RESPONDING TO THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD.
PURSUIT OF GOD LEADS TO PERSONAL EXAMINATION
March 7, 2016BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS
March 14, 2016GCC Message
6th March 2016
Last week we talked about the fact that when we seek God we find him and when we encounter him he reveals himself to us. In Isaiah we found that God revealed himself to him as a holy God.
This week we look at how God revealed himself in his Greatness to the children of Israel as they crossed the Red Sea.
THE BIG MIRACLES
Exodus 14: 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.[1]
Exodus 14: 26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. [2]
THE RESPONSE OF PEOPLE
Exodus 15 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lordis my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lordis a man of war;
the Lord is his name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.
13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;
you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
14 The peoples have heard; they tremble;
pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
trembling seizes the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16 Terror and dread fall upon them;
because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone,
till your people, O Lord, pass by,
till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
I. AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD REVEALS HIS CHARACTER.
1. HE CAN FIGHT FOR AND DEFEND HIS PEOPLE
3 The Lord is a man of war;
the Lord is his name.
2. HE IS A GOD OF GREAT POWER AND STRENGTH
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
3. HE IS GREAT AND MAJESTIC
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
HE IS A GOD OF ACTION, NOT PASSIVE
4. He has power of Nature and he can use nature to bring about His will.
Verse 8-10, 12
5. There is no god like our God.
11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
He is incomparable. Un-marched
He is a God of wonders, he thrives on the miraculous.
II. WHY DOES HE DO WHAT HE DOES?
1. To protect his people.
2. To demonstrate his love for his people. 13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
3. He wanted to prepare the children of Israel for the great adventure with him that was just beginning but it was going to take 40 years.
4. He wanted to melt the hearts of the enemies to know that God’s people had a God who was moving with into the promised land.
HOW DO WE RESPOND TO GOD WHEN HE REVEALS HIMSELF TO US?
1. Praise and Worship
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
You cannot help but fall down in worship and ewe when you realize who God is.
That worship is a reaction that proclaims who God is. Remember the Isaiah 6. The creatures on the throne cannot stop worshipping and declaring.
· Praise takes away our pride and our thinking that it is all about us.
· It shows it is all about God.
· It must be daily and constant, it must not depend on what you feel that day but what you know about him.
Exodus 14:
30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. [4]
2. HOLDING GOD IN THE HIGHEST HONOR
“The people feared God.”
Holy Fear, Great respect, never took God for granted any more.
· It is an attitude that we need everyday.
· It is an action that you daily do as you live and walk.
· You intentionally desist from using God’s name in vain.
· You respect things that connect with God.
· You desist from associate with people who do not honor God.
· You honor and give glory to God for your achievements.
3. FAITH AND TRUST IN GOD.
When you get an encounter with who God is, it changes the way you look at him.
· Your trust increases.
· You faith goes up high and your fear of failure reduces drastically.
· You begin to look at the devil with different eyes because you know your God.
· Your prayer language changes.
· Your actions in daily life also change.
You do all that it takes to educate yourself about God that your faith may increase. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
4. You begin to trust the servants that God uses.
They believed in Moses.
The Israelites had to learn to trust Moses as the leader God had placed before them.
In the kingdom of God, submission is key to tap into his promises and God has decided to use our spiritual leaders, our parents, our husbands, our leaders at work.
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Ex 14:21–22). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Ex 14:26–27). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Ex 15:1–22). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Ex 14:29–31). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
