pass away, never to be seen again. We are today, I say, passing through the floods, with enemies behind, pursuing us who are going out of Egypt up to Canaan.
6. II. And now the TRIUMPH OF MOSES was a picture of the ultimate triumph of the Lamb. Moses sang a song to the Lord by the sea of Egypt. If you will turn to Holy Scripture you will find that my text was sung by the holy spirits who had been preserved from sin and from the contamination of the beast; and it is said that they sung this song upon “a sea of glass mingled with fire.” Now the song of Moses was sung by the side of a sea, which was glassy, and still; for a little season the floods had been disturbed, divided, separated, congealed, but in a few moments afterwards when Israel had safely passed the flood, they became as glassy as ever, for the enemy had sunken to the bottom like a stone, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared. Is there ever a time, then, when this great sea of Providence, which now stands parted to give a passage to God’s saints shall become a level surface? Is there a day when the now divided dispensations of God, which are kept from following out their legitimate tendency to do justice upon sin — when the two seas of justice shall commingle, and the one sea of God’s providence shall be “a sea of glass mingled with fire?” Yes, the day is drawing near when God’s enemies shall no longer make it necessary for God’s providence to be apparently disturbed to save his people, when the great designs of God shall be accomplished, and therefore when the walls of water shall roll together, while in their innermost depths the everlasting burning fire shall still consume the wicked. Oh! the sea shall be calm upon the surface; the sea upon which God’s people shall walk shall seem to be a sea that is clear, without a weed, without an impurity; while down in its hollow bosom, far beyond all mortal sight, shall be the horrid depths where the wicked must for ever dwell in the fire which is mingled with the glass.
7. Well, I now want to show you why it was that Moses triumphed, and why it is that by and by, we shall triumph. One reason why Moses sung his song was because all Israel were safe. They were all safely across the sea. Not a drop of spray fell from that solid wall until the last of God’s Israel had safely planted his foot on the other side of the flood. That done, immediately the floods dissolved into their proper place again, but not until then. Part of that song was, “You have led your people like a flock through the wilderness.” Now, in the last time, when Christ shall come upon earth, the great song will be — “Lord, you have saved your people; you have led them all safely through the paths of providence, and not one of them has fallen into the hands of the enemy.” Oh! it is my strong belief, that in heaven there shall not be a vacant throne. I rejoice that all who love the Lord below must at last attain to heaven. I do not believe with some that men may start on the road to heaven, and be saved, and yet fall by the hand of the enemy. God forbid, my friends!
All the chosen race
Shall meet around the throne,
Shall bless the conduct of his grace,
And make his glories known.
Part of the triumph of heaven will be, that there is not one throne that is unoccupied. As many as God has chosen, as many as Christ has redeemed, as many as the Spirit has called, as many as believe, shall arrive safely across the stream. We are not all safely landed yet.
Part of the host have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now.
The vanguard of the army have already reached the shore. I see them up there.
I greet the blood besprinkled bands
Upon th’ eternal shore.
And you, and I, my brethren, are marching through the depths. We are at this day following hard after Christ, and walking through the wilderness. Let us be of good cheer: the rearguard shall soon be where the vanguard already is; the last of the chosen shall soon have landed; the last of God’s elect shall have crossed the sea, and then shall be heard the song of triumph, when all are secure. But oh! if one were absent — oh! if one of his chosen family should be cast away — it would make an everlasting discord in the song of the redeemed, and cut the strings of the harps of paradise, so that music could never be distilled from them again.
8. But, perhaps, the major part of the joy of Moses lay in the destruction of all the enemies of God. He looked upon his people the day before.
He looked upon his people,
And the tear was in his eye;
He looked upon the foemen
And his glance was stern and high.
And now today he looks upon his people, and he says, “Blessed are you, oh Israel, safely landed on the shore”; and he does not look upon the foes, but upon the foes’ tomb; he looks where the living were protected by the shield of God from all their enemies; and he sees — what? A mighty sepulchre of water; a mighty tomb in which were engulfed princes, monarchs, potentates. “The horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea.” Pharaoh’s chariots also are drowned in it. And soon, my hearers, you and I shall do the same. I say that now we have to look abroad on hosts of enemies. What with the wild beasts of Rome, what with the antichrist of Mohammed, what with the thousands of idolatries and false gods, what with infidelity in all its myriad shapes, many are the enemies of God, and mighty are the hosts of hell. Lo, you see them gathered together this day; horseman upon horseman, chariot upon chariot, gathered together against the Most High. I see the trembling church, fearing to be overthrown; I see her leaders bending their knees in solemn prayer, and crying, “Lord, save your people, and bless your inheritance.” But my eye looks through the future with telescopic glance, and I see the happy period of the latter days, when Christ shall reign triumphant. I shall ask them where is Babel? where is Rome? where is Mohammed? and the answer shall come — where? Why, they have sunk into the depths; they have sunk to the bottom as a stone. Down there the horrid fire devours them, for the sea of glass is mingled with the fire of judgment. Today I see a battlefield: the whole earth is torn by the hoofs of horses; there is the rumble of cannon and the roll of drum. “To arms! to arms!” both hosts are shouting. But you wait awhile, and you shall walk across this plain of battle, and say, “Do you see that colossal system of error dead? There lies another, all frozen, in ghastly death, in motionless stupor. There lies infidelity; there sleeps secularism and the secularist; there lie those who defied God. I see all this vast host of rebels lying scattered upon the earth.” “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; Jehovah has gotten to himself the victory, and the last of his enemies are destroyed.” Then shall be the time when shall be sung “the song of Moses and of the Lamb.”
9. III. Now, turning to the song of Moses, I shall conclude my address to you by noticing some interesting particulars in the song which will doubtless have a place in the everlasting orchestra of the redeemed, when they shall praise the Most High. Oh! my brethren, I could only wish that I had stood by the Red Sea, to have heard that mighty shout, and that tremendous roar of acclamation! I think one might well have borne a servitude in Egypt, to have stood in that mighty host who sang such mighty praise. Music has charms; but never had it such charms as it had that day when fair Miriam led the women, and Moses led the men, like some mighty leader, beating time with his hand. “Sing to the Lord, for he has done gloriously.” I think I see the scene; and I anticipate the greater day, when the song shall be sung again, “as the song of Moses and of the Lamb.”
10. Now, just notice this song. In the 15th chapter of Exodus you find it, and in several of the Psalms you will see it amplified. The first thing I would have you notice in it is, that from beginning to end it is a praise of God, and of no one else but God. Moses, you have said nothing of yourself. Oh great lawgiver, mightiest of men, did not
