Where Are Your Sins?

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises Leave a comment

And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD… And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. – Exodus 14:10,13

We read that Israel lifted up their eyes and saw the Egyptians, and then they began to tremble, and cry out: and so God drew the blinds down that His poor children could not see their frightful taskmasters. It is a great mercy when God does not let us see everything. What the eye does not see, perhaps the heart will not rue. May I ask you just to try and use your eyes a little now? There are your sins; will you look back on them for a minute? Look steadily. They are quite as dreadful as the Egyptian horsemen and chariots. I have looked intently, and I cannot see a sin remaining. “What, have you lived such a life that you have never sinned?” Ah, no, beloved, I have to mourn over many offenses, but I cannot see one of them now, for my sin is covered. I believe this text, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” If I am cleansed, why should I see spots, or speak as if I did? The Lord stands between His people and their sins. Jesus, who veiled His glory in the cloud of our humanity, interposes between us and our transgressions. Is it not written, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I reserve”? If God declares that our sins cannot be found, then I am sure we need not look for them; and if He says that Christ has made an end of sin, then there is an end of it. The Egyptians shall not come near us all the night of this life; and when the morning breaketh, we shall see them dead upon the shore. Then shall we sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously, and our transgressions and iniquities hath He cast into the depths of the sea. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1793.cfm

“Thou God seest me.”

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God 1 Comment

…and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground… – Exodus 14:21,22

Who shall say that God was not in the van of Israel when they went down into the sea? They could not see the ensign of His presence, but He could see their obedience to His bidding. How else did the sea in fright draw back? Was it not because the Lord rebuked the sea? The strong east wind did not of itself divide the sea; for a wind naturally strong enough for that would have blown all the people into the air. The wind was used of God to move the waters, but its chief object was to dry up the damp from the floor of the sea, and to make marching the more easy for the vast host of Israel. Truly the Lord was there, triumphing gloriously. No cloudy pillar was seen across the waters as Israel looked forward to the shore; but yet the Lord was there majestically; and you may have but little comfort of the Lord’s presence at this time, and yet God may be with you wondrously. Do not so much set your heart upon comfort but rejoice in the fact which gladdened Hagar in the wilderness: “Thou God seest me.” It does not matter to the fire whether the logs are cast upon it from the front, or the oil poured upon it secretly from behind the wall, so long as it finds its fuel. To you the daily supply of grace is more important than the supply of comfort, and this shall never fail you so long as you live.

Tried child of God, you have to bear your trouble, and when that is quite clear your way is no longer doubtful. Cast all your care on Him who careth for you, and in patience possess your soul. “Oh, but I thought I was going to find a way of escape made for me. “Listen!” God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” You have to bear it, you see. Your great want for this present is faith in God, who has said-“I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring My people again from the depths of the sea.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1793.cfm

Obey God’s Word as God’s Word

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, Sovereignty of God Leave a comment

…speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward…- Exodus 14:15

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.” That word was sufficient guide. Suppose they had said, “Lord, we will go forward if the fiery pillar leads us forward, but not else.” What then? Why, they would have been rebels. We are to obey God’s Word as God’s Word. I heard a brother say some time ago that he should be baptized when it was laid home to him. I thought of what a father would say to his boy if he said, “Father, I shall obey you if it is laid home to me.” In all probability the child would have it laid home to him more feelingly than he desired. There are some disobedient children in the Lord’s family who, if they do not mind, will have scriptures laid home to them in a way they do not quite reckon upon. What have you and I to guide us but the word of the Lord? “Well,” says one, “I guide myself by outward providences.” Do you? You will get into a terrible maze one of these days. Jonah wanted to flee from the presence of the Lord, and therefore he went down to the seaside, and lo, he found a ship going to Tarshish. Might he not have said, “I must be in the way of duty in going to Tarshish, for no sooner did I go down to the wharf than I found a ship starting immediately, and a cabin vacant for a passenger. I paid my fare and walked on board at once. I had not to go off to the shipping-agent’s, and wait for the next liner, but all was prepared for me. Was not that a providence!” Yes, but if you get following providence, and turning aside from the Word, you may soon find yourself in the sea, and no whale prepared for you. Our way is clearly set before us in the Word of God, and that most sure word of testimony should be followed…True believers expect difficulties. It is ours to do what we are bidden to do, not to act according to fancied indications of providence. When the Lord said “Forward!” forward Israel must go, without a fiery cloudy pillar to cheer the way. Has not the Lord spoken? Who shall ask for plainer guidance? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1793.cfm

God the Wonder-Worker 

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You who are King of kings and Lord of lords, we worship You. Before Jehovah’s awful throne we bow with sacred joy.

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God Never Spoils His Children

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, The Holy Spirit Leave a comment

And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them… – Exodus 14:19

So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground…And it came to pass, in the morning watch, the LORD looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. – Exodus 14:22,24

Faith performs her greatest feats in the darkest places. These Israelites were to do what after all was a grandly glorious thing for them to do, -to march right down into the heart of the sea. What people ever did this before? Modern haters of miracles may say that they passed over the sands at an unusual tide, and that an extraordinarily strong wind drove back the water and left a passage, but that is not the notion of the Holy Spirit. He says by His servant Moses, “The floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.” It is also written, “But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.” The tribes went down into the dread valley which remained when the waters dried up, and they crossed over between two frowning walls of water. You and I would have needed great faith to have gone down into such an abyss as that, but they descended without fear. Moses lifting up his rod and the waters rolling apart to make them a passageway, with no fiery cloudy pillar in front of them, they calmly marched into the heart of the sea. That was a grand act of faith. This would not have been so clearly of faith had the way been made easier by miracle and token. I know some of you who are Christian people want to be always coddled and cuddled, like weakly babies…and be wheeled in a spiritual perambulator all the way to heaven, but your heavenly Father is not going to do anything of the sort. He will be with you, but He will try your manhood and so develop it. God never spoils His children… Beloved, you and I lose the enjoyments of religion and the comforts of hope in order that we may walk by faith and not by sight and may the more greatly glorify God. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1793.cfm

Look Back!

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises Leave a comment

And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. – Exodus 14:19

Earnestly I desire you to think of this. If you cannot see the Lord bright before you, and you are very dull and heavy, then, I pray you, look back and see how the Lord has helped you hitherto. Sit not down with your eyes shut but look back! Steadily observe the past! What see you there? Loving-kindness and tender mercy, and nothing else. As I look back upon my own past life-and I think I am not one by myself-I cannot discover, even with the quick eye of selfishness, anything of which I can complain of my God. “Truly God is good to Israel.” “His mercy endureth for ever.” Not one good thing hath failed; He has never left me, nor forsaken me. I have received blessings through my joys, and even greater blessings through my sorrows. The Lord’s way has been all goodness, undiluted goodness, all the while. I look back and see the light of His presence shining like the sun at noon; it is as a morning without clouds, I am overwhelmed with the boundless bounty of my God. I am unable to conceive of anything more kind than the heart of God towards His unworthy child. Well, then, God is not far away, if we look backward, He is there. He has been mindful of us; He will bless us. He gave us mercies yesterday; and He is the same today and for ever. The blessings of last night we have not forgotten; the blessings of this morning, are they not still with us? The fountain will not fail: it has flowed too long for us to raise the question. If there be no light breaking in the east, behold, it is lighting up the western sky. The Lord is evidently still behind us, and it is enough; for we can sing, “The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.” “He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1793.cfm

Thy Rock, Thy Safeguard, Thy Watcher

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises Leave a comment

And the Angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them… – Exodus 14:19

…the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. – Isaiah 58:8

The Angel of the Lord had removed, but it is added, He “removed and went behind them,” and He was just as close to them when He was in the rear, as when He led the van. He might not seem to be their guide, but He had all the more evidently become their guard. He might not for the moment be their Sun before, but then He had become their Shield behind. “The glory of the Lord was their reward.” The Lord may be very close to thee, dear child, when thou canst not see Him, perhaps closer than ever He was when thou couldst see Him. The presence of God is not to be measured by thy realization of it. When thou canst not tell that He is with thee at all, and thou art sighing and crying after Him, those very sighs and cries after Him are the holy fruit of His secret presence. It may be, the day shall come when thou shalt think that He was more near thee when thine eyes were filled with weeping after Him, than when thou didst take thine ease, and speak confidently.

That glorious Angel, shrouded in the clouds, stood with His drawn sword in the rear of Israel, saying to Pharaoh, “Thou darest not come further, thou canst not break in upon My chosen.” He lifted up His vast shield of darkness, and held it up before the tyrant king, so that he could not strike, nay, could not see. All that night his horses champed their bits but could not pursue the flying host. “They were as still as a stone till Thy people passed over, O Lord, till Thy people passed over whom Thou hadst purchased.” It is glorious to think that the Lord stood there, and the furious enemy was compelled to halt. Even thus the Lord remaineth with the dear child of God. Thou canst not see anything before thee to make thee glad, but the living God stands behind thee to ward off the adversary. He cannot forsake thee… He standeth fast as thy rock, steadfast as thy safeguard, sleepless as thy watcher, valiant as thy champion. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1793.cfm