The Passion Of God
Well friends, this will be the last lesson in our Champions of Grace, Moses series. I hope you have been blessed.
I love this. Pharaoh and his mighty army is rushing toward the children of Israel, bent on mowing them down under their chariot wheels. The Israelites are petrified. "Oh that we had stayed in Egypt!" But Moses begins to preach to them a dramatic sermon full of great doctrinal truths. Don't be afraid. The Lord will fight for you. Be still and let God work." Great truths, right? However, the Lord steps right into the middle of Moses great sermon and says, "How long are you going to cry out to me?" In other words, "Preaching time is over, Moses. Yes, your sermon is full of great truths, but long speeches are not needed right now. Tell the people to start moving forward." Don't you love it?
In this story we really see the passion of God's heart. So what is it? What is the passion of God's heart regarding His people? Vs. 15 "Tell the Israelites to go forward."
What is the passion of the Lord's heart? That His people are always moving forward; that His people are continually entering more and more into His fullness.
In this New Testament age, moving forward means three things:
1 God's people are growing in the Lord. As we are seeking the Lord and walking in obedience to His
Word, we are maturing in our Christian faith.
2 We are understanding more and more our inheritance in Christ and walking in that inheritance.
The longer we walk with God the more we understand and lay hold of what Jesus purchased for us
on the cross.
3 Going forward in God's will. God has a will for our lives. We were created for good works. The Lord
desires that we go forward in His will for our lives by trusting and obeying Him as He leads us.
But going forward in the Lord is not always easy as we see with the children of Israel.
In this story we see three obstacles that looked like they could hinder the Israelites from moving forward.
1 The Lord led His people to the Red Sea. There were no boats waiting on them to take them across.
The Red Sea represents the impossibilities the Lord places before us. There will be time the Lord
places in front of us impossibilities that challenge our faith. Why? Because the Lord is not
interested in accomplishing a "man-sized task" through our life; He desire to accomplish a "God- sized task" through our life so He can get God-sized glory. So there will be times our faith will
really be tested.
2 We see the children of Israel were hemmed in by their enemies, and oh how intimidating these enemies looked with all their armor, chariots and horses. And today God's people have an enemy and this enemy has a voice that can sound so menacing in our minds. I have learned in walking with the Lord many years that one of the enemy's most effective weapons in trying to stop the Lord's people from moving forward is fear. He bombards our minds with his lies hoping to bog us down in fear.
3 The Israelites were surrounded by the wilderness. The wilderness represents those places where we
are absolutely bankrupt in ourselves and we have no choice but to look to and depend upon God.
There will be times the Lord will lead us into wilderness places and we realize, I have no resources of
my own to make it through this and therefore I must look fully to God and His resources. Often this
can be a scary place.
Vs. 12 Did we not say to you in Egypt, "Let us alone, for it is better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert." Here we see facing the things they were facing, fear gripped the Israelites and they wanted to return to their Egyptian bondage. Why? Because although their bondage was a miserable place, it was a familiar place. It was a comfortable place. They were miserable everyday in their slavery, but at least they knew what to expect.
Often when faced with impossibilities or the intimidating lies of the enemy, the temptation is to shrink back and stay in our familiar, comfortable places. Instead of rising up to the new challenges that go with following God, it is much easier just to stay where I am comfortable. Can I just tell you, there is nothing more comfortable than a church pew. It is so easy to confine your life to a church pew.
But here is what I want us to understand: Inspite of all the impossibilities that go with following God to new places, we can continue to move forward. Why? Because the cross leads us into new beginnings.
Exodus 14:21-23; 26-28 Then Moses stretched his rod over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove back the sea and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided and the Israelites crossed the sea on dry ground...Moses stretched out his rod over the sea and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it and the Egyptians were swept into the sea. Not one of them survived.
Wow! Do you see what happened? The Israelites are trapped at the Red Sea. Their destruction is inevitable. They are going to be mowed down under thundering hooves and chariot wheels. And then Moses stretched his rod over the sea and it was all over for the Egyptians.
In other words, it was in the Israelites most hopeless place that Moses lifted up his rod and the one empire the Israelites thought there was no escaping was suddenly destroyed before their eyes.
What a picture of the cross! What a portrayal of the power of the cross! The one thing the cross promises is new beginnings. Because of the power of the cross, our past no longer has the power to enslave our lives. Our past no longer has the power to mold our lives. Our past no longer has the power to determine who we are and what we are becoming. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
So if our past is no longer enslaving and molding our life, but the truth of God and the Spirit of God is molding our life, then what time is it?
Exodus 14:15 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are your crying out to me? Tell the people to go forward."
You got to love this! What did the Lord just tell Moses? "Moses, crying time is over. Tell the people it is forward-moving time now." So what time is it? It is time to dry those tears and start moving into all that God has for our life.
So Tim, are you saying there is never a time to cry? There is never a moment to shed tears?
Oh people of God, let me tell you that when God is touching your heart, you will cry many tears. When the tenderness of God's presence is working in our life, we will shed many tears.
I have noticed in most sanctuaries, on one side of the platform is a box of Kleenex, and on the other side of the platform is a box of Kleenex. Why? Because ministers know as long as people have issues, they're going to need tissues. Tissues for the issues. When the presence of God is graciously moving in your heart, there will be many healing tears.
Yet, this is what I am saying when I stated, "Crying time is over."
There are two types of tears. 1 There are tears we cry when God is moving in our hearts. Sometimes facing issues may be a little painful but His hand is very tender and comforting and these are cleansing tears. However, 2 There are tears of plain ole self-pity. As a former Pastor can I just humbly say there are many people who sit in pews for years and never heal because they live in the realm of self-pity. I have found a hopeless mindset and self-pity are Siamese-twins, inseparable.
There was a time God allowed me to walk in self-pity for a while, but I will never forget the day God came to my heart and spoke, "Tim, you can be pitiful or you can be powerful, but you can't be both. My divine power will not mix with your self-pity."
Bottom line: I believe the Lord is saying today, "When it comes to being a slave to your past, and living in the fear of your past, and being crippled by your past, and feeling hopeless because of your past, crying time is over. It is time to move forward." Jesus said it best: "Rise up and walk."
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