From His Heart

Speaker 1

Are the decisions you make in life guided by the devil? Today, you'll discover the answer here on from his heart.

Speaker 2

Hey, fear is a chief tool of the devil because if the devil can get you to focus in on your circumstances, then he can fill your heart with fear and then he can defeat you every time.

See, either your faith defeats your fear or fear will defeat your faith. And it all has to do with what you're focusing on.

Heal every scar with real truth, real love, real hope from his heart.

Speaker 1

Nobody has to introduce you to fear. It's just something that we all experience and we know a good deal about it. Maybe you're facing some real fears today. In fact, that is highly likely. Well, even if you are, remember, God hasn't given us the spirit of fear, but the power and love and discipline to fight the fear.

So that being the case, how in the world can we face our fears head on and see the rescuing, delivering power of God? This is from his heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve today. And we'll find the answers in this eight message series called Faithful and True. Introducing the one and only God.

Today's lesson is entitled Fear, Faith and the Power of God. Now, though, open your Bible to the 13th chapter of the book of Exodus. Here again is Pastor Jeff to catch us up from last time and complete the lesson called Fear, Faith and the Power of God.

Speaker 2

Hey, here's a question for us to consider as we deal with fear in our own life. How can we face our fears and see the rescuing delivering power of God? Exodus 14 is the greatest Old Testament miracle: the parting of the Red Sea. God delivers his people through the Red Sea. God destroys Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea. It's the greatest Old Testament miracle. It's talked about over and over and over again. This is the greatest miracle in the Bible, second only to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And God gives it to us to encourage our hearts so that we would not be defeated by fear, but we would walk by faith and see God work in our lives.

So let me give you three encouragements today because you may be facing some health issues, financial issues, marriage issues, family issues, or some things that just have your heart filled with fear. You're thinking about all the terrible things that may happen to you. And God has a word for you today. It's not an accident that you are here today. It's not an accident that you're watching today. God has a word for your fearful heart.

**Encouragement number one:** We can remember that God has a plan. When the fear comes rushing in, as it was rushing in on the Israelites, we can remember that God has a plan. Chapter 13, verse 17 says this: "Now, it came about when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near. For God said, lest the people change their minds when they see war and they return to Egypt. Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea. And the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt."

God has a plan. And God knows how much you and I can take. He is not going to give us more than we can handle. He's not going to lead us through the land of the Philistines because he knows you're not going to be able to handle that. God was going to lead them a different way. God knows what you can do. He knows what your max is, and he's faithful to not give you more than you can handle. He was faithful to his people, and God has a plan. If you're facing a lot of things right now and you're tempted to lash out, saying, "God, you must not care about me because you're allowing all these things into my life," just know that he's faithful and he'll not allow you to be tempted, tested, or tried beyond what you are able. God knows exactly what he is doing.

**Encouragement number two:** We can fix our eyes on the Lord. Very interesting. It says in chapter 13, beginning in verse 21, "As the people were going out, the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, nor from before the people." There was a visible representation of God in the sky: cloud by day, pillar of fire by night. God is with his people. Anytime you could look up and see the cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night, you would know God is here with us.

But then it says, as Pharaoh changes his mind and goes after the people, chapter 14, verse 9: "Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them, camping by the sea beside PI Hahiroth in front of BAAL Zephon. And as Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them. And they became very frightful."

You can look at two different things in this situation: you have the God above you or you have the enemy behind you. What are you going to fix your eyes on? We can choose what to focus on in life. We can focus on our problems or we can focus on the problem solver. Our eyes are on you. We have a choice about what we're going to look at when the circumstances of life are very fearful. If you focus on your problems, you will always have fear. Focusing on your problems just produces fear. There is no way to get around that. Fear is often expressed in anger.

Now, it says in verse 10 that they saw the Egyptians, they saw the dust from the horses, they heard the coming hoofbeats, and they saw Pharaoh. Pharaoh is known, and Egypt was known for conquering. This is the mightiest nation in the world at this time, and their army was second to none. The Israelites had been enslaved to them, and so they're conditioned to just know you're not going to fight the Egyptians because they will crush you. And so they already have this kind predisposed fear of the Egyptians. Now, all of a sudden, they're coming after them. Well, they're scared to death. It says they were frightened, very frightened, and they cried out to the Lord.

That seems like a good thing to do. Verse 10: "Cry out to the Lord." But it's not a cry of faith. It's not a cry of "Help me, God." It's a cry of despair. It's a cry of criticism because of what they said to Moses. Verse 11: "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt saying, '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 the wilderness?"

I have a note in my Bible that I wrote in there. It's just three letters: U, G, H. Ug. I mean, what a faithless response. You've seen God work ten miracles in your midst with these plagues, and now here you are and you have zero faith. You just believe that you're dead meat. You just don't have any kind of confidence at all that God, the God above you, is going to fight for you. The only one in this group that is mentioned by name that has faith is Moses. Now, we know that Joshua and Caleb are also in the group. They're two men of faith, but they're not mentioned here. It's only Moses.

The people were focused on Egypt and Pharaoh and his chariots and his horsemen and his warriors, and they thought they were just going to be dead meat. There's nowhere to go. But why? Because Moses thought God was not much of a general. Here we are, and we're dead meat. You fill your mind with that, and you will have fear. Fear is a chief tool of the devil. If the devil can get you to focus on your circumstances, then he can fill your heart with fear, and then he can defeat you every time.

See, either your faith defeats your fear, or fear will defeat your faith. It all has to do with what you're focusing on. Peter was walking on the water with Jesus. He was doing great. Then it said, "And seeing the wind, he became afraid, and he began to sink." He wasn't afraid when he was seeing Jesus, but when he took his eyes off Jesus and he saw the wind, he became afraid. The Bible says God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and discipline. Fear is not from God. Fear is from the enemy.

A great way to think about fear is through the acrostic: F E A R. What is fear? It's false evidence appearing real. The devil will always give you false evidence appearing real to get you to believe the lie and then act in accordance with the lie. Your feelings will match up to that because feelings go off of circumstances. I remember years ago, I was at a conference at Allendale Baptist Church, and Adrian Rogers was the guest speaker. He told a story about fear, false evidence appearing real. He said, "When I was pastor at Bellevue, we were building onto the building at Bellevue Baptist Church, and the construction was taking place. One evening, it was just getting to be a little bit dark. I went to check on the construction site. Everybody had gone for the day. I was looking around to see what they had done. I walked into one of the rooms, and in the corner, I saw a shadowy figure of a man. It startled me because no one was supposed to be in there. I looked at him, and he was a big guy, kind of an ugly guy. I looked at him and said, 'Hello.' The guy didn't say anything. I said, 'Who are you?' The guy didn't say anything. My heart started to fill with fear. What am I going to do here? This guy is here. I stood up tall, thinking maybe I'll intimidate him. When I stood up tall, that guy stood up tall. I thought, 'God, I may have to fight this guy. I don't know who he is.' I needed some more light so I could fight. I took a step toward the guy, and when I did, the guy moved. I realized, 'That's not a guy. That's my reflection in the mirror.' I was all worked up over this. It was me. False evidence appearing real."

Now you say, "Well, Jeff, Pharaoh and his chariots and his warriors, they're not false evidence." Well, what's the false evidence? No, they're real and they're right behind you. They're real. But what's the lie? This is the lie that filled the Israelites' minds: Pharaoh can't be defeated. The enemy is going to overtake us. The fire of God is no match for the chariots of Egypt. That's the lie. God is above me: cloud by day, pillar of fire by night. God is the God who rained down the ten plagues on Egypt. If anything, I should just know that Egypt is no match for God. But they believed the lie.

When you focus on the problems, you're going to be fearful. You know the difference between faith and doubt? Faith brings God into the situation, and doubt leaves God out. There's a poem I like that says this: "Doubt sees the obstacles, Faith sees the way. Doubt sees the darkest night. Faith sees the day. Doubt dreads to take a step. Faith soars on high. Doubt questions who believes. Faith replies, 'I.'"

So what do you do when your heart is filling with fear? What do you do when the enemies are right behind you and you're between a rock and a hard place? You remember that God has a plan. You fix your eyes on the Lord.

**Encouragement number three:** You take that important step of faith. Verse 13: "Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear. Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.'"

The step of faith. The people could walk by faith or they could walk by sight, just like you and I can walk by faith or walk by sight. When you get afraid, we've been told for a long, long time there are two responses: fight or flight. Two responses to fear. You're going to run or you're going to fight. When a dog gets in a situation that is fearful for him, he's going to fight or he's going to run. We do the same thing.

Moses told the people, "Don't run. Stand still and be silent. Don't scream. Just look and see the salvation of the Lord. Walk by faith and not by sight." Now, what does it mean to walk by faith? What is faith anyway? Real faith, true faith, biblical faith believes God. It believes God. Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Here's the thing about Moses: God told Moses that he was going to deliver the people. God told Moses at the burning bush, "I'm taking you to the promised land." God didn't tell Moses how he was going to deliver the people. Moses didn't know how God was going to do it. He just knew that God was going to do it. So he just said, "Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord." I don't know what God is going to do. I don't know if God is just going to zap the Egyptians. I don't know what he's going to do. He didn't tell me yet what he's going to do. I don't know what he's going to do. I just know that he's going to do it.

And faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. You don't have to see it to know that it is coming because God is coming. Real faith believes God. Secondly, real faith obeys God. Real faith always has action to it. Real faith doesn't sit around and say, "Well, I believe God, but I'm not going to do anything about it."

You could say, "Well, you know, God says if I honor him with my wealth, that he will bless me, 'Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.' God says, 'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse and test me now on this,' says the Lord of hosts, 'if I will not open up for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing so big that you can't even contain it. You say, I believe that. Okay, well, if you believe it, then do it.' Well, I'm not going to do it. But I believe it. Well, you don't really believe it if you're not going to do it. See, faith always has legs to it. Faith always takes a step."

And this is what the Lord tells Moses in verse 15: "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Why are you crying out to me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.'" They got to take a step. "And as for you, Moses, this is what you do: lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. The sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. And as for me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so they will go in after them. I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.'"

He says it again: "When I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen, he says to Moses, 'As for you, this is what you do. Tell the people to go forward.'" They got to take a step of faith. "As for you, this is what you do. Take your staff and divide the sea."

With faith, there are always two parts: your part, what God tells you to do, and God's part, what God says he will do. You've heard me say this before, and it is so true, and it's worth repeating: God will not do what you can do, and you cannot do what he can do.

So real faith believes God. Real faith obeys God. And real faith experiences the power of God. So what does the Lord say in verse 19? "And the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. There was a cloud along with the darkness. Yet it gave light at night. Then one did not come near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided. The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. It came about at the morning watch, early in the morning, that the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and he made them drive with difficulty. The Egyptians said, 'Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.'

Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.' So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it. The Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea, and the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them. Not even one of them remained.

But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians. Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

God will not do what you can do, and you cannot do what he can do, and God can do anything. The story of Pharaoh is a story of a man who hardened his heart against God, thinking he could go toe to toe with God. He was crushed and pounded. God took the mightiest army in the history of the world at that time and turned it into fish food to show that the Lord he is God, the Lord he is God, he is the God who delivers. He is the God who is able.

Speaker 1

What a thought-provoking and emboldening message with wise insights for all of us today. The lesson was called "Fear, Faith and the Power of God," the seventh from Pastor Jeff's eight-lesson series, "Faithful and True," introducing the one and only God. There are so many people today who are living in fear. How can we face our fears and see the rescuing, delivering power of God? Well, by trusting in God's faithfulness to us that he has shown us over and over again.

We need to see every moment of life with God beside us, looking at his face in the good and the bad, not just reaching out for a helping hand, but enjoying his presence with us. Today we heard about God's faithfulness by revealing the story of the greatest miracle of the Old Testament, the parting of the Red Sea, and discovered how God will part the ways for us too miraculously in your life.

This entire eight-message series is our thank you gift for your support of any amount from His Heart this month. We depend on the support of our listeners to keep us on the air here and around the world, and we want to expand this year as well. We've been in it for 20 plus years, and Pastor Jeff is a volunteer for this ministry. As we grow, we continue to have people join us in this effort to reach the world for Christ. If you'd like to do that today, we would appreciate it.

When you give a gift, we'll send you the series "Faithful and True: Introducing the One and Only God." You can get it on a USB flash drive, as an immediate MP3 download, or on CDs or DVDs—your choice. Request it when you call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go online to fromhishheart.org.

Remember, as you give, you will be helping to share the truth with people around the world each day and help them discover that God is indeed faithful and true. Thank you for listening today. We appreciate it so very much. I'm Larry Elbles, inviting you to be here tomorrow for the first part of the last message in the "Faithful and True" series called "The Highs and Lows of Life."

Be with us on Friday when Pastor Jeff Shreve will again open God's Word and share real truth, real love, and real hope from God's heart here on From His Heart. From His Heart is the listener-supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and hurting world. Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. You can find out about that when you go to fromhishheart.org.