The God Who Triumphs

[0:00] Well, a little bit of a confession to start with that maybe some of you know this, but for years I've been at odds with my own father about sports.

[0:17] And we have a little bit of a, the two football teams that we favor are absolute rivals of one another. And 10 years ago, I watched his favorite team lose in the Super Bowl.

[0:30] In very memorable fashion. So what I did what any good son would do to his father. I took out my cell phone and I called him immediately to gloat in his defeat.

[0:42] Right? And that was probably a mistake because my dad has since that time, he has twice had the opportunity to return the favor. Right? Now, the good news is each time that he had the opportunity to do so, he chose not.

[0:56] Well, he didn't do it. You know, my dad's a bigger man than I am. You know, better man than I am, I'm sure. But also, he didn't see the games live, so he didn't know. Worked out pretty well for me.

[1:09] Now, that's something that we do when it comes to any sort of competition. Whether it's a sporting event, whether it's just some sort of running or biking event here in Squamish, whether it's some sort of, whether it could even be something as dissimilar to that as an academic competition.

[1:26] Anything along those lines. They always end with some sort of ceremony that announces the victors, that bestows on the victors some sort of medals or trophies or wreaths.

[1:38] And we instinctively understand that a victory is incomplete unless it is followed by a triumph. A great celebration or a great boast of that victory.

[1:52] And so that's why you and I are here today. We're here today because 2,000 years ago, a victory was achieved. A victory so great that the celebration of it has not stopped until this day.

[2:04] We're here today to continue that triumph. We're here today to boast that Jesus Christ not only died, not only was buried, not only endured the punishment of God for the sins of all those who believe in him, but that then Jesus did what no one else ever did.

[2:21] Jesus rose from the dead to a new and better life. A resurrection life. The good life. And even though no one else had ever done this, there is a sense that in which Jesus' victory, in which Jesus' triumph, it wasn't without precedent.

[2:36] It wasn't unanticipated in a sense. Because his victory, his triumph, they're the pinnacle of a story that the Lord has woven throughout the history of our world.

[2:48] And over the last few months here at Squamish Baptist Church, we have been learning some of the early chapters of this story. Some of the early chapters of our family history as God's people.

[3:00] And we've learned how the people of Israel, our spiritual ancestors, they were once slaves who were living in the ancient superpower of Egypt. They were subjected to brutal forced labor.

[3:14] They were subjected to population control campaigns by the state and by its king, the Pharaoh. And we have learned how God then sent a savior to his people, a man named Moses.

[3:30] And Moses served as a mediator. Moses served as a mouthpiece for the Lord God as he inflicted ten great plagues on the land of Egypt until Pharaoh let the people of Israel go.

[3:42] But as we learned last week, Pharaoh's mind didn't stay that way for long. He changed his mind shortly after they had left the land as they were headed out of Egypt.

[3:53] And Pharaoh then sent the most technologically advanced troops of the ancient world. He sent the armored divisions of Egypt. 600 chariots.

[4:05] Manned by the best officers he had. By his crack troops. By the navy seals of the ancient world. Their chariots were led by horses that were bred and trained to trample, to crush men, women, and children.

[4:21] But what Pharaoh didn't realize was that he was being baited by the Lord. He was being led into a trap. Because the Lord parted the waters of the Red Sea where the people of Israel were backed up against.

[4:35] He parted the waters of that sea so that his people could walk through on dry ground. And then when the Egyptian chariots followed after them, that water came crashing back down on them and they drowned.

[4:48] And it was an outcome that no one expected. So the Lord saved his people that day. From an ancient, a powerful adversary that they had no hope of defeating.

[5:00] And when they watched the bodies of the Egyptian warriors washing up dead on the shore of the sea. Then they realized what had taken place.

[5:10] Then they knew that this was not a dream. This was a true victory. And so the Lord's people began a celebration. They began a triumph that has been preserved for you and me today.

[5:23] Moses wrote a famous song. We read that song at the beginning of the service. That song of Moses or the song at the sea. And you can find it once again in Exodus chapter 15 verses 1 through 21.

[5:39] Once again, if you're using one of the blue Bibles that a rushers handed out, that's on page 57. Exodus chapter 15 verses 1 through 21. And this song is essentially, it is one giant brag.

[5:52] So think Queen's song, We Are the Champions, right? That is what this is all about. This is the ancient version of that. Except this is different. Because they're not bragging, We are the champions. That would be a completely silly brag considering all they did was walk.

[6:07] They didn't fight at all. It is the Lord who is the champion. This is a great boast in the Lord, the God of Israel. The God who is the same yesterday and today and forever.

[6:21] This is the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead in power, in victory. And Moses and the people of Israel, they give us two great reasons for boasting in the Lord in this song.

[6:33] Two great reasons for boasting in the Lord. Starting in verses 1 through 3. Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.

[6:49] The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him, my Father's God, and I will exalt him.

[7:04] The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name. Back in Exodus chapter 5, Moses first confronted Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he told him then, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, let my people go.

[7:23] But Pharaoh at that time, his reply was, Who is the Lord? Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?

[7:33] I do not know the Lord. And moreover, I will not let Israel go. Well, Pharaoh, now you know. Now you know. This God that you laughed at, that you just brought, this God that you laughed at, who you sneered at, who you paid no attention to, he has just brought ruin on your kingdom, and he has broken the backbone of your army.

[7:56] And now that ragtag group of slaves, they're calling you up, and they're gloating over you. Singing, this is my God.

[8:08] The Lord is my strength and my song. The Lord is a warrior. The Lord is his name. And they continue their song with the story of what the Lord has done for them.

[8:21] Verses 4 through 10. Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them.

[8:33] They went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty, you overthrow your adversaries.

[8:45] You send out your fury. It consumes them like stubble. At the blast of your nostrils, the waters piled up. The floods stood up in a heap. The deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

[8:57] The enemy said, I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil. My desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword. My hand shall destroy them. You blew with your wind.

[9:09] The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. So the Lord's victory is total. The Lord's victory is complete. Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.

[9:24] The Lord accomplished his victory, and he did it by taking the forces of nature, the wind and the waves, and commanding them. These were forces that were supposed to be commanded by the so-called gods of Egypt that Pharaoh and his people relied on.

[9:41] But they had no real power. And the Lord shows who is the one with real power, with real authority. Only the Lord has that kind of authority. Only the Lord is unbound by the limits of space and time.

[9:55] And so the Israelites sing, verses 11 through 12, who is like you, who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

[10:09] You stretched out your right hand. The earth swallowed them. The Lord is not only victorious, but his power is without rival.

[10:21] There is no one like him. There is no one who has the power to send an entire army swallowed into the grave with a mere breath from his nostrils.

[10:35] And so the first of two great reasons for boasting in the Lord is this. The Lord is unrivaled in his victory over evil. The Lord is unrivaled in his victory over evil.

[10:51] And what's so amazing is that his victory was the most secure when it seemed the most unlikely. Because when it seemed that Pharaoh had finally gained the upper hand, when it seemed that Pharaoh had trapped the Israelites, he had caught them defenseless, that's when the Lord made a public display of his supremacy over Pharaoh.

[11:16] That's what he does. And how much more? On that first Easter Sunday, 2,000 years ago, did the Lord show his supremacy over every government and over every spiritual power that stands opposed to him and to his authority.

[11:30] And he did it by the most unlikely means possible. By being executed, naked in shame and disgrace on a Roman cross.

[11:44] And yet Jesus Christ brought the victory. A victory for everyone here who believes in him, who believes in his saving work. The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians chapter 2.

[11:58] The entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily in Christ. And you have been filled by him who is the head over every ruler and authority.

[12:11] You were also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in your trespasses, in your sins, in your rebellion against God and his good law, when you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses.

[12:38] He erased the certificate of debt with its obligations that was against us and opposed to us and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly.

[12:53] He triumphed over them in him. And so through his own power, the Lord removed the obligations that the Israelites had to Pharaoh, their master.

[13:05] He disarmed the rulers and authorities of Egypt. He disgraced them publicly. He triumphed over them. And his triumph has grown greater still until it was brought to a climax at the cross where Jesus Christ won the victory over all human, over all spiritual opposition who could enslave and control the people of God.

[13:27] And so the Lord is unrivaled in his victory over evil. That is the first of two great reasons for boasting in him today. And the second reason is found in verses 13 through 18 of Exodus chapter 15.

[13:42] In these verses, Moses looks towards the future, towards the people groups who are occupying the land that God had promised to his people. Moses looks towards the judgment that God has promised against them for centuries of siding with evil spiritual authorities, for centuries of participating in the evil practices of these false gods.

[14:05] And Moses writes, You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed. You have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

[14:16] to your home. The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed.

[14:26] Trembling seizes the leaders of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them. Because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone till your people, O Lord, pass by.

[14:40] Till the people pass by whom you have purchased. These powerful tribes, these powerful nations, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Canaan, they are not a threat.

[14:57] They are not a threat to a god who can destroy even the army of Egypt. And so when these nations see what this god is capable of, when they see that this god is great, when they see that this god is with his people, they will begin to tremble.

[15:17] They will begin to melt away and be paralyzed with fear. And they will not stand in the way of the people of God. And so the Lord's plan and purpose for his people will not be hindered by any opposition.

[15:29] His purpose for them is written in verses 17 and 18. You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain. The place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode.

[15:41] The sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. The Lord will reign forever and ever. And so the Lord intends them to bring them into the promised land, into the land of Canaan, to bring them to Mount Zion.

[15:55] To bring them to a land and a mountain and a place where he invites them to find rest. a land that the Lord calls home. And he's inviting them to live as his guests, to enjoy his presence with them.

[16:12] To live there as his sons and daughters. The Lord is going to plant them there and tend them and nourish them. Give them new life.

[16:24] Give them the good life that they have been yearning for. The Lord is unrivaled in his victory over evil and the new life he brings to his people. The Lord is unrivaled both in his victory over evil and in the new life he brings to his people.

[16:42] That is the second great reason for boasting in the Lord. And so because this exodus from the land of Egypt into the promised land, this land of paradise, because it is good, because it is a wonderful gift, we might be tempted to think, well that's a nice story, what does that mean for me today?

[17:03] Well I'll tell you what, this story is just a taste of a greater exodus that is yet to come in the pages of scripture. Because one day, a millennium and a half later, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, he takes three of his disciples, the three closest to him, and he takes them up a high mountain, far away from anyone else.

[17:25] And then, in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 9, it's recorded what happens next. We read that Moses appears alongside Jesus. Luke writes, as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed and his clothes became dazzling white.

[17:43] Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were glorious to see, and they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem.

[17:59] That's literally what Luke writes, his exodus from this world. So Luke is telling us that Jesus' crucifixion, Jesus' burial, his resurrection, his ascension into heaven after 40 days, they are a second exodus.

[18:16] And it's not as though the second exodus is just an imitation or a copy of the first one. This is the real exodus. A real exodus that brings real and new resurrection life to Jesus Christ and to everyone who is united with him by faith.

[18:36] And so in the book of Hebrews, chapter 3, it is written, Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house.

[19:00] For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Jesus is a greater Moses. As much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.

[19:14] For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now, Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant to testify to the things that were to be spoken later.

[19:27] But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house.

[19:39] If indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. So we who are Christians, we who are the people of God, we who have embarked on this second exodus led by Jesus Christ, this real exodus, we are the household of God, the family of God.

[20:07] He has made his home, his dwelling among us. He has sent his Holy Spirit to give us new life, abundant life, the good life, resurrection life.

[20:23] One thing that I have to constantly remind us here in Squamish in a place where people think they've found the good life, I have to constantly remind people, if what you think the good life is, if it could be taken away from you, then it isn't really the good life.

[20:38] It's a counterfeit. Don't settle for the good enough life. Stop at nothing short of the eternal life that Jesus Christ offers in the second exodus.

[20:52] What he offers, what we have, we who believe, it can never be taken away from us. because we share in a heavenly calling.

[21:04] We are called, summoned, to live with Jesus Christ in this resurrection life. To triumph with him forever and ever. To hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

[21:21] In the book of Revelation in chapter 15, those believers who remain faithful, who remain confident, who remain boasting in that hope, even to the point of death, and who now live in the good and satisfying presence of God, who now know life, an abundant life.

[21:39] They appear in a vision before the Apostle John in Revelation chapter 15, and John writes, they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, great and amazing are your deeds.

[21:58] O Lord God, the Almighty, just and true are your ways, O King of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name, for you alone are holy.

[22:12] All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. He is the champion. So the Lord's victory over Egypt has become a victory over every political, over every spiritual power.

[22:30] His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom over the whole earth. That is our future. That is our expectation. The Lord will reign forever and ever, just as Moses wrote.

[22:43] The Lord is unrivaled in his victory over evil and the new life that he brings to his people. that is why we boast in the Lord. Now and into the future and forever and ever.

[23:01] The song never ends. But it's not only in the future that the song of Moses, that song of triumph is sung again and again, not just in the future in heaven.

[23:14] These are like stood on the shore of the Red Sea. And as Moses finished his song, something really amazing happened. His sister Miriam, somehow she got a hold of this song and she obviously really liked it.

[23:30] Because she took it upon herself to run over to all the women and to teach it to everybody. To teach it to all of God's people. In Exodus chapter 15 verses 19 through 21, we read, I guess they weren't very good Baptists.

[24:04] I kid, I kid. And Miriam sang to them, Sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously.

[24:15] The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. Those are the first two lines of the song that Moses wrote. So Miriam took this song and she spread this triumph among the people of God so that they would rehearse this victory.

[24:33] So they would extend this triumph year after year long after this had taken place. Generation after generation. A song that could be passed down. A song that could be sung over and over and over so the people of the Lord would learn to boast in his power to free them from captivity.

[24:49] And they had to learn this and that was a long hard lesson. Because as we're going to find out once we come back to the book of Exodus in the month of June, even though the Lord had brought the Israelites out of Egypt in a physical sense, there was a sense in which they were still captives.

[25:12] In a psychological and a spiritual sense, they were still captives. The way they were thinking. Captive to the fear of human beings like Pharaoh.

[25:23] Captive to the idea that they were under the thumb of a master who didn't care for them. Who wasn't good to them? Who wouldn't provide for their needs? And who wouldn't satisfy their souls?

[25:35] And they thought the Lord was like Pharaoh. And they were still captive to the sin, to the rejection of God that corrupted everything they did.

[25:50] And that still corrupts human beings today. People like you and me. the evil and sin that has wormed its way into everything that you and I are doing and thinking and saying so that you and I, we are guilty.

[26:08] We deserve not the fate of the Israelites who walked through the sea safely. We deserve the fate of the Egyptians who defied the living God and loved and feared Pharaoh more than the one true God.

[26:30] They died as enemies and adversaries of the Lord God. I'm telling you today, though, that we who are Christians, we who believe in Jesus Christ, have turned from our sin, our old way of life, and put our faith in him.

[26:52] We have a better mediator than Moses. We have a better exodus than the people of Israel. And we have been ushered into a better resurrection life than the life in the land of Canaan.

[27:12] Because we have been set free from our slavery to the human and demonic forces of evil that want to control us, that want to enslave us.

[27:23] We have been set free from the power of sin that corrupts our thoughts and desires. We have been set free from the power of death. Because just like our Lord Jesus Christ, the grave will not hold us down forever.

[27:41] We have been set free by the Lord who saved us. and our Lord is unrivaled in his victory over evil and a new life he brings to his people. So we rehearse his triumph over the enslaving power of sin and death.

[27:55] So we rehearse his triumph over the enslaving power of sin and death. Our Lord Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. And so now I plead with all of you, wake up, rise from your sleep.

[28:09] because Christ has risen from the grave. Wake up. There is new life to be had.

[28:22] And that is why we are here this morning. That is why we are here again at Easter. We're here to announce to the world that Jesus Christ our Lord is risen from the dead and that the Lord will reign forever and ever.

[28:35] we are here to boast. We are here to brag. Not in ourselves. What a terrible idea.

[28:49] We're not here to talk about how much better we are than other people or how much wiser we are or stronger we are or richer we are than those who don't serve Jesus Christ. What do we have to boast?

[29:05] In Jeremiah chapter 9 it is written thus says the Lord let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast in his might.

[29:18] Let not the rich man boast in his riches. But let him who boasts he doesn't say don't boast at all. He says you're going to boast so let him who boasts. Here's what you should boast in.

[29:29] Boast in this that he understands and knows me. Boast in your relationship with the Lord. that he understands and knows me that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love justice and righteousness in the earth.

[29:43] For in these things I delight declares the Lord. And so we're not meek and limp-wristed people.

[29:55] I shouldn't use the word meek. we're not wimpy limp-wristed people who just kind of try to keep quiet. We've got nothing to talk about, nothing to brag about, nothing to boast about.

[30:08] No, we boast. Oh, we boast loudly and we triumph loudly because the Lord is great. Because our Lord is great. And not only is the Lord great, the Lord is with us.

[30:21] don't you believe that? The Lord is great, the Lord is with us.

[30:34] And we understand and know him. And we love what he loves, we delight in what he delights. Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord, triumph in him.

[30:47] And so I urge you today, I know there are people sitting here, who are boasting of something else. And everybody's boasting of something.

[30:58] Everyone's proud of something. And I know there are people sitting here today who are boasting and proud of something else, much as Pharaoh was proud of his army. I urge you today, boast in the Lord, believe in the Lord.

[31:17] If you have not believed in Jesus Christ, what do you have to look forward to? Do you think an eternity in heaven, do you think an eternity in the new heavens and earth is something to look forward to?

[31:30] Where Jesus Christ reigns? You would hate that. And you'll never see it. You'll never delight in it. And you have no hope of resurrection life with Jesus Christ.

[31:45] You do not believe and boast in the Lord. I urge you, turn to him. Turn from your sin, turn to Jesus Christ, believe in him, show your faith by being baptized.

[32:01] What's really neat when I say being baptized, our brothers and sisters from the Rock Church I mentioned, they're arriving at 1230. They're going to be baptizing two believers in Christ right here. I can't wait. I'm going to stick around for that.

[32:15] If you have the opportunity, some of you aren't going to be able to and that's fine. But if you want that opportunity, I encourage you to be there and to see that. And this is a good opportunity to bring this up.

[32:27] If you too want to announce publicly that the Lord is unrivaled in his victory over evil and the new life that he brings to his people, the new life that he has brought to you, if you want to rehearse his triumph over the enslaving power of sin and death, if you want to do these things, if you want to proclaim your faith, if you want to be baptized, I encourage you, after the service, come up, talk with me or talk with one of the elders of our church because we want to hear your faith.

[33:03] We want to hear your belief and to rejoice with you. we want to find a time to baptize you as a new believer in Jesus Christ and to welcome you into the household, into the family of God, the Lord who reigns forever and ever.

[33:22] Let me pray. Our God and our Father, stir our hearts up. Give us eyes to see, give us ears to hear that you are great, that you are with us.

[33:40] And I know for many people, it seems that there are other people and other problems in their life that are really big and that you are really small. But it doesn't matter what we feel because the truth about ourselves and the truth about you is glorious.

[34:02] Let us take our full salvation and triumph and prevail. because Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Father, you raised him from the dead and he has brought new life to us and your Holy Spirit has poured out on us.

[34:20] And we rejoice and hope that we will see your glory one day and the life that we taste now we will enjoy in abundance.

[34:32] Amen.