back to index2018-03-04 Drawn to the Mountain
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But again, please turn your Bible to Exodus, chapter 19. 00:00:08.600 |
We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 7, and then the rest of the chapter through 00:00:13.000 |
The Word of God reads it this way, and it says, "In the third month after the sons of 00:00:18.120 |
Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness 00:00:24.120 |
When they set out to Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai, encamped in the wilderness. 00:00:29.980 |
And there Israel camped in front of the mountain. 00:00:32.960 |
Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, 'Thus you 00:00:37.480 |
shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel, "You yourselves have seen 00:00:42.200 |
what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 00:00:48.440 |
Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my 00:00:53.660 |
own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine. 00:00:58.200 |
And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 00:01:02.360 |
These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.' 00:01:05.340 |
So Moses came, called the elders of the people, and set before them all the words which the 00:01:12.880 |
Verse 8 as well, "All the people answered together and said, 'All that the Lord has 00:01:21.400 |
Our Father, we thank you so much for your grace. 00:01:24.080 |
God, we thank you for the truth of your word as it guides us, as it continues to convict 00:01:33.200 |
I ask that you would grant to us receptive hearts, fertile hearts, Lord, and a true hunger 00:01:41.800 |
We also want to pray for the pastors and those ministering at the retreat, and we also want 00:01:47.640 |
to pray for all the members, Lord, praying, God, that you would grant to them a fruitful 00:01:51.440 |
time of connecting, first and foremost, with you, but also in sweet fellowship with one 00:02:01.680 |
As we look at this passage, it's a familiar passage of the nation of Israel coming out 00:02:09.040 |
of Egypt, brought to a place of worship at Mount Sinai. 00:02:15.760 |
For me, as I revisited this, I'm studying through the book of Exodus with the youth 00:02:20.440 |
I got reminded of a time when I got pulled out, but I got pulled out of school. 00:02:25.440 |
See, there was a time during high school when I was getting into a lot of trouble, and I 00:02:31.320 |
I got into a whole lot of trouble, and so my parents did one of those intervention things, 00:02:36.440 |
where basically, right in the middle of high school, they made me drop out of the school 00:02:42.040 |
that I was in and transferred me into another school. 00:02:45.200 |
Now that seems fine, except that school that I was in, I had already built up friends ever 00:02:50.360 |
since elementary school in that district, all the way up. 00:02:54.640 |
The school that I was in, it was a huge school with lots of resources, sports and all that. 00:02:59.920 |
The student body was well over 4,000 students. 00:03:02.840 |
The thing about it is, my little generation of high school between, I think it was like 00:03:07.040 |
'96 or '97 to whenever, right, the four years there, that was a generation when every boy 00:03:15.320 |
Every little boy thought that it was cool to wear baggy pants, dye your hair, wear different 00:03:21.920 |
They would even make characters, like Looney Tunes characters, Bugs Bunny, the Tasmanian 00:03:27.080 |
Devil, wear baggy pants, and it'd be on the shirt and things like that. 00:03:32.880 |
Well, what ended up happening, my parents said, "We need to prevent you from going down 00:03:41.200 |
Every child at that time, not every child, but there was such a push and pressure to 00:03:45.760 |
experiment with everything from the drugs to smoking to partying and getting into gangs. 00:03:51.240 |
My parents saw me just continuing to dive into that kind of scene. 00:03:55.840 |
So they pulled me out and of course, did I go quietly? 00:03:59.200 |
No, I was kicking and screaming, complaining, crying, whatever it may be, and they put me 00:04:03.800 |
in this small little school where the entire student body for the entire school was about 00:04:11.600 |
And my graduating class with the seniors was only about 60 students. 00:04:18.320 |
And the thing is, there was a part of me, because they did that to me, I was bitter 00:04:26.280 |
Why would you do that right in the middle of high school, your formative years?" 00:04:34.080 |
But actually, that's the point I want to make is, rather than being bitter, I am so grateful. 00:04:41.260 |
Because for a parent to make that kind of decision, I'm guessing, and I'm pretty sure 00:04:48.560 |
Who wants to see their own child angry, kicking and screaming? 00:04:52.080 |
And I experienced that when we try to do things for our own children that are good, but you 00:04:55.440 |
see them so hurt by what you believe is to be their best interest. 00:05:04.880 |
But as I see the actions of God in his deliverance, pulling the people out, I see the heart of 00:05:11.920 |
an amazing, perfect parent, loving his children. 00:05:17.040 |
And that's what we want to see today, as God delivers a nation of Israel out of Egypt, 00:05:21.760 |
but also God gives what is known as a covenant at Sinai. 00:05:28.280 |
So in looking at this, let's look at a little bit of the backstory of where we are. 00:05:32.600 |
We're here in chapter 19, but we have to look at the backstory. 00:05:37.720 |
Pretty much, we know that there has been an incredible deliverance as God performed miracles 00:05:46.000 |
These weren't just simple spankings, so to speak, disciplinary actions against Egypt. 00:05:55.440 |
It began with Moses showing them the power by throwing a staff on the ground and causing 00:06:02.280 |
But then as you recall, God performed miracles such as making every source of water in the 00:06:06.720 |
land of Egypt turn to blood, so that the animals in the river would die, so that there would 00:06:11.600 |
be a great stench in the land and the people did not have water. 00:06:15.560 |
And the people were so desperate, they were digging in the dirt for water, only to find 00:06:20.520 |
They were looking in their bases and their storage houses to find nothing. 00:06:27.240 |
Now I'm not going to go through every single plague, but you know how it ramps up. 00:06:31.440 |
Everything from their cattle dying, to their own physical bodies being hurt by boils, to 00:06:35.960 |
seeing hail and fire fall from the sky, and to seeing, ultimately, death riddle their 00:06:46.040 |
And they say, "There was never such a cry in the land ever before." 00:06:51.480 |
And that night when God killed the firstborn of all the Egyptians of the land. 00:06:56.400 |
So that was an incredible deliverance, and on top of that, they were walking out proudly 00:07:02.200 |
through, you know, from the land of Egypt, going through the land, and when they hit 00:07:05.240 |
the waters, God performed another miracle, so the story continues to go. 00:07:09.820 |
There was incredible, incredible, miraculous, cosmic deliverance. 00:07:16.080 |
The reason why I'm making much of it is because there's a but. 00:07:20.240 |
To the surprise of the Israelites, it's not what they expected. 00:07:25.080 |
I mean, they'd been traveling now three months, and those three months, do you presume were 00:07:34.960 |
What's really interesting is that as soon as they come out, they see the difference, 00:07:39.200 |
and many other Israelites start complaining, "Oh, that we would go back to the land of 00:07:48.120 |
The first photo I have here for you is just a little, you know, map of how Egypt was lavishly 00:07:58.800 |
There's a delta where there's rich, fertile ground. 00:08:02.040 |
There are animals, there's fishing, they have industry, they have transportation, and that's 00:08:07.280 |
why Egypt was such a powerhouse of an empire in their day, okay? 00:08:12.400 |
But then you look all around the right, and you see that little wedge of land? 00:08:18.360 |
That's where the nation of Israel are going to spend the next 40 years. 00:08:22.280 |
What's really hilarious is it's just literally over that cross, but it's all desert. 00:08:31.700 |
As soon as they go over, in the next photo please, as soon as they go over, they're going 00:08:35.680 |
to hit the wilderness of Shur, okay, immediately to the east of Egypt. 00:08:40.460 |
As they walk down towards Mount Sinai, they're going to hit the wilderness of Panan, and 00:08:44.600 |
then they're going to hit the wilderness of Sinai, the Sin Desert, and if they go up, 00:08:48.160 |
which they're eventually going to do, they're going to hit the Zin Desert. 00:08:50.720 |
There's just desert and wilderness all around. 00:08:54.000 |
The immediate land they walk through for the last three months is called the wilderness 00:09:03.440 |
Imagine coming out and saying, "We're going to have an amazing deliverance by God," and 00:09:16.160 |
And so you see how the emotion of the Israelites are probably quite up and down, as they anticipated 00:09:22.520 |
the deliverance of God, being reminded that God had an amazing promise for them, just 00:09:26.800 |
as He promised Abraham, their forefather, and yet to only walk into dry land. 00:09:32.480 |
They had no water for days, and then God provided. 00:09:34.800 |
They grumbled, complained, and then there was dust, and then there was heat, God provided, 00:09:44.360 |
Although by their human eyes, it looks bleak, the story has another but. 00:09:50.960 |
But God wanted to give them something amazing, and that something amazing is His promise. 00:10:00.040 |
In this background story, there's the great deliverance, there is, "But," this is not 00:10:04.640 |
what they expected, but God was working to give them a great promise, according to who 00:10:14.480 |
So let's take a look at our passage and think about some of these promises that we're looking 00:10:19.520 |
I'm going to start in verse 1 again, and then read through verse 4. 00:10:23.720 |
It says, "In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, 00:10:28.040 |
on the day they came into the wilderness of Sinai, when they set out from Rephidim, they 00:10:33.080 |
came to the wilderness of Sinai, camped in the wilderness, and there Israel camped in 00:10:38.080 |
So you see the repetition of, "They're in the wilderness." 00:10:42.400 |
Verse 3, "Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountains, saying, 00:10:46.720 |
'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the sons of Israel, 'You yourselves 00:10:52.080 |
have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on the eagle's wings, brought 00:11:02.440 |
Before we actually get to the now, then, and the promises, God definitely has a reminder. 00:11:09.720 |
And this first reminder is, look at what you have seen, which is the great work of God. 00:11:23.000 |
I want to remind us by review of the story of what God has done as He points it out. 00:11:28.160 |
So in the next slide, you're going to see in this verse, I want to highlight three elements 00:11:37.160 |
First you see when He says this, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians." 00:11:44.400 |
What God has done to the Egyptians, again, are miraculous judgments, showing His power. 00:11:51.680 |
It wasn't just, "Okay, I want to teach you that you need to respect me, and therefore," 00:11:57.840 |
and then this, God meticulously destroyed every confidence they had in all of their 00:12:06.200 |
When God gave those miracles of the Nile, the gnats, when God gave the miracles of the 00:12:11.760 |
death of the cattle, when God gave the miracles of all the sun blackening so that there was 00:12:17.420 |
pitch darkness, every one of those things was a direct attack on their confidence on 00:12:24.560 |
The Egyptians worshipped all these different idols that gave them provision, that gave 00:12:29.320 |
them protection, that gave them sun and light and warmth. 00:12:35.560 |
And it kind of shows, again, the kind of power of God that He exhibited. 00:12:41.240 |
But what's more, God says, "You have seen how I bore you on eagles' wings." 00:12:47.640 |
What beautiful descriptive words that God uses. 00:12:50.880 |
And the thing is, they have experienced this. 00:12:54.320 |
They've gone through the land for three months. 00:13:00.440 |
How much clothes would you need to pack for a three-month journey? 00:13:03.920 |
I went on missions where it was only three weeks, not three months, three weeks, and 00:13:07.320 |
we had like immigration bags that were this big, right? 00:13:10.240 |
But the people, they didn't have clothes like that. 00:13:13.600 |
God told them, "Your clothes will not wear while you wander. 00:13:18.800 |
By the miracles of God and the loving grace of the Father, He actually provided for them 00:13:32.900 |
He led them by the clouds so that they would be shaded. 00:13:39.760 |
That is what He's talking about when He says, "I bore you on eagles' wings." 00:13:43.880 |
The protection of this bird of power, of majesty, protecting its own nest, so to speak. 00:13:51.480 |
When it would have little birds that are babies and whatnot, they would fall and they would 00:13:57.480 |
They would actually pick up with its wings, providing for them in every step of the way. 00:14:08.920 |
For example, the hail would fall, but God would make a distinction so that no individual 00:14:20.080 |
What a beautiful picture of the nurture and tender care of God. 00:14:27.520 |
But what's more, He says this, "I brought you to myself. 00:14:37.480 |
At this point, they should be completely floored and amazed at what God has done, especially 00:14:51.720 |
I kind of skipped one of the slides there, so if you would please go back. 00:15:01.480 |
If you recall, as Moses was in the wilderness shepherding his flock, he saw a strange sight, 00:15:13.360 |
What's really interesting is this, that as God told Moses and met him there and said, 00:15:17.680 |
"I have seen the affliction of my people, and I'm going to come and deliver them," God 00:15:24.900 |
"And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and have also seen 00:15:29.320 |
the oppression which with the Egyptians oppressed them. 00:15:32.720 |
Come, I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, 00:15:38.280 |
But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel 00:15:43.240 |
And he said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have 00:15:50.240 |
When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." 00:16:00.440 |
That when God initially met Moses and gave him that promise of deliverance, God physically 00:16:09.920 |
You will come and worship, and that's going to be proof to you that I'm with you." 00:16:16.480 |
Can you imagine then Moses going through all of that, all of his fear and anxiety, like, 00:16:27.200 |
But God, exhibiting his mighty hand, delivering them from the Egyptians, showing them that 00:16:33.760 |
God has power, even judging the enemy so that they would be swallowed by the sea and they 00:16:38.440 |
saw the bodies of the Egyptians, chariots and the horses all across the sand. 00:16:43.480 |
And then to come here to the mountain, and God saying, "Come worship." 00:16:49.000 |
See, by way of quick application for us, God is saying, "You have seen this." 00:16:56.760 |
And for us, for us to grow in our Christianity and faith, we have to grow in appreciation 00:17:04.240 |
for the beginning, the middle, and end of all that God is doing. 00:17:08.760 |
From the beginning of God's deliverance, away from the sins, away from the bondage, away 00:17:13.600 |
from the pains that are there because of our sins, but also to the transformation, the 00:17:19.520 |
comforting, the healing, the change that he provides, the strength and sustenance he provides, 00:17:26.360 |
to ultimately bringing us and drawing us to sweet fellowship with him, that he would ultimately 00:17:35.880 |
Every aspect of these things are things that we need to see, and the next challenge is 00:17:44.200 |
See, I imagine that within the whole story, you have the perspective of Moses who's probably 00:17:56.520 |
Slaves oppressed by mighty men have come to worship God. 00:18:02.080 |
And exactly as he has said, we're here at this mountain." 00:18:08.440 |
But then there's maybe a perspective of a little child who lost all his friends and 00:18:13.200 |
he left the comforts of Egypt or whatever it may be, and all he knows is he's walking 00:18:17.840 |
along the side of some horse smelling all the debris, and they don't even have that 00:18:22.320 |
much water, and they're just walking, and all he sees is wilderness, and all he's doing 00:18:30.720 |
Just following our parents to church, not really getting why we're doing this, feeling 00:18:35.640 |
like I'm just giving up all my luxuries and pleasures and all the things I want to pursue. 00:18:41.280 |
Do you have this perspective of appreciation for the miracles God has performed by redeeming 00:18:48.520 |
us, the great deliverance that God has granted to us as a gift to us? 00:18:57.280 |
And that's the first challenge I want to give to you. 00:19:00.000 |
But again, we are wanting to say that as God is delivering them, this passage to me strikes 00:19:08.160 |
me so deeply because God in His love is giving wonderful promises. 00:19:15.280 |
What He's doing is this, as the story continues. 00:19:18.280 |
I'm going to read verse 5 and 6 now, so please turn back to chapter 19, verse 5 and 6. 00:19:25.920 |
And He says, "Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you 00:19:32.560 |
shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine. 00:19:38.320 |
And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 00:19:42.480 |
These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel." 00:19:47.120 |
What God is doing is He is covenanting with His people. 00:19:57.760 |
Now historically, you guys have probably heard what this covenant is. 00:20:02.160 |
This is commonly referred to as the Mosaic Covenant or commonly referred to as the Covenant 00:20:11.320 |
And in this covenant, many of us have learned these are the laws and regulation that God 00:20:21.960 |
There's warnings and curses for us so that if there is sin and disobedience to this law, 00:20:32.200 |
I'm going to make the case right now that this covenant perhaps that we've always seen 00:20:37.280 |
as this is in the Old Testament, it's behind us now, it was laws and regulations written 00:20:44.040 |
on stone, effective for nothing, that kind of thing, that these words, this covenant 00:20:58.880 |
First, this covenant is connected with the Abrahamic Covenant. 00:21:05.420 |
This covenant is connected with the Abrahamic Covenant. 00:21:08.640 |
What I mean by that is, this covenant and the Mosaic Covenant does not in any way contradict 00:21:14.240 |
or compete or nullify the promises that God gave to His people. 00:21:25.740 |
God told Abraham, "I'm going to bless you and make you a great nation." 00:21:30.000 |
He said, "I'm going to bless you and I'm going to give you this land." 00:21:35.760 |
And then He says, "I'm going to bless you to bless everybody else." 00:21:38.440 |
I'm going to use you as a blessing to the entire world. 00:21:43.160 |
As a matter of fact, this Mosaic Covenant is a step in fulfilling that covenant. 00:21:50.000 |
The idea of possession, the kingdom, the nation, these are all reflections of the Abrahamic 00:21:59.480 |
And so that's why in the book of Galatians chapter 3, even though Apostle Paul describes 00:22:04.120 |
to us how we are no longer under this law, he tells us very clearly, the Mosaic Law, 00:22:09.480 |
neither does the New Covenant nullify the promises that God has given as a gift because 00:22:16.880 |
they are truly promises conditioned upon nothing but Himself. 00:22:28.480 |
The covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, at which sometimes we have again relegated to the past 00:22:33.800 |
Old Testament, which yes, it should, but sometimes we've seen as nothing more than curses and 00:22:39.240 |
oppression, is actually good because in the description of the covenant, you see God giving 00:22:49.120 |
You see God giving relationship guidelines, teaching them. 00:23:06.560 |
What would cause God to take these individuals who were slaves, who were grumbling, who didn't 00:23:12.160 |
want to come out, and then covenant with them? 00:23:22.200 |
Now at this point, I do want to talk about the content of the covenant. 00:23:27.880 |
So point number four, if you would go to the contents of the covenant, I mentioned before 00:23:32.680 |
the first that there are laws and instructions within this covenant. 00:23:38.440 |
I am not going to go through every single one of them because it's huge. 00:23:43.040 |
The book of Exodus is really funny because sometimes we see it as like, oh yeah, the 00:23:46.680 |
narrative story of the deliverance and stuff, but actually the vast bulk of the book of 00:23:51.040 |
Exodus, the narrative stands still at the mountain. 00:23:55.160 |
Everything from chapter 19 all the way to chapter 32-ish, it's all regulation. 00:24:01.040 |
Regulations about the tabernacle and how it's supposed to be built, regulations about what 00:24:05.440 |
the priests are supposed to do, regulations about how people are supposed to treat each 00:24:09.000 |
other, property rights, all kinds of different laws and regulations. 00:24:15.000 |
Secondly, the Mosaic covenant includes curses and warnings. 00:24:20.880 |
It does give those fearsome, fearsome warnings. 00:24:25.880 |
If you transgress my law, I will break out upon you and kill you. 00:24:34.280 |
I am making a case that the law of God, even in the Mosaic covenant, is good. 00:24:39.960 |
Because if you take a case example of one of these warnings, chapter 20 verse 20 says 00:24:46.560 |
Chapter 20 says, "Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid, for God has come in order 00:24:51.680 |
to test you, in order that the fear of him may remain on you, so that you may not sin.'" 00:24:59.680 |
God has intentionality and purpose to preserve you from sin, to preserve the people, the 00:25:06.840 |
And in that being the case, this was not just some military officer saying, "Jump, get up, 00:25:12.360 |
get down, pushups, so that you know I'm in authority. 00:25:15.800 |
No, that's not the way that this is coming off. 00:25:18.800 |
This is coming off, again, eagle's wings picture, "I am protecting you from your own sin." 00:25:26.920 |
Now moving forward to the promises that are actually contained within this passage. 00:25:32.360 |
Look again at your Bibles at verse 5 through 6 and let's take a look at the promises that 00:25:39.380 |
He says, "If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my 00:25:47.420 |
own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine." 00:25:54.200 |
The very first promise is that they are going to be his possession. 00:25:59.780 |
If you're working out of the ESV, it's going to say, "You are my treasured possession." 00:26:04.480 |
It's really interesting that you have these two nuances. 00:26:11.380 |
The reason why is because this term has been used in different contexts through the Bible. 00:26:20.060 |
King David would actually use this word to talk about his literal gold, silver, and the 00:26:30.400 |
It is not just general riches, but it is a particular, specific kind of possession. 00:26:37.380 |
Almost as to say, "This is my precious treasure. 00:26:41.760 |
The world is mine and it's all mine, but you will be my own." 00:26:46.840 |
What a beautiful picture of how God's intent is being revealed. 00:26:58.000 |
What's more, he says in the next portion of the passage as we look, he says in verse 00:27:02.560 |
6, "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." 00:27:10.880 |
Now, that might not sound like a whole lot to us just because I'm not a priest, but to 00:27:17.480 |
them it's an incredible calling, a special purpose, a special kind of identity as a nation. 00:27:26.680 |
I will argue that in our generation, we too struggle with this exact same thing. 00:27:31.440 |
Do we not struggle with trying to find purpose? 00:27:34.120 |
Do we not struggle with trying to find identity? 00:27:38.160 |
We have so many people, I talk to people who perhaps are in certain jobs where it seems 00:27:42.800 |
repetitive, and we wrestle with that all the time. 00:27:45.480 |
It's because if yesterday is the same, today is the same, tomorrow is the same, you sit 00:27:50.160 |
there and you end up thinking, "What's the purpose? 00:27:55.800 |
Every time I talk to an individual, sometimes, sometimes it's like the regular conversation 00:28:04.320 |
It's like, "No, I'm looking for something else." 00:28:09.280 |
Or they try to find meaning in their work and they're thinking, "Am I doing something 00:28:20.520 |
God has promised them a unique place, serving Him, serving His kingdom, having an identity 00:28:28.160 |
and value because God has placed them there and consecrated them to who? 00:28:36.600 |
And so I want to inspire you for us, these promises to us even in the New Testament, 00:28:41.960 |
these are the very things we long for, to experience that special connection with God, 00:28:47.520 |
for to hear His words that He loves us, and therefore to be His possession, to be useful 00:28:53.600 |
in His kingdom, to serve Him, to actually have a worthwhile sense. 00:28:59.280 |
God has given me the privilege to serve something eternal. 00:29:06.360 |
Did you know that all of this is contained in the Mosaic Law? 00:29:11.500 |
So by way of application, I want to inspire you to have great gratitude for God through 00:29:17.680 |
That which perhaps again, maybe you haven't, but for me I felt like the way I read the 00:29:21.800 |
Mosaic Law always was, "That's the Mosaic Law, uh-uh, because that's legalism, and this 00:29:29.200 |
And then you realize, God is gracious and so His covenant is chock full of grace. 00:29:37.840 |
Even this conditional covenant where He does demand obedience, He does demand keeping the 00:29:42.920 |
covenant, and He demands faithfulness to Him, but even within it, there is grace to be found. 00:29:49.760 |
And I want to inspire us by way of application to be grateful for that. 00:29:53.960 |
The way I want to inspire us is by asking this question. 00:29:57.080 |
I'm making the case the covenant is good, and as we saw the details, what does it reveal 00:30:10.560 |
Writing down the things about His deliverance and the things about His promise, what kind 00:30:14.880 |
of individual do you know who protects, who has a heart to protect from oppression, who 00:30:21.600 |
has a heart to protect from wear and tear, who has a heart to protect from the elements 00:30:28.440 |
What kind of individual do you know who desires to carry the young on their wings? 00:30:32.760 |
What kind of individual do you know who more than is willing to bring people close who 00:30:36.920 |
are dirty, who are slaves and who walked in the dirt for months? 00:30:42.800 |
What kind of individual do you know who treasures and sees the little ones as precious? 00:30:49.200 |
What kind of one do you know who tries to teach fear so that they could prevent harm 00:30:55.300 |
What individual do you know who is desiring to instruct? 00:30:59.640 |
What is motivating God to instruct these individuals and give them these laws? 00:31:03.920 |
What kind of individual do you know who is giving wisdom, relational wisdom, and teaching 00:31:08.440 |
for the future how to receive the next stage of their lives? 00:31:14.000 |
And if you said, "A good parent," you're absolutely right. 00:31:19.720 |
The laws of God reveal that our God is the perfect parent. 00:31:25.960 |
God has loved His people as the perfect Father, caring for them from beginning to end. 00:31:32.760 |
Every aspect of their journey, every aspect of their deliverance, every aspect of their 00:31:38.600 |
And this law that God has given in the Mosaic Covenant is an expression of that. 00:31:44.960 |
Is God required to give these people this law? 00:31:49.400 |
Is God required to give these people these promises? 00:31:54.520 |
What kind of individual, what kind of individual would continue to guide, instruct, and do 00:32:01.160 |
things for spoiled children who kick and scream and say, "I don't want to come"? 00:32:14.920 |
How difficult it is to try and drag your child. 00:32:24.880 |
God has His desire set on them for their good. 00:32:28.400 |
And so here and now He gives them this law to promise them, to promise them and to love 00:32:39.960 |
If ever you thought that at any moment in all of history that salvation was by the work 00:32:49.360 |
There is an element to which there is a unilateral nature to every covenant seen in the Bible. 00:33:02.280 |
But there's an element to which every covenant is still nonetheless unilateral, completely 00:33:09.640 |
Because it comes from an unconditional Father who loves this deeply. 00:33:15.560 |
It comes from God who's so good and therefore His laws are good. 00:33:24.140 |
He is guiding them, instructing them, restraining them from sin. 00:33:30.620 |
Have you personally seen God's, not just deliverance from bad stuff, but God's loving, fatherly 00:33:52.380 |
Point number five, so then, why is the law still seen as a curse? 00:33:56.900 |
Why does the New Testament talk about it that way? 00:33:59.940 |
Why do we typically see the law as oppressive? 00:34:03.160 |
Why does the scripture talk about it that way, that we are under the captivity of the 00:34:12.860 |
It comes from a good God and He is pouring out His love and yet when we read it in the 00:34:17.700 |
New Testament, it's like, "Do away with it!" because it's captivate, as in the bad sense. 00:34:32.140 |
One of the first passages I want to share with you is Galatians chapter three. 00:34:36.200 |
In your own time, please read the whole chapter because it's going to answer for you what 00:34:43.580 |
But for the sake of time, I want to read this little section. 00:34:45.460 |
It says, "For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, 00:34:49.900 |
'Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law 00:34:56.020 |
Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall 00:35:04.700 |
But the law is not of faith, rather the one who does them shall live by them. 00:35:09.140 |
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. 00:35:13.860 |
So yes, most certainly, the law, according to the Mosaic Covenant, had curses. 00:35:25.500 |
That if you were to live by it, you would have to live by it completely. 00:35:36.540 |
What's more, later in that same chapter, it's going to describe to us that the law is not 00:35:41.820 |
opposed or will nullify the promises of the covenants. 00:35:45.820 |
The law is stipulations, commands, and expectations, but it does not nullify the promises. 00:35:52.140 |
And then lastly, in Galatians, it teaches us that the law is your tutor, teaching you 00:35:57.140 |
and guiding you and preparing you for Christ, instructing you. 00:36:03.340 |
But in other passes, I want to go with you to talk about this paradox. 00:36:07.260 |
So the law is good, the law in many ways is perfect, and yet it's a curse to me. 00:36:14.220 |
Please turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 7, verse 4 through 14. 00:36:19.060 |
It's going to be a lengthy segment, but it's worthwhile for us to read it. 00:36:22.660 |
So please go in your Bibles to Romans chapter 7, verse 4 through 14. 00:36:27.900 |
And we're going to walk down that passage step by step. 00:36:30.980 |
Good, it's there for us in terms of the points. 00:36:35.100 |
So again, Romans chapter 7, Apostle Paul is going to talk about the law, the law of God. 00:36:41.540 |
And this is what he's going to say starting Romans 7, verse 4. 00:36:46.380 |
"Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so 00:36:52.100 |
that you may belong to one another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order 00:36:59.640 |
For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions aroused by the law were at 00:37:07.580 |
But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive." 00:37:15.380 |
"So that we serve in a new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." 00:37:20.940 |
So the law, it did hold us captive, and it was a written code of God. 00:37:26.540 |
But furthermore, verse 7, "What then shall we say? 00:37:36.520 |
Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. 00:37:40.100 |
For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' 00:37:45.740 |
But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness." 00:37:54.820 |
The law has aroused in us what our hearts contain. 00:38:03.580 |
And the law imposes upon us a certain standard and pressure, and the sin comes out. 00:38:10.060 |
What's more, it says, "For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 00:38:15.020 |
But when the commandment came, sin came alive, and I died. 00:38:19.080 |
The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me." 00:38:23.860 |
So there is our paradox, rephrased by Apostle Paul. 00:38:27.340 |
This Word of God, the law, was intent actually on promises of life. 00:38:41.260 |
Why is a law that comes from a good God deadly to me? 00:38:45.940 |
Verse 11, "Because sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and 00:38:53.340 |
So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 00:38:57.900 |
Did that which is good then bring death to me? 00:39:02.660 |
It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown 00:39:08.620 |
to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 00:39:12.740 |
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh sold under sin." 00:39:32.300 |
But when the Word comes, it not only reveals to us this perfect God, when the Word comes 00:39:37.340 |
it reveals to us this sinner and how thoroughly sinful he is, how thoroughly wretched I am. 00:39:48.140 |
There is a problem of the massive divide, which is our next point. 00:39:53.140 |
There is a massive divide then between us and God. 00:39:57.140 |
The problem is that when the sinner is confronted with this perfect Father, there is doom. 00:40:03.980 |
And when this sinner then is confronted with this perfect Father's law, there is doom. 00:40:12.380 |
That's why there feels to be no freedom, because of the great massive divide. 00:40:19.180 |
So the story in the book of Exodus is interesting, because God has drawn them near by delivering 00:40:28.780 |
them out, guiding them through the wilderness, bringing them to a point of promise at the 00:40:46.140 |
He is ready to deliver, and yet He is transcendent. 00:40:49.020 |
And so everything about that screams, "You can't come to Him." 00:40:55.900 |
If you turn back into your Bibles at chapter 19, I'm going to start reading from verse 00:41:03.660 |
That God is beginning to give the Mosaic Covenant with His promise of the treasure of possession 00:41:09.340 |
of who they will be, the greatest title basically that we can afford. 00:41:14.100 |
We would be a priesthood, right, of kingdom of priests and a holy nation unto Him. 00:41:23.060 |
So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all the words which 00:41:29.860 |
And all the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken we shall do." 00:41:35.220 |
And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. 00:41:37.620 |
And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the 00:41:42.700 |
people may hear when I speak with you and may believe in you forever." 00:41:47.460 |
Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. 00:41:50.780 |
He's running back and forth, up and down the mountain to mediate for the people. 00:41:56.780 |
"The Lord also said to Moses, 'Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and 00:42:03.140 |
Let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount 00:42:11.700 |
"You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Beware that you do not go up to the 00:42:19.860 |
Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 00:42:23.500 |
No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through. 00:42:30.140 |
When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up towards the mountain.' 00:42:34.740 |
So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they 00:42:40.580 |
He said to the people, 'Be ready for the third day. 00:42:46.340 |
For it came about on the third day when it was morning that there was thunder, lightning 00:42:50.500 |
flashes and thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all 00:42:59.660 |
And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of 00:43:03.740 |
Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. 00:43:10.380 |
Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. 00:43:16.220 |
When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered 00:43:21.940 |
The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses 00:43:28.580 |
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 'Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break 00:43:34.660 |
through the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. 00:43:38.020 |
Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord 00:43:44.020 |
Moses said to the Lord, 'The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you have warned 00:43:48.580 |
us, saying, "Set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it."' 00:43:51.740 |
Then the Lord said to him, 'Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you, but 00:43:56.980 |
do not let the priests of the people break through to come upon the Lord, or he will 00:44:03.380 |
So Moses went down to the people and told them. 00:44:06.140 |
Then God spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out 00:44:10.460 |
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 00:44:16.780 |
That lengthy scripture I read to you because I want to have in our minds this incredible 00:44:22.300 |
paradox that we've been grappling with as we're talking about maybe our notions of the 00:44:26.980 |
Old Testament, the notions of the Mosaic Covenant, that it's good, but there's this incredible 00:44:36.060 |
Did you know that when the people received the gracious Ten Commandments by which they 00:44:44.340 |
They were so afraid, the people kept crying out to Moses, 'Moses, Moses, you speak to 00:44:49.420 |
us, but don't let this god speak to us, or we're going to die.' 00:44:54.300 |
I want you to imagine coming into this service. 00:44:57.100 |
You walk in through the doors, and for us, we have nice people saying, 'Hi, welcome. 00:45:02.060 |
You know, 'No, it's my fifth,' or something, whatever it may be. 00:45:05.740 |
But instead, rather than seeing nice people with smiles, you see people in military fatigue. 00:45:13.660 |
And then they hand to you a helmet and say, 'You better wear this.' 00:45:17.620 |
You go to your seats, and rather than seeing Bibles under your chair, you see Kevlar vests. 00:45:22.420 |
You see yellow tape all around that says, 'Caution, caution,' like this was some homicide 00:45:30.000 |
Because there's potential death in the moment of their worship. 00:45:33.900 |
God is not safe, but is incredibly dangerous. 00:45:36.900 |
Everything about this scene screams, 'There is such distance that you cannot come.' 00:45:43.580 |
Everything, everything from the mediation of Moses as he goes up and down and up and 00:45:50.700 |
If you study it, he goes up and down multiple times. 00:45:53.260 |
And as you guys know, the people, they say, 'Yes, of course we'll obey.' 00:46:01.160 |
As soon as Moses comes down with tablets in chapter 32, what does he see? 00:46:09.940 |
And he throws the tablets on the floor and the ground breaks open. 00:46:15.580 |
Moses goes up to the mountain again to mediate. 00:46:22.660 |
God writes a new set of commandment tablets and he goes down to renew the covenant. 00:46:37.060 |
The dense cloud covering his glory, you're so far. 00:46:40.020 |
The barrier all around the mountain that no man shall cross, you're so far. 00:46:43.940 |
The penalty of death when you cross this boundary, even if you're an animal, you're so far. 00:46:51.620 |
The thunder, the lightning, the trembling, the earthquakes all telling you, you're so 00:46:59.900 |
This is an incredibly intense scene of Scripture which leaves us with our hands in the air 00:47:11.420 |
What can we do if there is such a massive divide? 00:47:16.500 |
What can we do if the presence of God is so deadly to me? 00:47:22.500 |
He just demanded faithfulness, but I'm going to die if I get close. 00:47:30.500 |
And that is the most important question today. 00:47:34.460 |
I would like to speak to anybody who is in this room who is not a Christian. 00:47:43.940 |
God has every right to demand of you holiness and righteousness, even if you have no power 00:47:51.220 |
And God has every right to judge you for every failure to obey. 00:48:00.860 |
His reign and authority does not stop in the prison and His reign and authority does not 00:48:08.260 |
God has every right to demand righteousness from everyone, even from unsaved sinners. 00:48:19.500 |
And if you're thinking, 'There's nothing,' then amen, you're absolutely right. 00:48:26.820 |
It is absolutely impossible for a man to scale this mountain. 00:48:31.980 |
It is an absolute impossibility for a man to cross this boundary. 00:48:36.620 |
It is an absolute impossibility for a man to change who he is in his sin and remove 00:48:52.380 |
This is where we come to God and say, 'God, because I cannot, You must. 00:49:10.900 |
When God promises you will be my treasured possession, God is promising you that should 00:49:15.980 |
you believe in His Son, whom He laid down as the sacrifice to do all that for you, to 00:49:23.860 |
absolutely forgive you, to change you, to cause you to be holy, His promise is there 00:49:30.100 |
Should you come to Him, God will do it for you. 00:49:37.660 |
We come to the end of ourselves, come to the mountain, and we realize, 'I'm so close, but 00:49:45.320 |
And from here, I can go no further on my own.' 00:49:51.380 |
What the law could not do, what Moses could not do in his mediation, Christ has done for 00:50:03.300 |
Believe on the name of Jesus Christ and come to Him. 00:50:07.020 |
But I also want to speak to all of you, brothers and sisters who regularly wrestle with sin. 00:50:16.300 |
We struggle in many ways of the mind, of the heart, of the action, of our desires. 00:50:26.260 |
Brothers and sisters, what do you do with that sin? 00:50:30.780 |
Can I ask you, for those of you who are Christians, do you feel like this? 00:50:40.340 |
Do you feel like you've come to this strange mountain where there's clouds, smoke, and 00:50:48.020 |
I want to remind you today that the only way for us to deal with our sin is through the 00:50:56.300 |
That's how we did it at first, and that's how you're going to do it the rest of your 00:51:01.700 |
There is no sin you're going to overcome because you say, 'Well, I will do it.' 00:51:15.900 |
The sin that exists in our lives, we come by the name of Christ, through the mediation 00:51:21.500 |
of our perfect priest, of our mediator, Jesus Christ. 00:51:27.540 |
Now, the difference, though, the difference, though, is stellar because the Scripture teaches 00:51:34.660 |
us when we are in Jesus Christ, he does not guide us through the wilderness to the mountain 00:51:41.820 |
and an inanimate, scary figure and representation of how holy God is. 00:51:47.860 |
Rather, Scripture teaches us that we come completely into his presence. 00:51:54.140 |
Hebrews chapter 12, verse 18 says this, "For you do not come to a mountain that can be 00:51:58.940 |
You do not come to a mountain that is a blazing fire, to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, 00:52:04.300 |
and to the blast of trumpets and the sound of words, which sound as such that those who 00:52:08.580 |
heard begged that no further words be spoken to them. 00:52:12.620 |
For they could not bear the command, 'If even a beast touches the mountain, it will 00:52:19.420 |
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, 'I am full of fear and trembling, but you, 00:52:27.180 |
for those of you who are in Christ, you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living 00:52:31.780 |
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly of the 00:52:37.020 |
church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, to the 00:52:41.940 |
spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant.'" 00:52:51.820 |
To make that all kind of wrap up and make sense for you and to close this off, this 00:52:56.180 |
For every Christian, you are going to feel this temptation when you sin to feel like 00:53:04.260 |
And you're going to react in multiple ways, whether it's blame, "Oh man, I sinned because 00:53:09.180 |
Whether it's running away and hiding, whether it's distinguishing yourself, whether it's 00:53:19.180 |
Because although God is still the same holy God as seen on that Mount Sinai, this God 00:53:29.420 |
And this good Father, when you come in repentance and you come in the name of Jesus, is not 00:53:37.340 |
He's going to give you forgiveness and grace upon grace as He did from the days of Abraham. 00:53:48.100 |
Abraham and Moses are thankful in their hearts. 00:53:52.620 |
Because all of the Father's love come to a pinnacle in Christ. 00:53:57.020 |
And the challenge for you every day, come to the Lord Jesus. 00:54:11.540 |
Heavenly Father, we do want to thank you, God, that you have revealed yourself as the 00:54:21.060 |
A Father who is perfect in the way that you discipline, in the way that you teach, in 00:54:32.460 |
And I pray, Lord, you would teach us what it means to love you as our Father. 00:54:37.500 |
God, help us not to miss the point of your covenants, that God, you wanted to covenant 00:54:43.260 |
yourself and be in a relationship with these people, that you wanted to share and express 00:54:51.340 |
And I pray, Father God, that for every single person here, as we've heard these words, we