Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to our first reading, Exodus
chapter 15. We'll read for our text just
the first part of verse 17. Verse 17, Thou shalt bring them in. The whole verse reads, Thou shalt
bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance,
in the place, O Lord, which Thou hast made for Thee to dwell in,
in the sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established. This then is part of the Song
of Moses, the deliverance that had just been given them as they
had come out of Egypt. And we had this morning of the
Lord bringing them out of Egypt, a people that were in the midst
of deliverance. And from that time, and it was
a time when they would not hear Moses speaking of the Promises
of deliverance because of the hard labour and the sorrows that
they had. But God did bring them out, He
did redeem them, He brought them out and this song here is when
that deliverance is complete. Not only separated from Egypt,
but the Egyptians destroyed and they had the Red Sea now between
them and Egypt. And before we ever go on and
to think here of what is pointing forward, the children of Israel
now being formed into the people of the Lord, the Lord their God,
being their God and they being his people, and then to be brought
in to Canaan, which is what our text says, thou shalt bring them
in. Before ever that there is a bringing
in in that way, there must be that bringing out. The separation,
and we tried to make that clear this morning, that Pharaoh, he
tried to make it that the children of Israel could stay in Egypt
and they could worship there. But Moses said, how could We
sacrificed the abominations of the Egyptians before their eyes. Then Pharaoh said, well, you
can go out, but just go out a little way, not too far. And then he
said to go back out just for a few days and then come back
again. And all this idea so that there is not a clear break with
Egypt. Now when we think of that in
a spiritual way, and we think of Egypt as the Egypt of this
world, and that of which a man dead in trespasses and sins finds
a comfortable home, and we think of God's people as his chosen
people, his redeemed people, and the children of Israel as
the shedding of the blood of the Passover, they were redeemed,
They were purchased, that is reflected in this song, and they
were brought out. God's people are a people brought
out. And the great danger, the danger
to the church today is that there are many churches, many people
that will say that they believe in Jesus, they'll have the name
of Christian, they'll have a form of worship, But in effect, they
are still in the world. The worship reflects the world,
the music reflects the world, the pursuits of the people, the
dress of the people, the language of the people, it still reflects
the world. They're still in Egypt, as it
were. Our Lord is very clear, you cannot
serve God and mammon And the Apostle, when he writes to the
Corinthians, was very clear. Come ye out from among them.
Touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you. You shall
be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Now
this is not to separate ourselves from the world like the monks
would be, to have nothing to do with those round about us.
and to say stand by thyself for I am holier than thou but it
is to be brought out so that this world is not our rest the
things that it loves all its sinful pleasures and ways are
not our pleasures and ways that our language is as the language
of Canaan according to the word of God not the coarse, vulgar,
worldly, ungodly language of the world. You know a solemn
thing with dear Peter, when he was charged with being one of
the disciples of the Lord, he changed his speech and his language. He began to curse and to swear. Never be ashamed of the language
of the Lord's people and speaking according to the Scriptures.
We are exhorted that in all things that we are to be sober, sober-minded,
and in our speech, and in our actions, and in our ways. The
Apostle puts it in another way, that we are to be crucified to
the world, and the world to us. If we truly walk in the ways
of the Lord, it will be they that walk, will live godly in
this present world, shall suffer persecution. And the Lord says,
I have given them thy word and the world hath hated them. If
we truly follow, obey the word of God and serve the Lord, then
this world will say, we do not want you for our company and
we will just go our own way. And in that, of course, it's
so necessary that we view the whole of the word of God as the
word of God. and every word of God is pure. Many of the churches are becoming
more and more like the world, more and more like Sodom and
Gomorrah, that they are turning their backs upon the infallible
holy word of God and seek by those ways to justify being a
church really that has never left Egypt, never been separated,
and are trying to serve God, as it were, in the midst of the
Egyptians. Well, to come to our text, if
there's to be the song of deliverance, before ever there's a going into
Canaan, before the very start of the pilgrimage journey, the
deliverance is that Egypt no longer has them in bondage. Egypt,
they're no longer under its laws. Not that we are to be not under
the laws of our leaders or those in authority over us, as far
as they follow the word of God, where they go as in the Acts,
so contrary, forbidding to preach or speak in the name of the Lord,
then it is we ought to obey God rather than man. We think of
the days of Queen Esther when one of the things that Haman
put before King Ahasuerus as why the Jews should be destroyed
was because they had laws that were contrary, contrary to the
king and to the land. He really blackened their name
in that way. Well, we would have the laws
and the statutes, commandments, and ways of the Lord. And so if we are truly brought
out, then the word of our text shall be, sure thou shalt bring
them in. But it's vital first there is
a bringing out, and then to be a bringing in. So this song of Moses, it sees
the children of Israel, not only brought out, but the Egyptians
destroyed. It sees them in the wilderness,
the other side of the Red Sea, on the other side from Egypt. And it sees them singing this
song of Moses, a song of deliverance, a song of victory, a song where
they have not only been delivered, brought wonderfully through the
Red Sea themselves, but also seen their enemies destroyed. And part of the song is looking
forward. Part of the song is not seeing
just now what they have at this point, but what they shall have. And you see how much in prophecy
it is, it's not just bring them into Canaan, but it is in the
place, O Lord, which thou has made for them to dwell in. They're
yet 40 years away from that. In the sanctuary, the sanctuary
hasn't even been made, not even the tabernacle in the wilderness
hasn't even been, the pattern of it has been made yet. But
of course the Lord himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the sanctuary. The tabernacle and Solomon's
temple were but types and shadows, but they were to be brought into
those things which thy hands have established. But what is
upon my spirit is this word, thou shalt bring them in. And before we look at some main
points, it says here, thou shalt bring them in. And of course,
we say, well, that is the children of Israel. But even in this chapter,
we get a picture of what they are like. And we find a people
that very quickly turn to murmuring and complaining. We have them
in verse 24, when they come to Mara and those waters were bitter,
the people murmured against Moses saying, what shall we drink? Whereas their trial in Egypt
was the Egyptians and the burdens there that were put upon them
by them. When they come into the wilderness,
and yes, later on they had Amalek coming, they still had outside
adversaries. But so much is highlighted of
their inward adversaries, their own character. After the Lord
had brought them out, they were still murmurers, still complainers,
still liable to rebel, still those that were so slow to trust
the Lord. He had brought them through the
Red Sea, hadn't he? Wouldn't he provide for them
the water as well? Aren't we so slow as well to
trust in the Lord? When we look back to the times
that the Lord has heard our prayers, and delivered us, and saved us,
and helped us, Don't we find still that same character that
the children of Israel had? And what a mercy it is recorded
in the Word of God. It doesn't picture the children
of Israel as being a perfect people, a people that never put
a foot wrong, never a thought wrong, never a word wrong. They
were sinners. They still were sinners. in God's
people, when he brings them to himself, and when he calls them
by grace, and they're born again of his spirit, and they're brought
to be a real Christian, washed in his precious blood, and to
serve him and not mammon. They still have their old nature,
what the apostle would say, a wretched man that I am. who shall deliver
me from the body of this death. He fell inwardly, so much his
own sin, his inability, he says, with me is present to will, but
how to perform that, I find not. The good that I would, I do not,
the evil that I would not, that I do. But his conquest, his deliverance
was in Christ. Who shall deliver me? I thank
God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. With the flesh, he served the
law of sin, but with the mind, the law of God. That's a blessed
thing, to be given a new nature, and one that resists and fights
against the old nature. But here is a beautiful promise
then, too, a people already bored out, but a people that are still
murmurers and complainers, a people whose character, well, all the
people of God would know that we still have, and that this
beautiful word, thou shalt bring them in. They're not set on their
way and said, right, that's the way, you go alone. No. Our Lord
in John 10, in the type of a shepherd, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep, he redeems them. But when he putteth forth
his sheep, he goeth before them. And then in John 6, he says,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. And Paul says that the children
of Israel here, they drank of that spiritual rock that followed
them, and that rock was Christ. The fiery, cloudy pillar, fire
by night and cloud by day, that went before them, right from
this very start, even before they went over the Red Sea. And
then later it was over the Tabernacle. The Lord's presence saved them. He went before them and showed
them the way that they should go. They didn't choose it themselves. The Lord chose out that way,
not through the way of the Philistines, though it was near. Yes, they
should see war and be discouraged and return back to Egypt. but
he led them by the way of the Red Sea. Beautiful word in Psalm
107, he led them forth by the right way that they might go
unto a city of habitation. And so we have this word, thou
shalt bring them in, and there are three ways that I want to
set it before you is on my spirit. The first is, thou shalt bring
them in, bring the children of Israel into Canaan. It's always good to begin with
the account that is before us, the literal account that we know,
and it is set before us, the Lord did do this. So I want to
do that. Look at that in the first place,
bring thou shalt, bring them in, bring the children of Israel
into Canaan. But secondly, bring in his people
into the visible church. God has a church on earth, a
church made up of saved people and he adds unto that church
daily such as should be saved. And so when we read this, thou
shalt bring them in. Thou shalt bring them into the
church. Accept the Lord, build the church.
They labour, or build the house, they labour in vain that building. And then lastly, bring his people
into heaven, the heavenly Canaan, And to the church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, thou shalt bring them in. Well, firstly, the actual account
here. The children of Israel were to
go into a land that Abraham had lived in, Isaac had lived in,
Jacob had lived in. But while they lived in it, they
were not given so much as a foot in it. It wasn't to be theirs,
it was theirs by promise. And that promise was being now
fulfilled in bringing the children of Jacob, Israel, as his name
was changed to, to be brought into that land as their own land. They are going to dispossess
the inhabitants of the land. And in this time, the time that
is before us here, we look upon Canaan as a type of heaven. Remember, types never follow
through in every part. There shall not be wars in heaven
like there was in Canaan. But we think of it as the promised
land, as the land God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. and
the land that was got into that was going through Jordan. Jordan is a time of death in
that way. Notice the children of Israel,
they needed the Lord to bring them into the wilderness and
then the start of their journey through the waters of the Red
Sea, dividing it apart, but with the River Jordan, it was a flowing
river so it just needed to be stopped up one side and dammed
up and then the rest would fail, keep on flowing. And Rahab said
that they had heard there in Jericho what God had done 40
years before in dividing the Red Sea. What must those of Jericho
have felt when the very thing that they remembered that God
did 40 years ago was being done before their eyes with the children
of Israel going over on dry land through Jordan. God brought them
into the way. God brought them out of that
wilderness. And in the wilderness, he taught
them and instructed them. He formed them as his people. He gave them his law. He gave
them the tabernacle. He gave them the types and the
shadows. He chastised them when they murmured,
when they complained, when they followed false gods, when they
took upon them idolatry. And last, he dealt with those
sins. And as a nation, they were brought
in to Canaan. But on the way, There was many
that perished, many, many that were dealt with by God. And for
the promise, of course, we look upon the children of Israel as
a whole. But in the New Testament, we
have many warnings that we be not like the children of Israel.
Those things happen to them for ensembles that we also should
not lust after evil things as they did. And Paul, Apostle Paul
points out that there was many of those that went through the
Red Sea of which God was not well pleased. Again, we have
a solemn reminder that even the Apostle Paul, a preacher as he
was, so clearly sent by God, so owned and blessed by God,
And he says, I keep under my body, lest, if by any means,
I should become a castaway. Though I have preached to others,
yet I myself be a castaway. And the whole message of the
New Testament is not to undermine assurance, is not to take away
the Preciousness of these promises thou shalt bring them in, but
as to emphasize the people that's brought in. The Lord brings them
in by chastening, by correcting them, by directing them by his
word, causing them to hear his word, brought to repentance,
brought to godly sorrow, brought to walk in his ways, not to say,
well, we're being Born again, we are the people of God. It
doesn't matter how I live. We can just let our thoughts
run hither and thither, our ways go where they want to go, and
we will just get to heaven anyway. Because the Lord says that he
chastens and corrects every son whom he receiveth. That is a mark of being a child
of God. And the Lord in choosing his
people, in redeeming them, is to redeem them a holy people
unto the Lord. He hasn't redeemed us and saved
us to leave us in our sins. The Lord Jesus was given the
name of Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. That's not just saving and separating
from the world in calling, in bringing them to be born again
of the Spirit and that be all involved in that saving. It's
not just saving to bring them to be in heaven at last, but
it's saving them from their sins every single day and every single
hour. Saved from the power and dominion
of sin, saved from Satan's hand, saved from every snare, And when
they fall, when they're in Satan's sieve like dear Peter was, hear
the Lord saying, I prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. The Lord shall bring them in.
He's the keeper of his people. Thou shalt hear a word behind
thee saying, this is the way, walk ye in it when you turn to
the right hand and when you turn to the left. My sheep, they hear
my voice, they follow me. And so when there is a bringing
the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, there is a direct
type here, a message to us, as applied in the New Testament,
that these people and what happened to them were warnings to us.
a message to us that the way the Lord brings in to Canaan,
the heavenly Canaan, is the way that the Lord brought the children
of Israel into Canaan, by not suffering sin upon them, by dealing
with their sins, and by delivering them from their enemies, from
Amalek, from the male bites, from turning Balaam's curse into
a blessing. All of these things God did for
his people. He gave them manna to eat. He gave them water out of the
rock. He was the type of this tree
which was cast into the waters that made these waters of Mara
that were otherwise bitter, made them sweet. And how many a child
of God. can testify that that which has
been a most bitter experience or sickness or affliction and
trial has been made sweet when the Lord has blessed it and when
he sent his word and made that a sweet fellowship between that
soul and the Lord Jesus Christ. These things then that are written
are written for our learning and we picture here with Israel
this beautiful promise thou shalt bring them in and realize the
Lord he did bring them in we have reference to this in Deuteronomy
8 where we have this word that's for the Lord in verse 7 the Lord
thy God bringeth thee into a good land a land of brooks of water,
of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills,
a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates,
a land of oil, olive and honey, a land wherein thou shalt eat
bread without scarceness. These things are said, and the
crown is put on the Lord's head. He shall bring them in to this
wonderful land, this provision, this that has been prepared for
them. Of course, we have those preparations
in scripture when man was first formed. He wasn't just put into
an empty place. He was put into a garden already
prepared. When the children of Israel went
into Canaan, they went and they were told they did not have to
plant the vineyards, nor they need to build houses. They were
all built. The vineyards were there. They
just dispossessed the inhabitants, they went into that land. And
heaven is a prepared place as well for a prepared people. We look then at the faithfulness
of God. What God says here, 1500 years
before Christ, some 40 years before he brought them
actually into Canaan. The only reason why it was 40
years is because they rebelled, they turned back, they limited
the Holy One of Israel. So the Lord turned them back
into the wilderness. But the Lord did bring them in.
The temple was built in that land. The Lord Jesus Christ did
come to that land. and he was crucified and slain
at Jerusalem. Again, like we said this morning,
the Word of God here records the very history of Israel, the
nation that is a nation still today and is not cunningly devised
fables. It is a record of how that nation
was formed in Israel in Egypt and then brought and formed as
a nation Israel named after Jacob and the name he was given when
he prevailed with God and how they are brought into the land
even where they are today. How kind the Lord is to in his
book inspired holy word of God to give this along with all of
the names of real men and women throughout the history of the
world, to show us these are not cunningly devised fables. The
power and coming of the Lord is shown in the Word of God. It is the Word of God. And it
has a spiritual teaching, an application that is applied in
the New Testament and that which we bring before you here. So our first point, thou shalt
bring them in. The Lord did bring them in to
Canaan and plant them there. But secondly, he shall bring
in his people into the visible church. All of God's people when they
are born, They are born in sin and shapen in iniquity, and even
if they be born of godly parents and may be brought up to attend
in the churches, they are still not part of that church. They are out-of-court worshippers. They need the new birth to be
brought into the church. They need to be converted. and
to become as little children and to receive the Word of God
and to have a new beginning, a spiritual beginning. In Acts chapter 2, we have a
summary, really, of how God does bring his people into the church,
the steps of it. Peter is preaching. He's preaching
at Jerusalem. He's preaching to those that
had crucified the Lord of life and glory, the reason for his
death in an outward way. He charges onto them what they
had done, and he makes it very clear that Jesus of Nazareth
was the Christ. He says in verse 36, therefore,
let all the house of Israel Know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now we need to be very clear
the reason why the Lord died. He laid down his life, he was
taken by wicked hands, crucified and slain, but he was delivered
by the full knowledge of God and the counsel of God. And he
laid down his life for his people's sin. He bore the sin of many. He made intercession for the
transgressors. On Calvary is where the great
transaction was made to pay the debt that his people owed but
couldn't pay themselves. There was the satisfaction for
the justice of God. Let thy hand be upon the man
at thy right hand, the Son of Man, whom thou made as strong
for thyself, the substitutionary offering of Christ. Why did he die? Why did he suffer? Because of his people's sins. And each one of His people for
whom He died will come into a time in their life that they will
know that it was their sins that caused His sufferings. They will know that He suffered
in their place. They shall look upon Him whom
they have pierced, they shall mourn for Him And in this case
here, when the apostle is preaching, the effect was in verse 37. Now, when they heard this, they
were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest
of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? They have just
been brought in guilty. They have just been brought in
as the ones that had crucified the Lord of life and glory. It's hard to really imagine,
even in a natural sense, what they must have felt. A people
of a nation that had been looking for generations for the coming
of Christ, the just one. And then to have to realise,
actually, we have lived in the time of his coming, and we have
not received him. When we could have heard his
words, spoken to him, been healed, known Him. Instead, we treated
Him like we did, and we crucified Him, and we slew Him. What they
must have felt for that, and the realization of it. Pricked in the heart, hardly
seems to really comprehend what they felt. But in a measure,
every one of us is to be brought to view the Lord in our place,
to really see that it was our sins that nailed him to the tree,
our sins that pierced him, that it was because of that. If no
man had sinned, then Christ had not need to die. If one man had
sinned and that one man had to be saved, then Christ must die
for that one man. We are called particular Baptists. We believe that Christ died for
the particular people and for their particular sins. It was
a love to each individual one that brought him to bear their
sin on Calvary's tree. Some will say, well, Christ just
died to put away sin as a general atonement. And then it's up to
everyone to just accept him and to believe. Some will say that
he died for everyone, but then by election he limited who would
actually partake of that provision and that atonement. But that
takes away. The great love the Lord had to
each individual one of his people in dying for their sin, it takes
away as well their particular sufferings that he endured for
my sin, for your sin, for the sins of his dear people. Greater love had no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, the Lord
knew for whom he laid down his life. And so when we have, thou shalt
bring them in. It is a people that the Lord
has already suffered for, already put away their sin, but then
brings them in because they are brought to be convicted of their
sin, brought to be feeling these sinners. And then they hear,
hear the word. What does Peter say in verse
38? Peter said unto them, when they
had asked, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost. In one sense, they'd already
been partakers of the Holy Ghost and been breaked in their heart
and been brought to conviction. But Peter directs them to a change
in their life, not to despair. He doesn't say despair. He doesn't
say, well, you've done such great things. You now have to do penance
and you've got to do this and that. No, he brings them to repentance
and forgiveness, those things that are joined together. The
Lord Jesus Christ is exalted to give repentance and remission
of sins unto Israel. And those that then received
the word, we read in verse 41, and they that gladly received
his word were baptized. The same day there were added
unto them about 3,000 souls. Conviction, repentance, believing,
gladly receiving the word, obedience, baptism, and then they continue
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and
in breaking of bread, the Lord's Supper, and in prayers. Then what do we read at the end
of this chapter? And the Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved. This is how the Lord brings them
in. The messenger that was sent from
Abraham to find a wife for Isaac, when he told what was done in
the way, then Laban and Bethuel They said, wherefore standest
thou without come in thou blessed of the Lord. The Lord shall bring
in his people. And this is a great comfort for
the church. We preach, we send forth the
word of God, but it's the Lord that brings in and Lord that
adds to his church and Lord that blesses that word and draws his
people to himself. He shall build his church, he
shall bring them in. A beautiful word when we view
it in that way. And Paul, he refers to the church
in the wilderness. The children of Israel were a
type of the church. Thou shalt bring them in. For
the last bring them in is bring his people into heaven. For whatever what we might think
or have some ideas of being able to do things ourself here below, we shall never be able to bring
ourselves into heaven. When this mortal tabernacle is
laid in the grave, and the spirit then is released and returns
to God, how absolutely vital that the Lord brings us in and
the Lord brings us there. If indeed we have known him here
below, we have already known his intercession. We've already
known we have an advocate with the Father. We have these beautiful
promises, the Lord saying in John 14, that I go to prepare
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
there where I am, there ye may be also. The Lord shall bring
his people in, not bring themselves in or not wait for them to come
on their own. He said, I will come and receive
you unto myself. The children of Israel even going
into Canaan, it was the ark a type of the Lord that was to stand
in the midst of Jordan, a type of death until all the children
of Israel were brought over. And the Lord brought them in.
Was it Joshua? No, Joshua saw the vision of
the captain of the Lord's host. Are thou for us or for our adversaries? He was for Israel and he was
to bring them into the promised land. And the Lord Jesus Christ
shall bring his people in. No wonder Paul says, let us run
the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. Where is
Jesus? He already is in. Already his prayer is, Father,
I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am,
that they may behold my glory. His desire is, his prayer is
that they be brought in. What a solemn thing if Noah was
not brought in and shut into the ark. And how vital when the
earth is destroyed by fire, not by water, the people of God are
safe in Christ, safe in him. But the Lord will bring his people
into heaven. He bringeth them unto their desired
haven. Do you, do I, have a desired
haven now? Is this world like a wilderness
to us? Do we have thoughts as to the
promises of God that promise a better country, a heavenly
country? And words like this are precious
when we feel our weakness, our sin, our poverty, our failures. The Lord says, Thou shalt bring
them in. It is the work of God. He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. The victory,
the crown, shall be on the head of the Lord. And this is why
when we read, we read in the revelation The song of Moses
again, and this time is pictured in heaven. This time it is right
at the end of time. Yes, there's more judgments,
there's more signs to be fulfilled in the heavens, but as far as
the earth is concerned, the victory is gained. The Lord has come
again and the end of the world. The victory over the world and
over Satan and over flesh. And they sing that same song
of Moses. Those are precious times when
the Church of God have victories. When there is happiness. When
the soul is realizing conquests over sin and death and hell,
as the hymn writer says. Well, may this word be then not
only precious to us, but we be in the them, that we already
know part of this. And we know that the Lord will
complete that work. He has begun, that he has brought
us out. He has brought us into the wilderness,
or he has brought us into the church, the visible church here
below. And he will bring us at last
to heaven. Numbered with them may I be,
now and to eternity. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.