Well, turning now to the New Testament and to Hebrews chapter 11. We come in our Consecutive exposition of the book of Hebrews to verse 29. As we continue this great Trapter. all devoted to the subject of faith. We have read descriptions of the faith of Abel and Enoch and Noah.
Of Abraham, of Sarah, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Joseph. of the parents of Moses. Several References to the faith of Moses himself. And then finally, as we come to Hebrews 11, 29, to Moses and the children of Israel together, who exercised faith in God at the time of crisis. and found great deliverance by God through the waters of the Greg Sea.
All of these that I have named displayed God-honoring faith. And in describing their faith, the writer of Hebrews is helping us to understand what true faith is. Because there are many things that are Referred to as faith, that are thought to be faith by people in our world today, that are not actually faith at all. Because faith is in the revelation of God. Faith is believing what God has said.
If God hasn't said it, it doesn't matter how much I believe it, it's still not. Bible faith, in fact. That is presumption. But anything that God has said, I can believe, I ought to believe, I must believe, and if I do believe, I will be blessed. By God, for believing it.
Now, in the first century, no doubt, God the Holy Spirit caused the writer of Hebrews to. pen these words that we've been studying. In order to show up the faith of the Hebrews of that day, that is, Jewish. believers in Christ who were wavering in their faith. And the right of Hebrews says don't Go back.
Don't Renounce your faith. Don't weaken your hold upon Christ to any degree. You must continue on as you have begun. You must believe the revelation about Christ and the new covenant, which God has given. You must not go back to the old covenant, for that would not be faith.
That would be unbelief. But rather progress in the revelation which God has given you, and do not look back. But for all time, From the first century on to the 21st century. This chapter has been teaching people what true faith is. What it looks like, how it behaves, what it secures by the promises of God.
And so today in Hebrews 11:29, we take up this text about Israel in the days of Moses fleeing from Egypt. And we read, By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land. Whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so. We're drowned. We will follow a familiar pattern in our message today.
First of all, spend some time looking at the Old Testament narrative that we read earlier. In Exodus 14. Secondly, examining the New Testament text before us in Hebrews 11, 29. And then finally, considering some points to ponder that come out of this section of God's Word.
So, thinking again about the narrative in Exodus chapter 14. Once again, our study in the New Testament drives us back to the Old Testament. And therefore, in studying the New Testament, we are also studying the Old Testament. In fact, we must understand the Old Testament in order to be able to understand the New Testament.
So let me review what's going on in Exodus 14. I read it earlier. But the chapter opens with God speaking to Moses. A familiar pattern. Why, you say, didn't God just speak to everybody?
And let them all hear the voice of God.
Well, I can't tell you why because the Bible doesn't say, but I can tell you what. God spoke to Moses. and commanded him to communicate what God spoke to him to the people of Israel. They had to believe the word of God as it came to them through a human messenger. For that is the way God spoke to them.
And God spoke to Moses and gave him instructions and told him exactly where the children of Israel were to camp. along the banks of the Red Sea. In this spot, God also told Moses that Pharaoh is going to notice that they are out in the wilderness. They don't really know where they are. They're bewildered.
They're frightened. And I, said God, will harden Pharaoh's heart. And for the Pharaoh will pursue them because he recognizes that they appear to be vulnerable. That's verses 1 through 4. Verses 5 through 9, we find Pharaoh acting.
He changes his mind. Earlier, he said, go. Go, get out of here, go. And they have scarcely gone I don't know how many hours. until he's saying, wait a minute, stop.
Come back! And he sends his armies, he musters his armies. and sends them out to bring the children of Israel. back again. Pharaoh's a good example of temporary Repentance.
that quickly fades away. He repented of his obstinacy and disobedience to the command of God when he said, let them go. And then he repented of his repentance and said, Stop. Come back again. Don't be that way.
Don't repent. of your repentance. Don't Repent, which is a change of mind, a change of heart, a change of direction from sin to God, from error to truth. But then don't turn around and go back again, as Pharaoh did. And so he musters his army and God hardens his heart.
and he pursues Israel. God hardened his heart. That's an interesting study. We find that several times throughout the account of the ten plagues upon Egypt. In fact, some people have studied that carefully.
Now, who hardened whose heart?
Sometimes it says God hardened his heart.
Sometimes it says Pharaoh hardened his heart.
Sometimes it just says his heart was hardened.
So who's responsible for hardening Pharaoh's heart? Very simple. God is? And Pharaoh is. God hardened Pharaoh's heart.
Pharaoh hardened his heart, and Pharaoh's responsible for hardening his heart, but God takes responsibility for hardening Pharaoh's heart as well. Many lessons there. We don't have time for them now.
Well, Pharaoh's going after Israel, and so we're not surprised in verses 10 through 12. to read about Israel's fearful response. to this pursuit by Pharaoh. Israel is afraid, and Israel cries out to God, as indeed she should. But she also complains.
to Moses. Why did you bring us out here? Why did you want us to die in the wilderness? Why didn't you listen to us when we said we don't want to go? Because we knew something like this was going to happen.
And then Moses, in response to that, speaks to the children of Israel the words which God had given to him. Moses speaks divine revelation to them and calms their fears and. engenders their faith. Do not be afraid. Said Moses, Stand still, that is, don't Be anxious, don't be fretting, don't be rushing around in a frenzy.
Don't try to work out your own redemption. Stand still and see the salvation of God. You can't save yourselves, but God can and God will, God has promised to. Stand still and see what God will do. The Word of God, the promise of God.
The revelation of God. And then God speaks again to Moses. He says, tell Israel don't Stay where you are, go forward. But what is ahead of them? The Red Sea.
Go forward. And Moses, stretch out your rod over the sea. And Israel will go through on dry ground. And I don't know how carefully you were listening to my reading of Exodus 14. But if you'll go back and read it again, you'll notice that this phrase on dry ground.
Or something Similar, Appears several times in that chapter. That's a very important part of the event, the narrative. Dry ground. They went through on dry ground. We'll talk more about that in a moment.
Furthermore, God Tells Moses that he will harden Pharaoh's heart, as he's already said before. In order that Egypt will follow and be destroyed, and Egypt will know that I am God. The point of the Ten plagues, well there are several purposes that God had for them clearly. But the point of the ten plagues, as much as anything, was to show Israel that Yahweh. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the only one to be.
True and living God. All the gods of Egypt are nothing. They are a fantasy. God, the creator of the universe, the invisible God, the God who cannot be fashioned by an idol. He is the true God.
They were slow learners, but that was the purpose. Those miracles were designed to show them that. They still haven't got it, even after the tenth miracle, the death of the firstborn. And so now One more object lesson to show them that God above is the true God. The God of Israel is the true God.
And so God promises to protect his people, and he sends a cloud, that Shekinah glory cloud that was leading them into the wilderness and would later lead them all the way through the wilderness. That cloud comes between the camp of Israel, the camp of Moses. On one side, the Israel side, it is light. They have light all night long in order to. Cross.
The Red Sea. The Egyptians are in black darkness all night long. They can't see a thing. And so God keeps them separated in that way. And then Moses obeys God.
He acts according. To the word that God has given him, he stretches out his hand, no doubt holding the rod, over the sea. A strong east wind comes. and divides the sea. Until there's a wall on one side, a wall on the other side, and a path, a dry path.
Through the sea. I read in one Reference book that this path may have been as much as a mile wide because two million people had to cross that sea in the matter of a night. That was, it had to be a pretty good path. It wasn't a footpath, I can tell you that. It was a wide, wide path, and all of it.
Dry Ground. How do you explain that? Only by the working of God. And so Israel goes into the path of the divided sea. No doubt the people were Looking at the wall of water towering above them on this side and looking at the wall of water towering Above them on the other side.
Have any of you ever been to a large dam like Hoover Dam and seen that? Huge. Wall holding that immense body of water in.
Well, this was no doubt. Two walls of water bigger than that, held by an invisible dam. Held by the hand of God. There was no wall to hold that water in place, but there it was. until God said, let it go.
And so Israel goes into the path of the divided sea. And then Egypt decides, well, they did it, we can do it. And so in they go. And of course, then God says to Moses, Stretch your hand over the sea again. And the walls come cascading down, the walls of water.
And the Egyptian army, which must have numbered into the many thousands, Chariots, horsemen, foot soldiers, all of them, everyone, not an exception, not a single one escaped. Every one of them drowned, and their bodies were washed up on the shore where the Israelites could see the evidence of their destruction. Everything happened exactly as God said. God said, I'm going to destroy these people so that you'll never see them again. And indeed, they were drowned, they were killed.
And they would be They would be buried and no one would ever see them again. And so the conclusion is that Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. The conclusion is that Israel saw Egypt's destruction as an impetus to shore up their faith. The conclusion is that Israel believes and fears God. The last verse of Exodus 14, I'll read that.
Except my marker's in Leviticus, so I'll have to Thumb back to Exodus 14. and read the final verse of the chapter. Then Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt.
So that The people feared the Lord. and believe the Lord. and his servant Moses. I've emphasized that for a reason because we need to keep that in mind as we now go. to our text in Hebrews 11.
Twenty-nine. By faith they The Israelites pass through the Red Sea as by dry land, Whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so, were drowned. It appears to me that there are three parts in our text for this morning. Number one, the Red Sea deliverance. Number two, the Red Sea destruction.
And number three, the key to deliverance. The Red Sea deliverance. They passed through the Red Sea as by Dry land.
Now Our Bible calls this the Red Sea. In the last, I don't know how many years, 50, 60 years or more. Biblical scholarship has attested, has asserted, That's not the right name for this sea, that actually it ought to be called the Sea of Reeds. Or one commentary I read said the sea of weeds, similar idea.
So the question is, what is it? Is it in fact the Red Sea, as we have become accustomed to calling it? Or is it, in fact, the Reed Sea? The Hebrew term, Yom Suf, actually, and this you need to know, It actually does literally mean sea of reeds. Those who say that the proper term for this should be the Red Sea are actually accurate.
The Problem is not in the scholarship that has rightfully determined that that is the proper Turn. The problem is with the so-called scholarship that then ignores everything else the Bible says and Applies the wrong deduction from that term because, as you may know, some have gone on to say: see, it was not a miracle, because it was just a shallow. marshy area full of reeds. And the children of Israel just Trapes through ankle-deep water until they got to the other side.
Now we'll be reminded in a moment why that cannot be the case. But I remember reading sometime about an old Country. Preacher. Who had a young member of his congregation who went away to college and got educated? and came back and told him That this was not the Red Sea, this was the Reed Sea, and it was a shallow little.
Pung that the people of Israel trapes through. On their way to the other side. And the preacher said, Well, glory, hallelujah, what a miracle. And the young man said, Well, it really wasn't a miracle. They just waded through shallow water.
He said, Oh, no, not that. I'm just amazed that women and children could go safely through shallow water that God caused the whole Egyptian army of strong men to drowned in. That really isn't a miracle of God. that how that could happen. Yes, indeed, it was.
So it's the problem is not that the name of it is no doubt correctly the sea of reeds. But the problem is misapplying that information and ignoring the rest. of the Bible information. The truth of the matter is that this sea has been known by the name Red Sea for more centuries than anybody can document. If you've looked at a map and and trace the image on the map of the Red Sea, you'll realize That it is a rather large body of water, not like the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, but it's a large body of water.
It starts way down Oh, about a third of the way or more down the coast of Africa. And it's a Narrow Relatively narrow body of water, though actually at its widest point it's more than 200 miles across, but compared again to the oceans that we're accustomed to, a relatively narrow body of water. And up toward the northern part, it breaks into two branches, kind of like the ears of a rabbit, and on the One side you've got the Gulf of Aqaba and on the other side you've got the Gulf of Suez.
Now it's pretty clear that the children of Israel crossed somewhere across the Gulf of Suez. which, though that's the shallower of the two northern branches of the Red Sea, is still deep enough that even today large ocean going vessels go through the Sea of Sinai. Through the Sea of Suez, the Gulf of Suez, through what is now, which wouldn't have been there, of course, before, the Suez Canal. and they escape traveling around the continent of Africa by that means. The Red Sea is a very good thing.
bounded on the east side by Ethiopia. by Niger, by Egypt.
Well by the west side. On the east side by, or down in the southern part, Yemen. And then Saudi Arabia. And then further north. Uh actually getting up close to the land of Israel.
And it has been known all of these years as the Red Sea, and the reason seems to be because at certain times. It will be filled with a bacteria and algae actually actually That gives it a reddish-brown appearance. The rest of the time, the water is nice and blue and crystal. And inviting But there are times periodically when it gets filled up with this algae. and it takes on a reddish-brown appearance.
And so it has been called the Red Sea.
Now, why is it impossible to accept this? Critical An unbelieving speculation that the children of Israel simply waded through shallow water. to get to the other side.
Well, number one, because of the Description in the Bible of these walls of water on either side of them as they went through. That doesn't fit. The critics claim at all. Number two, because it took all night for them to pass. That shouldn't have taken that long if all they had to do was just.
Tiptoe. Through ankle-deep water to get quickly to the other side. But even more obviously, as I have mentioned to you, because the water that they went through was sufficient to destroy the whole Egyptian army, nobody escaped. Not one of them escaped. They all drowned.
And they didn't drown, I promise you, in ankle-deep water. And furthermore, The thing I mentioned earlier now comes to bear. The Bible repeats again and again and again, they went through. Not In marshy ankle-deep water, they went through on what? On dry ground.
on dry land. God caused a path to open up and instantly dried it. And they went through. on dry land. The waters parted, A path was Secured.
They went through the path. on dry ground. And then the walls of water crashed back in and the Egyptian army was destroyed.
Now there's another thing in this short description of their deliverance that we ought to address. which says They passed through the Red Sea as by dry land. Who are The they's. They pass through the Red Sea. on as on dry land.
Ah! Mm. Obviously, Moses would be included in that. But did all of the children of Israel believe God? And some have questioned that because later in the wilderness, so many of them, really, the majority of them, Displayed unbelief in God and even were destroyed in the wilderness because of their unbelief.
So Should we really? Be led to believe that they all believed God? And the answer to that is. Yes, at least at this point they all did. Why?
Because the Bible says so. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea. as on dry land. In other words, The people who passed through the Red Sea Did so by faith. That's what the text says.
They did believe God. at this point. They, therefore, are Moses and all the Israelites. And they passed through on dry ground. as an evidence that God had indeed performed a miracle.
There would could not be dry ground for days or weeks. In love. bed of any body of water if God had not dried it. Instantly.
So we have the Red Sea deliverance, and then in our text we also have the Red Sea destruction because it goes on to say, lest he who destroyed oh no, I'm reading the wrong verse. It says whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. The Israelites were delivered. The Egyptians were destroyed.
And so the same instrument Of Deliverance For Israel The Red Sea and the miracle of parting it. became an instrument of destruction for the Egyptians who attempted to cross as well. Why? Because they did not act in faith. They were acting in Anger.
Presumption? Pride? They presumed If those folks can go through it, we can too. Not necessarily. God told them to go through, and they believed God, and they went through successfully.
But that doesn't apply to you. You are going through in presumption. and in anger and in pride. And therefore are destroyed. You have no divine promise.
And your presumption will result in your destruction. And then the third element of our text is the key to deliverance, namely faith. By faith. They passed through the Red Sea as by Dry land.
Moses obviously believed God implicitly, but so did Israel at this point. In spite of unbelieving Evidence later on. in subsequent history. Nevertheless, at this point, They all believed God. How do we know so?
And think again of our. Definition of faith. Faith is what Believing the revelation of God and acting accordingly.
Now, you can't see a person's heart to see whether they're believing the revelation of God, but you can see the result. of true faith. It manifests itself in Obeying whatever revelation has been given. And in this case, the revelation was. Go through the sea and I will deliver you.
And they all went through. They acted according to the Revelation. They obeyed what God told them to do. Evidently, therefore, they believed the promise of God and they acted according to it. And we see the evidence of that.
Now, we need to understand that when we say faith is believing the revelation of God and acting accordingly. That The actions that follow faith are as different as the the revelation that we're believing. In this case The revelation was Cross the Red Sea. Ooh, I don't know. Is it safe?
Can I make it? Will I get bogged down?
Well the Walls of water. Hold Well, what if they come crashing down when we get in the middle? All kinds of reasons for people to doubt. what God told them to do, but At this point, they all believed the promise of God, even some of them maybe with a little bit of fearful trepidation, but not enough fear to keep them from obeying. And they all went through and they all enjoyed the benefit of their faith in the promise of God.
Sometimes The revelation that God gives. is not so much a physical action as it was on this occasion. As it is, I inward spiritual action. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. What does faith look like?
Faith believes. And acts accordingly. Faith understands that I must trust in Christ and Him alone. If I Continue trusting in my good works. I'm not believing that revelation, am I?
If I'm trying to combine together my works with the grace of God for my salvation, I'm not believing that revelation, am I? The revelation is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ totally and completely. And you will be saved. And the action, therefore, that follows is a complete reliance upon Christ, his righteous life, his sacrificial Atoning death. I believe in that and that alone for my salvation.
That's my response. That's my Activity. It's a spiritual activity, not a physical one. But that's my evidence of believing in the revelation of God.
Now let's see how many Points to ponder we can cover before we close. In this passage, we learn some things, important things, about the nature of faith. We realize that weak faith May Become strong faith. We see that in this very passage. The children of Israel were hemmed up, the Egyptian army on the back.
The Red Sea in front, they were crying out in fear, they were complaining, they were evidencing unbelief in their objections to Moses, and then. Moses Spoke The word that God gave to him. He declared to them the revelatory promise of God, and the Spirit of God applied it to their hearts, and they all believed. Their weak faith In the goodness of God, became strong faith. and they benefited greatly.
from that strong faith. and therefore all of us should pray. That our faith, whatever faith we have, will by the grace of God be strengthened, Like the man in the Bible, Lord, I believe, help. Vowel. Mine unbelief.
I believe, I have some faith, but I don't have as much faith as I should. I have some faith, but it's not as strong as it should be. I have some faith, but it's mixed with some doubt. Lord, I do believe, help thou mine unbelief. Weak faith may, in the goodness of God, become strong faith, but the opposite is also true.
Strong faith. may become weak faith. We see that in the subsequent history of these very people who believed God for a miracle that got them through the Red Sea and then out in the wilderness, they doubted God again and again and again and again and again until finally God said, I'm done with you, I'm going to destroy you. The very ones. who evidenced strong faith at the Red Sea.
Showed deteriorating faith. Over time. and died without faith. Strong faith may become weak faith Pray, oh pray, dear friends. That your faith will not falter or fail.
Keep casting yourself on God. Keep asking Him to strengthen your faith. The nature of faith. Secondly, let's consider something about the imitation of faith.
Some People will Observe and Emulate. The activities of God's believing people. The Egyptians did. The Egyptians observed The Israelites? Going through The sea on dry ground, they said, We can do that too.
But they weren't doing that by believing God, they weren't doing that by faith, they were doing that in their own strength and their own observation, their own logic, their own wisdom. And it didn't turn out well at all. The same thing done by believers and unbelievers may not be the same thing at all. Depends on What's in the heart? whether it is faith that prompts that or not.
In other words, Those who have True saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. a changed heart, a new nature, a new direction given to them by God. are going to do certain things as a consequence of that. They're going to love the saints of God and they're going to desire to be with the people of God. They're going to attend church.
They're going to no doubt get involved in the work of the church in various ways. Why are they doing that? Because they believe. Faith prompts them to do that. The work of the Holy Spirit that has worked faith in their hearts has also worked in them a desire for these things.
Unbelievers can observe that and say, well, I could do that too. I'll go to church. Maybe that'll Make me a Christian, or at least make other people think I am. Oh Sing in the choir, get involved in the church. I can do these things.
But the same thing done by an unbeliever that they watch and copy in the life of a believer is not necessarily done for the same reason and therefore will not be an evidence of faith. It may be an evidence of presumption, of pride, of hypocrisy, like it was. when the Egyptians were destroyed in the Red Sea. And those who attempt to copy the evidences of faith. Without having genuine faith, will certainly be disappointed In the end.
And therefore, unbelievers bring... divine destruction upon themselves by attempting Two. Honor God in some other way than what He has said is the way to honor Him. You don't Honor God by attending church. You attend church because God has done something within you that gives you a desire to want to honor Him.
and so forth it it goes on. And there may be, no doubt, are people here today. Who are here f in the right place, doing the right thing, but for the wrong reason. You've come to church, that's good. You no doubt.
Lifted your voice in praise to God with the rest of the congregation. That's good. You may even have put an offering in the offering plate. That's good. But if you weren't doing that because you have surrendered in faith.
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then it avails you nothing good. It becomes actually the opposite. It becomes a stumbling block. It becomes an act of hypocrisy.
It becomes an act of deceit. You soon begin to think that because you're doing those things, you're all right with God. And you are a Christian, and that's not necessarily so. If you are doing those things because of what God has done in your soul, then that is exactly what honors God. But if you're trying to do these things without fully surrendering to Christ and believing in Him and Him alone for salvation, then your acts of Christianity are acts of hypocrisy, and they will certainly bring destruction in the end.
And to those who may be in that category here today, I say, please, by the grace of God, recognize the truth. Of what is in your heart or what is not in your heart, and repent while you still may. God has been gracious to you. He's brought you to this place. You may be here for the wrong reason, but God brought you here to hear His word.
Now, listen to me. If you don't have true spiritual desires, but rather are attempting to impress other men and women then you are on dangerous ground. Acknowledge that. Repent of that. And give your life.
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't Be an imitator of faith, but call upon God to give you true faith. I thirdly look at a Lesson in the distinctions of faith. And that is this.
Sometimes faith may appropriate temporal promises. And yet, that may not be the same faith that appropriates spiritual promises. What do I mean? The promise to cross the Red Sea was a promise of temporal deliverance. Those who believed it?
Because the promise had been given to them, if you'll. Obey. If you'll cross the Red Sea, I will deliver you. Those who did that were delivered. They received the benefit of the faith they exercised in a temporal promise.
But as subsequent events in the wilderness show, Many of them did not have faith in the promises of God for the salvation of their souls. They benefited from faith in a temporal promise, God honored that They received good results, but that's not the same as saving faith. And I'm talking about the distinctions of faith. Faith may appropriate temporal promises. God will honor that when you believe and obey anything that He has revealed.
But It's more than believing in temporal matters. What do I mean? Illustration. There's some people who know what the Bible says about God's requirement for sexual purity.
Well, that's a tough one in the day in which we live. We are just surrounded. Bye. Enticements and pressures to ignore that. but sometimes even an unbeliever.
Will say, I am going to obey the word of God. I am not going to commit fornication. I am not going to commit adultery. I am going to live a chaste life. And those who do God honors that Decision and that proper obedience, that proper belief in His Word and obedience to His Word, and they will have they'll be spared the consequences that come to those who ignore.
God's commands. And Suffer all kinds of consequences, which may be An inability to have a successful marriage. It may be. A Sexually transmitted disease, it may be all kinds of consequences that will come because you disobeyed the Word of God. Those who obey the Word of God in this temporal area will benefit.
It may be What else? It may be honesty. The Bible commends honesty. A lot of people understand that. Honesty is the best policy.
The Bible says so. And it does. It doesn't put it in those words, but it does. It's amazing how much what people think the Bible says, and sometimes they're right, and sometimes they're wrong. I remember years ago when I was in school, I was On one occasion, out knocking on doors for my church and talking to people about the Lord.
One man said to me, like the Bible says, every tub shall stand on its own bottom. I said, what? Where does the Bible say that? The Bible says, every tub shall stand on its own bottom. What he meant was.
I'll be concerned about me. You be concerned about you. Don't meddle in my affairs. I must stand on my own standing before the Lord. The Bible says every tub must stand on its own bottom.
Well, the Bible doesn't say that, does it? But the Bible does say that we should Not steal. We should deal honestly.
Now, you don't have to be a believer to recognize the benefit of that. Honesty is the best policy. And we all know people who, though they're not born-again believers, do conduct themselves in an honest way in regard to finances. They pay their bills. Pay their employees a proper wage.
They run their lives in a God-honoring way financially. It doesn't mean they're going to heaven necessarily, but it does mean they're believing something from the Word of God. And God believes. We'll honor that, and on it goes. Here's the point.
You can believe these kinds of promises in God's Word, and yet. fail to go to heaven. Why? Because good people don't go to heaven. Redeemed sinners go to heaven.
Cleansed sinners go to heaven. And one of the Pitfalls of that kind of response to God's word is to say, well, I've lived a pure life. I have lived an honest life. I've been kind to others. I have been a good neighbor.
Therefore, I'm going to heaven. No. Good people don't go to heaven. Repentant sinners who know that they are sinners and must be cleansed of their. vile wickedness.
and cast themselves upon the Lord Jesus Christ. in repentance for cleansing. They go to heaven. Heaven's not filled with good people who are there because they lived good lives. Heaven is filled with people who.
Recognize their sinfulness and cast themselves upon the mercy of God and recognize that I am a debtor to mercy alone. I haven't done one good thing to earn one day of eternal life. But God has promised that to those who trust in Jesus, and though I am a vile sinner, I'm trusting in Him. Those are the people who go to heaven. And there are other lessons from this passage, but we will save them for another time, shall we pray?
Father, teach us thy ways. and show us Thy paths we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen.
