No Going Back

Now is our time when we share our Joys and concerns with each other. so, if you have any, you would like to share with your church family, Let me know, I know Marv shared with me the other week and then shared more with me today.

Mike Ripley, who is a son? Write Amy. Amy son had an accident and is not doing well in the I see you. And Friday, he did open his eyes but after the weekend they will make the decision to continue to keep him on life support or not. So continue to pray for him, pray for the family as they are faced that tough decision. Does anyone else have any prayer requests? They would like to share with anyone.

As always, we remember those who are staying in our nursing care facilities and those who work there and are other healthcare workers. Within our church family. We remember those who serve in the military and all the missionaries that we support as a church as well. Please smile with me in prayer.

heavenly father as we come to you today, Lord, we thank you for the many, many blessings you give us Lord, we pray that you will be with us and guide us as we go through out this next week. Lord, I pray that you will be with. Mike, Ripley and his family. Or give them wisdom and what to do? Give them peace and give them a surance during this time. And Lord, we pray for others in our community who are facing Illnesses are facing the loss of a family member Lord. We pray that you will just be with them and comfort them during this time. And Lord is sweet come to you today and study your words, I pray, you will help us to focus in on what you have for. Each of us to learn today and that you will bless the Lord with me knowing that you are always there with us walking with us in the midst of any and every situation, we pray this all in your most holy name. Amen.

You know, all of pharaohs horses and all of pharaohs men couldn't get the Israelites back to Egypt again. Yeah, they tried but they couldn't do it. Yeah. Here we have the most powerful nation in the world at that time. The most powerful King. In the world, with the most powerful Army. And yet, all of these things are nothing compared to the Lord God of Israel. Because God has determined that he is going to free his people. So he sets and motion all of these events.

To accomplish his will. You're here. We find an Egypt, a kingdom that has indeed been broken. He knows we start the story about, you know, the Israelites being let out. We find that, you know, after all of the plagues that, you know, Pharaoh, finally concedes since is fine, take your people and go.

But then they realize that they just let all the help though. They let all the people who did the manual labor go, they let all their construction workers. Go, what are they going to do now?

So his heart is again, hardened and Pharaoh decides to assemble all of his troops and pursue the Israelites to bring them back.

And once again, will see the Pharaohs plans fail and God uses that failure to accomplish his plans.

In Exodus. 14:10 it says as Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.

Yell as I Was preparing for this 7 commentary setting a 600 chariots may not seem like a lot when there's estimates that there may have been as many as two million Israelites leaving at that time when you think of men women children all of that.

But you also have to consider that and that day and age. The Chariots were kind of considered, you know, the most modern and deadly form of warfare that they had. It's like the tanks of our day and age, that's what the Chariots were. So as the Israelites see those coming They think they're trapped. You know, on the one side, they're blocked by the Red Sea. And on the other side, they see this mass of troops coming after them.

And like I said, when they see his troops coming over the horizon, they begin to become filled with fear and doubt.

and, you know, it's our doubts, that feeds our fear

You known as the Israelites stand there between the Red Seas and the armies of pharaoh there, doubt just continues to grow as their fear grows. One feeds off the other.

and they're in a situation where if God doesn't choose to intervene, They know it's not going to be good. They know that they'll be slaughtered and those who do end up Surviving this attack will just be dragged back to Egypt and placed into slavery again. So they begin to doubt that this is God's plan in fear, begins to take over. continuing on in Exodus chapter 14, verse 11 and 12, they said to Moses Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die. What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you and Egypt? Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians. It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.

Clearly, they're not trusting God, in this situation, they're letting what they see in front of them overwhelm them. You know, God's plan and right now they're thinking, this is just Moses is playing, you know, it's just not working out the way that they thought it should.

That's why they go so far as to say and it would have been better for them to stay slaves rather than to go. Workout is leading them, that is essentially what they're saying.

And really if you know, they're doubting God that much if they're doubting the person that God has sent them that much, they really aren't worthy or deserving of God's intervention. But what does God do? He intervenes. You got intervenes for a people who do not deserve it. In Exodus 14 going on 2 verses 13 and 14. Moses answered the people. Do not be afraid, stand firm. And you will see the Deliverance. The Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see. Again, the Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still.

I'd imagined as they heard him say this, when they were just yelling at him about. Why did you bring us out here to die? That doesn't sound like much of a plan to them. Just stand. Still, don't worry about it. God's got this. Yonkers from their point of view, they're sitting ducks for the army of Egypt. So it's no wonder that fears beginning to take over that. They feel all of this doubt. You know, Moses reminds them that their security Comes from the Lord.

And then we see God intervene in a couple of different ways. The first one is he intervenes through this pillar of cloud and Fire.

You know, this pillar had been leading them. The dentist will see here in this next passage God uses that same pillar that had been leading them to stand between. The Egyptian Army and the Israelites. Exodus 14:19 and 20th, then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's Army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud. Also moved from in front and stood behind them. Coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel throughout the night. The cloud brought Darkness to the one side and light to the other side. So, neither went near the other all night long. So Hear This Cloud, this pillar of cloud and fire stands there, throwing Darkness over the Egyptians, you know, some say they think it even block the starlighter Moonlight out. So that was complete darkness on their side. But yet on the other side, it Shone as brightly as the Noonday Sun. For the Israelites. What is now used to throw Egypt into confusion? And like, the way forward for the Israelites. I mean if you ever really stopped and just thought about, What that had to look like?

It's hard for us to imagine and I'm going to have Jared play a video clip that comes from the animated movie Prince of Egypt, cuz I think it's one of the better depictions of what it might have looked like.

With this. You shall do my wonders.

Exodus chapter 14, verse has 21 22, it says than Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night. The Lord drove the sea back with a strong East, Wind and turned it into dry. Land, the waters were divided in. The Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water, on their right, and on their left. You know, if you think about that, I like that cuz it had to be an event where the visuals were just beyond anything Hollywood could ever produce. Is rather interesting, as I kind of research some stuff to prepare for this to hear some different theories of natural phenomenon that might have happened to cause that to happen. There's one theory that the point where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea was the point where it's only a stream and it didn't really part. They just kind of stepped over. It is what me and this person tried to argue and but the really interesting thing is, if you do study the historical route that they took as they left, they actually start on a route out. Where if they had proceeded on that route, they actually could have went around the Red Sea, the other way, but then, at one point in their Journey, they kind of turn and come back. And head down this side of the Red Sea, to the point where they cross.

He knows, like looked at that on different Maps. I thought. This was a part of God's plan all along.

And God LED them out. He hardened Pharaoh's heart. He knew Pharaoh would pursue them. And how fun would it be if they're all just pursued him across the stream? I mean, that didn't say a lot to anybody. But no God LED them back to this specific point. Where his plan was to part the Red Sea. To deliver his people.

And, you know, really to think that it's just, those two little verses that talk about this and to think how incredible it had to be to see this whole thing,

But, you know, the visual of it happening produce the effect that God wanted.

God is all-powerful and God delivers his people from their enemies. that was the statement was made meant to make, and I think it did it rather clearly you know, there's another familiar story that involves wind and water that we see in Mark Chapter 4 verses 39 through 41, He Jesus got up. Rebuked the wind and said to the waves quiet. Be still Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? They were terrified. Nasty. Cheddar. Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey them.

Who is this? What sort of man takes a nap during a storm on the sea anyway but then wakes up and tells it to stop be quiet.

Makes me think of when my kids wake me up from a nap or my dogs like stop be quiet.

But that's what he does. He is the Son of God. He is the creator of the universe. He is God in the flesh. It is him that we have deliverance from our enemies, from our sin, from the enemy of death, and the devil tries to control our lives with fear and deceit.

Our God is a god of Deliverance, even for a people that don't deserve it. He is a god of Second Chances. Jesus is the Messiah who delivers his people even when we don't deserve it.

But, you know, as we see this miraculous thing of the crossing of the Red Sea, what are some things that we can learn from this?

I think one of the first thing is you'll God can provide a Way Forward when there seems to be no way forward.

Yeah, I think God intentionally had Moses lead the Israelite people to that place where they were going to be quite literally not stuck between a rock and a hard place book between an Army in the ocean. Where they had no Escape, their only Deliverance could come from God.

Then God intervenes and provides a very unexpected solution. To the problem. He Parts the Red Sea. Probably not something that was going through the Israelites. Mines of, how are we going to escape here?

It makes me wonder when we're facing stuff in life, that we're facing problems and we think there is just no way forward in this. It's our faith big enough to continue to pursue God, even when we don't see a Way Forward.

Well, we Faithfully follow. Another lesson that we can learn from this passages that, you know, when we make the choice to follow, where God is leading, there is no going back.

You know, if we are truly committed to pursuing God and what he wants for our lives, then there is no going back to that old sinful nature that we had before. We knew God,

2nd Corinthians 5:17 in the New Living Translation says, this means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone. A new life has begun.

And, you know, for us as Christians being New Creations in Christ, like that passage right there tells us.

There's no going back after you take that step.

I mean, why? With the Israelites even entertain, the idea of it would have been better for us to go back or to stay and just stay as slaves.

I mean, why go back to a life of Slavery to sin and death. Is that really what we want to return to?

I don't know if you guys remember it but the song I played the video of during the offertory, we did. That is probably close to a year ago when I did that message entitled burn the ships.

In that I was talking about you, no moving forward with no way of going back. And at that time, I was talking about us in the steps we were taking to leave. The United Methodist Church but you know if you've ever heard that phrase burn the ships, it's a phrase that comes from in 1519. So just a few years ago The Spanish conquest of Mexico and Commander Cortez, he burned his ships so that his men would be forced to either win or die.

You know, a lot of times in a lot of those Expeditions, what they would do when they would come and stay with disassemble, their ships and use that to build their Fort but he made the radical choice that he knew. Some of his men were talking about the idea of hey when the war starts, let's just go get back on the boats and go back to Spain.

So he made that not an option. They burned all their ships so their only option was to win and to establish themselves there.

You know, God did it in a different way, but I think of me see The Parting of the Red Sea. He does the same thing for the Israelites. he'd lead the Israelites through the Red Sea and then if we continue on in that story, we see that after he leads them through He closes the water. Back over the Egyptians. Kind of effectively, slamming the door saying while you're not turning around and going back that way.

So, the Israelites had one choice. To move forward. To keep pursuing where God was leading them cuz he just took the route back home away.

Free also in doing that showed them that he had closed that door to their enemies as well.

You know, when this all started Moses said to them, the Egyptians, you see today you will never see again. When God closed up, that Red Sea, he wiped out the Egyptian Army's. So they no longer had to fear those Egyptians coming after them in pursuing them and enslaving them again.

You know, when we decide to follow Christ, when we turn our lives over to him, when we repent of our sin, we essentially have done the same thing. We've crossed the Red Sea. There is no going back that door has closed behind us. yeah, we shouldn't went to seek out our old life anymore, but we should trust God and his promises that he is leading us towards

You know, and just as the Red Sea closes in over those armies, making them no longer a threat. When we truly surrender Our Lives to Christ. All those things that we used to struggle with, don't have to have power over us anymore.

You know, our enemies have been destroyed Christ, defeated sin, and death. Death no longer Reigns. In one day, we will no longer hear about death or son or any trouble. When we join Christ in eternity.

So, our challenge today is in your distress. Can we reach out to the Lord instead of trying to return to the old ways?

When were scared because we don't know the way forward, are we? Bold enough. To continue to pursue Christ forward, instead of trying to go back.

You know, when we face those impossible circumstances in our life and we think we're just surrounded on all sides. Do we have the faith to remember that? God is always with us that God will always provide us a way out in a way forward.

That we don't need to look back to the old familiar and think that's the only thing to go, but we need to look forward and go to the Lord in prayer. To seek his help his guidance, his Deliverance.

The truth is on any given day, the enemy is going to come after you one way or the other.

But the Lord will protect you. No. How matter how many chariots are horses? The enemy pursuing. You might have the Lord is still greater. He can overcome those things, and we need to remember that. That the Lord will keep you until the end. this is the promise of God, we persevered not because of any ability and us, but because of God's promise to us, That's why we can persevere. Smite challenges is best. We Face whatever, might come our way, this next week, this next year. That we will turn to God first and continue to seek after him. Please bow with me in prayer.

Heavenly Father, we come to you today and Lord, we thank you. For the many blessings that you give us. Lord, I pray that you will just continue to be with us and guide us and remind us Lord that no matter what we are facing. You are there with us? We pray that's all in your most. Holy name. Amen.

Lee, Sands we sing a song together?

When I look at it is written.

Merced.