Thank you, Pastor. It is so good
to be with you, and I trust God will be pleased to meet with
us. Brother Dale mentioned to me
when he came in tonight about having heard the gospel from
Brother Ralph Barnard. Many, many years ago, someone
asked Brother Ralph Barnard, said, do you really believe the
whole Bible? And his answer was, I don't know.
I haven't experienced it all yet. I'm beginning to understand
that. I'm beginning to learn that.
Our Lord speaks of multitudes who do always err, not knowing
the scriptures nor the power of God. Multitudes. They cannot understand the teachings
of this book because they've never experienced the things
taught in this book. They may be religious, outwardly
very moral, very outwardly righteous, very orthodox in their doctrine,
but the Holy Spirit speaks of them saying they do all way err
in their heart. and they've not known my ways.
Why? Why this ignorance? It is because
they are utterly ignorant of the power of God. Ignorant of the power of God. In other words, you may very
well understand the letter of this book. You may very well
understand the history and the doctrine and the moral, if you
want to use that kind of language, the moral lessons to be taught
from this book. But you do not understand this
book unless you know the power of God. They don't understand
the book because they've never felt. never experienced the power
of God. They may sing, there is power,
power, power, wonder, working power in the precious blood of
the Lamb, but they know nothing about the experience of that
power. They may talk much about the
power of God's irresistible, omnipotent, saving grace, but
they've never experienced the power for themselves. Therefore,
they do always err in their heart. To such people, redemption is
nothing but a doctrine. Regeneration is nothing but a
principle. Righteousness is nothing but
a legal standing. The new creation, the scripture
speaks of, is nothing but a puzzle to them, causing them constantly
to be in confusion. I hear folks talk about the new
man, the new creation, the new nature. And they are so confused
with these things, they can't find enough ways to explain them
away. Just recently, last week, someone
sent me an article I thought I'd written talking about that
new man. That new man created you in righteousness
and true holiness. They said really that new man
is Christ. The representative man and the old man is Adam because
they know nothing of the power of the new birth, the power of
God in free grace. They have theories about things,
but theories that they have to adjust and clarify and change
year after year because they've never experienced the power of
God, that power by which God saves his people. Now tonight
I want you to turn with me to Exodus chapter 14 and just hold
your Bibles open on your lap and I'm going to talk to you
about experiencing the power of God. I realize that we live in this
age of Pentecostal, charismatic free will, emotional religion,
and they place everything on experience. They make everything
to be based on experience. The fact is, nothing is based
on experience. But you're not going to get to
glory without experiencing the power of God's grace. You can
make too much and too little of it, and I fear that multitudes
make far too little of the believer's experience of grace. In this
14th chapter of Exodus, God the Holy Spirit has preserved for
us an inspired record of how the children of Israel were brought
out of Egypt On that night when God brought them out with a high
hand, after the Passover sacrifice had been slain, the blood put
on the door, the death angel had gone through Egypt, all those
things picture in redemption by the blood of our Lord Jesus.
Our Savior said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And that's a picture of Christ,
our Passover, who has sacrificed for us. Then we come to this
14th chapter, and the children of Israel are leaving the land
of Egypt. They're fleeing from their captors,
not as cringing folks trying to sneak out at night. No, no,
no. These are not slaves trying to
escape their captors without notice. They went out with a
high hand. They went out as slaves who had conquered and spoiled
their captors. And they're leaving Egypt, and
then they come to the Red Sea and cross over the Red Sea. all
demonstrating the power of God's grace in the regeneration and
conversion of his elect. These things are deliberately
designed by God. They came to pass by God's appointment
to give us a picture of every believer's experience of grace. Now in this chapter, we're going
to look at the whole chapter tonight, so obviously we're going
to look just briefly at various parts of it. But in this chapter,
there are seven specific things to which I'd call your attention.
And I dare say that even if you have never put things in quite
the same language I'll use tonight as we go through these seven
things, one after the other, that's what I've been trying
to say. That's what God did for me. Let's
see. Here's the first thing. The first
work of God the Holy Spirit upon the soul in the experience of
grace is a painful, withering work. It is a painful, withering work. Painful and withering. I recall as a 19-year-old young
man, my wife and I visiting with my dear friend, Brother Harry
Graham, In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Harry was a much older
pastor of Sunlight Baptist Church over in Asheboro, North Carolina.
I was sitting on his hearth one night, and Harry was always so
very wise, taught me so much. And he made a statement. He said,
Brother Don, when a man's first worked on by God's Spirit, if
you could look at him and know what he's going through, you'd
say I wouldn't treat a mad dog like that. Did you ever notice
the scripture never says the Lord makes alive and the Lord
kills? It never says that. It says the
Lord killeth and the Lord maketh alive. He won't make you alive
until he's slain you. He won't clothe you until He's
stripped you. He won't fill you until He's
emptied you. He won't give you to drink until
He's made you thirsty. And He won't be bred to your
soul until He's made you hungry. The first work of God the Holy
Spirit in this work of converting His elect is a painful, withering
work. It's described here in verses
1 and 2. The Lord brings the sinner to whom he is gracious
into a state of utter helplessness, causing him to be entangled in
hopeless despair. Look at verse 1. The Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel that they
turn and encamp before Pi-hahareth between Migdal and the sea over
against Baal-ziphon, before it shall ye encamp by the sea."
Israel is brought out of Egypt, but do you know where they were
initially in the land of Goshen? Do you know how long it should
have taken them to get into the land of Canaan? at the very most
11 days. And God took them by the right
way. We read in Psalm 107, verse 7.
And instead of taking them to bypass the Red Sea and go directly
to the land of Canaan, he led them by the right way, right
into the Red Sea, and they were able to make that 11-day trip
in 40 years. It was by God's design. It was the right way. The Lord brought the children
of Israel out with a high hand, a stretched out arm, and they
go out of Egypt, and then the Lord hardens Pharaoh's heart.
And Pharaoh gathers his armies and the captains of his armies
and all the chariots and horsemen in Egypt, and he says, let's
pursue after them. And they had gone, had they gone
in the other direction, They would have had no difficulty,
because Pharaoh and his armies couldn't possibly have ensnared
them. But God led them right up to the Red Sea. On either
side, mountains, impossible for them to cross. Behind them, Pharaoh
and his armies, breathing down their necks, ready to slaughter
them. And the children of Israel are
utterly helpless. Utterly helpless. Oh, how I pray if you've never
been brought helpless before God, He will make you utterly
helpless before Him. Helpless. He said concerning
His people, as He spoke by the prophet Hosea, He said, I will
hedge her about, and none shall deliver her out of My hands.
The Lord God brought them forth through Pahirath, P-I-H-I-R-A-T-H. I'm not sure I know how to pronounce
that. I'm sure I don't know how to
pronounce it, but I know what it means. The word means a hole. And he brought them directly
in front of Baal-Ziphon. Now, Baal-Ziphon was one of the
gods the Egyptians worshipped. I'll guarantee you, you've never
heard this before. This was the god who was supposed to keep
their slaves from escaping. This is the God they worshiped,
who was supposed to keep their servants from being able to get
away from them. So the Lord God brings them through
Pihiroth, which means a hole, right directly in front of Baal-Ziphon,
the God who would protect their slaves. What a delightful picture. God Almighty, in His infinite
wisdom, goodness, and grace, causes his elect to pass through
the dark hole of utter helpless, hopeless despair. And he brings
them through this dark hole right in front of the God of this world
who would hold them captive. And in bringing them through
this dark hole, shows himself gracious and glorious. Now notice,
That he brings them this way by the hand of Moses. Hold your
hands here and turn to Romans 9, or Romans 7 rather, verse
9. He commands Moses to take the children of Israel this way.
He said, Moses, you take them out of Egypt and you lead them
this way. Moses being that one by whom
came the law. When God is pleased in Holy Spirit
conviction to shut the sinner up to Christ, first thing He
does is shows you your guilt. He will convince you of sin. Of sin. Now this is what you
are. Sin. You didn't hear that, did you?
This is what you are. Sin. Nothing but a mass of iniquity. Nothing but sin. Fully deserving God's holy wrath
and infinite justice. Fully deserving the furious anger
of God Almighty to be vented upon you forever. The Apostle
Paul, writing here in Romans chapter 7, describes himself
and how he came to know something of God's saving grace in the
experience of it. Now remember, this man Paul was
a Pharisee among Pharisees. He, if you read Philippians chapter
3, he had been in church all his life. All his life long. He had learned the commandments
and lived by the commandments all his life. He kept all the
ceremonies of the law meticulously all his life long. Now look what
it says. Romans 7 verse 9. I was alive
without the law. Watch. Well, wait a minute, Paul. How could you memorize the law
and live by the law and be without the law? He said, I didn't have
a clue what he's talking about. I didn't have a clue that the
law demanded something other than outward morality and outward
decency. The law demanded something more
than an outward religious activity. The law demands holiness, righteousness,
what you read a little bit ago, truth in the inward part. And you haven't got any. You
don't have any. Not a shred. We are all by nature
deceitful, liars, hypocrites. There's no truth in any man by
nature. And you're going to be made to
know that or you'll never know God's grace. I was a liar without
the law once. But when the commandment came,
when God's Word came into my heart, This is what happens,
sin revived. Sin, the commandment stirred
up in me that evil that I am by nature. And then I died. I said, God, I'm a lost man. What shall I do? The Lord God
brought Israel in the path, He did, that He might make a display
of their utter helplessness and of His complete sovereignty in
the destruction of Pharaoh. Look at verse 3. For Pharaoh
will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land,
in the wilderness. If they are entangled in the
land, the wilderness hath shut them in, and I will harden Pharaoh's
heart. Remember the Lord said to Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose, have I raised thee up so that everybody
in the world will know that I'm God. I raised you up to dump
your carcass in the sea so that everybody would know that I'm
God. He said, I'll harden Pharaoh's heart. That he shall follow after
them. And I will be honored upon Pharaoh
and upon all his host that the Egyptians may know. Not that
the Egyptians may be saved, but that the Egyptians may know that
I'm the Lord. I'm going to fix it. So that
before they leave this world, as they are gurgling in their
last gasp for breath in the sea, they will know he is God. And
we'll see just a little bit. They said, let's get out of here
because Jehovah is fighting for them. Look at this now they'll
know that I'm the Lord and they did so verse 5 and it was told
the king of Egypt that the people fled and The heart of Pharaoh
and his servants was turned against the people and they said why
have we done this? That we should bet that we have
let Israel go from serving us And he made ready his chariot,
and took his people with him. And he took six hundred chosen
chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every
one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart
of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he pursued after the children
of Israel, and the children of Israel went out with an high
hand." Why all this? Revelation chapter 4 verse 11.
For thy sake all things are and were made. The Lord hath made
all things for himself. Yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. Look at verse 9. But the Egyptians
pursued after them all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his
horsemen and his army and overtook them in camping by the sea beside
Pihiroth, before Baal Zephan. Israel was shut up. Shut up with
the raging Red Sea before them. Now, I know modern scientists
and geologists and infidels of other kind want you to believe
that the Red Sea was really just a little marshy area, maybe 12,
15, 18 inches deep. And I want you to understand
that it wasn't any real big problem. The Red Sea was raging before
them. That Red Sea, I just read earlier
this week, I believe it was Robert Hawker observed, it was at least,
where they crossed it at least nine miles wide. It's raging in front of them,
raging. Mountains on both sides of them.
And Pharaoh and his armies pursuing after them, angry, ready to slaughter
them. That's exactly what God does with the sinner he pursues
by his grace. You remember what David said
in the last line of Psalm 23? Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. Let me tell you what I mean,
Louie. Goodness and mercy been nipping
at your heels all your life. Doesn't mean follow you that
you're gonna leave goodness and mercy behind you. No, no, no,
no, no. No, no. Goodness and mercy follow
you like a hound follows the rabbit, like a hound follows
the prey and chases and chases and chases to the last. Goodness
and mercy have shut me up in the house of the Lord forever.
God's goodness and his mercy bring us like the children of
Israel between impassable mountains of his offended justice and his
broken law with the sneaking swaps of utter inability. And
Satan roars in our ears and the guilty conscience screams in
agreement with Satan, God hath forsaken him. Persecute and take
him for there's none to deliver him. All right, look at verse
10. Here's the second thing. What's
the purpose of this? Why does God deal so with those
who are the objects of His grace? God's purpose is to shut us up
to Christ. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the
children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians
marched after them, and they were sore afraid. And the children
of Israel cried out unto the Lord. Now, you read the following
couple of verses and you'll see that they cried out as a people
utterly confused. They snatched out at this one
and snatched out at that one and they cried out against this
and cried out against that. And you know, well, they all
murmured in the wilderness and therefore they perished. Well,
if you read Hebrews 3.16, you'll find out that many of them murmured
and perished. But it's obvious as you read
this passage, somebody here was crying out to the Lord. The prayer
of faith is not always a well-worded, well-ordered, properly expressive
prayer. Not always. I'll tell you what
the prayer of faith usually is. You tell me if it has ever been
different with you. Brother Wallace, we cry out to
God when He shuts us up in utter despair and we can't do anything. And that's about the only time
we ever really pray. That's just about the only time we ever really
pray. And when God fixes it so that you're in utter despair,
utter helplessness, God, I've done everything I can. That's
why I wanted you. I can't do anything. That's the
reason I brought you here. The children of Israel are shut
up in utter helplessness and despair so that they are shut
up to God alone, shut up to Christ who is the pillar of cloud and
fire above them, to Christ who is the angel of the Lord who
spoke to Moses back in the third chapter out of the bush and said,
I am Jehovah, I will deliver you. And now they're in utter
despair and they cry out to the Lord. That's what God does in
Holy Spirit conviction. He shuts the sinner up to Christ. Before faith came, we were kept
under the law. Shut up unto the faith, which
should afterward be revealed. Shut up to Jesus Christ, our
Redeemer. We cry like the disciples on
the storm-tossed sea, Lord save us, we perish. Like the children
of Judah before Ammon, sinners cry out for mercy only when they're
shut up to faith. Listen to this. Our God, O our
God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against
this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what
to do, but our eyes are upon thee. All earthly help was cut
off. Israel couldn't make a move.
There's the sea, the mountain, Pharaoh and his armies. They
were shut up in confusion and dark despair. Salvation is near
when the sinner is shut up to Christ. Just shut up to Christ. I get
calls every now and then. Somebody's been a rebel all his
life. A young lady's been a rebel all
her life. Then they're in a car accident,
or they get in trouble, get put in jail, and they get a little
scared of going to hell. They're scared of what's going
to happen to them. A mama or daddy or somebody will call me
and say, won't you come see Johnny? I believe the Lord is going to
do something with him. He's under deep conviction. And
I said, let's wait till he gets out of trouble and let's see
what happens. Let's just wait. We've got to strike while the
iron's hot. God's servants are not ambulance chasing lawyers. They deal honestly with the souls
of men. And the best thing on earth you can do for somebody
who genuinely God is dealing with in his great mercy, causing
his wrath to lay heavy on them, is leave them alone. Just leave them alone. Or don't
you think we ought to lead people to the Lord? We do that preaching
the gospel to them. We don't twist their arms and
seize opportunities to get them to make a false profession of
faith. Not at all. Just leave them alone. Just shut
up. And when God so encloses the
sinner, strips him of all hope, makes
him see his complete, utter inability, his utter guilt and depravity,
his utter helplessness. I say concerning that sinner
what our Lord did about the rich young ruler, thou art not far
from the kingdom of God. Salvation is nigh when God shuts
the sinner up. All right, now, let's read on.
Look at verse 13. When the sinner is in such straits,
utterly helpless, suspended as it were over the mouth of hell
on a spider's web. He cries, what must I do? That's
what the Philippian jailer cried. He thought sure the prisoners
had escaped and he was about to destroy himself and Paul said,
do yourself no harm and the jailer came in trembling and he said,
sirs, what must I do to be saved? Well, the children of Israel
cried to Moses just like that. What are we to do? Moses, what
are we to do? Why did you bring us out here?
What's going to happen to us now? What are we to do? And Moses
gave wonderfully good counsel. Good, wise gospel counsel. The counsel that God's servants
always give to sinners in desperate need. Look what it said, verse
13. Moses said to the people, fear
ye not. Stand still and see. Quite literally, stand still
and you shall see. Stand still and you shall see
the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today. And
that's not all it said, for the Egyptians, whom you have seen
today, As you well know, Pharaoh held before us in scripture,
typically of Satan himself. The Egyptians, I think clearly
in this passage, representing all our iniquities, transgressions,
and sins, which hold us in constant turmoil and guilt before God.
The Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again
no more forever. Now, what does God do here? He
doesn't arm Israel and tell them to go out and fight against Pharaoh,
reform their lives and correct their ways. He doesn't strengthen
their arms to bring them salvation. He says, stand ye still. This is what the prophet Isaiah
says concerning all God's people. It is their strength to be still. Be still. Some of you over the years have
wept with you and hurt with you through difficulties, trial,
troubles. This congregation, and you called
me and asked me, Brother Don, what do we do? You wait. You just wait. It is your strength
to be still. to sit still before God. Sit
still and you shall see the salvation of the Lord. Look at verse 14. The Lord shall fight for you
and you shall hold your peace. The counsel I give in all times
of difficulty and trouble to God's people Sit still and wait. Sit still and wait. Don't do
that. Don't do that. Don't do that. Just sit still and wait. But
I don't do that. Sit still and wait. Brother Tom,
it's the hardest counsel I've known on this earth for me to
follow. Because I find myself like you, fearful and trembling
and running here and there. Got to do something. Just got
to do something. But then the Lord fights for
you. and all the peace, all the blessed peace when God intervenes. You see, salvation, get back
to my subject, is not something sinners obtain by effort. No,
sir. No, sir. Brother Carlos prayed
a little bit ago and talked about works, the fruit of faith. And indeed, God's people are
a people ordained unto good works. And if they're ordained unto
good works, I suspect they'll do them. But good works have
got nothing to do with our relationship with God. Good works have got
nothing to do with the salvation of our souls. No, no. Salvation
is not something we earn. Salvation is something that comes
in the most remarkable way. Now listen to me. Listen to me,
I'm telling you the truth. Salvation comes by divine revelation. And that's the only way it comes.
When God opens your heart and reveals His Son in you. That's
all. Now we can talk folks into a
profession of faith, and when we do, we do them harm and not
good. We can get folks religious, and when we do, we make them
twofold more the child of hell than they were before. How does
salvation come? By divine revelation. We preach the gospel to folks. We teach them. My daughter was
a little girl. I wrote a catechism, taught it
to her, and prayed for her. Teach them facts, teach them
scripture, teach them the right doctrine. But you can't teach them salvation. It comes by divine revelation. Fear ye not, stand still, and
you shall see the salvation which He will show. And when you see
God's salvation, I'll tell you what you won't see anymore. The Egyptians whom you see today,
all your sin and guilt that terrifies you and crushes your soul as
it were to hell, you'll see no more forever. Oh, but Brother
Don, I can't forget my sins. No, I didn't say that. You'll
see the guilt of sin no more forever. John Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress
describes one scene of the pilgrim. He had been here and there and
other place and finally he went to evangelist and evangelist
told him to go up to the hill called Calvary if he wanted to
get rid of the burden that was on his back. And Pilgrim made
his way up to the hill Calvary, and he saw one as the Lamb of
God hanging upon the cursed tree. He said, when I saw him, the
burden fell off my back and rolled down the hill into the abyss
of God's forgetfulness. Did you hear what Jesus said
to me? They're all taken away. Your sins are pardoned and you
are free. They're all taken away. The Son of God, when He reveals
His grace and mercy in you, reveals to you that He took your sins
away. So that now I'm not guilty. I'm not guilty. I'm fully aware. No, that's not true. That's not
true. I expect I'd commit suicide if
I was fully aware. But I am aware of my sin all
the time. And I want to be more and more. But in the teeth of all my sin,
knowing who I am and what I am, I have no dread of God. No dread. No terror. Because I'm not guilty. Christ took my sins away. All right, here's the fourth
thing. God opened the way for His chosen. And He opened it Himself. Now
in these next verses, 16 through 22, understand the meaning of
these words. When the Lord God our Savior
saves sinners by the power of His grace, when He sets His captive
prisoners free, giving them faith by His Spirit to come to Him,
He opens the way before them. Now understand this. The way
was opened long before we were ever born. Christ opened the
way as the land slain from the foundation of the world. He opened
the way as Christ our Passover sacrificed for us. But we didn't
know anything about the way being opened until it was opened before
us. In Zechariah 13 verse 1, the
scripture speaks of the same thing. When the Lord pours out
His Spirit upon His own, He says, a fountain shall be opened unto
them. Now the fountain was opened a
long time ago, but blessed be God, there came a day when God
opened the fountain for me. For my sin and my uncleanness
opened it to me. And the Lord God graciously opens
the way for His own, and they cross over the way. He opens
the way before us in the sweet experience of His grace by divine
revelation and brings us through the raging sea of terror into
the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Let me show you how He
does it. Verse 15. He commands faith. He commands faith. Go forward.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Well,
I can't. I know that. But if you hear,
you will. Go forward. Lord, how are we going to the
Red Sea in front of us? Don't you know what's before
us? Go forward. Verse 22, 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. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? The very things which had terrified
them, God made to be a wall of security about them. He takes
the Red Sea and makes a four-lane, newly paved highway across the
middle of the Red Sea and causes the walls of the water, the water
rather, to stand up as two walls on both sides of them, held together
by the mighty wind, by the Spirit of God, as concrete pillars. And they walk right through the
sea in absolute peace. He opens the way before us. First he says, go on, and then
he told Moses, he said, take the rod that's in your hand and
stretch your hand across the sea. He opens the way by the
hand of the law. Now, hear me, no No sinner can
ever obtain peace in his heart and conscience until he's convinced
that it's right for God to forgive his sins. Can't do it. God's merciful. God loves everybody.
Show me how God, in justice, can forgive my sin and I'll have
peace in my soul. And God, in justice, forgives
Isaiah and Celestia through the sacrifice of his darling son.
And that's the only way we can have peace. Now, now, God is
just to justify the ungodly because he has sacrificed his son in
my room instead. Third, the Lord performs a sovereign
distinguishing work. Now, I love this. Look at verse
19. 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. Now watch
it now, and it was a cloud and darkness to them, to the Egyptians,
but it gave light by night to these, to God's elect. So that, that is, this is why
God did it, this is what the result was, the one came not
near the other all the night. You remember this pillar of cloud
and pillar of fire is Christ our Lord. He goes from in front
of Israel to the rear of Israel. And he who is the light of fire
now before Israel at night, even in the daytime is to the Egyptians
a cloud of darkness so that they get lost right there as they're
in a straight pursuing them toward the Red Sea. And the Egyptians
could not come near to the children of Israel, nor could the children
of Israel get near to the Egyptians. If they had wanted to go back,
they couldn't find their way back. Because God Almighty has
fixed a great gulf between His elect and all the rest of the
world, and the two will never be mixed. He saves His people
by sovereign, free, distinguishing grace. Who maketh thee to differ
from another? What do you have that you've
not received? I have faith in Christ. That's
what I ask. What do you have that you've not received? Well,
I obeyed him. What do you have that you've
not received? And if you received it, why do
you strut and boast as if you had not received it? The only
difference between God's elect and the rest of the world at
any time is God's free, distinguishing grace. And those very things
which God makes light to our souls. Oh, thank you, my God, for your
goodness. The very light God gives to our
souls, the light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ, the very light of our souls is to the Egyptians
confusion. and darkness. Confusion and darkness. The one, it is a savor of life
unto life, and to the other, savor of death unto death. You often wonder why somebody
you've tried to witness to them, minister to them, teach them
things God's taught you, And they just get enraged and confused
and angry. You just can't see. How come? When God sends light, God sends
light. And when God sends darkness,
God sends darkness. That's all there is to it. Here's
the fourth thing. In verse 22. The children of
Israel were all baptized unto Moses. 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 hand. Now, 1 Corinthians 10 verse 1,
the Holy Spirit tells us that this is a baptism. Now, I have read this all my
life. And I've always acknowledged the children of Israel were baptized
unto Moses. And so here they are, they've
got water on both sides of them, water above them, that's a picture
of baptism. But that's not what it says. Not just that this is
a picture of baptism, the Spirit of God says they were all baptized
unto Moses. What is baptism? By believer's
baptism, the believing sinner identifies himself with Christ
and his gospel, And he says to the world, I'm crucified with
Christ, buried with Christ, risen with Christ. It's that, but it's
more. Read the sixth chapter of Romans,
verses four, five, and six, and you'll learn this. Baptism is
the believer's publicly avowed consecration to Jesus Christ,
his Lord. It's been now nearly 41 years
since like Jephthah I lifted my hand to God in baptism and
publicly said to Don Fortner, to the triune God, and to all
the world, I'm Christ. I belong to him, lock, stock,
and barrel. Now let me see what this means.
Commitment. The children of Israel, by this
burial in water, made a publicly avowed commitment and consecration
of themselves to Moses, with reference to Moses, following
Moses as he led them through the sea. Now here it is. How would you like, how would
you like, to start through a nine-mile tunnel of water that appeared
all of a sudden. Come on. Moses says, we're going
across. And they followed him right into
that very sea that appeared to them just a moment before certain
death. That's what the believer's commitment
and consecration to Christ is. And that's what we avow in baptism. We're His. Lock, stock, and barrel. All right, back here in Exodus
14 again. Here's the fifth thing. Remember, God said they would
see the Egyptians no more. And the next thing we see is
the destruction of Pharaoh, Satan. And the Egyptians, our sins in
the sea. Verse 24, the Lord troubled the
Egyptians. In verse 25, he really troubled
them. He took the chariot wheels off
of their weak chariots. Kind of hard to drag a chariot
through the mud with no wheels on it. In verse 25, he fought
against the Egyptians. Verses 26, 27, he overthrew them
in the midst of the sea. Verse 28, watch this. There remained
not so much as one of them. There remains, my brother, my
sister, there remains to the believing sinner not so much
as one transgression, one iniquity, or one sin. He forgiveth all
thine iniquities. And if you look at verse 26,
you'll see that all this was done by the rod of Moses in perfect
justice, righteousness, and truth. And they passed through the sea
in faith. And as they did, the children
of Israel saw God's salvation. Look at verse 29. But the children of Israel walked
upon dry land in the midst of the sea. And the waters were
a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. Thus
the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians.
And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. Stand still. You shall see the
salvation of the Lord. Go forward. Let's see. And they
saw God's salvation. Now, look at verse 30. This is the way God wrought the
salvation of Israel, and this is the way God still performs
His mighty work of grace, by which He causes chosen sinners
to experience the power of God giving us faith. Thus the Lord
saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and
Israel saw The Egyptians dead upon the shore. Now watch this.
And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. Now I see. Now I see. And Israel feared the Lord. That is, they worshiped him.
They called on his name. When they saw what God did, they
feared the Lord, they worshipped Him, and when they worshipped
Him, they believed Him and the testimony and the work of His
servant Moses. When they experienced the power
of God in salvation, they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ who
led them through the sea. Now one more thing. I would urge
you sometime tonight or in the morning while it's fresh on your
mind to read Moses' song in chapter 15, but let's just look at verse
1. Here's the result of all this. The sinner saved by the omnipotent
power of God's grace gives God all praise. 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."
Do you know what's absent from this song? I was sitting there
reading it just a little bit ago again. There's not a single word in
this song about what I did, or what we did, or what I felt,
or we felt, or I thought, or we thought, But these words,
thee, thy, thou, and thine, are used 24 times in this song. It's all about Him. Not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us. Unto thy name give glory, for
thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. And that's a picture of
God's salvation, experiencing the power of God. I pray he'll
make it yours. Amen.