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Sermon Notes: http://notes.cornerstonesj.org
The People
Knowing that you're my you are you are my brothers and sisters in the Lord and Was talking with with Tom Evans earlier between services and sharing how his his daughter
Amy Through different interfaces has met different International students and in one case actually was able to lead this young lady to the
Lord And then in another part of a country there was Olivia, and it's it is it's always cool to know that I have brothers and sisters in the
Lord that I can Fellowship with and and we're here this morning
Because we are part of The family of God we're not here trying to reach up to God and saying here
We are we know we're here because he's reaching down to us, and he's saying here I am and and so we're joining together in front of the throne of God knowing that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us this
Thursday in pastor Jeff's Pastor Graham he he referenced Titus 213 where it says that we're looking for that Blessed hope the appearing of the glory of our great
God and Savior Jesus That's that's our identity, and that's and that's our hope well this week in my devotions
I'm in Psalm 82, and I ran across these two verses Psalm 82 when
God has taken his place In the divine council you see he's the sovereign
God He's the creator and all that is here in all of the world
He is the sovereign God and then verse 2 says in the midst of the gods
That's the small G in the midst of gods. He holds judgment our world thinks
They're all that and and they set up these gods that that that rule things and rule life well in Comparison they're nothing because you see our
God He has taken his place in the divine council And that's why we're here this morning because we have a
God who is all that he is sovereign He is holy he is just and we're here just just to grow and grow closer
To him we have some announcements and some amazing things going on Jonathan Leonard has been down in South Carolina He has been trained in a ministry called love life and what we're considering and what we're concerned about our women who are who are in pregnancy and are
Thinking of doing the unmentionable and we're concerned for those women and for those children
There's going to be training coming up in a couple of weeks Our church is going to get equipped so that we can go out to the
Cherry Hill Women's Center and be there and reach out to these women and protection of these women and of these of These children and this this this horrible thing that's done two weeks from today
After the morning service we will have the training and our first opportunity for ministry We're going to be doing at the second
Saturday of every month. It will be September 11th We have several opportunities for us to get together to grow to be encouraged.
We have men's study on Monday evenings We have the women's study on Tuesday mornings the women's priest up study
We have the prayer meeting on Sunday nights at 6 o 'clock And I want to encourage you for all of those even even write it down But don't just write it down and don't make this something that's on your calendar to do on a
Monday evening Or on a Tuesday make this This is an invitation to sit with the
Lord and to grow in fellowship and relation So I encourage you to take part of those not to learn more
But to become closer to our to our God Pastor Jeff is starting something new and and I kind of got his permission to change his announcement ever so slightly
He said it's for young adults, but he said I could go even though So what he's gonna do on Fridays the first and third
Friday of every month the board meets for prayer for business on the second and the fourth Friday of Every month
Jeff's gonna use that opportunity and he's gonna set up a table out in the front He's gonna call it the discipleship table.
So if you have questions Jeff you said it's for young adults, but I'm saying Come one.
Come all right If you have questions Jeff would love to talk to you and answer questions and pursue the doctrines of truth with you
So that will be at 645 This coming Friday will be the first of it. It will be the second and the fourth
Friday of every month We have a time for baptism coming up in the middle of September We're looking at the venue of where we're gonna actually do it
And for those who are new to our church that would love to learn about our church We have starting point class be on the 12th the 19th and the 26th of September Either one of those if you're interested see pastor
Jeff see myself one of the elders. We would love to talk to you about that One other far -ranging men.
We have our retreat is already being planned for the month of November Bible thumping winged nut and if you want to know what that's about See the
Jeff for myself. That's a backstory behind that but for the men's retreat, let's go to prayer father as we come together we do
We come with hearts of gratitude Because we're not here because we deserve it.
We're here because of your love of the shed blood of Christ Honest we're here with anticipation of meeting with you of learning and growing
With you as we're together this morning We pray father that our hearts would be softened to hear your message father
We pray for women and children who are in danger right now. We're thinking of the Cherry Hill Women's Center our opportunity to be of ministry to these people
Who are about to make a terrible decision that they might make the most important decision of their lives father
We pray for the Snowden family Patti's mom who has gone home to be with the Lord and she's rejoicing with a completely restored body but yet there is time of grief and so we
Pray with the Snowden family that she would be alongside With them and Lord for those many in our congregation in need of healing whether it is a cancer issue
Whether it's an injury or a surgery Lord, there are those in our in our midst who need your comfort who need the healing hand that comes from the great physician
For those who have lost a loved one of late Lord We pray that you would protect our church from the attacks of Satan our country our culture
Has some things that are going on that are opposed to truth And Lord, we pray for this book that pastor
Jeff is gonna put out against the woke movement in church Pray that it would impact people that it would change hearts of those who are going into a compromise
We lift up your missionaries on the front line We pray also for Kyle Robinson who's finishing his first week in boot camp pray that you would protect him encourage him and Lord Give him fellowship that he could continue in his faith as we turn this morning to Hebrews 11 pray that pastor
Jeff as he speaks about the people of the Kingdom whom we are and of the need for freedom and the blessings of freedom
We pray Lord that you would touch his heart speak through him into our hearts. We pray these things in Jesus name.
Amen First I Oh The name of Jesus is powerful the name of Jesus Should be shouted from the mountaintops as as powerful because Satan fears the name of Jesus There is a truth
That stands with the test of time There's a promise He will
Come again, we sing before his throne this morning There is a light
There is a kingdom There is freedom
Find us Jesus Jesus Is a name
I call in time My Savior, there is power in your name.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
Lord, we stand before your throne this morning, praising your name. You are the
God who heals. You're the one that stands right beside me. Praise the name of Jesus.
Praise the name of Jesus. He's my rock.
He's my fortress. He's my deliverer.
In him will I trust. Praise the name of Jesus.
Praise the name of Jesus. Praise Jesus.
He's my rock. He's my fortress.
He's my deliverer. In him will
I trust. Praise the name of Jesus.
Let's sing that one more time together. Praise the name of Jesus.
Amen. You may be seated. Good morning.
Let's pray. Father, we praise you for you are worthy.
Father, you sent your one and only son into the world to be treated like a common criminal, crucified, killed on that cross, buried, and yet he rose again for our freedom.
Thank you for the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We thank you that we know the truth, and the truth has set us free.
We pray, Lord, that we would not be subject again to a yoke of slavery, but that we would walk in the freedom that was won for us at the cross.
We thank you, Lord, for the freedom of the country in which we live, and we pray that you would preserve it and help us to do our part for that preservation.
We thank you for your word to us this morning. We pray that we would be sharpened in our thinking by the preaching of the word.
In Jesus' name, amen. When Jesus was with us in the flesh, he promised a kingdom that is not of this world.
He talked about going to prepare a place for us and how he will come back for us to receive us to where he is.
And truly, we look for the coming of Christ to bring freedom and peace and justice on earth.
Until he comes, this world will never be a utopia. We need the kingdom of God here among us.
But there was a second strain of teaching within our Lord in his ministry in his first appearing, which is also true.
And that is, although we look for a kingdom that has not yet come, the kingdom is already with us in some measure.
The kingdom is in our midst, the Lord said. In Matthew 13 .33, he presented it this way.
He told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leavened.
Now, I am the world's worst cook. I am not a baker. I've never baked a cake or a brownie or anything,
I think. But what I do know from this parable is that leaven is something that a woman will put into dough.
And that leaven will travel throughout the dough and cause the bread to rise.
It works its way through. So even a little bit can work its way through the entire lump, as Jesus said.
And that is a parable for how the kingdom of God will come upon this earth. When Jesus spoke these words, he had but a few followers.
And yet he speaks of something that will invade the entire world.
Matthew 24 .14, this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to the ends of the earth and then the end shall come.
The kingdom spreads like leaven throughout the earth. And so he says in Matthew 5, verses 17 and 18, you are the salt of the earth.
Somehow we Christians will preserve the earth and we'll keep it.
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Somehow all the world will see
Christ through his church. The kingdom will be here in part until the king himself comes and establishes it in full.
Amen? This is an important teaching. You can't err in either direction.
The kingdom now, dominionist, postmillennial kind of theology over realizes how much we have now.
But there's also an error where kind of like the frozen chosen, we can forget that we're the salt of the earth.
We can fail to realize that the kingdom is in our midst and that we can go take Jericho by the power of the
Holy Spirit. We need to keep the proper proportions. And I think as we look at church history, we're able to gain insight around this subject.
We begin in the days of Paul, when the gospel first began. Paul, heading towards Jerusalem, was told by a traveling prophet named
Agabus that he would be bound by the Jews if he went to Jerusalem.
And so everybody there started pleading with him, don't go to Jerusalem, Paul. We don't want to lose you.
And Paul said, why are you weeping and breaking my heart?
I am willing not only to be bound, but to die for the sake of the name.
And so he went to Jerusalem, willing to die. Now he was not martyred in Jerusalem, but later he would be martyred in the city of Rome.
From those words of Paul, we recognize that the kingdom is not of this world.
Paul was a free man. He was born again. He was set free.
He had no fear of death. Even though the politics of the situation threatened his life.
An important distinction there. But Paul wrote some interesting words in 1 Corinthians 7.
He tells the Christian not to worry about their estate in life, but worry about the spiritual.
He says to them, were you unmarried when you got saved? That's fine. Were you already married when you got saved?
And now you find yourself waking up in the morning, married to some pagan, and he's willing to live with you.
Should you fret about that? There's some people that wish they could go have a redo on life. Maybe they got saved later in life, and now they're married to someone who doesn't believe.
Paul exhorts them, listen. Just stay in the station in which God has placed you.
You're already in the kingdom. And if he's willing to live with you, just stay with him, woman.
Likewise, he says something very interesting to slaves. To bound men and women who are owned by another human being.
He says, were you a slave when you were born again? Don't worry about it. You're the
Lord's free man. If you have an opportunity to gain your freedom, take it.
And that is an important teaching. If you have an opportunity, you take it.
The Lord has placed within his word and within Christianity the seed of freedom.
And that freedom will spread through the earth by the word of God and by the spirit of God.
But listen, freedom is not a natural principle to man. People don't naturally crave freedom.
We'll learn today about a people who came out of Egypt and yet Egypt never came out of them. They always wanted to go back to slavery even though God had set them free politically of the nation of Egypt.
And so it is in the history of the world that freedom is not natural. It is born of the word of God and of the spirit.
In the second century, there was a Christian. He was first a philosopher but then encountered a believer who led him to Christ from the
Old Testament prophets. This man's name was Justin. Famous as Justin Martyr.
He began to write letters because he was prominent in the community. He began to write letters to the emperor.
Pleading with the emperor of Rome to stop killing Christians. Justin's apologies, these books were not apologizing for anything in the traditional sense that we use the word apology but the word apologia in the
Greek means defense. He was defending Christians and pleading with the emperor to stop killing us.
Until finally he was brought before the emperor. I think it was Marcus Aurelius. But before the prefect
Rusticus, Justin Martyr appeared in 165. The prefect said, approach and sacrifice all of you to the gods.
He demanded that Christians take a pinch of incense and offer it to the gods of Rome.
And if they would do that, pinch that incense to the gods of Rome, they could go free.
But if they denied, here's what would happen. Well, first Justin says, no one in his right mind would give up piety for impiety.
And the prefect said to Justin, if you do not obey, you will be tortured without mercy.
To which Justin replied, that is our desire to be tortured for our
Lord Jesus Christ and so to be saved for that will give us salvation and firm confidence at the more terrible universal tribunal of our
Lord and Savior. And all the martyrs said so. Do as you wish for we are
Christians and we do not sacrifice to idols. The prefect answered, those who do not wish to sacrifice to the gods and to obey the emperor will be scourged and beheaded according to the laws.
The holy martyrs glorifying God betook themselves to the customary place where they were beheaded and consummated their martyrdom confessing their
Savior. Justin Martyr has that name, martyr, because he was beheaded for the sake of the name.
Now, listen to something he said in that quote. He said that this is our desire.
And he figured that his assurity of salvation was somehow connected to his martyrdom.
There was wonderful bravery in those words. There was
Christ -like conviction. The same thing that Paul said, I'm willing to die. These were men who were not afraid to die because they were already free.
But, notice that there is some error in Justin's words. He was looking for the assurance of salvation in being martyred.
And from these words, and then from Tertullian, the next century, where Tertullian said, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.
That was right because no matter if they killed Christians, the world would see their bravery.
They would see that courage and the conviction and they would come to believe. But what happened in response to this is that many
Christians began to crave martyrdom. Can you imagine? And martyr cults emerged in the
Roman Empire where they would hope to outdo one another by being tortured all the more.
Sounds a little bit like the grievance industry in our country. Who can be the biggest victim kind of thing. And that was error because freedom is the seedbed of the church, not martyrdom.
God can take martyrdom and use it for his glory. And sometimes he does. But the general principle, which we're going to get to here as we see church history unfold, is that freedom is a gift from God to be pursued and to be treasured.
We're not to pursue martyrdom, but 1 Timothy 2. Pray first of all for kings, governors, those in authority.
Why? So that it can go well with you and you can live peacefully in the land.
That is to be your prayer. And that is the thing for which you should strive. Now the
Christian church was not at fault to be persecuted. They were enduring well. And yet the leaven now was spreading through the kingdom and into Rome until in the early 300s, the emperor himself, you know his name,
Constantine, came to believe in Christ. Now his conversion, whether it was genuine or not, is not the issue.
Here's what matters, is that in 313, at the edict of Milan, Christians were set free.
For the first time, it was now legal to preach the gospel. It was now allowed to worship
Christ in Him alone. No longer did one have to worship in secret and in hiding.
Come out into the open. And that freedom was the seedbed of the church. The gospel began to expand throughout the known world.
The edict of Milan, freedom was born of the gospel and it was good.
In the year 600 AD, a terrible development happened in the history of the world and that is a political totalitarian cult arose in Saudi Arabia called
Islam. Muhammad began to advance by the edge of the sword.
Now Christians and Jews sometimes could be allowed to live if they paid the jizya, surah 9, 129, but often they were killed and certainly
Islam had to be the religion of the land. They conquered northern Africa where Tertullian was, where he had been in Carthage.
Now northern Africa became Muslim and Egypt and Ethiopia, all the way through Israel and all the way up towards Syria.
And the church did not thrive under Islam. So don't take
Tertullian's words too far. The church thrived where people were free.
Freedom was the ideal and the church was all but snuffed out in the
Islamic world. In the 800s, the Pope began to gain authority and overstep his bounds as a mere bishop of Rome to where he began to exert totalitarian control over the
Roman Empire. He took Charlemagne and ordained him as the new emperor, but now the church and state were wed.
And so the Roman government, church and state together, dominated the people. And when
Jan Hus in Bohemia or Wycliffe in England stood up and said, no, this is our authority,
Hus was tied to the stakes and burned to death. And Wycliffe barely escaped and later they exhumed his bones and burned them.
Tyndale killed. And the tyranny of Rome mirrored what Rome originally did to Christians for the first 300 years.
This leading up to the Protestant Reformation and Martin Luther said no to the authority of the
Pope. 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg. And the German princes rallied together against the emperor and the
Pope and stood for the word of God, sola scriptura. And now in that freedom, the gospel traveled throughout
Germany and into Scandinavia and England, Scotland, and Ireland.
Freedom was born of the Protestant Reformation. And of course, the most significant book at that time was
Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. The last section of that book summarizes the whole book in 100 aphorisms, short sayings that summarize the institutes of the
Christian religion. The last thing he wrote was this, the obedience enjoined on subjects does not prevent the interference of any popular magistrates whose office it is to restrain tyrants and to protect the liberty of the people.
Our obedience to magistrates ought to be such that the obedience which we owe to the king of kings shall remain entire and unimpaired.
Now those words were profound. What he meant to say is what's called the doctrine of the lesser magistrates.
That if you have a tyrannical king or emperor or governor, it is the duty of lesser magistrates to step in.
In our case, we would say police officers to not enforce a tyrannical rule. And this principle of freedom took root in Scotland and Ireland and in Scandinavia.
And so what you had in the Protestant Reformation was not a complete break from Roman ways.
Follow this. The Protestants also were somewhat totalitarian.
Even Calvin's Geneva, even the Lutheran churches of Scandinavia and Germany, they were wed to the government as well.
In Scandinavia, say Sweden or Denmark or the Netherlands, these were a people who were under the thumb of the
Lutheran church. And in England, the Church of England ruled the land. And in Scotland, the
Church of Scotland. Do you see the problem? There's still control until the free church movement began.
Men and women who began to say, we will stand on one rule of faith, and that is the word of God.
Brothers and sisters, many of you don't know this. Cornerstone Church is aka, also known as,
Mount Laurel Evangelical Free Church. And that means we're part of a tradition, a strain that began in Scandinavia, where Christians came out and said, no, we're not under the system.
We are free. Free to believe the word of God. And we are unimpaired to preach exactly what it says.
No state Lutheran church will tell us what we have to believe. We are free.
And in Scotland and Ireland, many of these seeking freedom and the Puritans of England, no longer under the
Church of England, the Presbyterians, not part of the system. They moved to the new world.
And in the 1700s, the preachers in the land dared to talk about politics.
They were called the Black Robe Regiment. Preachers that preached freedom from the word of God.
And taught the whole counsel of God as it affects all of life, with Christ as Lord overall.
John Weatherspoon, just a 35 minute drive from here to get to Princeton. I like to go to Princeton to evangelize.
And when I go, I'll stand in the shadow of John Weatherspoon. They have a giant statue of Weatherspoon just across from the chapel.
And that's where I stand to evangelize. Why? Because this man was a gospel preacher.
And Princeton was founded on the gospel. And in the days leading up to the revolution, what
Weatherspoon said was wherever you see civil liberties infringed, it will not be long until religious liberties are taken away as well.
Weatherspoon understood a very important principle. The seedbed of the gospel is freedom.
Where the gospel is free to go and be preached boldly and openly, more and more people will come to saving faith and a culture will receive that salt and light.
And it is good to be free. So the Black Robe Regiment, all of these preachers,
Scottish and Irish and Presbyterian, going about the countryside, preaching freedom is what gave rise to the
American Revolution. The doctrine of the lesser magistrates informed them.
They were obeying Romans 13 when they rebelled against the tyrant king in England.
They stood on freedom obeying their governors who stood with them as lesser magistrates to interpose themselves to protect the people from tyranny.
And so we had written the words of the Constitution. We, the people of the
United States of America. And all this wonderful language about ensuring justice and the domestic tranquility, the posterity, all enjoying the benefits of this country.
It was established on freedom of the people, for the people, by the people.
The name of my sermon today is The People because that's who we'll learn from. But in 1700s, not everybody was free because those of African descent were enslaved in the land of the free.
And so a war was fought killing 600 ,000 Americans out of Christian conviction led in England by men like William Wilberforce and in America by Christian pastors who were preaching the freedom that is the natural right of all people regardless of the color of their skin.
And blood was shed for the freedom of the slaves. And that is a beautiful thing because slavery is an atrocity.
And so freedom then was established for all people. And in the 1900s an even greater threat emerged which we know as communism, socialist forces, the nationalistic, militaristic,
Germanic peoples began to arise to conquer the world and World War I was fought.
And then an even harsher war in World War II where Hitler tried to take over the world. And Christian men and women, especially men from America and England stormed the beaches of Normandy and fought back the tyrant as he took over the world.
But here's the 1900s example I want you to really hear this morning. In the 1950s battles were fought for the
Korean Peninsula. You guys know this, right? The Korean War happened.
Now, many of us know about the Vietnam War another decade later. And I devoted two years of my life to working with a
Vietnamese church in Philadelphia. In the freedom of America these Vietnamese immigrants are practicing openly their faith.
But back in communist Vietnam there is oppression of the church and the gospel does not thrive there like it does in inner city
Philadelphia in the church plant Living Hope that I was involved with. But Korea is the perfect example of what
I'm trying to say and what is so important. I don't think many people understand this. Not many people understand this.
I think most pastors and most Christians assume come what may all we have to do is preach the gospel and not worry about the freedoms that are being taken away in our day.
But hear this. Freedom is connected to the gospel. It is the seedbed of the gospel.
So in Korea where the war was fought politically a divide was drawn between the north and the south.
Before this political war Pyongyang the capital of the north was called the
Jerusalem of the east. More Christians there in North Korea than anywhere else in that part of Asia.
The Jerusalem of the east. Today after the war in North Korea there are estimated to be less than 100 ,000
Christians. On the other side of that line multiply that by a factor of more than 100.
South Korea home to perhaps 30 million Christians. Do you see what
I'm saying? Freedom was the seedbed of the church. It was something worth fighting for.
Something worth dying for. The men who sailed across the world and stood with the freedom fighters of South Korea and delivered them from the tyranny of that political religious personality cult of the
Kim family. They freed them and that's good and it's worth it. And it does have something to do with the gospel.
Do you see what I'm saying? So now fast forward to our day. What's the great threat?
It surprised me. I gotta tell you I didn't see it coming. COVID comes out of nowhere.
And I'm not saying that that's not a real disease that actually kills people. Of course it is.
But here's what I'm saying. The governmental response in America and around the world is nothing short of tyrannical.
We have in our state a governor who thinks he has the right over the face of your child.
Of my child. The breathing holes of our children dictated by a governor.
Now I thank God that our local magistrates have not been quick to exert their control over Mount Laurel.
The doctrine of the lesser magistrates I think has been happening. We have not been cracked down upon by the governor.
But make no mistake. What he's doing is tyrannical. And there's many other examples.
Locking down small businesses. Doesn't a person have a right to feed his family? I saw one man on the street interview where people today were asked what should be done about unvaccinated people?
Will you sign this petition to throw them in jail? And one after another the man on the street signs the petition.
You see, this is a post -Christian culture. And so they don't understand the freedom that was won in the
Revolutionary War and in the Civil War. There's a generation that doesn't get the importance of freedom.
But the war is not over. As bad as this news is, and we could talk about other things that's just ridiculous.
The spending of our kids' money. A three and a half trillion dollar giveaway which just causes inflation.
We could talk about private property rights where landlords are dictated by a government to let people squat in their homes for free.
Completely violating private property rights which are outlined in Exodus 20.
That's theft. We could talk about many things of this nature. But is somebody here longing for some good news?
Anybody want good news? Black Robe Regiment. Weatherspoon.
All the men who stood in the 1700s. There was a guy like that out in California. His name is John MacArthur.
And so the government sued him for keeping his church open to worship the
Lord Jesus Christ. Here's news out of California. Well, I can't find where I wrote.
Oh, here it is. Good news. You guys want good news. City of Los Angeles has decided to drop all charges against Grace Community Church and agreed to pay all legal fees incurred due to the lawsuit
LA brought against GCC last summer. This is a monumental victory for GCC.
You see, when you stand up against tyranny, the Constitution still stands behind you.
What was signed in 1787 and the Supreme Court would have upheld it had it gone that far and LA knew it.
And so they paid all the legal fees. Listen, when you stand up, you find yourself free.
When you don't, heaven forbid what could happen. Now's the time.
While we are free to speak, there may come a day where we have to go and die, but wouldn't you rather speak while we have the
First Amendment right to do what I'm doing right now? Speak up. Speak of freedom.
Why? Because it matters for human flourishing, for little kids to be able to breathe, for the freedom to make your own choice.
And guys, I don't care what your choice is with regard to vaccinations and masks and stuff like that. I care about freedom, that you as an individual made in the image of God have a right over your own body.
And as a church, we don't care, but we care about freedom. And I'm saying that these things also matter for the gospel.
Long introduction. But here's the reason I felt the freedom to do it.
We only have two verses to cover. So Hebrews 11, verses 29 and 30.
In context here, we have this expression, by faith, repeated again and again. And each time, it is followed by a person.
By faith, Abel. By faith, Enoch. By faith, Noah. By faith, Abraham. By faith,
Moses, we were talking about last week. Well, what follows by faith in verse 29? The people.
The people stand as an example of faith. Now, this is interesting because the people generally were not a faithful people.
And yet, in the providence of God, Romans 11 only records two examples here of the people walking in faith.
And that's encouraging to me because when I stand before the bema, before the judgment of God, before Christ Jesus himself, he is not going to hold over my head all the ways that I fell short of his glory.
I'll be washed under the blood and be rewarded for the things done in the flesh, but forgiven in the sea of forgetfulness for all of the ways that I fell short.
So it is in Hebrews 11. We don't hear mention of the waffling and the failings of the people.
Here we see two examples of triumph. Let's read them. By faith, the people crossed the
Red Sea as on dry land. But the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
So two examples of walking by faith. We'll take them one at a time, just in short order. Turn with me to Exodus 14.
The author is really humming now. Early on, he went person by person, slowly through Genesis 1 -24, and then he sped up for three verses to finish the book of Genesis.
Last week, we saw the first 13 chapters of Exodus, and here we pick up at Exodus 14, the example of the faith of the people.
Walking by faith out of Egypt pictures deliverance from slavery.
How did the people get delivered from Egypt? By the blood of the Lamb. The blood that marked the doorposts finally broke the back of Egypt, and the people came out.
But as they got to the Red Sea, Pharaoh decided to chase them down because he wanted his slaves back, and they found themselves pinned between a rock and a hard place, the
Red Sea on one side and an imposing army coming upon them, ready to kill any resistors and take the rest back as slaves.
Stuck there, of course, what did the Israelites do? Began to grumble.
Why did you take us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness and get run over by Pharaoh's army? And yet God, through Moses, opened a way.
Setting foot in the Red Sea, holding forth the staff, the waters divided, making a way.
And in the same way, brothers and sisters, there is freedom offered to you. If we lived in the most totalitarian state on earth, say
North Korea or Iran, you would still be free because the bondage, the slavery that matters most is a slavery to sin.
John 8 .34 says, anyone who sins is a slave to sin.
John 8 .36, but you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. Coming through the
Red Sea is a picture of deliverance from slavery, and it pictures those of us who have been born again of water and of the
Spirit. Passing through from slavery to freedom, delivered of all of our sins, made new as we crossed and were converted.
But there's also a political reality here, isn't there? The people were political slaves to Egypt, and here the path to freedom was directly through the
Red Sea. And so it says back in Hebrews 11, hold your finger where you were because we're coming back to Genesis 14.
It says, by faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
In Exodus 14, we read in verse 5, the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled.
The mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, what is this we have done that we have let
Israel go from serving us? They wanted their slaves back. Verse 12, is not this what we said to you in Egypt?
Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians, for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in this wilderness.
The people still wanted to be slaves. But look at 14, 13, and Moses said to the people, fear not.
Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which we will work for you today.
For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
The slavery that was holding the Israelites at that point was one of fear. And in verse 13,
Moses tells them, fear not. Well, why were they afraid? All they have to do is go through the easy way ahead of them, right?
Wrong. Picture yourself in their shoes. You have to descend down underwater, probably a thousand feet at the depth of the
Red Sea. And on your left and on your right is a wall of water, only there's no glass tube like at the aquarium.
This is a wall of water that's just splashing and imposing. You can probably see fish swimming.
And you must walk through this to freedom. If you don't admit that that would be a little nerve wracking, you must be braver than I.
That's scary. And in the same way, our freedom was one for us.
And the only thing that keeps us from walking in it is fear. COVID is a real thing, but the fear of it is what's controlling people.
It's what's changing their entire lives and changing the world and granting authoritarian power to worldwide governments.
The fear of it. Christian, it is not for us to be afraid. 366 times in the
Bible we're told, fear not. In Isaiah 35 he says, say to the one who's anxious, fear not, do not be afraid.
Your God will come to save you. In Isaiah 41 we're told, fear not, for I am with you.
Be not afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you in my righteous right hand.
Again and again we're told to fear not. Some have said 366 times in the
Bible. That's one for every day of the year, plus on leap year. We need to be reminded every day, fear not.
What is it that you're afraid of? Whatever it is, Christ is greater than that thing.
Christ is bigger. There is nothing to fear. Walk in the liberty that's yours. So they do that. Here is a victory of faith.
They go through, out of slavery, into freedom. That's the first point.
Second point, told you we'd move quickly. Back in Hebrews 11, look at verse 30.
Not only do they come out of slavery, but after 40 years of getting it wrong, where here the author of Hebrews just hits fast forward and you just go, now they're crossing the
Jordan River. Verse 30, Hebrews 11, verse 30, says, by faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days.
This is a picture of taking ground for the gospel. Paul said, in Philippians 1, 12, whatever has happened to me has happened for the advancement of the gospel.
So even his chains was a testimony of the greatness of Christ. Whatever happened to Paul was for the advancement of the gospel.
How much more the freedom that we were given to go take ground. We are protected.
In Joshua 1, Joshua is told again and again, do not fear, do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous, again and again. I was part of a missionary team that went to Kensington, one of the roughest neighborhoods in inner city
Philadelphia. We were there from 2004 to 2016 in various ministries.
But there were some ministers there who got there as early as 1990 and are still there to this day at Cornerstone Community Church on Frankfurt and Allegheny.
For these 30 years, they go day and night through the streets preaching the gospel, boldly walking where angels dare to tread.
And no one has laid a hand on them. No one laid a hand on me or my wife or my children for those 12 years.
One day, a temple student moved into Kensington, 21 years old, first day in the neighborhood.
He was walking right past my house, 1941 East Orleans Street. And he was jumped and mugged and beaten.
I opened the door and there saw that beating and yelled.
And the guy stopped. And then both of them started pleading their case to me as to what was going on.
He owes me money, says the mugger. He's trying to kill me, says the guy being mugged.
Finally, my wife comes from behind me and says to the guy who had done the mugging, go home. And he put his head down like this and just walked away, walked up the street and around the corner.
Here's the point. When you are in the will of God, when you're doing what He called you to do, no weapon formed against you shall prosper.
You have nothing to fear. The missionaries were kept and protected and are to this day. Now, I don't know that this young temple guy knew the
Lord. I don't think he did. He didn't have that same angelic army surrounding him for 30 years.
So in the first week, he was beat down. Wherever you go, when you're in Christ, you are guarded in Him.
You have the armor of God, Ephesians 6. Do you not? The shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, a belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, your feet fitted with the gospel of peace.
You walk in the power of the Lord. This is what the Israelites did. They went to Jericho and they circled it for seven days.
And on the seventh day, they did so seven times and blew the trumpets and took the ark and by no human power, the walls of Jericho fell.
This is our inheritance. To go to the Cherry Hill Women's Center and preach
Jesus Christ and see the walls fall down. Some women will preserve the life of their babies and be moms to those babies.
Some will be rescued. It is our inheritance to stand up in our workplace.
I'll sign a religious exemption for you if you're under threat of losing your job. It's our inheritance to go and preach the gospel and see lives change.
Imagine if Princeton changed. How would that affect the world? The leaders coming out of there. But we must go and take
Jericho. That's the example of faith. The second generation did this. That first generation, by and large, always wanted to go back to slavery.
Always back to Egypt. And so they fell in the desert. So in closing, we have two examples this morning.
One, to come out of slavery. First, you must be born again. And there is also a political freedom that we should pursue and enjoy and treasure and cherish and fight for.
That's a good thing. That's all pictured in the Israelites coming out of Egypt. But then there is the taking of ground.
Let's do that as well. So in closing, walk out of Egypt by faith in the blood of Christ.
Cross the Red Sea. That means be converted. Walk by faith with the people of God toward the promised city.
Pray and shout down every wall raised up against the knowledge of God. I like 2 Corinthians 10, 3 -5.
You guys like this verse? For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey
Christ. We walk in freedom. So the gospel is the seed that we scatter.
Freedom is a seed bed. We're not like the martyr cults that want to just suffer.
We pursue freedom, and it's a good thing, and we stand for freedom. Someone once said, it's very easy to be a communist in a free country.
Now try being free in a communist country. We still have a free country so long as we're able to keep it.
Let's close in prayer. So Father, as we've studied your word and saw the example of the people, we thank you that you have seen fit in your providence that we were born or immigrated to a free country.
Thank you for this country, Lord. We pray that you would preserve it. We pray for more victories like the one that John MacArthur's church won this week.
We pray for the people to stand up and claim the liberty that was won by our predecessors.
We thank you for America. We're blessed to be free. We thank you for the evangelical free church which stood for your word and your word alone.
But Lord, most importantly, I pray for those who have not yet come into the freedom from sin, the bondage and the chains of addiction, and the power of the devil.
I pray that you would set individual hearts free, Lord. That they would believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and so be saved.
There is one who took our chains upon himself. One beaten and held in place on that cross only to be buried and rise again and now offer us forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
I pray for any who have not been set free by the Lamb of God. Those who are set free are free indeed.
I pray that they would believe the good news. Call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved. Thank you for our freedom.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand and sing. We see the grand divide of creation's grand design
In the lives of those who prove his faithfulness
Oh, walk by faith and not by sin By faith our fathers know the earth is in their hands
Each city built by God's own hand
This world we send just to stream We will slave as children of the
Father We will fix our eyes on him as our own king
Till the race is finished and the world will someday
For Messiah would appear
To break the chains of sin and death His triumph is here
The church was called to be
Finished and the mountain shall be new
And the power of the gospel shall prevail Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations according to the command of the eternal
God to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise