Would you turn back to Exodus
14? Verse 31. And Israel. Saul. That great work. Which the Lord did. upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the Lord
and believed the Lord and his servant, Moses. Now, if the Lord
ever does something for me or you, we are going to see that
great work, which the Lord did. upon our sins, and we will fear Him, and we will believe Him. I've entitled this message, Seeing,
Fearing, and Believing. Wouldn't it be something? if
the Lord enabled me and you to see with the eyes of faith, to
fear and to believe. I can imagine the excitement
and the anticipation of the children of Israel Look what they just
experienced. They had been slaves building
pyramids. Now God acts in their behalf
and they're free. They've seen the plagues. They have marched out of Israel
with a, I mean Egypt, with a high hand. This is a miracle. While they were going, the Egyptians
started giving them silver and gold and jewels. And they had
observed the Passover and they were marching out of Egypt, probably
with anticipation, with optimism. What is the Lord going to do
for us? They were excited. Can you imagine what they had
experienced? Now let's pick up reading in
verse one of chapter 14. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and
encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdal and the sea, over against
Baal Zephon. Before it you shall encamp by
the sea. Now, this was not the way to
the promised land. They were backtracking. They were backtracking. And they were thinking, why are
we going in this direction? They weren't going forward. They
were going backward. And I'm sure they were wondering
why. Why are we going in this direction? Well, here's why,
verse three. For Pharaoh will say of the children
of Israel, They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has
shut them in. Now you would think Pharaoh would
have learned his lesson by now, wouldn't you? But this is what
happens when someone's heart is hardened. They do crazy things. And how he thought he could stand
before Jehovah, I don't know, but he did. It's almost like
he forgot everything. Well, here's what had taken place.
Verse four, and I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he shall
follow after them. And I will be honored, glorified,
lifted up upon Pharaoh and upon all his hosts that the Egyptians
may know that I am the Lord. And they did so, they went backwards. Now, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Does God do that? Most certainly. For the scripture saith to Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. that I might
show my power upon thee and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Therefore, have he mercy on whom
he will have mercy and whom he will, he hardens. Here's the fact. Me and you are
in his hand. He's not in our hands. He's God. We're in his hand and he can
show us favor and save us or he can harden our hearts and
let us go to hell. And that's the fact. Somebody
says, I don't like that. Well, it doesn't matter whether
you like it or not. That's the fact. That's the fact. You and I are
in His hand. That's who God is. I love the
way Paul anticipated the objection. In Romans chapter nine to, he
has mercy on whom he will has mercy and whom he will he hardens.
And Paul anticipates the objection by saying, why does he find fault?
If that's the case, if I'm in his hand and he's hardened my
heart, how can he hold me responsible for what I do? How can he find
fault? Nay, but old man, who are you
to reply against God? You're not in a position to be
judging God. He's your judge. You're not his. And you do not have the ability
to sit in judgment on him and say, I disagree with that. Well,
you can do it if you want, but you're the one in trouble. God
is God. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy and whom he will. He hardens. And if you've got
a problem with that, you've got a problem. You've got a real
problem. You're fighting a battle that
you cannot win. Now, when I see Pharaoh going
after the children of Israel, I think, you're crazy. Haven't
you learned by now that God is God? When you see all of Egypt
ravaged by the 10 plagues, your own firstborn killed, and here
you go again. Here it goes again. God says, I will harden Pharaoh's
heart. He shall follow after them. And I will be honored upon
Pharaoh and upon all his hosts. You see, God does what he does
for his own glory all the time. This is who he is. And it would
be beneath the dignity and the excellency of his person to act
with any lower motive. He's God. And it was told the king of Egypt
that the people fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants
was turned against the people. Who turned their heart? God did. You see, he is completely sovereign
over the free actions of men. That's how sovereign he is. He
is completely sovereign over the free actions of men. He turned
Pharaoh. heart and the heart of his servants.
I mean, this was crazy. After all you've experienced,
you ought to know you can't win this battle. But there they go.
Heart has been hardened. And it was told the king of Egypt
that the people fled and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants
was turned against the people. And they said, why have we done
this? That we've let Israel go from serving us. And he made
ready his chariot and took his people with him. And he took
600 chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt and the captains
over every one of them. Now, why 600? What is six? It's the number
of man, isn't it? Adam was created on the sixth
day. You know, when we read of 666
in the book of Revelation, the mark of the beast, 666, it's
the number of a man. Now, what we are told by this,
this is a human enterprise. It's man's attempt at defeating
God, and it's certain to end in defeat. This is the number
of a man. 600 chosen chariots. Verse eight, 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, 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 Pihahiroth
and before Baal-ziphon. Now here's where the children
of Israel were at. They had backtracked in obedience
to God's command, not knowing why. And here they are, the sea
and two impassable places. They were hemmed in. They were stuck. There was nothing they could
do with the armies of Egypt before them, and they were defenseless. That's where they were at. They
were defenseless. Verse 10, 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, and they sent
unto Moses. Because there were no graves
in Egypt, has thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore
has thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Is not this the word which we did tell thee in Egypt, saying,
let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been
better for us to serve the Egyptians, that we should die here in the
wilderness. Now, what all have they just
seen? Just a few days before, They
marched out. They'd seen the plagues. They
had seen the Lord act in their behalf. They saw. What did it do for them? Nothing. Here they are as unbelieving
as ever. They didn't think of the Lord
delivering them. All they could see was that they
were in a place where they were hemmed up, shut up, and the armies
of Egypt were going to destroy them. They responded in complete
unbelief. Now, what is the significance
of this? They didn't have any faith at this time. None. You
know what this tells me? Faith is not the cause of salvation. Christ is the cause of salvation. They didn't have any faith. Faith is not the cause of salvation. Now you won't be saved without
faith. You won't. I won't. By grace you're saved
through faith. And that, that faith is not of
yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man
should boast. You and I will not be saved apart
from faith, but faith is not the cause of salvation. If you
think faith is the cause of salvation, you believe in salvation by works.
That's the long and short of it. They did not have any faith
at this time. They even said, didn't we tell
you to leave us alone? Oh my, the worst thing that could
happen to me or you is to be left alone. Do you realize that?
The worst thing that could happen is for me or you to be left alone. But that's what they wanted.
Didn't we tell you? Leave us alone. Verse 13, and Moses said unto the people, fear ye not. Stand still. Well, don't just stand there,
do something. No, no, the opposite. Don't do something. Stand still. Stand still. and see the salvation of the
Lord, which he will show to you today. For the Egyptians, whom
you've seen today, you shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you
and you'll hold your peace. Now stand still. You know, this is the hardest
thing to do. Nothing. Nothing. That's the hardest thing to do.
Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Now in his salvation,
me and you are not participants. We're spectators. Now we enjoy
the benefit of it. But we're not participants. He
said, you stand still and see what I do. Not what me and you
do together, but what I do. You see, he by himself purged
our sins. You hear that? This was done
without any contribution from me or you. Stand still. and see the salvation of the
Lord. The Lord, verse 14, I love this. The Lord shall fight for you
and you'll hold your peace. Now, the Lord will fight for
you. If God be for us, who can be
against this? The Lord will fight for you.
Not the Lord will enable you to fight, the Lord will fight
for you. There's a big difference in there. The Lord will fight
for you. You see, salvation's of the Lord.
Now, what did Paul mean when he said, if God be for us, who
can be against us? Well, look at the previous verses.
For whom he did foreknow. know beforehand, before time
began, then he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of God, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called, whom he
called, then he also justified, whom he justified, then he also
glorified. Well, what should we say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? If God's fighting
my battle, I can't lose. And I love the way he said this.
The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. Jack Shakespeare once made a
statement, I wish I'd learned, never miss an opportunity to
shut up. I wish I'd learned that. You
shall hold your peace. Verse 15. And the Lord said unto
Moses, wherefore cryest thou unto me, speaking to the children
of Israel, that they go forward. Now he just said, be still, but
now he's saying, go forward. I want everybody in this room
right now, young people especially, give me your careful attention. Believe the gospel right now. Don't wait for something to happen.
Don't wait till you feel ready. Don't wait till you learn more.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ right now. Don't wait. Don't wait. Go forward right
now. That's God's command to you. If you're waiting, that's contrary
to the gospel. You see, Christ is salvation.
Not your feelings and your thoughts. Christ is salvation. and God's command to you. Don't
wait for anything. Believe the gospel right now. Go forward. Go forward. Don't
retreat. Don't wait. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ right now. Believe that he is the son of
God. Trust him to save you. Don't wait. Believe right now. Go forward. Verse 16, but lift out thy rod and stretch
out thine hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of
Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I behold, I will harden the
hearts of the Egyptians and they shall follow them for I will
get me honor upon Pharaoh and upon all his hosts, upon all
his chariots and upon all his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall
know that I'm the Lord when I've gotten me honor upon Pharaoh,
upon his chariots and upon his horsemen. Now this is possibly
the most well-known miracle in the Bible. where the Red Sea
was divided. And I think I know why it's so
well-known, at least in this generation, The Ten Commandments,
that movie with Charlton Heston. And I remember it was the first,
I guess, movie where, if you've seen it, you've seen the Red
Sea Divide, he had some amazing technology back then to make
that look real. And it was just, everybody knows something about
the parting of the Red Sea just from that movie, probably more
from that movie than the Bible. But it is a very famous miracle
because of Cecil B. DeMille and the technology that
he had, but this is a real literal miracle that took place. It happened. This is not make
believe, this is not metaphor. This took place, the parting
of the Red Sea. And just like the Egyptians were
the enemies of Israel, My sins are my enemies, and they're enemies
I cannot defeat. And I have to have the Lord do
something for me, just like the children of Israel did at this
time. Now, I've actually thought about
this. the parting of the Red Sea, the
children of Israel commanded to go through. Can you imagine
what they must have felt like looking at the walls on either
side of them of water, knowing they were held up by the will
of God and nothing else? And then walking through that,
knowing this is the work of God. What I'm more amazed, well, I'm
not more amazed, but I'm amazed at the presumption of the Egyptians. I mean, you'd think by now they'd
go, we better not go in there. but they did. You see, when your
heart is hardened, everything you do is wrong, is contrary
to the gospel. Now here their heart is hardened
and it is an act of presumption. They are going to go in after
the Israelites. Now let's go on reading verse
19. And the angel of God I have no doubt that this is
the Lord Jesus. 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 them, before their face,
and stood behind them, between them and the Egyptians. And it
came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel.
It was a cloud in darkness to them. but it gave light by night
to these so that the one came not near the other all night. Now, I love thinking about this. Here are the Egyptians. Here
are the children of Israel. Here's the Red Sea. And this
pillar of fire comes between the Egyptians and the children
of Israel. The children of Israel were just
as wicked, just as unbelieving as the Egyptians. Is that so? Ain't no doubt about it. What
was the difference between the Egyptians and Israel? The Lord. Exodus chapter 11 verse 7, against
the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against
man or beast, that you may know how that the Lord doth put a
difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Now, if you believe
the gospel and the one beside you doesn't, who's the difference? The Lord himself. Who makes you to differ from
another? What do you have that you didn't receive? The Lord
is the difference. The discriminating, and that's
the word I'm using. That's what the word actually
means. The discriminating grace of God. You see, if God didn't
discriminate, every one of us would go to hell. Every one of
us would. But he is the difference. And
this is interesting. This light that was light to
the Israelites was darkness to the Egyptians. They couldn't
see. The same thing that was light
to Israel was darkness to the Egyptians. Verse 21, 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 dry ground and the
waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their
left." Now try to put yourself in that position, marching through
the Red Sea. I don't know why I've always
wondered, but I was wondering, do they see fish in the water, you know, on the
walls? I don't know. Maybe they did, but they knew this. They
were dead sure that the only reason that that water had parted
was the will of God. Only his will caused this to
take place. Verse 23, And the Egyptians pursued and
went in after them in the midst of the sea. Even all of Pharaoh's
horses, his chariots and his horsemen. I said, this is crazy.
This is crazy. And it came to pass that in the
morning watch, the Lord looked under the host of the Egyptians
through the pillar of the fire and of the cloud. and troubled
the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheels,
that they drave them heavily." Now think where they're at. In
the middle of the Red Sea at this time, all of a sudden their
wheels fall off their chariots, and they know we're in trouble.
We are in trouble. They say, let us flee from the
face of Israel, for the Lord fighted for them against the
Egyptians. So they start trying to run. I guess they're trying
to get back to the shore before the waters come down. And the
Lord said unto Moses, verse 26, stretch out thine hand over the
sea that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon
their chariots and upon their horsemen. Now here we have the
gospel. Here we have the cross. And Moses stretched forth his
hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when
the morning appeared, and the Egyptians fled against it. And
the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea, and
the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen
and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them.
There remained not so much as one of them. 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." Every one of those chariots and
horsemen were covered up by the sea. Every single one of them. And my dear friend, if you're a believer, every one of your sins, past,
present, and future, have been covered up by the blood of Christ,
and there remains not one of them. That's the gospel. It's what
the Bible calls justification. You're not treated as if you're
not guilty. You're not guilty. You do not
have any sin. They have all been covered by
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. There remains not one of them. But, verse 29, but. You know, with me and you,
it's always a but God, isn't it? But God, who's rich in mercy. But the children of Israel walked
upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were
a wall unto them on the 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. Reckon yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin. You see, your sins already been
dealt with. Can you rest in that? Your sin
has been dealt with by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
your sin has no more power over you than a dead man does. It
is gone. Now the last verse, verse 31. And Israel used to be Jacob. Heal, deceit,
cheater, supplanter. His name is changed to Israel. And this is the name of all of
God's people, Jacob and Israel. I think that refers to the two
natures, the one Jacob, the other Israel. How often, particularly
in the book of Isaiah, do you find in the same verse, Jacob
and Israel, the Lord called them both. But here, Israel, God's
people. Prince with God. Israel saw that
great work, which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. In our experience, This is where salvation begins.
When we see that great work, which the Lord did. Now, I'm
thankful that our salvation did not begin with our experience.
But it was accomplished outside of our experience. Second Timothy
one nine, he saved us. Then he called us. There's so
much in that. He saved us. I saved before I
was ever born. Somebody says you shouldn't say
that. Why not? I was. Everything God does is
eternal. Everything God does is eternal.
Do I understand that? Of course not. Do I believe it?
With all my heart. With all my heart. God's God. He saved us. And he called us. And you know
when he calls you, you know what you're going to see? The great
work which he did with the Egyptians, with your
sins. The great work. Who's your enemy? My great enemy is my sins. Just
like Israel's great enemy was the Egyptians, well, the biggest
enemy was themselves. And that is seen over and over
again, and I know that. When you're given this sight
of seeing the great work which He did, it begins when He stood
at my surety and took full responsibility for my sins. Even then, when
He came into this earth and worked out a perfect righteousness for
me and put away my sins, we sang that hymn last week. Living,
He loved me. Dying, He saved me. Buried, he carried my sin far
away. Rising, he justified freely forever. One day, he's coming. Oh, glorious day. Now, when you see the great work
that he did, And remember, you weren't a participant in this.
It's what he did by himself. When you see the great work he
did, there's two things he said that every believer will do.
Number one, they'll fear. Number two, they'll believe. When you see the great work he
did, You'll fear. You'll fear him. I'm not talking
about a slavish fear of God where you're, well, you know, I wrecked
my car Wednesday. Am I being punished? Well, I
wasn't hurt, so I'm thankful for that. But that's what people
think. You know, am I being judged regarding
anything? Don't think that way. That's
not the fear. That's a slavish fear of unbelief.
What is the fear of God? What is the fear of God? You
fear that which you have no control over. And he has all control
over you. Now that's when you fear God.
And that's worship, really. You know you don't have any control.
And he has all control. And anybody that hears that fears
God. If you believe that, you'll fear
him. And that's the fear of a reverential all. of God. You're awed before
Him. He's so glorious. He has all
control over me. I have no control over Him. If
you have any control, you won't fear. You won't have that respect. You won't have that awe for God.
You see, you have control over Him. If you can get Him to respond
to you, you're not going to fear Him. You're not going to respect
Him. You're not going to have awe before Him. But if you ever see the
great work He did, You will fear the fear of God. You know, people talk about good
God fearing men and women. Don't use language like that.
A believer fears God. There is no fear before the unbeliever,
no respect, no reverential awe before God. But when you see
the great work he did, You will fear. 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. Now, here's what proves you fear
God. You believe. You believe. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. It's not a what, it's a whom. Don't miss that. I know what
I believe. Who cares? I don't. I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I've committed to him against that
day. I know whom I believed, and I
am persuaded in his ability. I've committed the entire salvation
of my soul to him. Hands off. I'm backing away.
Stand still. If what He did, if who He is
and what He did is not enough to save me, I won't be saved.
All my eggs are in that one basket, who He is and what He did. Now, if you fear Him, you'll
believe Him. And they also believed His servant
Moses. The Holy Spirit has that pointed
out. Now, they're going to be murmuring again soon enough.
They're always getting mad at Moses. But right now, at any
rate, They believe Moses was telling the truth concerning
God. Now, seeing the great work that he did. That's
so important. Fearing. I fear God. And believing. You know, I believe
the gospel. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the son of God. I believe he did what he came
to do and I'm relying wholly on him. Now, my last word is
go forward. Believe the gospel right now.
Don't wait for something. You've heard the gospel this
morning. Don't wait for something. Believe on Christ right now. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would enable each man, woman, boy, and girl in this
room to see the great work that you did. To fear and to believe. Bless this word. for your glory
and our eternal good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.