PAST - PRESENT - FUTURE

EXODUS 14:1

A. "FEAR NOT, STAND STILL, AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD, WHICH HE WILL SHEW TO YOU TODAY."
  1. "Fear not":
    1. Israel in a state of great fear because of the Egyptians being almost upon them.
    2. The Red Sea before them.
    3. The mountains surrounding them.
  2. They blamed Moses for their seeming plight:
    1. "Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?"
    2. "Is not this the word that we spake unto you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians."
  3. How soon they forgot the miracles of the God of their fathers in Egypt:
    1. How quickly men's memory fails to bring God's love and care to us.
    2. How easy it is to blame the leaders for our seeming difficulties!
B. "SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD"
  1. In the past:
    1. "Hitherto had the Lord helped us" - 1 Sam. 7:12
    2. "If it had not been for the Lord, who was on our side" - Ps. 124:1-5
    3. "Thou hast given commandment to save me" - Ps. 71:3
    4. "Lacked ye anything; they said, nothing" - Luke 22:35
  2. Present:
    1. "I have set before thee an open door" - Rev. 3:8
    2. God provides to us this day new opportunities -
      1. for improvement in our own life,
      2. for using God's gifts to share our faith with others.
    3. "This is your hour" - Luke 22:53
    4. "What thou doest, do it quickly" - John 13:27
C. AS WE LOOK BACK OVER OUR BRIEF SOJOURNING IN THIS PRESENT LIFE, WE CAN SEE HOW WONDERFULLY THE LORD HAS LED US. EVEN THE PRESENT LOOKS ENCOURAGING, BUT WHAT ABOUT . . .
  1. The Future?
    1. This we know for sure, that our future is in the same hands that led us in the past and cares for us at the present.
    2. This is very important for us to keep in mind at all times.
  2. Experience shows that human memory is very forgetful at times:
    1. That was Moses deep concern with his people - Deut. 4:9, 23; 6:12; 8:11; 14:19
    2. David, too, was concerned, lest the people forget - Ps. 59:11; 78:7
  3. Heavenly assurance for the future:
    1. "As thy days so shall thy strength be" - Deut. 33:25
    2. "My God shall supply all your needs" - Phil. 4:19
    3. "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding."
    4. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength" - Isa. 40:28- 31
  4. The future of God's people is as bright as God's promises to them:
    1. One promise to keep in mind is found in Isa. 49:15- 16
    2. Another gracious promise for the future of God's children is found in Matt. 28:20
    3. A third assurance is found in the words of the Son of God as recorded in Matt. 24:35 and in Heb. 13:8


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