Text: Exodus 15:1–11
Theme: Holy Joy
Other Lessons
Psalm 118:1–2, 15–24; 1 Corinthians 15:1–11; Luke 24:1–11
(A) In the Name of the Father…Amen.
(B) The Old Testament lesson from Exodus 15 serves as our sermon text for
this morning.
(C) Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
(D) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
464:1-3 The Strife Is O’er, the Battle Done
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Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
1
The strife is o’er, the battle done;
Now is the victor’s triumph won;
Now be the song of praise begun.
Alleluia!
2
The pow’rs of death have done their worst,
But Christ their legions hath dispersed.
Let shouts of holy joy outburst.
Alleluia!
3
The three sad days have quickly sped,
He rises glorious from the dead.
All glory to our risen Head!
Alleluia! Amen.
Introduction
(A) Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
(B) Today is a day of joyous celebration!
(1) With great songs of holy joy we affirm the victory over death and the
grave that the Lord accomplished through his death and resurrection.
(2) Listen to the first stanza of the hymns for this morning as evidence of
this holy joy:
467 Awake, My Heart, with Gladness
1
Awake, my heart, with gladness,
See what today is done;
Now, after gloom and sadness,
Comes forth the glorious sun.
My Savior there was laid
Where our bed must be made
When to the realms of light
Our spirit wings its flight.
Text: Public domain
490 Jesus Lives! The Victory’s Won
1
Jesus lives! The vict’ry’s won!
Death no longer can appall me;
Jesus lives! Death’s reign is done!
From the grave will Christ recall me.
Brighter scenes will then commence;
This shall be my confidence.
Text: Public domain
461 I Know That My Redeemer Lives
1
I know that my Redeemer lives;
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my ever-living head.
Text: Public domain
(C) As we celebrate the greatest victory of our faith, we take as our text
the song that was sung on the day of the greatest victory that the people
of Israel ever experienced in their history:
(1) their deliverance from Pharaoh and his army at the Red Sea.
(2) The Song of Moses gives us, too, the occasion to celebrate.
(D) As in Israel’s day, with Joyous Hymns of Faith, the People of the Lord
Celebrate Christ’s Easter Victory.
(1) With the song of Moses, Israel celebrated a foreshadowing of Christ’s
Easter victory.
(A) At the Red Sea, the people of Israel faced two unpleasant options.
1) They could surrender to the Egyptian army and be taken back as slaves to
Egypt, or they could drown in the Red Sea.
2) Either option basically amounted to death.
3) In addition to their precarious situation, they also showed a lack of
faith as mentioned in the previous chapter right before our sermon text for
this morning:
Exodus 14:10–12 (NASB95)
10 As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the
Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the
sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.
11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt
that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt
with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?
12 “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us
alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for
us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
(B) But God provided them with another option: salvation from the Egyptian
army by passing through the Red Sea.
(1) God parted the waters of the Red Sea so they could escape from the
Egyptians.
a) Much more dramatic than Cecil B. Demille’s version!
(2) God tricked the Egyptians into thinking that they could go through the
Red Sea too.
Exodus 15:9–10 (NASB95)
9 “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the
spoil; My desire shall be gratified against them; I will draw out my sword,
my hand will destroy them.’
(3) But God wiped them out.
10 “You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in
the mighty waters.
(4) The Egyptians never bothered the Israelites again.
(C) In response, the people of Israel sang joyous praises to the Lord:
Exodus 15:1–2 (NASB95)
1 Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said,
“I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider
He has hurled into the sea.
2 “The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This
is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him.
(1) Their song affirmed two things:
a) God’s power active in the world.
Exodus 15:3–8 (NASB95)
3 “The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name.
4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the
choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.
5 “The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone.
6 “Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O LORD,
shatters the enemy.
7 “And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up
against You; You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as
chaff.
8 “At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, The flowing
waters stood up like a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the
sea.
b) There are no other gods like their God (v 11).
Exodus 15:11 (NASB95)
11 “Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in
holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?
(2) We, too, celebrate Christ’s Easter victory with hymns of faith.
(A) Our situation seemed no less perilous than Israel’s. We were left with
the same two options.
(1) On one side were the devil and his army. Oh, he wants us to live. He
doesn’t want us to die—that is, in the sense of being snuffed out of
existence. He wants to take us back to his country, where he can enslave us.
a) Slavery to Satan is our fate because of our sin.
1) Lustful thoughts
2) Words of anger
3) And if thoughts and words were not bad enough, actions including and to
the point of abuse.
b) Every time we sin, we confirm that we cannot live as free people.
1) We are slaves to sin.
2) On our own, we can’t do good, we can’t turn away from evil.
3) That means we are destined to live in sin forever in hell.
(2) The other option for us is no better: death.
(3) Moses’ song is our song because they faced the same enemy we do.
a) For the Israelites, the name of death was Pharaoh and his army.
b) For us, the name of death may be a heart attack or cancer.
c) But these are just names for the same thing: death.
d) Someone with terminal cancer is just as trapped as the Israelites were.
(4) Death, like enslavement in hell, is a result of our sin, and that makes
it just as inescapable.
a) Christians, who are often accused of being unrealistic, are very
realistic about death.
(B) But through Jesus’ cross and resurrection from the dead, God has
provided us with a third option: salvation through death.
(1) Despite the disciples’ lack of faith on that first Easter, God’s power
broke through and won the victory.
(2) Now when we pass through death, we are saved.
a) This is what happens in the waters of Baptism.
b) In Baptism we are buried with Christ and raised to a new life.
c) In a way, the baptismal waters you were drowned in are the same as the
parted waters of the Red Sea.
(C) Our response to this great salvation is holy joy—especially in song.
(1) Examples of words from the great Easter hymns.
457 Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
1
Jesus Christ is ris’n today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!
Text: Public domain
458 Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands
1
Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands
For our offenses given;
But now at God’s right hand He stands
And brings us life from heaven.
Therefore let us joyful be
And sing to God right thankfully
Loud songs of alleluia!
Alleluia!
Text: Public domain
488 He Is Arisen! Glorious Word
1
He is arisen! Glorious Word!
Now reconciled is God, my Lord;
The gates of heav’n are open.
My Jesus did triumphant die,
And Satan’s arrows broken lie,
Destroyed hell’s fiercest weapon.
O hear what cheer!
Christ victorious,
Rising glorious,
Life is giving.
He was dead but now is living!
Text: Public domain
(2) The joy we sing is holy because:
a) it is not based on anything we have done.
b) it is a permanent solution to the enemy of death.
c) As Peter says in his first epistle, we have:
1 Peter 1:4 (NASB95)
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not
fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
(3) Our songs of joy today affirm that our God has real power and that
there are no other gods like him.
Conclusion
(A) In John’s vision of heaven in the Book of Revelation, he hears the
saints singing the very song of Moses that we’ve heard in our text.
(1) Through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, God has given us a
place to escape the power of sin, death, and the devil.
(2) Our enemies are drowned, just as the Egyptian army drowned in the Red
Sea.
(3) Now we sing these glad tidings, and we sing them in words that John
suggests we’ll be using for all eternity. Amen.
(B) Let us pray:
4
He broke the age-bound chains of hell;
The bars from heav’n’s high portals fell.
Let hymns of praise His triumph tell.
Alleluia!
5
Lord, by the stripes which wounded Thee,
From death’s dread sting Thy servants free
That we may live and sing to Thee.
Alleluia! Refrain
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Amen.
Text: Public domain
(C) The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
(D) Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
(E) In the Name of the Father…Amen.