3:24: Lent 2019
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Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians coming after them. Then the Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. 11 They said to Moses: “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
13 But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation He will provide for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you must be quiet.”
Intro
Intro
<Illustration: Bruce Allmighty>
It is a good thing to be reminded this morning that God never tires of hearing us pray to him.
J.C. Ryle “Tell me what a man’s prayers are, and I will soon tell you the state of his soul.” What are our priorities in prayer? That reveals a bit of what it is that we truly are desiring. Jesus, in his Lord’s prayer, taught us how to pray. The model that we see is one with the priorities in the correct order.
Our priorities are not to advance our own agenda, but for God to be glorified and for His name to be hallowed. To be revered beyond and above all things. But too often, we treat God as though He were our genie, when the reality is that there is no comparison. And I am not talking in the sense that God is a genie who responds to our prayers. I am speaking in the sense that we do not even treat God as we would a genie, if genies did exist.
John Onwuckewkwa, “no one struggles to talk to his genie the way Christians struggle to talk to God in prayer. They don’t forget to ask for things. They don’t treat conversation with their genies as a last resort. No one has a problem talking with his or her genie because a genie always grants the asker’s request. The genie has one job: to advance the agenda of the one to whom he’s bound.
But when we pray as Jesus taught, we’re reminded that God’s presence and person is precious—far more precious than provision.”
If you were to self-reflect on your prayers so far during lent, what have they been on? Has it been more focused on achieving your own agenda? Or has it been to advance His kingdom?
Or, do they reflect the cries and grumbling of the nation of Israel like we read this morning?
Body
Body
The people of God had just been set free from captivity. They were harshly treated and were even commanded to have killed all of their male children. We would expect that these people would have had a greater faith and trust in God. But God’s provision and protection did not stop just in their deliverance, we also read that as he lead them out, he protected them from threats outside of Egypt.
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, “The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.” 18 So He led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation.
God never left them, he led them.
21 The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.
He was always with them and they were learning to follow Him as He was bringing them to the Promised Land. You would think the words from their lips would continually be songs of praise, but that is not what we read at all. Yes, they were singing when they left Egypt, but at the first sign of trouble, they began to grumble.
You know, when I get sick, I am the biggest baby. And some of you are like that whenever life gets a bit bumpy. We whine and we complain. We are so quick to forget everything that God has done for us. It is like little children, you care for them and feed them and clothe them and buy them toys and candy. But when you don’t give them what they want, they begin to doubt your goodness. And we may think, what an ungrateful child. We may even criticize them for being so quick to forget everything that you have done for them. And not just your children, because y’all don’t have any yet, but what about your relationships with your friends or your coworkers. They grumble and complain about you, and let’s be honest you do it against them as well.
The story of the Israelites in Exodus is a reminder of just how much we grumble as the people of God. It is like looking in the mirror, it is not always a pretty picture. In this passage, we see ourselves. We are not all Moses as much as we would like to think. We are the crying babies.
Though God has redeemed us, we too quickly forget His sovereign grace to carry us through every moment of our lives. We forget the great salvation He has bought for us by the blood of His son. Which is the greatest act of salvation we will ever experience beyond any other moments of salvation. We forget quickly all the times that he has sustained us and rescued us.
How many times have we thought that it would be better to figuratively “serve the Egyptians” rather than to continue walking with God in the wilderness? To continue walking in our sin? How many times have grumbled against God crying out how He has taken away such pleasurable things of this world in order to "suffer” in the desert and follow Him? I am sure that I am the worst offender in this case, and not just because I am older than you. We are all like this.
The Israelites interpreted the uncertainty of the moment as God’s absence from their lives. When it appeared that death was drawing near, a return to slavery seemed to be the better option. In moments and in seasons, they preferred their former life of bondage rather than pressing into the Lord and trusting His plan of deliverance. Fear and anxiety welled up and engulfed their hearts.
While Lent is very much about bringing us to repentance to produce sanctified and grateful living, it is also very important to be reminded that Lent also reminds of how wonderful God is. Our very breath that we are breathing is evidence of how merciful and good a God we serve.
In the moment of desperation for the Israelites, what was God’s response to their complaining and grumbling?
Through Moses, God says, “Fear not, stand firm.” The Lord promised deliverance, and He came through on that promise. Doubts, fears and anxieties will inevitably come in our lives. How ought we to respond?
Trust God
We serve a great God who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.
Matthew 28:20- Right after the Great Commission, Jesus ends it with these words “and I will be with you, even to the end of the age”
Why worry or doubt or fear? Why are we so anxious and filled with anxiety all the time? Could it be that you have not completely trusted in God.
Trusting God means more than just in the good times. I think a lot of the time people focus on how “Satan” is attacking them because they are that important or God must need you for some reason. I think most of the time he will just let us go into times that are peaceful and quiet. That is when we start to trust in ourselves or, worse, we forget God.
Consider the Saints
I do not just mean locally as well. Although, we ought to speak into one another’s lives and be an encouragement to one another. But consider what God has done throughout Church History.
This is why I love reading about the men and women of the faith who have gone before us. They not only set a good example of discipline and diligence in the midst of suffering, they also highlight the character and nature of God. A God who is always good, in the midst of persecution. That God is the same God we serve.
This means that if you are not reading your Bible, it is to your detriment. God’s Word serves a purpose. It reveals who God is, what He has done, and what He calls us to, yes. It instructs us and trains us for righteousness and a means by which He does so is when we read about the men and women of faith.
We can read about them and be reminded that we are to lay aside all sin and weights and focus in on Christ.
Worship God
Worship Him when He delivers. But also worship Him while in the trial.
In moments of desperation, when we see something that seems more powerful than we are, we must remember that the Lord will fight for us, like He did the Israelites. As we reflect on our current circumstances, fears and anxieties may well up within us, but the call upon believers is to fear not. We see the salvation of the Lord in Jesus Christ who fought sin and Satan on our behalf. When we reflect on this sovereign grace in salvation, our only response is to sit in awe and be silent.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We will all face difficulty while we wait on the Lord to call us home. But the Lord does not tarry or forget us. He is working everything perfectly. None of us are in moments of desperation right now, but if the occasion comes do not gripe or complain. Do not become like the children of Israel. Trust God and be in awe and wonder and worship Him.
He has already conquered our greatest problem of sin. He has won and we have been given a great salvation. Let us worship Him.
SUGGESTED FAST: CAFFEINE AND SWEETS
Consider fasting from your favorite caffeinated beverages or candy this week. Think about placing sticky notes with Scripture or prayer requests on or near where you keep those items so you are reminded to refocus your heart and mind on the Lord throughout the day. Consider setting aside the money you would typically spend on those beverages and pray about where you could give it to help those in need.