If you would remain standing and take the page of the scripture in your hand and turn it to Exodus chapter 14. Tonight we'll be looking at verse 15 to 31. We'll conclude chapter 14 by God's grace tonight. Exodus 14 beginning from verse 15 to 31. The Lord said to Moses, why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them. and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the angel of God, who was going before the host of Israel, moved and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness, and it lifted up the night without one coming near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, And the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them. Into the middest of the sea all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch, the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clutching their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily And the Egyptians said, let us flee from before Israel. For the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course. when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea. Not one of them remained. But as the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the water being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant, Moses. Amen. Let's pray. Father and our God, tonight we come to your supernatural work. supernatural work of redemption, salvation, deliverance that you have accomplished for the people of Israel. And as we consider this supernatural work of your God tonight, we pray that you would cause our hearts to see wonderful things in your holy word. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Tonight, I want to ask you a question. Is there anybody here who the Lord has made to see that you are totally incapable of saving yourself. Whether a time in your life, maybe God was speaking to you for the first time about a need for a savior, a need for believing in Christ. Maybe you were going through trials in life. Whatever the situation was, but God brought you to a place where you saw that you were completely unable to save yourself. Have you been there before in your life? You know, beloved, that's exactly what God did for the people of Israel. for them to see that they were unable to deliver, to save themselves from the hand of the Egyptians, from the hand of Pharaoh. These proud people, these stubborn people, God had to bring them to the place in their history, to the place in their journey, here on earth, where every one of them saw that as far as it depends on them, there was no way to escape death and punishment. Their only hope was God. And tonight I want to look at the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, but everything that happened around them crossing the Red Sea points each and every one of us to the truth, to the reality that the salvation of God's people from the beginning to the end is the work of God. The work of God. Do you know we are passive? When it comes to redemption, when it comes to salvation, we are passive, we receive it by faith. We don't add anything on it. In fact, Martin Luther said, if we add anything, we only add our sin. Nothing else but our sin. And I want us to learn three things. As we think about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea tonight, I want us to learn three things. First, I want us to learn about the nature of true faith. And when faith is commanded by God to move forward, how that faith should respond to God's command. First, faith goes forward trusting in the protection of Christ. Secondly, faith moves forward with the assurance of Christ's finished work of salvation. And then thirdly, faith moves forward beholding God's power to save and judge. I'm going to repeat these points every time we arrive to the next point, so don't worry about forgetting it. But first, faith moves forward trusting in the protection of Christ. I want us to go back to verse 13. And once again, refresh our minds with what Moses told the people of Israel in verse 13 and 14. And Moses said to the people, fear not, stand firm. You know, Moses as a type of Christ, he sounds the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament, especially in the Gospels. We always see Jesus telling his disciples, these fearful and terrified disciples. We see Jesus over and over again telling his disciples, fear not, stand firm. It is I. What we see in our text tonight is the same thing. This is Moses, but he's speaking on behalf of God. And on behalf of God, he's telling the people of Israel not to be afraid. Fear not, stand firm. Now listen to this. And see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today. You're not going to work for your salvation. You're not to make it happen. It's not your work. It's not your doing. You only need to see by faith. To see the salvation that the Lord is going to work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent. You know that word silent? is against all kinds of work of righteousness. Don't do anything toward saving yourself, toward delivering yourself. You will mess it up. Don't do anything. Just be silent means receive it by faith. God doesn't need your work. God doesn't need to help Him. If you try to help Him, it would be your sin. Then we come to the portion that we are considering tonight, where God told Moses, why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. See what God was telling Moses? There is a time to cry to God for help. There is a time to pray. But this is not the time to pray. You already prayed. I heard your prayer. I answered your prayer. Now, move forward by faith. Trusting in the protection of my angel. The pre-incarnate Jesus was there. The angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord who appeared to Moses at the burning bush. He never left the people of Israel, you see, even in the wilderness. Wherever they went, the angel of the Lord was with them. The pre-incarnate Jesus, the second person of Trinity, was with them. Leading them, protecting them, guiding them. And at times, chastising them. Christ was with his people. But God is saying, why are you praying? It's not time for prayer. It's time for action. Move forward. Go forward. And I always picture every Jew who heard Moses, on behalf of God, telling them to move forward. I always picture every Jew asking, move forward? To which direction? Around us, mountains. Before us, the Red Sea. Behind us, the Egyptians. Where do we go? Where do we move forward to? It was a matter of faith, you see. It was a matter of faith. Do you see where they were? They were at the end of themselves. Around the mountains that they cannot climb. Before them, the Red Sea that they cannot cross or go through by their own strength. Behind them, chariots of Pharaoh. Thousands of them. They were stuck. God did that. God brought them to that place. Now remember, there will be a time in your Christian life if you are not saved, when God saves you, or if you are already saved and God wants to chastise you, God wants to sanctify you, He's going to bring you to a place where for you it will be dead end. There is nothing you can do. but he will do his work in you, in your life. That's where the Israelites were. And God was telling Moses, it's not time to pray. You know, there are times in our Christian life, we know what the will of God is. We know what the scripture says about a certain issue. We know the answer, but we always say, you know, in order not to obey God, in order not to do His will, we always say, we come up with this excuse, I'm praying about it. You know, we create this excuse and we hide under, I'm praying about it. And God is saying, no, no, no, no. Why are you praying? Why are you crying to me? You know I heard your prayer. You know what my will is. It's not time for prayer. It's time to move forward. It's time for you to act by faith, trusting in my protection. And God said to Israel, move forward, go forward, trusting in my protection. Fear not, stand firm and see, see what? The salvation of the Lord, which he has, he will work. You remember Jonah, the prophet Jonah? In the belly of that, you know, fish, huge fish, where he said, salvation is of the Lord. You know, God brought him to that place, to that belly of the fish, to show him that salvation belongs to the Lord. And Jonah, from the belly of the fish, he says, salvation is of the Lord. Psalm 3.8, salvation belongs to the Lord. He is the shield of his people. You see, faith always trusts in God's protection. And the psalmist here is saying that the Lord, He is the shield of His people. And we go to Isaiah 12, the book of Isaiah 12, where Isaiah speaks about this protection from the Lord for His people, Isaiah 12. Verse two, behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and my song. And he has become my salvation. Brothers and sisters in Christ, salvation belongs to the Lord. Only be silent. Only be silent. Notice verse 15. The Lord said to Moses, why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Act by faith, trusting in my protection. And then verse 16. Verse 16. Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground." Moses, the people see the Red Sea standing before them. They're terrified. Our text tells us, you know, they saw Pharaoh and the chariots marching toward them, and the Bible says they were greatly terrified. We can imagine everyone crying for help. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts, his chariots and his horsemen. Now verse 19, notice carefully verse 19. Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel, moved and went behind them and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. Why is the angel standing behind the people of Israel? Because that's the direction where Pharaoh and the chariots are coming. He's protecting his people. This is Jesus. This is the angel of the Lord. And you see what he's doing. He's saying, you're never going to touch my people. I'm here to protect them. I am the shield of my people. I am the protector of my people. You see, faith should see that. We move forward by faith to cling to Christ, to embrace Christ. We move by faith. by faith. The protection and the light of his people was Jesus himself. Because verse 20 tells us coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel and there was the cloud and the darkness and it lifted up the night without without one coming near the other all night. You see, He was the salvation and the light of His people. Psalm 27, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Yahweh is my light and my salvation. That's what we see here. He commanded his people to move forward. But isn't that amazing? He came between his people and the Egyptians. He came between them. He made this distinction. These are my people. I'm going to protect them. You are my enemies. I'm going to deal with you. But I'm in control. The Egyptians are no more in control. I am in control. I am here to protect my people. Jesus came to the world not only to save us, but also to protect us. Not only to save us, but also to become our shield, our protector. How many of you believe that? How many of you confess that, you know, when you leave home early in the morning to go to work, how many of you remind yourself, Jesus is my protector, Jesus is my shield, whatever happens at the workplace, he is with me. The angel of the Lord, the Messiah, Christ is with me and he's going to protect me. I'm not the protector of myself. Jesus is. You see, that sense of humility, God, in the wilderness, at the Red Sea, was humbling himself. He brought them to the end of themselves to see that the only way out is the grace of God. Only the grace of God. Now, why is he separating? the Israelites and the Egyptians. Why is he in between? You see that separation. You see what he's doing. Well, in 2 Corinthians 6, 17, Paul tells us, therefore, go out from the midst and separate from them, say the Lord, and touch no unclean thing, then I will welcome you. We see the light. We see the angel coming between the two peoples. We see him blessing the people of God. We see him judging the enemies of his people so that he would take glory over the Egyptians. that he would get glory over the Egyptians and from his people. Notice the angel comes between his people and the Egyptians. What a picture of the gospel! What a big picture of our salvation! Let me refresh your mind with how Jesus saved as he came between us and the law. He fulfilled the law. He came between us and the wrath of God. He came between us and Satan. He came between us and the wrath of God. He satisfies the justice of God. That's how He became. He came between us and the law, our sin, Satan, and the justice of God. You see, if Jesus would not come between us and the law, between us and the justice of God, between us and our sin, no one would be here tonight. No one would sing about the saving grace of God. He came between us and our sin. Sin is terrible. Sin is terrible. Sin is disastrous. But Jesus came between us and our sin. Faith, you see, sees that, trusts in the protection of the Son of God. I don't know who said this, but there was no name. I was reading a book and I came across this quote. If our enemy wants to destroy us, he has to defeat omnipotence. Beautiful. If our enemy wants to destroy us, he should first defeat our God who is omnipotent. There's no way you see the enemy to destroy the people of God. Secondly, faith moves forward being assured of deliverance because of Christ's finished work. Now notice carefully, God's people go forward, they move forward by faith, because God has finished the work of redemption. You know, faith sees that. How hard it would be for anyone to move forward by faith, not knowing what God has already done for you. How can you move forward trusting in your own strength, in your own flesh? How can you move forward as a Christian, as a redeemed person, without any assurance of the finished work of salvation? Verse 15. Then the Lord said to Moses, why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Why? Why is God telling them to move forward? Because he has done it. It's finished. What is required from God's people is to enter, to move forward, you know, toward which direction? Toward the Red Sea. You see, God told them, it will be divided. Moses, you stretch your hand. You know, you remember that road Moses used to have in his hand? You stretch your hand and you divide the sea. And it will be divided. It will be divided, Psalm 136, 13, to him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever. Think about the Red Sea being divided into two. Now I'm going to ask you a serious question here. We know it by, you know, as a history. We always talk about it in Sunday school, family worship. We love that story. But let me ask you this. How many of you actually believe that the sea was divided? How many of you see that by faith and say amen? It happened. It's a historical fact. It's a spiritual fact. It happened. And you know how it happened? It happened as a supernatural work of God, like resurrection, like the birth of Christ that we're about to celebrate. It was a supernatural work. In fact, a story was told. A Jewish boy, young boy, went to Sunday school. And in Sunday school, they learn about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. And the boy came back home, and his mom asked him, so what was Sunday school about? And the boy told his mom, well, you know, mom, we learned about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. And his mom was curious to know what her boy was learning in Sunday school, how much he understood the story. And she asked him, so how did it end? Tell me about that. And the boy said to his mom, well, the Israelites were crossing the Red Sea. It was divided into two, so they were crossing the Red Sea. And then the Egyptian warplanes came upon the Israelites. They started bombarding them. And then the Israeli warplanes came, destroyed them, and the people crossed the Red Sea victoriously. And his mom looked at him, and she said, That's not what happened. And her boys say to her, I know, but if I told you that, you're not going to believe that. Because it's a supernatural work of God. We see that by faith. And we adore God, we worship God for the work of salvation. In Isaiah 43, but now, thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel, fear not. For I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. Now listen to this. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall never overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned. And the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. You go through the waters, but you will not be destroyed. Why is that? Christ is with you. So in our second point, you see, we move forward by faith as God's people with the assurance that God has finished the work of salvation for us. You know, without that assurance, How can you even move forward? How can you go forward without that assurance? How many Christians today struggle with the assurance of salvation? Am I saved? Am I forgiven? Well, you know, you come to the Red Sea and see God dividing the Red Sea into two, rescuing His people, delivering His people from the hand of the Egyptians. And then what comes to mind is, you know, what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11. The Israelites, the people were baptized under the leadership of Moses. Isn't that amazing, brothers and sisters in Christ? The waters of the Red Sea, do you know what they represent? They represent the wrath of God. They represent the wrath of God against sin, against rebellious people like the Egyptians, like Pharaoh. The Red Sea represents the wrath of God. And Moses, the giver of the law, by the command of God, he stretched his hand. And he took control of the Red Sea. That was the picture of God's wrath, only to destroy the Egyptians. But because, you see, the work of redemption was accomplished, because the law was satisfied, was kept perfectly by Christ, The Lord didn't condemn the Israelites, the Lord condemned the Egyptians. The Lord became the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of death to the Egyptians. But he left the Israelites alone because the Lord was satisfied by Christ. Do you see what was going on at the Red Sea? It's not just the history, it's the gospel. It's the gospel. Christ Emmanuel was with his people. And lastly, faith moves forward, beholding God's power to save and judge. Listen to this. All the congregation of Sorry. Listen to this in verse 28. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea. Now let me ask you this. Why did the Egyptians follow the Israelites toward the Red Sea? The Israelites were crossing the Red Sea by what? By the command of God. Moved forward by faith. Trusting in my finished work of salvation. He didn't say that to the Egyptians. But they moved forward because they were trusting in themselves. They were trusting in their own strengths. And those who trust in their own strengths, we even saw this in the morning, They failed. They came to a very dangerous place that was reserved only for the Israelites, only for the people of God. And they were drowned because they were prideful, they were rebellious, they were relying on their own strengths and their own flesh. The outcome was destruction. The law condemned them forever. Listen to what the Israelites saw. But the people of Israel walked on a dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them. Not to the Egyptians, but to the people of, because of the work of the Messiah. He was there. He commanded the sea to be divided in two and serve the people of Israel as a wall. On the right side, on the left side, the sea stood as a wall and bowed down before the people of Israel, before the angel of the Lord. I always picture, you know, the Red Sea. standing as a wall, saying to the Israelites, you may pass. And in a moment, the Egyptians came. God told Moses, now you stretch your hand, and the waters will return to you. to their common ground. And then listen to what the Israelites saw. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians. And you know what they saw? They saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. and no one of them remained." Paul talks about this in Romans chapter 9. In Romans chapter 9, Paul talks about this God-predestined sum as a manifestation of his glory through judgment, and some as a manifestation of his glorious grace for salvation. In Romans 9, beginning from verse 19, you will say to me then, why does he still find fault For who can resist his will? But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, Why have you made me like that? Has the potter no right over the clay? To make out of the same lamb One vessel for honorable use, And another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vassals of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of His glory? You see, faith sees, moves forward in seeing the power of God to save and to judge. You see, God's power at the Red Sea saved the people of Israel, saved the remnant, but destroyed the Egyptians. Riches of His glory, for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory, even as whom He has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. As indeed He says in Hosea, Those who were not my people, I will call my people. And here who was not beloved, I will call beloved. And in the very place where it was said to them, you are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God. So two vessels. Some vessels of mercy. and some vessels of destruction." That's exactly what we see at the Red Sea. The Egyptians were vessels of destruction. God was manifesting his glory upon his enemies by his judgment, and he was manifesting his mercy, grace, forgiveness upon his people as the vessel of mercy. That's why Paul in Romans 8 said, if God is against us, if God is for us, who can be against us? Nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Now, as you take all these things into the heart and apply them in a Christian life, let me ask you this. In a Christian life, as a believer, are you moving forward by faith? Are you moving forward trusting in Christ's protection? Are you moving forward in a Christian life having the assurance of the finished work of Christ, the Son of God? Are you moving forward in the Christian life, seeing the glory of God for salvation and judgment? For salvation and judgment. Where is your faith tonight? I want each and every one of us, including myself, to examine our own heart. To examine our own Christian walk and ask this one question, am I moving forward in the Christian life or am I moving backward? God wants us to move forward, brothers and sisters in Christ, to move forward by faith. The Israelites moved forward by faith. You see how God blessed them. If you go backward in your Christian life, it means your faith is wavering. Your faith is getting weaker and weaker. And as we heard this morning, we should be on guard. Let us move forward by faith. doing all the things, keeping in mind all the things that we heard tonight from Exodus 14. Let's pray. Our gracious and heavenly Father, indeed you are the God of mercy, the God of salvation. Lord, help us by faith to move forward, trusting in the protection of our Savior, having the assurance of the finished work of your Son, Jesus Christ, but also seeing the glory of you, our God, in salvation and in judgment. Lord, where repentance is needed, help us to repent. Where taking this action, moving forward by faith is needed, help us, O Lord, to move forward. Protect us not to go backward, but move forward by faith. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.