Alright brethren, let's go back
to Exodus 13. That passage Scott read will
be really good for our text here today. Because we're looking
at Israel coming out of Egypt. And the Lord said that's a picture
of His people who are called out of all countries. And when
He gets done, we shall dwell in our own land. The land He
promised. Exodus 13 begins with God telling
Moses to sanctify the firstborn to Him. They are mine, God said. And this whole chapter shows
us something of sanctification. Now, sanctification, holiness,
is the doctrine where so many turn the believer back to the
law. This is the doctrine where they
turn believers from Mount Zion to Mount Sinai, from liberty
to bondage. Sanctification is all of God
apart from our works. God the Father sanctified His
people when He chose His people in Christ and set us apart in
Christ as His own possession before the world was made. Jude
tells us that. By Christ Jesus, the Son of God,
fulfilling God's will and perfecting forever all them that are sanctified
by His one offering, we are sanctified by Christ's blood. He sanctified
us as He justified us. And then through the hearing
of faith, the hearing of the gospel of Christ, the Holy Spirit
regenerates us in the new birth and sets us apart. Holy. This time we're going to see
that sanctification is by God leading us. Sanctification by
God leading us. We see here in this passage that
God keeps His people sanctified unto Him by leading us by day
and by night by Christ our risen head through the Holy Spirit.
God keeps His people sanctified unto Him by leading us by day
and by night by Christ our risen head through the Holy Spirit.
That's the point of this passage. Now first of all, we're kept
in the way of holiness by God leading us. Look at verse 17. And it came to pass when Pharaoh
had let the people go that God led them. God led them. When God freed them, He began
leading them to Himself, to His land that He had promised to
give to them. Well, when we're born of the
Holy Spirit, God puts us in the way of holiness. And He begins
leading us to Himself, to the land that He's promised to give
us. That's what he does. Go to Hebrews
10 and let's look at verse 14. Hebrews 10.14. He begins leading us to Him.
Look here at Hebrews 10.14. You know, prior to this verse,
He's telling us we're sanctified by Christ. And He says in verse
14, For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. And next it says, Whereof the
Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. I catch this word, for
after that he had said before, this is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my
laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them,
and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more, and
our remission of these is, there's no more offering for sin. He says, the Holy Ghost is a
witness to us. that Christ is our sanctification
and our justification and this is how God makes His covenant
in the hearts of His people. And in context, the laws that
God writes on our heart here is the law of Christ who sanctified
us. It's the law of sanctification
by Christ and the law of justification by Christ. and it's the law of
faith in Christ. These are the laws He writes
on our heart, the law of faith and the law of love, that teaches
the law of the gospel. Because, see, we have the law
written on our minds and hearts by nature. Paul said that in
Romans 2. What's the law we don't have?
The law He writes in that new man It teaches us Christ is our
sanctification, and Christ is our justification, and Christ
is our redemption, and Christ is our wisdom, and Christ is
our all. It's the laws of the gospel that
He writes on our heart. And when He does this, we cease
working for forgiveness. And we begin being led by Holy
God from His holy place to His land of promise. Look at the
next verse, verse 19. having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. We've got
boldness to enter into the holiest now because He's made us holy
by what Christ did for us and what He did within us. He's made
us holy. We have a new and a living way
which He hath consecrated for us. Consecration has to do with
sanctification. That's a part of sanctification.
He sanctified us and He consecrated the way for us through the veil. That is to say, the way is through
His flesh and having a high priest over the house of God. Now look,
let us draw near. He's talking about to holy God
in the holiest of holies in heaven. We can draw near to holy God.
Only a holy man can do that. Look at this. It's because we
have a true heart. That's a holy sanctified heart.
We can draw in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
That means being holy. That's how we can draw near.
You see, when He quickens you by the Holy Spirit, He brings
you into the way of holiness and He begins leading you to
Him who is holy. to the place where He abides,
to that land He has promised us. And we see that pictured
here. He began leading Egypt as soon as He brought them out
of bondage. And where is He leading them to? To Canaan, the land
He promised. And this is what God does for
us as soon as He brings us out. But before we arrive in that
promised land, we have to go through this wilderness called
life. just as Egypt was led through
the wilderness. But God is leading His sanctified
child through this wilderness called life and He is leading
us in the way of holiness. Go to Isaiah chapter 35. Isaiah
35. Look at this. Isaiah 35. It says in verse 5, ìThen the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.î This
is a picture of regeneration. ìThen shall the lame man leap
as a harp, and the tongue of the dumb sing.î Why? ìFor in
the wilderness shall waters break forth, or break out, and streams
in the desert.î Weíre going to have water in this dry land. and the parched ground shall
become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. In the
habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with
reeds and rushes." That means God's going to provide living
water for us and He's going to provide Everything we need along
this way, in this wilderness. Look at this. And a highway shall
be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. You know that way? Christ is
the way. He said, I am the way. Christ
is the way of holiness in which we travel through this wilderness.
He said, enter in at the straight gate. Few there be that find
it. He is the way of holiness. He is the only way to God. He's
the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over
it, but it shall be for those, only those He's made holy in
His blood in the washing of regeneration. The unclean can't enter into
Christ, only those He's made clean. The wayfaring men, though
fools, shall not err. We're all fools by nature, brethren,
but we shall not err in this way because we're led by His
guiding hand. No lion shall be there, nor any
ravenous beast shall go up their own. It shall not be found there.
The devil cannot harm us in Christ's way. But the redeemed shall walk
there. Not run. Not run in terror. We're going to walk calmly. We
walk calmly because we're protected every step of the way. and the
ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion. Christ said,
I'm going to lose none. All I've ransomed shall come
to my land. That's what Scott just read.
God said, I'm going to bring them all to dwell in their land. And we're not only just going
to come to this land, we're going to come to this land comforted
with much joy, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Christ is the only
way, brethren, and He is the one who leads us. Go back there
to our text, next is 13, look at verse 21. Exodus 13, verse
21, "...and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud
to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to
give them light, to go by day and night." This pillar of a
cloud and this pillar of fire, this is the Lord. This is Christ,
our Lord. Listen to this, Isaiah 48, 17. Listen carefully now. Thus saith
the Lord, capital L-O-R-D, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I am the Lord thy God, which
teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that
thou shouldest go. This is Christ. He's the one
that leads us. And this is what He promised
us. He said in Isaiah 42, In that day shall the branch of
the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall
be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And
it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that
remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy, every one that
is written among the living in Jerusalem. He makes all His people
holy. Now listen to this. When the
Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion,
and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof
by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning. He's
the one that purges us. He's the one that washes us.
And not only that, He keeps us in this way of holiness. He leads
us. Listen to this. And the Lord will create upon
every dwelling place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies
a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire
by night. For upon all the glory shall
be a defense, protecting us. And there will be a tabernacle
for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of
refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. Christ is
that way. And He is the one who is leading
us. He's the glory that's upon His people, where He dwells,
and upon our assemblies. And He is the defense, the protector,
and the guide. So He leads His dear children
along. Don't you love Psalm 23? What
does it tell us? The Lord is my shepherd. What
does a shepherd do? He leads. The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no
evil, for Thou art with me. Thou wrought in Thy staff, they
comfort me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
and my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. This is what He's talking about.
This is what this cloud and this fire represent. It's Christ leading
us, moment by moment, every day and every night. And Christ will
not forsake us. He shall not forsake one for
whom He died. Listen to this. Look back at
Exodus 13, 22. He took not away the pillar of
the cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before
the people. He took it not away. Nehemiah 9.19 says, Yet thou
and thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness. The
pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead
them in the way, neither the pillar of fire by night to show
them light and the way wherein they should go. What's Christ
promised His people? I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. That's what Christ promised.
He said, I'll abide with you. He's with His people. He's with
His people constantly, continually. That's the promise of the Redeemer
who shed His blood for each one of His people. He's already shed
His blood. Scripture says we're His purchased
possession. Do you think he's going to lose
one that he purchased with his own blood? Absolutely not. When my father and my mother
forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Christ leads us all the way at
every moment and keeps us at all times. Listen to Deuteronomy
32.10. He found him in a desert land,
and in the waste howling wilderness, he led him about, he instructed
him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. That's what he did
for Jacob, and that's what he does for all his Jacobs. Keeps
us, brethren. So, let's don't live in this
world. Turn to Hebrews 13. Because we
know this is so, we don't have to live in this world clawing
and scratching and trying to get gain and being unrighteous
in the way we do it. We don't have to do that, brethren.
Because He's with us. Look here, Hebrews 13, 5. Let
your conduct be without covetousness. And that's all that is, you know,
biting and devouring and scratching and clawing to get all you can
and can't all you get and then sit on the can. We don't have
to do that. He says, let your conversation
be without covetousness. Be content with such things as
you have, for He has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. so that we may boldly say, the
Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me. I don't fear man. Do you fear
man? I mean, there are some big dudes that I fear, but I'm saying,
as a whole, I don't fear man. I know my Lord is going to provide. He's not going to forsake us.
Secondly, look at this. The Lord is going to lead His
people in the best way. in the way that's best. He says
there in verse 17, It came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the
people go, that God led them not through the way of the land
of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said,
Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and
they return to Egypt. But God led the people about
through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. Now you know,
Christ intercedes for us to be kept. John 17 is the Lord's prayer. That's His high priestly prayer.
And you remember there He prayed, He said, I pray for them. I pray
not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me, for
they are Thine. And He said, I pray not that
Thou should take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest
keep them from the evil. And He's the one that as our
head, the risen God-man with all power in heaven and earth,
that the Father sends forth to lead His people through the Spirit. He's the one that leads us. And
He says, He's going to send His angel before thee to keep thee
in the way, to bring thee to the place which I have prepared.
And that angel is Christ the Lord. And that means, brethren,
as He's leading us, He's not always going to lead us in the
nearest way. When He brought them out of Egypt,
He says He led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines,
although that was near. They could have come, if you
look at a map, they could have come right out of Egypt and went
right across, right into the land of Canaan. But to do that,
they would have had to go through the land of the Philistines.
And the Lord knew this. Now, you know us, we desire for
something to happen. And we want it to happen when?
Now. We want it to happen fast. We
want to have it. And most of the time, it doesn't
happen that way. We end up being led a long way
around in God's good providence in a different way than how we
think we should go. He's keeping us sanctified from
the evil because He knows what each of His children will do.
He said there, "...for God said, let's purge the people, repent
when they see war, and they return to Egypt." If He had led them
that nearest way, those Philistines were a warring people and they
would have began to war against Israel and as soon as they saw
that war break out, These newly freed slaves, they don't know
nothing about war. They would have turned and ran
right back to Egypt. And so the Lord didn't send them
that way. God led the people about through
the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. That was a long
way around. When I first began to think the
Lord might use me to preach, I asked this pastor, I said,
what should I do? I just kind of have some I have
a heart to study and it's kind of unusual, you know, and what
should I do? And the pastor told me, don't
tell anybody. Wait on the Lord. And so that's
what I did. And do you know the Lord took
me the long way? Five years before I was ever
even asked to preach the first time. And then the Lord took
me the long way. I thought, boy somebody is going
to call me now. Eight more years of traveling
and preaching. That's a long way. Thirteen years
from the first time I first preached to you called me here. I preached
for thirteen years. Because the Lord knew I was a
novice. And he knew as soon as war broke
out, he knew what I'd do. And so he didn't use me. He took
me the long way for my own good. To protect me. To protect me. Brethren, don't become discouraged
when he takes you the long way. He's keeping you sanctified from
the evil. I was just talking to Russell.
You know, when we get to glory, We're probably going to be able
to see our life and see all the times that He kept us from evil. And most of the time we were
probably murmuring and complaining because it was the long way.
And it was Him keeping us from the evil. When our children were
very little, I'd see them, they'd go to take hold of something.
And I would go over and take it from them. Boy, they'd just
cry and cry and cry, you know. Sometimes they'd have such a
grip you had to pry it out of their hand. But the reason I
took it from them was because I saw it was going to harm them.
You've done that to your children. They cried thinking it's the
worst thing in the world you could have done to them. But
you're saving them from far worse harm by doing that to them. And then, before it was over
with, they would end up with their arms out crying and want
me to pick them up and hold them and comfort them and that's what
I do. Brethren, we often grip God's gifts more than the giver. And so God takes away those things
and those people that are dearest to us. so that we don't grip them, so
that we turn to run to Him and be comforted by Him alone. When we lose a dear loved one,
it's just like God leading us the long way. A lot of times it's because it's
for our good. to keep us sanctified from the
evil. Scripture says, He'll not suffer
thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The
Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this
time forth even forevermore. We have to remember the words
of our Lord at all times. Go to Isaiah 43. This is one
of my favorite passages. Back when I was preaching and
traveling to preach, I went up to Rock Valley, Iowa one time.
I was preaching for Joe Terrell and there was a lady there, an
elderly lady. And she asked me what I was going
to preach, and I said I'm going to preach from the first few
verses of Isaiah 43. And she opened her Bible, and
I looked down there, and she had marked every time a preacher
had preached from Isaiah 43, and there was about ten places
there where preachers had preached from. But it's a good verse,
that's why people preach from it. Look here, Isaiah 43, verse
1. But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and
he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my
sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee. Therefore
will I give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not,
for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west, and I will say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from
far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone
that is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him, yet I have
made him. You know what that tells us?
How sure can I be that the Lord is going to keep me? He said,
I created them for my glory. His glory would be tainted if
He let one of His people go. That's much assurance, brethren,
because that ain't going to happen. That's just not going to happen.
Alright, here's the third thing. By God leading us, He keeps His
people sanctified unto each other so that we're united to our brethren.
Look at verse 18. Exodus 13, 18. And the children
of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. You think
about it, in this world, the nearest, closest thing we have
to Christ in body that we can touch and hold are brethren. He says He's in His people. The
nearest thing we have to Christ is our brethren. And what a gift
He's given us to give us faithful brethren. And this harnessed state of Israel,
this is the church of God in this world. It's an army. We're described as an army coming
up out of the wilderness. And the margin here says five
in a rank. You know, soldiers march in ranks. And you can picture them coming
up, five in a rank, marching, like soldiers. And brethren,
but the word here is passive. It's a passive participle. And
that means, that's to show us that they were harnessed not
by their own hands. They were passive in how they
were harnessed. They were harnessed by the hand
of God, their Deliverer. That's how we're harnessed. We're
harnessed by grace. Not by our own hand. We're harnessed
by grace. Five in Scripture represents
grace. Five offerings and five feasts
in the law. Five represents grace in the
Scripture. We're a people harnessed by grace,
harnessed by our God, brought out of bondage and harnessed
as a band of soldiers. But we're not soldiers who are
going to fight the battle. We must fight the good fight
of faith, Scripture says. And we're at war with the world
and the flesh and the devil. But are we really the ones doing
the fighting? The Lord said, The victory belongs
to Christ our Redeemer. The victory is His. He brought
us out of the house of bondage and out of the house of death
long ago when He died on Calvary's cross. He did that for His people. He destroyed Satan. He let captivity
captive. He harnessed us by grace is what
He did. Sometimes the Lord leads us face
to face with the enemy. just like He did Israel. He took
them out of here, harnessed by grace, five in a rank, and they
probably looked around and saw how many of them there were,
and they probably went out of there with a high hand, Scripture
said. And they were probably marching, stepping pretty high,
thinking they're pretty powerful. And the Lord brought them between
a rock and a hard place, with the Red Sea on one side and these
two rocks on the other. He told them, spend the night
right there. And as they did, the next day they looked up and
here comes Pharaoh and the Egyptian army barreling down on them as
fast as they can come. And they went to crying and they
went to murmuring and they complained, Moses has brought us out here
to kill us. But they had some brethren that
they were harnessed with that said, stand still. and see the salvation of the
Lord. That's why He's harnessed us with brethren, so that we
can remind one another, stand still and see the salvation of
the Lord. Sometimes He'll have one over
here that'll be just troubled and shaken by the enemy, but
He'll have one over here that'll be strengthened right at that
time. who can talk to their brother
or their sister and say, stand still and see the salvation of
the Lord. The battle is not yours, the
battle is the Lord's. That's why He's harnessed us
with brethren. So we can exhort one another
and we can encourage one another. that Christ is ruling, He's reigning,
He's going to win the battle. He already has. He has saved
us, He is saving us, and He shall save us. We don't have to worry. You know what happened? Look
at Exodus 14. Look at verse 19. Look at this. The angel of God,
which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind
them. And the pillar of the cloud went
from before their face and stood behind them. And it came between
the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. And it was
a cloud and a darkness to them, but it gave light by night to
these, so that the one came not near the other all night. The Lord stood between His people
and the enemy. Now brethren, that tells you
and me that Christ's salvation is a particular salvation. It's not common, it's not universal. He's saving one people and He's
destroying the other people. That means God's salvation is
for a particular people that He says are Mine. And He's going
to stand between His people and the enemy every time because
He will not, for His glory's sake, for Christ's sake, He will
not allow anything to happen to His people. Our Lord said,
nobody is going to pluck them out of My hand. And nobody will
pluck them out of My Father's hand. So you can be certain,
brethren. Why does He do this? Because
He's going to have His people not fearing man and not fearing
the enemy and not fearing any other thing except the Lord. Look at Deuteronomy 1 and look
at verse 29. Deuteronomy 1 and look at verse
29. He says, Then I said unto you,
Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The Lord your God which
goeth before you, He shall fight for you according to all that
He did for you in Egypt before your eyes. And in the wilderness
where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee as
a man doth bear his son, and all the way that you went until
you came unto this place. You see that? He's saying, Dread
not, neither be afraid of them. Fear the Lord your God. Let Him
be your fear. Let Him be your dread. He said
through Isaiah. And He shall be for a defense,
for sanctification. He's going to keep you from the
evil. He's going to fight the battle. We really should not
fear anybody but the Lord. And that's a reverential fear.
That's a bowing to Him and a trusting Him in everything to fight the
battle and win the battle. And I guarantee you that's what's
going to happen for His people. He will not lose one. And He's
going to use our brethren to remind us of this. Aren't brethren
valuable? This is why it's good and pleasant
for brethren to dwell together in unity. Because we help one
another. In every way, we help one another. What we have, we have in common
with each other. from grace to our possessions. It all came from the Lord. And
it's all given us freely. And it's to be used in the care
of His people. That's what it's for. It's to
be used in furthering the Gospel. So His lost sheep can be called
out and His people be ministered unto. Everything we have is for
that purpose. That's why He gave it. That's
the message of that text that Brother Scott preached to you
all the other night about the stewards of the day. He's given us what He's given
us to use for His cause and for His people. Everything. Our sons and our daughters. Everything. That's why He's given us brethren.
Alright, lastly. Our Redeemer is the way who shall
deliver us into that promised land. We read, He leadeth me. And it talked about when we come
to the Jordan. And it said He's going to lead
us through the Jordan. He's going to lead us through
death. He's the one that leads us. Look here in Exodus 13, 19. Moses took the bones of Joseph
with him, for he had straightly sworn the children of Israel,
saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my
bones away hence with you. Back there in Genesis 50, in
verse 24, Joseph said unto his brethren, I die. And he said,
God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land unto
the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. He said,
God's going to surely visit you. He's going to deliver you because
he entered covenant and he promised to do it. And then he said, Joseph
took an oath of the children of Israel saying, God will surely
visit you and you shall carry up my bones from Egypt. I don't
want to be left in Egypt. Carry my bones out of here. And
so Joseph died being 110 years old and they embalmed him and
he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Joseph was not buried in a tomb. He was not buried in a grave
out of sight. This man was the number two man
in Egypt. He was the second in command
of the most powerful nation in the world. They put him in an
ornate gold Egyptian sarcophagus. Just like you see these ornate
coffins. They're sarcophagus. He was put
in something, probably had jewels all over it and gold all over
it. I mean this man was valuable to the Egyptians. And he was
put there so that the children of Israel could look to that
and see Joseph's sarcophagus, see that coffin. And every time
they looked at it, they could be reminded of what Joseph said
to them. God will surely visit you. God
will surely bring you out of this place. They'd be out there
working and under those taskmasters whipping them and in slavery
and sweating and toiling and they could look toward where
that tomb, where that coffin was. And be reminded, God's going
to bring me out of this place. God will bring me out of this
place. You and I, brethren, we're going through this wilderness.
And it's just like a lot of times it feels like being in Egyptian
bondage. We have to sweat and toil and
make our living by the sweat of our brow. And I'll tell you
what Murphy's Law is. Murphy's Law is sin. If it can
go wrong, it goes wrong because of sin. I think about it, I think
about it every time. If I pull a water hose out and
it kinks up way back there and I have to go back there and undo
the water hose, I think that's just because of sin. Everything that can go wrong
goes wrong because God said you're living in a cursed land. This
ground is cursed for your sake. This is how you're going to earn
your living. But you know, we have something that we can look
to that's far better than what they have. We don't have a coffin
to look to. We have an empty tomb. We can
look to an empty tomb and know our Lord is risen and our Lord
is reigning. And our Lord has promised us,
I will surely visit you and I'm going to bring you out of this
Egypt. I'm going to bring you out of this Egypt. I can tell
you He's going to visit us again and He's going to come and He's
going to bring us out. 430 years Egypt was in bondage
and to the day God said He was going to bring them out, He brought
them out. And I can promise you this, we don't know the time.
He hasn't told us the time. But He knows the time. And when
the time comes, He's coming back. And He's going to bring all His
people out of here. But I'll tell you this too. Scripture
says, When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall
you also appear with Him in glory. Christ was once offered to bear
the sins of many and unto them that look for Him shall He appear
the second time without sin unto salvation. But it's going to
be something far better than what Israel had when He comes
back. They had to take Joseph's bones
and carry his bones out of Egypt. Christ is going to carry ours
out. He's going to take our bodies out. Scripture says, when He
comes back because He fulfilled the law and He fulfilled every
covenant promise God has promised because He's risen and He's reigning. Scripture says, Job said, I know
that my Redeemer liveth and that He shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I
shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold and not another,
though my reins be consumed within me. He's going to carry us out. Paul said, "...who shall change
our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious
body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue
all things to Himself." You think He's got all power to do that?
You know what gravity is? That's God's power. Keeping you
with your feet on the ground. That's what it is. He has all
power. All power is His. And He is coming
again and He is going to fashion the body of His people like His
glorified body. Now we are the sons of God and
it does not appear what we shall be, but we know when He shall
appear. We are going to see Him as He is and we are going to
be like Him. We are going to be just like Him. We are not
carrying anybody's body out. He is going to carry ours out.
As we've borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the
image of the heavenly. And I told you before, you know
how that feast ended? That feast of unleavened bread? It says it ended with a feast
unto the Lord. And that's how this gospel feast
is going to end. When He brings us home, He said,
you're going to sit at My table in My kingdom and I'm going to
feed you. And won't that be a feast? We're
going to feast unto the Lord. There won't be an empty chair
there. Not an empty chair there. Everybody
He purposed to save from eternity will be there. Every one of them. You know why? Because our Redeemer
is victorious. Our Redeemer shall not fail. He is the victorious Redeemer. And when we get there, we're
going to say what the psalmist said of Israel. We're going to
look back on all the way He led us and we're going to say this,
He led us forth by the right way. He led us forth by the right
way that we might go to a city of habitation. Let's stand together. Lord, thank You for ever allowing
us to look to ourselves and never allowing us to look to our works.
Thank You for not allowing Your people to be cast off and fall away because
of the enemy. Thankful, Lord, that You're leading
us every day, constantly. Thankful, Lord, that You've harnessed
us together with brethren to keep us reminded of this every
day. And Lord, when we come to that
river of death, just like we are unable to deliver ourselves
in any other way, we trust You to deliver us across. We are
thankful, Lord, that You are the way of holiness. We are thankful
that You keep us safe and protected all our days. Lord, help us to
remember this. Help us to remember the next
time we come into trouble. Do not fret and murmur and complain. Help us to remember, Lord, that
You're keeping us. This is just a long way around.
You shall bring us to that city of habitation. Thank You, Lord, for these people,
our brethren. Thank You for what You've done
here. We ask all these things in the name of our blessed Redeemer.
Amen.