Sermon Tone Analysis

Go Forward with God

Exodus 14:10-22

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - Oct. 6, 2013

BACKGROUND:

*When the Children of Israel were living in Egypt, they were forced into brutal slavery by the Pharaohs.

But God heard the cries of His people, and in Exodus 3-4, the Lord appeared to Moses in a burning bush.

There God called Moses to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.

*When the Lord called Moses, He knew that Pharaoh would resist letting the people go.

And God promised to send terrible judgments on Egypt.

In Exodus 3:18-20, the Lord said to Moses:

18. . .

"You shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, 'The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.'

19.

I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand.

20.

So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go."

*Those wonders came in the form of ten terrible plagues that God sent on Egypt.

The last plague was death for all firstborn men and beasts, except those protected by the blood of the Passover.

After that terrible night, Pharaoh let God's people go, but he quickly changed his mind, and planned to crush them when they were trapped against the Red Sea.

*With this background in mind, let's begin by reading Exodus 14:10-22.

And as we read, please think about going forward with God.

INTRODUCTION:

*A few years ago, I walked out to our back yard, and saw something I had never seen before: A little cat had her head stuck in our chain-link fence.

I don't know how long she had been there, but it had been a while.

And that cat was stuck.

There was no way she could pull herself free.

She wasn't too happy about it, but I was able to cut a couple of the wires, and she took off like a rocket.

*Sometimes we get stuck in life: Stuck in traffic, stuck in the mud, stuck in a job we don't like, stuck in sin, stuck in a spiritual rut.

We may be stuck in a bad situation, but God wants to help us go forward.

*The Apostle Paul is a great example for us.

When Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, he was stuck in a terrible situation.

In chapter 1, Paul tells us that he is a prisoner for the Lord.

He was in chains, and he had been for a while.

In fact, Paul didn't know if he would live or die.

Then, in chapter 2, Paul tells us that he almost had grief piled up on top of grief, when a close friend nearly died.

*Paul was stuck in a bad situation.

But in Philippians 3:13-14, he was firmly committed to go forward with God.

There Paul said:

13.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

14.

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

*Paul said he was "reaching forward to those things which are ahead."

The word-picture is a runner putting out maximum effort, stretching his whole body out to try to cross the finish line first.

*And God wants us to go forward like that: Forward as Christians, as families, as friends, and as a church.

God wants us to go forward, and this Scripture in Exodus shows us three reasons why we can and must go forward.

1. First: We must go forward because God will protect us.

*God will always give His people the protection we need.

Well, do we still get sick?

Yes.

Do we still get old?

Yes.

Do we still have financial problems?

-- Sometimes.

Do we still have family problems?

-- Sometimes.

But there is a difference when we are Christians, even when we don't see the difference.

*In vs. 10-12, the Children of Israel made the terrible mistake of forgetting God's protection:

10.

And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them.

So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

11.

Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?

Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?

12.

Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?'

For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.''

*The children of Israel did not realize how much God was protecting them.

And many times, neither do we.

We tend to underestimate the work of God in our lives, but He is there, working behind the scenes to give us His protection.

*Many times I have thought back to the story Billy Graham told about John Paton and his wife.

They were pioneer missionaries in the New Hebrides Islands.

One night, hostile natives had surrounded the mission headquarters.

They were intent on burning the Patons out and killing them.

All during the terror filled night, John and his wife prayed that God would deliver them.

When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave.

And they thanked God for delivering them.

*A year later the chief of the tribe became a Christian.

And when Patton asked the chief what kept him and his men from burning down the house and killing them, the chief replied in surprise, "Who were all those men you had with you there?"

*The missionary answered, "There were no men there, just my wife and I." Then the chief argued that they had seen many men standing guard, -- hundreds of big men in shining garments with swords in their hands.

They seemed to circle the mission station so that the natives were afraid to attack.

*Only then did Mr. Paton realize that God had sent His angels to protect them.

The chief agreed that there was no other explanation.

God sent His angels.

He was working to protect his people.

And God is always working behind the scenes in our lives.

(1)

*Many times we can see God's protection in our lives.

Moses knew the Children of Israel were about to see it again.

That's why in vs. 13, "Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid.

Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.

For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.'"

*Sometimes we get to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God has protected us.

Many of us here could stand up right now, and give testimonies of those times.

But most of the time we can't see God's protection in our lives.

However, if we believe in Jesus Christ, we can spiritually see the most important part of God's protection.

*Verses 19&20 remind us of this great truth in an unexpected way.

There:

19. . . the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.

20.

So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel.

Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.

*This was a huge pillar of cloud and fire, not some small thing.

Remember that there were between two and three million Jews trapped by the Red Sea.

And there must have been a massive Egyptian army bearing down on them.

So this was an enormous pillar of fire and cloud.

And it is important for us to know that God was in that pillar of fire and cloud.

*To the Egyptians the pillar was a cloud of darkness.

But to God's people the pillar was a light in the dark night.