Would you turn with me to Exodus
chapter 15? I want to read the song of Moses. Now, I just read from Revelation
chapter 15 and in heaven they sang the song of Moses. This excellent hymn. is actually
sung in heaven. What a hymn. Let's begin reading
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. The horse and his rider hath
he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song,
and he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare
him in habitation, my Father's God, and I will exalt him. The
Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name. Pharaoh's
chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea. His chosen
captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have
covered them. They sank into the bottom as
a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become
glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath
dashed in pieces the enemy, and in the greatness of thine excellency
thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee. Thou sentest
forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble, and with the
blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together. The flood
stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in
the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide
this foe. My lust shall be satisfied upon
them. I'll draw my sword. My hand shall
destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind.
The sea covered them, and they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Lord,
among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises? doing wonders. Thou stretchest
out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou, in thy
mercy, hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed. Thou
hast guided them in thy strength into thy holy habitation. The
people shall hear, and be afraid, and sorrow shall take hold on
the inhabitants of Palestine. Then the dukes of Edom shall
be amazed, and the mighty men of Moab trembling shall take
hold upon them. All the inhabitants of Canaan
shall melt away. 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, O Lord, till the people
pass over which thou hast purchased." Thou shalt bring them in, and
plant them in the mountain of thine 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. The Lord
shall reign for ever and ever. For the horse of Pharaoh went
in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and
the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them. But the
children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea." We begin our worship services
with the reading of God's Word. What He has to say is a whole
lot more important than what we have to say. We begin our
service with the naked reading of God's Word. And then we sing
these hymns. And this is a part of worship.
Did you notice in verse one of our text, it says, then saying
Moses and the children of Israel, this song unto the Lord. Actually, we're singing to. Unto
the Lord, and they spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, the
singing of these hymns is a part of worship because we're singing
to him. these songs of praise. Now, we have in Exodus chapter
15, the first recorded hymn. This is written as a hymn in
the Hebrew. Now, I have no doubt that Abel,
Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all sang the Lord hymns
of praise, but this is the first hymn with the words recorded
for us. And this hymn is so excellent,
so glorious, that it's actually sang in heaven. They sang the
song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,
and I have no doubt that this hymn is sung, even now, in heaven. Now, there are parts of this
hymn quoted throughout the scripture, and we learn from this hymn what
a real hymn is all about. It's all about hymn. The word Lord or Jehovah occurs
12 times in this hymn. The pronouns he, him, thy, thou,
and thee occur 33 times and you will find a striking absence
concerning anything about man. His experience, his feelings. This is all about the Lord Himself. and all the things that He has
done, and it is sung unto Him. Now, the time that this hymn
was composed was very important. Notice the first word of verse
15 is, Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song
unto the Lord. This was a true congregational
hymn. Everybody sang this hymn, but
they sang this hymn Then look back in verse 30 of chapter. Fourteen. Thus, the Lord saved Israel that
day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians
dead. Upon the seashore, that which
they feared They had no reason to fear. The Egyptians, whom
they were so terrified by, they were all dead. And everything
that you have to fear, it's dead. Your sin, you're dead to sin. Verse 31, 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, then sang Moses and the children of Israel this
song unto the Lord. The singers of this song, Moses
and the children of Israel, sing this hymn in response to what
he has done. 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. The horse and the rider hath
he thrown into the sea. Now they had some visual aids
when they sang this hymn. They saw the Egyptians dead on
the shore. Everything that they were afraid
of they had absolutely no reason to fear. It was all taken away. As a matter of fact, look at
verse 28. And the waters returned and covered the chariots. This
is chapter 14. 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. You want to know something about my sin? There remains not so much as
one. I have no sin before God. No wonder I sing a song of praise
to God. There's not one sin. They're
all dead on the shore. You are complete in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, this is what the blood of
Christ has done with your sins. Do you have any reason to do
anything but praise? It says, He hath triumphed gloriously. And once again, let me remind
you, there's a glaring absence of any reference to man. and
his works, he had triumphed gloriously. Now, the children of Israel knew
they had nothing to do with this and how powerfully he triumphed. The only contribution we make
for our salvation, if you can be said to make a contribution,
is what? Our sin. Somebody once said this, I did
the sinning. He did the saving. And isn't
that the truth? You know that's the truth. He
hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and the rider hath
He thrown into the sea. And how glorious is His salvation! Every attribute of God is magnified. I love thinking about this. Before God, right now, I stand
perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. Now, the only way
I can believe that is by faith, because I can't see it. I can't
see how I'm perfectly conformed to the image of Christ, but I
believe I am. And how God is glorified in that. For somebody
like me or you to be made just like Christ, God's glorified
in that. You're not glorified. It's not
something you did, it's something he did, and every one of his
attributes are glorified in the salvation of sinners. His holiness,
his justice, his sovereignty, his grace, his love, his mercy.
He hath triumphed gloriously. Look in verse 2. The Lord is
my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. He's
my God, and I'll prepare Him a habitation, my Father's God,
and I'll exalt Him. The Lord is my strength. Now notice what it doesn't say.
It doesn't say the Lord strengthened me. Now the Lord did strengthen
me. Strength is the power to do.
And any power I have is the strength He gave me. But it doesn't say
the Lord strengthened me. It says the Lord is my strength. There's a big difference. The
Lord is my strength. You know, that's better than
being strengthened. How strong is the Lord? Why,
he's omnipotent. That is my strength. The Lord
is my strength. And he himself is my strength. Now, what strength he displayed
when the infinite became an infant. Have you ever thought about how
the God in the heavens can't contain all the fullness of the
Godhead dwell in that little seed in Mary's womb. What strength! That's my strength. What strength God displayed! What moral strength He displayed
when He perfectly kept God's holy law. What strength is there? He never sinned. He never even
thought of sin. Never had a bad motive. What
strength is there? That's my strength right there.
What strength He displayed when He died. That's an amazing thing
to me that Jesus Christ died. He actually died. What power
it took to kill Him. That's my strength. What strength,
what power He displayed when He put away sin. Now you think
about that. My sin is not. It's not just
swept under the carpet somewhere. It's gone. It's non-existent. It's not there. It really is
gone. What strength God displayed in doing that. That's my strength.
What strength He displayed when He raised Himself up from the
dead. That's my strength. You see, this is better than
being strengthened, isn't it? You know, as far as being strengthened
goes, I believe I'm strengthened, but I sure don't feel very strong.
As a matter of fact, I feel awful weak. But this is better than
being strengthened. He Himself is my strength. That's what it says. That's good,
isn't it? Man, I'm thankful for that. He
is my strength. And what's it say next? He is
my song. He's my rejoicing. Now, what is it that makes this sinner
talking to you rejoice? It's to know that my salvation
is outside of myself. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That makes me rejoice. He Himself is my song. And my heart dances and sings
to know that my salvation is Him. He's my strength. He's my
song. And He's become my salvation. From what? What salvation? Salvation from sin. Matthew 121
says, I shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sin. He Himself has become my salvation. He. God the Father. This is a
wonderful thing to think about. He, God the Father, is my salvation. When He willed my salvation,
you know what? I was saved. He saved us. And He called us with an holy
calling. What came first, the saving or
the calling? He saved us. And He called us. with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. The will of God is so supreme
that when He, if you could even say when, I mean, His will is
eternal. Words drop to describe this the
way it ought to be described, but whenever it was that He willed
something, it became history. It didn't become something that
will happen. It became something that has
happened. Now, can you explain that? No.
That's just something I believe. It's what the Bible teaches.
His will is God. The will of God is so supreme.
He, God the Son, has become my salvation. You see, when he said,
it is finished, my salvation was finished. before I ever even
had any existence. He has become my salvation. He, God the Spirit, has become
my salvation. When He gave me life, I was dead,
dead in sins. When He gave me life, you know
what? I lived. When were you saved? When I lived.
When I lived. When He gave me life, He, God
the Spirit, has become my salvation. He, God the Father and the Trinity
of His glorious persons, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
has become my salvation. All three persons of the Godhead
are God my Savior. And look what he says next. Because
He has become my salvation, He's my God. You know that the Lord God of
glory is my personal God. That is a concept that is just
so amazing. He's my God. You know what that
means? It means He's for me. If God be for us, who can be
against us? He's my God and this is the heritage
of every believer. Now listen to me. God's your
God. You may not have much of what this world calls good, but
you've got a whole lot more than that. You've got the infinite
God as your God. He's my God. And I will prepare him and habitation. Now, we realize that heaven is
thrown and earth is his footstool and we can't build him a house
that we can contain him. He said, what's the house that
you'll build me? What's the house that you'll build me? But it
is equally true that the church, every individual believer is
the habitation of God. Do you know that the God of glory
dwells in me? If you're a believer, the God
of glory inhabits you. You are a God-bearer. That's an awesome thought, isn't
it? That God dwells in my heart. I'll prepare Him and habitation. Well, I just believe this. The
Bible teaches it. We're the body of Christ. We're
the habitation of God through the Spirit. I'll prepare Him
in habitation. He's my Father's God. He's the
covenant God. He's not a different God. He's
the covenant God. The same God He was to Abraham, He is to me. He was Abraham's Jehovah-Jireh,
the Lord who will provide. He's Jehovah-Jireh to me. He
was Jeremiah's Jehovah's Akenu, the Lord our righteousness. He's
the Lord our righteousness to me. He's the Father's, our Father's
God, the same God He was to our fathers. He is to us. He's the covenant God. And I
will exalt Him. Look at verse 3. The Lord is
a man of war. The Lord is His name. And this
certainly doesn't line up with modern effeminate religion, does
it? The Lord is a man of war, why they would, what in the world
is that supposed to mean? But this is God's character,
a man of war. He has declared war against all
opposition to himself. You see, he's holy. He's holy. He's just, he's righteous, and
his righteousness demands that he declares war against all opposition
to himself. You see, Pharaoh was opposed
to the Lord. That's why he was thrown into
the sea. Pharaoh was the Lord's enemy. And if you're the Lord's
enemy, you are in trouble because he is a man of war and he will
not tolerate any opposition. Turn with me to Revelation chapter
19. This is one of the high points of Scripture, I think, this description
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a man of war. Verse 11, Revelation 19. John says, And I saw heaven opened,
and behold, a wide horse, and he that sat upon him was called
faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word
of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon
white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out
of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite
the nations. And he shall rule them with a
rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress. of the fierceness and wrath of
Almighty God. And that's exactly what He did
on the cross. He treaded the winepress of the
wrath of God. And He was raised again. He swallowed
it up to where there was nothing left. Verse 16, And He hath on
His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings
and Lord of lords. The Lord is a man of war. And that's beautiful in his people's
eyes. Isn't the Lord beautiful? Even as a man of war, he is glorious
in his person. Jehovah is his name, Jehovah
Jesus. Now here's the result of him
being a man of war. Look in verse 4. Pharaoh's chariots
and his host Has he passed into the sea? His chosen captains
also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them.
They sank into the bottom as a stone. That's the results of
the Lord being a man of war. Verse 6, Thy right hand, O Lord,
is become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath
dashed in pieces the enemy. Now, you'll notice Moses is not
apologizing for the wrath of God, is he? He calls Pharaoh
the enemy. Pharaoh was rising up against
him. In the greatness, verse 7, in the greatness of thine
excellency, thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee.
Thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. Not poor Pharaoh. That's not
the attitude. Not poor old Pharaoh. Look what
happened to him. No, he's God's enemy. And God must destroy all
those who are in opposition to his son. Do you believe that?
Do you agree with this? If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha. Do you agree with
that? I mean, when you hear that, does your heart say, Amen? Yes,
sir. That's the way it ought to be.
The Lord is a man of war. Verse 8. And with the blast of
thy nostrils, The waters were gathered together, the flood
stood upright as an heap, and the decks were congealed in the
heart of the sea." Several of the men were talking about this
last week after the service. How high do you reckon those
walls were? I don't know how deep. I saw
the Ten Commandments with Charles Heston 50 years ago. and only
look like a 30 or 40 feet high, and I just assume that's probably
about how high it was. But no, I think maybe it's a lot higher
than that. I mean, the blast of his nostrils hit the ocean,
the walls of the water go up, and there they go on dry land.
Verse 9, the enemy said, Pharaoh, I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil. My lust
shall be satisfied upon them. I will draw my sword, my hand
shall destroy them. Now what's the outstanding phrase
in that verse of the enemy? I will. Remember somebody else
who talked like that? Turn with me to a moment from
Isaiah 14. Isaiah 14. Beginning in verse 12, How art
thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou
cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? For thou
hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt
my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the
mountain of the congregation in the sides of the north. I
will send above thy Heights of the clouds, I will be like the
Most High. This is the essence of sin. Here's
what I'm going to do. And they were enemies of the
Lord. I will. And here's the end of
all of the Lord's enemies. Verse 10, Thou didst blow with
Thy wind, the sea covered them, and they sank as lead in the
mighty waters. Here is the end of man's opposition
to God. And it says in verse 11, Who
is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who can be compared
to thee? You know, one of the glorious things about the Lord
is this. Any comparison I make of Him with anything or anybody
is derogatory. Because there's nobody He can
be compared with. He's so glorious that even an attempt to compare
him with something or someone else only brings his character
down. You see, he's glorious in holiness. Now, what's that word holiness
mean? He's glorious. Glorious in holiness. Now, there's
two aspects of holiness that I need to understand if I'm going
to understand what it means. First, it means separate. Other. Other. God is other. You know what that means? That
means He's not like me and you. That means He's not like anybody
that we can imagine or anything that we can imagine. He is separate. He is other. What is holiness? It's God's
absolute moral purity. Thou hast loved righteousness. and hate it in thee. Therefore God even thy God hath
anointed thee with the oil of blackness above thy fellows.
God hates sin because God is holy. Now how holy is God? The only way I can answer that
question, the only way you and I can get even a glimpse of that
is by going to the cross. You want to know how holy God
is? You see his darling the Son of His love, the Son in whom
His soul delighted. And when sin was found upon His
Son, God killed Him. That's how holy God is. How holy is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He would rather die and be separated from His Father than to let sin
go unpunished. He would rather die than let
sin just be swept under the carpet. That's how holy is the Holy Spirit. He's so holy that He will not
save apart from this holy gospel. He is glorious in holiness. Holiness is the beauty of every
one of His attributes. His love is a holy love. His
wrath is a holy wrath. is a holy power. His sovereignty
is a holy sovereignty. His justice is a holy justice. His wisdom is a holy wisdom. He is holy. Glorious in holiness. Fearful in praises. When we talk, you know what I'm
saying about the Lord right now? And when you praise Him, you
do so in fear. In fear and trembling. Rejoice
with trembling. He's fearful in praises even
when we praise Him. We're scared of Him. He's God. Who will not fear Him? Who will
not tremble in His presence? Who will not be afraid of Him?
He's the Lord. The beginning of wisdom is what?
The fear of the Lord. He's fearful in praises even
as we praise Him. reminded of the awesome majesty
of his person, and we bow down. We bow down. You don't bow down
to just a mere man, do you? I mean, you put your britches
on just like I do. I'm not afraid of a man, and
that's it. I mean, his breath is in his nostrils. I share him
pray to the Lord. Even in my praises, we fear him. He's fearful in praises, doing
wonders. And he goes on to speak of the
wonders that he did. Verse 11, thou stretchest out
thy right hand, and the earth swallowed them. Thou, in thy
mercy, hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed. I believe
Moses believed in particular redemption, didn't he? Look at
the way he speaks. Thou hast, of thy mercy, led
forth the people which thou hast redeemed. Thou hast guided them
in thy strength under thy holy habitation. It was His strength
that guided us into His holy habitation, Christ Jesus. Now,
here's another one of those mysteries of the Gospel that we're just
amazed by. We're His habitation. He inhabits us. He's our habitation. Christ Jesus is where we live.
We are in Him. We dwell in Him. That's where
we're at. He's our habitation. Christ in me, me in Christ. That's the believer security.
Verse 14, the people shall hear and be afraid. Sorrows shall
take hold on the inhabitants of Palestine. He's talking about
God's providence now and bringing them into the providence land.
All the inhabitants of the lands that are going to be afraid of
them. Then the Dukes of Edom shall be amazed. The mighty men
of Moab trembling shall take hold upon them. All the inhabitants
of Canaan shall melt away. 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, Lord, till the people pass
over which thou hast purchased. Everything is working together
for good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. Everything is working together
for your good. Isn't it wonderful when you believe
that? It doesn't do you much good when you're feeling bad
and somebody says, now, you know, everything works together for
good. Well, you know that. But boy, when the Lord brings
it in power to you and you realize this is the truth, you rejoice,
don't you? Verse 17, thou shalt bring them
in. And plant them in the mountain
of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast
made for thee to dwell in, thy sanctuary, O Lord, which thy
hands have established. Christ Jesus is the sanctuary
we live in. We have a sanctuary. We have
a hiding place. We have a holy place that we
live in. The Lord Jesus Christ, I am in him. And that's my security. How secure is he? That's how
secure I am. How saved is he? That's how saved
I am. He's the sanctuary. He's the
holy place. The Lord, verse 18, the Lord
shall reign forever and ever. That's another way of saying
he's sovereign. That's what reign means. What
does the sovereignty of God mean? It means he reigns. The definition
is in the word sovereign. He reigns. He reigns. He has a will. He has the power
to make sure his will comes to pass and he does in fact make
sure his will to come to pass. He doeth according to his will,
not so much he has the right to do according to his will,
he does his will. In the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or
say unto him, What doest thou? Verse 19, the horse For the horse
of Pharaoh went in with his chariots, and with his horsemen into the
sea. And the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them.
But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the
sea. And Mariam, that's Moses' sister and Aaron's sister, the
prophetess, the sister of Aaron, she took a timbrel in her hand,
and all the women went out with their timbrels and with dances.
And what did they have to say? And Mariam answered. Here's her
response. She just repeats the song. Sing ye to the Lord, for
He hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath
he thrown into the sea. Now this is a great hymn, isn't
it? This is the greatest of all hymns. Great hymns go hand in hand with
a great God. One of the reasons modern hymns
are so pathetic is they match up to the God that's preached.
But great hymns magnify a great God, and this hymn truly is worthy
of God. May the Lord God give us the
grace to sing this hymn from the depths of our hearts to Him. Can you sing? He hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath
he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength. and
my song. He's my God and I'll prepare
Him a habitation. My Father's God and I'll exalt
Him. The Lord is a man of war. Can
you sing this song and rejoice in the words? Let's pray together.