Back in Exodus chapter 15, when we were reading this a moment
ago together, the thought occurred to me, and
actually it occurred to me several times as I prepared the message,
is this a history that we're reading or is it a prophecy?
Well, the answer is it's both. It's both. Let me explain what
I mean. It's a history because what we
read here literally happened. It took place. It wouldn't be
in God's Word if it didn't. It's a historical fact. But this is also true. What we
just read here was typical of that great salvation, redemption,
purchased by Christ our Passover, as Paul called it, who was sacrificed
for us. So it's both historical and prophetic. And as God commanded John the
Baptist to point out to everyone on every occasion, whether it
be many or few, that one that was to come. That's how John
the Baptist referred to Christ, didn't he, before he came on
the scene. There's one coming after me, he said. He's preferred
before me. You know what that word preferred
means? John uses it several times in the Gospel of John. It means
one that ranks higher than I. He ranks higher than I. And when
Christ came on the scene, John did exactly that. He said, behold
the Lamb of God. And he considered it, John the
Baptist considered it to be his highest honor, a privilege to
deflect any attention away from himself and say, behold the Lamb
of God. Don't stop by looking at me.
Look at the one to whom I'm pointing. There's the Christ. He's the
bridegroom. God gave the bride to Him. He's
from above. He's the one that God sent into
this world. He that has the Son, not John
the Baptist. But he that has the Son, John
said, has life. But he that doesn't have the
Son doesn't have life. What does he have, John? God's
wrath. The wrath of God abideth on him. John 1, verse 29. The next day John seeth Jesus
coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. In that same chapter, verses
35 and 36. Again, the next day. Again. The
next day John stood and two of his disciples. And looking up
on Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God. Again, the next day. And the
day after that. and Billy the day after that,
and the next day, and the next day, and the next day, until
all the days of John the Baptist's life that God had given him on
this earth were gone. Until that day came, John was
constantly, consistently saying, behold the Lamb of God. What a blessed, blessed messenger. And God declares, when he sees
the blood, here in chapter 12 of Exodus, the blood of his son,
which he saw in the type of the Passover lamb that he himself
provided. He saw the fulfillment of it
in the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And he says, when
I see, capitalize these letters. Highlight them in your mind.
The blood. The blood. When I see the blood,
I will pass over you. In that lame slain, that paschal
lamb, God saw the blood. The shed and applied blood on
the doors of the Israelites, God saw His Son. That's why He passed over. When
God saw that, He saw His Son that was to come. The blood. Thank God for that. When I see
the blood, I can just wrap myself up in that, no matter what comes. No matter what trials, no matter
what difficulty, it will never change this, never alter this,
never touch this. God says, Larry, when I see the
blood, not your faithfulness, not your prayers, not your giving,
not your preaching, when I see the blood, that's the reason
I'm going to pass over you. The blood of Christ is the blood
of that everlasting covenant. That's what he himself said in
Matthew 26 when he instituted the Lord's Supper at the last
Passover. He took the cup and gave thanks
and gave it to them, saying, drink ye all of it. All of you
drink from it. This is my blood of the New Testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins, Ephesians
1 and 7. in whom we have redemption through
His blood." Not bullocks and goats, not slain lambs, but that
which it pointed to, typified the Lamb of God. In whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace. The blood. John wrote the blood. of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses
us from all sin. His blood did that. The theme
of this song of Moses in Exodus 15 is that very thing. It's God's salvation and the
heart of that salvation is redemption. Redemption. This song is itself
a picture. It typified the redeemed in heaven. Revelation 5 and 5. See how this
compares to what we read in Exodus 15. And one of the elders saith
unto me, Weep not. Behold, the land of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed. He triumphed
gloriously, Moses sang. He hath prevailed. To open the
book, and to loose the seven seals thereof, and I beheld,
and lo, Aren't you glad he was there? In the midst of the throne,
and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood
a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the
earth. And he came. He came. and took the book out of the
right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken
the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down
before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden
vows full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. And
they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof, for you were slain. and has redeemed
us to God by thy own blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation." Sounds much like the Song of Moses at the
Red Sea, doesn't it? In fact, because they are so
much alike, have the same glorious theme, we read in Revelation
15 about the Song of Moses and of the Lamb. Look at that, would
you? Revelation 15. Verses 3 and 4. Now this is the redeemed in heaven.
There were hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Israelites that
went through the Red Sea. You have brought forth the people
you have redeemed, they sang. Glory to your name. And then
in Revelation 15, here are the redeemed before the throne of
God. Verse 3, and they sing the song of Moses, the servant of
God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are
thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, O
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." Now again, compare that song in Revelation
to the song of Moses that he led Israel in, in singing at
the banks of the Red Sea. Again, verse 16 of Exodus 15,
fear and dread shall fall upon them. By the greatness of thine
arm they shall be as still as a stone, till thy people pass
over. Till thy people pass over. O
Lord, till the people pass over which you have purchased." Both
Psalms extol the greatness of God, don't they? Both of them. Here at Exodus 15 and in Revelation. They extol God's works and the
justice and truth of His ways, both in His salvation of His
redeemed and His destroying all of their enemies. They praise
God for both. They extol His grace, His mercy,
and they extol His justice. He can do no wrong. In Romans
16 and 20, in the God of peace, She'll brew Satan shortly. She'll
brew Satan under your feet shortly. Just like he did Pharaoh. Pharaoh
was a type of the devil. Egypt is a type of the world. And God brought his people out. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you, Paul said in Romans 16 and 20. Amen. First Thessalonians
5, 8 through 10. There's nothing ambiguous about
this. There's no elbow room for maybe
or hope so, or perchance. Not at all. Listen. But let us,
who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of
faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. And here's
the reason for that hope. For God had not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Everlasting
salvation. Saved today, saved tomorrow,
saved forever, saved through eternity. God's salvation reaches
from eternity past to eternity to come. It's an everlasting
salvation. Jesus Christ who died for us,
that whether we wake or sleep, Whether we go by the, whether
we're here when Christ returns or whether we die and go by the
way of the grave, either way, we shall live together with Him. Now let's look at this Song of
Moses and of the Lamb. And here's our text, verse 13.
Everything revolves around what we read here, this blessed truth. This will serve as the keynote
of the whole song. Verse 13, thou and thy mercy
has led forth the people which thou hast redeemed. You've guided
them, those you redeemed, in thy strength until thy holy
habitation. Thou, thou, where else would
they start? To whom else would they give
all the credit? Thou, the Lord God, our Savior. None other. Who else would they
sing to? You have, they said, you. Nobody
else could. Led your people. You have redeemed
your people. You have guided those same people. Again, verse 9, the enemy, Pharaoh,
said, I will, I will, I will, I will. And God says, you won't,
you won't, you won't, you won't. The song is a testimony as to
who prevailed. They're not singing about a failure.
They're singing about God's success, God's purpose, God's grace, God's
glory, God's power. The song is a testimony to Him
whose will cannot be overcome. Who got their way here? Pharaoh
says, I will. And God says, no, you won't,
because I will. I shall do all my will, saith
the Lord. The title of the message is this.
And you'll recognize it as the first line of Fanny Crosby's
old hymn, Redeemed. Redeemed, how I love to proclaim
it. That's exactly what happened
here on the banks of the Red Sea. This is the first song.
Did you know that? This is the first song in the
Bible. The first record of a song is
here in Exodus 15. And as we said, the theme is
salvation by redemption. That merits a song, doesn't it?
Is it any wonder that Moses and the children of Israel Saying
the wonder would be it would be a crime if they didn't say
thus the Lord saved Israel that day My so look what he did Look
what he did for us We thought we were gonna drown. We thought
we were going to be taken back to Egypt, but look what he did
He that redeemed us Has brought us out and They said hallelujah
What a Savior The merits of our great God and
Savior deserve our praise, do they not? The fruit of our lips,
the worship of our hearts. Let me just read briefly what
Marvin wrote in his article in your bulletin. It touches on
this very thing, worship. We assemble ourselves together,
he wrote, today, not for any vain reason of custom or conscience,
but in obedience to him who has called us out of darkness into
his marvelous light. The promise and faithfulness
of God Almighty to bless his word is the reason that all carnal
methods of false worship are shunned." We don't want nothing
to do with them. May he be honored today, Marvin wrote. May he be
honored today. and the people of God be blessed
through the preaching of the cross." This was what the psalmist
often prayed for and sang about over and over again. Did he not? Psalm 100. Look at that. Psalm 100. There's only five
verses. Let's look at it together. Again, talking about a psalm. David said, make a joyful noise
unto the Lord. O ye lands, serve the Lord with
gladness. Come before his presence with
singing. Know ye that the Lord, he is
God. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We
are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his
gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.
Be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and
His truth endureth to all generations. That's why when you read this
psalm, the theme of it is not about man but about God. Look
at the very first word in verse 1. Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will
sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. Then, and
of course, that points us back to chapter 14, thus the Lord
saved Israel that day. Then they sang a song. They had good reason to sing
unto the Lord, because of what the Lord had just done for them.
the mighty miracle at the Red Sea that the mighty God performed. Who else could? Look again at
chapter 14, verses 28 and 29. And the waters returned and covered
the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh.
They came into the sea after them. There remained not so much
as one of them. All my sins were the glorious
thought There remaineth not so much as one of them, but the
children of Israel, but, but, there's that distinction that
God in his grace makes. Who maketh thee to differ? 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, because Israel were his chosen people. Israel were those
that he had redeemed Israel was a type of God's true people God's
true Israel and Paul talks about them in Romans chapter 11 verse
26, and he says and so and so Because God is merciful to because
Christ shed his blood for them because God chose them in eternal
election and so all Israel shall be saved and Now who would it
reflect on if any one of them weren't? Who would suffer because
of that? Would it be the sheep or the
shepherd? Who would it reflect on? The shepherd. And so all Israel shall be saved. All God's true people. God's
true church that national Israel just typified. God's elect, out
of every nation, Jew, Gentile, black, white, all Israel shall
be saved. I like that, as it is written.
There shall come out of Zion the deliverer. That's why they
shall be saved, and he shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. God's true Israel shall be saved. They were redeemed. I pray not
for the world, Christ said, I pray not for the world, but for those
that you gave me out of the world. Look back in chapter 12. Chapter
12 here in Exodus, verse 21. We read that the Lord will pass
over the door, will not suffer the destroyer to come in under
your houses to smite you. That's the summation of it. And
then in chapter 11, we read that Moses, by God's command, called
the elders of Israel around and says, this night, this night,
God's going to show, and you're going to know how the Lord, how
the Lord puts a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Verse
7. Don't you like that? That ye
may know, eleven and seven, how that the Lord doth put a difference
between the Egyptians and Israel. Who maketh thee to differ, Billy
Cobb? Who made you to differ? God put
a difference between you and those who go on in their sins
and perish. It's a difference that only grace
could make. Is that not worth lifting a psalm to God for? For this that we read in Ephesians
2 verses 11 through 13, you know this. Wherefore remember that
ye being in times past in the flesh, Gentiles in the flesh
rather, who are called circumcision, uncircumcision, by that which
is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, Remember
this, God help me not to forget this, that at that time you were
without Christ. That's a horrible, horrible description. Without Christ. Nothing else much matters in
my life if I'm without Christ. What does it matter what else
I do, what else I gain, what else I possess if I'm without
Christ? What does it matter? being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But
now, but now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off
are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Thus the Lord saved Israel
that day, and Israel saw that great work which the Lord did. Salvation is of the Lord. That great work was a work that
only the Lord could do. The great work of reigning grace
that can only be performed by our great God and Savior, the
God of all grace, Jesus Christ. Joseph, when he's born, name
him Jesus. That word means Savior. Joshua,
Savior. God's salvation. Give Him that
name for He shall save His people from their sins. Nobody else can. Nobody else
can. That's why he says, look unto
me and be ye saved. I'm God, there's no other. I'm
a just God and a Savior. If you don't look unto me, you
can't be saved. Behold the Lamb of God. What a mighty Savior he is. He
shall save. He won't offer to save, he won't
attempt to save. He shall save his people from
their sin. Thank you, my great God and Savior.
You did not fail. You did not fail. Mr. Spurgeon
said, I have a great need of Christ. And I have a great Christ
for my need. Is that not so? This great work
of the salvation of a sinner is a work that only one can accomplish. And Jesus Christ is that one.
That's what they sang about, didn't they, in Revelation 5?
You're worthy. You're worthy. Nobody else is. You're worthy to take the book
because you redeemed us to God. He's up to the task. He rose
to the occasion. Moses had learned this, didn't
he? By personal experience. Now that's a Bible point. What
Moses sang about, he sang from a heart that had experienced.
He wasn't just giving lip service to something. He didn't learn
this song and memorize it, no. He had experienced this salvation,
this glorious redemption that he was singing about. Henry Manhattan
used to say, and you'll be familiar with this, he said, you can't
tell what you haven't experienced any more than you can come back
from where you've never been. Bobby's smiling. She's heard
that. Delilah's heard that. Everybody
who listened to Andrew at the time had all heard that. You
can't tell what you haven't experienced any more than you can come back
from where you've never been. Moses had been there. Now he
sings about it. And there is not one God dishonoring
note in the song. Not one. Not one. Not one word about man's worth,
man's will, or man's worth. Not one. Why should there be? They gave all the glory to the
one for whom they had received all the grace. That just makes
good sense, don't it? Who else are they going to praise?
Who else are they going to honor? Who else are they going to glorify?
But God, what did Israel do? Moses, we knew this would happen
when they came upon the Red Sea and looked back and saw Pharaoh
and his army coming. What did God say? Tell them to
shut up, be quiet, and see my salvation. For this day, this
day, those enemies, you shall see them again no more forever.
It just makes sense to give all the glory to that one through
whom and by whom we received all the grace. I was watching
the, I think it was Friday, Thursday or Friday. No, it was Friday.
It was Friday. The afternoon news. And I learned
what I hadn't, I didn't know. They said, this is Faith Friday. Yeah. This is Faith Friday. Did y'all know that? Did y'all
miss that? You didn't miss nothing. This is Faith Friday. And I thought,
well, now I wonder where this is going to go. And the host
interviewed someone that they called Pastor. It was a woman. She'd written a book called Learning
to Be, with this subtitle, Finding Your Center When the Bottom Falls
Out. And it was just, as you might
have guessed, it was just another religious huckster peddling their
merchandise, another motivational speaker like Joel Osteen. And
the host at the end of the interview said, give us something to take
with us, pastor. This is Faith Friday. And this
was her advice. This was her word. Get out in
nature if you can. Or tonight. Tonight, reflect
back on your day and feel good about something. Like perhaps
you ate your favorite food today. If I'm lying, I'm dying, as they
say. Not one word about God. They didn't even use the word
God. Not one time was God mentioned, was Christ mentioned. Nothing
about sin, nothing about salvation. Faith Friday. Imagine that. Faith Friday and never say nothing
about the object of faith. And everybody, the sad part is
the two anchors, they just thought that was wonderful. They just
thought that was wonderful. Thank you, pastor. Thank you,
pastor. Buy the book. Buy the book. Thank God Thank God Moses had
something far better to talk about Far better this thing about
the nonsense like that because he had tasted listen to me now
Moses had tasted It entered into his soul. He had tasted that
the Lord is gracious He just didn't stand back and watch other
people eat. I No, he had tasted himself. Take, eat, Christ said. This
is my body. Except you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man and drink his blood, he told the religious leader.
You don't have any life in you. It's Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Nothing you do outside of him
matters, doesn't amount to the hill of beans. Moses had tasted
that God is gracious. He had experienced the blessed
reality, the glorious, wondrous reality of redemption and salvation. And he said to those hundreds
of thousands of people gathered on the shore of the Red Sea,
let's sing a song. I'll lead the way. Let's sing
a song to our God. I want everybody to join in now.
Let's sing to Him. Verse one, he says, I will sing
unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. Verse two, the Lord
is my strength and song. Oh, I like this tune. He's become
my salvation. He's my God, I will exalt him. Verse six, thy right hand, O
Lord, has become glorious in power. Verse seven, and in the
greatness of your excellency, you have overthrown them that
rose up against us. You did it, Lord, you did it
all. Verse 11, who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises,
doing wonders? And then our text, thou and thy
mercy has led forth the people which thou has redeemed. Verse
13, you have guided them. You redeemed them. By your strength,
you'll bring them onto your holy habitation. Man, that's worth
singing about, isn't it? That's worth trusting. That's
worth praising God for. Isn't it? You've redeemed us. You're bringing forth the people
you purchased. A so-called, and I say it's so-called
because there's not any such thing, a so-called universal
redemption. is in reality a useless redemption. It's not worth squat. A redemption
that allows people to perish that were supposedly redeemed
by it is worthless. I wouldn't waste my breath singing
about it. I refuse to sing such a thing. I refuse to dishonor my God with
such a thing. Oh, but this? Man, I can, by
God's grace, With all my might, with all my strength, whether
I'm singing like a nightingale or singing like a crow, a redemption
that really redeemed my soul, I want to sing about that. A
redemption that really put away my sins, that really made an
atonement that satisfied God, that he might be just when he
justified this sinner, Moses Scootover. I know your song. I know that song. Let me sing
with you. Thank God, Moses, I know that
song. To God be the glory. Great things
he had done. So loved he his people that he
gave us his son. I like this song. Christ had
redeemed us from the curse of the law. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for
it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, and everyone
that he was cursed for must go free. He redeemed them. I like
this. Oh, here's another note, a happy
note. But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law. Why did he come? Why did you
send him, God? Why was he so willing to come?
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons. And because you're sons, God
has sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father, go tell my disciples that I send unto my God and their
God and my Father and their Father. Old Fanny Crosby, I mentioned
her. A moment ago, I borrowed the
first lines of her famous old hymn as the title of the message.
Redeemed how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb, redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and
forever I am. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb, redeemed, redeemed, His child and forever
I am. One last note here in this song
of Moses and of the Lamb. Look how it concludes. Thou shalt
bring them in, those you redeemed. Thou shalt
bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance,
in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made. I go to repair a place
for you. Which thou hast made for thee
to dwell in, the sanctuary, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which
thy hands have established. Oh, I like that song. The more
I read it, the more I think about it, the more I like it. Now compare
that to this, Revelation 14. And I looked, and lo, a lamb
stood on the mount Zion. And with him a hundred forty
and four thousand, representative of all God's elect, a definite,
definite number, having his father's name written in their foreheads,
And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters and
as the voice of a great thunder. And I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps. And they sung as it were a new
song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders.
And no man could learn that song but the 140 and 4,000 which were
redeemed from the earth. These are they which are not
defiled with women. For they are virgins. These are
they which follow the Lamb whether so ever he goes. These were redeemed
from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth there was
found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne
of God." Oh, my soul, look what God has wrought. Ephesians 5,
husbands love your wives. even as Christ loved the church
and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify it and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present
it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, no trace that they were ever sinners. Oh, glorious
redemption, glorious redeemer, or any such thing, but that it
should be holy and without blemish. You know that the word Exodus
means to go out of, a departure. That's how it's used in Luke
chapter 9 on the Mount of Transfiguration. You remember that. We read, Behold,
there talked with him, that is the Lord Jesus, two men, which
were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory and spake of his decease. The word is Exodus, his going
out. which he should accomplish at
Jerusalem. His decease, his exit, his exodus. The departure of Israel out of
Egypt was a departure in triumph, wasn't it? So was Christ when
he went back to heaven after he had obtained eternal redemption
for us. He went back the victor, the
mighty victor of his people. The death of God's saints. is
referred to as an exodus, a going out of this world, their departure
out of the Egypt of this world, their release out of this house
of bondage. That's exactly what Paul said
when he wrote, for now I am ready to be offered in the time of
my departure, my exodus is at hand. When I saw Shelby Sunday morning,
a few minutes before service, was the start, she handed me
two volumes. You have them too. They were
Don's commentary on Exodus. It was different than it was
before. I had to go home and really count
the books that Don's wrote, the commentaries that I have. I have
everything that he wrote, but in every one of them, I would always ask him, Don,
don't forget to sign that. And he always would. You go home
and take a book of Don's. Open it up to Larry, my good
friend. And he'd have a scripture. He'd
say, may this be used by our God as a means of edification
to your soul. That's my prayer. Every one except
those two that shall be handed me Sunday morning. because Don
had already made his Exodus. The commentaries are Christ in
the book of Exodus. But before they had gone to the
publisher, Don had made his departure. He had gone out of this world
before they were published. In the preface that Don wrote
in Volume 1, He said, Christ is all in the book of God. Christ
is all in redemption. Christ is all in salvation. And
Christ is all in eternity. The very last volume, the very
last page, Don wrote this concerning God's tabernacle, the gate of
the tabernacle. He wrote, the gate was of the
same material as the veil, fine twined linen. blue, purple, and
scarlet. Christ is the way. Christ opened
the way. Christ puts us in the way. And
Christ guides us in the way. And Christ keeps us in the way.
And Christ will be at the end of the way. He's found that out. And he closed
the book with this. The gate was the way into life.
Immediately in front of the gate stood the altar of sacrifice.
It was impossible to enter the tabernacle without seeing and
coming through God's provision for the guilty sinner, God's
sacrifice, Jesus Christ. There is no way to God, no acceptance
with God, but by the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
closed with this, I must needs go home by the way of the cross.
There's no other way but this. I shall never get sight of the
gates of light if the way of the cross I miss. The way of
the cross leads home. The way of the cross leads home.
It is sweet to know as I onward go that the way of the cross leads home. Thou, in thy mercy, hast led
forth the people which thou hast redeemed. Thou hast guided them
in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. Fanny Crosby's old
hymn ends with this. I know I shall see in his beauty
the king in whose law I delight, who lovingly guardeth my footsteps
and giveth me songs in the night. Dane redeemed his child, and
forever I am.