complete dependence upon the
Lord for all needed help this morning wish to direct your very
prayerful attention to the chapter that was read in your hearing
namely the book of Exodus and chapter 14 I wish to consider
the entire narrative by way of context, but I shall read for
our text from verse 26 to the end. And the Lord said unto Moses,
stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come
again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their
horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his
hand over the sea. And the sea returned to his strength
when the morning appeared. And the Egyptians fled against
it. And the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the
sea. And the waters returned and covered the chariots and
the horsemen and all the hosts of Pharaoh that came into the
sea after them. There remained not so much as
one of them. But the children of Israel walked
upon dry land in the midst of the sea and the waters were a
wall unto them. On their right hand and on their
left Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the
Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians
dead upon the seashore. And Israel saw that great work
which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the Lord
and believed the Lord. And his servant Moses Dr. Robert Hawker said that God's
glory is the first object proposed in his salvation. And do we not have the very example
of that within this chapter before us? What we have here are many
types that are fulfilled, of course,
in the New Testament. The Old Testament being the New
Concealed. The New Testament, of course,
being the Old Revealed. Now, we have a picture of redemption. We have a picture of the Church. We have a picture of the Lord's
elect. Individually and collectively
we might say. The word Exodus means a large
coming out, a leaving, a departure of a place in numbers. And here
we have the children of Israel who have been taken into captivity,
who have been taken under Egyptian bondage for 400 years. But we prove that God's timing
is perfect. Here this man Moses, the Hebrew, taken by Pharaoh's daughter and
raised with all the benefits of Egyptian life. You may be
aware that the Egyptians culturally and intellectually were far advanced
of almost any nation upon the earth. You only have to see the
pyramids. I've never been personally but
we are aware of them. the architectural intricacies
of the labor the careful thought that was involved some of you
are far more aware of those structural matters than I am but we can
appreciate them for what they are and the Lord sometimes in
his providence as he did with the Apostle Paul uses an advanced
secular education for the good of his cause. This man Moses
is used, is raised up at exactly the right time to lead the children
of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. And Moses In doing so, fails his inadequacy. He fails unequal to the task. And thus, with the Lord's servants,
it's always been that way. But, the Lord makes a way where
there appears to be no way. And as he did here. And we have some very solemn
and striking truths nevertheless they are so verse 4 and I will
harden Pharaoh's heart and he shall follow after them and I
will be honored upon Pharaoh and upon all his host that the
Egyptians may know that I am the Lord and they did so. Now, this isn't the only time in Israel's
history when God's enemies were enabled to say the Lord is with
them. We think of the coming into the
Promised Land in Canaan. We think of the victories under
King Hezekiah we think of Jonah and the storm in that case we believe that
the men were converted people but it isn't always that way
is it? we read here the Lord hardened
the heart of Pharaoh but Pharaoh still proved to be God's servant. And thus, the most God-hating,
hard-hearted, atheistic man or woman, in the end, proves to
be God's servant. They will never be called by
grace, but they will fulfill exactly what the Lord intended
them to do so. And even in this, we see a gathering
in of God's elect. We see the Lord dealing with
men and women. We're told by some that the Lord
only deals with Israel as a nation. And that in the end, really,
the Lord's dealings with those are a parenthesis and his whole
intention is really to the Jews. Well, we can prove that not to
be so. Because the Lord, yes, dealt
with Israel as a nation, but he dealt with individuals. There is always, we come back
to this, we repeat it for emphasis and necessity, there is always
an expository and an experimental application when it comes to
the scriptures of truth. If we hold one without the other,
we are deficient. If we hold the expository truth
without the experimental truth we have only but the letter.
If we hold experimental truth without the expository foundations
we are really at a loss and upon dangerous ground. The text is
always in the context and it's applied within the context. What I'm saying here is the Lord
was dealing with individuals here. Where is duty-faith if
the Lord is dealing with you? I put that out today. You won't
hear that probably from any other pulpit. Certainly not in this
city. Where is duty-faith if the Lord
is dealing with you? We could perhaps put it in the
modern in the modern context. We have a congregation here worshipping
the Lord. We have a congregation before
us worshipping the Lord. Collectively. But the Lord knows
who are His. The Lord knows who are His. You
may be partaking or a witness to God's favour because you sit
under the faithful preaching of the gospel. But does it affect
you? Does it affect you? You may have
witnessed the lives of men and women turned around by the preaching
of the gospel. Dear soul, what about us? Where
do we stand? Are we affected? Or are we just
as those who came in the Lord's day for the loaves and fishes?
Do we come out of mere tradition? It's a horrible thing if that's
the case. Do we come because it's seen to be the right thing
to do? It is the right thing to do,
but if that's our only reason in coming, if that's our only
reason in gathering, then we're in a poor state. Here, we find
a living expression of the Church. And we know that there were those
who had not faith. We read all men have not faith.
And there were those that murmured against Moses, and murmured against
the Lord. saying that it would be better
if they were to die in Egypt than in the wilderness, than
we should die in the wilderness. Now, we can't throw stones, can
we? Would we be any different? Would
we be any different? Moses here, of course, as well,
is a type of the pastor. He was one who led. He was the
under-shepherd, if you like, a foretaste of that which is
again confirmed in the New Testament. And he says, in response to these
things, stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord put your trust in Him and none else He will show you today for the
Egyptians whom ye have seen today ye shall see them again no more
forever this is a man who spoke with certainty the relationship
between the Lord and Moses is unique. We would notice it differs
from the other prophets in the Old Testament Scriptures because
of the direct nature that the Lord speak unto Moses. It's frequency, it's continual nature, it's a
very close communion and does he speak here stand
still and say the salvation of the Lord now these things are not easy are
they here they are approaching the sea and here the children
of Israel are proved. It's very easy to sit or stand
in this nice warm chapel and declare these things but have
we really been here? Pursued by the enemy perhaps
a bitter enemy whose heart is hardened against you and desires
nothing more or nothing less than your demise and your destruction. Yes, here we see, the Lord shall
fight for you. and ye shall hold your peace." Speaking here of faith. In the next verse we see that
they go forward and the Lord speaks unto Moses and commands
him what he must do. Now, in all of our troubles regardless
of what nature they may be It might be a providential trouble. It might be trouble with sin. It might be our own heart. It might be something
external. It might be something internal. Where do we look? Where do we
look? And what do we look for? Well,
in verse 19, I make no hesitation, I make no apology for this statement. Here we see
the Lord Jesus manifest in one of the many pre-incarnate visits
He makes unto His people. It was the Lord Jesus that was
seen in the burning bush. It was the Lord Jesus that wrestles
with Jacob. It was the Lord Jesus who appears many times in the
Old Testament. And here we have to say, don't
we, is there not a connection with that doctrinal, distinctive,
wonderful, God-honouring truth of the Eternal Sonship? The Lord
can't appear if he's not the Eternal Son, can he? We need
a very God and a very man to appear for us. Divinity and humanity. And here he appears. The angel of the Lord which went
before the camp of Israel. and the cloud and the pillar what a miraculous thing this
was as we've read the children of Israel ventured
not only through the day but by night and the pillar of cloud
showed them the way, enabled them to go on. A living miracle. Indeed, Israel existed and lived
by faith in a cradle of miracles. And all for the purpose of God's
honour and for the salvation of souls. I've deliberately left
the pulpit Bible open at Psalm 74 which makes reference to these
things and is a proof text for what I'm saying. When those things
are questioned, I believe it's important that we give a proof
text but for what we are saying. Indeed, verse 12, "...for God
is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth." And
here's the context. Immediately after, "...thou didst
divide the sea by thy strength. Thou breakest the heads of the
dragons of the waters the Lord was using this providence for
the salvation of souls and for the good of his people and notice this the angel of the Lord removed
and went behind them what a glorious thought what a glorious thought! the hairs of our head are all
numbered not for one moment not for one moment are we forsaken
but we don't always feel it in fact very often I can't speak
for you can only speak for myself in this regard but I often mourn
my own emptiness I often mourn my own prayerlessness and I often
mourn my lack of communion with the great God of heaven. We don't always have the felt
sense of the Lord's presence and in that sense can we not
say with Joseph Hart, more frequent may thy visits be and may they
longer last. But you know, we're not left. And that's the mercy of it. God's
elect are never left. Christ is the keeper of His saints. He guards them by His power. Subdues their numerous complaints
in every gloomy hour. Oh, when the Lord makes Himself
known, there isn't anything like it, is there? I remember first
coming into gospel liberty. For about three days I had no
desire to speak hardly to anyone. Didn't want to spoil the liberty
of soul, the enjoyment. Oh, we're creatures of the earth
and we soon come down with a bang, as it were, crashing, realizing
we're no better than we were before, but the Lord's put a
new nature there. He stands behind. you see we have to go on don't
we? we don't stand still in the physical sense we stand still
in the trust of the Lord but we have to go on our lives are
moving on and thus we have to go on and the Lord stands behind
them and Moses here stretches out
his arms in verse 26 the Egyptians pursue them they go after them but Moses comes here to the sea
and the anxiety that must have been
felt We're shut up, you see. The sea
on one side, the Egyptians on the other. We have nowhere to
go, humanly speaking. But praise God, there is a throne
of grace. And here, God is his own interpreter,
and he makes it plain. He stretches out his hand over
the sea that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians. Now, in this we see here the whole
condemnation of the law falling upon the Egyptians. Although the law is not yet given
We could have to go 5 or 6 more chapters to come to the law given
on Mount Sinai. But we cannot ever separate Moses from the law,
can we? He gave the law. The law came
by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ. And thus, we
must have a covering for the law. And here is the difference. To be one of Christ, to be of
Christ's seed, a true follower of Israel, there is a covering. There is a meeting of divine
justice. But not for the Egyptians. They
were righteous. In their own eyes. They had it
all in their own eyes. That here, what are we if we
are left to the full force of the law? The full force of the law. Thought,
word and deed. Yes, the children of Israel venture
through the Red Sea. And we would notice this all
the way through the language that we see and the language
that is used can only be described theologically as Calvinistic
language. The Lord did. The Lord said. The Lord brought. Continuously,
time after time after time. You read it in your own time.
Perhaps you may wish to count these things up how many times
in this chapter. The Lord said. The Lord brought
about. Well, where would Israel have
been if it was up to their free will? I don't say that glibly. I say
it honestly. And I hope it provokes thought
and meditation upon that very subject. Where would we be? Broken. Undone. We would not even have ventured
to put our toe in the water, as it were. That the Israelites
just walk straight through. You see, when the Lord grants
faith and when He grants strength, we prove the text, if God is
for us, who can be against us? Who can be against us? You see,
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty. And often, do we not prove that
our worst fears often never come to pass the things that really concern us perhaps
there are there may be those things even in your life at the
moment that are ahead of you that you feel you cannot face no doubt the Red Sea was something
The children of Israel felt they couldn't face. And they just
walked right through. And they didn't have a hand in
it. Free grace! In the book of Exodus. They didn't have a hand in it. And they were a witness, weren't
they? Unto the mercy that they'd experienced. walking through
the sea and they could see the pillars, the waters were as pillars
on either side. Very close. They could see it. He just went
straight through. And that's what the Lord does. He makes a way where there appears
to be no way. And we read very solemn things
in verses 27 and 28. Moses stretched forth his hand
over the sea and the sea returned to his strength. Margin says,
the wanted flow. back to its usual geographical
and physical power. This was a real miracle and they
really walked one side unto the other. I would just mention by
observation that I was reading Matthew Henry upon this chapter
and even in his day there were liberal scholars who proposed
that the children of Israel found a compass and walked in a circle
and came back the same way that they went. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. But nevertheless
we can see liberal minds were at work trying to explain away
these things. This was a real miracle. A real
miracle. And the waters returned and covered
the chariots and the horsemen. And remember these would be the
finest of soldiers, the finest of men, hardy characters, physically
strong, physically able, well trained, well equipped. And there wasn't so much as one
of them left. thus the Lord saved Israel that
day out of the hands of the... the Lord saved them out of the
hands of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians
dead on the seashore sometimes we may live to see those that
oppose the gospel those that oppose us personally those that
oppose our doctrines and the truths that we love we may look behind them and we
may see their position in tatters and the Lord has done it He silenced
mouths He shut men down in their pride. And we can say that the Lord
will have all the honour and all the glory. And Israel saw
that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. And the
people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. We might say that this was a
time of reviving. What evidence do we have for
that? Well, if you care to read the following chapter in your
own time, chapter 15, we see the song of Moses and the children
of Israel. And thus, whenever the Lord works, wherever His Spirit is poured
out, we see men worship Him. Places like this are built for
God's glory, for the cause of the Gospel, for the setting forth
of the truth and for the declaration of free grace. I will sing unto
the Lord. Again, look at the language.
For he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath
he thrown into the sea. And thus, in conclusion, we have
another type here which I've left unsaid until the end. But I first considered this when
being asked to take this service. It being July, the month of July
my mind went back to 10 years ago when Mr. Tyler baptized me at Kendall Chapel and thus it made me consider,
take stock, look back at what the Lord has done for me and
we have here that blessed type of baptism. We read it in 1 Corinthians passing through the Red Sea,
there is that foreshadowing, as it were, of baptism. And of the bringing through of
His people in redemption. The Lord visiting them as He
visited them with the angel. The Lord Jesus, that pre-incarnate
manifestation of His grace. And He brings them through. Many difficulties. Many oppositions. But the Lord does bring us through. He brought the children of Israel
through. And thus, He enables us to sing the song of Moses. Yes, the Lord has triumphed gloriously. And you and I will live to prove
it, time after time. And yes, we'll sing his praises
in eternity. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.