Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): Grab hold of your new identity in Christ today on Abounding Grace.

Pastor Ed Taylor: By faith, you're a new person in Christ. You don't identify yourself by your past sin. One of my favorite illustrations is Rahab, so often referred to in the Bible as Rahab the harlot. The moment she placed her faith in Jesus Christ, Rahab was a saint.

Of course, she placed her faith in Messiah to come, living under the Old Covenant, but that woman believed God and it was accounted to her for righteousness. You don't be calling Rahab the harlot anymore. The same for you that might have some kind of sexual past. We don't see you through your sin; we see you through the righteousness of Jesus. The problem is, and can be, you don't see yourself that way. You don't believe God. Trust Him.

Guest (Male): Welcome again to Abounding Grace and our series in Exodus, a study of God's deliverance. Pastor Ed Taylor will be wrapping up Chapter 14. If you'll recall, the children of Israel were delivered by God from Egyptian slavery, but now they face a new obstacle that would leave them fearful and anxious.

The Red Sea was in front and the army of Egypt behind. They looked to be trapped, but God would again deliver them in a miraculous way. Let's hear all about it now.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Notice in verse 17 again, God is giving him the plan. He doesn't always do this, but He gives the plan. "I'm going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians. They're going to follow as you guys move forward. They're going to follow you on dry ground." He doesn't say anything about them being on dry ground, just he says in verse 17 that I'm going to gain honor.

There's going to be honor through this. The Egyptians, verse 18, are going to know that I'm the Lord God, that I've gained honor for myself over Pharaoh, their chief god, little "g," remember? And his chariots, what they were trusting in, these weapons of war, and his horsemen, the men that thought that they were chief, that they were going to take over, that they were going to bring these men back into slavery.

In verse 19, it says the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So, it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus, it was a cloud and darkness to the one, but it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.

God is reminding them. You've already seen this, nation. And remember, there's millions of people here, so it's going to have to be handed down. Moses is going to give leadership and it's going to be handed down. Tell the person behind you, tell the person behind you, tell the person behind you. Listen, you and I, we want to be very, very careful what we're telling the person behind us.

The person behind us? Yeah, there's a lot of people looking to your life, watching your life, listening to you, waiting for the right moment to talk to you. You know, they see the same things in the world you see. And the things in the world, they trouble me from time to time. Depending on what kind of day it is or where the condition of my mind and heart is, I'm not always so super confident when I see.

I know with the Lord, I'm so grateful. It's the second time that John 14 was brought up in my life today. Just thinking about the promise of Jesus. He's going to take care of me. He's going to come back for me. Just trust Him. Isn't that just so encouraging as you were praying over that today? You're just praying through it like, "God, You're coming back for me. You're going to sustain me until You come."

The people that are behind you: your kids and your grandkids. The person that's sitting behind you right now in the row behind you. Though you be becoming an example to them, just your presence. Although they'll never tell you or never really even want to tell you, but your presence there, they're reminded today by you, the person behind you, that they're not alone in this world.

And you go, "Well, they haven't even met me yet." No, you don't understand. They're your brother and sister, part of the family. The people behind you. You want to be careful. You want to be careful in what you say. You want to be careful in how you act. You want to be careful in how you carry yourself.

The person behind you, they're going to have to hear it. And as the word gets out, they're just going to have to follow. I mean, that's a lot of people. God's moving really fast. So who knows how far it went back? Everyone else is just going to have to follow. And the Bible tells us that we're to find examples to follow and we're to find examples to avoid.

And that always reminds me in my own walk from an early age, I just want to be one of the examples that someone can follow. I know I'm not going to be a perfect example and I know I'm not going to hit the mark every time, but I want to hit it a lot. I want to walk a straight line. I want to be someone that, in my example, will help them along the way.

It won't hurt them. It won't hinder them. It won't stumble them. It won't trouble them. But as much as a human being can bring encouragement, that's the mark I want to hit. I want to follow the Lord and like Paul said, imitate me as I imitate Christ.

And here's the nation. They're going to have to move forward toward an impossibility, but then quick movement takes place. Quick movement. The cloud is going to be a darkness to the Egyptians, but it's going to be a light to the nation of Israel. Just like the cross. The cross is light to one but an offense to another.

Remember in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 18, it says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.'"

Verse 21 now notice: Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. Now why did he stretch out his hand? Mark it back in verse 16: "But lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it." How did Moses become the man where it didn't take him six times to do this, but he did it right away? Well, it didn't take him five times, it didn't take him six times, it didn't take him ten times because God has prepared him for this moment.

Certainly he's just as fearful as anyone else or wrapped up in the concern for the people because he loved them. But you can mark this in verse 21, this is another example of immediate obedience. He stretched his hand out over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and He made the sea into dry land and the waters were divided.

So many people have a problem with this miracle of God. So much debate about these scriptures. It's often explained away, put in a place where it couldn't have possibly happened. One of the popular explanations that come up in commentaries is that in the Hebrew, the word isn't the Red Sea, but the Reed Sea.

And really what's being described here according to critics is it's just a smaller body of water that was only inches deep and they crossed over because it was very low, very low. That's interesting because a even greater miracle would have taken place in verse 23. It says, "And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

And it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, 'Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.'"

And then in verse 26, He told Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, their chariots, and their horsemen." Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it.

So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea. Not so much as one of them remained. I think that would be a much greater miracle if they walked into inches of water and they drowned in inches of water as the waters came above them.

Look, I believe in the God of the Bible. And the issue is not so much the Red Sea or the Reed Sea. That's a nonsensical response. This was a full body of water that was large enough to stop a nation from going forward and to swallow up a chasing army.

But truly, the God of the Bible is revealed not so much having a difficulty, "I have a hard time believing this." Actually, you're too far into the text because the real verse you need to come to terms with for the rest of the Bible is not Exodus chapter 14, it's Genesis 1:1. Genesis 1:1. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

That verse, that verse alone, how you view Genesis 1:1 will determine how you view the rest of the Bible. "I don't believe God would." All right, that's probably why you doubt a lot of the Bible. "Well, you know, I'm not sure that God could." Yeah, I know. You say that about anything that challenges you. Anything in the Bible that, "I don't believe that God can heal today." Yeah, what do you think about Genesis 1:1?

"I don't know. Maybe God did this and kind of did this and He sort of did that and, you know, what about Mars?" Well, what do you mean what about Mars? "Is there alien life on some planet we don't know about?" Let's just pause for a second. What do you think about Genesis 1:1? "I don't know about Genesis 1:1." And you go on and on and on because when you refuse to believe, then belief is harder as you continue to go forward.

Here we need to be careful to give God the credit and believe Him. If you come back with me notice again in verse 21, Moses stretches out his hand over the sea and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind and He made the sea into dry land and the waters were divided. Notice verse 22, this is very important.

"So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them." Now, if it's only inches, then it's a wall to their ankles like right here, little wall. They can just walk through like the bumpers when you're going bowling, you know, just little inches of. It just doesn't make any sense at all just from the context of the text alone, let alone Genesis 1:1.

But notice, they became a wall on their right hand and on their left. God changed their perspective. He got their eyes off of everything and got His, you could almost say, He got their eyes down on His faithfulness. They were looking at all their circumstances and God narrowed down what they were to look at: God's faithfulness.

And we read already the Egyptians pursued, went after them, they went into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots. And some time has taken place here. It's a lot of people crossing across. But notice it came to pass in the morning watch, verse 24, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians and troubled them, took off their chariot wheels, drove them with difficulty.

Because the enemy just is relentless. Just continuing, continuing. What did Peter say? That the devil's like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Defeated and ultimately destroyed, but the devil's determined. Defeated and ultimately destroyed, but he's determined. Just like these. They kept, "Hey man, their wheels are falling off, difficulty's coming," but they're pressing, pressing, pressing.

And He took them off. Verse 26, then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand, the waters may come back upon the Egyptians." He did it, verse 27. The sea returned to its full depth while the Egyptians were fleeing, and so the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

The waters returned, covered the chariots, the horsemen, all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on the right hand and on the left.

This is a moment in time I want you to pay attention, pay careful attention. The nation of Israel is gaining a new identity here. God is bringing them farther and farther away from their past into the newness of life. With the waters coming back, the old life in Egypt is over. They were only able to cross through the Red Sea miraculously. They will not be able to cross back in their own strength.

Just as if they were able to cross, they weren't able to cross in their own strength, they will not be able to go backwards in their own strength. There's no turning back. Now of course they can turn back in their hearts and that'll cause them problems, but they can't do it physically. A new identity. And this is important for us today in our New Covenant life because that is a picture of salvation.

God did for you, born-again believer, what you cannot do for yourself. He provided for us the blood of Jesus Christ to forgive us of all sins and give us a new identity. You can no longer live in the oldness of life. You are no longer who you were. When you made a commitment to Jesus Christ, it's complete. It's full. At least it should be.

Don't even talk about going backwards. Don't even entertain it. Egypt has nothing for us. This world has nothing for us. I don't know at what point you're going to be convinced of that. I don't know at what point you're finally going to turn your back on this system and on this culture.

And I don't mean for the sake of salvation, the sake of love and care, the investment, self-sacrifice. I'm not speaking of that. But to think still that you're going to find fulfillment in this world. To think still that going back to Egypt—what does Egypt represent? The bondage of sin. It represents the world system.

To think for a moment going back to the bondage and slavery is going to bring you fulfillment when the fact that you're delivered today because you cried out because you didn't like it. What a vicious cycle. "Deliver us, deliver us!" Okay, God's delivered us. "This is unbelievable, God's delivered us. I want to go back. It's hard."

What do you mean you want to go back? "Yeah, I just remember, I'm thinking back of how good it was." How good it was? You're not thinking right. You're not thinking right. You have forgotten. You know, that's how we are. We've got this unique selective memory. Just because things have gotten hard in Christ, you forgot how hard they were in the world.

You have a new identity. You have been bought now with a price. And I want you to turn to this, those of you dealing with identity and challenging with who you are and what's God's will for your life and what's the future hold. Turn over to 2nd Corinthians Chapter 5. I want you to memorize this scripture. It's so powerful.

I want you to walk in the newness of life. It's so glorious to consider the work of Jesus in our lives. We are literally a new creation in Christ. A new person. And in 2nd Corinthians Chapter 5, verse 17, a man who needed this verse himself, you remember, Saul of Tarsus. All the guilt and shame and things he could have carried and perhaps battled because of who he was and what he did. 2nd Corinthians Chapter 5, verse 17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new," say it with me, church, "creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

That's the way it is, church. And there's one "Amen" in the house. But we'll take it. On a personal level, as a person that wrestled with alcohol for many, many years and drugs and just so destroyed my life, I was forced by the courts as part of one of my sentences to go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

And I don't want to be misunderstood here: whatever tool you need to use in order to stay sober, you use that tool. But I want you to be careful. When you're using tools, you know, maybe training a kid how to use a tool, I want you to be careful. I want you to learn safety, put your goggles on, hold it rightly.

But I was forced to go to these meetings and one after another a person would get up, "Hello, I'm so and so and I'm an alcoholic." "Hello, I'm so and so and I'm an alcoholic." "Hello, I'm so and so and I'm recovering," and on and on and on again.

The Bible declares, born-again believer who may have had great difficulty with alcohol, the Bible declares you are a new creation in Christ. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. So, it could be that you need that gathering for encouragement and support.

But when they ask you to stand up before the group, you cannot declare that you are an alcoholic and be a new creation at the same time. You are no longer. I mean, think about it: some of you have been sober for 30 years. When are you going to call it? When's it going to be?

When are you going to finally say, "Alcohol has no power over me, I'm a new creation in Christ"? I'll tell you when you can call it: the very second you're born again. And the third second, and the second day, and the month, and the year.

I look at those that have wrestled within homosexuality or lesbianism or the whole LGBTQ community, and even within the church today, carrying into the church, "Well, you know, I'm just same-sex attracted. That's what I am." No, you're a new creation in Christ! Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

"Well, you know, I'm just a sex addict." No, no, no, no, no. No, no, you're a new creation in Christ! Old things have passed away. Behold, all things—you are not subject to your emotions and to your behaviors. God has invaded your life. You have a new identity that is replaced by the power of God in your life.

To bridge the gap of your wrestling with sin and your temptation and your new creation is what? Faith. And this is where it's easy to be misunderstood. This is what you need to learn to do: you need to learn to declare your new identity. To declare it! Oh, you're not calling something that isn't into existence, like this phrase is misused.

When you declare your identity in Christ, you're actually speaking the truth over your life. You have been delivered. You are a new creation in Christ. You are not identified, I am not identified by my previous sinful behavior.

"Yeah, but you don't understand, Ed, I feel like—" I know what your feelings say, but the Bible says you're a new creation in Christ. "Yeah, but I was tempted and I fell into this sin again and it feels like I'm not—" I know what you've gone through, but the Bible says!

Who do you want to believe, your emotions or the Bible? Who do you want to believe, the way the culture's pressuring you or the Bible? What's the outcome of your life? You know, the children of Israel, "We'll go through the land, but we're still slaves and we'll go back to Egypt anytime we want." You are not slaves! God has delivered you.

Jesus so much would say, "To whom you present yourself a slave, you present yourself to sin, then you become a slave to sin. You present yourself to righteousness, you are a slave to righteousness." You don't believe me? Challenging? Wrestling in your mind? I want you just consider the few minutes you've been listening to me, not arguing with me but listening to me on this.

And how much sin has not taken root in your life? And how much temptation has not led you out the door? And how much you haven't hid a alcohol bottle in your purse and started sneaking a drink while I'm teaching the Bible? Why? Because you've presented yourself to righteousness.

And for every moment you present yourself to righteousness, you live as the new creation you are. It'd be very hard for you to stand, back to the original illustration, those of you that have lived under the bondage of alcohol. Maybe you don't even believe you could be free from it, but in Christ, you're free.

And so you can stand and say, "I am a new creation in Christ." And God has kept me sober, and then you fill in the blanks: X, Y, Z, 10 days, 10 years, for the last 30 years, whatever it may be. So that you give God the glory. This is the work of Jesus in you.

The work of man in you keeps you slave. See, what no program could do, what no psychologist could do, what no self-help book could do, no guru, no false religion, no best-selling book could do, what we couldn't do in our own strength and abilities, Jesus did by His death and resurrection.

By faith, you're a new person in Christ. You don't identify yourself by your past sin. One of my favorite illustrations is Rahab, so often referred to in the Bible as Rahab the harlot. Brothers and sisters, today, the moment she placed her faith in Jesus Christ, Rahab was a saint.

Now, of course, she placed her faith in Messiah to come, living under the Old Covenant, but that woman believed God and it was accounted to her for righteousness. And you don't be calling Rahab the harlot anymore. The same for you that might have some kind of sexual past. We don't see you through your sin; we see you through the righteousness of Jesus. The problem is, and can be, you don't see yourself that way. You don't believe God. Trust Him.

Guest (Male): This is Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed Taylor. And if you missed any portion of today's Bible study, you can simply go online to aboundinggraceradio.com. Abounding Grace is available by podcast on most platforms, including oneplace.com. Listen and learn when it's most convenient: at the gym, in the car, or as you're getting ready in the morning.

You can also get our app; it's available on all platforms. This is another way to hear Pastor Ed's teachings. Search for Ed Taylor in your favorite app store. Well, each month, we like to suggest a book that will encourage you in the Lord, and this month, it's "Just Do Something" by Kevin DeYoung.

Maybe you've been on a search to find God's will and you're stuck or frustrated, waiting for clear and unmistakable direction. In this helpful book, you'll learn that God doesn't need to tell us what to do at each fork in the road. He's already revealed His plan for our lives: to love Him, obey His Word, and after that, to do what we like.

He says, "No need for hocus pocus, no reason to be directionally challenged; just do something." We'll send you a copy with our thanks for a gift of $25 or more to Abounding Grace. Please remember, it is through your support that we're able to present this radio program on stations all across the nation. Thank you for standing with us. Call 877-30-GRACE, and we can help you with the ordering details.

Or go to our online store at calvaryco.store. We'll return to Exodus next time on Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed Taylor. We'll see you then.

Guest (Male): Abounding Grace is brought to you by Calvary Church, Colorado, here in Aurora.