The Spurgeon Series 1857 & 1858. Charles H. Spurgeon

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 your hand grasp the mighty rod that split the sea — that burned its fair breast, and left a scar for a while upon its bosom? Did not you lead the hosts of Israel? Did not you marshal their thousands for battle, and like a mighty commander lead them through the depths? Is there not a word for you? Not one. The whole strain of the song is, “I will sing to the Lord,” from beginning to end. It is all praise of Jehovah; there is not one word about Moses, nor a single word in praise of the children of Israel. Dear friends, the last song in this world, the song of triumph, shall be full of God, and of no one else. Here you praise the instrument; today you look on this man and on that, and you say, “Thank God for this minister, and for this man.” Today you say, “Blessed be God for Luther, who shook the Vatican, and thank God for Whitfield, who stirred up a slumbering church”; but in that day you shall not sing of Luther, nor of Whitfield, nor of any of the mighty ones of God’s hosts; forgotten shall their names be for a season, even as the stars refuse to shine when the sun himself appears. The song shall be to Jehovah, and Jehovah only; we shall not have a word to say for preachers nor bishops, not a syllable to say for good men and true; but the whole song from first to last shall be, “To him who loved us, and has washed us from our sins in his own blood, to him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

      11. And next will you please to note, that this song celebrated something of the fierceness of the enemy. Do you observe how, when the songster describes the attack of Pharaoh, he says, “The enemy said, 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.” A song is made out of the wrath of Pharaoh. And it shall be so at the last. The wrath of a man shall praise God. I believe the last song of the redeemed, when they shall ultimately triumph, will celebrate in heavenly stanzas the wrath of man overcome by God. Sometimes after great battles, monuments are raised to the memory of the fight; of what are they composed? They are composed of weapons of death and of instruments of war which have been taken from the enemy. Now, to use that illustration as I think it may be properly used, the day is coming when fury, and wrath, and hatred, and strife, shall all be woven into a song; and the weapons of our enemies, when taken from them, shall serve to make monuments to the praise of God. Rail on, rail on, blasphemer! Strike on, strike on, tyrant! Lift your heavy hand, oh despot; crush the truth, which yet you cannot crush; knock from his head the crown — the crown that is far above your reach — poor puny impotent mortal as you are! Go on, go on! But all you do shall only increase his glories. For all we care, we bid you still proceed with all your wrath and malice. Though it shall be worse for you, it shall be more glorious for our Master; the greater your preparations for war, the more splendid shall be his triumphal chariot, when he shall ride through the streets of heaven in pompous array. The more mighty your preparations for battle, the more rich the spoil which he shall divide with the strong. Oh! Christian, fear not the foe! Remember the harder his blows, the sweeter your song; the greater his wrath, the more splendid your triumph; the more he rages, the more shall Christ be honoured in the day of his appearing. They sang the song of Moses and the Lamb.

      12. And then will you note, in the next place, how they sang the total overthrow of the enemy. There is one expression in this song, which ought to be and I believe is, when set to music, very frequently repeated. It is that part of the song, as recorded in the Psalms, where it is declared that the whole host of Pharaoh were utterly destroyed, and there was not one of them left. When that great song was sung by the side of the Red Sea, there was, no doubt, a special emphasis laid upon that expression, “not one.” I think I hear the hosts of Israel. When the words were known by them, they began and they proceeded thus — “There is not one of them left”; and then