I would ask you to open your Bibles this morning, please, to the book of Hebrews and the 11th chapter. Hebrews chapter 11, as we continue to work our way through this portion of God's Word. In our recent studies, we've been looking at the very exemplary faith of Moses, how he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He gave up all that Egypt had to offer, and that especially to be with or even to be one of God's people, even though it would mean reproach and affliction. No, he saw this is well worth it. As he saw the bigger picture by faith, he looked to the reward. And then we saw verse 27, he left Egypt doing all that we see recorded in Exodus 5 through 14, his going repeatedly to Pharaoh and so forth, and not fearing, we're told, the wrath of the king as he went before. Pharaoh again and again. You've got these commands, let the people go. You've got rebukes. You've got these threats, the foretelling of these plagues that were to come. Well, he met with resistance. He met, surely, with his own personal discomfort of keep going before Pharaoh. And there was also, we saw, some perplexity going on. How can this be? What's going on? And yet, he kept on because God was very real to him. Or as the writer of Hebrews puts it, he endured as seeing Him who is invisible, God very real, very present, and therefore he needn't fear the wrath of the king. Well, the idea of faith seeing the unseen, of God being very real to us, that's how faith works, right? Knowing the true and living God as our reality. Well, then we saw last time his faith was also on display in keeping and even in instituting the Passover, going in before Pharaoh and telling him there'll be the death of all the firstborn in Egypt. Then going to the children of Israel and saying to them, but look, here's a way of safety. We take the blood, we put it on the doorposts, on the lentils, we eat, there's got to be this, everything is done just a certain way, this particular kind of lamb and so forth and all of that. Well, he really believed that judgment was going to come, that plague would come, the death of the firstborn. He really believed that, to go before Pharaoh, and then also he really believed, but here is safety, all of those behind the blood, well, here, do this. And therefore, he spoke this to them. And we saw that he thought in terms not only of that immediate deliverance, But rather, even as we see in Exodus 12, God at that time gave instruction, not just for what to do that night, that first Passover, but for many generations to come, that they were to observe this year by year by year, the Passover Feast. Well, also what's in view here is Moses taught them that. In other words, he looked beyond the present. He looked all the way into the future. He saw not simply that they will be delivered that night from the death angel. They'll be not only taken out of Egypt and landed safely eventually in that land of promise, but rather he sees all of God's purpose is going to stand. All of it will be fulfilled. Therefore, he's giving this, instituting this Passover that speaks of that which is to come. 1214 of Exodus, remember, God had said, for generations on to come, this is what you are to do. Well, Moses... He believed that. And it teaches us, of course, that we're to think in terms of not just immediate, but rather long haul into the future, being certain that God's purpose will stand. You know, in telling about the Passover, we understand it was a type of Christ. It pointed ahead to that great purpose of God in dealing with that Old Testament people to bring the Messiah into the world to save sinners like us. the Passover. Did Moses understand that type? You wonder. Jesus said he wrote of me. Well did he really grasp that? I don't know. When we see Moses we can ask him about it. But in the meantime at least this is what he did as by faith he gave this instruction and saw beyond the present on into the future. Well we now come to verse 29 and we see Moses' faith in exercise certainly in connection with another type, another pre-picture given in the Old Testament. Notice verse 29 of Hebrews 11. By faith they pass through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. Now perhaps you're familiar with 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and it makes reference to this very matter of passing through the Red Sea and it does it as a type, as a picture. They were baptized into Moses and they were following Moses and it's a picture of what goes on in the Christian life by way of being set free from that bondage that was ours in sin as they were set free from that terrible bondage that was theirs in Egypt and then passing through and following not just Moses, but indeed the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ. Together with the Passover and then that crossing of the Red Sea, we come to the New Testament. It's given as pre-pictures, types, right? that redemption by the blood of the Lamb, leading to that being free, whom the Son has set free, is free indeed, and so forth. Well, again, whether or not Moses understood the greater truth that was portrayed in those historic events, we can say this, he most definitely acted in faith at that time. Come, if you would, please, to the book of Exodus. Let's go to Exodus. In chapter 12, At the end of chapter 12, the last two verses, we read, and thus all the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. And it came to pass on that very same day that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies. That is, he led them by Moses. Isaiah 63 emphasizes that. It's God led them, but he did so by the hand of Moses. And so we come in chapter 13. We see that when they're first being led out, they go to an unlikely place. They weren't led in a straight path over to the land of promise. Verse 17 of chapter 13, it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt. So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land. of Egypt. So you see God dealing mercifully with them. He knew the weakness that, look, they see battle, they're apt to give up and go. So they go this rather circuitous route. And basically they were hemmed in between the wilderness and the sea then, right? Verse one of chapter 14, now the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel. that they turn and camp in Pihiroth between Migdal and the sea opposite Baal Zephon, and you shall camp before it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say to the children of Israel, will say of the children of Israel, sorry, They are bewildered in the land. The wilderness has closed them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them. And I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord." And they did so. They camped right there. Now you get the picture. They're hemmed in. There's one way in. You've got the wilderness here, you've got the sea here, and the way they came in. Well, how are we going to go ahead from there? Well, It came to pass just as God said, Pharaoh said, what did I do? Why did I let them go? Look at all this slave labor. They got away. Let's go after them. And so we read verse nine of chapter 14. So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them, camping by the sea beside Pihiroth before Baal-Zephon. So here they are, they camped in and now here you got, the only way in was here and now the troops are coming, verse 10. 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. Then they said to Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. That's their response to the things that they saw. Well, what faith we see in Moses immediately. Notice verse 13. Then 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. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace." Meaning they wouldn't be shouting and so forth in panic. Might well mean, when you hold your peace and you're grumbling against Moses as well, you'll be kind of ashamed of what you've done. It is interesting in the next verse, verse 15, the Lord said to him, why do you cry to me? It would almost make you think that Moses is doing some kind of a secret prayer, quiet prayer here to the Lord. What am I going to do, Lord? I don't know. Well, God gives him direction. Basically, here's the C. What you're to do, you hold out your rod, and you're to pass through the sea. Now, again, you can imagine that this might have raised all kinds of questions, but even so, verse 21. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, 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 and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. God commended. Moses in faith took God at his word. He acted upon it. saying that God led them by the right hand of Moses in Isaiah 63, it might well mean that after he had raised the hand and the waters divided that he then was the first to go. Right? He led them. Here it is. So here we see a man of faith leading that people in his faith, believing that God would do exactly as he had said. And though the situation might have looked quite hopeless, you've got the army, they're coming on quickly, and then you've got the sea here, the wilderness there, we're hedged in, what are we going to do? No way out of here. And though the people didn't look like they were ready to comply with anything, yeah, you brought us out here to die, we just need to surrender over. Such faith. and he led the people through. Well, that's what we see there in Hebrews 11. Many writers have talked about God's dealings with his people still are not entirely unlike that. Now, we're not camped out by the seaside, but the idea that oft times our way is hedged up where there's only one thing we can do and that's look to God and trust him and then obey what he has said. Well, we should be obeying whether we've got options or not, but the point is, He hymns his people in, even coming to the last minute before he grants deliverance. Remember, we saw that recently in the reading of Acts chapter 12 of Peter. He's been in prison a whole week waiting for the Passover to pass, and then he's gonna be beheaded by Herod there. And the church is praying night by night, or day by day by day by day, even on into the night before he's to be brought out and be executed. Well, why didn't God do it early on? We don't know. But this we do know, God got the glory, Peter was delivered, and he was hemmed in, Peter was, and the church was, all the way at that time. Well, perhaps not so dramatic or so obviously miraculous, and yet hasn't been so with you and God's dealings with you. Dear Christian, at times you've been hemmed in. I've got no way to go. Nothing I can do here. well have you acted in faith like Moses but here's what God said do and therefore that I do confident that God will keep his word and therefore you obey his word well that's the example that's given us even in Hebrews right we're told in chapter 6 of verse 12 that you're to imitate those who, through faith and endurance, inherit the promises. Well, so with us. And by the way, so with us too, Exodus 15. You find them giving praise and thanksgiving and adoration to God for his great mercies. Well, so should we. Well, though the faith of Moses was seen very clearly, it's included in the language in Hebrews 11. Come back there. Hebrews 11, I want you to look more closely at what is said. Hebrews 11 and verse 29. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. It does not say by faith the children of Israel, it says they. Wait a minute, how could it be that this people of all people are here commended for faith those who were with Moses they believed God's word they trusted and they acted in faith but wait this people this people who just got through saying you brought us out here to die in the wilderness This people who after they've made it through the Red Sea, not long after, in chapter 16, said almost the same thing again. So you're going to bury us. You brought us out here to destroy us, to kill us all. This people, to whom Paul referred in chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians, most of them, God was not well pleased, their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. This people described in Jude verse 5, the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. Why are they given this commendation here in Hebrews chapter 11 in connection with all these others when they are such an unbelieving people? You feel the tension there? Well, as I've already indicated and some rightly observe, it does not say, by faith the children of Israel pass through. It simply says, they, whoever they are. Therefore, you've got writers like A.W. Pink, the reference is unto Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua, and the believing remnant among the Hebrews. And so, John Calvin, the Lord granted to the faith of a few that the whole multitude should pass through the Red Sea dry shod. And of course Pink makes reference to the fact that often times unbelievers, they do experience temporal benefit because of their association with the Lord's people, those who believe. All of that is very true. But whether that's the point that's being made here by the writer of Hebrews, we must notice this. What is commending them for? is very limited, okay? He's not saying, and this people were such strong believers before and during and after they went through the Red Sea. It makes no reference at all in Hebrews 11 to what happened in the wilderness after the passing through, okay? We do see faith exercised, they kept the Passover, right? They did, they asked their neighbors, Egyptian neighbors for gold and so forth. So they did take God as word. They did have some kind of faith whereby they would obey him. But the writer's not saying in everything they did they were such a strong people of faith. No, it's just one particular, a sole expression of their faith. They passed through the Red Sea as by dry land. And let me ask you, did that not require faith? Not just of the few, but of all of those who passed through. Come on. Get the picture. Put yourself there. Here you are. You're standing before this sea. Now, there's an east wind that comes up. And not over several years it somehow parts it, but rather immediately. It wasn't like the east wind. That's what did it. East wind is not going to make two standing walls, one on the right hand, one on the left, OK? The wind basically dried the ground out so they could walk through, but it wasn't like, well, this is some natural phenomenon that just happens every now and again around. No, no. This was clearly God at work, and that very quickly parting the sea. And so now you're looking and you're seeing two walls there before you. And mind you, that water is kept standing all night. I don't know how tall the walls were. Maybe you've heard the little joke story, the little boy, a liberal Sunday school teacher saying, well, it wasn't really very deep. It was only six inches that water was. And the little boy says, bless God, he drowned all those Egyptians in six inches of water. Well, it was a sea, OK? And it was water standing in a heap. It wasn't a mere six inches and they waded through. It was dry land that they walked on. And furthermore, it took some time. It was a wide enough gap for all of that people to pass through. We're over 600,000 men. That's not counting women and children. So you've got millions of people, at least 2 million people, maybe more. I don't know. It took some time. In fact, it seems it took all night to do so. And they went across this rather lengthy time. John Owen says it was six leagues. I don't know where he gets that. That would be a little over 20 miles. So OK, that sounds reasonable enough perhaps. But it took them all night to do it, verse 27 of chapter 40. All night, water, standing, right hand, left hand, rather wide valley here for them to go in. And here they're all going forth in order, in their armies. In other words, they're not running in a panic. They knew the Egyptians were there and it seems the Egyptians were already on their heels, they're already coming. And yet we're not told that they ran in a panic, and what do we do? They went out in their armies. It speaks of their going orderly. More than that, it says, verse 29, they walked. They walked. That's 1429 of Exodus. They walked. It indicates a prolonged trust, a prolonged confidence in God that these walls are going to stand. And we're going through. And they make it all the way to the other side. Does that not speak of no little faith? At least at that time, for a time. And then we read in chapter 14 there of Exodus, verses 30 and 31. Let me just read it for you. were told, so the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt. And so the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses, at least at this time. But what a change. from that before, you brought us out here because there weren't graves enough? You're just gonna kill us out here in the wilderness? Is that why you've done this? To this. Look what God has done. And so they feared the Lord and they believed the Lord, they believed Moses, his servant. And yet for all of this, I've already referred to Jude 5, most fell dead in the wilderness. They were not saved. They were not truly right with God by faith in God's provision for sinners. To quote Albert Barnes, it's not to be supposed that all who pass through the Red Sea had saving faith. The assertion of the writer is that the passage was made in virtue of strong confidence in God and that if it had not been for this confidence, the passage, that is passing through the sea, could not have been made at all. It's not saying they had saving faith. Most didn't, but they at least had confidence. to do this. Now nothing like this had ever happened before. Right? I mean it's not as I said some kind of natural occurrence with the water standing up in a wall. No. It's God who did this as a mighty work of God and it's God doing as he had promised. Exactly what he had said in his word. Well they acted on this. Not following their own reasoning. Hey fellas, you know what? Water doesn't normally do this and I don't think this is safe. I think we ought not to be following this Moses guy. He might be into that. No. They didn't do this in their own courage. Brave, how courageous. Well, it did take courage, but that courage was only the product of faith, believing that God himself would keep the walls of water standing and they would indeed be delivered in this way. Such a confidence in God that lasted at least through the night and enabled them to walk and to do as he commanded as they trusted in him. And therefore, Hebrews 11, 29, it's this facet of faith that is in view, that's in focus. Not everything about them, just this, that passing through the Red Sea. And as such, it does obviously hold out lessons for us, even though we know the truth about this people before and after. And I think especially of the original recipients of this letter, who happen to be Hebrews. That is to say, children of Israel, descendants of those who had, by faith, passed through the Red Sea. Here these Hebrews are, they're waffling. They had professed faith in Christ, but now they're tempted to go back to Judaism. All the sacrifices and all the ceremonies. Well, doesn't this appeal? to that generation that came out of Egypt, their forefathers, they were not delivered. They did not have their relationship with God by way of ceremonies and so forth. No, it was through faith. Even a belief in what God had said. So they're trusting God and so much so they're acting on God's word even then in that generation. Well, If this is how they were delivered, if this is how they were established as a nation, then surely the argument is, you guys now are going to go back? I mean, this happened before the ceremonies and all the book of the law was given, and you're going to go back to that and think that's where true religion is? No, what they did, they did by faith from the get-go, at the beginning. Perhaps that's the line of argument that the writer is pushing. But it does beg a question. Why appeal to the example of these people if theirs was not a saving faith? Because obviously in Hebrews 11, that is what's in view. Not just any kind of faith, but a saving faith. Why appeal then to these people as the exception to that? Well, could it be, I throw it out as a question, that the writer is making his case, he's recommending faith as if by saying, look, even these people acted in faith. Yeah, yeah, we know that God destroyed them in the wilderness because they didn't believe. We got that. But even with all their unbelief and all of their sins, after so much light had been given them, and then their ongoing grumbling, and then even later their refusal to enter into the promised land, yet even these people had acted in faith, clear faith, at one time. A generation of rebels, a generation of ingrates, refusing to trust God later, but even these had faith enough to do this, to pass through the Red Sea. And it was reasonable that they did. And shouldn't those Hebrews to which this epistle first came do more than them? I mean, come on, they've been given so much more light. You remember how the book of Hebrews begins? In the past, God spoke to the fathers through the prophets in various ways, various times, but now, well, he's spoken through his son. We have much greater light through Jesus Christ. These guys with their limited light, we see they at least had faith enough for this, and then what about you guys? What about you? We don't just have a type of a deliverance, we've got the reality. Jesus Christ, the Passover lamb, the one who truly came to deliver people from their sins and slavery to sin. If they had that kind of faith concerning just temporal deliverance, well what of us by way of eternal redemption? Well, whether or not that's the point that the writer is making, his exact argument, I hope you see at least that is a legitimate argument for those people in that day, but no less for us. You know, when we see Old Testament examples in the New Testament, and especially like here in Hebrews chapter 11, it should stir us to imitate. But, you know, it should really stir us to imitate not simply what we should do as they did. It should stir us to imitate with a sense of gratitude and, hey, we must do more. Because we have more, right? I'm not saying that people in the Old Testament, they were saved with a different salvation. No, no, we can see this whole line of scripture, Old Testament, New Testament, only one salvation, one savior, ever since Genesis 3.15. The seed of the woman who would come to save sinners, crush the serpent's head, and it's by grace through faith in him that sinners are saved. The writer of Hebrews has made that clear for us in Hebrews chapter 11. But wait, it is true though. with more light. In the past God spoke this way, various ways, the prophets, but now by his Son. And also that new covenant, Hebrews chapter 8, a better covenant, a better mediator, better promises. We have more. The writer of Hebrews develops that. Look, since God has now spoken by his son, chapter 2, verse 1, we ought to take the more earnest heed lest these things slip. You have more, now do more. Right? That seems to be the argument. Well, as to those many unsaved people who crossed the Red Sea with that kind of faith that they had, Dear brother, dear sister, think of what we have. The greater light, the greater privilege. How right we should act on it. If they would do that, what courage befits us? That God is for us. Who can be against us? What confidence in God, even when we're hemmed in, and what hope is there? This case looks absolutely hopeless. It's like a sea of wilderness and an oncoming army. What am I to do? It's hopeless. Confidence befits us. living by faith in Him, even as they at that time followed, as they at that time obeyed God's word, given them, trusting Him, well, so with us, wherever He leads. Here's the law of God, here's God's directions to you, now do it and leave the outcome to Him. Well, wait a minute, if I seek first God's kingdom, God's righteousness, how do I know that the bills are going to be paid? How do I know that I'm not going to have problems with people persecuting me? Well, you don't. Except this, that God is for you and who can be against you. Right? You take him at his word and you do what he has said in his word. Well, that at least is a legitimate line of application even if that wasn't exactly what the writer of Hebrews had in mind. I'm not sure. But another argument from the example of that people is equally legitimate and equally relevant to those first recipients of this letter and indeed to us. As you know, the writer of Hebrews throughout is emphasizing a persevering faith, that we persevere, that we continue on by faith, that we keep on come what may. Again, we ought to take the more earnest heed lest we slip or we let these things slip. Or how we are his house if we are holding fast that confidence to the end. We are partakers of Christ if we hold fast our confidence steadfast to the end. That's in chapter 3. Hold fast, chapter 10, chapter 6. Imitate those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises you are to endure well that's the argument of Hebrews throughout verse 35 of chapter 10 don't cast away your confidence which has such great reward you have need of endurance so having done the will of God you may inherit the promise right we're not those who draw back he says in chapter 10 we're those who believe to the saving of the soul true faith continues well in that connection The writer of Hebrews has already appealed to these who passed through the Red Sea as an example of those who did not continue. Please come to Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3. Calling upon that people, those original recipients, to persevere. Having said, beware lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief departing from the living God. While it's still called today, don't be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, verse 14 of chapter three. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. While it is said today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was he angry forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter and could not enter in because of unbelief. Is the writer here saying, they had a kind of faith to begin with, but they didn't continue. It's like that stony ground here that we read of in Luke 8. He believes for a while. Hard times hit, now he's ready to cast it off then. And the writer is obviously saying, don't be like them. Take heed that you continue on in the faith. You started well, now don't throw away your confidence. They started well, but look what they did. You have need of endurance so that you will receive the inheritance after you've done the will of God. Or to further buttress this, come to chapter 12 of Hebrews. Because remember, after going through all of these examples of faith in the Old Testament, the writer then applies it to those believers and to us in chapter 12. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And the idea is he began it, he's gonna complete it, and you keep looking to him the whole time. Run with endurance. Don't give up. Keep going. Is he appealing to that generation that passed through the Red Sea? They had faith for this, but it wasn't real faith, and they fell away. Don't be like them. Run with endurance. That's certainly the application he draws back there in Chapter 3. Well, again, whether or not that's the writer's specific intention, isn't a legitimate application. And not just for those original recipients of this letter, but for us as well. You're growing weary in well-doing, finding it difficult, just want to give up, or maybe, maybe, You need to take a good look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10 where Paul appeals to these who were baptized into Moses when they crossed through the Red Sea and under the cloud and yet they start falling into various sins, so idolatry and sexual immorality and murmuring and tempting God and so forth. And he says there, don't be like them. They saw great mercy shown and look, they didn't continue. You be careful so as to continue in the way. That's Paul's argument there in 1 Corinthians 10. The same generation. Or as our Lord himself said, you abide in me and I in you abide. This means to remain. You remain in that living relationship with Christ. Christ remaining in that living vital relationship with you. You bear much fruit. But the idea is keep on. Stay close to Christ. Keep up that vital union with Christ, come what may, and keep pressing on. Run with endurance the race that is set before you. From beginning to end, keep looking unto Jesus. Well, that certainly is a line of application. But now, one more matter. Because one thing I can say, the others I have not been overly dogmatic, I think they are legitimate and possible arguments, but the one thing I can say with a dogmatism that the writer was out to do is he is out to show a clear contrast. And that's what we have here in chapter 11 and verse 29. We see it, of course, in Exodus chapter 14. Now, this is in keeping with the whole chapter, because one of the things that the writer is doing is to show the value of faith. Look how good faith is. Look how valuable faith is, how important it is. You can see that should keep them from leaving off faith. Don't throw that faith away as if it's worth nothing. Don't cast it away, he says in 1035. See the value of faith. Well, see it especially in contrast, because he doesn't stop saying through faith, they went through the sea on dry land. He then follows, whereas, here's the contrast, the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. Does that not commend faith as something valuable? Isn't faith better? Or maybe it's the idea of which do you want? You want faith that gets you through on dry land or you want to perish when the walls came in? Which is better? It's one or the other. Which is it going to be? That's what I think an argument you'd be making with those people. Are you going to believe or not? We see these people believed and made it all the way through. Egyptians say they went on all right. but they didn't come out. They were drowned. And what a graphic, what a tragic display of unbelief of faith's alternative is seen in those Egyptian pursuers. Now some might argue, but wait, you know what? They actually did the same thing as the Israelites. They went in between these two walls of water, this valley that was before them. They went there. And in fact, they didn't just barely go in, they traveled some distance into this. Exodus 14.23, they were in the midst of it. Or 14.24, until morning watch. That is until daylight has come. So these Egyptians with their chariots, they've gone all the way into the midst of that, not just barely entering in. Doesn't that take courage? I mean think of it. Such brave and dutiful soldiers that they go into this. Well, it wasn't virtuous. It wasn't really virtuous. One writer of another generation said, a good point I thought, the same thing done by the believer and the unbeliever is not the same thing. Right? They both entered in, but it wasn't the same. Israel, they went in by faith, not so the Egyptians. They didn't go by faith. In fact, it couldn't be faith. They had no promise of safety. They had no promise given to them by the word of God that, here, you will have safe passage. You just believe me and go. No. Their entering between these two walls of water was sheer presumption. That's arrogance. Israelites can do this, we can. They're just a bunch of ragtag slaves. We're a well-trained army. We've got chance. We can do it. I mean, they can do it. We can't. After all, it doesn't look that dangerous. Look at them. They've been at it all night. Look how far. Bottom line, they left God out of their thinking. They're trusting in their own reasoning, their own ability. their own courage and prowess, we can do this. Now, fair enough, it was dark, it was night, and though the Egyptians had the light, remember that pillar of fire was also a pillar of cloud to the Egyptians, but they could still see something. And they knew the lay of the land. Look, there's a sea here, fellas. You know that, right? And as they got into it, surely they could see that you've got walls of water going on here. They had reason to know better that, look, this is not wise nor safe. I mean, come on. Shouldn't their ability to reason have taught them, wait a minute, wait a minute, don't do this. They had seen God's intervention. on behalf of this people, over the course of some time, with plague after plague, and with so many of them, the Israelites were entirely exempt. God had made a distinction and made it clear to the Egyptians, this is my people. This is my people. And after all, water doesn't normally just stand up in a heap. I mean, this dry land, that's not some natural phenomenon. And they later recognized it. The wheels began falling off of their chariots, and they're having a hard time. They're swerving. And then they say, the God of Israel is fighting for them. Well, yeah. A bit late to recognize it now. You're in the midst of this. You've followed for how many miles? Didn't they have reason to know this beforehand, that the God of Israel is fighting for his people here? What presumption? What a stubborn unbelief. Mark these people, these Egyptians. I mean, how could that be? Is it that they were blinded by their passions? You know, they're so enraged and so much hatred and maybe out for revenge. We've lost so much because of these people. We'll show them. Blinded. You know, that happens with people, right? They can't think clearly because they're so angry. What appeared to be courage, look at these brave Egyptian soldiers, was actually folly, absolute foolishness. Come on, they should see better. What unreasoning. Guys, you're ignoring the truth here. More than that, they're suppressing truth about God. What God had revealed, not simply in creation. What God had revealed, not simply in their own consciousness. But what God had revealed of himself through plague after plague, and now here it is, things that were entirely inexplicable except this. There is a God in heaven who has this people as his people. If you saw water standing before your eyes, I mean, don't you think you would think, how could this be? But as the wicked described in Psalm 10, God was not in their thoughts. Or elsewhere in the Psalms, there was no fear of God before their eyes. Egypt had its pagan deities. Were they trusting in their deities? Well, if their God can keep them safe, our God can keep us safe. Well, whatever the case, they obviously thought it would be okay. They thought it would be just fine. They thought they could even prosper. That they could overtake the Israelites. They would succeed in their designs against this people and against their God. How wrong they were. How utterly foolish. And is modern unbelief any wiser? Is it not really the same? No matter the kind of unbelief it is. Well, I'm a nice guy and I don't need God. Life's good. Those religious people, they need a help. They need a crutch. There's no truth about this business of God creating. Why look at all the science books, all the teachers are teaching that it was billions of years and so forth. It comes from suppressing truth about God. Romans chapter 1. What's revealed of God, not only in a person's own consciousness, but even by way of the testimony of creation itself. No, no. The truth is so obvious it has to be suppressed. If you didn't suppress it, you'd see it. No, no. No, I don't want to see this. I don't want to see this. And therefore, professing themselves to become wise, well, they became foolish. They're given over to a judicial hardening, a judgment, just like the case with these Egyptians. Well, that's going on still. Or people given over to their own darkness, their own foolish hearts being darkened. It's not bravery. It's not brilliance. It's not independent thinking. It's unbelief. It's willful ignorance. It's utter folly. That's what it is. And God let these Egyptians go in their blind unbelief. He let them go in their presumption and their folly and their ignoring of him all the way into the midst of the sea until it was too late. There's no escape. And then morning light, God causes the waters to come back again after Israel has made it through. How wrong. How wrong they were. Just like Romans 1.18, this shows God's not indifferent. You go suppressing truth about God. I don't want to be confronted with the reality of God. I don't want to think about God. Get God out of my thoughts. I don't want to think about it. God's not indifferent towards that. He wasn't indifferent come that day. He's not indifferent in this day. The wrath of God's revealed from heaven. Who are these Egyptians right now? Do they just perish like a dog and yep, they're gone? No. There are those described in 2 Peter 2 and verse 9 how they're held under judgment, they're held under wrath, right? Held under punishment, sorry, until the day of judgment. They're now being punished in that disembodied state, held until the day of judgment when God will cast both soul and body into everlasting perdition or torment. And yet, again to quote a writer from a previous generation, with similar presumption, many rush into eternity. They're rushing on. We'll be okay. We're going to be safe. We'll get those people. And they rush on to their own ruin. And how many right now rush on, no thought of God, no fear of God before their eyes. They rush on, no thought of these things, to their own damnation. Hebrews 11 sets before us this contrast. You've got faith, you've got unbelief, and the writer is setting before us as if to say, now, which is preferable? Which is preferable? I think any child here, I can say, which is better, making it through or drowning like the Egyptians? Which is better, faith or unbelief? But I have another question for you instead. Which of these is you? A believer? On God's provision for sinners, Jesus Christ? Or are you an unbelief? I don't want anything to do, whatever kind of unbelief it might be. It's one or the other, right? I mean, John 3.36, those who believe the Son, who believe on the Son, have everlasting life. Those who do not believe on the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon them. It's one or the other. And if you have not gone to Christ, if you've not fled to Christ, if you've not been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, why not? It's some kind of unbelief. Whatever kind it is, temporary or maybe more we're talking about, just blind ignorance. I feel I'm good enough. I'm a religious hypocrite. It doesn't matter. I'm going to go. Some kind of unbelief. And if that's you, See the folly of your unbelief, of your refusal to come to Christ. See the end, where this is going to lead, not just drowning in the Red Sea. It's going to be forever tormented under the wrath of God for your sin. And see the danger you are now in. If you found yourself in the midst of that sea with water on either side and suddenly the wheels on your chariot are falling off and you can't guide it and you recognize then, this thing's caving in. You can say, I'm in danger. That's what they saw. There was no hope. How long will God let the walls stand before you on either side? How long will he let you go on in your presumption, your arrogance? I'm safe. Everything's okay. I don't need this delivery. I'm fine. How long? Barrow and his army, they fought against God, suppressing truth and unrighteousness. Who won? Who won? It's obvious. And so it's been throughout history. And it'll be this way all the way to the end. Rebels against God, fighting against God. And yet, there's no wisdom or counsel, nothing that's going to prosper against God. He will triumph gloriously. But there's one key difference between unbelievers now and those Egyptians. I said it before, they had no word of promise. They had no word from God. If you will do this, you can be safe. There was no offer of mercy to them. Chariot wheels falling off, the walls were caving in. There's no promise of mercy, no promise of safety, no good news, no gospel. If you're here without Christ, you do have the promise of mercy if you will go to Christ. You do have. The gospel, that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Christ, the one who suffered the just in place of the unjust, that he might bring sinners like us to God, make us right with God now and forever. Here's the gospel. Christ died for sinners. lives to save sinners and saves all who put their trust in Him. Will you believe the gospel? Will you go to Christ? Will you believe what God's Word has said about judgment to come, but mercy now being held out to you? Will you believe that Christ is such a Savior? He will save you if you will go to Him and trust in Him. What will you do? Will you be right with God now through Jesus Christ? Will you be right with God forever? The writer of Hebrews says, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation. You've got an offer of mercy not extended to those Egyptian charioteers. You're in the midst of the water. How are you going to escape if you neglect the only way of salvation? Jesus Christ, him crucified. Believe on him and be saved by him. Old Scots divine from 17th century, David Dixon. Since we've got a Scotswoman here, I gotta make reference to a Scots person, right? The benefit of faith is best seen when the evil of unbelief is seen. Well, here you see the evil of unbelief. And can you see how this is a powerful argument to those original recipients? Don't be like these unbelievers. See the value of faith. And what effect does this have on you, dear Christian, this contrast, what effect does this have on you? I mean, is it a case that you see, well, you know, me with all my trials, all my failures, all my perplexities, I do believe God's word. I do trust him. I do look to Christ and Christ alone. And I would rather, I would rather have all my trials and my difficulties with faith than to get on with all the world's comforts in unbelief. Isn't that you, Christian? Isn't that you? Even in the darkest hours, the strongest temptations, see the contrast. Which is better? Faith? Unbelief? See the value of faith. Oh, to have this God and to have him for me. We'll recognize that and keep on believing. Keep on running. Taking God at his word, doing what he has said. Oh yeah, I've got this faith in Jesus, but I don't have to worry about obeying. No, no. We believe this is his word, then it'll be seen. We obey him. No matter the difficulties. Show that your faith is no temporary faith. But rather it's the genuine faith that keeps on believing, that keeps looking unto Jesus all the way to the end of the race. And know this, you're not going to be put to shame, you're not going to be disappointed. You've already been converted, you've already been given all the blessings of the new covenant. Eternity with Christ is yours at last and he keeps you in the meantime. All the fathers have given me, I lose none, raise them up the last day. Well, no matter the threats and the fears and the uncertainties, God makes a way. Hymned in, yeah, but that means you're hedged up to God. Therefore, keep trusting God in Christ. Keep close to him who said, you abide in me, I in you, you bear much fruit. My God help us, brethren. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we do thank you. for your great mercy, that you provided a deliverance even far more blessed and far greater than that of those people passing through the Red Sea on dry land. A salvation secured by God the Son, coming, taking true humanity, dying in the place of sinners like us, now living to save to the uttermost all who come to God by him. Father, grant we would keep on believing, and that we'd look beyond this world on into eternity, and that we would trust Christ. We've trusted him with our souls. Well, grant then that we would trust even in obeying and walking now, running the way of your commandments. Oh, that we would keep looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. It's in his name we pray. Amen.