Latest / Bible Tract Echoes Podcast / Trapped Without Hope

Transcript

Trapped Without Hope · Bible Tract Echoes Podcast

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, friend.
• 0:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to the Bible Tract Echoes Radio Broadcast.
• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Mike McCurray, your host and the Executive Director of the Ministry of Bible Tracts Incorporated.
• 0:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much very much for listening.
• 0:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever been in a situation from which you could not recover yourself?
• 0:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever been in such a bind that you could not get yourself out, you required help and maybe just maybe that help came from an unlikely source?
• 0:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have you heard the tale?
• 0:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: The story, the true account?
• 0:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: of the good ship endurance led by Sir Ernest Shackleton.
• 0:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: On his quest, to accomplish the very first land crossing of the Antartic continent.
• 0:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'm going to share that with you
• 0:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Today, grab your Bibles.
• 0:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: You will not find the story of Mr. Shackleton in the pages of God's Word, but we're going to use his story as an illustration for a Bible account and some practical application that may be a help to you.
• 1:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And to me today turned to the book of Exodus.
• 1:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: We are going to return to the book of Mark in the coming days But before we do that I've got a burden on my heart from the book of Exodus That I'm looking forward to sharing with you today grab your Bibles
• 1:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: While you do so, let me tell you about a gospel track.
• 1:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've got a couple over here on my desk to talk about this week, but the one that first comes to mind is called a good soldier.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: A good soldier, but...
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Lost.
• 1:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I grew up in a military home.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: My father, Chris McCurray, is a good man.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: He is a good man.
• 1:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm very blessed by the fact that I have a good heritage, but this gospel track doesn't talk about Chris McCurray.
• 2:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: It talks about another soldier, a man named Cornelius.
• 2:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: It begins this way, Captain Cornelius served in the Roman army.
• 2:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was according to Acts
• 2:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God all the way.
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now get this, that is what God said about him.
• 2:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was a good man, but...
• 2:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was lost.
• 2:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: This goss will try to explain how Cornelius came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
• 2:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: He came to that knowledge because he realized that being a good person was not going to be enough to get him to heaven.
• 2:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you're listening right now and you say, I've been trusting in good works.
• 2:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've been thinking that I could pay my own way to get to Heaven's gates, friend that could not be further from the truth, and this gospel track explains why and how from scripture.
• 3:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you're listening right now and you have immediate questions, you don't want to go another day.
• 3:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is bothering you.
• 3:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'd love to hear from you.
• 3:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can contact me at 0-9-3-16-7-2-4-0.
• 3:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Again, that number is 3-0-9-3-16-7-2-4-0.
• 3:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, we're going to look at the book of X this chapter number 14.
• 3:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Find your place there.
• 3:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I need to tell you the rest of the story.
• 3:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Sir Ernest Shackleton, about 1915, 1916 or so, was trying to accomplish the very first land crossing of the southernmost continent.
• 3:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: they were stymied.
• 3:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were stopped.
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: The ship endurance was captured by the ice.
• 3:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was hemmed in, frozen in, and slowly began to be crushed by the ice.
• 3:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: The shipmates, the crew members, Mr. Shackleton himself, they escaped from the ship and set up camp on the ice, but the problem was, there was no help for them.
• 4:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: There is no, no way that they could save themselves.
• 4:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: They did have, I believe it was a 23-foot sailing vessel, a small lifeboat if you will call the James Kaird.
• 4:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: that boat took them on an 800 mile, Mr. Shackleton, and just five of the many crew members left, they went for help.
• 4:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they went 800 miles to incredible weather, landed on the backside of an inhabited island, had to cross in 36 hours through just absolutely brutal weather,
• 4:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: There were Norwegian wailers, and those Norwegian men were helpful.
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: They saved.
• 4:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: They organized a rescue situation and a rescue effort for the men that had been left behind.
• 5:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: There was none of the room in the James cared, and they were saved by an unlikely group of people.
• 5:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: That brings us to our Bible, study today and this week, Exodus chapter 14, and verse number 10, would you join me there, Exodus 14, verse 10, the Bible says, and when Pharaoh drew Nye, 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,
• 5:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: unto the Lord."
• 5:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now we're going to continue on down through this passage, but just to give you a little bit of context, it's likely that many of you already know this account.
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: You already know this story.
• 5:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know this story better than you did, Mr. Shackel in story.
• 5:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: the Israelites are caught between a body of water and Pharaoh's army.
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Bible talks about 600 chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt.
• 6:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: You realize it could have been that Pharaoh he subscribed to what his suit sayers, and what the scribes and magicians often had to say,
• 6:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: According to Scripture, they were about 600,000 men of war in the Israelite camp.
• 6:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: It realized as powerful as chariots were, they were 600 would not be enough.
• 6:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: They had far more than that, 600 chosen chariots, and it could have been some Jewish scholars of opine, that maybe his scribes and the suit sayers had told him, pick out 600 of your best chariots, and they will lead the charge.
• 6:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: they will counteract the fight and the work of the 600,000 men of Israel and beside that, there are many women and children, and then all the churrets of Egypt, following on behind, and on they came.
• 6:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ready to do battle, but really, not so much battle, they were
• 7:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: after slaves.
• 7:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: You see Egypt had released.
• 7:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Pharaoh's heart had finally been soft enough to release the Israelites after the death of all the firstborns of the people of Egypt.
• 7:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: But now he realized, I mean, think about it economically, they had lost a massive workforce, and so they were coming after them to recover the workforce for Egypt.
• 7:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: think of the way the heart's melted, among the Israelites.
• 7:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: God had delivered them by a high and powerful hand, and here they are, whining.
• 7:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Here they are crying.
• 7:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've heard it put this way, you'll probably hear this short verse and poem later on this week, but a wiseer man than I said,
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Run in circles, scream, and shout.
• 8:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I don't believe that's good advice, is it?
• 8:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: At least that's not how a Christian should approach issues of life.
• 8:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: We go through circumstances, don't we?
• 8:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: We have hard times.
• 8:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you're listening right now, this is not encouraging, but again, it's been said that we are either coming out
• 8:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: of a storm.
• 8:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: We are in a storm or we are going into another storm.
• 8:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: You say that doesn't sound very good.
• 8:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, when he, when Jesus, when God is piloting your ship, it is good news, but the point I want to make today and the thought I want to give you is I want you to notice the resolution of the enemy.
• 8:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: You and I, we,
• 8:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: have an enemy.
• 8:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Israelites had an enemy here.
• 8:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: For Ernest Shackleton, it was the winds and the cold and the waves looking to drown them at a moment when they were not looking to sweep them under and to wipe their memory from the face of the earth.
• 9:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, we deal with a far more intelligent enemy than just nature itself.
• 9:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Go over to book a first Peter chapter five.
• 9:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know this verse, but I want you to read it with me first Peter chapter number five.
• 9:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'll find it here first Peter chapter five and verse number eight.
• 9:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Bible says this Be sober be vigilant because you're adversary the devil as a roaring lion walk at the bowt seeking whom he may devour
• 9:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: is your life's their enemy.
• 9:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: But you and I, friend, we have an enemy as well, but there is a lifeline.
• 9:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: This week, I'll be honest with you.
• 9:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is probably
• 9:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: one of the more encouraging messages that God's given me over these past few days and weeks.
• 9:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm excited to share it with you in full as we continue on.
• 10:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: But what I'm going to ask you to do is this, I'm going to need you to tune in every day of this week.
• 10:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to build on each other today.
• 10:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're talking about the resolution of the enemy.
• 10:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Tomorrow we're going to look at
• 10:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: the Israelites reaction to the emergency.
• 10:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to ask ourselves some pointed questions about how we react, how we respond to difficult times.
• 10:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: But today, as we ponder the enemy that you and I share, you realize the Satan, the devil, Lucifer, he has no power against the
• 10:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: He does have the opportunity to take a little bit of shine off the glory of God because we are His, God's workmanship, created in His image.
• 10:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: We should be transformed by the renewing of our mind, we should not be conformed to this world.
• 11:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, the devil knows that he can't attack God directly.
• 11:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's God is far too powerful for that.
• 11:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: But he can go after God's creation, that's you, and that's me.
• 11:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And he is resolved, just like Pharaoh was when he decided, I'm going to go after, I don't care what happens, I don't care who they're God as I am going to bring them back, and they're going to work for us.
• 11:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Or the devil would like nothing more than to ruin your life.
• 11:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: The devil would like nothing more than to cause you to be a stain on the testimony of the goodness of God.
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: So may I ask you today, friend?
• 11:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: What will your choice be?
• 11:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Will you scream and shout?
• 11:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Will you throw your hands up in the air or run in circles and the bemoan the decisions you've made that have led you to this place being led by God?
• 12:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I encourage you not to do so.
• 12:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let me ask you will you please tune in this week.
• 12:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so excited about continuing through the book of excess chapter 14 for just a few days longer.
• 12:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you're interested in this gospel track, a good soldier but lost, go to bibletracksink.org today, bibletracksink.org you can order
• 12:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: a free sample booklet on our website as well.
• 12:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Did you know our tracks are free?
• 12:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Forgot to mention that they are free.
• 12:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're not trying to sell you anything.
• 12:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I want to thank you so much for listening today.
• 12:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: We've got far more to talk about my prayer as always.
• 12:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Is that you?
• 12:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have a great day for his glory.
• 12:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: God bless.
• 12:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: We'll plan on talking to you soon.
• 13:12
  [UNKNOWN]: Thank you.
• 13:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for tuning in to Bible Tract Echoes, the radio ministry of Bible Tracts Incorporated.
• 13:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Want to see our gospel tracks and other resources?
• 13:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: Visit us online at BibleTracksInk.org that's BibleTracksInk.org or follow us on social media to learn how you can partner with this ministry.
• 13:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks again for listening.
• 13:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: May the Lord richly bless you as you live for Him.