A Parting View

Introduction

One of the hardest moments in a person’s life is the moment they have to approach a casket to view a loved one’s remains for the last time. This moment of immense significance causes a great number of emotions that seem to come all at the same time. The most obvious and most powerful in this moment is the feeling of grief. Grief is defined as “deep and poignant distress caused by or as if by bereavement.” This lose is what we first think of when we consider grief. This is not the only place we find grief, but Oxford dictionary says that grief is also “a cause of such suffering.” When I was younger I would hear the old church people talk about how their spirit was grieved.

The moment that a family view the remains of their loved they are overcame with grief because they are having a parting view. This is the last time I’m going to see my family member or friend. Well, I came by 716 Lisbon Street, Clinton, NC, 28328 to tell somebody that we’re getting ready to have a parting view today. This parting view is not a family or friend, who you will see for the last time. This parting view is the trial or tribulation that has been keeping you hostage in your life. Look at your neighbor and say, “This is a Parting View.”

Background

A lot of us know the background of this moment in history. Our text is found in the book of Exodus. This book is a key Old Testament book about Israel’s beginning and early years as a nation. It describes to us the transition from the peaceful co-existence of the Egyptians and Israel to the hostile enslavement of Israel by the Egyptians, as recorded in Exodus 1:8-12,

Exodus 1:8–12 ESV

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.

Egypt is the slave-master of the Hebrews. They were oppressed in a way that was inhumane, they were beaten and abused, and at one point they even had their sons killed by being thrown in the river. They did this so long that Exodus 2:23 said that “the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.” They began to cry because of what they were going through. They were experiencing grief. The children of Israel was tired of the oppression they were going through.

Let me park my bus here and ask a question. Is there anyone here who knows what it is like to be sick and tired? Sick and tired of sickness, sick and tired of doctors, sick and tired of not having enough money, sick and tired of arguing with your wife, husband, children, family and friends, sick and tired of so called friends, sick and tired of trying to do right and still getting dealt a bad hand, anyone knows what it is like to be SICK AND TIRED? Well they became sick and tired and they began to as according to the MSG Bible, they began to groan under their slavery and cry out. And their cry came up before God.

Watch this, there’s no where in the scripture that says that they cried out to God. I read it in several different bible versions and none of them suggested that the children of Israel cried out to God. They cried because they needed relief. This cry was a cry basically saying as a entire Nation, “GIVE ME A BREAK.” They were overwhelmed by the situation that they were facing they needed a season of parting because the strong arm of Pharoah was seemingly becoming unbearable, but the bible says in MSG Exodus 2:23b-25, Their cries fro relief from their hard labor ascended to God: God listened to their groanings. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw what was going on with Israel. God understood. They cried out and God listened to their cry, God remembered his promise, God saw what they were going through, and God understood their affliction. I don’t know who needs hear this but God has told me to tell somebody that he is listening to your cry, he remembers what he has said, he sees what your going through, and he understands your pain. I am so glad I serve a God who knows what I’m going through, who knows how I feel. Hebrews 4:15 says “For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weakness and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are… God says I’m here with you and for you. Even when you feel as if you’re beyond help and beyond assistance, God says if you come to me, I will no wise cast you out. No wonder the hymnologist says it like this “Jesus knows all about our struggles; He will guide ’til the day is done: There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus: No, not one! no, not one!

I don’t have time to tell it all but let me cut across the field here and tell you that when times are like this, what God does is magnificent, he raised someone up to take the reign and bring about change. This individual for this time was a man by the name of Moses. I don’t have the time to tell it all, but just know today that Moses went through a series of events to prepare him for this assignment. Commissioned and trained on the backside of the Mountain by God himself, reconnected with his brother Aaron which was to be the spokes person of Moses. Used by God to bring the ten plagues upon Egypt and then subsequently the leader and guide of Israel out of Egypt. It looked good, it looked promising but all of sudden, we find that God was not done. He tells Moses that he was going to harden the heart of Pharoah and Pharoah will follow after them. So according to Exodus 14:5 of this chapter

Exodus 14:5 KJV 1900

And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?

He commands the chariots to be loaded and he goes to pursue after Israelites and this is where I believe I should pitch my tent. They were following after Israel and Israel looked up and saw that they were being pursued and the text says that they were sore afraid or as the English Standard Version puts it, they feared greatly. They became again overcome by grief. I can imagine the same grief that they experienced when they were in bondage because now we have tasted freedom and it seems like I am going to have to go back to the place of bondage.

Body

When times get tough, we cannot go back to where we come from

The Egyptians, watched this, knew how much of a threat the Children of Israel were to them because as I told you earlier Pharoah said “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” They knew that they were a threat, but they also knew how valuable they were because in the next verse the scripture said that they built cities and things for Pharoah. The Egyptians was chasing after Israel. But it’s understandable why they were chasing the Israelites but what shocks me when I read this scripture is what the Israelites said to Moses. They said to Moses, Wasn’t there graves in Egypt? We had what we needed in Egypt, we were just fine in Egypt, we really didn’t want to leave Egypt. Moses we told you to leave us in Egypt. Now look at us about to die in the desert we were better off in Egypt. Now we often give the Egyptians a hard time for chasing Israel, but look how quickly Israel was ready to give up. Look how quickly they were ready to go back to bondage. Look how quick they were ready to go back to the place that God delivered them from. God had done miraculous sign and wonders to cause them to be free and now they were ready to turn back. Sometimes it seems like turning back is the easiest thing to do. In many cases it is easy. The fact is you felt like the Children of Israel, you were just fine out there in the world. You are just fine doing you. You were just fine drinking and smoking the way you want, you were just fine sleeping wherever, whenever, and with whoever you wanted to. You were just fine telling lies gossiping, you were just fine but now here you are in Christ, you have turn away from everything with the intents of not going back but here you are, struggling to hold on to this life that the preacher preaches about, the teacher teachers about, you seen your mother and grandmother live, you try to find someone to connect with and you can’t seem to find somebody to help you. It seems like the easiest thing to do is to turn back.

Child of God this is the strategy of the enemy. Once you make up your mind that you are going to follow the Lord Jesus completely. Once you make up in your mind that you are going to let go of the things that are not pleasing in the sight of God, the Enemy does what Nebuchadnezzar did to the 3 Hebrew boys, he turns up the heat. He tries to one up on us, he tries to overwhelms us, and make us go back to what God has delivered us from. You think you got it all together, let the wrong thing come up against you and you’ll see how far along you really are. It wasn’t that the Israelites was out of Egypt, but that Egypt was not out of Israel.

Paul makes this clear when he says to the Church at Rome, Romans 7:22-23

Romans 7:22–23 ESV

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

There is a struggle that takes place in us. I want to be free from the things of this world but there is a war going on in me. I’m trying to leave according to God’s word, I’m trying to walk in righteousness before God but there is always something trying to hold me down and bring me back. But child of God, you have to have gain some fortitude, you have to get some gumption and declare that I don’t care what is going on in my life, I refuse to go back.

Do what the psalmist says, “I won’t go back, I can’t go back to the place I used to be, before you presence came and changed me.” I can’t go back, I done come to far, I have prayed too much to go back. I could literally turn and walk away but I can’t go back. Tell somebody going back is not even an options for me, because the Bible says if any man puts his hand to the plow and turn back is not fit for the Kingdom of God. Tell somebody I can’t go back. This is the parting view of it, I refuse to go back.

We have to show our faith in God by us submitting allowing him to work in our lives

They saw that they were being pursued and they became afraid and they became full of regret, I should have stayed back in Egypt and this wouldn’t be happening to me. They as it seemed to be full of mixed emotions and feelings. Have you ever been in that place? Have you ever felt so much at one time, and you don’t know which way to go and what to do? Have you ever what should I do now? This is the issue that we have. We are quick to ask what we should do? but how many times do we ask God, what is he going to do? I told you earlier that God listens, remembers, sees, and understands. So then that should bring about the question, if he listens, remembers, sees, and understand, what will he do?

The text says that Israel was surrounded, not just by the Egyptians and the Sea, but they had surrounded themselves in their minds, they had already began to take the position of defeat in their minds, but the Leader spoke up. This is the importance of a Pastor. You won’t always agree with the Pastor, you won’t always understand the Pastor, but when you have a Pastor that God has his hands on and that God is leading and guiding, you can trust that God will give what to say at the right time and right place. I thought I would put that in there for free.

Moses speaks out to the crowd and he tells them, to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you this day. The AMP version says it like this, “Take your stand [be firm and confident and undismayed] and see the salvation of the Lord which he will accomplish for you today.” The MSG Bible says it like this, “Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today.” I like that, stand firm and watch God. Look at somebody and tell them to stand firm and watch God. In other words, you stop and let God start. A lot of the reason we’re in the cycles that we are in is because we are moving, but God is saying for us to stop moving and let him move. For us to stop talking, and let God talk. Stop Fighting and let God fight. That’s why Moses tells the Israelites in v. 14. God will fight for you. And you? You keep your mouth shut! When you digress, God can impress. When you go down, God can come up. When you decrease, God can increase. You literally place yourself in the position so God can handle your business you are literally entering into a place of submission. Submission is where you allow God to do with you what he pleases without any argument. Submission says even though it is uncomfortable, God I will do what you tell me. If you tell me not to speak, I’m not going to speak. If you tell me not to worry, I’m not going to worry. You tell me to sow a seed, I’ll sow a seed. You tell me to help my fellow brother and sister, I’ll help my brother and sister. When you want to part from the things that seems to be on your back you have to trust that God will deal and handle whatever is going on. That’s why the old church sung the song, “He knows how, he knows how, Jesus will fix it he knows how.” Moses tells Israel that stand firm and watch God. This literally means that God is getting was getting ready to make a move. Well I don’t know who I’m preaching to but I came this way to tell somebody that God is getting ready to make his move. I know it seems like you’re in a cycle that won’t ever change or get better but I come here to tell somebody is getting ready to make a move. He’s getting ready to move in your job, in your family, in your finances, in your mind, in your body, tell somebody, God is getting ready to make a move.

When God fixes an issue, it’s not a temporary fix, it’s a permanent fix.

I have to quit, I have to close but watch this and I’m on my way out of here. He tells them to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. He tells them to get a real good grip, tell somebody get a grip. He tells them to get a grip, God is about to make his move, and then he says this and I believe this is where I see my exit this morning, He says in the last clause of Exodus 14:13 “ the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.” The emphasis on the word forever. In other words this is not going to be a patch job, this is not going to be a temporary fix, but this is going to be a permanent fix. Forever means for all future time, for always, lasting or permanent. Jason nelson says Forever is a long time. But when God is says forever, he means forever. The MSG bible says puts a sharper point on it. It says “Take a good look at the Egyptians today for you’re never going to see them again.” Because when God does something he does it right. God is a finisher, God never starts what he don’t finish. That’s why there should not have been any doubt in the mind of the Israelites because what he starts he finishes. Paul knew that he was a finisher, because he made it clear when he wrote his letter to the Church at Philippi, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” Tell somebody God will finish what he starts. When God fixes something, it is fixed. When God works on something, it will work correctly. When God moves, things happen. You don’t have to worry about if it will work, IT WILL WORK. Because God’s work is permanent.

Conclusion

This puts a fine point on this because by telling them to “take a good look at the Egyptians, you’re never going to see them again” he was telling them that this was a parting view. This is a final viewing, this is not see you later, but this is good-bye. This is aribadurci. This a parting view. You been suffering with these Eygptians long enough. You’ve cried long enough now it’s time to part way with struggles you’ve been dealing with.

I DON’T KNOW WHO NEEDS THIS BUT IT’S TIME FOR THE PARTING VIEW. God said, no more will you have to deal

1. FEAR

For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. -2 Corinthians 3:17

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. -2 Timothy 1:7

2. SIN

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. -Romans 6:6-7

3. SICKNESS

And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. -Matthew 9:35

4. POVERTY

There should be no poor among you, for the Lord your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession. You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. The Lord your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you. -Deuteronomy 15:4-6

5. DEPRESSION

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. -Isaiah 26:3-4

6. SLAVERY

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high. -Leviticus 26:13

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. -Galatians 5:1

7. TEMPTATION

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. -James 4:7

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. -1 Corinthians 10:13

8. ADDICTION

You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. -1 Corinthians 6:12

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

9. PAIN

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

10. DEFEAT

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ- 1 Corinthians 15:57