Sept.
15, 2002Pm. Will God Fight Your Battles? Exodus
14:19-31
By
Ronald E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church
God delivered Adam and Eve
from their shame but making them clothes.
God delivered Noah from the flood.
He brought the Israelites out of Egypt.
He brought the Israelites into the Promised Land.
He rescued Jonah from the big fish.
He saved the three Hebrew children from the burning fiery furnace. He held shut the mouths of the lions in the den with Daniel.
The Lord protected Elijah in the cave and fed him for forty days.
God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day.
God has saved each one of us who has placed their faith and trust in
Him. Does He still deliver people
today? Will He still fight our
battles? Or was that something of
the past?
The nurses and doctors in a certain insane asylum kept noticing that
one of the patients continually searched for a piece of paper.
On the grounds, in his cell, up and down the halls he searched for the
paper. They tried to help him but
were unable to give him the needed assistance to find the paper he looked for.
Finally, the day came when the doctors judged that he was well enough
to be discharged from the asylum. On
that day they handed him his papers of discharge,
and when he realized what they were his eyes lit up and he said,
"I've found them! I've found
them!" "What have you
found?" they asked. "I've
found the papers I was looking for," he answered. In the same manner we
have been looking for complete deliverance from the pain and suffering of this
world. One day we will be handed
"a set of wings and a halo" and will realize that we have finally
made it to the place of complete deliverance.
From Bible Illustrator.
Exodus
14:19 (KJS) And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel,
removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before
their face, and stood behind them: 20 And it came between the camp of the
Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness [to them],
but it gave light by night [to these]: so that the one came not near the other
all the night. 21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD
caused the sea to go [back] by a strong east wind all that night, and made the
sea dry [land], and the waters were divided. 22 And the children of Israel
went into the midst of the sea upon the dry [ground]: and the waters [were] a
wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 23 And the Egyptians
pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, [even] all Pharaoh's
horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And it came to pass, that in the
morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the
pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, 25
And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the
Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for
them against the Egyptians. 26 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine
hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon
their chariots, and upon their horsemen. 27 And Moses stretched forth his hand
over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared;
and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the
midst of the sea. 28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and
the horsemen, [and] all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them;
there remained not so much as one of them. 29 But the children of Israel
walked upon dry [land] in the midst of the sea; and the waters [were] a wall
unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 30 Thus the LORD saved
Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians
dead upon the sea shore. 31 And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did
upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and
his servant Moses.
The
Israelites had become dissatisfied with their plight in the land of Egypt. They had begun to call on the Lord for deliverance.
Then He sent the deliverer. Moses
was the man God had chosen to set the people free.
Jesus is the man chosen by God to set us free to become who God has
created us to be.
1.
Do
you have a battle for the Lord to fight?
What are the battles we want the Lord to fight for us?
Begin with a battle.
2.
Do
we want to be delivered by the Lord?
Can we do it ourselves? Do
we want to move out of the land of Egypt to the Promised Land?
3.
Do
we recognize the battles that God has already won for us?
Have you been delivered by
the Lord from sin, death, and the grave?
4.
Do
we recognize the presence of the Lord
that goes with us continually? The
Lord went with the Israelites in the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by
night.
5.
Remember
the Great work of the Lord, when the
Lord overcame death.
6.
Fear
Him: We
stand in awe of His power and strength.
7.
Believe
Him: We
trust Him to love us and take care of us.
8.
Go
with Him.
Go where He wants you to go.
9.
Pray
for His divine intervention. Ask
for His help and deliverance.
When I was at Princeton, there was current the story of a
well-known missionary in India who was bowing one night in prayer at the side
of his bed, when a great python lowered itself from the rafters of his
bungalow and encircled his body with its cold and powerful coils. It made no
attempt to constrict, and yet the missionary knew that if he struggled, the
great serpent would tighten the coils and crush him. With marvelous
self-control, and courage born of faith, he went on quietly praying, until at
length the animal unwound itself and went back into the roof.
It
was quiet, continuance in prayer that brought deliverance to this missionary.
May we not see an illustration of truth here? If we struggle to free ourselves
from that which besets us, often that entanglement would crush us, but it we
quietly continue in prayer, there is deliverance from whatever satan would use
to crush and devour us. --Duane V. Maxey