R305 Experiencing God By Claiming The Victory Through Faith

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and a message on Claiming the Victory. In just a moment, we'll be opening God's Word to Exodus Chapter 12 with Dr. Don Wilton, but he wants you to know we're here to pray with you as well at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. Let's connect today. And now, the great teaching of Dr. Don Wilton. Would you take a copy of God's Word and turn with me in the Old Testament to the book of Exodus, the book of Exodus and Chapter 12. Our subject this morning, Experiencing God by Claiming the Victory through Faith.

We're going to read a marvelous account this morning of how a group of people experienced God by claiming the victory through faith. Exodus Chapter 12 and I'm going to begin reading at verse 29. At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, Up, leave my people, you the Israelites, go, worship the Lord as you have requested, take your flocks and your herds as you have said and go, and also bless me.

The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country, for otherwise they said, We will all die. So the people took their dough before the yeast was added and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for, so they plundered the Egyptians. The Israelites journeyed from Ramses to Succoth. There were about 600,000 men on foot beside women and children.

Historians tell us it was about two and a half million people all together. Many other people went up with them, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. With the dough they had brought from Egypt, they baked the cakes of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves. Let's go to chapter 13 and verse 17, Exodus chapter 13 and verse 17. When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, even though it was shorter. For God said, If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt. So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.

After leaving Sucketh, they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. By the day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. Exodus chapter 14 and verse 5. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, What in the world have we done?

We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services. So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took 600 of the best chariots along with all the other chariots of Egypt with the officers over all of them. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites who were marching out boldly. The Egyptians, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops, pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi-Hiroth, opposite Baal-Zephon. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians marching after them.

They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians.

It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert. Moses answered the people, Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you.

You need only to be still. Then the Lord said to Moses, Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army.

Through his chariots and his horsemen, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen. Then the angel of God who had been traveling in front of Israel's army withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them. Coming between the armies of Egypt and of Israel, throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side.

So neither went near the other all night long. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and a wall of water on their left. The Egyptians pursued them and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea during the last watch of the night. The Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.

He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, let us get away from the Israelites. The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt. Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and their horsemen. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and the horsemen and the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea.

Not one of them survived. But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses, his servant. May the Lord write his word upon our hearts this morning, experiencing God by claiming the victory through faith.

What an incredible drama. Can you just imagine what it must have been like to have been part of that group of people who experienced God by claiming the victory through faith? You see, friend, this narrative in God's word not only tells us about the background of victory and faith, but it gives to us the actual record of the deliverance of a people who claimed victory through faith and consequently experienced God. If you believe that God delivered them, will you all nod your head like that? We all believe that.

We believe it because the Bible says it, that settles it. When we look back at what happened to the children of Israel, it is, if you please, easy for those of us who are believers to believe what happened to the children of Israel back then. May I submit to you today that it doesn't take faith for us to believe what has been translated into sight. You see, what happened to the Israelites back in the Old Testament has now been translated into sight.

And it's easy for us in 1995 to look back and to stand in awe of the presence of God and to believe what God has done. But the Bible says, my friends, without faith it is impossible to please God. You see, these people have to exercise faith. They have to believe that what God said he would do, God would do. You see, they have to come to the point that they were willing to experience God by claiming the victory through faith.

This is the dramatic encounter of two groups. First of all, there is the faith of Moses. I don't think we could ever underestimate the importance of spiritual leadership. Moses had to have an extraordinary faith in order to experience God, don't you think? I'm going to say to you, beloved friends, that the first order of business that any of God's people have to come to grips with, it is that we as spiritual leaders have to examine our own quality of faith.

Please forgive the interruption. That concept of self evaluation is something that we all can grow from. We all can get better in our Christian life. You know, Dr. Wilton had a remarkable relationship with a remarkable individual, Dr. Billy Graham. He spent Saturdays with Billy for 25 years, and there's a wonderful new book all about what he learned in that time of examining his faith. Discover the beautiful 25-year friendship between Billy Graham and his friend and pastor, Don Wilton, in the brand new book, Saturdays with Billy by Don Wilton. This handsome gift book, complete with color photos, quotes by Billy Graham, and more than 20 heartwarming stories. Of times Dr. Wilton spent with his friend and mentor, Billy Graham, almost every Saturday. Just as Billy Graham's words changed Don Wilton's life, they can change our lives today. This book will inspire you on your own spiritual journey.

Call us today at 866-899-WORD to request Saturdays with Billy book for a gift of $20. Thank you for your prayers and continued support of The Encouraging Word as we continue to share God's truth with a searching world. Again, I hope you'll get that resource, a wonderful book, but there's more to discover on our website at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's teaching with Dr. Don. But then this is not just the account of a group of spiritual leaders, this is an account of a vast group of people who follow their spiritual leaders. Can you imagine the consternation on their hearts?

The Bible tells us about it. Can you imagine what they must have gone through listening to Moses? Can you imagine what it must have taken for two and a half million people to find themselves confronted by the enormity and the extent of the Red Sea with the enemy marching up behind them? Perhaps what they didn't understand at this juncture, my friend, is that man's extremity represents God's opportunity. There is so much to be learned from the life of the children of Israel in our own personal lives as they're not. Both individually as believers, corporately as the body of Christ. Let us examine this somewhat a little closer and try to understand some of the principles from God's Word. Number one, number one, I believe we need to understand that a victorious faith is greater than any fear.

A victorious faith is greater than any fear. Look with me in your Bibles to chapter 14, chapter 14 and verse 13 and 14, listen to what the Bible says. The Bible says that Moses answered the people and he said to them, do not be afraid. Now, why did he say that? Well, the reason is right there in verse 10. Go back to verse 10.

I can understand this. The Word of God says, as Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians marching after them. They were terrified. I'd be terrified too. You see, somewhere it has crept into the Christian society that when a Christian loses a loved one, no one's meant to cry about it. Of course, it's okay to cry as a Christian and to be bereaved.

Of course it is. That doesn't minimize our faith. Somewhere in Christian society and circumstances, it has crept in that when situations present themselves to us that we cannot be terrified and we cannot be afraid. The Bible says, my friends, that these people were terrified.

They were scared to death. Can you imagine the committee meetings that were being held? I could just see them calling every committee you could ever, the travel and arrangements committee, the food committee, calling the transportation committee. I mean, they must have called it. They must have called the chairman of deacons. They must have got everybody together and said, listen, this is absolute nonsense. Here we are, our leaders have said, let's get up and go.

We got up and went and look what's happening. We're gonna die right here. At least back there in Egypt, the way things were, the status quo, we might have got beaten and whipped. We might have been servants, but I would much rather be beaten to death building a pyramid than I would to starve and to be stabbed to death in the heat of the desert. I did a little homework and I discovered that there are 366 fear nots in the Scripture.

One for every day of the year plus I believe God added one for the leap year just in case anybody lost out. There are 366 fear nots in the Bible. What is God trying to say to us? God is trying to say to us perhaps what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said many years ago that the greatest fear is fear itself.

In a spiritual sense, what God is saying is that if you want to experience God, you need to claim victory through faith and a victorious faith is far greater than any of our fears. What are you fearing? What are you afraid of? What is perplexing you? What is confronting you?

What is the Red Sea of your life? Your children, your teenagers, your finances? As I minister in our community, I find people who have every justifiable reason to be afraid. They are afraid of their diagnosis. They are afraid of death. They are afraid of what their children are doing. They are afraid of rejection.

They are afraid of loneliness. They are afraid of everything that confronts us as human beings. But the Bible says, my friend, that a victorious faith is greater than any fear that we might have. Note, secondly, that a victorious faith stands still and trusts God. A victorious faith stands still and trusts God. Look at verse 13 again of chapter 14. The Bible says, Moses, answer the people, do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.

Verse 14, the Lord will fight you. You need only to be still. Now, I know that some people have said of me that I've got ants in my pants. That means that I never seem to stand still. I mean, we're an active people, aren't we? We're always on the move, always looking for something, always on the go.

It's up on this way, down that way. We need to do something out there. I mean to stand and never do something. And the greatest and easiest thing for us to do sometime is to stand up and to fight and to want to get into action prematurely. And God's Word says, sometimes you need to just stand still. As I've heard said many times before, sometimes I sits and thinks and other times I just sits.

It's actually very nice to sometimes just sits, isn't it? You know, the Bible says that our confidence in God ought to be of such a nature that we understand that God is in control. And when we take off from the mark, pressing toward the goal that God has set before us, we must be prepared to experience a victorious faith by simply standing still. You know why? Because God is the long range planner.

Sometimes we get so concerned about the future. I can just imagine with the children of Israel that they came up to the mighty Red Sea. I wonder what committee they called up.

I bet you it was the transportation committee. They said, call in the engineers. I think what we can do, we believe that God has sent a cloud there and he's obscuring the Egyptians from coming to us, preventing them from gaining access. We believe God can do anything he wants.

God's going to hold them up for a year. We're going to build a bridge. Oh, that's logical, isn't it? It's rational.

As someone said to me, the definition of to rationalize is to tell a rational lie. You see, for them, maybe the easiest way out was to call up the Army Corp of Engineers and to build a bridge, maybe a flotilla, maybe to call up the troops from Dunkirk and to rescue them from the stranded beaches and to deliver them onto the other side safely. But God's Word says that God reached down from heaven and he said, stand still, stand still and see what I am able to do. But I think we must note in the third place that a victorious faith is ready to go into action. A victorious faith is ready to go into action, not a contradiction in terms. You see, if you go on to verse 15 of chapter 14, have a look at what happens in this mighty dramatic saga which begins to unfold. God has just told them to stand still.

That was his initial instruction. Then God revealed the fact that he, the Lord, would fight for them, having established that, having settled that, having understood that they understood that. Then the Lord said to Moses in verse 15, why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. One minute they were sitting still, the next minute they were like Jack in the Boxes.

They were up and out and on their way. You see, God has a perfect order for his people and God told the Israelites that they needed to get into action. Maybe he might have said, ladies and gentlemen, Israelites, you don't need a deacons meeting for this one. Cancel that committee meeting.

You don't need your leaders to say anything. You're experiencing me. I have demonstrated myself to you. What you need to do is accept what I have already said and you need to march forward and you need to step out in victory because a victorious faith is one that is ready to go into action. But note in the fourth place, a victorious faith is one that does the impossible. You see, in verse 21 of chapter 14, as we read just a moment ago, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land.

The waters were divided. Was that impossible or what? Impossible. Even with a fractured marriage, even when we hit rock bottom, even when nothing else seems to make sense, even when our world begins to fall apart, victorious faith is faith that does the impossible.

It does the impossible. God is upon his throne. The Bible says without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God. We can draw lines in the sand. We can place parameters over our activity. We can make mandates and requisitions and requirements. We can send in postal orders and we can get involved in everything you've ever imagined.

We can even try and use express mail to hurry up our agenda. But when it comes to God, the Bible teaches us, my friend, that a victorious faith is a faith that does the impossible. If there's one thing that this pastor has learned from experiencing God every Sunday night at six o'clock in the century, my friend, it is simply this, that if I can work out everything in my future, chances are God is just not involved. You see, as Christian people, we want to peep behind the proverbial curtain of time, don't we?

We want to just move it back and say we want to make sure all our ducks are in a row. And God says, number one, I've got no ducks in the Bible. And number two, without faith, it's impossible for you to please me. So I'm not going to allow you to peep beyond the curtain of time. I'm not going to allow you to draw lines in the sand. And if you draw lines in the sand, you are going to be limited because without faith, it is impossible for you to ever please me. It is impossible.

It's impossible. But then we need to note in the final instance that a victorious faith endures to the end. I love verse 22. The Bible says, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and a wall of water on their left. I can only just imagine how many of them must have thought how many thoughts in the middle of that little experience. I tell you enough to put the fear of the Lord into anybody, wouldn't it?

Can you imagine the fear that must have gripped their hearts and their souls as they walked, holding hands together and singing praises to God, as they marched through with thunderous walls of water on each side of them and looking back and seeing God's leader with his hand outstretched in obedience to the commandment of Almighty God. The Word of God says a victorious faith is a faith that endures to the end. What powerful teaching from Dr. Wilton today and that faith that lasts always has one thing in common. It has a beginning, a starting place.

Perhaps today is your starting place. Would you open your heart to what Dr. Don Wilton wants to share with us before we get away? Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you just gave your life to Christ or rededicated your life, we have wonderful resources for you absolutely free at 866-899-WORD. Jot the number down. Store it in your cell. We're here for you. 866-899-9673. Dr. Wilton wants you to have these resources. Until next time, have a blessed day.