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LECTURE XIV.

Che Song of Moses and the Lamb.

REV. XV. 3

"And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints."

In the first lesson of this morning's service, there has been read to you the inspired account of those marvellous events, the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh and all his hosts. It was on this occasion, when the Israelites saw their enemies lying dead on the sea-shore, that there was chanted that lofty song of triumph, which is designated in our text as "the song of Moses the servant of God." With the view then of associating our sermon with the services of the day, we take a text which represents as heard again, and in far different scenes, those exulting notes which floated over waves in whose depths had been whelmed the proud oppressors of God's ancient Church. Before the seven angels go forth to "pour out the vials of God's wrath upon the earth," the Evangelist, St. John, is cheered by a vision, representing the joy and triumph of the faithful

followers of Christ, when their enemies shall have been overthrown, and their deliverance completed. He beholds "a sea of glass mingled with fire," and on it stand, "with the harps of God in their hands," those who have gained the victory over the beast, and his image, and his mark. As the conquerors stood on this mysterious sea, they sang that song of which our text is a part, and which is defined by St. John, as "the song of Moses and the Lamb."

Without pretending to settle what events may be thus prophetically alluded to, we may safely consider our text as belonging to a glorious season, when Christ shall have mightily interfered on behalf of his people, and swept away those who have resisted his authority. The song is a song of exultation, sung by the righteous, and called forth by judgments which have overwhelmed the wicked. And whilst this is undeniably its character, we need not be very careful to confine our observations to the occasion. on which it was heard by St. John: we may safely extend them to the final estate of the Church, and consider the strains, which are swept from the harps of God, as those which shall float through the celestial Temple. This being premised, our text suggests two topics of discourse; for it gives what may be called a definition of the song which the triumphant Church sings; and it then furnishes us with the words of which that song is composed. We have, therefore, in the first place, to examine the name by which the song is described, "the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:" we have then, in the second place, to consider the language employed, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints."

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Now it admits no dispute, that, when the song of the triumphant Church is called, "the song of Moses the servant of God," the reference is, as we have already stated, to the chant of the Israelites and their leader, when Pharaoh and his hosts had been buried in the waters. And it very observable, and, in some respects, almost mysterious, that it should be this song of Moses to which glorified saints will strike their harps. The song is one, not only of thanksgiving to the Lord, but of exultation over the wicked, and of rejoicing in their destruction. Hearken to its words as given in the services of the day: "The Lord is a man of war, the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his hosts hath he cast into the sea. The depths have

covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone." We hardly know a more perplexing truth, nor one which more shows how vast a change will have passed over our feelings, when we shall have put on Immortality, than that of our acquiescing in the punishment of the wicked; yea, of our approving that punishment, and magnifying God for the vindication of his attributes. We cannot doubt the truth. We cannot question, that, as God will hereafter gain honour from the lost as well as the redeemed, those, to whom God is to be all in all through eternity, and who will therefore derive happiness from whatever contrib utes to his glory, will find material of thankfulness, and, consequently, of joy, in the condemnation of the reprobate, as well as in their own pardon and acceptance. But, with our present sensibilities and affections, this is quite incomprehensible. The case goes far beyond that of Moses and the Israelites, on the shore of the Red Sea. Even then there must have been the yearning of natural

sympathy over the mighty company that had been buried in the waters. We do not believe, that, as the delivered tribes looked on the immense grave, and thought on the thousands over whom it had suddenly closed, they could fail to experience, amid all their rejoicing and exultation, something like anguish of feeling, a regret and sorrow that the wickedness of their enemies had rendered needful so tremendous a discomfiture. But the Egyptians were the sworn foes of the Israelites. There were between them none of the associations of kinsmanship; and as the people of the Lord beheld the waters meeting in their strength, and sepulchring their pursuers, there were none who had to think of a child or a parent, or a friend, grappling in agony with the irresistible tide. Suppose the case had been different, suppose that, in the ranks of the Egyptians, there had been many linked by close family ties with the Israelites-and who can doubt that there would have been sore hearts and weeping eyes, amongst those for whom the Lord had wrought the great deliverance; and that, as Moses led the song and Miriam the dance, some there would have been, whose voices would have faltered too much to swell the one, and whose limbs would have trembled too much to mingle in the other?

And yet we have here only the case which must necessarily be supposed, when all shall have occurred which was typified by the destruction of the Egyptians. It is not merely that those, whom wrath overtakes and consigns to perdition, will be our fellow-men, beings of the same race, and therefore linked with us by most intimate associations. This were much for this would seem enough to

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seal our lips, or cause lament to mingle with our song. But it must come to pass, that, in variety of instances, there will be the division of families, so that, whilst one member is with the Israelites, another will be with the Egyptians. And this division must be thoroughly known. The parent, whose child has not followed him to Heaven, cannot fail to miss that child: the child, who has himself escaped the deluge, but whose parent has been overwhelmed by its rushings, must be aware of the absence of the one he most loved. And yet it is to the song of Moses that the golden harps will in each case be swept. "Sing ye to the Lord; for He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea." We must again confess, that, with our present susceptibilities and affections, it is hard to think that this can ever come to pass. If we were to decide by our feelings, we should be disposed to believe that it would introduce misery into Heaven, to allow knowledge of the misery of those who have been dear to us on earth. But, nevertheless, we can be certain that such will not be the case. Knowing, as we undeniably do, that nothing which has the least alliance with sorrow shall gain entrance into the everlasting city, we cannot doubt that the happiness of saints will be undiminished and undisturbed, though they should miss from the shining assembly those bound to them by the most endearing relations. Yea, we must carry our persuasion yet further than this. We must believe, that, with all the consciousness that some whom they tenderly loved, have earned for themselves a heritage of shame and despair, the ransomed of the Lord will feel how the Divine attributes have been magnified in the punishment awarded to

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