A message from the Pastor
First Baptist Church
9 West Main St. Earlville, NY 13332
Inviting and Accepting
Rev. Jeremy B. Stopford, Pastor
“Who Is Like You?”
(Exodus 15:11-13)
February 11, 2018
TODAY’S SPECIAL
“A Wedding Funny”
Little Emily was at her first wedding and gaped at the entire ceremony. When it was over, she asked her mother, “Why did the lady change her mind?”
Her mother asked, “What do you mean?”
“Well, she went down the aisle with one man and came back with another one.”
INTRODUCTION
How are you doing on your Bible reading this year? I’ve shared with you that I am reading 3 chapters a day and 5 on Sunday. During this past week’s reading, my heart wondered about the phrase read in our text. It is a wonderful phrase – not used much, but with deep insights into God and ourselves. PRAYER
#1. THE WORLD HAS NO SONG (Exodus 15:11-13)
A. What gods? (v. 11a). Turn back a few pages to Ex. 7, beginning with v. 14. The descriptions are great. What was the purpose of the plagues? Simply to prove that the God of the Israelites is greater than Pharaoh? NO! Look again at the plagues:
* Blood (7:14ff) – against the Nile, worshipped by the Egyptians
* Frogs (showing God’s majestic sweep of power)
* Gnats (distinguishing trust in the true God vs. trust in the occult magicians) * Flies and Livestock (distinguishing Egypt from Israel)
* Boils (key word: dust – God’s tool of creation)
* Hail (see 9:19 – a call to trust God’s Word)
* Locusts (a test of Pharaoh’s hard-heartedness vs. the reason of his officials-v. 7 and 20)
* Darkness (JESUS is the light of the world, and the rest of the world is in darkness (vs. 22ff – how long? THREE DAYS – symbolic of Jesus’ time in the tomb)
* The firstborn (ch. 11 and 12 – symbolic of God’s ownership, and of His one day giving His firstborn – one and only Son). THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD!
B. Mighty in battle (v. 11b, 12) and marvelous in leading (v. 13). The psalmist Asaph (Ps. 73:23-24) contemplating these same issues broke out in song “Whom have I in heaven but Thee! And there is NONE upon I that I desire beside Thee!”
Scripture’s first use of the phrase “who is like you” shows us a mighty truth: There is no comparison: THE WORLD HAS NO SONG!
#2. GOD’S PEOPLE HAVE A SONG! (Psalm 89:8)
A. We could have looked at two other passages in the Psalms:
(1) Psalm 35:10 (David speaking): “My whole being will exclaim,“Who is like you, Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.” Our great God is a helper to the helpless. He DOESN’T help those who help themselves! Rather, He helps those who have no help! Ponder that one the next time you don’t know where to turn, what direction to go. Who is like God Who helps the helpless?
(2) Psalm 71:19 (the verse following our church’s “Verse for 2018”, v. 18): “Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens, you who have done great things. Who is like you, God?” The unnamed psalmist could only burst out in uncontrolled praise when he pondered the uniqueness of our God! Verse 7 says, “I have become a sign to many; you are my strong refuge.” How can we possibly know how many people are looking to us for encouragement at any given moment?
ILLUSTRATION: there was a fellow classmate in Bible school named Charlie. While we were in our late teens and early twenties, Charlie in his late 50’s felt led of the Lord to come to Bible School. He ultimately graduated from my class and later pastored in the “North Country” of New York State. But Charlie had one distinguishing trait: he was a prayer warrior. OH, we knew how to pray. But we knew that when Charlie prayed, God heard and God answered! He was a sign to us that God was his strong refuge! We believed it – and he lived it! And because Charlie lived it, when after graduation we all went our separate ways, we, too, knew: who is like God, our strong refuge!
B. Psalm 89:1 teaches a song: The old KJV vs. one says these words which have been put into a wonderful chorus: “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.”
And verse 8 echoes the same heart: “Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.”
The psalmist had a song – and he knew that not only was God mighty, but God was not a God Who is a far off! His faithfulness is on display every day!
And God’s faithfulness could be considered the theme of Psalm 89. Look at verses 2, 5, 14, 33, and 49. In addition to the two we’ve looked at, the psalmist could not stop singing about God’s faithfulness.
So when was the last time you thought on God’s faithfulness?
HAS GOD GIVEN YOU A SONG?
CONCLUSION
We have learned today that the Scriptures remind us of two great truths: the world has no song that has any eternal value; and the Christian has a song which reaches to heaven rejoicing in the faithfulness of the living and most personal God.
But there is one more verse that we must close with.
Deuteronomy 33:29 says “Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights.”
Near the end of his life, Moses could look back and exclaim that not only was God unique; God’s people were unique, too. That’s how God looked at Israel. That’s how God looks at you and me. He has made an eternal investment by purchasing us with the blood of His Son at Calvary. He sees us as unique, one of a kind. “Who is like you?” God says of us!
He asks of us, “if I see that in a world that is lost and without hope, you are my eternal investment, will you do this for me: have no other gods before Me. Then repeat daily, “WHO IS LIKE YOU?” – when you think of the only living God!”
Perhaps you can’t carry a tune in the shower! But God has given each of us a new song – He is faithful. There is none like Him!
Sing out your song this week loud and clear!