Stand Still and Go Forward - Jerry Jones - UPCA Conference 2007

[Music] well my text this evening will come from the book of Exodus I'm going to begin reading in the 14th chapter of Exodus I think I'll read beginning at verse 13 and read read three verses Moses said unto the people fear you not stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which he will show you today for the Egyptians whom you have seen today ye shall see them again no more forever the Lord shall fight for you and ye shall hold your peace and then look at verse 30 of 15 and the Lord said unto Moses wherefore Christ though unto me speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward fear you not stand still and see the salvation of the Lord speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward stand still go forward it must have been just a little confusing did Moses miss it was he wrong when he said stand still and the Lord corrected him and said go forward I don't think so what I want to preach tonight is stand still and go forward that's all right let's give the Lord a hand clap and his word amen thank you for it Lord Jesus we praise your name hallelujah thank you lord thank you Lord speak to our hearts quicken every life anoint your word in the name of Jesus amen god bless you thank you please be seated it was an incredible day 400 years of bondage had come to an end the children of Israel were being led out not quietly not not with the subdued attitude but they were let out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God when Moses appeared in the palace of Pharaoh and declared thus saith the Lord let my people go Pharaoh's answer was who is the Lord that I should obey him shouldn't surprise us that Pharaoh said that because the ancient Egyptians of this time worship 2,300 gods far as he knew this was just two thousand three hundred and one who is this Lord and how do you think I should obey Him I'm Pharaoh but nine plagues later when the economy of Egypt had been wrecked by the mighty hand of God when the Nile had been turned to blood when the cattle had all been stricken with illness when the Flies and the frogs had come and filled their homes Pharaoh began to understand this wasn't one of 2,300 gods this was the God of heaven and the god of the earth and on that tenth plague that we don't usually refer to as a play when the when the message went out to the children of Israel take the lamb slaughter it cook it eat it all take the blood and place it on the lentils and the doorposts of your homes for when I see the Blood I will pass over you when they realize that this Passover that what was about to happen was God breaking the shackles of their slavery and liberating them once and for all he didn't have to tell them to stand in their houses with their staff in their hand their shoes on their feet their coats on their backs their hats on their head they knew they were about to march out of that place free free free at last and when death came through the land of Egypt and took the firstborn of every home when weeping and wailing filled the land every part of it except where the Israelites were when God's hand of Mercy had passed over them and death could not strike their homes they left marching out that next day to the sound of rejoicing and praising and worshiping for they had been liberated by the hand of power the mercy of God you're new to pentecost you've watched us around here tonight get a little bit excited let me tell you what's happening in this house we've been set free we've been liberated seeing no longer exercises it's tyranny in our lives it is not by might it is not by power it is not by our righteousness but he has broken the shackles of our sin and has liberated us pardon us if we march tonight with worship and with singing and we praise and with sounds of rejoicing for we have been set free by his power and by his grace oh can you imagine what it was like that day when they struck out from Egypt when they were marching to a land that none of them had ever laid their eyes on and yet each of them considered at home the land of promise Canaan flowing with milk and honey no wonder they were singing and rejoicing a million strong some say they poured out of Egypt and a long column of joy as they marched toward their destiny set free by God's incredible power from the mightiest nation on earth they hardly paid any attention to the land through which they were traveling none of them seems to have realized that they were marching into a trap that on either side of them was the desert stretching possibly as far as they could see a place inhospitable impossible to survive they were trapped on either side by the wilderness shimmering out ahead of them was the vast Red Sea that stretched out as far as they could see ahead horizon covered by water there was no way ahead of them they seemed to not recognize and realize where it was they were going because they were following a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night and they believed that the God who had smitten Egypt and had set them free certainly was not going to abandon them in the middle of the desert my friends don't get to looking at the topography of your situation and forget the power and the majesty of your God he didn't bring us this far to let us down he didn't deliver us from Egypt for us to perish in the wilderness he brought us out that he might bring us in and if we'll follow him he will see us through oh I'm preaching to somebody tonight quit looking at the wilderness quit looking at the sea quit worrying about the devil God is greater he is able to deliver us [Music] but as often happens those first few hours of ecstasy of overwhelming joy that new convert attitude they caused them to gaze at nothing but the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire kind of wore off and I wonder who it was that first looked back perhaps someone at the end of the column maybe didn't long for Egypt that wasn't it maybe he heard a distant Rumble maybe he smelled the dust in the air but he looked back and to his horror he recognized immediately that their past was bearing down on them that the master that had held them in slavery for all those centuries was coming to claim them afresh that ejup though its economy was wrecked its society was turned upside down still possess the greatest military power on the face of the earth and all of those chariots and all of those war horses and all of those bloodthirsty soldiers are now motivated by the fresh graves of their eldest lying yonder in Egypt we're coming after them they had no army they had no fortress they had nowhere to turn wilderness to the right and left the sea out ahead of them and now Egypt bearing down on them they were filled with fear and I don't blame him they had not one hope not one breath of a chance they could not hold off that hoard of on rushing professional soldiers they could not hope to protect their families to spare the tragedy that was bearing down on them I'm sure that through the crowd roll a roll the thunder of fear ease there must have been a shock that drowned it out their worship and robbed them of their song it was death coming they all knew it was about to happen and in that moment Moses a leap to a raka his hair blowing in the wind and he called out for all to see don't be afraid still and see the salvation of the Lord for the Lord will fight for you he knew they knew there was no army so he was saying we don't need an army we've got a God that is greater than any army the enemy could ever feel I like to think that Moses looked out in the crowd and he saw some people that were looking from him to those those onrushing soldiers looking up at him and looking back at their doom and so here's the next words he says that's okay go ahead get a good look at them because you ain't never gonna see them again from this day onward God is gonna take care of those Egyptians huh and they'll never bother you again yesterday cannot claim you the devil that held you bound in sin cannot drag you back greater is that is in us then he that is in the world I'm trying to preach to somebody tonight don't worry about what the devil is doing don't worry about what hell is up to don't focus on the enemy lift up your heads God is gonna work for us read the story my text tonight here's Moses standing there he's doing what good leaders should do he's recognizing that they are panicked and if they act out of panic they will destroy themselves so he's providing good leadership we want our leaders to convince us that they know what they're doing whether they do or not in the United States every year we have what's called the State of the Union address I'm sure you've heard of it would it be something if one year President Bush stood up in front of the Congress Supreme Court and all those folks and said you know what I don't have the foggiest idea what to do next now I'm sure they've been here especially lately he'd like to say that and he probably ought to say that but he can't say that because leaders know that there comes that moment when all is weighed in the balances and only one thing can tip the scales from defeat to victory and that is a courageous leader that can stand and say stand still just stay right where you are if you can't go forward at least don't go back if all you can do is hold your ground then hold your ground because god is gonna work for us but look at verse 15 there's a there's a sweat a swift change it's Moses doing all the talking in 13 and 14 but in 15 it's the Lord doing the talking and I just imagine in my mind I think I know exactly what happened Moses is standing up on that rock he's he's tall and and any any strong even though he's an 80 year old man he has a force of his power and personality rooted in his faith in God he is a all inspiring presence can still see the salvation of the Lord the Egyptians that you see today you will see them again no more forever for the Lord will fight for us and then he gets down off that rock and he gets down behind it where nobody can see him and he must have said something like Oh Lord what are we gonna do now because the Lord says why cry ow unto me so he had to be doing some crying but get back up on the rock and tell the people go forward hold that staff over the c-4 I'm gonna take them through on dry ground I'm gonna do what you told them I'm gonna do tell them go forward now this does not mean that Moses was wrong that he somehow made a mistake that the standing still portion of his command was earthly and the go forward portion was heavenly that's not it at all in fact I would like to point out that what Moses did was exactly what they needed at the moment they were afraid they were panicked I want to tell you something never make a life decision out of fear never when the enemy has come in and he's beaten you up on every side when he's got you all down and discouraged that's not the time to stay home from church that's not the time to quit praying huh that's not the time to quit reading the word that's not the time to lose your commitment it's time to in your heels huh and say I'm gonna stand regardless of what the devil does I'm not quitting I'm not giving in I'm gonna stand right here sometimes the best thing you can do is to do nothing I've watched people make decisions I'd want to move their families off where there was no church I've watched me and leave jobs because there were rumors there might be layoffs and go to a place they weren't sure they had a job but they heard there might be jobs can i watch that kind of thing and I've thought you're moving out of fear there's never a time when we ought to let the devil make our decisions but what we need to do if you don't know what the Lord wants then don't do anything just camp there just stay right there keep on worshiping keep on praying keep on going to the house of God keep on loving him and God will see you through can I tell you something the Egyptians could not hurt them some of you don't believe me but I'm gonna tell you again the Egyptians weren't gonna hurt anybody this day it wasn't gonna happen I don't care how fancy their chariots were how trained their war horses were I don't care how good would spear and sword their soldiers were they were not gonna hurt the Egyptians today in fact the Bible says that that pillar of cloud and fire that had been leading Egypt or Israel out of Egypt went turned and went behind them and God stood between them and their enemy and would not allow the Egyptians to come near them oh the devil likes the devil likes to put up a good show he likes to prance around he likes his spear to be shiny his sword to be sharp he likes to show that he's tough and mean and he can but he's on a leash ladies and gentlemen he can't get to you he cannot touch you there is a God that stands between you and your enemy and he cannot don't look at me like that the old book says no weapon formed against me shall prosper when the enemy comes against me he's gonna stumble and he's gonna fall because God is on my side huh my shot kya oh I'm preaching to somebody right now don't you lose your faith in God don't you trust in the arm of man God is able who will not suffer us to be tested above that which we are able no no no hear me the Egyptians could not hurt them if anybody got hurt that day they would have to hurt themselves and that was a very real possibility I could see them striking out into the trackless desert and perishing in the hot Sun I could see some rushing forward and plunging into the Red Sea and dying amid its waves I could see others foolishly trusting in the mercy of their masters their former masters and rushing back hands in the air offering to surrender to only be cut down by steely sword no Moses knew good and well but his first job was to keep them from hurting themselves from making dumb decisions from striking out on their own from taking their lives into their own hands making their own decisions going their own way choosing their own paths and stumbling in the darkness and falling prey to an enemy implacable unmerciful and perishing God knew that he was gonna take care of them but they had to cooperate and so Moses said first thing we need to do is stand still wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen my heart wait I say on the Lord rest in the Lord wait patiently for him fret not thyself ah but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint there comes a time to be still calm down chill out and wait for God it was good advice not only because of their situation but because they were going to have to be there a while deliverance does not come always on our time schedule God doesn't always do it when we want him to do it and they were not going to be delivered that day they were going to have to endure the night and so Moses was teaching them how to make it through the night you don't wander away from the fire you don't leave the light you don't make yourself a target by separating yourself from your brothers and your sisters just paint around the campfire you stay with those of like precious faith you hang around the light and the fire of God you'll be sure you don't drift from the front row to the back row and certainly not out the door but rather you come closer you'll be the first in the altar you pray the longest of anybody you make sure you're always on your feet worshiping God but I don't feel like it it isn't about feeling it's about faith and you worship Him in the night because the weeping may endure for a night joy cometh in the morning if you just be still if you just be still mornings are coming up the sun's gonna come up there will be a better day let's give the Lord a hand clap oh I'm really preaching to somebody this is the hard lesson - hang tough whenever things wrong - hang in there when the night is long hang in there when darkness prevails just stay with it when everything in you says run you don't run just stand still and you see what God can do it's called trust and it's hard to do but when we stood still when we've quit taking it into our own hands trying to fix it are you Australian men like us American men we want to fix everything if it's not broke we'll break it just so we can fix it wife will come and she's explaining some situation and problem and I don't even listen to her I'm learning I'm doing better but in five minutes I got the answer I'm fix it here's how - what you need to do we can fix that she don't want me to fix it she wants me to shut up and listen to her that's what she wants but there's something in me the one when we learned to take our hands off of it quit trying to do it ourselves fix it ourselves work it out ourselves figure it out ourselves quit trying to talk it to death quit trying to analyze it to death just take our hands off and say I'm gonna be still it's as if Moses is saying we move too fast to even see what God is doing so you need to stand still every once in a while so you can see that you didn't fix it you don't have the answer you can't work it out if you stand still you'll see that God is work that salvation is available that God will fight for you we need to be still but there comes that moment when standing still is done and that's when God said okay Moses they've stood still for a night and the cloud moved from between them and the Egyptians that fire had burned there all night long and prevented the Egyptians from coming near the the Hebrews now the pillar moved and it started moving toward the distance see and that's when God said okay Moses tell the people we're not gonna camp here forever we're not gonna stay in this wilderness forever we're not gonna sit here feel sorry for ourselves lick our wounds and look at our pastor and be guilty or be fearful but now we're gonna do the greatest privilege that we have ever been afforded we're gonna get up and we're gonna March away we're gonna leave it behind us forever we're not gonna live in the shadow of Egypt we've got a promised land to get to we're not gonna stay here with yesterday reaching out for us we're gonna march into tomorrow we are going to go forward I'm preaching to someone that desperately needs to stand still but I'm also preaching to someone that desperately needs to get up and March away from it your pain your anguish your disappointment your guilt your regret your sense of failure it's time to leave it in the wilderness and march on to your destiny God is calling us go forward you know you know how easy it is to fall into that trap of freezing where we are of living the rest of our days around this little place where we have found safety and security I believe had God not spoken they would have been happy to live there with that fiery cloud between them and the Egyptians forever they felt comfortable there they have seen their first sense of deliverance there they had understood that God would fight their battles there and they were happy to stay there but God said folks you ain't seen nothing yet I'm just getting started and it's gonna start right there on the border right there on the beach right there at the Red Sea so come on I can do this but I can do so much more so get up and let's go forward no I'm not gonna preach much longer but I am gonna medal here for just a minute is that Alright I passed her two churches it's greatly privilege to do so one very tiny when I took it another one a much larger church and I've learned some stuff one of the things I've learned is there are certain people never ask them how are you doing you don't have time to hear the answer I've learned that there are people it doesn't matter how many counseling sessions they gonna have the same problem next week that they had last week now I don't want to be Callister hard here but well let me ask you this question how do you love your pastor am I here love their pastor you all be raising your hand unless you are the pastor how many want to make your pastor's load a little bit light or anybody here sure you do let me tell you how here it is are you ready I'm going to tell you how to raise the burden to lift the load to make it easier to help your pastor here it is get ready get over it put it behind you March away from it leave it behind God has forgiven you life is moving on get in the flow and go I know it hurt I know it wasn't fair I understand all of that but you can live a victim you can live you can live taking advantage of by your past you can let each up define you or you can say I'm done with the Ummah I've got another place a better place a higher place I'm gonna leave it they are not gonna dictate my spirit they are not gonna control my attitude I'm gonna get over it I'm gonna walk away and leave it behind me let's stand some of you need to leave a life of sin behind some of you need to leave a life of guilt and regret of mistakes of low self-esteem some of you need to leave a divorce behind some of you need to leave wayward children behind some of you just need to let go of all of that depression that holds you back all I'm saying is simply this God has given you an opportunity to march off a pastor - man one time his name is Ronnie bread you have to know brother Britt he's quite a unique individual brother Britt was an alcoholic for many many years he was so addicted to alcohol he had been he had been picked up by the police so many times for driving while intoxicated that they took his driver's license away in the state of Missouri and they said we will never give you your driver's license again brother Britt found the Lord he repented got baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and was filled with the Holy Ghost and he quit drinking he quit drinking sorry he just quit now five years went by brother Britt was tired of his wife having to take him to work and take him down the store and he said I'm gonna get my driver's license so he called the license bureau and told him who he was he said I'm calling to get my driver's license back it was a nice lady on the other end of the line he could hear her clicking away on her keyboard you know got his name and his address and his ID number and all that stuff and then all of a sudden she said Oh mr. Britt I'm so very sorry but you've been flagged here because of your your disease he said what disease would that be she said because you're an alcoholic he said well see I don't drink anymore she brightened up she said Oh mr. Britt that's wonderful news said that's good sin - how long have you been have you been clean and sober he said five years I haven't had a drink in five she said man that's that's wonderful that's so exciting I think I can help you here give me just a minute she pulled up another screen evidently and she started filling it in on her computer and she was getting all this information she was just going on and on we don't get many of these reports where people have been clean and sober for five years this is wonderful she's filling it all out she says okay now what rehab center were you in what program did you go through he said it's called the alter she said mr. Britt I don't believe I've ever heard of that when where is it she said it's right at the front of my church she said Oh mr. Britt I'm sorry that won't work we have to have the name of a state approved rehabilitation program that we can put in here he said ma'am I've been through many of them but I can't honestly tell you they're good they do their thing but they're not why I am what I am I am what I am because I repented of my sins I was baptized in Jesus name and I was filled with the Holy Ghost and that took away my desire I am NOT the man I used to be I'm condensing things this took a long time I'm sure you don't have bureaucracy here in Australia we have some in the US and it took a long time I wrote a letter we got the mayor to write a letter we got we got state legislators we did everything we had people write letters and they were adamant finally he called probably for the 50th or 60th time got that same lady on the phone never so well mr. Britt how you doing he said I'm doing fine she said Mr Britt she went through the whole thing she said would you just please please just go and roll in some program go through the thing just so I can put it on this piece of paper and get your license he said I can't do that she said why he said because the first thing I'll have to do is stand up in front of a lot of other people and say hi my name is Ronnie and I'm an alcoholic and he said when I quit drinking I quit lying - and I'm not an alcoholic anymore let me tell you what the book says it says if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become No you can get up and you can walk away from it I don't care what it is you can leave it behind once and for all you can find a brand-new life Kyah he don't mind a hiya I'm gonna tell you a story real quick last time I saw a brother Brent he was still loving the Lord still serving God and he had a valid Missouri driver's license in his pocket and he had never enrolled in any rehab center we finally won that battle because God is greater than anything that can come against you God is greater if you want to when you can't go forward stand still then when the word comes you can make it I don't I don't know how it was seeing pictures in the might and the my mental image has always been Moses on that rock hair blowing staff held out over the sea an opening that stretched all the way to the horizon with dry ground as far as you can see and there they stepped off and you know he might have not been that way it might have been this way that God said go forward and there was no path in the sea but somebody had to say whether I can see it or not whether I know the end or not I'm gonna do what God said to do and so they marched to the edge of that sea and they lifted up a foot of put it down where the water was and before their foot could touch the water it flew back and they stepped on dry ground not far not far but just far enough they took another step and the waters receded and they stood on dry ground and then just step by step the sea rolled back not all in one fell swoop that gave them a vision of all their yesterday or rather tomorrow stretched out ahead of them but rather it was simply step by step day by day he said go forward I can make it he said get moving I can do it it doesn't matter whether I can see the path or not he called me to go forward I'm going and so step by step our life unfolds no insight no pre knowledge but faith and trust call us forward step by step by step someone needs to make a step today you need to you just need to March away and leave your yesterday behind you need to come on in to the bright new tomorrow that God has designed with you in mind to step out from fear and doubt confusion and what someone said or didn't say to step out from guilt or regret or sorrow or grief or loss or pain to step away and to go forward to leave all the things that held you rooted behind once now if you're here tonight and you'd like to make that step whether your Pentecostal or not it's not important Christian or not even religious or not nothing really matters right now except you're hungry for a new life a fresh beginning and brand-new start you're hungry to be free from the shackles of yesterday's mistakes and you're ready to march into your destiny call to a land so much better if you feel that way tonight I'm gonna give you an opportunity very quickly to come and and just just stand across the front of our building I want a new beginning a fresh start it doesn't mean that's sin it doesn't mean you've done some terrible thing but what it means is I don't want to be held back anymore I don't want to live here in this little world of my own disappointment and pain I want to step into my brand-new life I want to begin again no matter how many fresh starts you've had there's a new one waiting for His mercy is new every morning and if you want to you can come now they're pressing in I I wish you'd you'd press in as far as you can we we want to have plenty of room for others to come come on right now across this building in Jesus name kaalia it's possible it's possible now what Moses had told them was simple God's going to destroy the Egyptians and he's going to deliver you but my friends it did not come to pass until they had done both stand still and go forward until they had in that moment of doubt of not knowing what to do held on to what they knew was right and then when the cloud moved and the way was made they marched boldly into it and it was when they had stood still through the night and marched forward through the sea that God's Word came to pass and the enemy was drowned and they marched onward to their promise so whichever you need to do right now you're in the place to do it if it's to reconfirm your commitment if it's to get a fresh grip on God if it's to make up your mind I'm not quitting I'm not giving up I'm not going back nothing's gonna deter me or if it's time for you to get up and March away from something that's held you back now's the time and this is the place

Channel: UPCAustralia

Views: 9,220

Rating: 4.7829456 out of 5

Keywords: UPCA, Conference, Jesus, Pentecostal, UPCAustralia, United Pentecostal Church of Australia, God, Gospel, Preaching

Id: kI9uGusWDuo

Length: 49min 25sec (2965 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 19 2018