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The Wonderful Position of the Believer in God

Romans 8:15-17

Text: Romans 8:15-17
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba ! Father!" 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Let me give you a pop quiz. What do the following people all have in common?

Dave Thomas; founder of Wendy’s, Eleanor Roosevelt; First lady
Art Linkletter Aristotle: Philosopher Bo Diddley: Rhythm and Blues Musician Faith Hill: country singer George Washington Carver: scientist/inventor John Lennon Sarah Mc Glauthlen
Mark Twain Scott Hamilton
Melissa Gilbert Michael Reagan Eric Dickerson
Former president Gerald Ford Steve Jobs
and last but not least, Jesus and Moses.

What all of these people have in common is that they were adopted into their families. Paul uses the imagery of adoption to attempt to describe how much the Lord loves us and desires to be our heavenly Father.

Text: Romans 8:15-17
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba ! Father!" 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Last week we learned that the believer will never have to face God’s condemnation for any sin, whether past, present or future. The byproduct of knowing that we are now free from God’s condemnation is that we no longer live in fear.

I have always shied away from using fear as a motive to manipulate people to accept Christ. The bible is very clear that outside of a healthy reverence and fear of God because He is the potter and we are clay, fear should play no part in our relationship with Him. This passage sounds a lot like Paul when he says, “for we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of love and power and self discipline.” John tells us that perfect love casts out all fear. We are to fear God but we are not to experience fear and insecurity about our relationship with Him. I fear Him in the sense that I am completely at His mercy. He can bring anything into my life and He can take anything away from me He wants and I know that He is not unjust in doing so. After losing his children, his lively hood, his farm and his health Job declared, “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

The hymn Amazing Grace captures the tension between reverent fear of a holy, righteous God and confidence in His grace to save us. “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace, my fears relieved.”

But in our passage the real contrast is between a spirit of slavery that leads to fear and a spirit of adoption which leads to security and confidence.

Paul was a well traveled fellow. Just read the book of Acts. If there had been commercial airliners, he would have had the maximum amount of frequent flyer miles. In all his travels throughout the Roman Empire, Paul had no doubt witnessed several slave auctions and personally knew several slaves. Slaves lived a life of fear and uncertainty. Imagine yourself on the auction block in front of a large crowd, stripped nearly naked so the potential buyers could see what a fine specimen you were. Imagine men walking up to you and inspecting you, touching you, checking your teeth or muscle tone. You look across the crowd of buyers and try to determine which one seems to want you worst, and why. Your praying that you won’t be bought by a cruel, sadistic master. You hope you will not be bought by someone who wants to take you miles from your home and family to serve them. You didn’t know what kind of work they might make you do. Fear was the staple emotion of slaves.

But Paul knew that it is the spirit of slavery that can haunt the believer. We can become slaves to our negative emotions fearing that we haven’t done enough to please God. We can be paralyzed by fear because of what we don’t know about God. We can suffer from a self-condemning spirit that robs us of all peace. We can suffer from fear of inadequacy and incompetence. That we’re unworthy of being loved unconditionally, just for whom we are. A spirit of spiritual bondage leads only to fear and failure.

Illustration: From time to time you hear about a person who has fallen morally and or walked away from his or her faith. I guarantee you that nine times out of ten, deep down the person always felt that they were confined inhibited, burdened by God’s commands. It was something they gave reluctant obedience to but they didn’t like it. But John says that God’s commandments are not burdensome to those who love Him. The commandments are not stifling, meaningless rules to steal our joy and freedom. They are God’s loving provision and counsel to keep us from destroying our self. You know how much you loved your children when they were tiny. God’s commandments are the equivalent of drawer guards, plug in covers, stairway gates, baby monitors and fenced yards.

But this spirit of slavery leading to fear has been replaced with spirit of adoption which causes us to cry out with warm affection, “Abba, Daddy”. Referring to God as Abba was unheard of in the Old Testament before Christ; it would have been blasphemous, irreverent. Believers are adopted personally by God into His family the moment we believe in the Lord Jesus. The moment we accept Christ, we are given full son ship in God’s family. The word adoption literally means to be placed in the family as an adult son with all the rights and privileges thereto.

Illust: The story is told about a young boy being teased at school about being adopted. He went home and told his mother in tears how the kids had treated him and how badly it made him feel. His mother took him in her arms and wiped his tears. She said, “Son, you are the most special child in the world. While most babies grow up in their momma’s tummies, you grew up in my heart.”

And so it is with God’s adoption. He purposely, lovingly chose to make you His child.

Look at verse 16. 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. The bible says that truth is established in the mouth of two witnesses. The Spirit testifies to your new status as adopted child of God and your spirit agrees. If you’re saved you know you’re different, you’re aware of God’s conviction and nearness.

Look at Verse 17: 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Friends, the news just keeps getting better and better for the believer. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ, Jesus. God purposely adopts us into His family so we are not alone in the world. And if that wasn’t enough, now he promises that we are heir to everything Christ stands to inherit. The bible says that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. Hebrews says that Jesus is just waiting in heaven for his inheritance until that day when God makes all of His enemies His footstool. Jesus said, “The meek shall inherit the earth.” We stand to inherit the material and the spiritual wealth of heaven. I can’t even imagine that.

Illust: I don’t know about you but I love the land. I love the outdoors. In spite of all the natural disasters the fall brought upon nature, it seems the least of God’s creation was the least damaged by man’s fall. For me, nothing represents freedom, and satisfaction more than the enjoying God’s creation. Look at some of these images of beautiful places around the world and here in America. Just think, these will someday be yours. (slides) …..it occurred to me that all of this is mine and yours.

But the spiritual blessings will be even greater than the material ones. We will experience perfect peace, full joy, meaningful friendships with other people with no guile or hypocrisy because we’ll love everyone perfectly in heaven with God’s love. We will experience the reward of our faith and we will be healed of every infirmity and pain.

Friends, do you have this hope in you? Let this truth sink in. You are an adopted child of the God of the universe. He loves you and has prepared an inheritance that we can’t even imagine.

But the end of the verse says that if we suffer with Christ then we will also be glorified with Him. It seems to be an age old theme that we’d rather not hear; hurt before heaven, pain before gain, guts before glory. It’s not that suffering is a prerequisite to inheriting heaven. It’s just that it is an unavoidable reality that we shouldn’t try to escape. Let me ask you, honestly, what would the glory and reward of heaven be without the pain and heartache of this life to contrast it with?

I’ll close with this true story about the seeming unfairness and hurt of this life compared to heaven.

An old missionary couple [Henry C. Morrison] had been working in Africa for years and was returning to New York to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken; they were defeated, discouraged, and afraid. They discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big-game hunting expeditions. No one paid any attention to them. They watched the fanfare that accompanied the President's entourage, with passengers trying to catch a glimpse of the great man. As the ship moved across
the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife, "Something is wrong. Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us? Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us."
"Dear, you shouldn't feel that way," his wife said. "I can't help it; it doesn't seem right." When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and other dignitaries were there. The papers were full of the President's arrival, but no one noticed this missionary couple. They slipped off the ship and found a cheap flat on the East Side, hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a living in the city. That night the man's spirit broke. He said to his wife, "I can't take this; God is not treating us fairly."
His wife replied, "Why don't you go in the bedroom and tell that to the Lord?"
A short time later he came out from the bedroom, but now his face was completely different. His wife asked, "Dear, what happened?"
"The Lord settled it with me," he said. "I told him how bitter I was that the President should receive this tremendous homecoming, when no one met us as we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put his hand on my shoulder and simply said, 'But son.

Jesus:The Most Feared Name in the Whole World

Acts 4:5

December 11, 2011

I want to preach on Christmas this morning but the further I went in my study and the direction the Lord was leading me the message turned out just being about Jesus. But that’s alright since Jesus is the sweetest name I know; since there is no greater name in heaven or on earth, since there is no other name under heaven whereby men can be saved; since Jesus is the reason for the season. Amen.

The further I went in my study the more it led me to a simple truth for you to consider as the Christmas season comes upon us. Jesus is the most wonderful name in the whole earth and, yet, Jesus is the most feared name in all of the world by those who reject Him and are threatened by His authority. Before Jesus Kings quake in their boots, despots plot, demons shriek and atheists are angered. No other name causes more tension, animosity and strife than the precious name of Jesus. Why do you think that's true?

Turn to Acts 4:5 and let me set up what’s happening for you as you are finding the passage. This is just days after Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. The Jewish religious leaders have a huge problem. The whole city is going crazy over this Jesus they handed over to the Romans to be crucified. The disciples, who were hiding and afraid for their lives just a few days ago, are now boldly sharing the good news about Jesus death and resurrection to anyone who will listen. Thousands of people have been saved and even some of the Jewish religious leaders have believed. They were threatened by Jesus’ teaching and ministry when He was alive. Now that he has risen from the dead and ascended back to heaven they are terrified. They see this as disastrous to the survival of their religion and are desperate enough to do anything to stop this new movement.

5 On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem ; 6 and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent. 7 When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, "By what power, or in what name, have you done this?" 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers and elders of the people, 9 if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead -by this name this man stands here before you in good health. 11 "He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. 12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which
we must be saved."
Threat and Release
13 Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. 15 But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, 16 saying, "What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 "But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name." 18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; 20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard."

Jesus and His message will always be threatening to tyrants and dictators who want to dominate their people. The name of Jesus is the most feared name in all the world throughout history.

Look at how Herod responded to the news about Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem…..Frank Pollard, past president of Golden Gate Seminary says that Herod is the perfect example of the love of power while Jesus is the perfect example of the power of love.

Why have more believers when martyred for their faith in the last 100 years than were killed in the previous 19 centuries? Because of fear and disdain for the name of Jesus.

Why has Islam, Communist China, and the Soviet Empire consistently tried to exterminate believers and silence every word about Jesus? Because they fear the name of Jesus and the power associated with that name. Why did the hard line communist leaders of Belarus refuse to renew the visas of our Southern Baptist Missionaries, forcing them
to leave the country a few years back? Because they are threatened by the name of Jesus and they know that their socialist government is diametrically opposed to the grace and freedoms inherent in the gospel.

Irena Ratushinskaya is a Christian who protested the cruelty of Communism as an author. She was imprisoned for daring to openly oppose and criticize the Soviet government. She became a believer as a child after she became suspicious of how her school teachers so regularly and methodically attempted to discourage anyone from having faith in Jesus.
In Chuck Colson's book, The Body, he relates how, as a child growing up in a atheistic, communistic school she was told nearly every day how foolish religion and faith were and that it was just a myth for superstitious old ladies who cooked their children in ovens. Irena remembers thinking as a child, "Why do they need to tell us every day that God is not real? They only tell us once or twice that there are no boogey men and that is enough. They must fear this Jesus very much that they need to tell us every day that He is not real." She decided that day to do something she had never done. She prayed for snow. Now, that was a big prayer because she lived in Odessa in the very south of Russian and it rarely snowed there. But that day the biggest snow storm in years swept across Odessa causing school to be let out early. From that point on Irena never doubted her faith in God and it led her to write about the freedom she found in Christ, much to the authorities disapproval. Friends, Jesus is the greatest, most wonderful name in the whole universe and people are embracing that truth everyday by the thousands all over
the world.

But Gregg, what about here in the United States that was founded upon the principle of freedom and equality for all; surely there isn’t much persecution and animosity toward the name of Jesus here? Is there really any evidence that people try to silence the name of Jesus or is it just a figment of paranoid Christian’s minds? Isn’t it just the result of a martyr complex we believers have that causes us to need an enemy to fight? No, I don’t think most Christians are paranoid or suffering from a martyr’s complex who feel this way.

Consider the following comments under an article about whether Christians should be concerned or upset that most retail stores instruct their employees to say “Happy Holidays” rather than Merry Christmas.

The first man thinks that Christians are overly sensitive about this and only end up hurting the cause of Christ by complaining about it.
“I enjoy the discussion very much. Thank you. I have the distinct feeling as we end another year, the only people fighting the "War" on Christmas, are Christians. Both sides of this battle are being waged by the same people because everybody else is content to live and love as they see fit for them. It is understandable to feel some stress over changes in our world. It is regrettable though that the response to that stress is to cry victim and create a scenario that further separates us all from one another.”
But listen to the next man’s response to this: “America was founded on Christian values, whether they be deist, theist or what have you. The concern of Christians is not that our culture is changing; the concern is that our culture is degrading in that change. The violence done to the phrase "Merry Christmas" worries people because it is indicative of the changing flavor of our culture, one that is hostile to any mention of Christianity.
The removal of prayer in schools, the removal of the Ten Commandments from a courthouse in Ohio, and the prevention of store employees from saying "Merry Christmas" are all fairly innocuous in themselves, however when taken together, they are symptoms of an increasing hostility to the idea of Christianity and its accompanying moral structure so inherent to the successful functioning of America as it was intended to be."
Consider a few other illustrations of the world’s contempt for Christ and Christianity.

Here’s a news story that was carried in the Dec 2010 publication of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Starting today, the sides of four Fort Worth city buses will bear this message: "Millions of Americans are Good Without God."
Their sponsor, the Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition of Reason, says it's only coincidence that the atheist-themed ads will debut during Christmas season. They are not exactly apologizing.
"We've been trying to put these ads together for a while and we didn't plan for them to come out now," said Terry McDonald of the Coalition of Reason. "But I'm not unhappy it's running during Christmas. Why do Christians own December? There were people that said this may cause a problem. That doesn't bother me." Friends, this same group is buying similar advertising in major cities all across the U.S.

A study was conducted by former New York University professor Dr. Paul Vitz. Dr.Vitz, and a committee examined 60 social studies and history textbooks used in U. S. public schools. The results showed that almost every reference to the early Christian influence in the United States had been removed.
In 2006 Brittany McComb was giving her Valedictorian Speech at graduation and the second she said Jesus Christ, school officials cut her microphone off and refused to allow her to finish her speech. Watch it on youtube if you want. That has happened more than once around our nation denying Christians their freedom of speech.
On two occasions Apple has blocked Christian apps on the iTunes App Store due to the religious content. In fact, the only apps that Apple has blocked due to the views expressed in them are ones that reflect Christian views, according to the report.

In November of 2010, Apple revoked its approval of the Manhattan Declaration App. This declaration was a statement of Christian beliefs about marriage, the sanctity of life and religious liberty. The reason given was that one of the points in the declaration was that homosexual conduct is immoral and this, in Apple's view, was offensive.

Later, in March 2011, Apple also censored the app for Exodus International, a Christian ministry that helps people leave the homosexual lifestyle. Once again Apple declared that this was offensive and violated its guidelines.

Then, in July 2011, Apple pulled iTunes out of the Christian Values Network, a portal that contributes funds to charities. The report said that this action was caused by complaints that some of the Christian Network’s charities had policies critical of homosexual rights initiatives.

So, are we Christians just overly sensitive and paranoid about any slight toward our faith in Jesus? No, the facts demonstrate that there is hostility toward Jesus and His message.

So, what should our response be to this hostility and animosity toward our Lord and His message?

First, don’t be surprised or alarmed about it. Jesus said that if they hated Him and persecuted Him, they would hate and persecute us, too. Understand that people’s real animosity is primarily towards Christ, not you. You just get to be the lightning rod for their feelings toward God because you’re standing there in front of them. I’ll never forget what Andy Linegar said about witnessing to atheists in Russian and Belarus. He said, “I’ve never met an atheist yet who wasn’t angry with the God he claimed not to believe in.”
Paul said the cross is offensive to the lost world; it is foolishness to the rational Greek mind and it is offensive to the religious Jewish mind. But to you and I who are being saved it is the power of God; it is the good news.

Darryl Robinson in his evangelism training book entitled People Sharing Jesus cautions us against being defensive and combative about people’s rejection of Jesus. He asks, “Why would you expect someone who doesn’t know or believe in Jesus to be kind, moral and deeply interested
in your message?” He says that people must hear the gospel and have time to absorb its message for a long period of time before they are ready to accept it. And we must be willing to let them live like unbelievers until they do. As Robinson says, “They do what they do because they are who they are.”

The disciples weren’t surprised that the Jewish religious leaders were threatening them. They expected that kind of hostility from the people who rejected the Lord and forced his crucifixion.

The second thing I think we learn from the disciples about confronting anger from unbelievers is to not stoop to the level of their unkind or uncouth behavior. The Crusades are still a deep stain on the witness and integrity of the church in some Muslim countries almost 1700 years later. Christians must not retaliate or seek their own vengeance. We must turn the other cheek. We are to be courageous but not contentious or combative. We are to bless and not curse, to return good for evil, to season our conversation with salt, always being ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us. We must love people with the same love Jesus had for them. We must pray like Jesus did on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

But there is one more lesson we learn from the disciples and it is the hardest lesson of all. The disciples refused to stop talking and preaching and teaching about Jesus in the face of persecution. When the religious leaders threatened them with bodily harm and forbade them to speak any more about Jesus, they looked these men in the eyes and said, “"Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; 20 for
we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard."

Has the world succeeded in shutting you up about Jesus? Has it intimidated you into silence? We know the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. We know the name that is above every name, the One before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. We know the name of the One that the whole world fears and avoids until they come to know His love and grace.

One long camping trip

Exodus 14:5

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" 6 So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; 7 and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly . 9 Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

The beginning of the wilderness wanderings: One long camping trip 1-8-12

How many of you love to go camping? Some do and others despise it with all the bugs and primitive conditions. Comedian Jim Gaffigan doesn’t like camping and he asks, “If camping is so great then why are all the bugs trying to get into my house?” He says his wife is always reminding him that camping is a tradition in her family. He said, “Hey, it was a tradition in everyone’s family until they invented the house. He argues that when someone isn’t happy we say, “They’re not a happy camper.” When we use that term we’re being sarcastic. Is anyone ever really happy when they’re camping? Why don’t we just call them a camper?” The happy camper is the one leaving the camp because they get to take a shower."

I enjoy camping, even if I don’t do it much. My family camped a lot when I was a kid……….To this day those are some of the best memories of my life. Camping is fun, but eventually you are ready come home to you comfortable bed and shower. A week or two is about enough for most of us.

When the Israelites left Egypt, they were about to embark on a 40 year camping trip. I want to do a short series of sermons on the experiences of the Hebrew people while they were on this extended camping trip in the desert wilderness. Most people call this part of their history the wilderness wanderings. We will see in a few weeks that they weren't wandering at all. God was leading them precisely where He wanted them to go through the pillar of fire by night and pillar of smoke by day.

As you remember, what led up to the wilderness wanderings was God’s promise to free them from their Egyptian task masters after 430 years of slavery. God called a Hebrew who had grown up in Pharaoh’s palace named Moses to lead them out of Egypt and to the promised land. But Pharaoh wouldn’t let the Israelites go so God inflicted a number of plagues and natural disasters upon Egypt to convince him to release them. It wasn’t until after the 10th plague which took his first born son that Pharaoh relented and let them go. On that day over 2 million Hebrews left Egypt and headed out in the desert. If you have your Bible follow along in Exodus 14:5

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" 6 So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; 7 and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly . 9 Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

After leaving Egypt the Israelites entered a very inhospitable area known as the Sinai Peninsula. They traveled six days into the desert and came up against the Red Sea. Scholars like to debate the exact location where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. Some believe it was the Gulf of Suez on Egypt’s eastern border. Others think it was the Gulf of Aquaba and that Sinai was mostly like in Arabia because of three things. They have found several chariot wheels in the Gulf of Aquaba. There are black mountain tops in Arabia which some say fit the description of the mountain being on fire from God’s presence. Finally, there is a natural flat shelf that runs across the Gulf of Aquaba that would have been a gradual enough slope on the sea floor for the Israelites to cross over on. Whichever place it was, it was a large body of water and the Israelites were about to have their faith tested and see the mighty power of God displayed.

What the Israelites didn’t know was that Pharaoh had changed his mind, gathered his massive army and rode out into the desert to bring them back. Pharaoh’s army caught up to the Israelites and thought they had trapped them up against the Red Sea. But God had other plans.

Follow along again beginning in verse 21…….
.21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea ; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. 22 The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. 24 At the morning watch, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. 25 He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from Israel, for the LORD is fighting for them against the Egyptians." 26 Then the LORD said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen." 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained.

The Hebrew people were as good as dead, trapped against an impassible sea with thousands of Pharaoh’s best soldiers closing in. It looked absolutely hopeless. But I remember Jesus saying with men it is impossible but with God all things are possible. God did the impossible. He parted the sea with a strong wind allowing the Israelites to cross the red sea on dry land and then He closed up the sea on the Pharaoh’s approaching army destroying them all.

The exodus is the one greatest event of the Old Testament. It is to the Jews what Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are to Christians. The Exodus was a demonstration of God’s redemptive will and power. Israel was saved by blood and by power in the Exodus. By blood when they painted the lambs blood over their door posts, and by power when God made a way through the sea for the Israelites to escape.

The question you may be thinking and which I ask before I preach any part of the bible is, “does this have any significance for our lives as Christians, now over 3500 years later?” The answer is yes. Jesus, Peter, Paul and Stephen all refer to the Exodus or the ministry of Moses in their preaching. Even though it isn’t the event which redeemed and saved us as Christians, it does show us the redemptive heart of God that desires to save His people and deliver them from sin. It shows us that with God all things are possible and that the Lord can make a way out of your greatest problem.

The name of this book is Exodus. It usually gets translated, going out or departure and that is right. But the literal translation of Exodus is two words; ex meaning out and odus meaning way. Exodus means the way out. What the Exodus shows us is that God is the only way out of sin. He is the only way out of our troubles and problems. He is the only way to go in the everyday affairs of life. He is the way to freedom in every area of our lives.

If I can back up one chapter to Exodus 13, verse 17 makes a statement that seems inconsequential and which we usually read right over without noticing. But it makes a colossal statement about the way believers are to live out our faith, how we are to discern and follow God’s will.

Look at it beginning in verse 17…………….

17 Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, "The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt." 18 Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt.

21 The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

Did you see what happened here? When the Israelites initially set out on the way to the promised land, they were on a well used trade route that was the shortest path to the promised land. It was a highway called the Philistines Highway and it followed the coast along a smooth, direct path. It was only 200 miles from Egypt to Israel on this highway and the trip could be made in about 10 days. But God took control of the Israelites travel route and detoured them into the barren dessert, with no roads, no cities with food and provisions, and in the exact opposite direction of the Promised Land. He directed them on a far more difficult route that would take years rather than days to reach the Holy Land. I’m sure this more than any other event in the Old Testament inspired Isaiah to write that God’s thoughts our not our thoughts, neither are our ways His ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts, says the Lord.”

God did not choose the straight easy path for the Israelites but a far more difficult detour. Are you hearing this? Is this truth sinking into your heart? God’s will for them was a detour through miles of arid, barren desert. How does that compare to your life and experience with God? Does it sound familiar? It really comes as good news to me. Because so many times I thought I was out of God’s will, I wondered why He was taking so long to accomplish something in the church or my life and I was so frustrated I could have screamed. Now, looking at how He dealt with the Israelites I realize that this is His plan; this is how He accomplishes His will in us; this is how He shapes and molds us into the kind of people He can use for His glory. I just thought he was angry with me or didn’t like me very much. Now I realize that He loves me more than I knew. That the old adage is true that God’s delays are not God’s denials.

We are an immediate gratification culture living in the middle of the jet age with computers we expect to respond within seconds. God is not obliged to satisfy our impatience or work on our desired time line. God knew he was going to call Moses to lead His people out of slavery but first sent Him into the wilderness for 40 years of preparation. When He finally got to Egypt his leadership was rejected and misunderstood and so he went back to the desert and spent another 40 year before returning to Egypt to fulfill his calling. He lead the people out into a desert wasteland and had to wander around for two generations before God finally said it was time to go in and possess the promised land. Even then, God told him he wouldn’t be able to enter the land but he was to appoint Joshua to lead them in. He went up on Mt. Nebo across the Jordan valley from Israel. There he died alone and was buried by God in an unmarked grave. Yet, this man was considered the great spiritual giant of the Old Testament who walked more closely with the Lord than any man ever has.

I don’t understand why God leads us in the paths He does but aren’t you so relieved and glad to know that just because the way isn’t easy or comfortable it doesn’t mean that we’re out of God’s will or that He has abandoned us. Just because your not succeeding at something as quickly as you’d like to, it doesn’t mean that you’re a failure. Detours and delays usually frustrate us. But they shouldn’t because they are often God’s perfect will for us.

The Lesson of Bitter Waters

Exodus 15:22-23………….

January 22, 2012

Read Exodus 15:22-23………….

Over 2 million Israelites followed Moses out of Egypt. It was going to be a journey packed with danger and adventure. The first great challenge they faced was being trapped up against the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army approaching and no way to escape. But Exodus means Way Out and God provided a way out by parting the sea and allowing the Hebrew people to cross over on dry land. Then he allowed those great walls of water to collapse back upon the Egyptian army destroying them. From the Red Sea, Israel journeyed three days into the wilderness until they came to Marah. Now, they had a bigger problem. No water to drink. A few days before their problem had been too much water, now the problem was not enough water. Even in those days people understood that the human body can’t live more than a few days without water. They didn’t understand that the human body is 60 percent water and that babies are a whopping 70% water. They didn’t know that the Brain is 75% water, the Heart 75%, and blood is 83% water. But they knew that a person in the desert wasn’t going to survive more than a week without water.

After seeing God’s mighty hand part the Red Sea and deliver them what do you think they would do as they faced this second great challenge since leaving Egypt? Will they A. trust God and patiently wait for Him to meet their needs. B. Watch an episode of Survivor on the discovery channel to figure out how to survive in the desert. Or, C. will they panic, whine and grumble against God and Moses fearing the worst.

Let’s see what they did. Look at verse 24…………..
Well, C. is the correct answer. They grumbled against Moses and asked, “What shall we drink?” This is very specific that they didn’t seek Moses counsel; they didn’t kindly and respectfully plead with him to invoke God’s help. They bitterly and vocally complained against Moses. Grumble is a word that means they were disrespectful, accusing, and demanding. Synonyms for grumble are and groan, whine, scold, and growl. They were not happy campers and they lifted their voices together to protest their circumstances. When Jesus gave us the Sermon on the Mount, I think he was thinking of this selfish, demanding attitude when He taught us not to worry about our most basic daily needs. He said, “Do not be anxious then saying, “What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” When faced with basic human needs we are to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness first and then, watch God provide the material things we need.

Now, all of us have heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. He believed that most people desire to reach their highest level of self-actualization or potential in life, but they cannot and will not until they have their basic nutrition, shelter and safety needs met. I accept that theory as a general truth, but the problem with this theory is that 1000’s of people have worked, scrapped and fought their way out of poverty and squalor to become financially successful. The reason most of the world loves America and wants to come here is that our country has given more people an opportunity to achieve this kind of success than any other nation in history.

What I find ironic is that the Israelites, after all they had seen God do, reacted with fear and faithlessness when they got to Marah and couldn’t drink the water.

Some of you who are older believers learned a long time ago to respond to crisis with calm, prayer and trust in God, because you’ve seen God come through for you time after time. But, what about you younger believers? Have you learned this lesson about life, yet? How many times will it take you to learn that you can trust God? Don’t feel bad if it takes you a few crises situations to learn this because it took Israel more than that.

Some of us who are older know that God will show up and come to your rescue when we are truly seeking Him. What we don’t know is how He’ll come through for us. The Lord often surprises us. How do you think God is going to provide water for the Israelites?

Look at vs 25………

The water was bitter and undrinkable. Apparently, these waters were always putrid and undrinkable because the place was named Marah which means “bitter”. God instructed Moses to do the most unusual thing. God showed him a tree and told him to cut it down and throw it in the water. When he did it made the water sweet and drinkable.

Did anyone beside me see the irony of the people’s attitude and the water they encountered? Both were bitter and offensive. The water was bitter and only a miraculous act of God could make it sweet, fresh and drinkable. Make no mistake; this is a perfect metaphor for all our lives. Only, the Lord God can save us and make us useful for His purposes. Only the Lord, God can keep the negative experiences of life from embittering and souring your spirit.

The question that every one of us needs to ask the Lord on a regular basis is this: How much is my life like the bitter attitude of those people at the waters of Marah? To what degree has life hardened my heart, robbed me of feeling, compassion and joy? You may not even be aware of the degree to which life has embittered your spirit. Life will make you cynical and bitter if you’re not continually guarding your spirit. No wonder Proverbs 4:23 says to guard your heart with all diligence for from it springs the well springs of life. Satan has a goal for your life. It is to destroy you or to neutralize your influence for the Lord. It is to sour your spirit and cause you to question the validity of your relationship with God. One of the ways he does that is by chipping away at your faith and spirit. He tries to get you to dwell on the negative, your failures, and your problems until your faith in the Lord is battered and bruised. We have heard the old adage that we should be getting better, not bitter, but that is easier said than done. The only real guarantee against becoming cynical is by inviting the crucified, risen, ascended and soon coming Lord into your life.

Moses was told to throw the tree in the water. The tree is what God used to make it sweet. This was not a chemical treatment of the water. It was a pure miracle of God to make bitter water drinkable and to save the lives of over 2 million people. This was God showing us the cross of Jesus 1000’s of years before the fact. The Jews understood that cursed is He who dies on a tree and Paul quotes it in Galatians 3:13 to explain how Jesus took the curse of God we deserved by dying on the cross. Jesus endured the bitterness of sin and the wrath of God so that we wouldn’t have to.

Friends, any of you who have lived for any length of time know how life has a way of disappointing and demoralizing you. If it hasn’t yet, you must be one of those lucky ones who have lived a privileged and pampered life.

I was thinking of all the things that just chip away at us. Our families can let us down at times and do and say the most hurtful things. Our marriages can grow lifeless over time through the transitions of life that we have no control over. I was thinking how a few years ago the political persuasion you were was a simple, cut and dried matter. Now, regardless of your party affiliation, you have to be disillusioned with the endless rhetoric and hypocritical posturing of both parties who only seemed to be concerned with getting reelected and making the other party look bad. Doing business with people, you often get the feeling that everything is about the almighty dollar. Another thing that can embitter us is losing a loved one. We may feel that it wasn’t fair or consistent with the behavior of a loving God; perhaps their passing may remind us of our own mortality, something we don’t like to think about. If life hasn’t dealt you a few of these embittering experiences, just give it a little time and I promise you it will.

But for every situation and negative event in our lives we, as believers, have an antidote to this bitterness that tries to creep in and harden our hearts. It is our faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ and what He has done for us on the cross. The cross of Christ is the only thing which rescues life from being merely a random series of unfortunate events. It breathes meaning and grace into every event in our lives whether good or bad. Did you notice what God says in verse 26? He gives Himself a new name, Jehovah Rophe, which means, I am your healer.

26 And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer."

The truth is that you and I need spiritual and emotional healing even more than we need physical healing. The Bible is full of references to how our soul needs constant cleansing and healing. David prays, “renew a right spirit within me” and then pleads for God’s cleansing from sin. Paul tells the Corinthian believers not to let the negative stuff of life get them down in II Corinthians 4:16: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”

David understood the oppressive stress of life and how at times it seems that everything is closing in on us. But in Psalm 46 he says, “1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah. 4 there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,”

As I close there’s something we need to see here in the last part of verse 25 and verse 26. It says that the Lord tested them there at the waters of Marah. Now, I don’t believe that every tragic and negative thing that comes into our life is a test from God, but I think many of them are. And God tells us how to pass the tests of life in verse 26. But it isn’t simply how to pass the test but how to receive the healing of the Lord. Look at it: 26 And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer."

First we are to listen for the Lord’s voice. You’re not alone in the middle of trying times and He is speaking to you if you will open your heart and listen. Prayer is not only conversing with God but it is also listening to Him. But if we’re whining and grumbling continually, we’re not in a position to hear Him speaking. That’s why we need to be still and know that He is God.

Secondly, we need to do what is right. Every challenge we face in life is a fork in the road, a choice between two ways, the way of God and the way of the world. Nothing builds your faith more than choosing God’s way when it’s not easy. Responding in faith and obedience to the bitter water experiences of our life is what strengthens our faith and draws us closer to the Lord who is our healer.

Friend, I don’t know what bitter water experience you’ve had or are having. What I do know is the Lord who is able to heal you this morning. Won’t you receive the healing from the Lord you so desperately need? Won’t you receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord, the one whose death on a tree, a cross can bring hope and spiritual healing from your sins?