Spiritual Perspective

Exodus 14:10-18 "And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. [11]  And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? [12]  Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. [13]  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. [14]  The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. [15] And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: [16]  But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. [17]  And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. [18]  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen."

You may or may not have noticed that I have on a new pair of glasses this morning. My wife said they look much better than the old ones, though that's not the reason I have them. You see, I have terrible eyesight. My vision is not 20/20, but more like 180/230. In fact, these old eyes are so bad that I always carefully place my glasses on the bedside at night so I know exactly where they are. A time or two in my life I've knocked my glasses off on the floor, and had to get my wife to find them because I can't see where they've fallen.

Two weeks ago I was at work and my old glasses slipped off my face, fell to the floor and shattered. Suddenly the world was a blur! In my dismay I remembered that I had an old pair outside in the car, so I stumbled outside and after about 10 minutes got my key in the lock and got those old things out. When I put them on my face I discovered I could now see, but my perspective was completely changed. You see, this was an old prescription, and not strong enough to fully correct my vision. In order to compensate my perspective changed. Flat tabletops at work now looked like they slanted downhill, people looked like they were standing up crooked. Nothing looked like my mind knew how it should look, and when I tried to do delicate work it took extreme concentration. When you lose your perspective life becomes extremely difficult.

When you have the wrong prescription of glasses on to correct for poor eyesight you can ruin the way you look at things. When you trust in the wrong gods to correct your spiritual deficiencies you ruin your spiritual perspective. How's your spiritualperspective this morning? Have you trusted in the right Person for your salvation, are you living your life by the right Gospel?

When the children of Israel entered Egypt (Exodus 1.1) the Bible tells us that they entered under the care of Joseph. Joseph, if you remember, was thrown into a pit by his jealous brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt. Joseph could have lost his spiritual perspective, but he remained faithful to God calling on the name of Jehovah even in his deepest trials. Because Joseph remained faithful God caused him to rise up to sit on the right hand of the Pharaoh, second only in power to the Ruler of Egypt. Because Joseph kept his spiritual perspective God used him as a force for good in Israel. When the famine came over the whole world Israel, a little nomadic tribe of only 70 people, entered into Egypt. This little seed tribe, transplanted into the soil of that great nation Egypt, grew and prospered until it was a nation of millions itself.

Yet as Israel grew it slowly began to lose it's spiritual perspective. The people forgot that God led the original 70 into Egypt so that they could grow into a nation. The people slowly turned in their hearts from the God who put them in a position to prosper, and slowly began to substitute the outward means of their prosperity for a right relationship with God. God planted the nation Israel so that it could grow and one day be transplanted into the Promised Land, a jewel in the crown of God. The nation forgot that God was the Planter, Egypt only the soil of growth. God, the Master Planter, took Moses, and using him as a shovel dug up the growth of Israel, released them from Egypt, and started moving this plant to the Final Garden of Promise.

So how is your spiritual perspective this morning? If you find any of the following warning signs in your life then your spiritual perspective has become tainted by the world:
 

Exodus 14:10-18 "And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid.."

When Israel was in Egypt God sent the meek and humble Moses in to the Ruler of Egypt demanding that he "Let My people go!". Pharaoh refused, so God sent plagues on Egypt to torment the people. God sent ten plagues, each more devastating than the next: Of blood (Exodus 7.14-25), frogs (Exodus 8.1, 15), lice (Exodus 8.16-19), flies (Exodus 9.8-12), hail (Exodus 9.18-34), locusts (Exodus 10.1-20), darkness (Exodus 10.21-23), and finally death of the firstborn (Exodus 11.4-7). Each of these plagues showed the mighty hand of God, showed that He, and not Pharaoh, was in control of the situation. These plagues were a sign to the people that the great Jehovah was supreme to the man Pharaoh, supreme to the mighty nation of Egypt. When Pharaoh released Israel after the most devastating plague (the death of the firstborn) the Bible tells us:

Exodus 13:21-22 "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: [22]  He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people."

The Lord actually preceded the people, leading them in a magnificent column of both cloud and smoke. Here was a visible manifestation of God! Here He was, clearly revealed before the people, visible so that finite man would have something to look at and trust on. He was plainly revealed and yet, when the Israelites heard the thunder of the Egyptian calvary, the rattle of the shields, they looked away from the Creator and began to fear the created.

What are you afraid of today? Do you fear death? The Apostle Paul said:

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 "Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: [7] (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) [8]  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

If you are in Christ this morning it is certain that death is no more than a transition from one life to another, from one world to another. When the Christian departs this life he does not need to fear, but rejoice, for he will immediately stand in the presence of the Lord God Almighty. If you have the proper spiritual perspective you will not turn and fear the rattle of the shields or the sounds of the galloping horsemen. If you are in Christ you have no need to fear the enemy, for you can say like King David:

Psalms 118:6-11 "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? [7]  The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. [8]  It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. [9]  It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. [10]  All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them. [11]  They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them."

If your eyes are on the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud you need not fear. If your soul is entrusted to God's care this morning there is nothing that can overcome you but your unwillingness to trust in Him.
 

Exodus 14.11 " And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?"

Notice how the Israelites distorted the truth: Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?. This is a laughable statement. While I was stationed overseas in Egypt I had the opportunity to visit many of the beautiful pyramids there. Do you know what a pyramid is? It is a grave site for the Pharaohs. Egypt is a land full of graves all head stoned with huge monuments of rock. Yet the Israelites in their spiritual blindness distorted the truth and erected in their minds an Egyptian paradise, a place totally devoid of graves.

Have you distorted the truth in your lives this morning? Have you put off a right relationship with God by justifying your actions to yourself? Here are some of the lies that are often told when a person makes a conscious decision to reject God and cling to the world:
 

Yet God says of each and every one of us,

Romans 3:10 " As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:"

Galatians 3:22 " But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."

We are, each and every one of us, sinners in the sight of God. The only hope we have for eternal life and peace with God is to turn our lives over to God, to say to Him "I just can't do it on my own. I accept Jesus as my person Savior". When we distort the truth of the Gospel and claim we are "good enough" we are just as foolish as those Israelites who said "There are no graves in Egypt". Both statements are lies, both betray a false spiritual perspective that will ultimately destroy us.
 

Mark 8:36 "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

Luke 12:20 " But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?"

None of us know how long we will live, nor even if we will be here tomorrow. Right now you are sitting comfortably in your pew, reasonably relaxed. Some of you may be thinking about what you're going to have for lunch, some may even be impatiently waiting for this sermon to end. Don't deceive yourselves: right now is the best time to gain your spiritual perspective. Now is the best time to accept Christ as Savior.

The story is told of a man in a fancy restaurant who started to choke on a bone.  A doctor rushed over, identified himself as a doctor, and reassured the man that he was going to be all right.  He performed the Heimlich Maneuver and the bone popped out.

As the man's breath and voice returned he said, "I'm ever so grateful, doctor, how can I ever repay you?"

The doctor smiled and said, "I'll settle for one tenth of what you were willing to pay while you were choking."

Why not accept Christ in your life right now in the peace of this beautiful sanctuary, rather than put the moment off in favor of a better time? The best time is now.
 

Exodus 14. 15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

The Israelites, in complete spiritual disarray, milled around like a restless mob. They saw the approaching armies of Egypt and, in fear, wanted to return to Egypt to keep from "making waves", but on the other hand were afraid that if they approached the armies they would be killed. You cannot live the Christian way of life if you cling to the world with one hand while groping for God with the other. Our God calls for us to get off the fence, to make a firm decision to accept Jesus Christ as Savior today. Jesus said:

Luke 9:59-62 "And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. [60]  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. [61]  And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. [62]  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

When the farmer plows his field he looks at a fixed point in front of him, and then plows toward that point. He maintains his perspective and by doing so leaves a straight furrow behind him. If the farmer loses that fixed point and starts plowing toward another point, or looks behind himself while plowing, then all his rows will be crooked. How's your perspective today? Have you unconditionally accepted Jesus Christ to be your Savior? Do you have your eyes on God, or are you plowing a crooked row? If your heart is still in the world, even though you may be a faithful Church member, your spiritual perspective is seriously compromised. If your gaze is not firmly locked on the historic Jesus Christ, if you have not accepted Him to be your own, then it matters little if you are a faithful Church goer, a Charter Member, a Deacon or a Minister. You may not understand many things that the Church teaches: the Trinity of God, or how Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully Man. You may not understand many of the complex doctrines that God reveals to us through His perfect Scripture. But He has made salvation so simple that even a little child can accept Christ and thereby secure eternal life.
 

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