I want you to turn with me this
morning to the 15th chapter of the book of Exodus. This chapter here begins with Israel's magnificent song
of victory. We talked last week, I believe
it was, about the fourteenth chapter of the book of Exodus,
where the children of Israel were shut up on one side to the
mountains. Behind them was Pharaoh and his
armies, and ahead of them was the Red Sea. Now God has been pleased to deliver
them from this insurmountable barrier. had been hemmed up, no way out,
an impossibility. But God, being their God, delivered
them from Pharaoh and his army and drowned them in the Red Sea. Now, this chapter, verse 1, chapter
15, begins with Israel's magnificent song of victory on the shore
of the Red Sea. When they had seen, you remember
I read to you that verse that God told Moses. He said, Moses,
tell the people to stand still. and see God's salvation. Remember
that. I told them, I said, Fear not!
Stand still and see God's salvation. And they stood still and they
seen God's salvation. I think God Almighty wants His
people to see His salvation and to enjoy His salvation. If you never see God's salvation,
how are you going to worship God? How are you going to praise
God if you don't see His salvation? If you don't see the character
and the ground whereby God delivers His people, how can you rejoice? How can you have songs of praise
and worship in your heart? You cannot worship an unknown
God. To most people in our day, God
is unknown. They don't know God. As I already
told you, there's a whole lot of people, some out there in
California, that believe that we came from these foreign aliens
from some other distant planet. O, our allegiance to some alien! O, our existence to him! Well,
I say that this fifteenth chapter begins. It begins with praise
unto God. Then sang Moses. Old Moses, meekest
man upon all the earth, God said. Faithful Moses. Then sang Moses. Old Moses stood right there up front on the first row. Sang Moses and the children of
Israel. This song sang a song unto God. And we'll find out here The song
that they sang is all about God. It's all about God. They was
occupied with one objective, and that was God. They wasn't
occupied with themselves, their feelings, their experiences,
their down times, their up times, their sicknesses. They wasn't
occupied with any of that. There is no sense of self in
this song. I heard a fellow one time years
ago, and I never forgot it. He said, when you are preaching
truth, and if your preaching is true, he said, you're only
telling back to God what he's already said about himself. In
other words, all prayer and all praise has to do with God. not you. Anyhow, they sang this magnificent
song of victory on the shore of the Red Sea when they had
seen God's salvation. They didn't sing this until they
had seen God's salvation. You've got nothing to sing about
until you see God's salvation. when they had seen the great
work which the Lord did upon these
Egyptians. When they had seen that, they
had seen God's salvation, and they are going to sing His praises,
and they are going to recount the great acts, His mighty acts
that He performed on their behalf. They sang this blessed song. And notice who they sang this
song unto. Then sang Moses, the children
of Israel, this song unto the Lord. They didn't sing it in
order that those in the congregation might hear them. They didn't spend three or four
days or three or four weeks or one night every week in practicing
this song so they might sound good to the people that would
hear them. It was spontaneous, and it'll
become spontaneous to us when we get rid of worthless
self. And our scene is filled with
God's salvation. We'll not be wanting to talk
about what we've done or our feelings or our experiences and
so forth. They then sang Moses and the
children of Israel this song unto the Lord. Worship, worship
unto him. Well, up to now, up to this point
in the history of Israel, we have not heard so much as a single
note of praise. Prior to this, there has not
been any songs of praise. What did we hear from the children
of Israel? We heard of their cries and their
groans and their moans. He brought us out here in this
wilderness. He brought us out here. We're going to die out here.
We'd be better off back in Egypt." That was their cries and their
moans and their groans. They cried about the deep sorrow that they had. in regard to their being slaves
and serving this hard-tasked master pharaoh in the making
of bricks. Don't even give us enough slime
and enough straw to make our bricks. They cried about it. We heard their cry of unbelief
when they were surrounded by what they thought was insurmountable
odds. No way out. So until now, until
chapter 15, we have heard no song of praise. It was not. Now listen, I'm going
to tell you why we haven't heard any songs of praise. It was not until as a delivered
people. Now they are as a delivered people. They've been delivered, Pharaoh
and his army. They've been delivered. Pharaoh's
been destroyed. They see what God has done for
them. and they give him all the praise
and all the glory. They found themselves as a saved
people, as a delivered people, surrounded by the fruits of the
victory of God. Nothing left for them to do but
to sing this song of praise. This song of praise was sung
when the waters of the Red Sea rolled between them and Egypt,
and they stood here on this sandy beach, on this shore, as a delivered
people. And as a delivered people, they
were able to praise God. In this now, as in everything
else pertaining to Israel, they are our types. They're a type. They're an example. They're a
picture of you and I, the children of Israel. They're pictures.
They're types. We, too, must know ourselves. We've got to know our frailty. We've got to know our weakness.
We've got to know our condition. We've got to know ourselves as
we really are. And certainly we've got to know
ourselves as saved. Man's got to know that he's saved
in the power of Christ's death. and in the power of Christ's
resurrection. If a man doesn't know himself
and he doesn't know he's saved by the power of the death of
Jesus Christ and His resurrection, he never, if he lives to be 200
years old, he never can present unto God a clear and intelligent
worship until he finds out who he is, helpless and hopeless, and finds
Christ in God as his Deliverer. Then, and only then, can he worship
God. I seen a sign in front of the
church building there in Fairmont. It said something like this,
Thursday afternoon at three o'clock, worship. I wondered if there
was any worship going on there. But that's what the sign said. There's always going to be reserve
and a hesitancy, a reluctancy in a man's soul, and it will
come from a positive inability to enter into this, what we call
and what the Bible teaches, an accomplished redemption which
is in Jesus Christ. There may be an acknowledgment
on our part of the fact. Now you hear me this morning
here. There may be an agreement or an acknowledgment
of the fact that there is salvation in Jesus Christ and in Him alone. But what I'm talking about is
a very different thing. It's a very different thing from
apprehending by faith the true character and ground of God's
salvation. Most people will tell you that
salvation is in Christ and Christ alone. But they have not apprehended
the true character and ground of the salvation that's in God. It's another thing to talk about
salvation by grace. salvation in Christ, and it's
another thing to realize that that salvation is mine. That's an altogether different thing. Now, I know that this is true,
and you'll have to take my word for it. You can just read from
about any page in the Bible, and it will suggest what I'm
saying either in words of truth that a simple-minded man can
understand or other ways, but it's truth nevertheless. The
Spirit of God reveals in the Word clearly and unmistakably
that the believer in Christ Jesus is united. He's connected. He's joined to Christ in death
and in resurrection. And that a risen Christ, not
a dead Christ, a Christ who died and was buried, but a Christ
who arose from the dead and is at God's right hand And being at God's right hand
is a measure and pledge that God has accepted the people that
Christ is representing. And that's the truth, so help
me God. That's what the Bible teaches. I say when this is seen, stand still and see God's salvation. To see God's salvation, you must
see the character and the ground whereby God saves sinners. And where this is believed and
seen, it takes the soul of a man entirely out of the region of
the scene of death or doubt and uncertainty. The apostle Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. What I'm saying here is, these people sang a song of praise
unto God and worshiped God only when they'd seen God's salvation.
And they stood on the ground of being a delivered people by
God and God Himself. And so the result of seeing God's
salvation was this song of praise. And I say that they're tight,
and I say, according to the Bible, that you and I must also see
God's salvation before there can be any intelligent worship. We may go through the motions,
but it won't be worship until we have seen God's salvation. When we see God's salvation,
we'll be done with self. and we'll give praise and honor
to Him and Him alone who's worthy of it. When this is believed,
it'll take a man his mind and his spirit and his soul clean
off of the ground of doubt and uncertainty. All of us, to some point, have
a lot of uncertainty in us. I remember hearing an old preacher
say one time, he said they asked him, or a fellow asked him, he
said, Are you sure you're saved by the grace of God? Are you
sure of it? And I think Ever there was a
man sure of it, this man was. But this is the answer that he
gives, and I'm only using this in order that you might see there's
a little bit of doubt and uncertainty in all of us. There ought not
to be, but there is. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. This fellow said, that I'm talking
about, they said, are you sure that you're saved and going to
heaven when you die? He said, if somehow you could
talk to me thirty seconds before I die, he said, I believe I could
give you an answer. All of us, to a degree, have
some doubt and uncertainty, but we ought not to. We ought not
to have any doubt and uncertainty as to the Lord Jesus Christ and
what He accomplished on our behalf. How can a man doubt? How can
you and I, this morning, who profess to believe that Jesus
Christ died and rose again as our Savior and our Representative, that we are united to Him, and we are joined to Him, and He's seated on God's right
hand to make intercession for us, to represent us. How can
a believer doubt when he knows that he is continually represented
before the throne of God, even by Jesus Christ Himself? How
can there be any doubt and uncertainty if he knows that? Well, I know that. I know that. And yet, I'm like that fellow. There's still sometimes occasions
when I say, well, am I really saved or not? And that question ought not to
arise in light of what I say I know. I know whom I have believed,"
Paul said. And I'm persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that
day. There ought not to be any doubt or
uncertainty in it. The assurance of faith is grounded
upon what God says, not upon what I feel. When I start asking
these questions, am I saved or am I lost? Have I been deceived?
You know what I'm doing? I'm looking at myself instead
of Him. See? That's the problem. You're
looking at yourself. You continue to look at yourself
and you'll always have doubt. because there's nothing in yourself
that'll afford you a warrant to say, I know I'm saved. It's what God says. The assurance
of faith is grounded upon what God says, and He can't lie, and
He won't lie. And if I can lay hold of it,
If I can lay hold of who God is in Christ, my redemption,
if I can lay hold of it, that's the way the Bible talks about
it, lay hold of eternal life. If I can lay hold of it, the
result of laying hold of it will be worship. I'll be able to sing
the song. I'll be able to worship Him.
I'll be able to praise Him. If I lay hold of Him, That's
immediate. That's the only result that comes
from laying hold of the Lord Jesus is to bless His name. Does not the Bible say that He,
the believer, is continually represented before the throne
of God by an advocate in Jesus Christ? Even Jesus Christ, the
Lord, who is God's Son, who is God Himself manifested in the
flesh. Let me read this verse to you,
one that you're familiar with and you've read it many a time. Paul says, my little children,
or John, my little children, calls his brethren and his sisters
children. My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not, that ye sin not, but if
any man sin, don't sin, but if any man does sin. We have an
advocate with the Father. even Jesus Christ the righteous. Isn't that a help? Isn't that
a comfort? We have Him! He is continually before the
throne, not representing Himself, representing His people. He's
their Savior, and He represents them in all of His perfection,
acceptability, all of His holiness, all of His righteousness, He
represents us. Now ought that, if believed by
us, produce worship and praise and thanksgiving unto God that
He ever lives for me? He who lived and died and rose
again ever lives for me? He brought me, He brought me
to God and He ever lives to keep me in God's presence. That will
produce some worship, some thanksgiving. In spite of my feebleness, in
spite of my failures, in spite of my weakness, the Jews that
the children of Israel's names are engraved upon, are upon the
breastplate and upon the shoulders of my high priest. And the brighter
the light that's brought to bear upon the stones, the brighter they shine. And
that's how we are. Oh, you say, is that right? That
makes me glad. That makes me glad. I hope you're
right, preacher. I hope you're telling me the
truth. I'm telling you the truth, so
help me God. That's the truth. That's the
truth. The more that the eye rests upon
Christ, more worshipful the Spirit will
be. How can a believer doubt? I ask
myself that question. How can I doubt when I know that
He's continually there before God's throne to
represent me? How can I doubt? He's my advocate. with the Father, even Jesus Christ
the righteous. Oh, it's the privilege now of
every believer. All believers are not the same. There are some that are stronger
than others. There are some weak brethren. There are some feeble children
of God. But listen, it's the privilege,
privilege, privilege, you know what that means. It's the privilege
of every believer, the strong ones and the weak ones, the feeble
ones. It's our privilege to be represented
by the Lord Jesus Christ before God. It's our privilege to have this
advocate, advocate, this lawyer, this lawyer, even Jesus Christ
our Lord, who knows me, because He is a man, and He knows God, because He's God, the God-man, He ever
lives, to plead my case, represent me, stand for me, and keep me. It's every believer's privilege.
Ten-year-old boy, five, whatever, eighty-year-old man, it's their
privilege. Listen, it's his privilege to
know this, that all his sins were confessed and born and judged
and atoned for on that cursed tree called Gotham at Calvary
by none other than his advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this
is a divine reality when laid hold of not by our senses, when
laid hold of by faith. By faith! It's a divine reality,
and let me say this, nothing short of that, nothing short
of true faith will bring about true peace. Peace of mind, peace
of soul. There may be earnest and
anxious and sincere desires of a man after God. There may be a devout attendance
upon all the ordinances of God. All the offices and all the forms
of religion But there is no possible way in which to get the sense
of sin entirely removed from the conscience except to see God's salvation
in Jesus Christ. No way. The sin of the conscience. No way to get it removed until
we seek God's salvation in Jesus Christ. The ground in the character
of that salvation. Seeing it, seeing our sins judged
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as a sin offering on that
tree, when we by faith see it, see that, that Christ
as a man, God's man, my sins nailed Him to the tree. If I guilt my shame laid on Him,
my sin, my faith, lay hold of Him, then we can praise Him, we can
thank Him, and we can live for Him. to know that when our sins
were laid on Him, the Spirit in the Word reveals this, that
my sins and the sins of every believer was judged by God in
Christ on that tree once and for all. That's what the Spirit
of God reveals in the Word to the believer. They're gone. When we see that, it brings us
back to this. If any man... I write this unto
you, little children, that you sin not, but if you sin, we have
an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ. Ah, listen, it was judged in
Christ on a tree, and that it was so judged by God in Christ,
our sins is what I'm talking about, it's proof that God has
accepted what Christ did on our behalf by the resurrection of
our surety, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the pledge and measure
of our acceptance before God that he ever lives, our high
priest. Over in the book of Ecclesiastes, In chapter 3 it says, I know
whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put
to it and nothing can be taken from it. What God does, God judged. our representative. He judged
Him. He took our sins as if they were
His own, and God judged Him as if He was judging us. And He
bore that judgment, that penalty that was due us. He bore it once
and for all. And I know what God doeth. It shall be forever. And all this is true in regard
to Him, and I got to say this, to Him that believeth in Jesus. There is no promise made to him
who doesn't believe, except the soulless sinner shall surely
die. But to the believer, but to the
believer, it's true. So help me God. But lots of people, maybe some
here this morning, find it difficult to make a personal application
of what God done in Christ. Now, there's a psalm over here. I think it's Psalm 73. And this psalm kind of describes what I'm trying to say. Psalm
73. And I think it'll help us a little
bit here to ascertain what I'm talking about when I say that
it's difficult. Many people who are hearers and
maybe receivers find it difficult to make a personal application
of what God's done in Christ. For this reason, here the psalmist
says, truly God is good to Israel. That's what he says. Truly God
is good for Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. That's
what he says. But now listen to this. But as
for me, it's all right with them. God's good to Israel. But as for me, my feet were almost
gone. My steps had well nigh slipped. As for me. Now, you know what
that fellow's problem is? Again, I say, He's looking at
Himself instead of looking at Christ in death and Christ in
resurrection. You see how people miss this?
He's looking at Himself. Who is worthy of God's salvation? Who would be able to take off
all of His poor fleshly gains, and lay them aside and say, Look
at me! I, in myself, surely, if there's
anybody on the topside of God's green earth, is worthy of going
to heaven when to die. It's me! Oh, no, quit looking
at a man's self! He said, Truly, truly, that's
good to Yisrael, even to them Have a clean heart, but ask for
me!" Looking over here at himself. You can't find anything in yourself
but pollution and corruption and dead men's bones. Nothing
there. There's nothing there. As long
as a man looks to himself and tries to find something in himself
that he might hang on to to find favor with God. There'll be no
worship, there'll be no praise, there'll be no service rendered
unto God as long as a man's like that. You see, many find it difficult
to make a personal application of the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. They are occupied with their
appropriation of Christ rather than Christ himself. It's all
Him. It's all Him. They are thinking of their capacity
rather than their title. The Bible says, He came unto
His own, but His own received Him not. But to as many as received
Him gave He the authority to become the sons of God. That's
their title, the sons of God. Oh, they're kept in a state of
uncertainty and doubt. And the result is they're never
able to take the happy place of a joyful, worshiping person
before God. They can't because their eyes
are always turned inward. They're looking down to the grave
all the time, and all they see is rottenness and dead men's
bones. If they could take their eyes
off of themselves and fix it on Him, and see in Him God's wonderful
salvation of sinners. Listen, they're praying for a
salvation instead of rejoicing in the consciousness of a perfect
salvation. They're looking at the imperfect
fruits instead of a perfect atonement that He made. Now, let's look
at that song just a minute, and I'll quit. The song of Moses sang unto the Lord. Looking at this song, and I read
it through, not only one time, but several times. And there
is nothing in this song that said about self. Nothing about
self's doings. Nothing about self-sayings, nothing
about self's feelings, nothing about fruits of self. It's all about God from start
to finish. Think of that. No songs of praise, not a single
note of praise, all that time unto this time, but all at once. spontaneously 600,000 people
joined together and singing praises unto God. Why? Because they stand
here on the sands of the shore of the Red Sea as a delivered
people, and they have seen God's salvation and they enjoy it,
and they rejoice in it, and they give all the praise and honor
to God. And it's true worship. It's all
about God from start to finish. I will sing unto the Lord. The horse and the rider has He
thrown into the sea. He drowned all of them. Listen, "...the children of Israel
list song unto the Lord, and speak, saying, I will sing unto
the Lord. For He," that's God, "...hath
triumphed gloriously." It's Christ that gained the victory for us,
isn't it? Hasn't He been the victor over sin and hell and
death and the grave? He triumphed when He went to
heaven with His blood! He went there victorious! A victorious conqueror! The horse and His rider has He,
that's God, thrown into the sea. God did it. Who saves you? God saved me. The Lord's my strength. What is it? You have to go to
a counselor to help you out. If you're having trouble, you've
got to go to a counselor. God's your strength. You don't need
no counselor. God will be your counselor. That's His name. I seen there
when an airplane fell out of the sky there the other night
into the harbor off of Long Island Sound, 260-some people. Sudden death! Sudden death! Well, I'm not afraid to say that
the first cause is God. Sudden death! They plunged there
into the water. There wasn't one drowned. Some
of them burned up before they drowned. He did it! But they said immediately,
Are you going to send any counselors back in up there in New York
to counsel those people? To counsel them. Intercede for
them. Help them out. Counsel them.
Counsel them. They're not going to be able
to face this situation. They need a counselor. Why, any time anything happens
around the schoolhouse, somebody, some boy shoots another boy,
or they have a fight, What do they do? Send in the guidance
counselors. Deal with these situations. The Lord's my strength. That's
what the children of Israel, they didn't say, well, I hope
God will raise up a bunch of priests and set them up here
and let them talk to us. No, they said, our God's triumphed
over our enemies. He grounded the rider and the
horse. He grounded them in the sea.
We stand on the side of death and resurrection. We are on the
other side. God delivered us. We are rejoicing
as a saved people. We are telling back to God what
God has already told us that He is. The Lord is my strength
and my song. He has become my salvation. He
is my God and I will prepare Him and habitation. My Father
is God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a man of war. The
Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host
has God cast into the sea. His chosen captains are also
grounded in the sea. The depths have covered them.
They sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord,
that's what we're talking about. The right hand of God, that's
where He is, our High Priest. He ever lives on God's right
hand for us, represents us. We're in good hands. We have
an advocate. How can we doubt when our advocate
is always there representing us? You have to call him up. You have to call the lawyer up
and say, would you represent my case? I will for $5,000 up
front. That's what the lawyers say today,
up front. Well, it's just a little case.
They caught me driving. I drank too many beers, and I
had alcohol in my breath, and they caught me for that, and
they're going to take my life. How about you come represent
me? I will for $5,000 up front. You don't have to call on this
advocate. He's continually, perpetually there. Always there. Thy right hand,
O Lord, is glorious. That's what makes it glorious.
Because that's where the Lord Jesus Christ is. Glorious in
power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath
dashed in pieces the enemy. And the greatness of thine excellence
Thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee. Thou sendest
forth thy wrath, which consumed them." Well, on and on and on. Verse 11, Who is like unto thee,
O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee? Glorious
in holiness, fearful in praise, doing wonders. No one like Him. Way down there in verse 21, it
says, And Miriam answered them, saying unto the Lord, He hath
triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath
he thrown into the sea. God is praising the Lord, worshiping
God. Next crack out of the box, they
said, We're thirsty. Ain't that like us? There are
types of us. We have good service this morning. We rejoice there in our hearts
that our God is in the heavens making intercession for us. And
He'll be there continuously. And we have no reason to fear,
not even death. We have no reason to fear death
or judgment. or future, we have no reason,
no, there is not a scantinity of reason for us to doubt, to
be reluctant, to be hesitant, to be in uncertainty, no reason
whatsoever, but I'll guarantee you this, before this day is
over, there'll be some doubts. Instead of praises, what are
we going to be doing? God, why does this have to happen
to me? Why didn't it happen to somebody else? Why me? Man, I
don't know whether I can bear it or not. Isn't that the way
we act? They said, right after that, they said, Moses, you brought
us out here and we ain't got no water. And we thirst. We want some water. Speak to
the Lord. Tell Him we want water, as if
He didn't know. And you know what God did? Grace!
Grace upon grace! God said, Moses, He said, take
that tree there, cast it into the water, and the water will
become sweet. Let them fellows drink all they
want. Over and over and over. All of
our life, that's what God does for us. That's a reason for us
to honor Him, to glorify Him, to trust Him. He's our strength. He's the man of war, our Savior
and our God. That's what life's all about.
It's not about who wins the basketball game. It's not about who gets
the gold medal. It's all about Him, all about
God. It starts in verse 1, starts
with God, and ends up with the glory of the kingdom of God. Well, all right, let's stand
and do this.