In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of leaders taking initiative and leading by example. He uses the story of Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea as an example of this principle. The speaker highlights how Pharaoh and his servants were determined to bring the Israelites back into slavery, but God declared that Israel was His chosen people. The Israelites, however, were initially reluctant and fearful, questioning Moses' decision to lead them out of Egypt. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of trust in God and the triumph that comes from going through tests with Him.

Now, that is absolutely typical of the Lord's approach when he thinks about redemption. It's really him saying, now, you're mine. You're mine. What a glorious thing that is, because that virtually means, because you're mine, I can do as I like with you. That's right, isn't it? The things that are your own, your very own, you would contend for the right to do as you like with those things, because they are your own. Now, what a glorious thing that is. Of course, it wasn't an idle claim, as we can see when we look into the 14th chapter, where, as you remember, the Lord carried through that which he began in the land of Egypt. That he overthrew, verse 27, right at the end of the verse, the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Verse 30, the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. It's a good thing to know that God not only saved them from the land of the Egyptians, but out of the hand of the Egyptians too. That they were under Satan's power, if you think of, of course, as just some. Jesus overcame Satan's power. Amen. Isn't it a great feeling to know that you're out of the devil's hand? I hope you feel that, because the Egyptians really felt it. They didn't just believe it, they saw it, they felt it, they had all the evidence of it, and that is exactly what the Lord wants us to be in. This great experience. You know, the other day, I was thinking about that glorious word, trust. T-R-U-S-T, trust. What is trust? One of the things the Lord spoke into my heart was, it's living without thinking. That's right. It's living without believing. That is, not struggling to believe this, or believe that, or believe the other. Not fighting, that's all behind now. You're really trusting, just live without thinking about it at all. That's what trust is, isn't it? You know, if you, someone you love, and they love you, and they're a thousand miles away from you, you're not constantly wondering what's happening, but then your heart is trusting that everything's all right between you still, and you can live without thinking, and worrying about let down, or anything like that. What a glorious thing it is to be able to live like that. Now, that's how you and I are expected to live, once the Lord has wrought his great redemption salvation in our lives. Amen. Now, this then is a glorious and wonderful truth, and I want tonight to speak to you about the further dealings of God with Moses, and of course inseparably bound up with the children of Israel. Will you recall that when we began, we were thinking about Moses being a reluctant God, in that we looked at this great chapter 6, and those marvellous verses, in the book of Exodus of course we are, where God said to Moses, he said, Be I have made thee a God to Pharaoh. He wasn't a God to God, he was a God to Pharaoh. And that was a tremendous thing. Well, that came with the call of God, the mighty attraction of the burning bush, and God called him. And it was so wonderful. Moses, as you know, it's a wonderful thing to be called, let's go back to that third chapter shall we, in Exodus, it's a wonderful thing to be called, and commissioned as the Lord did with this man. But whenever God calls you, or anybody, and he gives you a work to do, or promotes you to a position, and remember that we're not all expecting to be a Moses, but we all have a position to fill, and fulfil in the body of Christ. That position has to be tested. And so Moses went from the call to the test. Everything that God does in your life and mine has to be tested. You then have to be proven worthy of the position to which God has called you. And in these past studies together, we've been seeing how Moses came through the test absolutely triumphantly. He proved worthy of the position. Now, this is always something, beloved, that you and I have got to get deep into our thinking. That you and I have got to be proved worthy. You don't have to prove yourself worthy of being called, or anything like that. But once God has called you, he puts you and me into these positions, and then he tests us along the line of his ordination or proving. I have made thee a God to Pharaoh. That's right. And of course that is why he allowed the great test, and the contest that went with it. When there's a test from God, there's always a contest. The devil is always seeking to destroy that which God has done. I think sometimes one of our failures, when we become the Lord and we are born again, is to imagine that now everything in the garden is going to be rosy. What happens that when we are born again, God deals with that old man of sin, and he forgives us our sins, and we have a birth into a glorious new nature. And that's absolutely wonderful. But then God has to deal with us, ourselves, and develop us into the kind of people he wants us to be. And the last thing that the devil wants is that you and I should be what God wants us to be. And he will contest God's callings and promotions hip and thigh. That's what he will do. He will lie, he will cheat, he will oppress, he will come against the work of God in everybody's soul. That's what the devil will seek to do. And just because he does that, you and I are not to imagine that we are therefore not God's people. It is rather the proof that we are the children of God. I suppose we could see this worked out, if our study was the children of Israel, in the life of the nation as it moved from Egypt into Canaan. But that isn't our study. It's just that we should see the ways of God in this man Moses. So the contest was on. And this is why the Lord allowed the enemy, the devil, to reproduce some of the things, to try and get Moses in two minds about it, to try and make Moses doubt the power of God, and all that sort of thing. This is the devil's artfulness. And I'll guarantee that you at some time, if not at this present, have been in this position, where when the power of God is being contested, you've had doubts about all sorts of things and questionings in your mind. Now that does not mean that you haven't been called of God, or that God is not working on your behalf. He is. And if ever you're going to accomplish anything for God, you've got to be able to see the power of Satan parallel with the power of God, and prove to yourself that Jesus' power is greater than the power of the enemy. You've got to prove it yourself in your own circumstances. It hasn't to be gathered from hymns and Bible texts. It's got to be gathered from the contests of life. It's really yours when you've met it there, and when you've mastered the enemy there. What a tremendous and glorious thing it is. Well, then, Moses, he really lived up to the call of God, and the statement of God when he said, I have made thee a God to Pharaoh. He really was that to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh, though he was the greatest king, and he wielded the greatest power, and had the greatest empire in the world, and his magicians moved in the greatest black arts in that time, and he was in league with Satan, and himself was considered to be the God of the Egyptians. Hallelujah. Moses was over him. What a glorious figure of a man he was. To know that you and I are over the devil, and not under him. And if the devil roars and fights and kicks and contends for the first place, and contests your call, and challenges the power that God has given you, you are to stand firm against him. And you are to know, and I repeated this to somebody over the telephone the other day, who rang up in a spot of trouble, you are to know this, that greater is he that is in you, than he that is in all the world put together. I know John doesn't say that, right, but he says them. So that, who are these? Anybody. Everybody. That if you put all the powers of all the peoples, and all the kingdoms, and all the arts, and all there is in the world, and in the whole universe together, greater is he that is in you, than in all them. Amen. And one true believer can overcome, on his own, or on their own. I know that two are better than one. And three are better than two, because a three-fold sword is not soon broken. But praise the name of the Lord, to stand and be in trust, to really trust, to be able to live without thinking, I mean spiritually, to be able to live without striving, to be able to live without struggling, that's trust. What a glorious thing then it is. Moses proved absolutely triumphant, all along the way. All right, he, he went through his test, beautifully. And you know, as you go through the test with God, understanding comes to you, in a very, very wonderful way. I said we'd turn to chapter three, decided not to trouble you with it, but it's, it's the, the word go, in verse 18, I was going to direct your attention to, if you're still interested, where it, what God was saying, go, go, go. I want to take that word a little further, add another word to it, and make it a phrase, a very short one, I know, but it will contain within it, the message for God, of God, for us tonight. Go, go. I wish the people of God had some go about them. Go. Are you going? Where are you going? If you're not going, when are you going to start going? When the people of God are on the move, something tremendous happens. When they're on the move, and I do want you to see, that the whole people had to be on the move. I know that we're concentrating on this one man, Moses. But God didn't provide redemption only for Moses. He didn't just provide the promised land only for Moses. He provided the promised land for God's children. For you will know, the whole talk about the promised land, begins with God's dealings with Abraham. But He didn't provide the promised land just for Abraham. He didn't need it. He couldn't fill the promised land. He had quite a large family. They lived in tents. So many of them were always retainers. The Lord promised the land to the children of Israel. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were only strangers in it. Read Hebrews 11. They were strangers. Abraham dwelt in the promised land with the heirs of promise, Isaac and Jacob, and they were all strangers. It was the children of Israel that made it home when they got there. Bear that in mind. But having said that, that it was for the whole of the children of Israel, God needed a man to get them moving. And God is always looking for people who can get others moving. That's what He's wanting. I can well remember when I first learned the chorus some years ago. Now, I can't remember. And how it impressed me. Just a simple one. We've sung it many times. God is moving by His Spirit. The chorus says He's moving in all the earth. Signs and wonders when God moveth. Move, O Lord, in me. When was the last time God moved in you? And really moved you? I don't mean nearly emotionally. When did God move you so that your whole life moved on? If you've got to go back six months for that, that's too long. Far too long. Now, let's come again, shall we, to this great truth. I'm sorry, I also told you it was the seventh chapter where God said He'd made Moses a god to Pharaoh. I said it was the sixth. Moses came into great understanding for, as we read in chapter 13, that's where we commence our reading tonight, Moses says this thing, as we thought together last week, at the time when God was bringing them out of Egypt. They were still in the land of Egypt when it was said, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast, it is mine. And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place. There shall no leavened bread be eaten. This month came ye out, in the month Abed. And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which he swear unto thy fathers to give thee a land flown with milk and honey that thou shalt keep this service in this month. You see, they were not in the land, they were still, he says it, on the same day in which the Passover took place because it took place at midnight, you remember, and the days then started at sundown and they were still in the same day when they were traveling. On the same day that they were redeemed, Moses was given great understanding from God. Blessed is the man that has understanding from the Lord. Indeed, there aren't many who have. That's the tragedy. Real understanding of what God is doing. Few people seem to have it. But Moses said this, Seven days, verse 6, shalt thou eat unleavened bread and in the seventh day shall be a feast unto the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters and thou shalt show thy son in that day saying this is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt and it should be a sign unto thee upon thine hand and for a memorial between thine eyes that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year. This is the thing that Moses saw that God was not just interested in redeeming his people by the blood and getting them out of Egypt if he couldn't purge the old leaven out of them. That's what he's talking about. The old leaven for you will know that bread is called the start of life there was an old leaven working in their lives it wasn't that God was interested in saying you're mine, I've got you now he was saying there's got to be a total change got to be utter. That's what he said. Oh, this is what Moses saw and it's going to be a memorial a memorial of the fact that God redeemed them and why he redeemed them that they should live their lives on a totally different basis altogether. They were not to live in the same way that they lived when they were in Egypt they were not to do so because when they got to the promised land although you know that this generation through disobedience didn't reach the promised land but when they got to the promised land they would find that in Canaan the tribes mentioned here in verse 5 were living by the same old leaven that's right it wasn't any different in Canaan than it was in Egypt the principle of life in Canaan that is the way that those tribes were living the things upon which they fed themselves they were as bad and as wrong as what was taking place in the tribes in Egypt for you do know the Egyptians had tribes as well tribes were only large families with sort of paternal heads now the Lord is making Moses understand something he's got it into his heart he can't forget that God said to him in the beginning you are the God of Pharaoh and you have to say Pharaoh you let Israel is my firstborn and you let my firstborn go and if you don't I'll kill your firstborn hmm that's a tremendous thing and it never got out of Moses mind you are mine hallelujah I'm so thrilled that God came into conflict on this level he's a jealous God he really loves and so it goes on to say this is one side the next side is this verse 11 when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites as he sware unto thee and thy fathers and shall give it thee that thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast the male shall be the Lord every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb and if thou wilt not redeem it then thou should break his neck and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem hmm a glorious thing God intended to keep this great theme of redemption ever fresh in their minds for the cattle were always calving the ewes were always bringing forth their young the donkeys were always breeding in somebody's tent amongst all these hundreds of thousands there was always a young boy being born throughout the nation not in every tent every day I don't think that's what I mean it was always there and as soon as a baby boy was born let's read it on shall we and it shall be verse 14 when thy son asketh thee in time to come saying what is this that thou shalt say unto him thy strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt from the house of bondage and it shall come to pass and it came to pass when Pharaoh would hardly let us go that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all of those minister matrix being males but all the firstborn of my children I redeem and it shall be for a token upon thine hand and for front bits between thine eyes for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt Alleluia that's the tremendous truth tokens every time a baby boy was born it's father had to go outside and slay a lamb all the firstborn had to be redeemed that was tremendous every firstborn among the flocks and the herds it was the Lord had to be sacrificed to the Lord it was set aside as the Lord's lamb and at the appropriate time or in the case of need and God soon showed them what their need was when he gave them the law and instituted the system of atonement and bloodshed for sin those animals that were kept had to be taken they were the Lord some were given to the Levites some were sacrificed on the altar all had to be given to God a young ass had to be redeemed by a lamb that's why every ass as you know has a cross on its back running right down its backbone there's that dark stripe and across its shoulders every donkey God chose it very carefully so why should it be a donkey? well that God put the markings on the donkey and you can't change a donkey's cross any more than you could change a leopard's spots or an Ethiopian's skin it can't be done what a tremendous and glorious truth that is, beloved and of course the children would say well dad, what's all this? you see and you know also that the donkey is the beast, the servant yes it was a functional animal for service so the ideas of life and service are brought together if you want to keep a servant donkey then you are to slay a lamb you can only serve the Lord through this redemption and Israel was being told that they were alive to serve God I don't know whether you realize that there's a great deal of talk in these days about the sons of God being manifest beloved you are here to serve you are here to serve God if you don't know that you don't know anything because it means that the Lord has never reached your heart and brought sensibility to your mind and made you understand that for sheer gratitude that you're redeemed you'll serve the Lord through time and through eternity if that isn't in your bones then you're not a Christian and don't think you are you've never had the truth come to your heart and daylight has never been let in to you and you've never been exercised you're here to serve I don't necessarily mean you've got to serve in a garden or in a methan veil or in a house or something like that you've got to serve God got to that's what it's all about if you want to keep a donkey the lamb's got to be slain why do you want a donkey? I want a donkey to be a beast of burden and serve and function you've got to have them that's the great truth and so the little lad stood there and he said oh I see and let it be for frontlets before your eyes he said and let it be upon your hand as a token oh men what a glorious and blessed truth you will know that the Pharisees got hold of that all wrong and all Pharisees do that you'll tell whether you're a Pharisee or not that instead of seeing that it was a sign and a symbolic thing they made what they called palactras and put them in little boxes and tied them here before their eyes and then strapped something around their wrist another text of scripture or some quote from one of their favourite Talmudic authors and they bound it there and they kept it absolutely mystery and served themselves and the devil here then is the the terrible truth now says this man you're to get the old leaven out of you don't say we've been slaves in Egypt we've been slaves in Egypt no we're nobody's slaves we're God's free men now wait a minute listen I still want your hands to work I'm not going to send you scrabbling for straw and stubble and digging out clay till the dirt wore your fingernails and thumbnails down to the quick that's not it, it's not the hard work of the slavish taskmaster but you're here to serve me Amen and if you're the redeemed of the Lord you've got to be about service somewhere you've got a secret start looking round wait on God see what he says you have to and I say have to do Amen I mean beyond the 8 till 6 job you do if you do an 8 till 6 job that is to say you don't serve the Lord there thereby witnessing something that is definitely service of the Lord Amen what a tremendous thing this is oh Moses saw this God has got this into him oh firstborn he got it Hallelujah have you got it into you of course I was going to say poor Moses but having said what a wonderful man he was I can't say that I can say grand old Moses if he had but known it and I guess he knew quite a lot his troubles were but beginning first God he was called to be a God to Pharaoh then he went through his tests and then he went through a great training period what was he being trained to be well in company with the Lord whom he typifies of course and also with David that great king of Israel if you go back to chapter 3 verse 1 now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law this is before it all happened of course the priest of Midian and he led the flock to the back side of the desert and came to the mountain of God even to Horeb and the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush Moses had come from Pharaoh's courts to being a shepherd and this is what is going to be his great training for the rest of his life he was going to be a shepherd and he being called to lead another flock my what a flock it was I said I think last week that there were somewhere probably about a million souls all together who came up out of Egypt hundreds of thousands of the Israelites that is the sort of grown ups besides their children and this mixed multitude for Egypt had a very mixed bag of people there as you know I don't know quite whether you do know this that Moses himself had a Midianitist wife who by the way didn't go down into Egypt you understand that he saddled his he saddled the donkey that night at the inn and they went back home and Moses went on alone so and you know it wasn't easy for him in case you are having wife trouble brother it may be you might be having husband trouble sister I don't know but you see God said well let's look at it shall we we might as well it's in chapter 4 when God verse 24 or we'll start 23 22 come on let's be generous God talking to Moses thou shalt say unto Pharaoh Israel is my son even my first born and I say unto thee let my son go that he may serve me and if thou refuse to let him go behold I will slay thy son even thy first born and it came to pass by the way in the inn that the Lord met him and sought to kill him then Zipporah took a sharp stone cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at his feet and said surely a bloody husband art thou to me so God let him go then she said a bloody husband art thou because of the circumcision what happened then was that they parted company Zipporah whether she went back in high dungeon to her father or not I don't know I don't know whether there was a quarrel I don't know whether she said a bloody husband art thou to me because of the circumcision and took him and he went on and on we don't quite know but we can read about this in chapter 18 if you want to check up on it Jethro the priest of Midian Moses' father-in-law heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt, you see they are out of Egypt now then Jethro Moses' father-in-law took Zipporah Moses' wife after he had sent her back alright and her two sons she must have been expecting her second child of which the name of the one was Gershom for he said I have been an alien in a strange land and the name of the other was Eliezer for the God of my father said he was mine help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh and Jerob and Jethro Moses' father-in-law came with his sons and his wife and for Moses into the wilderness where he encamped at the mouth of God alright so that's what happened they parted company at the inn she a very much grieved woman expecting her second son and he going on alone hmm and she might have said to him don't you think you are a bit of a monster here am I in this condition I don't know what she said and I'm not maligning her I'm telling you that he sent her back home to her father he was going to take her they were on the way so something did it yeah what a tremendous thing alright this man went through his trials it's bad when you get domestic trials when you are contesting with Satan it's bad when the home is divided it's hard going and when you misunderstood and even the nearest and the dearest think you've just about gone too far you're not a normal man or woman if it's vice versa I'm not just pleading for a man if Moses happens to be a man that's all hmm hmm but he went through I'm going to make you a god to Pharaoh if your wife had fallen out with you I'm still going to make you a god to Pharaoh don't come up with the old ethics about oh first live right with your wife and so on and so on and so on these blah blah so called Christian truths they are far from reality most of them as dark is from light you've got to know this the call of God comes on a man and the grip of God comes on a woman whoever it may be I can think of plenty of glorious women and that's that but how many of you are prepared even to let God have a chance in this because you're wrapped up in this foppish 20th century slush how God is calling and God is moving so when he gets down there the irons in his soul like he had to get into Joseph before he was any good to God and he went into Persia let my people go if you don't let my people go I'll kill your firstborn and that's it if a man's overcome his wife's nasty tongue he's not much afraid of Pharaoh of course it can be the other way about if a woman can stand up to her husband's abuses she's not much afraid of the devil that is always providing the wife or the husband advice there to be misunderstood is a rare honour to have your motives questioned and your calling misinterpreted is a higher honour still because you're like Jesus that's what happened to him this is the mould in which greatness of character is cast now may the Lord lead us on we were on about this mixed multitude he had a Midianitish wife and also in those days remember this was not forbidden he also had an Ethiopian wife a black woman there was a real row about that later on Moses own sister got on to him about this it's bad enough to have your wife on to you I should think but when your sister gets on to you too and Aaron doesn't reckon much about it you can say you're going to be a man if you get through all this love perhaps but this was trouble you can read it again I won't tell you which chapter it's in why should I you read it yourself that's what I've done and you can find this tremendous truth so you see there were black women down in Egypt as well of course you can generally expect trouble if you do go in for mixed marriages that's a thing that I have discovered and I often have to give advice along this line I don't know how far I'm going to get with my subject tonight I wonder if I get on top of parallel or ancillary lines but here is the I often have to advise against this wonder if I can about this wonder if I can say this here that you know there's all this talk about racist this and racist that but it was God that did it see God did it I mean I didn't make Shem, Ham and Japheth and I can't get over the fact that God made some people black and some people somewhere in between and some of us as near white as it's allowable pink I think is the better term we'd like to think it was well there it is and I tell you what as soon as you start crossing those barriers which God made, now there are no barriers in the church not talking about that but even with church members, if you start crossing these barriers you're going to have trouble yes you are the two different cultures for a start and often it's the children of such unions, especially if it's between, be between black and white suffer tremendously the blacks don't want them, the whites don't want them and there they are in between oh God and usually I know this tape is allowed to be heard all around the world I guess but copies of it anyway but it's true, I might just as well say it, usually they the weaknesses of both races come out in the children that's usual that's my discovery in having to deal with them I can only say what I know, I am not a professional I'm not a doctor I'm not a biologist I have no knowledge about genetics and all these things I'm telling you what I mean in common human life, I'm not talking theory that's what I find so Moses probably wasn't all wise like our glorious Lord Jesus is you see any more than any of us in the room would propose a toast to ourselves about being a second Solomon or a Solomoness if you're a woman you see that's not the whole thing but this great multitude went up out of Egypt and there was plenty of trouble and Moses himself was not short of it among his relatives and in the first place in his own family well glory be to the name of the Lord that's not much different from the glorious Lord Jesus Christ himself is it he was always in trouble amongst his own brothers as they were called they didn't know they didn't understand in the end a person that will go through with God will not be understood except by another that has gone through with God other people won't understand but Moses was going on with his training he had to lead this flock of God and if we go on just this little bit faster to keep pace with the time we'll come into chapter 14 reminding ourselves as we do so of the closing verses of chapter 13 verse 21 the Lord went before the children of Israel by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to go to go this was the command go let my people go we're going and you see the way the phrasing here they were to be given a pillar of cloud by day a pillar of fire by night to go by day or night as the case may be is that what it says? no, they were to go day and night that's right in other words they were to go, go, go 24 hours a day now that doesn't mean to say they were walking for 28 and 48 hours without a break the truth is that once you are a redeemed people you are to understand that above, far above and much greater than the Moses shepherd is the great shepherd of the sheep for God was the great leader in this pillar of fire Moses was an under shepherd that's a big thing to keep in mind as well what a glorious thing the great overall general leadership of the children of Israel now listen here's the thing to get into your heart and get into mind too that the cloud did not lead in two way that one so that people, half of them were streaming off here half of them were streaming off somewhere else they all had to go in one way as a flock to lead the way, not in the way but lead the way the way is always given to you as a lead, you are to go in it once you see the way you are to go in it and keep going in it do you understand that? you are not to say, oh I think I ought to go here oh I think I ought to go there, too many people claiming odd leadership from God and they so that you'll find a flock, it's broken 50, 60 different ways people all got their own ideas about it, instead of being led as a flock he led his people as a flock this is what the great psalmist said, he saw it the Lord is my shepherd praise the name of the Lord, what a tremendous truth it is, by day and night, in other words, these people's hearts were to be set to go at any time, and if at midnight the trumpet blew they had to up, oh I've just got to do a little bit, and sometimes it's up and off oh, oh, you see oh, we slogged all day yesterday, and it's 2 o'clock in the morning, yes that's right, up and go listen, they were glad to get out and go on redemption night, God keep that fresh in your heart, you didn't care whether it was 1 o'clock in the morning or 6 o'clock at night now did you, not when you were really concerned about getting redeemed let that go out of your heart and you're already on the way down I'm ready to go any time or what there had to be God, they had little enough to lose, they only had to strike camp and go right, we had to put all our houses and sticks of furniture together, we wouldn't get anywhere would we all the rubbish we gather around ourselves and make such a lot of fuss about you know it's rubbish it'll all burn if the fire starts tonight you know it's morning in this glorious realm that God wants us to go day and night say Lord yes you know one of the things that I admire a great about that great man was this, I've never achieved he must have been a wonderful man I've never even tried because emulation is a sin, we mustn't try and copy other people or emulate others but it said of him that he used to go off for a week's labour and he would go a whole week without sleep day in preaching and night testifying and bringing people to deliverance that's what he'd go through and then he'd go home and sleep for about four days, his wife never used to wake him up I don't know whether I could achieve that I find I wake up very easily but perhaps I don't work hard enough here then is the glorious truth, I want to ask you a question how sold out are you to God and Moses didn't require anything of the children of Israel that he wasn't prepared to do himself when that cloud led he had to be the first man after it do you realise that praise the name of the Lord he didn't get behind and keep driving the people on he had to lead them on into 14 then the great crossing of the red sea I'm not going to read the whole of the chapter you do that yourself sometime I hope you are reading through and getting into the spirit of all this I hope that you're of God with me and as excited as I am to see this great thing that God was doing and then say to yourself doing that with me here we go it was told the king the king of Egypt that the people fled and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people and they said why have we done this that we've let Israel go from serving us and he made ready his chariots his people with him and so on why? he was going to get them back into bondage and service again slavery that's what he was intent on doing but God said Israel is my son he's going to serve me I think that's marvellous I like this kind of God he must be the right one this is the one I know I like him to be masterful I like this Lord I don't like him to say well now look here toss a coin if it's heads it's for you if it's tails it's for me if you like it you could do this or would you like to prefer something else nay you've not got the right God if you've got that kind of God hallelujah one way only listen any of those that hadn't walked in it would have been already snapped up by Pharaoh they kept up pretty close I tell you they kept going they knew which side their bread was buttered if they had butter at their juncture but here was the tremendous thing and here we'll read we'll catch up the story when Pentelogunai they're right smack up against the Red Sea now the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold the Egyptians marched after them and they were sore afraid and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord and they said unto Moses because there were no graves in Egypt hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to carry us forth out of Egypt it is not just a thing we did tell thee in Egypt saying let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians never else thought it would you eh talk about a reluctant God these people were reluctant people they didn't want they wanted to stay there I bless God that I read in chapter 13 that God brought them up with a strong hand that's right oh I praise God for this you know I really believe this I want every one of us in this room to get some sense of this into our hearts that when God makes up His mind that you're His and He's going to redeem you well that's that and stop fooling around now this is the kind of God I know you can say well this is real Calvinism I don't care what you call it it's the truth hear glory don't you think God makes up His mind to save people or do you think He's always coming cap in hand saying I beg you to listen to me I would like to save you if you wish you know please let me do this and oh and this is the kind of sloppy stuff that comes over in some of our modern songs that groups sing I don't actually say that I'm putting it into bold language but the whole of the sentiment is expressed is about this kind of God give me this God that's almighty give me this God that makes up His mind, give me the real God that made heaven and earth give me the God that split the Red Sea give me the God that said to these people come on, you're coming out now bless God I thank Him He's got such a strong will because mine's so weak but so's yours when you would be playing around, tossing this about, thinking that up, God says come on that's it, a million thoughts flip the mind of the children of God glory be to God Amen in the end I consider this to be the only God worth serving and the only one worth living up to the fact that He is God this is how He appeared to Moses He said and what shall I tell them is thy name and God said I am that's where it all started I am, not you, I am you can be if you will let me be I am to you that's the truth and I love it all my weakness is swallowed up in His might when I come here all my stupidity is embraced by His wisdom I think it's so marvelous all the failures of my heart and life are just swallowed up in His success, I bless the Lord that this is the kind of God that we are dealing with here hallelujah and Moses makes a mistake this is one of his mistakes he says to the people fear ye not, now that's good advice, then he said stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which He will show to you today for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever, the Lord shall fight to you you shall hold your peace whatever he thought the Lord was going to do, I don't know, come down single-handed or bring in myriads upon myriads of angels in fiery chariots to match Pharaoh's chariots, I don't know but the Lord said to him in verse 15 why, wherefore Christ thou answer me, speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward, don't tell them to stand still Moses, cancel the order well it's good when you have to cancel your order sometimes isn't it so as you're getting swelled headed that's very good stand still he said and see the salvation of the Lord which will show to you and the Lord said now listen, don't you do that now cancel that alright, you speak to them and you tell them to go forward but lift thou up thy rod and stretch out thy hand over the sea and divide it and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea, hallelujah glory so the next thing that Moses saw that he'd got not only to go he'd got to go forward that's right of course there's no turning back well Moses had never suggested turning back no of course he wasn't stupid anyway he would run straight into the Egyptians if he'd done that there's no sense in that but he said stand still, stand still Moses you go forward, go on that's where the leader is out front get out there Moses take the rod in your hand stretch it out over the sea hallelujah oh well you know the rest of the story there can't be anybody in the room who doesn't know about this wonderful miracle that happened that day but you see Moses had to learn that he'd got to go first in other words God insisted that the leader leads if you don't stand by and say go on go on, go on you're really saying come on, come on come on all you leaders come on that's what you've got to say you speak to them you go forward and then if you're not going on yourself the people turn around to you and say well alright, how can we come if you're not leading the way that's what it's all about that's it, hallelujah that's the way we're going and then would you believe it this under shepherd I don't know what he thought except as I said he was not only an under shepherd but he got understanding from God he saw this tremendous thing verse 19 the angel of God which went before the camp of Israel removed and went behind them and the pillar of cloud went from before their face stood behind them God was that there was no running back alright, you go forward you tell them go forward, I'm going to stand at the back I'll see though, they've got to come Moses, they've got to go this way well, I've lost my lead I've lost my lead where's the cloud gone how many of you have said that simply because you want to disobey what God told you to do I can't see, I've got no lead I can't see anything, the signs have gone God's spoken to you he doesn't expect to speak to you twice you speak that they go forward, you go and put your rod out over the sea Lord, where have you gone what's he saying, I'm behind you Moses I'm with you go on be obedient I'll guarantee this that practically everybody in this room has asked lots and lots of questions of people about what this, what that what the heavenly Lord has already given them a command about it, perhaps a year ago, perhaps a month ago, perhaps ten years ago and they've lost their lead because they won't do what God says go on you speak that they go forward, but don't just speak, lead them put the rod out Amen now those children of Israel knew that rod they knew it it was a rod of authority glory they expected something to happen and it did it's glorious isn't it go go forward go on don't go sideways don't go backwards don't go off at a tangent go forward, it's tremendous isn't it well it was a tremendous salvation, redemption in Egypt salvation at the sea Amen they were saved because of the redemption Amen, but only saved because they obeyed following the redemption Amen redemption instituted salvation but salvation only comes when you obey the laws and truths of redemption Amen say to yourself this every one of you tonight every one of you say and keep saying to the Lord and to yourself I am not my own we won't sing the chorus, it's easy to get into the nice sort of la la la la say it to yourself I am not my own I belong to God I'm bought to God, I'm bought entirely I must do his will I must go his way how many of you got that in your heart, how many of you have, how many of you chapter 15 we were saying it's a wonderful chapter of song because of redemption men and women singing and rejoicing in the salvation of the Lord except this I can't pass it over really I'm only thinking of time but well it's not too late yet is it in the 15th chapter down at the end so verse 22 the Lord brought Israel from the Red Sea no it says it was Moses that did it so Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea and they went out into the wilderness of Shur and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water and when they came to Marah they could not drink of the waters of Marah for they were bitter therefore the name of it was called Marah and the people murmured against Moses saying what shall we drink and he cried unto the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree which when he had cast into the waters the waters were made sweet there he made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he proved them what a glorious thing so in the first days crossing the sea you have to use the rod of authority when they come to the bitter waters God has to show him the tree the sweet sweet tree Amen you need not unsure that I apply this to you I just to mention that of course the tree is the cross in type and the Lord was teaching them and through them I trust the lesson that it's only the cross that can make bitter things sweet only the cross and if you are drinking of bitter bitter waters in your heart that's turning you all bitter and sour that's turning your mind bitter against this and that making your spirit bitter only the cross can change it and make it sweet only the cross have you ever seen the tree Moses had to be shown the tree I tell you what if he'd have been drinking waters even the waters of Israel he would have become a bitter man he couldn't have helped it he would have become bitter bitter, bitter the way they treated him just before they crossed the Red Sea accused him of bringing them out to die in the wilderness making out he was callous and hard and everything he could have got all that bitter not he now listen God had to show him the tree and then strangely enough just verse 27 and they came to Elim where were twelve wells of water and three score and ten ponds and they camped there by the water what a marvellous thing they were led by the cloud God led them there twelve wells I've just said listen if Moses had been drinking of the wells of water that were in the hearts of children of Israel in those twelve tribes he would have been an embittered man but God led them and I expect when they got there look at this twelve wells twelve tribes seventy palm trees what's that Lord well the great truth is twelve strong ones and God was telling them that very soon in the future he was going to choose seventy men among them fruit bearing palm trees strong men of a community that's what he was showing them mind you I guess that seeing it's difficult to divide seventy by twelve and all have a sort of equal amount of living palm trees there might have been a bit of quarrelling about who was going to have the odd one or two knowing the Israelites as they were at that time but he led them where there were twelve wells glory be to the name of the Lord he said look we can all have our own well look we can all have our own shade look isn't it marvellous that's how quickly people forget about their bitterness for a while in the joy of the moment but it's never rooted out of their hearts gives them the right conditions again and the bitterness will come it will all show itself hmm I don't want to stop but I think I better I don't want to bore you or drive you to sleep here is the glorious truth that God is showing us how much this man Moses learned of God I'll tell you one thing if ever God promotes you to any kind of leadership you'll learn a lot about the people you lead don't become bitter and don't be terribly disappointed even though they claim to be redeemed or have been brought through their personal Red Sea well done Moses I'm so glad that you didn't wash your hands of these people in fact you will know how greatly he rose on every occasion because of what God made him and he overcame under all conditions some may weep if we go that way now let's pray shall we Jesus Lord Father Father how wonderful thou art how patient Lord as well as powerful we do come Lord humbly we would oh we would Lord become as gentle as Moses we would oh Lord we who live in a better covenant know the greatness of many of these men who lived in the old Lord we pray thee to bless us all mightily teach our hearts oh Lord that you look upon each one of us each of us as your firstborn how wonderful that is Lord Jesus we would live like that Amen Thank you Lord that in each one of us thou didst destroy the firstborn that we might become thy firstborn Lord we bow before thee the mystery of our redemption is firmly fixed in our hearts thou didst bring us out with a strong hand strong enough to overcome all our weaknesses strong enough to say that's my way this is my will and it's going to be done thank you Lord for this oh soul wean our hearts away from everything else and win them completely unto thyself that we should say I'm going forward even as thou said Hallelujah Amen