15 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb… Revelations 15:1-3

“Sang the song of God’s servant Moses” refers to the hardship Moses experienced when crossing the Red Sea. With the Egyptians chasing him from behind and the Red Sea blocking his path, Moses is faced with an unprecedented danger and an enormous challenge. He must somehow cross the Red Sea or be crushed by the Egyptian army. Moses stretches out his staff and the Red Sea parts. God divides the water, and they walk across the dry seabed.

The Red Sea symbolizes our own journey; we’re all crossing the Red Sea, and hopefully, at the end of the journey, we’ll be standing victorious singing the song of God’s servant Moses and the Lamb. But crossing the Red Sea, walking through life, has its challenges. The sea is a “glass glowing with fire.” We live in a world glowing with sin. We live in a world glowing with wickedness and temptation. As we cross our “Red Sea,” be careful of the evilness that can consume us like fire. If we have sin in our lives, it will consume us. It will turn us to ashes because it’s a glowing fire. Everywhere we look, there are things, people, and events that want us to do wrong by God. They want to consume us and turn us into ashes.

And we are crossing a “sea.” We can’t walk on water. If we step into the sea, we sink. In other words, the world is a sea of temptations. As we walk through life, we need to be aware that temptation is everywhere. Be careful where you step! If we take the wrong step, succumb to temptation, we will sink and drown. Have you succumbed to temptation? Are you sinking? Now is the time to get out.

We must be wary crossing a sea full of the “beast and his image and the number of his name,” meaning we must be mindful of people and idols. So we must be careful of a sea full of sin, temptations, and people. What kind of people? We’re all made in the image of God, but we must be careful of those whose temperament and character have nothing to do with God. Their insides are that of the beast. Their internal makeup has nothing to do with God. We need to be wary of these kinds of people. And we must steer clear of idols. What are idols? Idols are those things you think will bring you happiness and success. God is the only one who can bless or curse you, but you place money above all things. You put a skill or person above all things. These are idols. When walking through life, be wary of beasts and idols.

With so many landmines, how are we supposed to cross our Red Sea? Like Moses, we must believe and trust only God. When facing hardships, Moses did not look anywhere else. He obeyed God. He believed God would help him. Standing in front of a sea with the enemy at our backs, how many of us would still believe God could save us? How many of us would complain or look for answers elsewhere? As we cross the Red Sea, we need to be aware it is a sea of glass glowing with fire. Instead of being consumed with sin, we must shine with truth, the Holy Spirit, and the merit of His blood. We need to be grateful for his redemption and be a burning fire in our faith, not sin.

We are all crossing the Red Sea. We face hardships in our lives. We face sin, which is a fire that can consume us. Temptations meet us at every corner. If we take the wrong step, we’ll sink into destruction. We encounter beasts and idols. Walking across the Red Sea is a tumultuous journey. It’s our job to keep our eye on God, to avoid sin and temptation, shoo away idols and beasts. If we do these things, at the other end, we can stand triumphant, singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.

Click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1987-11-29-full-mixdown-1