"Its A Set-Up" Rev. Dr. F. Bruce Williams

0:00 This is a day that the Lord has made will rejoice and be glad in it. Good morning, Alfred Street. That's one of my favorite verses in the Bible because of what it does not say. David said, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. I was glad when they said, let's go. Not when we got there. I was glad when somebody just made the recommendation. and you can tell when you and God are tight when you get happy, not because you got here but because somebody said let's go. Anybody glad to be in the house of the Lord one more time? Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

0:43 Hallelujah. Amen. Glad to be here. Didn't have to turn out this way. I didn't live so well yesterday that God just had to wake me up this morning. God did it not because I was good but because God is good. and he's good all the time. Amen. Do me a favor. Would you give God praise for your pastor while he's on sabbatical? He is by far one of the most dynamic preachers on the globe. He's a good friend of mine. I happen to share the same burden as he, and that is we're in the same Ph.D. program. And he's in the first cohort, and I'm in the second cohort. In fact, I'm leaving here, going home, and then I'm tomorrow morning driving to go to class at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. And so both of us have shared the same journey. He's a little further along than I am. And I want to commend you for giving him the opportunity to go and recalibrate and refresh himself. And, you know, it's tough enough just to pastor, but to be pastoring and going through a PhD program is just inhumane. It is cruel and unusual punishment. I don't know what I was doing. When I first found out that I was accepted in the PhD program, I said, man, I'm in the PhD program. Then I said, I'm in the PhD program. What in the world have I done? But it's good to be here today. I love coming to Alpha Street, and I appreciate your pastor asking me to come back over and over again. I don't know if he's asking me to come back because I'm doing a good job or he's just giving me a chance to get it right, but I'm just glad to be back.

2:36 Would you do me another favor if you don't mind? I know there are a lot of leaders here who are carrying the load and making sure things are fine while it passes away, but do me a favor. Would you give some special appreciation for Dr. Williams, Dr. Judy? Would you give some appreciation?

2:57 Amen. Amen. Amen. God bless you. You don't know what it's like until you stand in the shoes. And I just appreciate what she is bringing to this journey that you all are going through. Well, I know there are time constraints. And, you know, it's always dangerous to give a Black Baptist preacher the mic. So I need to get on and get to work. Y'all ready for the Word this morning? Amen. Well, I'm ready to share it. If you don't mind, join hands with those around you now as we prepare with prayer. for the word of God. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the privilege of another day's journey. Thank you, God, that our alarm clock did not wake us, but you kissed us to wake us so that we could hear our alarm clacking for that. Oh God, we give you thanks and we give you praise.

3:53 Now, God, as we prepare for the preaching moment, we confess today that we can do nothing until you come. Bless your people. Make fellow the ground of the souls of your people. That the seed of truth might find depth. That a relationship might be established between some soul and the Savior. Then Lord, help me, your preacher. Breathe on my words and make them thine. Rescue me from me. Fill me and Empty me at your will. Love me and do whatever you want with me. You can be reckless without my permission. Hide me behind Calvary's cross. Make my preaching so thin in human wisdom that only the shadow of the cross can be seen beneath. Take your glory, but Master, please give us the blessings, we pray.

4:50 We ask it all in the name of the preexistent incarnate, crucified, resurrected, ascended, and soon coming King's name we pray. All the people of God said together, amen. I dare you to put your hands together one more time for our very strong and mighty God. This morning, if you don't mind turning your Bible or tapping your Bible app to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 14. The chapter will serve as the context for the preaching, but because of the length of the chapter and the limitation of time, I just want to read for our focus the first four verses in Exodus chapter 14.

5:34 Exodus chapter 14 is not a hard book to find. It's the second book in the Bible. Amen. Exodus chapter 14, beginning with verse 1. I'll be reading from the New International Version of the Hebrew text. If you found it, say amen. It reads like this. Then the Lord said to Moses, tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Paharoth between Migdal and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea directly opposite Baal-Zephon. Pharaoh will think the Israelites are wandering around the land confused, hemmed in by the desert. and I will harden Pharaoh's heart and he will pursue them but I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all of his army and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.

6:38 So the Israelites did this. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. With the help of the Holy Spirit in your prayers I want to talk to you from this simple theme it's a setup. It's a setup. Amen. Help me preach this. Look at your neighbor and tell your neighbor it's a setup. It's a setup. Amen. Amen. Do me a favor. Look at your other neighbor in case they're sitting on the end with nobody to talk to. Tell them it doesn't matter how bad it looks.

7:09 Don't despair. It's a setup. If you know what a setup is, go and give God praise right now. It's a setup, and I would that you would flank me with your prayers. We live in a culture and a time where we value being able to record an incident while it is happening. One of the things that some news outlets brag about is that what distinguishes them from other outlets is that they give you on-the-spot news, that they recall it while it's happening. What adds to this phenomenon of valuing recording incidences while they're happening is the smartphones we have. Any incident that's happening, we can record it while it happens and post it on social media because we value being able to record an incident while it is happening.

8:07 Because our minds have been shaped by this cultural phenomenon, we bring that mindset sometimes to the reading of the scriptures. Sometimes when we read about an incident in the ancient pages of the long ago, we imagine that while the incident is taking place, somebody is there recording it while it is happening. But very rarely, if ever, is that the case in the Bible. It is not something taking place and there's some reporters who are giving you information on the spot. But more often than not, when you read the Bible, what you're reading is an incident recorded after it happens. Now it is true that there is some value of recording an incident while it is happening. Sometimes the problem with trying to record and evaluate and assess an incident while it is happening is that you really don't assess it properly because you're in the middle of it.

9:08 And sometimes there are some things you miss, You can't see because you're in it. You're too close to it. You can't see the forest for the proverbial trees. And so you have a tendency sometimes to miss assess a circumstance because you're in the middle of it. Sometimes, especially if it's a crisis or if it's some negative circumstance, you react wrongly because you're reacting out of your emotions and don't have a proper perspective on the situation. And because you're in the middle of the crucible of a crisis, sometimes you'll make a permanent decision based on a temporary situation. All because you're not assessing it well. Sometimes the best way to assess an incident is not while it's happening, but after it has happened and you look back over your shoulder at it. Matt Carter calls it an over-the-shoulder hermeneutic.

10:03 You evaluate and interpret it after it has gone past. And sometimes while you're in it, you think that God is not with you. You think you're deserted all alone. But when you let it pass and look back on it, what you thought was absent, you find out that God's fingerprints was all over the situation. And God was with you all along. But sometimes you can't see that until you look back on it. Some of y'all think I'm not in the Bible. Do you remember Joseph? That's what happened to him. Joseph, who was sold into slavery, put in the pit, sold into slavery in Potiphar's house. He was accused of sexual harassment, falsely incarcerated, was left in jail. He helped somebody else get out of jail, but when they got out, they forgot all about him. When he finally got out, he ended up second only to the Pharaoh. It looked good for him at the end, but while he was going through it, you can't make me believe that there were not times when he wondered what was God up to.

11:05 Where was God in the midst of it all? But when he got to the end of it, he looked back on it. And when he finally faced the brothers who were responsible for it, I could hear him saying to his brothers, now I'm not confused about what you were trying to do. You were trying to take me out, but I'm not even mad at you because now that I look back on it, I can see God in it. And what you meant for evil, I feel like preaching already, that God meant it for good. So sometimes you can't assess a situation until you look back on it. And I think that's the kind, quality, and caliber of circumstance we have recorded in our text. There's an incident in the text where God leads the people of God into the midst of a negative circumstance, a hemmed-in situation, and it looks like God has set them up. It looks like it's a bad situation, But when they look back over the situation after the situation has passed, they realize that what looked like a setback is really a set up.

12:09 And you know and I know that a setback is a set up for a comeback. And that's what happened in the text. It didn't turn out the way they thought once God was finished with what he was doing. It happened after Israel had been freed from 400 years of Egyptian bondage. 400 years they were incarcerated. But God made good on a promise and decided to free them. And he sent Moses. You know the story. And Moses went with just his rod and God. And he went to Pharaoh to tell Pharaoh that God said, God told me to tell you to let my people go. And Pharaoh was stubborn and would not let him go. And so watch. Pharaoh was approached by Moses over and over again. Time and time again, let my people go. He wouldn't do it. So God would send a plague and he would ignore it. And Moses would have to go back to the powers that be and say, let my people go.

13:04 And Moses would ignore him. Stay with me because I'm going somewhere. He would ignore them. And then the Bible says that after a while, God sent the last plague. And the last plague, you know, was the riding of the death angel that would kill the firstborn male child of every family. The Israelites knew that it would kill the firstborn male child. The Egyptians did not know that it would only kill the firstborn male child. They thought people were just going to continue to die. Watch this. And this time, Moses did not have to beg Pharaoh to let the people go. Pharaoh begged Moses to let the people go. Y'all are missing it. That means that when Moses went to Pharaoh, Pharaoh thought he had the last word. He thought he had all the power. But by the time God stepped in the situation, he reminded him that you don't have the last word. I have the last word.

13:57 And if you go with God, God has a way of flipping the script. And the very people who won't listen to you before will end up listening to you after it's over with. The Bible says, he said, go. You can't get out of here fast enough. Get your people, go into the wilderness, and worship your God. But God told Moses to tell the people on the way out. He said, ask the Egyptians for gold, silver, and clothing. Did you catch that? He said, on your way out, he said, make sure you ask them for gold, silver, and clothing. And that's exactly what the people of God did. On the way out, they asked for silver, gold, and clothing. And the Egyptians gave them silver, gold, and clothing. And so they left out of bondage after 400 years of slavery, laden down with the treasures from Egypt. I wonder why God told them to ask for gold, silver, and clothing.

14:54 You know why I think God told him to ask for gold, silver, and clothing? Because I think that was back pay for 400 years of working for Can't See in the morning to Can't See at night with a paycheck. The Pharaoh had damaged him, and God wanted the damage to be repaired, and so he said, pay them, repair it. And so the pay was repair. It was reparations for the fact that they had been stealing from their ancestors without any pay. So he said, ask them for gold, silver, and clothes on behalf of your grandmama, your great-grandmama, and your great-great-grandmama, because they did not get what they deserve for generations. Watch it, but since I'm a god of justice, justice might grind slow, but it grinds sure. and I'm going to make good on what's just either eventually or immediately in this world or the world to come. Is there anybody in here who knows that we serve a God who is a God of justice? Y'all, y'all can't handle this. That's why in our nation after 400 years, this is just one black man's opinion. I believe that there is a debt owed to black folk for 400 years. Come on, it ain't a gift.

16:08 it's a debt that's old for 400 years. Zacchaeus got it right. Remember when Jesus went to Zacchaeus' house, Zacchaeus was a tax collector who had been stealing from his own people, and by the time he got finished fooling with Jesus, Zacchaeus stood, the Bible says, and he said, I have half of my goods I give to the poor. Watch this. And if I've wronged any man, and he knew he had, he said, I restore unto him four fours. And it wasn't until after Zacchaeus decided to pay for the damages he had done that Jesus stood up and said, salvation has come to this house. This country needs to recognize that you can't just get away with mistreating people, damaging people, and not repairing the damage that you've done and expect there to be real reconciliation. Even when we sinned against God, there was damage done and a price to be paid.

17:03 and I hear your mental mechanisms clicking right now. You said my salvation didn't cost me anything. You right. It didn't cost you anything, but it cost Jesus everything. I feel like preaching this morning. And so, and so, and so on the way out, they are raiding with the treasures of Egypt. They leave Egypt. And watch this now. The Bible tells us that there was a short route right to Canaan. Everybody knows where they're going. They're leaving the land of not enough where they had to make bricks without straw, on their way to a land of more than enough that was flowing with milk and honey. Everybody knew where they were headed, and there was a straight route to get there, a quick, convenient route to get there, a short route straight through the land of the Philistines. But the Bible says God told Moses, don't take them the straight, convenient route. don't go through there. And God tells him why. He says, don't take them the short, I know they want to go the short route. Everybody thinks they're going to take the short, quick, easy route. He said, but don't take them through the land of the Philistines because I know them. He says, they're going to the land of the Philistines and the Philistines are fighting people and they are recently emancipated slaves. He said, and I don't want them to go through the land of the Philistines, not because of the Philistines, but because of them.

18:30 I'm going to get them out of Egypt, but I haven't gotten Egypt out of them. And he says, if they go through the Philistines and the Philistines want to fight, they might become fearful, watch this, and go back to Egypt. And God said, I didn't expend all this energy, all these resources, all these miracles to get them out just so they could go right back at the first sight. Look at your neighbor and say, don't go back. Look at him. ain't nothing back there you already know what's back there don't go look at your other neighbor and say don't go back don't go back don't go back he said watch this now he says so don't take them the short route take them the long way around he says it's gonna take them some time and I know they want to go the short route but it's in their best interest that they don't go the quick short easy route I need to take them the long way around they're gonna be disappointed, but they got to learn that I love them enough to teach them the discipline of disappointment. Sometimes I got to disappoint them because I love them. See, they are not ready for what they think they're ready for. It will be too soon, so I got to take them the long way around because the long way engages a process that prepares them for the blessing I have for them, and if they don't take the long way, they may get somewhere too soon, and my brothers and sisters, I feel like I'm talking to somebody in here who's wondering why it's taking God so long to get you where you want to go.

19:58 Why is it that you see other people taking the short route while you're taking the long way? Well, God loves you enough to make you take the long way. See, you are gifted. You do have skills. You do have capacity and capability. But God knows that sometimes your gifts are greater than your character. And God wants to take the time to develop your character because if you get where you want to be without a developed character, your gift will get you where your character can't keep you. And God doesn't want you to mess it up and miss it getting there too soon. And the problem is, I feel like preaching, the problem is that some of us are not following the Bible when it comes to our gift. The Bible says your gift will make room for you. Some of us are making room for our gift and we're getting there prematurely and we're messing up God's blessing. God said, no.

20:53 He said, I love you too much to give you the promotion now, to give you the relationship now, to give you the position now. I want you to have it and be blessed by it. So I got to take you the long way around so I can prepare you and purge out of you anything that's in you that's going to sabotage what I'm trying to bless you with. Is there anybody in here who's glad now that God is taking you? Hey, the long.

21:21 Look at your neighbor and tell them, trust the process. You may not understand what God is doing right now, but if you trust God in the process, you'll get there when God wants you to get there. So they do not take the short route. The Bible says God takes them the long way around. Watch what he says. He says, now go down southern way. And he says, go down through the mountains of Migdal down to the sea. He says, that's where I want you to go. Don't take the short route. Take the long way around and go down through the mountains of Migdal until you get to the Red Sea. Now, if you could see the topography of the land, if you could see the geographical configuration of the land, And what happened is you would see that Israel was going to a place where they were in between two rows of the mountains of Migdal, tall, craggy-clef mountains on either side.

22:16 And God said, go in between the tall, craggy-clef mountains until you get to the Red Sea. And so the only way out is the desert behind you. But God said, go in between the mountains of Migdal, tall, craggy-clef mountains, rocks on either side and go to the Red Sea. Now the Red Sea is a hard place to cross and the mountains of Migdal are made of rocks. So God literally told them to go between a rock.

22:49 You said it, I didn't. And a hard place. And what's so interesting is God said, get there. And they did not end up between a rock and a hard place because they were wayward people. They did not end up between a rock and a hard place because they were disobedient. They did not end up at a rock and a hard place because they were not where they were supposed to be. But they ended up between a rock and a hard place because God put them there. have you ever been there have you ever been between a rock and a hard place and usually our attitude is when we get between a rock and a hard place is to is to rebuke the devil oh the devil is a liar i'm not supposed to be in this rock and it's hard place but sometimes you're not between a rock and a hard place because you're being attacked by the devil or because you've taken the wrong route. Sometimes you're between a rock and a hard place because that's exactly where God has put you. God, I wish I could preach this like I feel it. And the Lord tells them why he puts them there. He says, I want to put them between a rock and a hard place, between the devil and the deep blue sea. He says, I want to put them there so that when the enemy comes, they will think that they are hemmed in, that they are confused, that they're in a cul-de-sac of circumstances with no human way of escape. He said, I put them there so that you couldn't get out. He said, and I put you there so I could get glory. Watch. He's not going to get glory from Israel. He says, I'm going to get glory from Egypt. Y'all are missing your shot. He says, I'm going to get glory not from my people, but I'm going to get glory from somebody who doesn't even know who I am.

24:47 Is there anybody in here who knows that God is so omni-capable? He's so omni-creative that God can get glory even from the enemy. He said, I'm going to get glory. And he said, by the time I get finished with this situation, they will know that I am the Lord. Wait, he didn't say that Israel will know that I am the Lord. He said that Egypt will know that I am the Lord. Israel already knew he was the Lord. Israel was not going to learn that he was the Lord. Israel was going to learn what kind of Lord he was.

25:26 God said, see, you impressed because I got you out of slavery, but you ain't seen nothing yet. I ain't even started flexing my muscles. And so I got to put you in a place that you can't get out of so I can show you what I can do. And so God puts them between the mountains of Migdal and the Red Sea and they encamp there. They don't know what to do next. They've come to the end of themselves and they're just waiting. Watch this. And then meanwhile, somebody say meanwhile. I want to see if you're awake. Meanwhile, verses 5 through 9 says that Pharaoh gets second thoughts about letting them go. That Pharaoh, when everything's settled down, said, we have made a serious mistake. We have let all that free labor go free. Who's going to cut the grass? Who's going to wash the dishes? Who's going to raise the kids? Who is going to be the population of people that we're going to make a permanent underclass so they can be the consumers to make us rich?

26:23 How are we, what are we going to, we got to go back and get them. And so he starts out after them. And the Bible says he catches up with them, which means that they had a head start, but he finally catches up with them. Watch. He catches up with them, and he sees the Israelites in the distance. But not only does he see them, they see the Egyptians. And the Bible says that when they see the Egyptians, verse 10 says, that they start to panic. They are terrified, the text says. They are filled with fear. Watch this. And they start responding verbally to their circumstances while filled with fear. And you got to be careful. Listen to folk talk who are filled with fear because people who are filled with fear talk crazy.

27:12 It's in the book. I'm not making it up. The text says that when they saw them, they said to Moses, it was better for us in Egypt. You done brought us out here to die. Look at your neighbor and say, that's crazy talk. so you mean to tell me that God expended all those resources all that energy all those miracles just to bring you this far to leave you I feel like God just spoke to somebody right there you I don't know what your situation is and it may look like God but God has not brought you all the way every step of the way just to leave you because it's not just your name on the line It's God's name on the line.

27:53 We should hear today. And so they were saying, you done brought us out here to die. Watch this now. That's how fear talks. We need to go back. It was better in Egypt. And it has never been better in Egypt. Sometimes when we're afraid of the challenges we have to face, we talk about the good old day. When has the days ever been good for people whose skin has been kissed by nature's sun? It's never been good for black folk. Preach, Pastor Will. No, God doesn't want you to go backwards. Watch this. Fear talks like that. Moses responded to their fear with faith. Moses said, don't panic, don't run, stand still. and see the salvation of the Lord.

28:52 That's right there in verse 13. He said, stand still and watch God work. He said, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord and God will fight your battle and you will see the Egyptians no more forever. Y'all are missing your shot. I got to pick that apart. Watch this. He said, he said, be still. Somebody said, be still. See, when you get to the end of yourself and there's nothing else you can do, don't go backwards. Just stand still. Don't quit just because you've come to the end of yourself because you're not the whole of the equation. Don't leave God out of the equation. Preach, pastor. Watch this. He said, stand still. And when you stand still, pay attention. I need you to see what's happening because I'm getting ready to do something you ain't never seen before. And I need you to witness it because when it's over, when somebody asks what happens, I need somebody to say, if it had not been, help.

30:01 For the Lord on my side. I feel like preaching. Now watch. And watch this. Here's my shout right here. He said, be still and God will fight your battle and you will deal, you will see the Egyptians no more forever. Did you catch it? He says, when I get finished, you'll never deal with the Egyptians again. Y'all are missing it. They were in Egypt. God brought them out because of the blood, because of the blood of lambs. He brought them out. when they got on their way to their future, Egypt tried to catch them. Y'all are missing it. Egypt was their past. And while they were trying to make progress, their past threatened to paralyze their progress.

30:53 But God said, I'm so good that by the time I get through dealing with you, you won't ever have to worry about your past. Is there anybody in here? who's glad that you don't have to worry about the mistakes of your past. There is, therefore, no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

31:18 I ain't perfect, but I'm forgiven. And I'm so free that I don't even care if you know about my past because I got the same past, but I ain't the same person. I ain't got but 10 more minutes. I got to hurry up. Watch this. So the text says, he says, you'll never have to deal with the Egyptians again. And then the next verse, I think it's verse 15, I'm sure. The Bible says, next verse, it says, God says to Moses, quit crying to me.

31:56 No, y'all missed it. He was saying to the people, stand still. See the salvation of the Lord. Next verse, God says to Moses, quit crying to me. Y'all missing it. Moses is saying to the people, stand still, see the salvation of the Lord. And then God says to Moses, quit crying to me, which means that in the space of one verse, Moses went from saying to the people, stand still, to crying to the Lord. Can I tell you what happened in the exchange and interchange? This is what happened. God told Moses, I'm going to deliver the people. Tell them I will deliver them. The only problem is God told him that they would be delivered, but he didn't give them deliverance detail. He knew that they would be delivered. He didn't know how they would be delivered.

32:50 And so he gave the information as it came. God said, go tell them I'm going to deliver them. So he said, God, I told them you're going to deliver them. Now you got to help me because they're asking me how we see. God does that to every pastor because they come to the people with a vision. And the people say, well, how it's going to be done? And to be honest, we say, well, we don't know how it's going to be done. We just know that God said it's going to be done. And he said the information is on a need to know basis. You'll know it when you need to. Y'all can't handle this. he said quit crying to me worrying about how you're gonna do it he said what's in your hand he said you worry about the obstacle in front of you and you already have the answer to what's in front of you in your possession y'all don't even he said you're so worried about how to get over it i've already given you what you need to handle what you got to face see That's why it's important for you to know who you are and whose you are.

33:55 Because when you know who you are and whose you are, you know what you possess. the Bible says his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness look at your neighbor say you already have it see your problem is you so busy comparing yourself to other people that you are devaluing your own resources you already got the skills and the competence and the gifts and the know how, but you're too busy comparing yourself to somebody else. He said, what's in your hand? He said, I gave you a rod. He said, if you would just stretch it out. He said, I'll blow a highway through the Red Sea. Watch this now. And in preparation for the miracle, the Bible says once he directed Moses to what was in Moses' hand.

34:57 You've got to keep reading chapter 9, verse 19 and beyond. The text says that the angel that was ahead of them started moving. He's talking about the fact that they were led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. And it was symbolically suggested by the presence of God. Which means that whenever they wanted to find God, all they had to do was look right in front of them. They always knew where to find God because God was always where they were used to seeing him. But now that God is getting ready to do something they ain't never seen before, God changes positions because God says, listen, I'm too big for you to store me in your little packed presuppositions about me. As soon as you try to confine me to your little mind, I'll break out and disappoint you and do stuff you never thought I could do. And see, that's why I put you in this mess in the first place, because I'm trying to show you something about myself you ain't never seen before. And the only way for me to do it is to put you in a place where you can't get out of it yourself. And so the Bible says God starts changing positions. What did he do? The book says he moved from being in front of them, and he starts shifting until he got behind them. Now, why in the world would God shift positions behind them? Well, The reason why God is shifting positions behind them is the Bible says he gets behind them between them and the Egyptians.

36:26 wait I'm not even done he says he gets behind them and the Egyptians I like this part and it says it was light on their side and dark on the Egyptian side y'all a tough crowd this morning I thought somebody would tear up the bench on that one that means this that means on their side they could see on the Egyptian side the Egyptians could no longer see which means that the Egyptians say we got them they're hemmed in with nowhere to go but then God stepped in right at the last minute and the enemy that tried to touch them couldn't get to them because they couldn't find them and the reason why some of y'all shouldn't be sitting there with your arms folded and your legs crossed is you wouldn't even be here if God hadn't stepped in at the last moment and not let your enemies get a hold of you.

37:26 It wasn't because you're so slick and so smooth that you are where you are. If it hadn't been for God, you wouldn't be right where you are right now. And so the Bible says he stayed between them and the enemy so that the enemy would have to get to God before it had to get to them. And the book says that while God was there protecting them, He was simultaneously blowing a highway through the Red Sea. Watch what he did. The Bible said, God exhaled and blew a highway through the Red Sea, and the east wind blew all night long.

38:00 Now, I have to confess that when I first thought about splitting of the Red Sea, I thought it happened just like that. But it didn't happen just like that. It took all night long. Just because God can do some things fast doesn't mean he always does some things fast. But you've got to learn how to wait while the wind's blowing. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait. I say on the Lord. And while they're waiting, God is blowing the highway through the Red Sea. And the Bible says that there was a pathway. made on dry land. It wasn't no mud. It was on dry land.

38:52 Because when God does a miracle, he don't have to do it. And the book says that they blew a highway through the Red Sea, and the Bible says that the people of God, God, I'm running out of time. I got to cut across the field. The Bible says that the people of God started walking on the path that God made. Here's what shouts me, my brothers and sisters, Here, God shows them the miracle first, and then they respond. But once you mature in your faith, God doesn't always do the miracle first, and then you respond. Because later on, when Joshua crosses the Jordan, God doesn't split the Jordan and they walk across. He said, you walk, and when your feet touch the Jordan, then I'll split it. and you think God is mad at you because he won't do the miracle first God is not doing the miracle because he knows you're a mature enough to trust him even when you can't trace him so the Bible says he blew a highway through the Red Sea and the book says that they walked across on dry land and the Bible says that as they were going across on dry land that God made the Red Sea stand up like walls on either side. Is there anybody in here who knows that we serve a God who's able to make a way? I feel God in here where there is no way. The book said they walked across on dry land till everyone was on the other side. And when the enemy saw that they had made it across to the other side, the enemy decided they would take the same path.

40:45 And God let them take the path till all of the army was in the middle of the Red Sea. And then God called the waters to flood on the Egyptian army. And the songwriter said, Pharaoh's army got drowned. Can't you see the Egyptians on the other side watching God do something they had never seen before? Is there anybody in here who feels like shouting because the text teaches you or at least reminds you that God is able to take care of your enemies? Well, I'm about to take my seat. I got two more service to go, but I got one question I want to at this point in the preaching is when God makes a way out of no way. When God does for you what you couldn't do for yourself. When God gets you over on the other side. When God makes your enemies leave you alone. When God deals with the Egyptians so that you'll never have to deal with it again. What is the appropriate response to that kind of deliverance? Well if I had time I'd step over in the chapter 15 because the Bible said that once they saw the enemy drowned that Marion said it's time to have church and she said don't go any further I know we on our way to Canaan but we ain't gotta wait till we get to Canaan to give God praise and I don't know how you feel about it but I ain't gotta wait I got to give him praise now that's why sometimes I can't wait for Sunday to give him praise because he's splitting red seed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

42:33 And sometimes I got to shout during the week, but by the time I get to church, don't sit next to me because I got to give him some praise. I can see Marion grabbing her tambourine. I can see the women leading the praise and everybody else joined in and sang and shouted and praise God. My question is, if God has really been good to you all week long, then why are you sitting there looking at me like you don't know what I'm talking about? Somebody ought to grab a tambourine. Somebody ought to give him praise. He's been good. Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in the sanctuary. Praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet.

43:25 Praise Him with the psalter and harp. Praise Him with the timelan dance. Praise Him with string instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbal, upon the high sounding cymbal. Let everything breathe in. If you can inhale and exhale, you ought to give God praise. He is worthy. Ain't He worthy? If you know He's worthy, show ya. God.