for that. Let's go back now to
the book of Exodus chapter 15. Exodus chapter 15. Those of you who are watching
by way of the internet, I hope that you will get your Bibles. I hope you already have got them. and you'll follow us in the scriptures
as we look at this very first song of praise that's set forth
in the word of God. Well, before we go further, let's
ask for God's blessings upon this time of worship. Once again, Father, we bow before
you. We do so with reverence, with
great respect. Our God is in the heavens, and
we are here upon your footstool. Our words, Lord, are to be few,
and that which we do speak, we seek to speak, Lord, from the
depths of our souls. May all of these who are gathered,
the people of God, and those who are watching, Lord, may they
join me now in breathing out to our God of our great neediness. Oh Lord, how we want to hear
from you today. We want the word of God to be
full of life to us. We want it to be light to brighten
our path. We ask that it will be the word
of quickening grace to those who know you not. We read that the word of God
is able to make one wise unto salvation. Lord, we are fully
dependent upon you to take the scriptures, to take the things
of our Savior, And Lord, show them unto us, reveal unto us
the majesty of our Savior, the marvelous glories of our Savior, the mercies of our Savior, but
even more so, Lord, may we see Him and believe Him who is the
God of mercy. We desire to delight ourselves
in the Lord, to render unto you the glory that you so greatly
deserve. Forgive us poor worms of the
dust. Forgive us for the feebleness
of our worship, the pitifulness of our warmth toward the word
of God. and toward the Lord himself.
Lord, reward us not according to our iniquities, but bless
us because of the merits, the perfections, and the sacrifice
of your Son. O God of grace and glory, look
on us in the Lord Jesus. And then, we will be pleasing
unto thee. Wash us, O God, and we shall
be clean. Robe us in the garments of your
salvation, and we shall be accepted. And we're thankful that we have
always been accepted, Lord, in the Christ of the cross. And
so, Lord, magnify yourself and help us poor sinners as we continue
our wilderness journey toward the land of promise. Thank you for all things for
Jesus' sake. Amen. This scripture that we
have for us this morning is the first message of song that's
set forth in the scriptures. Now we know that the The sons
of God, we read in the book of Job, they sang when God made
all things. And so that kind of gives us
some idea that the angels of God were made right at the beginning
so that they could behold the greatness of God. And all of
the angelic hosts, they broke out in singing. adoration to
the Lord who would make all things. And as they beheld all of creation,
they just magnified him and they filled all the heavens with their
praise. However, we don't have the words
to that song. And moreover, though they could
indeed sing of creation, they could not sing of redemption.
They could not sing of salvation. And indeed, we read in the book
of 1 Peter, he says that the angels of God, they desire to
look into these issues of life, these issues of salvation that
we've come to know. Now, indeed, many of the angels,
they fell in Lucifer's rebellion, and each of them fell individually,
but God preserved a host of the heavens, and they didn't fall. They're the elect angels, and
they sing praises unto our God, but they cannot sing like we
do. Because we sing of redemption
by the blood. We sing of salvation by grace. We sing of the forgiveness of
sins. And indeed, this is what this
song of praise, this hymn of praise is all about in Exodus
chapter 15. It's about what God has done
for them. So much of our music today, even
in our own songbook, is just full of sentimental drivel. and useless to be sung. I was
looking through our song book this week, and we hope we're
beginning to work on a song book where you won't have to look
through it and try to find good songs. We're beginning to work
on a song book where every song will be good. But as I look through
our own hymn book, the ones that are in the back for your pews
there, We have songs in our songbook that exalt ourselves. I have
decided to follow Jesus, really. I have set forth my oath that
I will follow him wherever he leads me. Wherever he leads,
I'll follow. I'm magnified, and you're magnified. But as you go through this great
song, you'll find that there's no congratulations to Israel,
there's no boasting of Israel, there's no bragging of the Jews,
there's only the magnifying of God. Because their rescue, their
deliverance, their salvation was all of the Lord. They were
in a hopeless situation. About two and a half million
people. Indeed, they did come out of
Egypt with a high hand. And God brought them forth. And
then God, by His divine providence, His good providence, He led them
in the direction of the Red Sea. And then they found that they
were in a real predicament. There was a great body of water
before them. There was a massive military
might behind them. And on either side there were
mountains. And they came to this realization,
we have no hope. And they began to murmur against
God. They began to cry out against
Moses. Why did you bring us out here?
And of course, that's not the first time that they will murmur
against Moses and against the providence of God. They will
do that many, many times during their wilderness journey. But
that which they were made to realize is that their condition,
if left only to themselves, was utterly hopeless. And this is
an illustration of the grace of God and the salvation of God
that He gives to folks like you and me. He brings us to recognize
the fact that we have no hope of deliverance in and of ourselves. There are too many obstacles.
And as we perceive our situation in a spiritual way, There's no
ray of sunshine. There's no light. There's only
darkness. There's only gloom. There appears
to be only death for us. The enemy is in mad pursuit and
we have no ability. We have no ablement to meet the
situation. What can these people do? Two
and a half million people. They have no weapons. They brought
forth no weapons out of Egypt. Oh, they have silver and they
have gold. They have the jewels that the
Egyptians loaned them as the Israelites came out of their
Egyptian bondage. But what good is silver and gold
in the day of battle, in the time of warfare? And here they
are, two and a half million people, utterly helpless. Helpless before
the enemy. Helpless before the circumstances. What could they do? And in their
dire circumstances, God came to their rescue. Here's the best
thing can happen to any of us. is that God brings us to see
we have no hope in and of ourselves. He's got to shut us up. As long as you have this idea,
you can do something to deliver yourself. You can make things
right. You can handle this. You can
do something that will attract the favor of God. As long as
you have thoughts like that, there'll be no deliverance. Because
God is going to bring us to see we're utterly helpless. The enemy
is too great. Our sins are too numerous. The
justice of God is too offended. It's too rigid. It's too strict. And Satan, he's too mighty. We can't handle him. He's too
great. Pharaoh is behind us in pursuit. I will pursue. I will overtake. I'll have you. And when God in His mercy brings
us to our utter wit's end, then the Spirit of God through the
messenger of God says to us, okay, you can't get out of this,
can you? No. Well, then just stand still
and see God's salvation. You'll notice back in chapter
14, I'll go back I'd show you this in chapter 14 in verse 13. Moses said unto the people, fear
ye not, stand still. We want to be doing. Let me tell
you, that's the natural way. When it comes to spiritual deliverance,
when it comes to the salvation of the soul, we want to be doing.
We want to make an effort. We don't want to be passive.
We don't want to be still. Preacher, give me something to
do. And Moses says to them, here's the preacher of the gospel. He
says, don't be afraid, just stand still. Stop making any effort. That's what he says. And then
behold, God's salvation. You see, this is a work that
only God can do, and this is a work that God must do. And
this work began, and really, it was all done before the world
began. Behold God's salvation. Behold
God's choosing. Where do we trace salvation? Oh, I trace salvation, preacher,
to that day when I made my decision for Jesus. Oh no, oh no. We trace our salvation, the people
of God trace the deliverance from all of our spiritual enemies
way back before time ever began. We go back to the covenant of
grace. We go back to before the world
began. We go back to the hidden counsel
of God. We go back to where God was active. God choosing, God predestinating,
God foreordaining, God in foreknowledge, marking out the paths of all
of His people. God giving us in covenant grace
to a surety, to a redeemer, to that one who would stand good
for us, to that one who represented us even there in the covenant
of grace. We behold God active for our
salvation. before we were ever born, before
He ever turned the lights on in His vast universe. God working,
working for the everlasting salvation of His people. God acted. Just stand still and see the
salvation of the Lord. People today in religion have
such a little idea of the salvation that is of God. and they have
no understanding of the eternal aspect of this salvation. That's
when God joined a people to His only begotten Son in uniting
grace. That's when we were made one
in Christ. See the work of God. Stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. Observe God at work. No, we want to observe ourselves
at work. Oh, I've tried so hard. Lord, God knows I've tried. God
knows I've worked. God knows I've been faithful.
God knows I've been a church member for all these years. God
knows I've tithed. God knows I've read my Bible.
God knows I've prayed. God knows all these things. He
doesn't show you mercy for those things. Just stand still and
seek God's salvation. And look what he says in verse
14. The Lord shall fight for you and ye shall hold your peace. You know what that means? Just
shut your mouth. Just stop talking about yourself
and what you gonna do and how you've made your promises to
God. Just stand still. Stop trying to do this yourself. I remember many years ago when
we first got to Almonte, and the preacher before me was insistent
upon the necessity of an experience. Now, when grace comes to you,
it is experienced. Don't misunderstand, but we're
not looking for an experience. That's not the evidence of grace.
as the result of grace. I think so often that people
who are listening to the gospel, as you're listening this morning,
may be true of someone here, you're thinking, I want a feeling,
I want something great to happen to me. I want
to feel something. I want to tremble. I heard a preacher one time say,
you haven't been under Holy Spirit conviction unless you felt like
you were hit with a baseball bat in your belly. Yeah, that's
the kind of experience people want. We're not looking for an
experience, though experiences are real. We must be still and
hold our peace and see what God does. See how God saves. The Israelites here, see how
God's going to save you. And I say to all of us, see how
God saves sinners. He did the choosing. And then
he sent his son to redeem us. He sent the Son of God to settle
the issue by his quote's death at Calvary. That's where justice
was satisfied. That's where the sins of all
of God's people were put away. Just stand still, stop making
all this effort. But this lady, she had been putting
forth these efforts, she said, and she had come out and she
said, I'm trying to believe, I'm trying to believe. And she
would, she'd weep. And she had hugged me and she
said, Pastor, pray for me. She said, I just, I just want
it to happen so bad. And then one Lord's day after
I preached, She came out and she hugged me, and she kissed
me on the cheek. She said, I'm resting in the
Lord Jesus Christ. She just stood still. And then see God's salvation? It's not your efforts. It isn't
your crying. It isn't your pleading. No. It's God's salvation, and here's
what He does. He reveals to us, indeed, He
reveals to us the mercies of His salvation, but He reveals
more than that. He reveals to us He's the God
of mercy, and we rejoice in Him, and His Son is the Savior who
gives mercy to us. The Lord is the fount of every
blessing. I don't want you this morning,
you who are watching, don't be looking for something to happen.
I'm looking for something to happen. Oh, if something would
only happen. It may be that the Lord just
comes to you in a still, very quiet voice. Be still. Know that I'm God. And he brings
you to realize everything about your salvation is dependent upon
God. It isn't you. It isn't you. Because you see, anything
that has to do with our salvation has got to be of God. You know, we read in 1 Corinthians
1, God says concerning the Lord Jesus, God has made Him to be
our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. That's everything. Do you see that? Stand still
and see. Look. See who salvation's in. See how God has put all of the
grace and all of the mercy that He has for sinners all in His
Son. Stand still and see. And you
hold your peace. Don't go making promises to God. Don't go making vows to God. Lord, I promise if you'll save
me, I'll do this, I'll do that, something else. God don't make
bargains with sinners. You're the beggar, he's the king.
You're the servant, he's the sovereign. Wait upon Him. Look unto Him. The Lord says,
look unto Me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth. Don't
tell Him how much you've done for Him. You haven't done anything
to Him. Anything that God receives has
got to be perfect. Have you ever done anything perfect?
You say, well, no. Well, of course you have. Because
everything you do and everything I do comes forth out of a polluted
fountain. So that which must deliver you
and save you must not come from yourself. That's what you got
to see. The righteousness and the forgiveness
and this salvation and everlasting life has got to come from God.
And the Israelites are brought to see that. And it's interesting there in
chapter 14, after they stand still and they see God's salvation
and they hold their peace, and now they're reflecting upon the
greatness of God and the grandeur of His mercy and of His grace,
then Moses said, go forward. Now it's time to go. No need
to go forward though until you stand still and see that salvation
is all of God. And then they got to the Red
Sea. Go forward, go forward. There's just a massive body of
water there. And you say, go forward, go forward. And I do not read that Israel
did not go forward, but rather they did go forward. And in moving
then, they saw the greatness of God's mercy
as that sea opened up about seven or eight miles wide. And they
went through. And they got to the other side.
And then God, who opened up that sea, he closed that sea. And
we get to chapter 15. After God had saved his people
and he had destroyed the enemy, look at chapter 15, verse one,
then. Then, then sang Moses and the
children of Israel this song. That's the very first song recorded
in the scriptures. And it's only fitting because
it's the song of redemption. It's the song of salvation. You
see, you really, you cannot really sing this song. of redemption
and of salvation until you have realized that your redemption
took place 2,000 years ago and God has saved you by his grace.
And then all of a sudden, you'll break forth into singing. And you'll sing as Israel did
here, the Lord purchased us, the Lord redeemed us, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. They can honestly sing that song. Why they had been redeemed by
the blood of the Passover lamb, Exodus chapter 12. The word of
God went forth to all of Israel, but only to Israel about the lambs and the blood. Ever notice that in chapter 12,
God said, speak unto all the house of Israel, not to the Egyptians. There wasn't any redemption for
them. But bless God, there was a redemption
for Israel. There was redemption for the
firstborn of Israel. And so they began to sing. But
you know, it's interesting, however, to go back to that, the Passover
night, we read and preached on this, that God went through Egypt. He passed through Egypt and he
destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians. And then God passed
over Israel and he spared their firstborn. But there is no record
that they sang. Now maybe they did. Maybe they
did. But there is no record that they
sang. And maybe as they marched out
of Egypt, having been given all the jewelry and the gold and
the riches of the Egyptians, it may be that they sang as they
went out of Egypt, but there's no record of that. The only record
we have, the very first record we have of them lifting up their
voices in unison is here in Exodus chapter 15, when they have experienced
deliverance through one way, one way through the Red Sea.
Our Lord Jesus said, I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. No man cometh unto the Father.
But by me, they have gone out one way. They all went the same
way, didn't matter who they were, young or old. Didn't matter. First born, last born, one in
the middle. Didn't matter. If they're going
to go to safety, they're going one way. They're going one way
through the Red Sea. I'm telling you there's only
one way of righteousness. There's only one way of salvation. There's only one way of everlasting
life. There's only one way of forgiveness.
There's only one way to God. Our Lord Jesus said, I'm the
way and God opened that way up at the cross of Calvary. The
way was opened. The blood was shed. Law was honored. Justice was satisfied. The people
of God were redeemed. when God brings us to see His
great salvation for us, salvation ordained of old, salvation accomplished
at the cross, salvation revealed to us through the regenerating
grace of God, where we're brought to rest in the Lord Jesus and
believe Him for all of our hope of everlasting life. Only then
can we really begin to sing. Because God puts a song in the
heart, and you can't help but sing it. And you may sing it
off key. You may sing it so that you don't
keep tune to it. But you'll sing. You'll sing. God puts a song in the heart.
You know, years ago, and some of you may have read about it,
they used to sing by, they called line singing. This was before
they had song books, before they had booklets that had songs in
it like we have, our chorus book, it was called line singing. And here's what they would do,
here's what Moses would do. Moses, as he stood before Israel,
he would say this, like in verse 2, the Lord is my strength and
song, and He has become my salvation. And then all of Israel would
answer, and they would sing that, the Lord is my strength and song,
He has become my salvation. And then Moses said, He is my
God. He is my God, and I will prepare
Him an habitation. And then they would all sing,
He is my God, and I will prepare Him an habitation. And then Moses
would sing, My Father's God, and I will exalt Him. And then
all Israel would sing, My Father's God, and I will exalt Him. And they all sang the song. They
sang the song of Moses. And such is the greatness of
this song. that David refers to it in the
Psalms. Isaiah refers to it in his writing
and in the book of Revelation. Go to Revelation chapter 15. Even John refers to this psalm. This is such a significant portion
of scripture. Look with me in Revelation chapter
15. Revelation chapter 15. And look
at verses three and four. This is our song. Learn the words. Learn the words of this song
because this is what we're going to be singing in glory, the song
of redemption. Look at Revelation chapter 15
and verse three. And this is all of the people
of God who, according to verse two, have gotten the victory.
We've gotten the victory over the beast. Well, who conquered
him? Our Savior conquered him. We're more than conquerors through
him who loved us. Back in Exodus chapter 15, the
Lord is referred to as a man of war. The Lord fights our battles
for us. He's the one who fought against
Satan. He's the one who fought against
our sins. He's the one who fought against
death. Every enemy of the people of God lay smitten at the feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a man of war. And this is
our song that we'll be singing in glory. Are you there? Revelation
15 verse three, and they sing the song of Moses, the serpent
of God. It's the song of the Lamb. Saying,
great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true
are thy ways, thou King of saints. who shall not fear thee, O Lord,
and glorify thy name. For thou only art holy, for all
nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments
are made manifest. Oh, how we love to sing praises
to our God. One of the sad things about this
virus is that our governor has said no congregational singing. And I understand the thinking
behind that, and I recognize that it's more beneficial to
us not to sing. First of all, it's hard to sing
with a mask on, and if you do take your mask off, then you
risk spraying. I understand that. I miss singing. I really do miss
singing. Because it is, it doesn't lead
us to worship, it is worship. And here in Exodus chapter 15,
here are the saints of God worshiping the Lord. Now it's noteworthy
to look that here are three stanzas to this song. And unlike our
singing, our songs, it starts off with the chorus. Notice again
here in Exodus chapter 15. Here's the chorus. Then sang
Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and
spake, saying, here's the chorus. I will sing unto the Lord, for
he had triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider hath
he thrown into the sea. And many people think that in
between each of the verses that Miriam and the other women, that's
when they took their timbrels and they began to dance and they
sang the chorus between the verses. Look at verse 20. And Miriam,
the prophetess, of the sister of Aaron, verse 20 of chapter
15, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after
her with timbrels and with dances, and Miriam answered them, and
here's what she said, sing unto the Lord, sing unto the Lord.
She's repeating the words of verse number one. For he had
triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider hath he thrown
into the sea. And as we go through this song,
and I don't have time to go verse by verse through it this morning,
but you'll see that each verse or each stanza, it begins with
praise to God, and then ends with the overthrow of the enemy.
The first stanza is verses two through five. Here's the first
stanza, the Lord is my strength. I don't have any. I have no ability. One of the fundamental doctrines
of the sovereign grace of God, the gospel of the Lord, is our
inability, human inability. I don't have any strength. I'm
only weakness. When we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. I have no ability,
but wait! Jehovah is my strength. He gives us strength to repent.
He gives us strength to believe. He gives us strength to go on.
Those troublesome times that God brings
upon you, those burdens that He lays upon you, and you say
to yourself, this is too heavy for me to bear. I know. The Lord
is my strength. He's my strength. Say, but you just don't know,
Pastor, you don't know too much about sorrow and grief and those
sorts of things. Well, that's true. But I do know to a degree, and
He's my strength. And He's my song. He's my song. And He has become my salvation. And I love this. He says, He
is my God. And each of the Israelites, remember,
they're repeating these words. And each of them, they would
sing out, He is my God. He's my God. It's like David
said, the Lord is my shepherd. Like in John, when Thomas saw
the risen Savior, he said, my Lord, my God, he's mine. Who can say he's my God? The
redeemed ones. The saved ones can say he's my
God. And watch this, He's my Father's
God. There's covenant grace. This is the God of my father
Abraham with whom God made a covenant. He's my Father's God. And I will exalt Him. I will
exalt. I'll exalt Him in my singing.
I'll exalt Him in my preaching. I will exalt him. He says in
verse three, the Lord is a man of war. Watch it. A man of war. There's the incarnation of our
savior. Who is this one who gets the
victory? He's the man, Christ Jesus. But
wait, the Lord is his name. He's both man and God, same time. Who got the victory for us? Who
whipped our enemies? You know, back in Genesis chapter
three in verse 15, our Lord, he prophesied, he spoke of the
certainty of the enmity of the serpent, the serpent and the
seed of the serpent against the woman and the seed of the woman.
Warfare. Warfare. This is the man in Christ Jesus
who is God. He went to war for us. He went
to war. Listen, the battle has been won,
the war has ended. He's fought for us. And here's
the evidence in verse four, the chariots of Pharaoh and his host,
he cast them into the sea. His chosen captains are drowned. The depths have covered them.
They sank into the bottom as a stone. He begins by speaking
how the Lord is the one who is to get the praise and the glory. And he ends this stanza by saying,
He conquered all of our enemies. He put away our sins. He crushed
the head of the serpent. And then there's the second stanza,
which runs verses six through number 10. Once again, he starts
off by boasting in the Lord. Thy right hand, O Lord, has become
glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath
dashed in pieces the enemy." Over and over again, he magnifies
the name of the Lord. And you'll see that through here,
I think some 33 times, if I remember correctly, he uses words like
he and him and thee and thou. And then at least 13 times he
refers to the Lord as Lord. A total of, if I remember correctly,
is 52 times he makes direct mention of the Lord. The Lord be praised! Oh, how different is this song
than most of the songs that are written, and especially today. He's dashed in pieces the enemy. And you who are the people of
God, when you feel like you're being assaulted, by all the demons
of hell. Just remember this, our Lord
Jesus has already broken them in pieces. Yes indeed, he's dashed
them in pieces. And all of your sins, he put
them away. Look at verse seven, the greatness
of thine excellency and the greatness of thine excellency hast thou
overthrown them that rose up against thee. Thou sendest forth
thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. Our Lord Jesus took
all of the sins of his people, and God sent forth his wrath.
And you know what was consumed? Not the Savior, but the sins. God consumed them like stubble. And look at verse eight, and
with the blast of thy nostrils, and a couple of times, he will
refer to the wind of God. Here in verse eight, with the
blast of thy nostrils, the waters were gathered together, the floods
stood upright as a heap, and the depths were congealed in
the heart of the sea. There's the wind of God. The
wind blows where it listeth. John chapter three, verse eight.
You hear the sound thereof, but you can't tell where it's coming
from or where it's going. So is everyone that is born of
the Spirit. And here sometimes the Spirit
of God works in a life-giving way. The wind blows and all of
a sudden, here's a big opening through the Red Sea. That's the
wind of God. Because the gospel is a saver
of life unto life for some. But then it says in verse number,
Look at verse number 10. Thou didst blow with thy wind.
Same wind. Here's the same wind, different
effect, different purpose. The first time the wind blows
for salvation, the second time the wind blows is for condemnation
and damnation. Whose wind is it? That's God's wind. And it can
blow life to you, or it can blow death to you. And then we get to verse 11.
And 11 through 18, once again, it begins with the greatness
of the Lord and ends with the destruction of his enemies, verses
11 through 18. And he begins this way, oh, what
a glorious question. Who is like unto thee, O Lord,
among the gods? And undoubtedly that which the
Israelites have in mind as they sing these words, words inspired
of the Spirit of God given to Moses, and then he lines them
out for the people and they chant these words after he does. The
gods of Egypt, that's what would come to their minds. God has
conquered all the gods of Egypt. even the last God that the Lord
conquered, Baal Zephon, as it's recorded in the very first part
of chapter 14. That was a God at the very edge
of the Egyptian border. And he was positioned up in a
tower. And he was the God who was supposed
to keep any of the servants of the Egyptians from escaping. He's supposed to keep all the
slaves in. He couldn't do that. How could
he keep in those whom God has redeemed? Redeemed by the blood
of the Lamb. He can't keep them in. He's absolutely
impotent, as God has proven all the Egyptian gods to be. And
so they sing, Who is like unto thee, O Lord, O Jehovah, who
saves among the gods? Who is like thee? Glorious in
holiness, that's who he is, he's holy. That's what the angel sang
in Isaiah six, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. Our
Lord Jesus addressed his father in John chapter 17, holy father. There is but one holy father. That one over there in Rome,
that's the unholy father. There's only one holy father,
and that's our God. Fearful in praises. That is, we do praise him, but
we do so with great reverence and humility. Watch this, doing
wonders. Well, of course he does wonders,
the wonder of creation. The wonder of providence, the
wonder of redemption, the wonder of grace, the wonder of preservation,
the wonder of guidance, and the wonder of landing us safely in
the land of promise. This is our God. He does wonders.
No wonder that the Savior's name is wonderful. Wonderful, he does
wonderful things. In fact, he says in verse 12,
you stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed
them. The issues of life and death
belong to him. And here death comes to all the
Egyptians, the mightiest military force on earth. They're washed
away. Look at verse 13, thou and thy
mercy has led forth the people which thou hast redeemed. Now
listen, those whom God has redeemed, he must in mercy lead them forth
because they have been redeemed. and thou hast guided them, it
says in verse 13, thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy
holy habitation. He speaks of it as having already
been accomplished. Which reminds us of Romans chapter
8 as the Lord lists those rings of grace that are connected together
as an unbreakable chain. He has glorified us. He has glorified
us. Oh, children of God, be strong
in faith. He who began a good work in you
will finish it to the day of Jesus Christ. And it's gonna
have a tremendous effect upon the enemies of Israel. Verse
14, the people shall hear, the people out there ahead of you,
the people in the land of Canaan, they shall hear and they shall
be afraid. And Sarah's gonna take hold of
the inhabitants of Palestina. And then the Dukes of Edom shall
be amazed. Amazed at who? Amazed at Israel? No. Amazed at the God of Israel,
the God of Israel. The mighty men of Moab trembling,
trembling, shall take hold upon them. All the inhabitants of
Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon
them, for by the greatness of that arm, they shall be as still
as a stone." What can they do to harm God's
people? What can the enemies do to harm
you? Really, nothing, nothing. They shall be by the promise
and providence of God, just as still as a stone. Unto your people Passover. Oh
Lord, to the people Passover, which thou has purchased. He
purchased us. with the blood of the Passover
lamb. And we're going to Passover.
I don't know when it's going to be, but we're going to Passover
into the land of promise. And I love verse 17. Thou shalt
bring them in. Oh, lay hold to the words of
promise, dear saint of God, thou shalt bring them in. I know it
may be difficult for us in this life, and indeed it is often
quite difficult, but He will bring us in, He's going to plant
us in the mountain of His 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. He shall bring us forth to there. He shall bring us in to His presence. Be strong in faith, children
of God. The God of your salvation has
given you His Word. He will bring you into the land
of His sanctuary. He's committed to that. How do you know He can do that?
Look at verse 18. Because the Lord shall reign
forever and ever. There's nothing that can hold
Him back. There's nothing that can frustrate
His purpose. The Lord reigns. How do I know? How can I be assured that He
will bring me over safely into the land of promise? Because
He reigns over everything. And the evidence is that the
horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen
into the sea. The Lord brought again the waters
of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went
on. I like that, they went on. On
dry land in the midst of the sea. Proceed, children of God. Go forth by faith and let the ladies of Israel
sing with Miriam. You know, Miriam, I'll give you
this and I'll quit. Miriam, her name means bitter. The New Testament word is Miriam.
Miriam means bitter. Miriam was born in Egyptian bondage. and her mom and dad named her
Miriam, bitter. This is bitter bondage. And I tell you, spiritually,
all of our names are, as it were, Miriam, bitter, born in bondage,
but we've been redeemed. And even the Miriams of this
world We can sing above our bitterness. We can sing the song of redemption. Isn't that wonderful? The song
of redemption. Oh, may God bless the words that
have been spoken to magnify His name, to speak encouragement
to God's true Israel, and to admonish those who know not the
Savior, to stand still, see that salvation is of God, observe
the work of God, and then, having seen that salvation is of the
Lord, go forward to Christ Jesus. Go forward to Him. Not physically,
I like what Brother Scott Richardson used to say. He said, come to
Christ Jesus, but don't move a muscle. Go forward. Go forward to the only one who
can save you, to the only one who can help you, the God who
reigns forever and ever. Let's bow together. Lord, we join with Moses and
Aaron and Miriam and all the saints of God in singing the
song of redemption. And though we don't sing at this
time with our lips, we do sing the song of redemption from our
hearts. And line by line, we join in
with all of true Israel to bless the God of our salvation. To bless the God who is the man
of war, the man Christ Jesus, who is the Lord. He's God our
Savior. Oh, how we honor you today. We
ask you to take these few words that have been spoken, Lord,
and use them to magnify your great name and bless your dear
covenant people. Do it, Lord, for your glory,
for our good. We ask these things for Christ's
sake. Amen.