Go Forward

TEXT: Exodus 14: 10-15

TITLE: ¡§GO FORWARD¡¨

Notice the last 2 words of verse 15, when Moses went to the Lord and asked Him what He wanted him to tell the people, the Lord said, tell them ¡§GO FORWARD.¡¨

I wonder if I were to ask you what was the will of God for your church or for you as individuals, what would you say? I mean, what would you say is God¡¦s will for this church, and what is God¡¦s will for you as an individual?

There are probably as many answers to this as there are people here today. Such answers as: Winning souls, drawing closer to the Lord, giving more or greater service to the Lord and the church, being a better spouse or parent, being a better Sunday school teacher or preacher and so forth.

But probably the words of verse 15 are the heartbeat of what God would be telling us today ¡V GO FORWARD! The word ¡§forward¡¨ carries the idea of advancement and progress. In the original it means to ¡§pull up, especially the tent pegs and start on a journey.¡¨ You have been camped here long enough it¡¦s time to pull up the tent pegs and go forward; it¡¦s time to move on. This is what God wants all of our churches to be doing as well as us as individuals. The problem is many or our churches and many of us as individuals are stationary. Stationary means, we are not moving or not capable of being moved. We are fixed. God does not want us to be stationary. He wants us to be making progress forward. He doesn¡¦t want us to be stubborn and fixed; He wants us to advance and progress.

God¡¦s message to the church today is¡XI don¡¦ want you to be stationary; I don¡¦t want you to be a fixed object¡XI want you to GO FORWARD!

ƒæ Some of you have been camped out in the place of hurt feelings for to long and it¡¦s time to pull up stakes & GO FORWARD!

ľ Some of you have been camped out in the place of anger for to long and it is time for you to pull up stakes and GO FORWARD!

ľ Some of you have been camped out in the place of depression for to long and it is time for you to pull up stakes & GO FORWARD!

ľ Some of you have been camped out in the place of bitterness for to long and it is time for you to pull up stakes and GO FORWARD!

ƒæ Some of you have been camped out in the place of laziness or in the city of ¡§don¡¦t care¡¨ long enough and it is time to pull up the stakes and GO FORWARD!

ƒæ Some of you have been camped out in the place of easiness or comfort for to long and it¡¦s time to pull up stakes and GO FORWARD!

ľ Some of you have been camped out in the place of satisfaction and it is time to pull up the stakes and GO FORWARD!

God is ready to take you on a journey. He is ready to take you out of that place of depression into a place of joy and happiness. He is ready to take you out of that place of laziness or ¡§don¡¦t care¡¨ and take you to a place of service and power. He is ready to take you out of that place of easiness and comfort and stretch you and take you places you haven¡¦t been with Him before. God is ready to take you out of that place of satisfaction and fill you with hunger and thirst for Him like you have never had and lead you into a greater dimension of His glory than ever before.

You can¡¦t stay in those places camped out if you want to experience the glory and power of God in your life and in the life of this church. If you stay in those places long enough the enemy will destroy you.

Setting of the text: The children of Israel have just been delivered from the strong, oppressive hand of Pharaoh. God with a mighty deliverance has brought them out of Egypt the land of slavery and oppression. They had started their journey with high hopes and expectations toward the land of promise.

But they have marched only a few days and suddenly they seem to be stopped in their journey. The Bible records they have encamped by the sea. Before them is the great Red Sea, on either side of them is a mountain and behind them are Pharaoh and his army closing in fast. On the surface it seems they are hopelessly trapped. For all practical purposes there was no way out. But in the midst of chaos and confusion the people come to Moses and begin to cry out to him, and as they cry to him Moses goes to God and he says ¡§God, what do you want me to do? They are getting ready to stone me, what in the world do you want me to do?¡¨