Preacher: Rev. Kelvin Mwila
Text: Exodus 14:1-29
Theme: Stand still and See God at work
INTRODUCTION:
What seemingly impossibilities are you facing? Is it a financial impossibility? Is it a physical problem? Whatever the seemingly impossible is that you are facing, the question is this: “Are you facing it with faith? Or Fear?
Pharaoh had ill treated God’s children so much that the Lord was up to avenge whatever Pharaoh had done to his children. God will deal with anyone who has given you trouble today. God wants you to stand still this morning and see him deliver people and deliver you as well. God will harden the heart of every witch in your family so that you can watch him get some glory within your family members. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened so that he will not release the children of Israel because he had angered the wrath of God. When someone touches you as a child of God, I came to announce to you that fire will answer.
Ex. 14: 4. One other thing we learn about Pharaoh is that if you do not allow God’s ways to be done in your life, God will cause his will to be done however he pleases it be done. You can not stand in God’s way if God is up to getting glory out of a situation. Not even the grave could conceal Lazarus because God was up to getting glory to his name. Jesus told the people who went with him to the grave sight of Lazarus just to do one thing, and that was to open the tomb and to stand still so that they could see the salvation of the Lord. (John 11)
The Egyptians that you kept seeing as you were coming to this place; you will see them no more because God is in this place. God stays and dwells at palace of praise, God is surely here! Tell your neighbor that God is here and He is here to deliver his people.
Let us take a look at some things that unfolded at the banks of the red sea and try to apply them to our lives as individuals. I can guarantee you that at the end of this message many of us will be seeing the salvation of God at work in our lives.
1. Breaking the slave mentality (Exodus 14: 10-12)
We need to have God work on our minds in order for us to experience God at work in our lives. The Children of Israel panicked and they thought that their leader Moses had deceived them into following him. They thought that Moses had conspired with Pharaoh so that he could get them killed by the Egyptians in the wilderness. Children it is important to trust God and also to trust the men of God who God has set over you. You might just anger the Lord for speaking against his servants because all his servants do is carry out the word of God.
The children of Israel had just started their way up to freedom and this was a great temptation to go back. This time they did not believe Moses regardless of what miracles they had seen him do in order for them to be set free. They did not believe that Moses was used by God anymore. They started wishing they had never left Egypt in the first place. Egypt was a place of slavery. They mistook slavery for comfort. Tell your neighbor, don’t be comfortable in slavery. God will never work in a place were someone is enslaved, God wants to take you out in the wilderness and break the slave mentality of trusting in your uncle in Australia to give you your needs, that brother in South Africa to buy you your dream car, that auntie in Japan to send you school fees. God wants to bring you to a place where he will appear as the only one who is able to deliver you. The place you are in right now is not your death sentence position but it is your blessing sentence position. You will not die but live to testify of the goodness of God in the land of the living.
Some of you after becoming Christians enjoyed 3 days of prayer and living righteously but after 3 days God had to start working on your faith and he had to completely deal with a possibility of you turning back. God brought Israel to a place where going forward seemed hard, going backwards impossible. The Egyptians were angry, their children had died, and their animals had died. They were fuming with fury even as they pursued Israel.
When you become born again, the enemy will begin to pursue you. The enemy will want you to go back to that bar and spend your money on buying beer for your old mates so that you waste more money and endanger your liver, so that he can kill you before your time but I came to announce to you that that devil is a liar because he who the Son of man sets free is free indeed! You have been bought with a price and you are not going back but you shall see God at work. The devil is so upset with you that you have given your life to Christ but Christ is saying, when the enemy comes in like a flood I will raise the standards.
Children of God, when trouble comes it is not time for you to start missing the days you were a slave, it is time to trust in God. When your business is going down it is not time for you to miss the days you were employed (employment is slavery). It is time for you to trust that God is at work in your life and that he wants to take your business to another level and possibly another location. God wants to break that dependency on your salary, that dependency on your task masters so that your mind can be a mind that is free to see what God is about to do in you.
God is not ready to use cowards because he has never been a coward. So before God can completely use you, that cowardly spirit has to die, (:12). Slavery will make you complain against freedom. Today we are going to break the spirit of slavery to pornography, beer, glutton, fear, immorality in Jesus name!
2. Stand Firm and see God at work (Exodus 14:13)
Children of God fear will paralyze your life and it will make you to either remain at the same place or venture in desperation to get protection from witch doctors, or you will go and buy weapons to protect yourself from harm.
While you are buying all that, I came to remind you that they were some rich people who had all that in their homes and they were killed, they died because it is the duty of man to prepare the horse for battle but the victory belongs to God. Earthly protection is not sufficient, that witch doctor can not deliver you, and in fact he wants to enslave you.
In short, Moses is telling the children of Israel just sit and watch Papa at work. Do not touch anything or you will get hurt, you might get burnt if you touch hot surface, Papa is busy working, as for you just watch and be still. This battle is not for you, this particular one is for God because it is God whom Pharaoh has dared. That woman who has snatched your husband or is attempting to snatch your husband is not daring you, she is daring the one who said in Matthew 19:6 that what God has put together let no man put asunder, that boss who wants to falsely accuse you is not fighting against you, but he is fighting against the Lord who placed you in that job so that you reign in 2012, your uncle bewitching you is not fighting against you but he is fighting against the Lord who declared in Exodus 22: 18 that you shall not permit a witch/wizard to live. That witch/wizard in your family today shall fall down and die by fire by force because the bible has declared that no witch/wizard should be alive! That neighbor who wants to fight you is not fighting against you but against the Lord who has blessed you and your job is to stand still and see and see the deliverance of God. The Egyptians you see today you will see them no more.
Conclusion
What Condition is attached to being delivered?
a. Confess and admit that you can’t serve yourself; God doesn’t want to share glory with witch doctors or you Uncle Ben in Australia. He wants all the glory to himself. That is why he declared, my glory I will not share with another
b. In confession, you are allowed to talk, when admitting you are allowed to talk, but when Jehovah starts working you have one task to do. Keep quiet, shut up, close your mouth because Jehovah is about to crush the devil in your life so that he can replace him with the Holy Spirit, God wants to replace that fear inside you with faith, so your job is to stand still and see the salvation of God.
