The text this evening is verse 15. Matthew chapter 2. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled in all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou, Bethlehem in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel." Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search diligently for the young child. When ye have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship Him also." When they had heard the king, they departed. And, lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts, gold, and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt. And be thou there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophets, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem. and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, In Ramah there was a voice heard, lamentation and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead, which sought the young child's life. And he arose and took the young child and his mother, and they came into the land of Israel. When he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go thither. Notwithstanding being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets. He shall be called a Nazarene. We read God's holy and inerrant word to that point this evening. The text is verse 15, Matthew chapter 2. And was there, that is, was in Egypt until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, and now Matthew quotes Hosea 11, verse 1, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Beloved of God, this evening I interrupt My series, Theology for the Glory of God, hope to return to that a bit at some point, but I interrupt it now in order to begin a series for the season of Lent. Lent is the six weeks or so leading up to Good Friday. Lord willing, this Lenten series will culminate in our special service on Good Friday at the end of March. The purpose of this series of sermons corresponds with the purpose of Lent itself, to see the Lord Jesus Christ, whose crucifixion we will commemorate on Good Friday, as the perfect Son and therefore the perfect sacrifice for our sins. And to see the Lord Jesus Christ as the perfect Son and therefore perfect sacrifice for our sins, particularly through the lenses of the first few chapters of the Gospel according to Matthew. Matthew is the earliest of the Gospel writers, and his main audience is the Jews, especially the Jews who were persecuting the Jewish Christians. Matthew writes his Gospel account to show the Jews that the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the Messiah who has been foretold throughout all the Old Testament Scriptures. Consequently, Matthew's Gospel account is full of references to the Old Testament. There are over 60 references to Old Testament passages or events in this Gospel. The phrase is constantly repeated throughout. This happened and this happened in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. So that Matthew's goal by inspiration is really to present the form or the mold that the Old Testament had already provided for the coming Messiah. And then simply to pour Jesus Christ in His life and death into that form or into that mold of the Old Testament to show that He is indeed the One the Scriptures had foretold. And one of the key points the Spirit, through Matthew, presents to the reader of this Gospel is that Jesus is the true and perfect Son of God as prophesied. The concept of Jesus as Son is central in the Gospel according to Matthew. Son of David, as promised in the Old Testament, for Matthew's account begins in the very first verse by stating that Jesus is the Son of David and the Son of Abraham, but also the Son of God, as promised in our text. Out of Egypt I have called my Son, God, at Christ's baptism. This is my beloved Son. The devil says repeatedly in the Temptations, if you are the Son of God, then prove it by doing this. Peter's confession is that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. The Lord Himself at His trial at the end of the Gospel account swears an oath, I am the Son of God. The Jews mock the Lord Jesus upon the cross. If you are the Son of God, then come down. The centurion, seeing the earthquake at Christ's crucifixion, cries out, surely this was the Son of God. And then there is the unique way that Matthew, by inspiration, communicates to us that Jesus is the Son of God. That unique way will be the subject of our series, namely, that Jesus, as the Son of God, is the recapitulation of Old Testament Israel, the Son of God. Matthew presents the Lord Jesus Christ to his Jewish audience and to us as the do-over Israel, only this time, the perfect Son of God who is never rebellious, but perfectly lives as God's Son upon the earth. And we see that first this evening, in that like Old Testament Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ is called out of Egypt. God's Son called out of Egypt. Let's notice first, the true Son. Second, the true Egypt. And third, the true Gospel. God's Son called out of Egypt. The true Son, that is Jesus Christ. The true Egypt, there there is a twist. Pay attention carefully to the second point. Third, the true Gospel. How difficult it must have been for the young family, Joseph, Mary, and the youth, the Lord Jesus, to pick up once more and move. This time, not just to another part of Israel, but to a different country altogether. The different language, different and pagan customs, the country of Egypt that they knew as the place of bondage for their ancestors. The occasion for the holy family making this move was that the wise men from the east had come to Bethlehem having seen the miraculous star in the east. Those wise men, stopping first in the city of Jerusalem, naturally thinking that there would be the place where a king would be born, inquired there about the whereabouts of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. King Herod in Jerusalem recruits the scribes and leaders to discover from the Old Testament scriptures where the prophets said that the coming Messiah would be born and then directed the Magi to Bethlehem, the city of David. However, Herod was troubled by the visit of these wise men, thinking that if there was indeed a king who had been born, this one would be a threat to his own rule as king over Israel. Therefore, he demanded that the magi return to him with news if they had indeed found the Christ. The magi did find the Christ as the star returned and led them to the proper place where the Lord Jesus was, and they entered and fell down and worshipped Him. But warned of God in a dream not to go back to Herod as He had requested, they left another way, bypassing the city of Jerusalem, heading back to Babylon. Herod, however, not realizing that this Messiah was a king who would have a kingdom that is not of this world, was relentlessly plotting to destroy the Christ whether the Magi returned or not. Though Joseph and Mary did not know about Herod's plans to kill all the babies in Bethlehem, God knew for He is in sovereign control of absolutely everything and He appeared to Joseph in Bethlehem there in a dream. And He tells Joseph to take the baby and her mother south to travel to Egypt and to stay there until the wicked king Herod dies. God is protecting the Messiah Jesus Christ, for He must not be killed by a power-hungry king, but He must be hung upon a cross by the Jews. Certainly, the journey then to that foreign country where Joseph and Mary knew not a single soul was a difficult and frightening and lonely journey. But the inspired writer, Matthew, does not recount any details of that trip to Egypt, doesn't tell us where they stayed, doesn't tell us how they got along, or even how long exactly they were there. For the purpose of Matthew's recounting this event is to communicate to God's people more than simply that Jehovah was protecting the Christ child. The purpose that Matthew has in mind is to show us that this journey to Egypt and the return from Egypt is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy about the Christ. Particularly, as recounted in Hosea 11, verse 1, where the prophet of God in the Old Testament says this, when Israel was a child, then I loved him. and called my son out of Egypt." Now at first, when one reads that passage from Hosea 11 verse 1, it does not really seem like a prophecy at all. The prophet is obviously speaking about Old Testament Israel there. And he's pointing out that in great love for Israel of old, The Lord God took His covenant people out of Egypt and brought them unto Himself and cared for them. And the prophet goes on to say in Hosea 11 that in response to this love of God for them, they instead turned to idols and forsook Jehovah God their Father, turned their back upon Him. Even though God called His Son Israel out of Egypt, they had forsaken Him. and sinned against Him. And there's nothing in the text that seems to be explicitly pointing forward to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. But one has to understand, first of all, that events, events can be prophetic in the Bible, and not only spoken words. And the fact of the Israelites going down into Egypt and then being delivered out of Egypt, the inspired Gospel writer says here, was in fact a type of Jesus Christ who Himself would go into Egypt and come forth out of Egypt. God Himself reveals to us. that Jesus is fulfilling that Old Testament event as a type of His Son, by sovereignly sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into Egypt, and then sovereignly calling Jesus Christ back out of Egypt. After all, why go to Egypt? Although it was certainly safe there, Egypt was not under Herod's jurisdiction. Why did God want His Son specifically to flee to Egypt? Would it not have made much more sense for the holy family to leave with the three wise men and have safety with the three wise men as they fled from Herod back to their homeland? The Magi could have helped to protect the vulnerable young family Joseph and Mary would not have been all alone in this foreign land, surely, from a human point of view, if the goal was merely to keep the child safe. That would have been the route to go. Send them back with the Magi. But instead, the Lord God comes to Joseph in a dream and insists that Joseph and the Holy Family flee in the exact opposite direction of the Magi. They must go specifically to Egypt. For the Lord Jesus Christ must begin His life as Old Testament Israel began their life. He must be a fulfillment of the typical event of Israel coming forth out of Egypt. And he must fulfill that event specifically as God's true Son. Israel of old was called God's Son. And the Gospel writer, Matthew, connects Israel of old and their coming out of Egypt with the new Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ and His coming out of Egypt by way of Hosea's comment that God calls His Son out of Egypt. When Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt." A prophecy, the inspired Matthew says, of Jesus Christ, the new Israel, who in the fullest way possible is indeed God's true Son. God often spoke of Old Testament Israel as His Son. In Exodus 4, verse 23, God's message to Pharaoh about Israel when he was calling Israel out of Egypt was, let my son go, that he may serve me. Deuteronomy 32 verse 18 takes it even farther, not only calling Israel God's son, but even calling Israel as the one begotten by God Himself, formed by God Himself as God's son. And then Hosea here describes Israel as the one loved by God as God's own son. And though the prophet Hosea probably did not know that when he was writing Hosea 11 verse 1, he was pointing out something prophetic of the Messiah, the true Son of Jehovah God, Matthew in our text points out that it was not merely Hosea who was writing Hosea chapter 11 verse 1. Matthew 2, verse 15 says that when Jesus went to Egypt, He went to Egypt that it might be fulfilled that which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet. The Lord had the Old Testament prophet Hosea call Israel, his son of the Old Testament, there out of Egypt to connect with the true Son who was coming, the Lord Jesus Christ. God intended that His Old Testament Son, Israel, only foreshadow the true Son, Jesus Christ, who would come and live Israel's life over again, but as the true and perfect Son of God. And to show that, God sovereignly arranged that His true Son now, Jesus Christ, would retrace the steps of Old Testament Israel already from His youth. He must go and He must come out of Egypt to show that He is the new Israel of God, the do-over Israel, who will live Israel's life over again, only without failure in any degree. For the Israel of old had been an unfaithful son, transgressing the covenant of God. This new Israel will live without sin, perfect, faithful to the covenant of God in every single way, the Lord in sovereign control here, ensuring that His Son not only escape Herod's hand, but also be seen by those who have eyes to see that this is His beloved Son who will be the new Israel of God, retracing Israel of old steps as the perfect covenantal Son on their behalf. For, as the true Son of God, not only will Jesus go and come out of Egypt like Israel of old, He's going to relive the entire exodus as Israel of old. This is what we're going to examine in weeks to come. But I will give the whole thing away now in outline form so that we can see and understand After Israel is led out of Egypt in the Old Testament, where does Old Testament Israel go next? They are led through the Red Sea, baptized in the crossing of the Red Sea. After going and coming out of Egypt, where does the Lord Jesus Christ go next, as the Gospel writer Matthew tells us? He is baptized in the Red Sea of the Jordan River by John the Baptist. After being baptized in the Red Sea, what happens to Old Testament Israel next? They go into the wilderness for 40 years. They're tempted in that wilderness to forsake God and to turn to the evil one, the devil himself. They are tempted to go back to Egypt to forsake Canaan and to not go forward into that promised land. And after being baptized, Where does the Lord Jesus Christ go next? Into the wilderness. Matthew 4, verse 1, Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness. Why? To be tempted of the devil. For how long? For 40 days, says Matthew, corresponding to the 40 years of Old Testament Israel. What is happening to the Lord Jesus Christ in that wilderness? He is being tempted to forsake God and to serve the devil instead, just like Israel was. He's being tempted to forsake the way that had been set out for him, to enter into the land of Canaan by the way of his cross and open up that heavenly land for God's people, just like Israel was tempted to forsake. So that you see what the Holy Spirit is doing through Matthew here. is presenting the Lord Jesus Christ as retracing Old Testament Israel's steps. For He will be the new Israel who does everything Israel does over, only without sin. He is the one who will ensure that Israel of old has the right to be in covenant with God by living as Israel in covenant with God perfectly on behalf of His people. This is why the prophet Isaiah explicitly prophesies of the coming servant of Jehovah as the true Israel of God. This is why the prophet Isaiah sets up the contrast that he does between the Israel of old and the new Israel, Jesus Christ, in chapters 48 and 49 of his prophecy. You can read those two chapters this week to see what I am talking about. In Isaiah chapter 48, the message of the prophet Isaiah, is that the Israel of old, Old Testament Israel, has failed to be the Son that He was called to be in covenant with God. He does not live in perfect fellowship and obedience with Jehovah. He does not honor God as His Father, but turns His back upon Him. And God must redeem His Son for His sins, says the prophet. And how is God going to redeem His people? The very next chapter, Isaiah chapter 49, is about the new Israel of God who is going to come, the Messiah Himself, who will be the perfect servant of God, the perfect Son of the Father, so that the prophet has the Messiah Himself speaking in Isaiah 49. Jesus is saying, Isaiah 49 verse 3, God said to me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, He calls Him Israel, in whom I, that is God, will be glorified. The Lord Jesus Christ says there, the way of redemption for elect Israel of the Old Testament will be that I, as the new and true Israel, will be the Son, the true and perfect Son, who will really glorify the Father by true obedience to the relationship of the covenant of grace. I am the true Israel of God, and my obedience will be imputed to you, faithless sons, so that you might have the right to remain in covenant with your Father. This is what Matthew, by the Spirit, is seeking to tell the Jewish readers and us about this child coming out of Egypt. In Jesus of Nazareth, you have the true Israel, the true Son, Jehovah God. Nonetheless, as true as it is that in the first part of Matthew, the Holy Spirit presents Jesus as the new Israel going through the new exodus. There's something very different about things the second time around. In the Old Testament, Egypt is the place of bondage for Israel from which Israel must flee. And here in the opening chapters of Matthew, physical Egypt, the country of Egypt, is the place of safety. safety for the Lord Jesus Christ as he flees from Israel. In the Old Testament, the physical land of Egypt is the place of bondage for Israel from which Israel must flee. Here, physical Egypt is the place of safety for Jesus as he flees from Israel. In order to understand this, we first have to understand that Egypt in the Bible is not merely a physical place. Egypt is a spiritual reality. Egypt is a spiritual reality. All throughout Old Testament Israel, Egypt is the place of spiritual evil. all throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. Egypt is a picture of all that is spiritually opposed to God and opposed to God's people. Egypt is the place where the Israelite boys were drowned in order to destroy the people of God. Egypt is the place of pagan idolatry and idolatry that opposes Jehovah God Himself. Egypt is the place where there was battle over God's Son Israel. Where Pharaoh, who knew God, and who knew the Word of God as it was brought to him by Moses, who saw God's might in the plagues, had rejected God, hardened his heart against God. Pharaoh said to God, I will not let your son Israel go, God. And where God responded to Pharaoh, if you don't let my son go, then I will destroy your sons. And God did in the tenth plague. Egypt is this place of spiritual bondage, spiritual control of God's people. It's a picture of sin and sin's desperate desire to destroy God's covenant of grace. And in the Old Testament, though Israel had been delivered out of physical Egypt, spiritually, They never completely left. Israel was taken out of Egypt, the place, but Egypt, the spiritual reality, was never really taken completely out of Israel. The spiritual Egypt of sin and bondage had a hold on God's Old Testament Son, though He had taken them out of that land. How many times did the Israelites say to Moses, we want to go back to Egypt. We want to go back there. We don't want to follow the Lord anymore. Take us back to the flesh pots of Egypt. Yes, we were in bondage there, but at least we had what our hearts desired. And they complained and they complained. We want to go back, for Egypt was still inside of them when they left. Think of the golden calf at the base of Mount Sinai. Hardly had they left that place. Hardly had they been delivered. But they began to worship a golden calf. And where did they get the idea of worshipping a golden calf? It came from Egypt, who worshipped golden calves. Egypt had not left them, though they had left the land. Centuries, or generations rather, later, they go back to those same golden calves and to the time of Jeroboam. Though they had been taken out physically, Spiritually, Egypt still has a hold upon them. Egypt is running through their very blood. It's in their very nature. This desire for Egypt and its pagan idolatry was the history of Old Testament Israel time and time again, so that the prophet Hosea in chapter 11, from which Matthew is quoting, says about God's Old Testament Son, that they are a backslidden people, that they are ungrateful, that they are still living as though they are a part of Egypt. That's God's complaint against His people in Hosea 11 and throughout the whole prophecy of that book. I took you out as My Son out of that land. I loved you and called you to Myself, but you still live as though you're there. Your heart is drawn there. It's running through you. It's in your blood. And now, in the opening chapters of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is pointing out that absolutely nothing has changed for Israel, even now, at the time of Christ. I send My Son, My true Son, Jesus Christ, into your midst. And your king, Herod, tries to have Him killed. Your people reject Him. So that, though it is true that Jesus goes and comes out of the physical Egypt to show that He is the new Israel of God, nonetheless, the true spiritual Egypt of the story is in fact Israel herself. And the new Pharaoh of the story, who tried to kill God's Son in the Old Testament, is Herod, the King of Israel, who seeks to destroy God's Son here. For all these years, Israel has been out of the land of Egypt, and yet, spiritually, Egypt has never left her. And now, when Jesus comes, it's Israel herself who is engaged with God in a battle over His Son. Let us destroy Him, Israel says. And God responds to Israel the same way He responded to Egypt in the Old Testament. You seek to destroy My Son? I will destroy your sons, which is what happens in the slaying of the babies in Bethlehem. There's a reversal of roles here. And this is what Israel of old must see as Matthew inspired Writer of the Gospel presents this to the Jews. She is the one seeking the destruction of God's Son. She spiritually is the Egypt of old. She is depraved. She is sinful. She is against God. And that is precisely why she needs God's true Son, Jesus Christ, to live her life over for her. Without sin, And you see, this is exactly what Israel did not understand when the true Son of God came to her. This is what she refused to understand. Israel, after the flesh, thought that she had every single right in herself to be called God's Son. She thought that on her own, God could have fellowship with her. We are Israel, she said. We are the Son of God. Just read the Old Testament Bible. We are sons of Abraham. We are called God's Son. We don't need a substitute to come and to live as God's true Son on our behalf. We don't need a substitute to come take our sins away, that we might be sons of God indeed. We are descendants of God's chosen people by virtue of the very blood that's running through our veins. We have the right in our very selves to be God's sons. We don't need a Savior. So that what they refused to see is that spiritually they were Egypt and needed the true Son of God to give them the right to be sons in His life and in His death. That's why John the Baptist preached repentance, repentance, repentance. Repent before God. You are sinful, you people of Israel. You think that because you have the right genes, you are automatically God's sons? God can raise sons of Abraham out of these stones if He wants to, says John the Baptist. What you need to see is that you need the true Son of God to give you sinful people the right to be sons of God yourselves. The whole Old Testament had pointed God's people to this, and yet, at the time of Christ, they did not see it. They refused to. The law had been given to them throughout the whole Old Testament to show that they failed every single day to live as God's Son. The law was given to them to expose to them the fact that Egypt was hiding in their hearts. The sacrifices were added in the Old Testament so that they could see that they did not have the right to be God's son in themselves. The blood had to be shed to point them to the true Son of God who was coming, who in His life and death would take away their sins and give them the right to be sons of God. But they did not know. They did not see. And God in this history of Jesus fleeing to Egypt, coming out of Egypt, is showing them loud and clear Here's the issue. Here's the problem. You are Egypt and you don't even see it. Do you see it? Do I? Nothing has changed for God's church from the time of the exodus out of Egypt to the time of the birth of the Messiah until right now. We are the people of God. To us belongs the covenants. We are in the sphere of God's promises and Word. We have that Word of God taught Sunday after Sunday. And we can puff ourselves up in pride, too, and say that we have the lineage. We are part of God's church. And praise the Lord for those benefits, beloved. But as part of the benefit of being in God's church, of being in the sphere of His Word and promises, do you see this first benefit of that? That you are Egypt by nature. And so am I. That's the first blessing of all of these gifts of God. The Word of God that comes. The lineage that you have. It must be this, that you see in your own self and I in mine, that Egypt is in me. That in my very nature, I am as opposed to God as Pharaoh of old was. That the idolatry of Egypt has a hold upon me, yet in my old man of sin. That we have an old nature that like Israel, longs for those flesh pots of this world. That we are the ones who are back to backsliding. That though we are sons of God, having been called out of that land, so often we think and act and live as though we're still there. Egypt is running through our very veins. By God's grace, you see this. And beloved, the gospel, according to Matthew, would lead us this evening to the true Son of God, to the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we may have the right to be sons. Do you see? Out of Egypt, truly out of Egypt, I have called my Son. After Herod died, God called His Son, Jesus Christ, out of that place. And when He called His Son, His true Son came out, truly came out. That Son, when He left Egypt physically, took absolutely nothing of Egypt along with Him spiritually. For Israel of old, there was the stench of Egypt upon them from the day of the Exodus until the day of Christ until this present day, 2013, amongst us. But for the true Son of God, there is no smell of Egypt upon Him whatsoever when He is called out of that place. And the whole rest of the book of Matthew shows us a Son of God who truly lives as a Son of God should called out of Egypt. He resists every single temptation that the devil gives him in the wilderness. He serves God with perfect love as he travels through this life. He said in John 4 verse 34, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. That's what a son of God says. And that's what a son of God does from the heart every single moment of his life. There was no golden calf that was hiding in the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ that would manifest itself later when He came out of that place. There are no flesh pots that this Son longed for when He came out. There is no back-to-back sliding that can be found in Him. He is the perfect Son out of Egypt that Israel of old and we never were. And only in Him Can believing Israel of old and believing Israel now have the right to be sons along with Him? And only He is the perfect, spotless sacrifice for sin. That's where we have to look next, beloved, to understand the text. Out of Egypt I have called my Son." For the Holy Spirit, while pointing us back to see Jesus coming out of Egypt as the new Israel, would also in this text point us forward for what remains for the true Israel, the true Son of God. For there is another exodus, you see. that the Lord Jesus Christ must make out of Egypt besides this one in our text. The exodus out of Egypt that the Lord makes in our text is a harbinger also forward of the exodus out of the spiritual Egypt of hell itself upon the cross and into the heavenly kingdom and the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is striking that when the Lord Jesus is on the Mount of Transfiguration speaking to Elijah and to Moses, the great leader of the first exodus, He's speaking to both of them there. It's just before the time when He must go to His cross. The text says there that they spake together, Moses, Elijah and Jesus spoke together of His decease, which He should accomplish in Jerusalem. And the Greek word for decease there is literally His exodus. They spoke together of His exodus, which He should accomplish in Jerusalem. What is the exodus that He should accomplish in Jerusalem? It is this. He must go into the very depths of hell. A land where all that reigns is what is against God. And he must bear the wrath of God for the sins of his people. He must journey spiritually to the place that would bind the souls of God's people forever. And there he must unleash them from their bondage to Egypt. And once that is complete, out of that Egypt too, the Lord God will call His Son, With the voice of power, God calls His Son out of the grave the third day into a resurrected body and calls Him into the heavenly Canaan itself, so that out of the power of Egypt and death, He comes victorious to the heavenly Canaan above. Out of Egypt, I have called My Son. Here is the true Israel, beloved. Here is the perfect Son. And here is the perfect sacrifice. And He is that, not merely for His own exalted life in the heavenly Canaan, but for yours and for mine. For this perfect Son lives and dies. as representative head of all the other sinful and rebellious sons of God in both the Old Testament and the New. You must understand that God's covenant of grace, this bond of fellowship that He establishes with His people is first a bond that He establishes with the Lord Jesus Christ. And only because the Lord Jesus Christ lives as the perfect covenant member, the perfect son in fellowship with his father, do we, the body that comes after, have the right to be in that covenant with God. He comes to this world to be what Israel of old, what the church today cannot be. We cannot live as perfect sons in covenant with the Holy God. We cannot take away our offenses against that covenant either. How can we sit here this evening and hear God say to us, to us, out of Egypt, I have called you, my sons, only in the true Son, Jesus Christ. As perfect Son, He contains in Himself a perfect righteousness. that may be imputed to elect Israel then and now. And as the perfect Son, He is the spotless sacrifice, able to give Himself for our sins upon His cross, taking away our unrighteousness, giving us His righteousness, that we might have the right to be sons and daughters of God and have the right, have the right to be sovereignly, irresistibly called out of Egypt ourselves. For you see, the one who calls the head out of Egypt also calls the body out of Egypt. Do you hear him calling you through the preaching of the Holy Gospel this evening? calling you to follow His great Son as He leaves Egypt behind. Out of Egypt, I have called my Son, my true Son. And now, out of Egypt, I call my adopted sons and daughters after Him. Do you hear Him say to you this evening, Come out of Egypt! Legally, come out and be freed from the tyranny of Egypt's guilt. Ethically, come out and be freed from the tyranny of Egypt's bondage to sin. Will you continue? Will you continue? to desire the flesh pots of this world of sin and evil? Call yourself sons of God? Will you continue to compromise with the world in your life? Will you be one with Egypt in your entertainment, in your music, in your dancing and revelry, in the allegiances of your heart? Come out of Egypt unto me and live as my Son in Him. What are you looking for in this world, young people of the church? Whether that world is out there somewhere in some nebulous existence, or whether it is right here, northwest Iowa, in what calls itself church. There is nothing of the world for you there. and the godless despisal of all things of Jehovah and His covenant. Come out! Come out! This is a call for you. Come out of Egypt! Out of Egypt! I have called my Son. Put it behind and set God and His covenant and His church before you. And Christ, I break Your bond with this world. And I myself establish one with You, so that as He is my Son, You are my Son. As He is called out, you are called out. Come out and be separate and touch not the unclean thing. In school, in work, in play, be spiritually distinct, spiritually different, not participating in the evils of this world, even if they are in the midst of the church. That's His call. And His call is powerful for His own, beloved. His call is irresistible for His own. His call shows His own that their greatest problem is Egypt, within and without. His call shows us, first of all, that our greatest problem is not the circumstances of our lives that we don't like. It's not the bad feelings that we have about this or that. It's not the financial problems we wish we were different. It's not our loneliness or our distress. Our greatest problem was Israel's problem from the first. No matter where I am, Egypt is right here. And it is only the sovereign, irresistible call of God that can call His people out. Only the gospel of life in His perfect Son, covenant life earned for His own, set before the church, only the call that says, come out from among her and be ye separate, saith your God, will be effective to make sons out of His own already now and fully one day in glory. You and I have no legs strong enough to leave Egypt behind. We have no willpower strong enough to break away. May the life of the perfect Son and the perfect sacrifice planted into the hearts of God's own in the powerful, sovereign call of Christ be effective hereto, that the Lord Jesus may lead the exodus that Moses himself could not lead. As out of Egypt, God calls His Son and all His sons after Him. Amen. Let us pray. Father, grant Thy grace that we might see Christ in all of His glory and beauty and perfection. The one who left Egypt behind for the sake of Thy adopted sons and daughters. In hearing Thy call, may we leave Egypt behind and follow Him out into the heavenly Canaan above. For Jesus' sake do we pray, Amen. 73.