Title: Stand Still and See!
Text: Exodus 14: 1-14
Date: July 1, 2018
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
When God has redeemed us out
of bondage and delivered us to faith in Christ, we tend to come out with a high hand. That is how the children of
Israel came out of Egypt. They were
fearless and thoughtless of any danger coming their way. That is how we tend to be when the Lord first
converts us to faith in Christ. We think everything will be easier now. But we
soon find that is not the case at all.
In fact, when God calls us to
faith in Christ the real warfare begins: warfare between flesh and spirit, warfare
against the entanglements of this world, warfare against our own unbelief. But
God has promised to lead us, remember?
Psalm
32:8: I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I
will guide thee with mine eye.
Psalm
121:3: He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not
slumber.
Proposition: Yet, God leads us through trials to
remind us we are yet sinners and to teach us that he is the one leading us and the
one who shall deliver us from all our enemies. This lesson we never stop
learning.
EXAMPLE OF FAITH
Exodus 14: 1: And
the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2:
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth,
between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp
by the sea. 3: For Pharaoh will
say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the
wilderness hath shut them in. 4:
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will
be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know
that I am the LORD. And they did so.
Instead of taking them into
the desert sand, (which would have made it impossible for Pharaoh’s chariots to
catch them), instead of taking them the way into Canaan that was near, God
commanded Moses to turn the Israelites south—literally turning their backs to
Canaan—which kept them very near the border of Egypt.
Then the Lord told Moses to
encamp where they would be trapped. Before Pihahiroth—the mouth of a pass
through the mountains; between Migdol—a mountain fortress; in front of the Red
sea over against Baalzephon—which was a stone Egyptian idol-god that was
supposed to stop slaves from escaping. So they would be trapped: surrounded by
mountain and sea. But brethren when the
Lord leads us in a way that seems sure to bring a trial we don’t understand, hasn’t
the Lord taught us?
Isaiah
55:8: my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith
the LORD.
Psalm 37:5:
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Believe the Lord and commit to
thy way to the LORD no matter where he leads in his providence!
Then the Lord told Moses the
reason he took them that way is because he would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that
Pharaoh would attack them—“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he
shall follow after them.”
Just as the Lord forewarned
Moses what was coming, Christ has forewarned us. Hasn’t the Lord Jesus told us
beforehand to expect tribulation in this world?
But our peace is in Christ in his gospel, not in this world.
John
16: 33: These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In
the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world.
So it should not surprise us
when God leads us into a trial; it should not be a hindrance to our faith.
1 Peter
4: 12: Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange
thing happened unto you: 13: But
rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his
glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
And the Lord even told Moses that
he was going to get honor to himself upon Pharaoh and his army—“and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and
upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD.” This
should really settle us in faith. We know that in all things our Lord brings to
pass, he shall bring glory and honor to his great name.
Did he glorify himself when he
chose his people by his grace, without a cause in us? Where were you and I? We did not contribute. What about when he sent his Son and fulfilled
the law on our behalf, purged our sins, apart from our works? We certainly did not contribute to that work?
How about when he quickened us without us even knowing what had happened—and
called us in such power that we could do nothing but believe on the Lord Jesus
his Son? Did he get glory to his name?
Indeed, we were dead, we contributed nothing.
In our salvation, the Lord brought glory to his name and saved us from
the enemy! So he can get glory to his name without our help in our lesser
trials, why should we doubt, ever?
The LORD can get honor to his
name because he is absolutely sovereign with all power over all. Look down the page, he told Moses he would
harden Pharaoh’s heart then he did it.
Exodus
14: 5: 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 have
let Israel go from serving us? 6:
And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: 7: And he took six hundred chosen
chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. 8: And the LORD hardened the heart of
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel:
This is one of the greatest
reasons we should never doubt but always believe God.
Proverbs
21: 1: The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers
of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Amos
3: 6:…shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Whatever comes to pass is the
LORD working his eternal purpose to glorify himself and save his people. And he
is working all things together for the good of them that love the Lord and he
is doing it on purpose. Oh, what a
comfort to our faith!
So, here is faith in God, this
is what we ought to always do—“And they did
so.” Moses believed and feared God
rather than man, so he obeyed God and led them in God’s way.
Brethren, faith not only
believes the Lord, faith obeys the Lord. Where God has given faith, God also produces
fruit—good works, obedience to him. “For as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is dead also.” (Jas 2:26) The good works he produces in his people are
rooted in believing that God is able to save and loving our brethren. Moses
believed God was able to save and he loved his brethren therefore he obeyed God
and took them the way God commanded
EXAMPLE OF UNBELIEF
Exodus 14: Exodus 13: 8…and the children of Israel went out with
an high hand. 9: But the
Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh,
and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside
Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon. 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. 11: And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves
in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou
dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? 12: Is not this the word that 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, than that we should die in the
wilderness.
This is how we tend to react
to trouble. While there is a new man
within us that believes, as we saw in Moses, usually our visible outward man
acts like the children of Israel. So every
believer knows this trouble. God
delivers us and we come out with a high hand: full of joy, happy, no fear of
man—Canaan seems near at hand. Then God
puts us to the test.
On one side was a mountain—we face big mountainous
trials that we cannot get over. On the other side was an idol god—our flesh is a self-righteous idolater but God continues
to make our idols vain unto us. Before
them was the Red Sea— the only way
that sea could be dried up is by a rod—a picture God’s rod of justice being
satisfied so we can go over on dry ground.
Bearing down behind them was
Pharaoh and his army—sometimes by permission the Lord allows the devil to
attempt to sift us as wheat, God allows our sin pursue us.
We tend to react like the
children of Israel. We panic as if God delivered us only to kill us in the
wilderness. Do we really believe God our
Righteous Father would give his only begotten Son to suffer under the fury of
his justice to satisfy his law, to declare his righteousness, to save all his
chosen people, then allow one for whom Christ died to perish in one of these
lesser trials? Christ faced the greatest trial that ever existed. He bore it on
behalf of his people. He divided the waters so we can go across on dry ground. That
is what Christ meant when he said, “In
this world ye shall have tribulation but Be of good cheer, I have overcome the
world!” So there is no way he will
allow one of his own purchased people to fall away
John
10: 28: And I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand. 29: My
Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is
able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Romans
8: 31:…If God be for us, who can be against us? 32: He that spared not his own
Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely
give us all things?
So why does God bring us into
these trials? the purpose of leading us into trials, is two-fold: to make us
see that we have no strength in ourselves and to remind us God in Christ is our
Savior. Our redemption is accomplished—God has
saved us. Therefore, God is saving
us—from ourselves and this world and our idols by giving us this trial. God shall save us—this present trial is a lesser
salvation than his cross work was—so he shall save us and bring us through
whatever the present trial may be.
THE LESSON
Exodus 14: 13: And
Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of
the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen
to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14: The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
In the midst of the trial,
when the Lord has brought us to the end of ourselves, the Lord strengthens his
messenger to preach this very gospel to us.
This is the lesson we learn over and over.
Fear ye not.
What shall we fear? Who or what
is more powerful than our Redeemer? A fallen sinner is a fearful creature.
Over and over Moses tells them
to “fear not.” Then when Joshua takes
over he tells them over and over “fear not.” When we fear man or earthly things,
we exalt man more than God. We say that
the thing we fear has the most power.
Isaiah
8: 10: Take counsel together,
and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is
with us. 11: For the LORD spake
thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the
way of this people, saying, 12:
Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A
confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 13: Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be
your fear, and let him be your dread. [he should be the only one
to make us tremble] 14: And he
shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of
offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Isaiah
43:1: But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that
formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee
by thy name; thou art mine.
Stand still. There
is no help in self. Leave all to God.
This is the Gospel-message. There is no self-salvation. No power of man can
save one soul from one sin. Cease, then, the vain attempt. Stand still before God’s law and stand still
in the current trial.
And see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to
day for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more
for ever. Christ
alone has finished all the work of redemption. Alone He paid the penalty of
sin. Alone He satisfied each claim of God. Alone He brought in everlasting
righteousness. Alone He trod down every hindrance which guilt and hell could
raise. Alone he took away our sins just like he took away the Egyptians at the
red sea. This work is gloriously
accomplished by Christ alone! Likewise, our deliverance from every lesser trial
is by his hand alone!
The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. 'The Lord will fight for you;
you need only to be still. Christ is all our strength, all our victory. All
creatures the least dust before Him! Who can resist when He lifts His hand? Believer,
all his power is put forth to be your shield and sword. So stand behind the
Lord our Redeemer and watch him save us. No need to raise the battle-cry. The
charge is not ours. Let us use our breath in prayer and praise.
Throughout the old testament we
find “the Lord fought for Israel”, “the
Lord defended Jerusalem”, “Israel defeated the enemy because the Lord fought
for Israel” So the Lord said in Isaiah 30,
Isaiah
30: 7:…I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still…15: For thus
saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be
saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength:
2 Corinthians
12: 9: And he said unto me, My
grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most
gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. 10:
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in
persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
AMEN!