst
of the earth. You ever wonder what God's doing?
Well, you don't need to wonder. God's working salvation in the
midst of the earth. That's what God's doing in every
act of providence, in everything every human being does or experiences,
in everything performed by heaven or by hell. God is working salvation
in the earth, the salvation of his elect. Thou didst divide
the sea by thy strength. Thou breakest the heads of the
dragons in the waters. Thou breakest the heads of Leviathan
in pieces and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting
the wilderness. He breaks the head of Leviathan
that horrible sea monster That's how God here refers to Pharaoh
in these Egyptians and gives him to be food To sustain his
people in the wilderness. This is Moses inspired summary
of the whole affair Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out
of the hand of the Egyptians How did he do it? How does the
Lord God save his people by his grace? Let's take another look
at this portion of scripture and see what God teaches us.
Let's camp tonight around the shore of the Red Sea. May God
the Holy Ghost give us eyes to see Christ working here as clearly
as we see him by the shores of Galilee. Let me make four, maybe
five statements. Number one, Israel's infancy
was an infancy in a cradle of mysteries in a cradle of miraculous
mysteries the whole of Israel began miraculously we're told
in the scriptures that the nation of Israel came into being by
the power of God in the old age of a man named Abraham When that
man was a hundred years old and his wife was 90, God gave them
a son and called his name Isaac. And thus began the history of
the nation of Israel. Isaac and his sons prospered
and prevailed miraculously against all odds. And these miraculous
things by which they prospered and prevailed all their days
was done in the clear sunshine of God's intervening hand. The
Lord watched over them and blessed them. Not in obscurity, but in
open manifestation of his miraculous care. even when Isaac was tricked
and deceived God blessed him again and again and again when
Jacob was tricked and deceived by his uncle Laban and Laban
kept trying to hold him in captive Jacob said to him I tell you
what He said, I'll take all the speckled and spotted cattle,
everything else will be yours. I'll stay with this loner to
breed the cattle. And he peeled some poplar rods and held them
before him. Now if you think that breeding
cattle while they're looking at poplar rods will make them
turn out a certain way, just give it a shot. He did this by
divine command because God would miraculously but in an open way
that could not be disputed work to preserve and prosper his own. Our experience in this world
is but the echo of those constant miraculous interventions of divine
providence God is my king working salvation in the midst of the
earth I'll tell you a good commentary on that statement We know that
all things Work together for good to them that love God to
them who are the called according to his purpose At last the children
of Israel come down to Egypt They came into Egypt 70 souls
in great need They're hungry. They're destitute. They're poor. They come to Egypt only because
they didn't have any choice. Isn't that a wonderful thing
God's done for us? He's fixed us so we didn't have
any choice but to walk in the place of blessedness. We wouldn't
have gone this way except God made me go that way. He brought
them into Egypt because they had to come into Egypt. Poor,
these 70 souls came into Egypt, but they're brought there directly,
discreetly, by meticulous, detailed planning and order by the hand
of a man named Joseph, their brother, whom they had sold into
slavery and presumed was dead. But Joseph had been made prime
minister in Egypt, And the Lord God had put everything in the
hands of Joseph. All the power and wealth of Egypt
was in Joseph's hands. The only person over him was
the king of Egypt, Pharaoh himself. Everybody had to obey Joseph.
He gave orders and they did it. That's all. That's all. So the
Lord Jesus Christ, our exalted Savior, sits upon the throne
of glory and God's given him power over all flesh. He gives
orders and hell obeys. He gives orders and the president
obeys. He gives orders and the fellow
sweeping the streets obeys. He's the king! king over all
things ruling all things Joseph was preserved and placed on the
throne of Egypt to preserve much people alive and the children
of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and
waxed exceedingly mighty in the land of Egypt was filled with
them while they were in Egypt, 400 years as bondmen, serving
as Pharaoh's slaves under his taskmasters, gathering straw
and making bricks to build pyramids for godless kings to worship
a god who is no god at all. All the while multiplying and
increasing, multiplying and increasing, being favored of God, though
they felt the lash of the taskmaster's whip relentlessly. God's people
are brought to Him by a succession of miracles.
Most of them unobserved by us only because we haven't eyes
to see the mountains around us, surrounding us, covered with
angels watching over us. Messengers sent of God to be
ministers to those who shall be the heirs of salvation. Now,
let's jump ahead. At last we come to the end of
the 400 years Israel was in Egypt. And they're brought out by the
mighty hand of God. God told Moses. You go tell my
people. Now this is a hard knot for the
wheel worshipper to get. Go tell my people. He didn't
even tell the Egyptians. He said you tell each one of
them to get a lamb. Every man a lamb for his house.
And sacrifice that lamb. and put the blood on the doorpost
and the linen and get inside the house and eat that lamb roast
with fire with your shoes on your foot and your coat on your
back and your staff in your hand. You're going out of Israel, out
of Egypt tonight. And that night the Lord passed
through and slew all the firstborn of the Egyptians and Israel is
pushed out of Egypt by the very hands of men who would not let
them go before. Not only pushed out, but they
said could we have a little silver while we go? Could we have a
little bit, would you give us a little gold? Here, take it
and get out! And they took all the wealth
of Egypt with them and walked out of Egypt that night by the
blood of the Passover lamb, spoiling the Egyptians. Ah, can you imagine
how they must have danced as they marched out of that horrible
place of slavery, walked out of that misery, walked out of
that bondage. Free at last! Thank God we're
free at last! it is a night to be much observed
unto the Lord but the singing and dancing didn't last long
soon the children of Israel were hedged about on every side that's
the second thing God graciously hedges his people about he hedges them about and forces
him into his arms with full consent he makes them willing in the
day of his power the children of Israel at first march like
soldiers in a dress parade returning from a great victory then suddenly
Pharaoh and the Egyptians are on their back They ran until
they could run no further. Every door of escape is shut
before them. Their joy turned to fear. Their
hope withered and despair sat in. The fiery and cloudy pillar
they followed led them to the very jaws of destruction. In
front of them are the waves and billows of that raging Red Sea.
On either side are high walls of rocks they could not climb. And behind them, the enraged
Egyptians. Within them, a quaking heart
of fear and unbelief. If they move forward, they march
right into the watery grave. If they don't, they'll be mowed
down like dried grass by the Egyptian swords. Everything was
ready to devour them. Cruel, shameful death seemed
imminent and certain. Every child of God know something
about those things you may not have previously heard them expressed
just the way this way or been able to put them into these words
but as I described them in our own experience you who know the
Lord will relate to them These days everybody talks about going
and making a decision for Jesus, deciding to follow Jesus, deciding
to give their lives to the Lord, deciding to start serving the
Lord. Preachers give an invitation to come down to an altar in a
Baptist church and say somebody's prayer they've written out. Say,
well now you're saved and everything's alright. Whoopee, now I'm saved.
Ain't nobody ever been saved by such nonsense. Not you, not
me, not your grandma, not my grandma. That's just religious
idolatry. You may as well go to a confessional
booth and talk to a priest. Salvation does not come by your
will or your work or your decision. It comes by God's will, God's
work, and God's determination. These children of Israel represent
exactly what transpires in God's people. Those who have never
been in bondage, have never been set free. Those who have never
been lost have never been found. Those who have never been in
a pit where it is no water have never been delivered from the
pit. Those who have never been the Lord's prisoners have never
become the Lord's freemen. Blessed are they whom God graciously
hedges in and forces into his arms. Read the second chapter
of Hosea and read how that the Lord God gives us an example,
a parable, a picture, a historically accurate picture but still a
parable and a picture of what he does for sinners. Gomer is
selling her body to her men she called her lovers. And while
she's in her apartment with her lovers, Hosea would sneak up
every night and set a bag of groceries by the door. And she'd
get up in the morning when her lover was gone and she'd say,
look what my lover has given me. Corn and oil and wine and
wool and flax. Oh, they're so good to me. She
didn't know that I gave her her corn and her oil and her wine
and her wool and her flax that they sacrificed to Baal. And
the Lord says, I'll come and take away your corn, and your
oil, and your wine, and your wool, and your flax. And I will
allure you unto me in the wilderness. And there I'll speak to you. Oh, thank God. Thank God. He graciously hedges
us about with his goodness and forces us by his providence into
his arms. Many dreary years I slay beneath
the yoke of hell's foul prince. Then the Spirit of God called
me to peace and freedom by the gospel. I thought, I thought
my chains would break with ease. I thought Canaan's sweet rest
seemed very near. It's just, hey, all you have
to do is make a decision. But suddenly the terrors of hell
gathered around my soul. The memory of guilt and sin spread
like a vast black ocean before me and around me. Deep called
into deep at the noise of thy water spouts, all thy waves and
billows went over me. The Lord cast me into the deep,
into the midst of the seas, and the floods compassed me about.
All thy billows and thy waves passed over me. The law thundered
loud in my soul. The fierce sword of God's justice
glittered before my face. My corruptions, my iniquities,
my transgressions, my sins rose like mountains reaching to the
skies around me and I was shut up. All hope was gone because
all hope in self was gone. I was shut up and hedged about
on every side by five things God made certainly clearly known
to me I saw my sin not just the actions of my life
but the corruptions of my heart not just what men looked at and
saw as my evil deeds which were plenty But even those things
that I might look at and say, there is something good I did.
Even my righteousnesses were just filthy rags before God.
And then I saw the infinite holiness of God's law. God requires something more from
you than a decision. God requires something more from
you than a reformation of life. God requires something more from
you than joining the church and being baptized. God requires
something more from you than giving your life to mission work.
God demands perfect righteousness. and complete satisfaction to
all the commands of his law and to all the fury of his justice. God says concerning everything
you bring to him it must be perfect to be accepted and you can't
bring it. And then I saw the only hope
for sinners is a perfect substitute. I must have someone who can obey
God for me. Someone who can make atonement
for me. Someone who can bring in everlasting
righteousness for me by his obedience. Someone who can satisfy God's
justice in my stead. Someone who can do this as a
man of infinite merit. And I found that substitute to
be in the God-man Jesus Christ my Savior. And then fourth, I saw that faith in Christ is
the only way a sinner can find acceptance with God. The only
way you can come to God is by faith. The only way you can be
accepted of God is by faith. The only way you can walk with
God is by faith. The only way you can please God
is by faith. But faith is an utter impossibility
to you. An utter impossibility to you. I forgot your granddaughter's
name already. What's her name again? Ashley. Listen to me, honey.
You must believe God, but you can't. Did you hear me? Try. Try! You can't. You can't. Faith can't be mustered
from within. It can't be communicated from
one man to another. I saw that faith is the gift
of God. It is the operation of God in
you. It is something God performs
in you. It is God's work of grace in
you. The Lord God Almighty alone can
give you faith. He could give me faith or not
give me faith. It was entirely up to Him. He
could save me or he could damn me. It was entirely up to him. And the same is true of you. God can save you if he will.
Or he can leave you alone. And all it takes for you to go
to hell is for God to leave you alone. Faith is God's gift. these things
slew me all hope in self was gone and I was compelled to fall
down before Christ on his sovereign throne of grace and cry to him
God be merciful to me Lord if you will you can make me whole
God graciously shuts us in and sweetly forces us to himself. Now I through the law am dead
to the law because I've been crucified with Christ. Now I
know we live in this place where you got lots of reformed folks.
Reform folks I'll give you another name for legal folks work mongers
And they tell you that you've you've got to obey the law you
got to do this you got to do that listen to me in Christ I
am D E A D Dead to the law dead to the law. Some years ago,
that fellow Jeffrey Dahmer, wasn't it, bombed that place in Oklahoma
City, that government building? I was out there just a week or
two after it happened. And they caught the fellow, and
they locked him up. And he had a penalty to the law
he had to pay. He never did get it paid, because
he's dead. And it doesn't matter what the
law still requires of him, he's dead. Say all you want to, he's
dead. Cuss him all you want to, he's
dead. Throw rocks at him, he's dead! We are, by the body of
Christ, dead to the law. Believers live in grace, not
in law. We live by Christ, not by Moses. by faith in Christ we who believe
now fulfill the law for now we come to God and offer God not
our repentance not our faith not our goodness not our works
not our holiness not our sanctification not our righteousness not something
we've gathered up from within or gathered in from without but
rather we offer to God Jesus Christ the Lord our righteousness
and God smiles and said I'm well pleased I will Sacrifice? You read it in Jonah 2.9? I'll
sacrifice and pay the vow that I owe. What kind of sacrifice
did he make? What kind of vow did he give?
Salvation is of the Lord. He confessed Christ, that's all.
We must never allow anyone to bring us back under the yoke
of the law. The Son of God says, look unto
me and be ye saved. And he sweetly hedges us about. And I'll tell you what we'll
do. We'll look over here. We'll look back here. We'll look
over there. And we'll look down here. And
we'll look up yonder. And we'll look in here. And we'll
keep moving from one side to the other. Shifting from one
foot to the other. But he just keeps hedging us about. Just keeps pushing us to... He sweetly forces us into his
arms and makes us willing to trust his son in the day of his
power. Oh God, my God, oh my God, thank
you that you didn't leave me to myself and that you never
will. Thus, the Lord saved Israel that
day. Here's the third thing. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God. So to create faith in his unbelieving
people, the Lord God sent them a messenger, a prophet. A prophet to lead them in his
way. Look at Israel's messenger, Moses. Now I know folks think they can
get along fine without a preacher. They can get along fine without
a pastor. I can make it on my own. Just give it a shot. We'll
see where you do. God didn't send his son here
to die and rise again and give ascension gifts of pastors to
his churches so you can mock them and deride them and discard
them. Pastors, a messenger from God, Mark Iverson, if you hear
from God, God will speak to you by man and he won't speak to
you any other way. That's how God does his work.
That's how he does his work. Moses rises above and rides the
swell of trouble in all the calmness of unshaken faith. Faith in Christ
was for Moses a boat to shut out fear and a door to let in
peace. This man Moses, the meekest man
walking in the earth, The meekest man. What a way to describe Moses. Did you ever see that movie The
Ten Commandments? I never saw it, but I saw just clips of it.
Was it Charlton Heston? Man of life, he didn't look meek. Nothing about Moses described
in this book looks meek to me. Meek looks like this in the eyes
of men in Deer Gondi. That's meek. No, no, no. You find a man who's meek, you
better get out of his way. He will roll over you. Moses
is meek. What's that mean? He knew who
he was and whose he was and he wouldn't back up for anybody.
Not even the king who sought his life. He walked right into
Pharaoh's palace. Into his throne room. And he
said, God said, let my people go. Pharaoh said, who's lord?
He said, sit where you are, I'll show you. You'll find out in
just a little while. And he did. Finally Moses went
in one more time. Pharaoh said, you'll not see
my face anymore. And Moses said, you're dead sure
right. I'll see your face no more. God
will take care of you. Moses rode above the storm because
he believed God. He saw the raging sea before
them. He heard the rattle of the Egyptian
swords behind them. He saw the mountainous rocks
surrounding them. But he was undaunted. He knew
that all is well when Christ goes before. All is safe and
secure when God protects All is sure when God gives his promise
and he had God's promise come back to chapter 3 Chapter 3 in
Exodus. Look at verse 12 the Lord Jehovah said certainly
I will be with thee and this shall be a token unto thee that
I have sent thee when thou hast brought forth the people out
of Egypt ye shall serve God upon this mountain God told Moses
back in chapter 3 he said you go back to Egypt you go back
and bring my people out of Egypt and when you get to this mountain
right here you're gonna serve me He had God's promise. He had been taught that the Almighty
Savior, the incarnate God, would spring from the tribe of Judah.
And Judah's tribe must be preserved because Judah's tribe held the
promise seed. Therefore, he confidently looked
for God's salvation and commands the children of Israel to believe
God. Look at Exodus 14, verse 13.
And Moses said to the people, watch what it says. You can imagine how this sounded
to them. Here's the Red Sea in front of them, just billows rolling
before them. The rocky hills behind them,
Pharaoh behind them. Moses said, fear not. Don't do
anything either. Stand still. Stand still. And watch, see the salvation
of the Lord, which he will show you today. For the Egyptians
whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more
forever. The Lord shall fight for you,
and you shall hold your peace. What shall we fear? when the
gospel banner flies before us. Faith defies fear and foe. If God be for us, who can be
against us? How shall he not with Christ
also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth? Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? The waves are deep. Our foes are strong. We're no
match for Satan and no match for hell. And there's no help
within us. What do we do? Stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord. That applies my brother, my sister,
to every problem you face. To every difficulty, to every
trial. Brother Don, what should I do?
Just hang on. You'll find out in a little while. Trust God.
Don't do anything. Don't do anything. Every time
in my life, I've tried to fix something. I've made it worse. Not an exception. Every time
in my life I tried to fix the situation, I made it worse. What
do you do? Get out of the way. Just get
out of the way. Stand still and believe God. See the salvation of the Lord.
Here is a gospel warning. There's no hope in self. No hope in your will. No hope
in your works. No hope in your worth. And here
are gospel tidings. See the salvation of the Lord. We don't come and preach good
advice. I guess there's a church that wrote that somewhere. Go
listen to the, he'll give you good advice next time you go.
Go down the road that went over the under the skyline church.
They're what I call go up the under list. Oh, they'll give
you good advice Go to the reformed fellow. He'll give you good advice
go to the Pentecostal. He'll give you good advice go
to the will worship He'll give you good advice God's servants
proclaim good news We don't tell you how to get saved. We tell
you how God saves sinners. There's a big difference We don't
tell you what you've got to do with a what God's done Christ
has brought an everlasting righteousness by his obedience Christ has satisfied
justice by his sacrifice He and he alone by his own hand brought
in righteousness He and he alone tried the winepress of the fierceness
of God's wrath He and he alone conquered death hell in the grave
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself The work is graciously
done done by him and done by him alone. I And neither the
wrath of man, nor the malice of devils, nor the rage of hell
can harm. The Good Shepherd says, I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. What do you
do? Stand then. Stand behind God
fighting for you. And your high as heaven is above
all harm. Then the Lord spoke by his messenger
again. He said, speak unto the children
of Israel, verse 15, that they go forward. That's the watchword
for God's Israel. Go forward. Go forward. Go forward. I've often said to
friends, among all the reformers, The one with whom I had the least
in common doctrinally is a fellow named Martin Luther. The one
I like the best is Martin Luther. And the one after whom I would
like to think I patterned myself be Martin Luther. I'll tell you
why. He didn't know the meaning of
the word back up. He just didn't know the meaning
of the word. He'd get some notice that the Pope had issued a new
decree and ordered his works to be burned or ordered him to
be imprisoned and Luther would say come let's sing the 46th
Psalm and spite the devil. He would not be bowed or broken
or bit by anybody except the God he served. And if a man believes
God, that's the way he is. That's the way he is. What do
you do when trouble comes? Where we live on that hill outside
of Danville, in the winter time, Man, the wind's always blowing
around here. But in the wintertime, it gets cold and the rain turns
into sleet and the wind blows in your face and you're just
walking from our house right behind the church building over
to the church building to the office. It seems like you just
can't make it. But if you don't make it, you
can't get the work done. You know what you do? Move your head, and you just
march on! Because that's where I'm going.
And Moses says, go forward! Go forward! But the red sea's
in front of us. God said, go forward. Forward
we must go. Ease allures, go forward. Worldly
pleasure seduces, go forward. Hell rages, go forward. God speaks
distinctly, and he will not lead except in safety's path. He will lead. Any other way?
Any other way? Your pastor, Amy, before coming
out here with our place, talking to me about the possibility and
asked my counsel and I'm sure I gave him different counsel
than most would. Probably different than Ken's folks would. I said
if I would believe God was in it, I'd throw caution to the
wind and I'd go. What do you do? You just go.
Do what you know God has you to do and you believe God. That's
all. That's all. I can hear Conor
Reeves say go forward, contradict, stand still. If you don't know
God, maybe. But when grace gives the light,
faith has sight and sees all that God speaks is a harmonious
whole. People say, I want to show you
how responsibility and sovereignty can be reconciled. I didn't know
there were enemies. I didn't know there was a problem.
We take not a step to expiate our sins. We take not a step
to atone for our sins, to pay our debts, to appease divine
justice, to satisfy God's wrath, or to procure redemption and
righteousness. And yet, seeing the salvation
of the Lord, the believing sinner goes forward in faith, growing
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, running
with patience the race that's set before you, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Brother Scott Richardson
preached in that passage in Hebrews 12, three-fourths, one time in
Danville, and he said, I want to preach to you by looking to
Jesus. And he preached for about 20 minutes. Fantastic servant.
He said the first point is this. Salvation begins in a look. Look
unto me and be you saved. And the second point is this.
Salvation is continued in a look. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. And the third point is salvation
ends in a look. They shall see his face. That's
the whole of it. The whole of the life of faith
is looking unto Jesus. You read in the scriptures and
find commands. But the Christian's supposed
to do this, supposed to do that. Let me tell you how you obey
God. Are you listening? Are you listening? I'm going
to tell you how to obey God. You look to Christ. That's how
you obey God. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in Him. We fulfill every command of God
when we walk before God, trusting Christ alone for wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Heaven is reached not by toil,
but in toil. Blessings descend not for deeds,
but on deeds. Faith comes with an empty hand
and Christ fills it with salvation. And the hand Christ fills with
himself and fills with his grace. brings the sacrifices acceptable
and well-pleasing to God by Christ Jesus. Sacrifices of praise,
devotion, love, and faith. Thus, the Lord saved Israel that
day. Now, let's look away from the
Egyptians, and look away from the sea, and look away from Israel,
and look away from the Lord's messenger. Look at verse 19 and
20 again. And see here the Lord Jesus Christ
himself, the angel of the Lord, who performed the work of salvation
for his people. And the angel of God, which went
before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them. And the
pillar of cloud went from before their face and stood behind them.
And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp
of Israel. and it was a cloud and darkness
to the Egyptians. But it gave light by night to
the children of Israel, so that the one came not near the other
all the night. Thus the Lord Jesus is a high
wall of defense for us. He encompasses his blood-bought
flock They who would injure his redeemed must first defeat omnipotence. There is no passage for the destroyer's
sword but through him who was pierced by the sword of divine
justice for us. He who is to others a pillar
of darkness and cloud is for his people a pillar of fire and
of light. He who is for us the foundation
stone on which we are built is to others who believe not a stone
of stumbling and a rock of offense. He who makes his grace delightful
to us as we hear the message and the sweet sound of the jubilee
trumpet makes to others that same message to be foolishness. Look at verses 21 and 22. The angel of the Lord, our blessed
Christ, opened the sea by the rod of Moses. And Moses stretched
out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go
back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry
land and the waters were divided and the children of Israel went
into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground and the waters
were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left
Moses lifted up his rod and the sea Just party. What a miracle. What an astounding display of
God's work. I've seen it again and again
and again and again. Do you remember that when the
Lord first appeared to Moses he made his hand leprous and
then made it clean again. In that instance Moses was a
clear representation of the Lord Jesus Christ, our substitute. who knew no sin but was made
sin and being punished for sin put to death by the hand of divine
justice is buried in the earth and three days later he's justified
in the spirit and comes forth with no sin And so our Lord Jesus
Christ, by the sacrifice of himself, put away our sins. Here, as is
commonly the case in scripture, Moses represents the law of God.
And here we see the angel of the Lord accomplishing the salvation
of his chosen, performing the wonders of his grace by his law. What? by his law. You see, before God, Thomas,
can do anything for you, he's got to do something for himself. Before he can do anything for
you, he's got to do something for himself. Before he can show
you grace, he's got to satisfy justice. Before he can make you
righteous, he's got to perform righteousness for you. He's got
to accomplish righteousness for you. And Jesus Christ, our Lord,
our Savior, saved us by law. by law when he came to suffer
and die by his death justice was satisfied righteousness was
brought in and now the justice and the law of God demands that
every sinner for whom Christ died must be saved we're saved
by justice by righteousness and by law as well as by grace free
and sovereign grace infinite omnipotent mercy justice satisfied
Demands that every blood-bought sinner must go free. So much for the idea, the blasphemous
idea of universal atonement and universal redemption. If Christ
died for every man in the world, one of two things is so. Either
everybody is going to be saved or Christ is a failure and nobody
is going to be saved. That's the only two options you
got. That's the only two you got. And neither is so. Christ
died as our Passover lamb for his Israel and every sinner for
whom he died. God's holy law says let him go! You can't have them. Justice
is satisfied. Here's the fifth thing. Look
at verses 30 verse 30 again in exodus 14, and let me show you
the result of God's salvation Thus the Lord saved Israel that
day out of the hand of Egypt of the Egyptians And then it
tells us this fivefold result These are the things that always
accompany God's salvation Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the
shore Nothing in this world, Brother
Eric, is more real to me than my sin. Nothing more real. but God says I reckon you're
dead from sin you're freed from sin and he says likewise reckon
also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God by
Jesus Christ our Lord I can't imagine I can't imagine God forgiving my
sin until I see his son trusting his son, I can't imagine God
punishing me for sin. My sins are gone. Did you hear
what Jesus said to me? They're all taken away. Your
sins are pardoned and you're free. They're all taken away. And then Israel saw that great
work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. Every saved sinner understands
what your pastor read in Jonah chapter 2 verse 9 Salvation is
of the Lord Well, what about our Arminian brethren? I ain't
got any I just soon talked to you about Catholic brethren our
Muslim brethren That just isn't so. God's people understand salvation
is God's work. Salvation is God's work. And
third, the people feared the Lord. Save sinners. Sinners saved by the grace of
God call upon the name of the Lord. They worship the Lord Jesus. He who is that name by which
we must be saved. He who is Jehovah who appeared
to Moses in the burning bush. They fear the name of the Lord. They worship Jesus Christ our
God as God. They worship Him as God. And
fourth, the people believe the Lord. All who truly worship God
as God, all who have been raised from the dead to life by the
power of God's omnipotent grace, trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone
for salvation. And trust Him alone. And trust
Him alone. I recall years ago, a friend
of mine in Mattisville, Kentucky, was an old man when God saved
him. And his brother was a member of one of those big B Baptist
churches in Kentucky. We have a bunch of them around
us. They think Baptists are going to be the only true church. They'll
be the bride of Christ. And other folks will be gassed in heaven.
They'll sit around and polish the spit to him while Baptists spit. But
his brother was one of those fellas. And he said, you're in
the wrong church. And my friend looked at his brother,
and he said, do you reckon I'll be saved? He said, well yeah,
but you're in the wrong church, you won't have any rewards. He
said, do you reckon I'll have Christ? He said, oh yeah, you'll
have Christ. He said, that's enough. That's enough. Christ is all. Christ is all. And those saved
by the Lord God gave Him and Him alone all the praise. Look at chapter 15. 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 song,
and he is become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare
him in habitation. My Father is God, and I will
exalt him. Here the Spirit of God erected
a memorial on the shore of the Red Sea and wrote this worthy
record. Thus the Lord saved Israel that
day. thus the Lord saved Israel that
day according to his purpose according to his promise the
people of his choice by the blood of his sacrifice by the power
of his grace by the word proclaimed to him then by his man saved
them completely conquered their foes never to rise again so he
has made us in Christ More than conquerors. More than conquerors. When I was a boy, before God
saved me, I was a bit of a scrapper. I was considerably taller than
I am now, and a good bit heavier than I am now. And being the
biggest fella around, every year school opens, the two fellas
had to fight first week of school every year. The smallest fella
and the biggest fella. Those two fellas, they're gonna
have to fight first week of school every year. And I had a good
many of my scrapes. And came out on top about all
the time. About always did. But I tell
you what I did. Lord, I never did. I never so
thoroughly whipped a fella that I wasn't fearful he might come
at me another time. I always had one eye over my
shoulder. Always looking back. He's going to show up. He's going
to show up. But the Lord Jesus conquered death, hell, and the
grave. In him I conquered death, hell,
and the grave. And hell can never rise up against
me. So thoroughly is Satan defeated
that soon the God of peace is going to blow Satan under my
feet. And I'll walk through heaven's
gate, standing on his neck, shouting glory to the Redeemer. Thus the
Lord saved Israel that day. May he save you that way this
day. Amen.