Steven Furtick - Chase The Chariot (02/23/2017)
In Exodus 14:23, God fights for His people by confusing the Egyptian chariots and drowning Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea—no weapon formed against them prospers. The preacher urges the church to chase the chariot like Philip did, turning from running in fear to boldly pursuing souls with the Gospel, overcoming complacency through motion and invitation.
God Fights for You—No Weapon Formed Against You Will Prosper
Are you ready for a sermon now? Exodus chapter 14, verse 23. This is something that I've shared with our staff. At our staff advance, they thought that it couldn't just stay contained with the staff. No, they said, the whole church needs to hear that. And well, I'll tell you, I think this is something that can really move us forward. So I've been sitting on it, and I've been asking God, you tell me when's the right time to release this, and I'll release it. And when I was going around seeing us put shoes on kids' feet, and put food in people's pantries, and sharing the love of Christ in practical ways, then when I got in that arena and felt the atmosphere, the explosive atmosphere of worship, God said to me, it's time. It's time. It's time. And this word is going to be very, very helpful to us.
Exodus chapter 14, verse 23. I know it's on the screen, but I want to open my Bible so I don't have to depend on the screen. I like to be self-sufficient. The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night, the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, let's get away from the Israelites. The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.
How many know God is fighting for you? I said, how many know God is fighting for you? How many know if God is for you, he's more than the whole world against you? How many know that if God is on your side, nothing that is formed against you can prosper? See, that's Isaiah 54:17. It says, no weapon that is formed against you will be able to prosper. Isaiah the prophet did not say, no weapon will be formed against you. He just said, as it's being formed, keep in mind that that weapon will not work.
So whenever you see something being formed in your life to dismantle the destiny that God has created you for, take a deep breath and realize that it didn't say that the weapons wouldn't come against you. It just said they wouldn't work when they did. It just meant that everything that the enemy tries to shoot you down with like a sniper is going to backfire and actually bring you into a greater place of purpose. I'm taking a moment for this. Come on, look alive if you believe, because somebody's under attack right now. Somebody's being assaulted. Somebody's being chased, like the Israelites being chased. And it says that the Lord fought for his people.
The Victory at the Red Sea
Drop down to verse 28 for the sake of time. Verse 28, it says, the water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. Not one weapon worked. Not one thing the devil brought against me to try to get me to quit was successful. It only strengthened my commitment to see God's will done in my life. Not one of them, not one, not one. I love that passage. I love the victory and the triumph that's resonant in this narrative. Love it. And there's something in here for us today that's very specific.
Before I get to it, let me pick up one verse from the New Testament book of Acts. In the book of Acts, it says that in Acts chapter 8, verse 30, Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. I want to speak to you today on this subject: Chase the chariot. Chase the chariot. It's a challenge. It's a charge. It's a command. Chase the chariot. If you're not sick of them by now, look at the person next to you and say, Chase the chariot. Come on, the chase is on.
The people of God were on the run. See, they've been enslaved in Egypt for centuries. And so they're getting out. And as they're getting out, they're marching out boldly because they believe God is with them. And you know what? It's easy to be bold before the battle begins. Easy to be bold when all the bills are paid. Easy to be bold when everything's going your way. And for a little while, as they marched out from Egypt with great substance, they had the wind at their back.
But at some point during the march, as they went through the Red Sea, they heard the sound of the chariots. Pharaoh had deployed 600 of his choice chariots to bring back the people who represented his entire labor force who were marching out boldly. And when they heard the chariots behind them, they were terrified. And all of a sudden, their boldness bowed down in the face of a battle. Chariots coming up behind them. The clacking of the wheels. Maybe they heard the sounds of the whips that had lashed their backs as the chariots drove on.
What Are You Running From? The Chase Is On
Have you ever been chased by something? Chased by a decision you made when you were 17? Chased by the memory of something that someone else did to you that you had no control over? Have you ever been chased by... I wish I had a soundtrack for this. It would be so much better. Don't mess with me today. How long is he going to do this? All right. That's good. Feed it. I just want to set the scene for... And it really wasn't a beautiful sound, so maybe my mood is a little off because it's a scary sound to hear the wheels of the chariots when you're on foot.
And it says that actually not only did the chariots chase the Israelites... I'm only going to do that sound effect about 16 more times. But it says that the chariots eventually caught up with them. Have you ever had the chariots not only chasing you, but something caught up with you? Look at me confused, and nobody will know about that one summer that you spent with that guy. But there is a time when stuff starts catching up with you. Can't hide it anymore. Can't outrun it anymore.
It says that the chariots at a certain place overtook the Israelites. Now, I've discovered that everybody is running from something. Everybody is running from something or someone, even if that someone is themself. One thing we all have in common who came to church today, we're all being chased by something. It might be a fear. It might be an anxiety. It might be an imagination. It might be guilt. But you are being chased. Touch somebody and say, the chase is on.
Chariots coming up behind them. And they're so afraid that they turn back to Moses and say, Man, we would have rather lived in captivity than died in freedom. It's amazing how looking back can take all of your faith out of the frame. To say that as long as you're looking forward on the next step that God has called you to take, all you'll ever see is the waters parting with every step that you take. But when you look back, all you see is the wheels of the chariot. Before you, waters are parting. Behind you, the wheels of the chariot are turning. And your faith is dependent on which direction you look.
Complacency, Not Chariots, Kills Faith
So they're running. They're running. They're running. They're running. And God, for some reason, allows the chariots to catch up with them. But not to kill them. Why even let them catch them if you're not going to let them kill them? I have a theory. See, I think that what kills God's children in the area of our faith is never the chariots. It's our complacency. The weapon that is formed against you will not prosper. It's never the chariots.
We all got these things we're running from. We all got these things we're worried about. We all got these things that are catching up with us. Yet, it's never the chariots that kill you. It's not. Now, I've been by bedsides of people who have died. I've seen their faith live on as their children watch them hold on to their faith. I've seen cancer catch up with the child of God. And I've seen cancer eat the body. But I saw that when a seed falls to the ground and dies, what's on the outside may waste away. But if you've got the resurrection power of Jesus Christ inside of you, even cancer can't kill you. Jesus said, I'm the resurrection and the life. If you believe in me, even if you die, you live.
The chariots can't kill you. You know, chariots can't kill a church. We've been attacked as a church before. Oh, y'all are that church. Oh, you go to that church. Yeah, that church that gave 60,000 meals to the community this week, we are that church. Thank you for asking. We are that church. That's exactly where. That is my church. But just because we have a strong church doesn't mean we've never been chased.
Chariots Can't Stop the Church—Keep Moving Forward
I thought they were going to chase me out of town two years ago on the news. See, like every channel saying something bad about me. And maybe I deserve some of it, but I didn't deserve all that. I mean, it was weird, man. I wonder, God, is this it? I mean, because I don't think the people... I came back to church the first week after they put us on the news. I thought it would be me and Holly and maybe a few staff. But the church was in overflow the very next week. Because I found out the chariots can't kill the church. An investigative reporter who isn't very interested in factual information can't kill the...
I'm getting loose now. This is my last one of the day. And I'm going to preach it like I feel it. And not really worry about where the chips lay. I could put the other one online. And if it's true for our church, it's true for your life. Chariots can't stop me. Chariots can't stop you. Even if they catch me, God will take their wheels off and throw them in the water. The speed of the chariots' wheels were no match for the velocity of the waves that God created to drown them.
And then, weird thing happens. They escape the chariots, but they die in their complacency. See, that whole generation stopped short. And when they beheld their next battle, they lost their sense of boldness, and they stopped. I don't know what chariots are chasing you today. We could talk about it over coffee. You could tell me. If it was just me and you, you could tell me. You can't tell me right now. I don't have time for all that. But it can't kill you. Not the true part of you. Not your faith.
The only thing that can derail your destiny is your complacency. The only thing that could ever stop our church is if we stop moving. As long as the Israelites kept moving, miracles followed. Miracles will always follow a child of God in motion. In motion toward the next step. Miracles will dry up the moment you stop. As long as you move, even if you're afraid. As long as you show up, even if you doubt. As long as you come back and say, God, I'm staying focused on what's in front of me. I hear the chariots behind me. But I know it's just a matter of time before you use what is coming against me to gain glory.
God Uses Pressure to Prevent Complacency
That's why God did it. He let the chariots chase the children of Israel because he knew if there was nothing chasing them, they wouldn't move. They did better with Egypt on their heels than they did once they were safe from their chariots. So, it's a matter of your heart. Wow. It says something interesting, though. If you read it, it says that the Israelites were running from the Egyptians. But then, once God got involved… See, God knows exactly when to get involved. If he gets involved too soon, you won't learn the lesson you need to learn. If he lets the pain stop too soon, you won't see the purpose like you need to. And you'll get comfortable and you'll get complacent.
And he knows how to handle the chariots. So, he uses the chariots to war against your complacency. So, he uses the chariots to make sure that you keep changing. Because if there were no chariots, there would be no change. So, the Bible says they were running. And they were on the run. And then, God jammed the wheels of their chariots. So, they had difficulty driving. And I loved it. Because now, all of a sudden, God starts chasing what was chasing his children.
The Egyptians said, let's get away from the Israelites. The Israelites are thinking, let's get away from the Egyptians. The Egyptians are thinking, let's get away from the Israelites. I want to tell you a secret. The devil has more reason to be afraid of you than you have to be afraid of him. And I want to tell the church a secret, too. We don't need to be so afraid of the changes that happen in our world.
The Church Thrives Under Pressure—Chase, Don't Run
I'm sick to death of hearing Christians talk about how bad the world is and how it's all going to hell in a handbasket. I'm so tired of hearing the church talk about it like it's something new. The church has never been killed by chariots. It's a new issue every day, man. We're so divided, and we're so scared. And the church is... Let me say it this way. The church has no business playing defense. The only time we lose is when we stop moving. The only time we lose is when we shut down. The only time we lose is when we put a permanent residence where God called us to pitch a tent. The only time we lose is when we refuse to move.
I don't care what they decide in what legislative body about anything that the world has to offer today. I don't care how divided we become along party lines. All of that is inconsequential to the power of the church. The church works better under pressure. The church spreads more under persecution. So whatever they do, whatever they say, whatever happens, whatever they think about it... I'm not looking back to the world. I'm not looking back to Egypt to see what my example is. I got my eyes set on what God...
So watch this. We live in a strange time. A lot is happening. It's nothing new. Here come the... Chariots. But here comes the... Church. Here comes the... How can we change a world that we're running from? If I understand the text correctly, it means that the Israelites could have turned around and chased the Egyptians. It means that the church can turn around right now at this moment in history and say, we got love, we got gospel, we got Jesus, we got the cross. We're running from nothing or nobody.
God help me preach this message the way I want to. I need to jump ahead a couple thousand years back to Philip. I thought I forgot about Philip. No, no. Philip is connected to Moses in a very interesting way. See, Jesus built a bridge on the cross. And that bridge spans cultures. That bridge spans creeds. That bridge transcends time. And so, in the book of Acts, the chariots of Roman oppression are chasing the church, threatening to make them extinct. The more that they were oppressed, the more they grew in grace. Apply it to yourself personally. The more you are oppressed, the greater opportunity to grow in grace.
Philip's Obedience: Starting Out in Faith
And Philip is running a revival in Samaria. Okay, it's going good. And people are... Let me actually find it, because it's cool how it says it. Oh, it says that those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip, they saw signs he performed. They paid close attention to what he said. And all these impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. And it says in verse 8, listen to this, so there was great joy in that city.
But then, at some point later, Philip is called away from that city, and it says in verse 26, Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip... Okay, stop here. God doesn't have to make an angel appear to speak to you. God doesn't have to give you a sign. He's given you scripture. He's given you a spirit. So we might read this story as if it's some supernatural... Well, no. I mean, in this case, God chose to speak to Philip in a very specific way. Sometimes God prompts us in a very intangible way, and sometimes you can explain it, and sometimes you can't, and sometimes you see something, you talk to somebody, but God speaks. Touch somebody and say, God still speaks. Yeah, he still speaks.
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Go south to the road, the desert road, that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip never asks. Never asks. It says in verse 27, beautiful phrase, So he started out, not knowing where he would end up, and not knowing why he was being sent. He started out. There's great power in small beginnings.
From Small Beginnings to World-Changing Impact
I was over there, crisis assistance ministry this week, and I was mad because Carol wasn't there. Executive director, she's my buddy. She was our first outreach partner. I was mad she wasn't there. I told him, we're not giving any more money ever again. I didn't say that. But it took me back to when we had one outreach partner. A pastor asked me this week on Periscope, how do you do a love week with so many different partners? How do you begin? It's a good question. Get one partner. Serve them so well that they tell somebody else. You'll have two. Then you have four.
And this week, for those of you watching on television, our church served at over 1,100 different events in our communities, spanning across our state and even in other parts of the world if you count Canada as another part of the world, which I totally do. It sounds good, you know. All over the world. Canada. And when we were in the arena Friday night worshiping God over 15,000 strong, recording our album, here as in heaven, I couldn't help but be moved as I always am to remember that it started out. Everybody say start out. It started out in our living room. Well, it was me and Holly's living room one week and then the Corbett's living room the next week. We were a multi-site church from the very beginning. Hello. One church, many locations.
And to see what started out in living rooms filled the largest venue in our city. You got to know that I'm going to put this mic down and clap. I can't even think about it. I'm going to mess up my message if I start thinking about it. We started out and God sent us to Charlotte, you know. I could tell you how he did it sometime. He got us here. And Philip started out and on his way. On his way. It's amazing the things that will happen to you in life between destinations. If you're aware and if you're open. Between jobs. Between relationships. It's amazing the things that God will do along the way. In the in between.
And on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch. You can look up eunuch on your own dictionary app on your own time. He met an Ethiopian eunuch, a VIP, in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake which means queen of the Ethiopians. This was a powerful lady named Candace and she was... Wow. You talk about importance. See, this guy was important not even just because of who he was but because of what he was connected to.
And it seems strange that God would take Philip out from a revival in Samaria where it was going so good and give him instructions to go see this one man on this desert road. And so maybe it wasn't about who the man was but what he was carrying that made it so important that God would interrupt Philip. And by the way some of you God doesn't interrupt anymore because you haven't gotten busy with the last 30 things he told you to do. And you wonder why you can't hear from God. Why in the world is he going to give you the next instruction? Why is he going to tell you how to build the roof when you haven't painted the first wall? Why is he going to instruct you beyond the level of your own initiative?
Running to the Chariot: Philip's Bold Action
But Philip started out and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch. I really think that's all you got to do sometimes is just start out. And on the way he meets this guy right? And this guy is there at the stoplight at the same time that Philip's coming up and this man had gone to Jerusalem to worship. So he's searching for something. I believe our lives are always surrounded more than we even know by people who are searching for something. And I really still believe that God puts people like Philip in places in jobs in schools in communities in churches. I believe God puts people in the path of people who are searching.
And the man had come to Jerusalem he was not a Jew but he was a God-fearer. So he came to Jerusalem perhaps out of investigation on official matters and now it's touched him personally. We don't know. But he had gone to Jerusalem to worship and on his way home he was sitting in his chariot. Yeah, I'm going to bring it together. I got two chariots now to work with. I got a fleet of 600 in the Red Sea and I got one man in a chariot on his way back to Ethiopia. Let's see if they have any semblance.
He's sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet and the Spirit told Philip raise your hand if you would do this if the Spirit told you to do it. The Spirit told Philip go to that chariot and stay near it. Would you do it? No, you wouldn't. You won't even go by the orange tent and we ask you to do it every week. You wouldn't do it. And the Spirit told Philip go to that chariot and stay near it.
Look at Philip. He's a little over eager when you say verse 30. Then Philip ran up to the chariot. It's a good way to get shot. Try it on Tyvolo. Try it this week. Just run up to the Escalade. These young people don't even know what that is. Sorry. He said hey man, you know what you're reading because they would read out loud in this day. It was the custom so the man's just reading out loud and it's just chariot and he said you know what you're reading and the man asked a question that I believe many people in your life are asking and my life are asking how can I unless someone explains it to me.
How can I unless someone exposes me to it. How can I and so he invited Philip to come up and I love these three words sit with him. You know how many lives have been changed in this church because of a simple invitation that one person made to another person, sit with me. Sit with me. Yeah, but I'm not a church person. It doesn't matter. Sit with me.
The Power of "Sit with Me"—Inviting Others In
And if I could be honest with you, there is a fear. We're 10 years old this February as a church. But my pants are too tight for me to be sitting on this. I love you too. He said, sit with me. I worry about our church when it gets larger, 10 years old, next 10 years. Are we still going to be a chariot chasing church? Because we started the church with chariot chasers. People who didn't mind running up to somebody and saying, man, you got to come to church with me. Yeah, yeah, I'll check it out. No, no, no. You're coming this week.
That's how I personally, that's how I made my personal faith commitment. My mom raised me in church, but there's a big difference between your parents being able to demonstrate faith to you, but they can't deposit it in you. They can demonstrate it. They can expose you, but it has to be your own personal experience. And sometimes what you need for that to happen is to see somebody at your own stage of life where it's real.
So there's this guy, he's a friend of mine named Cody. I've told the story before. It's been years. I haven't told this. I haven't gone back to my roots like this in a while. And God told me that I needed to tell this this weekend. And Cody was, you know, normal guy. Cody was good guy. All that's a good guy, but he wasn't some super Christian, but he had been going to a revival service and at the revival service and you can't make this crap up. The guy that was leading the part that he was in was named Jody. So you got Cody and Jody. This was just meant to be a sermon illustration. I mean, it's rhyming.
And so there's this intersection in my life where I'm a 16 year old kid and Cody invites me to church. And I say, no. And he shows up in my driveway and picks me up for church. Anyway, I'm not advising you to do this, but there is something powerful about when you care enough. And he had experienced something that he wanted me to experience. So he said, come with me. And I came with him and I met Jody and Jody explained it to me in a way that I understood what it would mean for me to have real faith. And a few days later I was at the altar. And today I'm preaching to you.
I don't know how many people will be in church this weekend. It's a pretty good crowd. It'll be somewhere around 20,000 people just in the church, not counting the online and TV. Don't clap for that. Clap for Cody. Cause I know God could have used something else, but it was Cody's Nissan that became the vehicle.
Now I want to offer a partnership to you as a church. You be Cody. I'll be Jody. Cause Jody was able to explain it to me and we set up a church. I know it's bigger now and all that, whatever. It's nothing in comparison to the need that we still have to meet. Nothing. Some of our campuses, we're not even beginning to touch our counties yet. And what it takes for a church to grow, what it takes for a movement of God to maintain momentum is a church full of chariot chasers.
Cause we got some chariot chasers in this church, man. That's why love week was such a success because of some chariot chasers that said, Oh, you won't come to our church. We'll come to your neighborhood. We'll come to your schools. You don't have to come to us. We'll come to you. And every week when you come here, we've set it up. We got chariot chasers in the parking lot. We got chariot chasers with orange batons. We got chariot chasers at the greeting door. We make sure that when you invite somebody to come to church and sit with you, that before they even sit down, somebody has prayed for their seat. Somebody has loved them in the lobby. Unless you go to Blakeney, somebody might've shoved them in the lobby because it could get a little crowded.
But what I'm saying is that simple invitation was so important. Because that man, that eunuch, had to take much more than the treasury of Candace back to Ethiopia. He had to take the message of the kingdom back to Ethiopia. And Jody and Cody are up here preaching with me every time I minister to you. Could there be a greater privilege? Could there be a simpler strategy? All we need, church, to keep seeing the wind of God is a church full of chariot chasers.
From Churchgoer to Chariot Chaser
Are we still a chariot-chasing church? Or are we a complacent church? We've grown by 17% since last year. That's great. But I don't want to ever assume and then be surprised by apathy. I want to keep chasing chariots because there's still places that this needs to go and there's still people who... and I thank God today for every chariot chaser. And God said today is the day that thousands of you are going to go from churchgoer to chariot chaser, from churchgoer to chariot chaser.
It wasn't in the church service that the man met God. It was on the way home. And it's out in the community with the relationships that you've been given that we make a difference. And I wonder what would happen if everybody in here just chased one chariot this week. We used to do this in the old day. I'd get up and preach. I'd preach these fire messages you never heard me preach on. I would preach. Back then I was kind of rough. I'd have everybody burning in hell if they didn't bring their friend to church by the end of the message. Not only are they going to hell, you're going too. It's not theologically correct, but it worked.
And so I was preaching, man. But then you can get kind of comfortable. Right. And we got more chariots to chase. In the Exodus account, the chariots went down into the water to drown. But watch how beautiful the gospel is. Watch how beautiful the bridge that Jesus built, the kingdom that we're building is. Watch this. It says that he explained to the man, verse 35, starting with that very scripture. We start with where people are. You don't have to be cleaned up to come here. I said it for the alcoholic in the back. You don't have to be cleaned up to come here. I said it for the dude who's looked at pornography till 3 A.M. last night. You don't have to be cleaned up to come here.
He started with that passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. The good news about Jesus changes everything. He's telling them about Jesus. Look, the man took initiative. As they traveled along the road in motion, they came to some water and the eunuch said, can I get baptized? And Philip said, well, there's a few classes that you're going to need to take. We have to check your background references. You're going to have to prove that you're really a Christian because, you know, there's just fake Christians sometimes.
But he asked the question I want to ask. What can stand in the way? Come on, if the cross is complete, what can stand in the way? And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Stop the chariot. And then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water. Look how the gospel changes things. In the Old Testament, the enemies went down into the water to drown. In the New Testament, Philip went down with the man into the water and he came up changed.
The Gospel Turns Enemies into Brothers—Chase the Chariot
That's what we get to do for the world, church. We get to go down into the water and tell people there's a hope, there's a stream, there's a river, there's a joy, there's a peace. Come on, sit with me, man. Sit with me in this water. Touch three people, say, we got chariots to chase. We got chariots to chase. And then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, everybody on your feet. And Philip baptized them. And when they came out of the water, Philip was gone. But it didn't matter. Because the man didn't need to meet Philip. He didn't need the presence of Philip. He needed the presence of God. He needed to meet Jesus.
And the eunuch didn't see him again. You never met Jody. You never met Cody. But the eunuch went on his way rejoicing and he carried his conversion to a completely different country because of one man. Because of one chariot chaser. Do I have any chariot chasers at all? Check your whole road and see if we got any churchgoers. See if we got any just churchgoers. This is not the time for churchgoers. This is the time for the people of God to chase chariots. This is not the time for us to be afraid and cower in fear. This is the time for us to head into the world carrying the message.
Who knows, man? Jody brought me to church. Now I preach to you. Next week, I'm just throwing it out there. Why don't you bring somebody with you to church? Not just tell them to come. If you come to church sometime, you can totally come and be okay. But say what the eunuch said to Philip. Isn't it funny? The man actually asked Philip to invite him to church. Philip didn't ask the eunuch, sit with him. I believe there are people in your life that are asking you to ask them. Because they need it.
And what could change with three words? Sit with me. Sit with me this week. When you're going through a hard time in your marriage, come sit with me. I know you hate church. I know you think God's a superstition. Just come sit with me. And I believe that things happen in the presence of God. Miracles. How many of you have experienced a miracle in the presence of God? Was it meant to stay with you? Or was it meant to get in the chariot so it could go back to Candace? So it could change the world.
Here come the chariots. And here comes the church. Here comes the darkness, but here comes the light. Here comes fear, but here comes faith. He loves you. I hear the sound of angels. I hear the sound of revival. I hear the sound of miracles. Miracles. Miracles.