Sermon Tone Analysis

When Pursued.

Pray!—Exodus 14:8-10

 

/ 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly.

9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

10 As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them.

In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord.

*Verses 8-10*/

 

 

*When Satan Pursues Us We Must Cry Out To The Lord*

 

/5 //For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me; 6 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.

7 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called.

From his temple he heard my voice, and *my cry* came to his ears.”

*2 Samuel 22:5-7*/

*/ /*

 

¨      With *[FERVENCY]*!

/ /

/17 //Elijah// was a human being like us, and he prayed *fervently* that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.

18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

*James** 5:17-18*/

 

/12 //Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.

13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

*Jer 29:12-14*/

/ /

/ /

¨      With *[OTHERS*]!

 

/18 //Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

//19 //Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about* anything you ask*, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.

//20 //For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

*Matthew** 18:18-20*/

 

/23 //After they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

24 When they heard it, they* raised their voices together to God* and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, …” 31 When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

*Acts 4:23-24 & Verse 35*/

 

 

¨      With *[FAITH]*

 

/31//“Simon, Simon, listen!

Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, //32 //but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

*Luke** 22:31-32*/

\\ Good to see you.

How is everyone doing this morning?

Satan is described in the Scriptures as a serpent, a fowler bird, a wolf, a lion, and as a dragon.

The reality is that he is extremely deceitful like a snake, he steals lives like crows do seed, he is like a hungry wolf in pursuit of sheep, he prowls like a lion to devour souls, and without any doubt he is a terrible monster like a dragon.

He is not only evil personified, but he is the instigator and source of evil.

And Satan’s one consuming passion is to recapture those stolen from him by the grace of God.

If you are a Christian then Satan watches your name and your life closely for every opportunity to destroy you.

You are one of the very few free souls not under his eternal slavery, and his greatest lust is to put you back into the chains God freed you from at the cross.

Do you believe there is a spiritual being like I just described?

Or are you more inclined to dismiss him as the preacher’s boogieman?

Yet there is so much evil in the world.

I have a very hard time explaining it simply as the natural inclination of human hearts.

I really do think that the Hitler’s, Stalin’s, and the Osama Ben Linden’s of this world have help!

I know the evil I’ve committed is not what I wanted or intended to do, but it came from a source that was both personal and frightening.

Have you ever felt the presence of Satan as he pursues you?

Have you sensed him behind events in your life?

If you had been one of the Israelites fleeing slavery in Egypt 1500 years ago you would have.

You would have first heard him in the roar of moving chariots and shouting men.

At that moment you would have turned back to see Satan in a cloud of dust with armed disciplined soldiers marching towards you.

You would have smelled him in the fear and sweat of your fellow travelers.

You would have felt him as your skin goose bumped in icy cold mounds, and your stomach became nauseated with freezing terror.

The Bible reports, “/8 //The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly.

9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

10 As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them.

In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord.”/

/ /

From this report it seems on the surface that God is responsible for Pharaoh’s decision to chase the children of Israel.

If that is all we see, in my opinion, we are missing how God sometimes uses Satan to accomplish his will.

For example God is responsible for Job’s misfortunes by allowing Satan to afflict him.

Paul says to the Thessalonians that God sends strong delusions to those who disobey the truth so that they will be condemned.

God did harden the wicked king’s heart, but the Evil One was all ready enthroned in Pharaoh to change his mind.

It was Satan who led him into the wickedness of opposing God, and God simply used Satan and this wicked king to accomplish his will.

God and Satan are opponents.

They are not friends and they are not equals in any way.

They do not cooperate, but Satan fits into God’s plan and God uses him.

God allows him to pursue us so that we might glorify and trust him.

Remember last week we learned that wherever we are in life God has led us there to glorify him.

And I want you to consider that we are under Satan’s pursuit to glorify god.

I believe you and I are being pursued by His chariots.

I know that God has led us to this place and this time to glorify him, and *that we need to acknowledge Satan but keep our eyes on God.*

 

Let’s acknowledge that Satan is pursuing us with chariots of legalism.

Some of us grumble and murmur because it is not the way we have always done things.

We are bound by rules not even found in Scripture.

Let’s acknowledge that Satan is pursuing us with chariots of love for ease.

He does this because when God calls us to glorify him with service we prefer to sit in a pew and be consumers and not contributors.

Let’s acknowledge he is pursuing us with chariots of immorality.

Some of us have confused grace with a license to sin.

Satan will do whatever he can to have us sin against our own bodies made for God’s Holy use.

Let’s acknowledge that Satan is pursuing us with chariots of unforgiving hearts, and that some of us want to shoot our wounded.

That we say angry cruel words judging people motives with impossible standards.

But in acknowledging Satan’s pursuit we must not take our eyes off of God.

When Satan is allowed to pursue us we must stop and cry out to God.

David did this when was delivered from the hands of his enemies and in particular of Saul’s.

Listen to him as he says, /“//5 //For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of devilish ungodliness assailed me; 6 the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.

7 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called.

From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears.”/

David acknowledged Satan’s pursuit by comparing it to a flood, to blowing pouring rain, to strong entangling ropes, and to traps.

He did not let Satan overwhelm him.

He kept his eyes on God in his distress and cried out to him.

So how do you acknowledge Satan and keep you eyes on God.

The only way that David did it and the children of Israel did it was by prayer of course.

Verse ten says that they cried out to the LORD.

*When Satan pursues us we must cry out to the LORD with fervency.*

Satan’s pursuits are not small efforts on his part to destroy God’s people.

He is intense with hatred and evil, and will not give up easily.

If you falter he will be on you like a rabid dog.

A few years ago in a London news paper called the Sun it “bore the headline: ‘Vicar Savaged by Dog called Satan.’ ‘A Vicar,’ reported the paper, ‘is recovering from being savaged by an Alsatian called Satan.

Alan Elwood, 45, was bitten all over his body and his trousers and shirt were ripped to shreds in the farmyard attack in Westport, Somerset.

‘It was terrifying.

I was lucky to get out of it,’ Mr. Elwood told the Sun.” (From The Red Sea Rules by Robert J. Morgan, Page 35)