Gospel Meeting 21/05/2017

Exodus Chapter 14.

By the end of their 430 years in Egypt, the children of Israel in slavery to Pharaoh totalled around 2 million.

God saw and heard the cries of His people under the Egyptian taskmaster.

Pharaoh was the most powerful man at that time, but God was to show him who was in control.

The Lord had hardened Pharaoh’s heart to pursue and bring back the Israelites into captivity.

The Red Sea is around 150 metres at its deepest, and you can not see from one side of it to the other.

Moses stilled the fears of the people who were so afraid that Pharaoh’s army would recapture and kill them -

 vs13) “Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever”.

Moses, in faith, and as instructed by God, lifted his rod and stretched his hand over the sea… the sea parted to give the children of Israel a safe pathway from the ensuing Egyptians.

With man it is not possible – with God all things are possible!

Not only did the Lord God open a pathway for them through the sea, but it was also dry ground!

Would you have been scared to go through that opened pathway?

God was in complete control – He jammed the wheels of their chariots, slowing them down, and after all the Israelites were safely through onto the other side, Moses again stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its place. All of Pharaoh’s army were caught in the sea and every single one of them died.

All their enemies were gone… “ye shall see them again no more for ever”.

vs31) “And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians; and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord…”.

The speaker is telling us these things tonight because God does not change – He still hears our cries and sees that we have a problem… we are separated from God because of our sins and iniquities.

We can all say “I am a sinner”, “I was born a sinner”, I was conceived in sin”.

“For all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God” – Romans ch3 vs23.

“…there is none that doeth good, no, not one” – Romans ch3 vs12.

We all have a big problem that we can't sort ourselves. We can’t sort out our sin problem by good works or anything else.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”. – Ephesians ch2 vs8.

We are separated because God is holy and will not have sin in His presence.

We can’t help ourselves! But God again has made the pathway for us.

When The Lord Jesus Christ said to a man in Capernaum “thy sins be forgiven thee”, the scribes asked “who can forgive sins but God only”… Jesus Christ IS God, and He is fully able to forgive all our sins.

We are reminded of vs13) “…stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today..”.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life” John’s Gospel ch3 vs16.

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” – Romans ch5 vs6-8.

As with the Red Sea, and our sins, God did something about it to end the separation –

“…that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” -

 Luke’s Gospel ch1 vs35.

Jesus Christ had no sin in Him at all. He had a perfect sinless life

At 33 years of age, He went to the Cross to be crucified and pay the price of our sins in His own sinless body.

“Lifted up was He to die,

“it is finished” was His cry;

Now in Heaven exalted high,

Hallelujah, what a Saviour!” – verse from hymn by Philip Bliss.

The Lord Jesus Christ suffered immensely paying for our sins –  so badly beaten that He was unrecognisable as a human being.

During the 3 hours of darkness that covered the earth between the 6^th and 9^th hour, God’s wrath was poured out upon His lovely Son, who took all our sins on Himself.

In love, Jesus Christ paid the punishment for our sins, so that we could go free.

When He shouted on the Cross in victory “It is finished”, our debt was paid in full.

We all need to personally decide for ourselves what we will do about Jesus Christ’s offer of Salvation.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”- Romans ch10 vs9.

The children of Israel saw the safe pathway through the Red Sea, but still had to have the faith to walk through it. We too, with repentance for our sins, need to have faith in The Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning work of Salvation on the Cross, accepting Him personally as our Lord and Saviour.

He died in YOUR place,for YOU, personally. Just as the Apostle Paul said “…the Son of God, who loved ME, and gave himself for ME”. – Galatians ch2 vs20.

Jesus Christ is now raised, ascended into heaven, where He intercedes for all those who have put their faith and trust in Him.

With Moses, the Red Sea was the way of salvation for the children of Israel, but the Red Sea also became the way of judgement for Egypt….so it is with the Cross of Christ – it is the way of Salvation by His blood to all who will receive Him, but also the place of judgement for any who would reject His offer of forgiveness.

Have YOU trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour? Do YOU have a permanent home in Heaven, to forever be with Him?

Trust Him before it is too late.

The speaker then concluded by giving an update on his work within HM Prisons.