Exodus

[0:00] As the Lord may graciously lead, we seek to direct your minds to a few words in the chapter that we have read in the 14th chapter of the book of Exodus and at verse 15.

[0:22] The Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore cryest thou unto me, speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward.

[0:37] 14th chapter of the book of Exodus and at verse 15. The Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore cryest thou unto me, speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward.

[0:58] These words have laid the power for my own soul. But what a word, my dear friends. What a word.

[1:12] A revelation of divine sovereignty. And unfolding a divine power and glory.

[1:24] He who reigns and rules is here. Israel received the command.

[1:39] Oh yes. But what a command. What a command. Impossible. Impossible.

[1:50] Is that where the Lord brought you my dear friends? That's where Israel are, I'll remember. I need to go back a little.

[2:02] I can pick up a little. As time permits. We've read it down at the beginning. At the beginning of the chapter. Clear. Clear.

[2:12] Very clear and concise. Are the directions. As the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto the children of Israel that they turn and encamp before Piharim between Migdal and the sea over against Baal-Zephon.

[2:35] Very descriptive description, my dear friends. Because the sovereignty of God is in bold here.

[2:47] They've got to be careful. They've got to encamp here. Mustn't tarry too long. We'll only just mention what are we to understand by this.

[3:02] Fire hires. Fire hires. The mouth of freedom. Migdal. The tower of strength. Bows he upon the hidden Lord.

[3:15] That's where it is. The Lord said you stop there. That's the first thing, my dear friends. If you're in trouble, whatever it may be, providential or spiritual, are you in the place where the Lord has placed you?

[3:37] The Lord brought you into a place and shut you in. And that's where Israel is. And that's where the command comes. Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward, but they can't.

[3:52] That's what they think. That's what they think. Perhaps that's where you are, my dear friend. I don't know.

[4:03] It's not for me to know. The Lord knows that you may have been brought into circumstances and you're looking in all directions. You can't see a way out.

[4:14] You can't see a possibility of a way out anywhere. It's all right, my dear friends. Sovereignty. Again and again, you have it here as you have it throughout Scripture.

[4:29] I am the Lord. God. That's right. The mighty God. Oh, my dear friend, may I be enabled to set it forth a little.

[4:44] It's recorded, you know, in that first miracle of Cana of Galilee. The mother of Jesus came and said, Whatsoever he set unto you, do it.

[4:57] And what did he say to them? They wondered why. He said, Fill the water. What's the water? Just the reverse to the human consideration and the human conception in relation to need.

[5:16] The need. Again, the word of God declared, My thoughts are not your thoughts. What a mercy, my dear friend.

[5:29] I tremble sometimes if God's thoughts were the same as mine. My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are my ways, your ways, said the Lord.

[5:42] And you have it again and again, time doesn't permit me to go through. I think back to the time when God commanded a man to build a boat.

[5:58] They laughed him to scorn. For 120 years he was building the boat. And they laughed him more and more as the days went past.

[6:10] Silly old man building a boat miles from any sea. It's alright. It's alright. Without going into all the details of it you're familiar with it.

[6:23] Remember this. When it was all completed and when it was all inhabited by the animals according to the command of God, then you had this and the Lord shut him in.

[6:36] That's the secret, my dear friend. You may be in an impossible position from the human angle, but if the Lord has shut you in, my dear friend, it's alright.

[6:55] It's alright. I've been there, my dear friend. I know what I'm talking about. No way out. Can't see. Can't see any hope at all.

[7:10] And the Lord, the Lord says unto Moses, Wherefore Christ say unto me? Wherefore Christ say unto me? Does he find important their prayers?

[7:23] No, not necessarily. He's reminding them where they are. They're looking in front of them. There's the impossible scene.

[7:36] They're looking on either side and there's nothing but mountains. And they look behind, there's only the enemy. They're shut in. That's all they can see.

[7:48] Their human eyes could only see that. The Lord reigns. Oh, those lovely words of the hymn writer drop in so sweetly.

[8:03] With heaven and earth at his command, he waits to answer prayer. That's sovereignty, my dear friend. You mind about what man proclaims.

[8:16] Sovereignty. Government. Control. All in his power. He puts it in his word. Is anything, is anything too hard for the Lord?

[8:34] Much that is impossible with man, but it's possible with God. Oh, my dear friend, have we begun to grasp the wonderful power of a triune Jehovah blended in unity, whether in salvation or anything else.

[8:59] Sovereign ruler of the sky, ever gracious, ever wise. All my time. Not some of them. All my times are in his hands.

[9:12] Do you believe it, friend? You sing it. Many times, I say, do you believe it? Do I? All my times are in his hands.

[9:26] All events are his command. This is what he's going to display here. Oh, yes. And the glory.

[9:37] Oh, there's so much here. I must omit the preceding chapters, but remember this. God had declared.

[9:49] God had declared when he first started. I've heard the affliction, I've seen the affliction of my people Israel. I've heard their cry by reason of their bondage.

[10:02] I am come down to deliver them. That's where he began. The rest is in his control.

[10:13] And here, he commands that they should encamp before Paharoth, over against Migdob, before Baalzebub.

[10:28] Now he says, you encamp there. That's where I want you to be. And remember, he says, speak unto the children of Israel that they turn.

[10:41] They're not to go their own way. There is another way for them to go. They're not to go that way. Is the Lord leading you?

[10:54] Or has the Lord led you in a mysterious path, my dear friend? Nothing mysterious in his mind.

[11:06] Mysterious to us, yeah? But the glory of the sovereignty of God in the display of his omnipotent house.

[11:19] He's going to show, what's he going to show? He's going to show his might and majesty to Israel, yes? He's going to show his might and majesty to Israel.

[11:31] But more than that, I'm going to show Pharaoh and all his hosts and they shall know that I am the Lord.

[11:44] Yes. Don't be any part of him. The whole world is going to bow before him ultimately, my dear friend.

[11:58] Every knee shall bow before him. Ah, he's got control, sovereign control, not arbitrary, no, no, nothing arbitrary, sovereign, glorious in the display of omnipotent power.

[12:22] We're dealing with a God who nothing is impossible, is able to do exceeding, abundant, above, all that we can ask or even think.

[12:36] Do you believe it, friend? Do I believe it? I ponder these things, do I believe it? Do I work them out in my life, in my circumstances, in my troubles, in my trials?

[12:54] God, the arm of flesh will fail you, my dear friend, however good it may be. However much you may pride your own heart on your capabilities, they'll fail you, my dear friend, while you lean to the arm of flesh.

[13:16] Sooner or later, the Lord will bring you into a place where you've got to bow. Pharaoh can gather together. Oh, it's all here, I mean, we've read it, you've read it many, many times, it's all recorded, whatsoever was written before time is written for our learning.

[13:42] Pharaoh, the king of Israel, he was told the king of Israel, yes, he made ready his chariot, took his people with him, and he took 600 chariots, chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Israel.

[14:00] The Lord is saying, yeah, that's all right, that's all right, I've got control over him, I've got control over all his chariots, all of them, 600 of them, I don't mind how many there is.

[14:16] I'm going to show Pharaoh, Moses, yes, and it's also recorded how sadly and sorely Israel misunderstood.

[14:38] Oh, don't forget it, my dear, I'm just reminding you of what the precious inspired word of God records left on record for our learning, friends.

[14:53] And when Pharaoh grew near, the children of Israel lifted up their voice, their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they were sore afraid.

[15:06] And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord, and they said unto Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, as they have taken us away to die in the wilderness.

[15:21] Wherefore has they dealt us with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?

[15:36] for it have been better for us to serve the Egyptians and we should die in the wilderness? That was their conception. You never made a mistake, my dear friend.

[15:53] I look back over my own life, my dear friend, I've been over it a good many times, too. And the mistakes, the misinterpretation, I thought I knew, God showed me, I was all wrong.

[16:13] It's right, it's all here, it's all here. Oh, I say, my dear friend, what a glorious remembrance, whether in the personal aspect, or whether collectively, nationally, or internationally, people are looking in all directions there.

[16:37] I've heard it so many times, I've said it so many times, where's it all going to end? It'll end where God has appointed it, my dear friend.

[16:48] It will end as God has appointed it, and don't forget it. I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

[17:04] the sovereignty of God, I say, my dear friend. Men disbelieve it, come to water it, my dear friend. They'll have to bow, ultimately, if not now, they will at the last great day.

[17:23] They can deny this and deny that. The sovereign ruler of the sky, ever gracious, ever wide, does.

[17:37] Jehovah reigns, my dear friend. He still reigns. He reigns now, at this very moment. Nothing can happen by chance, my dear friend.

[17:53] Your considerations and mine, they fail, miserably fail, in so many, many, many, many directions.

[18:05] There's never a mistake of him. The Lord reigns. Let the earth tremble. Glorious truth, my dear friend.

[18:19] Abiding truth, unshakable truth, unvariable. and all the powers of heaven or hell combined can never alter it.

[18:34] That's God. That's God. So, say, you can read the previous chapters. You can see the plagues. You can see the display of the omnipotent power.

[18:49] He's going to deal with a pharaoh. That's all right. He's got Pharaoh and all his host in his control. He's got that trouble of yours and mine.

[19:02] He's got it in control, my dear friend. Don't forget it. You may not be able to see it. The word may well come. I pray it may come.

[19:14] Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. How can we go forward? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward.

[19:27] It wasn't until they stepped out put one foot forward then as God had commanded again his sovereignty over the ways of the sea and the powers of the heaven.

[19:46] Stretch out thy hand over the sea and divide it. I didn't expect it that way. They'd never seen it that way. No, you'll never see the solution to your trouble in some way that come.

[20:07] Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. And how can we go forward in the sea's in front of it? It's all right. It's all right.

[20:18] It's all right. God saved with heaven and earth and his control. This God, this God says to Simon, is our God forever and ever.

[20:35] You will be our guide even over there. It's written in the word by the word. Written before time, written for our learning, but how slow we are to learn.

[20:50] Oh, I say, what a glorious display of omnipotence in every consideration. When you look at it, my dear friend, in relation to the spiritual, the matters of his salvation, don't forget it, my dear friend, the Lord is in control.

[21:14] So, I tremble, I tremble as I look out upon the professed Zion today. I tremble indeed, and I wonder, in my own poor natural mind, where's it all going to end?

[21:34] And I come back to remind that the Lord has it all in control. friend and foe, yes, Pharaoh can make up his mind, and all satanic power can make up his mind, so can Jehovah, and I know who's going to claim today.

[22:04] I will show Pharaoh, and Egypt shall know, all of them, they're all going to know. Say, what a blessed reminder, my dear friend.

[22:19] I don't know, as I've said, I don't know where you are, it's not for me to know. If I did know, I could only sympathize. Can't do any more than that.

[22:34] Here is one who not only knows but who's able. able to do the impossible. Is anything, I say it again, is anything too hard for the Lord?

[22:53] Yes. Nobody had ever seen waters divided before. Nobody had ever seen the waters coming down from heaven before like they did in the days of Nork.

[23:09] Yes. And you can go on and on and my feels as I think of the word of God and the record of it. One of his servants there, a prisoner.

[23:26] The storm come, they're doing their at-boost. They're sailors. they used to rot seed, but they couldn't keep this boat in hand.

[23:42] Finally, finally the man of God says one thing, I believe God. That's where he rested.

[23:52] they, the crew, all of them, they were resting upon their knowledge, their ability, their this, that, and the other.

[24:06] The man of God says, I believe God. He takes a pass. You can go on and on and on.

[24:17] As I say, my own mind, it floods. It floods. There's instances written before time, the precious word of God.

[24:30] How little attention we give to it, my dear friend. How little understanding, my dear friend. Manoah. Manoah.

[24:41] Elijah comes to it. In the time of famine, man, the king and Manoah had been searching everywhere to try and gather a few grains and wheat to keep the cattle alive.

[25:02] Elijah comes to Manoah and says, go to Ahab, tell him I'm here. Oh, don't do a lot now.

[25:18] Directly I turn back, you'll be gone. And when I bring the king back again, you'll be gone. I shall die. Human reasoning, human decision.

[25:33] Ah, my dear friend, have we lost, have we forgotten? Sovereign ruler, sovereign ruler.

[25:51] It was prophetically declared concerning him, long before he came to this sin-stained earth, the government shall be upon his shoulder.

[26:01] not some of it, but all of it. You see, in his control, I think, you turn to the eleventh of Hebrews, these all died in faith, and they died up to a thousand years before Christ came, but they all died in faith.

[26:29] It was faith that kept them alive. faith that kept them going. It was faith that enabled them to die. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but were persuaded of them and embraced them.

[26:48] And they said, we're content to die. We know it's going to be right. The sovereignty of God, I say. I can't understand anybody who doesn't believe it.

[27:05] Sovereignty of God, my dear friend, if he's not sovereign, then you have confusion. Confusion. You must do.

[27:18] He writes, he rules. God, not in the collective sense only. He does, of course, but individually.

[27:30] you're not your own. You're bought with the price. And Christ came, not to gather at random, but to gather his ransomed people home.

[27:49] He saved them by his grace. By his glorious sacrifice, he removed every hindrance. he removed that great gap, great gulf that was fixed between us by a reason of our sin.

[28:10] He removed it all. I am come that they might have life. And life will be, my dear friend, life will be, as he has eternally appointed, chosen in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, that we should be, not that he hopes we should be, not that he will do his utmost to see that we should be, but we shall be.

[28:48] That's what we're for. Rest for. It doesn't rest upon human, human wisdom, if I call it wisdom at all, it's not worthy of the name, but for want of a better, speak unto the children of Israel.

[29:10] Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. He might well have said that they try and do the impossible.

[29:22] He didn't put it that way. Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. And they can't, but they got to. And until, until in the path of obedience, they stepped out.

[29:40] The record is given, if time permitted, I could turn to it all at the time. But when the priests put their first feet down to the edge of the water, it began to divide.

[29:54] the law never fails, my dear friend. And let's have it perfectly clear, my dear friend. And we've read it.

[30:07] The pillar of cloud took up its place, and the pillar of fire, too. And it's same, and it was different.

[30:21] To Israel, it was light. To the Egyptians, it was darkness. The sovereign power of God's got control over the whole matter, my dear friend.

[30:36] Whether it's people, whether it's things, whatever it may be, yeah, sovereignty. I love it.

[30:48] I feed on it. Yes. I want to know more of it. the display of it. Yes. The precious Christ came to undertake the great man to accomplish, to accomplish, not to try to do anything, but to do something.

[31:18] he brings the sinner into the impossible position, and then comes the word, speak unto him and tell him to go forward.

[31:32] He's looking in all directions. He said, I can't go that way. I can't go that way. I can't go that way. If I look beyond, I can't go that way. I'm shut in.

[31:43] I can't go. I can't do anything. And the Lord is saying, speak, let him go forward. And in the path of obedience, there is display omnipotence.

[32:00] Oh, this little word here following our text, but, but, speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward, but, stretch out thy hand, pass.

[32:20] When he stretched out his hand, the scene divided, and it went on dividing, all through the night. Oh, yes, let's be clear, let's be very clear about this mind of them.

[32:34] The Lord doesn't divide the sea right the way across all of the moment, so that you can see the dry land in front of you. No, no, all night.

[32:47] East wind blew all night, and as they went on, so the sea divided. they went over on dry land, not up to the knees in mud, but on dry land, and the Egyptians are saying to do, they followed, the Lord said, that's it, that's what I want.

[33:16] And there's Israel, on dry land, and there's Pharaoh and all these hosts following behind. Now, the Lord says, Moses, stretch out thy hand over the sea again.

[33:33] The sovereign power is displayed once more, and back came the sea, and it didn't take all night either.

[33:45] Be careful about it, my dear, it didn't take all night and come back. Came back, and there was not one of them left.

[33:58] We've read it. Not one of them was left. I will destroy Pharaoh, as well as deliver Israel.

[34:12] The Lord's got it all in hand, my dear, that's the blessedness. Satan, Satan may rise and fume as he is to do today in the world at large.

[34:30] You wonder what's going to happen next. Satanic power in the display of it. The Lord is watching. The Lord is waiting.

[34:41] God is waiting. Oh, yes, my dear, here's the glorious truth. Here is the blessed security of the trembling sinner.

[34:54] Whatever his trouble be, be it his soul, be it his circumstances, be it his business, be it his home, be it his church, whatever it may be, the Lord reigns, the Lord governs, the Lord controls.

[35:15] Do you believe it, friends? My times are in his hands. Do you want them? Do you want them in your own hands, my dear, friend?

[35:28] Do you love to, oh, yes, you've got enough in your carnal heart, my dear, friend? you'd love to have control, not if you belong to the Lord, my dear, no?

[35:47] Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward, not sideways, nor backwards, no? But they were to go forward, and forward that they got to go, and forward they did go.

[36:06] You're familiar with the narrative that almighty friend, we gathered the glory of the mighty power of God in control there.

[36:20] And there's Israel, I tried to visualize this scene so many, many times in my meditation, Israel was walking on dry land, there's the sea in front of them still, and as they went forward, so the further they went, the sea divided, they went over, completely over.

[36:48] God, yes, oh, I say, he is going to live it, the mighty power of God, he's able to save unto the uttermost, that is his power, and I say with heaven and earth at his command, he waits to answer prayer, he's sovereignly appointed, the means, not that he's dependent upon our poor prayers, or anything associated with them, he is sovereignly appointed, for these things will I be inquired of, that's all, not commanded, I will be inquired of, be careful for nothing, that in all things make your requests, get the words right, make your requests known unto

[37:55] God, he loves to hear his children pray, he loves to put into their heart, the spirit of prayer, and we shall know the difference, my dear friend, I often say my prayers, I learned in our childhood days, that lovely hymn, I often say my prayers, but do I ever pray, do the wishes of my heart, go with the words, I say, sovereignly, God, God, God can deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage without the Red Sea, but he didn't desire so to do, no, he would have them, he would have them to see the display of his mighty power, as he did with Elijah,

[38:55] I refer to him, there's the 950 prophets of Baal, who would have expected fire to come down from heaven, nobody, not even Elijah, not of himself, but when Elijah is possessed by a God-given faith, anything is possible, so, governed by a God-given faith, when he erected his altar, now he said, do your utmost to stop it, saturate it with water, that's faith, do you know anything of it, my dear friend?

[39:47] Elijah is faced here with a tremendous tart, it's alright, a God-given faith, believes every word of it, I know, the very next chapter is running away after the miest of a Jezebel, but while he's governed by a living faith, it's alright, it's alright, oh yes, the blessings, a sword of toss, met with by God in sovereign power, in the display of omnipotent, he cried for the first time, Lord, what will thou have me to do?

[40:35] The response was, go, go yonder, and it shall be told me what thou must do, it's decided, determined, as the hymn writer so rightly says, determined to say, he watched all my path, while Satan's buying slave, I sported with death, his power, the words some of those hymn writers wrote, you know, but perfectly true, yes, he's sported with death, his sovereign power, restrained, overcome, delivered, oh, I say, here's the display of it, omnipotence, glorious, omnipotent, supremacy, there's a display of infinite knowledge,

[41:37] I know the thoughts I think towards you, thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you an expected end, I say, it's all determined, my dear friend, it's all determined, and the Lord will never change his mind, it's the Lord's mercies, we're not consumed, because his compassion's power not, is that where your sovereign mind is resting, my dear friend, or are you looking at some human instrumentality, or some human connection, or some human otherwise, sovereign, ruler of the skies, ever gracious, ever wise, all in his omnipotent hands, and it'll come to pass exactly, as I quoted earlier, he had previously said,

[42:45] I am come down to deliver them, but Pharaoh's in the way, it's alright, it's I can deal with a Pharaoh, I can deal with all his host, I've come down to deliver my people from Egyptian bondage, I've come down to deliver the poor sinner out of the thralldom of sin, out of the eternal consequences of, as I've quoted already from John's gospel, I am come that they might have life, that they might have it more abundantly, the longer time lasts, my dear friend, for the people of God, the nearer we get, the eternal glory, be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the

[43:45] Son of Man Conor, it's all appointed, my dear friend, sovereignly determined in every detail, and none can stay his hand, nor say what do is that, what a blessed thought, my dear friend, I can't any experience to know this, my dear, to be brought in unison, in the glory of his omnipotent power in relation to the salvation of our soul, I've embraced it all under the one head, the evening portion, he's sovereign circumstantially, but he's sovereign equally, in the riches of his grace, with heaven and earth,

[44:51] I say, with heaven and earth at his command, he waits to answer prayer, is that where you are, my dear, is that where I am, is where I want to be, my dear, my dear, my dear, my dear, I long to get there more, more consciously, to be enabled to rest, to rest quietly, in the unerring wisdom, the infinite God, who is too wise to earth, too good to be unkind, I know our poor human minds cannot grasp it here below, I've said it here before, I'm sure, I've said it so many times, I wonder whether we shall ever know it when we get home to glory, my dear friend, to know something of it here below, the omnipotent power, to be enabled to rest, we know not what a day may bring forth, he's got tomorrow all arranged, my dear friend, and every day, however many they may be, however few they may be, it's all in his control, my dear friend, and I say, he's saying here, saying to you and

[46:15] I, I hope this evening, speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward, are you ready to respond to his calling, however, however impossible it may seem to you, you won't know, the display of his omnipotent power, until you step forward, that's the solution of it, my dear friend, I can only leave it with you, my dear friend, here's the blessed truth, whatsoever was written before, time, is written for our learning, people, I want to be taught of the spirit of the Lord, my dear friend, I want to be taught by the right source, by the right omnipotent power, to the right and glorious end, so that when the call shall come and the shadows flee away, there will be an entrance then, into the glory of the realities, we shall no longer see through a glass darkly, we shall no longer know only in part, but we shall enter then, never more to go out into eternal glory,

[47:47] I now sleep with you, may the Lord bless his precious word, as it may sovereignly please him, but to our souls benefit, and to our joy to please stay in shape, Amen.