Thursday, July 3, 2014

Trust in Crossing the Sea

Crossing the Red Sea

Scene: Pharaoh pursuing the Israelites and cornering them at the Red Sea.

Exodus 14:12 “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.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.”

Are there any similarities between Egypt and the world today?
  • Worldly people governing
  • Hebrews becoming like the Egyptians
  • Unfair laws
  • Lack of freedom
  • Classes of people
  • False Gods
  • Faith in magic
  • Hedonism

Situation: the Israelites wanted back in their comfort zone. They wanted to be out of danger. They were afraid! They would rather be slaves to Egypt than free under God.

Crisis: Should they just give up or trust God? (What can they do to trust God?) Are we to trust God the same way today?

What's the Red Sea have to do with our salvation? Trust. Would you have walked through those walls of water if you were there, no knowing about the future?

Trust: Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing, in this case God.

“We have nothing to fear, but fear itself!” (FDR)

Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord”

Is there a relationship between fear and trust?

When the Bible says “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord” what New Testament concept do we think of? (Grace)

Was there a need to trust in Moses too?

Luke 24:26 “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

From Luke 24:26 then why is the story of Moses in the Bible? (It's all about Jesus). We need to ask ourselves, What's this got to do with Jesus!

John 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.

What does Moses have to do with Jesus?

Acts 7:37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

What's the parting of the Red Sea got to do with Jesus?

1 Corinthians 10:1 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat (One Baptism);”

The Old World of sin walked into the sea. Walking out of the sea was a New Beginning. The old world of sin (Egypt) was washed clean and a New People had a new start. By faith they walked into the sea and by grace they were saved by God. They were New People!

This is much like the tempest in the New Testament:

Matthew 8:24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27 But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

What manner of man is Jesus?

Who feared? Who had a lack of trust? Who did they look to for salvation? How did Jesus save them? (That's the same God who saved the Egyptians when he divided the waters of the Red Sea!)

Hebrews 11:29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

Trust and faith, is there a relationship?

Faith: Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing, in this case God.

Trust: Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing, in this case God.

Faith is a confident belief in God while trust is a firm reliance on God.

We must “believe” in God. (Even the demons do!), but ours must be a confident belief coupled with trust!

Three aspects of trust:

integrity: God is good, perfect and without sin being righteous. He's the only one to have total integrity.

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. (Rhetorical: God is good, hence Jesus being called good, implies that he is God, not that he's not God).

Psalm 18:30 (ESV) This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Psalm 35:24a Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness...(upright, just, straight, innocent, true, sincere)

1 Corinthians 4:4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

So part of trust is that God is that he is righteous. Associated with “righteousness” is judgment.

When we stand before God we will be judged by his right and true scale. (All arguments or “well buts” will be in vain!

What scale will we be judged by? How much we trust we have in God (amount of faith we have)?

God will judge each of us rightly according to our faith. So here we have again the connection between faith and trust!

Key verse: Exodus 3:11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12a And he said, Certainly I will be with thee;

Do you trust in the Lord?

How do you trust in him: believe what he says, believe he will do what he says, believe he will be fair, believe he will judge with grace, believe that you are sinner because God says that you are, believe that Jesus died for you, believe that you can't be good enough that you need him, believe that Jesus lives, believe that you too will have eternal life (there is life on the other side of that sea we call death).

Have there been times when things seem really bad and by trusting in the Lord you got through?



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