But again, please turn your Bible to Exodus, chapter 19. We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 7, and then the rest of the chapter through the sermon. The Word of God reads it this way, and it says, "In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

When they set out to Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai, encamped in the wilderness. And there Israel camped in front of the mountain. Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel, "You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.' So Moses came, called the elders of the people, and set before them all the words which the Lord had commanded him." Verse 8 as well, "All the people answered together and said, 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do.'" Let's take a moment to pray.

Our Father, we thank you so much for your grace. God, we thank you for the truth of your word as it guides us, as it continues to convict us, but also to shape our mind and heart. I ask that you would grant to us receptive hearts, fertile hearts, Lord, and a true hunger to know you, the God of the Scriptures.

We also want to pray for the pastors and those ministering at the retreat, and we also want to pray for all the members, Lord, praying, God, that you would grant to them a fruitful time of connecting, first and foremost, with you, but also in sweet fellowship with one another in your name.

And Father God, it's in that name we pray. Amen. As we look at this passage, it's a familiar passage of the nation of Israel coming out of Egypt, brought to a place of worship at Mount Sinai. Familiar passage, perhaps, for a lot of you. For me, as I revisited this, I'm studying through the book of Exodus with the youth group.

I got reminded of a time when I got pulled out, but I got pulled out of school. See, there was a time during high school when I was getting into a lot of trouble, and I share this a lot when I share my testimony. I got into a whole lot of trouble, and so my parents did one of those intervention things, where basically, right in the middle of high school, they made me drop out of the school that I was in and transferred me into another school.

Now that seems fine, except that school that I was in, I had already built up friends ever since elementary school in that district, all the way up. The school that I was in, it was a huge school with lots of resources, sports and all that. The student body was well over 4,000 students.

The thing about it is, my little generation of high school between, I think it was like '96 or '97 to whenever, right, the four years there, that was a generation when every boy thought that it was cool to be a gangster. Every little boy thought that it was cool to wear baggy pants, dye your hair, wear different earring studs and all that kind of stuff.

They would even make characters, like Looney Tunes characters, Bugs Bunny, the Tasmanian Devil, wear baggy pants, and it'd be on the shirt and things like that. It was ridiculous. A very pitiful time in life. Well, what ended up happening, my parents said, "We need to prevent you from going down this path." Every child at that time, not every child, but there was such a push and pressure to experiment with everything from the drugs to smoking to partying and getting into gangs.

My parents saw me just continuing to dive into that kind of scene. So they pulled me out and of course, did I go quietly? No, I was kicking and screaming, complaining, crying, whatever it may be, and they put me in this small little school where the entire student body for the entire school was about 380.

And my graduating class with the seniors was only about 60 students. It was crazy. It was night and day. And the thing is, there was a part of me, because they did that to me, I was bitter in my heart. "Why? Why would you do that right in the middle of high school, your formative years?" I'm not bitter right now.

I'm not bitter at them now. But actually, that's the point I want to make is, rather than being bitter, I am so grateful. Because for a parent to make that kind of decision, I'm guessing, and I'm pretty sure I'm right, it was incredibly hard. Who wants to see their own child angry, kicking and screaming?

And I experienced that when we try to do things for our own children that are good, but you see them so hurt by what you believe is to be their best interest. It's hard. The decision is incredibly difficult. But as I see the actions of God in his deliverance, pulling the people out, I see the heart of an amazing, perfect parent, loving his children.

And that's what we want to see today, as God delivers a nation of Israel out of Egypt, but also God gives what is known as a covenant at Sinai. A covenant at Sinai. So in looking at this, let's look at a little bit of the backstory of where we are.

We're here in chapter 19, but we have to look at the backstory. Pretty much, we know that there has been an incredible deliverance as God performed miracles upon miracles in the land of Egypt. These weren't just simple spankings, so to speak, disciplinary actions against Egypt. These were quite cosmic miracles.

It began with Moses showing them the power by throwing a staff on the ground and causing it to become snake. But then as you recall, God performed miracles such as making every source of water in the land of Egypt turn to blood, so that the animals in the river would die, so that there would be a great stench in the land and the people did not have water.

And the people were so desperate, they were digging in the dirt for water, only to find nothing. They were looking in their bases and their storage houses to find nothing. It was devastating. Now I'm not going to go through every single plague, but you know how it ramps up.

Everything from their cattle dying, to their own physical bodies being hurt by boils, to seeing hail and fire fall from the sky, and to seeing, ultimately, death riddle their country, their children dying all around. And they say, "There was never such a cry in the land ever before." And that night when God killed the firstborn of all the Egyptians of the land.

So that was an incredible deliverance, and on top of that, they were walking out proudly through, you know, from the land of Egypt, going through the land, and when they hit the waters, God performed another miracle, so the story continues to go. There was incredible, incredible, miraculous, cosmic deliverance.

The reason why I'm making much of it is because there's a but. To the surprise of the Israelites, it's not what they expected. I mean, they'd been traveling now three months, and those three months, do you presume were easy? Of course it wasn't. What's really interesting is that as soon as they come out, they see the difference, and many other Israelites start complaining, "Oh, that we would go back to the land of Egypt." Why would they say that?

Well, let me show you some photos real fast. The first photo I have here for you is just a little, you know, map of how Egypt was lavishly provided by the Nile. There's a delta where there's rich, fertile ground. There are animals, there's fishing, they have industry, they have transportation, and that's why Egypt was such a powerhouse of an empire in their day, okay?

But then you look all around the right, and you see that little wedge of land? That's the Sinai Peninsula. That's where the nation of Israel are going to spend the next 40 years. What's really hilarious is it's just literally over that cross, but it's all desert. There are five major deserts in that area.

As soon as they go over, in the next photo please, as soon as they go over, they're going to hit the wilderness of Shur, okay, immediately to the east of Egypt. As they walk down towards Mount Sinai, they're going to hit the wilderness of Panan, and then they're going to hit the wilderness of Sinai, the Sin Desert, and if they go up, which they're eventually going to do, they're going to hit the Zin Desert.

There's just desert and wilderness all around. The immediate land they walk through for the last three months is called the wilderness of Shur. The photo, even in modern day, looks bleak. The next photo is this. Imagine coming out and saying, "We're going to have an amazing deliverance by God," and as a million people walk, they see this.

You're probably thinking, "What? Are you serious?" And so you see how the emotion of the Israelites are probably quite up and down, as they anticipated the deliverance of God, being reminded that God had an amazing promise for them, just as He promised Abraham, their forefather, and yet to only walk into dry land.

They had no water for days, and then God provided. They grumbled, complained, and then there was dust, and then there was heat, God provided, and now God brought them to this mountain. Although by their human eyes, it looks bleak, the story has another but. But God wanted to give them something amazing, and that something amazing is His promise.

In this background story, there's the great deliverance, there is, "But," this is not what they expected, but God was working to give them a great promise, according to who He is. According to who He is. So let's take a look at our passage and think about some of these promises that we're looking at.

I'm going to start in verse 1 again, and then read through verse 4. It says, "In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the day they came into the wilderness of Sinai, when they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai, camped in the wilderness, and there Israel camped in front of the mountains." So you see the repetition of, "They're in the wilderness." Verse 3, "Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountains, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the sons of Israel, 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on the eagle's wings, brought you to myself.'" Now I want to pause there.

Before we actually get to the now, then, and the promises, God definitely has a reminder. And this first reminder is, look at what you have seen, which is the great work of God. See what the Lord has done. See what the Lord has done. And that's in the passage, verse 3-4.

I want to remind us by review of the story of what God has done as He points it out. So in the next slide, you're going to see in this verse, I want to highlight three elements of what He has done. First – sorry, thank you. First you see when He says this, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians." What God has done to the Egyptians, again, are miraculous judgments, showing His power.

It wasn't just, "Okay, I want to teach you that you need to respect me, and therefore," and then this, God meticulously destroyed every confidence they had in all of their idols. When God gave those miracles of the Nile, the gnats, when God gave the miracles of the death of the cattle, when God gave the miracles of all the sun blackening so that there was pitch darkness, every one of those things was a direct attack on their confidence on Egyptian gods.

The Egyptians worshipped all these different idols that gave them provision, that gave them protection, that gave them sun and light and warmth. God judged those things meticulously. And it kind of shows, again, the kind of power of God that He exhibited. But what's more, God says, "You have seen how I bore you on eagles' wings." What beautiful descriptive words that God uses.

And the thing is, they have experienced this. They've gone through the land for three months. Let me ask you a question. How much clothes would you need to pack for a three-month journey? I went on missions where it was only three weeks, not three months, three weeks, and we had like immigration bags that were this big, right?

But the people, they didn't have clothes like that. What did God do? God told them, "Your clothes will not wear while you wander. Your feet and your sandals will not wear." By the miracles of God and the loving grace of the Father, He actually provided for them even in their clothing.

He provided for them food. He led them to plenty of water. He led them by the light of fire. He led them by the clouds so that they would be shaded. He led them in meticulous care. That is what He's talking about when He says, "I bore you on eagles' wings." The protection of this bird of power, of majesty, protecting its own nest, so to speak.

When it would have little birds that are babies and whatnot, they would fall and they would need to learn. They would actually pick up with its wings, providing for them in every step of the way. It wasn't just through their wilderness. It was all through the plagues. It was all through the miracles.

You guys recall how the miracles would come. For example, the hail would fall, but God would make a distinction so that no individual or flock of the Israelites would be harmed. What a beautiful picture of the nurture and tender care of God. He bore them on eagles' wings. But what's more, He says this, "I brought you to myself.

I drew you close." God drew them to this mountain. At this point, they should be completely floored and amazed at what God has done, especially Moses. Moses has been here before. Did you know that? There's a passage. I kind of skipped one of the slides there, so if you would please go back.

There's a passage in Exodus 3, verse 9. The whole chapter is quite an amazing one. If you recall, as Moses was in the wilderness shepherding his flock, he saw a strange sight, which was the burning bush. That bush was on Mount Horeb. What's really interesting is this, that as God told Moses and met him there and said, "I have seen the affliction of my people, and I'm going to come and deliver them," God actually gave him this promise.

Look at this. "And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and have also seen the oppression which with the Egyptians oppressed them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" And he said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you.

When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." Did you know that? That when God initially met Moses and gave him that promise of deliverance, God physically showed him, "You are going to come here. This is how sovereign I am. You will come and worship, and that's going to be proof to you that I'm with you." Can you imagine then Moses going through all of that, all of his fear and anxiety, like, "Can I really do this?

You know what a bumbling idiot I am. I'm not good with my words." But God, exhibiting his mighty hand, delivering them from the Egyptians, showing them that God has power, even judging the enemy so that they would be swallowed by the sea and they saw the bodies of the Egyptians, chariots and the horses all across the sand.

And then to come here to the mountain, and God saying, "Come worship." See, by way of quick application for us, God is saying, "You have seen this." And for us, for us to grow in our Christianity and faith, we have to grow in appreciation for the beginning, the middle, and end of all that God is doing.

From the beginning of God's deliverance, away from the sins, away from the bondage, away from the pains that are there because of our sins, but also to the transformation, the comforting, the healing, the change that he provides, the strength and sustenance he provides, to ultimately bringing us and drawing us to sweet fellowship with him, that he would ultimately glorify us to see him face to face.

Every aspect of these things are things that we need to see, and the next challenge is this. Do you personally see it as Moses would? See, I imagine that within the whole story, you have the perspective of Moses who's probably thinking like, "My mind is blown. We're here. Look at us.

The impossible has happened. Slaves oppressed by mighty men have come to worship God. And exactly as he has said, we're here at this mountain." Moses has seen it. But then there's maybe a perspective of a little child who lost all his friends and he left the comforts of Egypt or whatever it may be, and all he knows is he's walking along the side of some horse smelling all the debris, and they don't even have that much water, and they're just walking, and all he sees is wilderness, and all he's doing is following his parents.

That could be us. Just following our parents to church, not really getting why we're doing this, feeling like I'm just giving up all my luxuries and pleasures and all the things I want to pursue. Do you have this perspective of appreciation for the miracles God has performed by redeeming us, the great deliverance that God has granted to us as a gift to us?

We need to see that for ourselves. And that's the first challenge I want to give to you. But again, we are wanting to say that as God is delivering them, this passage to me strikes me so deeply because God in His love is giving wonderful promises. What is He doing?

What He's doing is this, as the story continues. I'm going to read verse 5 and 6 now, so please turn back to chapter 19, verse 5 and 6. And He says, "Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine.

And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel." What God is doing is He is covenanting with His people. God covenanted with His people. To me, that's quite astounding. Now historically, you guys have probably heard what this covenant is.

This is commonly referred to as the Mosaic Covenant or commonly referred to as the Covenant at Sinai. Okay, Covenant at Sinai. And in this covenant, many of us have learned these are the laws and regulation that God has given to mankind. True. But there are also, there's curses. There's warnings and curses for us so that if there is sin and disobedience to this law, then we are going to be judged.

True. There's this and more though. I'm going to make the case right now that this covenant perhaps that we've always seen as this is in the Old Testament, it's behind us now, it was laws and regulations written on stone, effective for nothing, that kind of thing, that these words, this covenant is actually good.

This covenant comes from a good God. So I'm going to make this case for you now. First, this covenant is connected with the Abrahamic Covenant. This covenant is connected with the Abrahamic Covenant. What I mean by that is, this covenant and the Mosaic Covenant does not in any way contradict or compete or nullify the promises that God gave to His people.

God told Abraham, "I have chosen you." That choosing is not nullified. God told Abraham, "I'm going to bless you and make you a great nation." That is not nullified. He said, "I'm going to bless you and I'm going to give you this land." That's not nullified. And then He says, "I'm going to bless you to bless everybody else." I'm going to use you as a blessing to the entire world.

That's not nullified. As a matter of fact, this Mosaic Covenant is a step in fulfilling that covenant. It's connected. The idea of possession, the kingdom, the nation, these are all reflections of the Abrahamic Covenant and those things do not contradict. And so that's why in the book of Galatians chapter 3, even though Apostle Paul describes to us how we are no longer under this law, he tells us very clearly, the Mosaic Law, neither does the New Covenant nullify the promises that God has given as a gift because they are truly promises conditioned upon nothing but Himself.

That's the teaching of the New Testament. What's more, here's the important thing. The covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, at which sometimes we have again relegated to the past Old Testament, which yes, it should, but sometimes we've seen as nothing more than curses and oppression, is actually good because in the description of the covenant, you see God giving His relational guidance.

You see God giving relationship guidelines, teaching them. This is what I expect of you. This is how you approach me. This is what I purpose for you. These are my desires for you. I mean, you don't just do that with anybody. What would cause God to take these individuals who were slaves, who were grumbling, who didn't want to come out, and then covenant with them?

That's His love. These things come out from His love. Now at this point, I do want to talk about the content of the covenant. So point number four, if you would go to the contents of the covenant, I mentioned before the first that there are laws and instructions within this covenant.

I am not going to go through every single one of them because it's huge. The book of Exodus is really funny because sometimes we see it as like, oh yeah, the narrative story of the deliverance and stuff, but actually the vast bulk of the book of Exodus, the narrative stands still at the mountain.

Everything from chapter 19 all the way to chapter 32-ish, it's all regulation. Regulations about the tabernacle and how it's supposed to be built, regulations about what the priests are supposed to do, regulations about how people are supposed to treat each other, property rights, all kinds of different laws and regulations.

Secondly, the Mosaic covenant includes curses and warnings. It does give those fearsome, fearsome warnings. If you transgress my law, I will break out upon you and kill you. That's pretty much how it comes off. But here's the thing. I am making a case that the law of God, even in the Mosaic covenant, is good.

Why? Because if you take a case example of one of these warnings, chapter 20 verse 20 says this. Next slide please. Chapter 20 says, "Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid, for God has come in order to test you, in order that the fear of him may remain on you, so that you may not sin.'" God has intentionality and purpose to preserve you from sin, to preserve the people, the nation of Israel from sin.

And in that being the case, this was not just some military officer saying, "Jump, get up, get down, pushups, so that you know I'm in authority. Do it." No, that's not the way that this is coming off. This is coming off, again, eagle's wings picture, "I am protecting you from your own sin." Right?

Now moving forward to the promises that are actually contained within this passage. Look again at your Bibles at verse 5 through 6 and let's take a look at the promises that are there. He says, "If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine." Here's the very first.

The very first promise is that they are going to be his possession. If you're working out of the ESV, it's going to say, "You are my treasured possession." It's really interesting that you have these two nuances. NSV saying, "You're my own." ESV saying, "You're treasured." The reason why is because this term has been used in different contexts through the Bible.

Does it mean treasure? Absolutely. King David would actually use this word to talk about his literal gold, silver, and the mass of wealth he has. It is treasure. However, the nuance is this. It is not just general riches, but it is a particular, specific kind of possession. Almost as to say, "This is my precious treasure.

This is my special treasure. The world is mine and it's all mine, but you will be my own." You see that? What a beautiful picture of how God's intent is being revealed. This is God's promise to them. It's a promise. "You will be." What's more, he says in the next portion of the passage as we look, he says in verse 6, "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." A kingdom and priests and a holy nation.

Now, that might not sound like a whole lot to us just because I'm not a priest, but to them it's an incredible calling, a special purpose, a special kind of identity as a nation. I will argue that in our generation, we too struggle with this exact same thing. Do we not struggle with trying to find purpose?

Do we not struggle with trying to find identity? Of course we do. We have so many people, I talk to people who perhaps are in certain jobs where it seems repetitive, and we wrestle with that all the time. It's because if yesterday is the same, today is the same, tomorrow is the same, you sit there and you end up thinking, "What's the purpose?

Why? What am I doing?" Every time I talk to an individual, sometimes, sometimes it's like the regular conversation is, "I'm looking for another job." "Oh, really? You had a pretty decent job." It's like, "No, I'm looking for something else." This is the regular pattern of conversation. Or they try to find meaning in their work and they're thinking, "Am I doing something worthwhile?" We all struggle with this.

God has promised them a unique place, serving Him, serving His kingdom, having an identity and value because God has placed them there and consecrated them to who? To Himself. He's brought them near. And so I want to inspire you for us, these promises to us even in the New Testament, these are the very things we long for, to experience that special connection with God, for to hear His words that He loves us, and therefore to be His possession, to be useful in His kingdom, to serve Him, to actually have a worthwhile sense.

God has given me the privilege to serve something eternal. Did you know that all of this is contained in the Mosaic Law? So by way of application, I want to inspire you to have great gratitude for God through the Mosaic Law. That which perhaps again, maybe you haven't, but for me I felt like the way I read the Mosaic Law always was, "That's the Mosaic Law, uh-uh, because that's legalism, and this is grace." And then you realize, God is gracious and so His covenant is chock full of grace.

Even this conditional covenant where He does demand obedience, He does demand keeping the covenant, and He demands faithfulness to Him, but even within it, there is grace to be found. And I want to inspire us by way of application to be grateful for that. The way I want to inspire us is by asking this question.

I'm making the case the covenant is good, and as we saw the details, what does it reveal about God's good nature? What does it reveal about God? Let me ask you in another way. Writing down the things about His deliverance and the things about His promise, what kind of individual do you know who protects, who has a heart to protect from oppression, who has a heart to protect from wear and tear, who has a heart to protect from the elements of the wilderness?

What kind of individual do you know who desires to carry the young on their wings? What kind of individual do you know who more than is willing to bring people close who are dirty, who are slaves and who walked in the dirt for months? What kind of individual do you know who treasures and sees the little ones as precious?

What kind of one do you know who tries to teach fear so that they could prevent harm and destruction? What individual do you know who is desiring to instruct? What is motivating God to instruct these individuals and give them these laws? What kind of individual do you know who is giving wisdom, relational wisdom, and teaching for the future how to receive the next stage of their lives?

And if you said, "A good parent," you're absolutely right. The laws of God reveal that our God is the perfect parent. God has loved His people as the perfect Father, caring for them from beginning to end. Every aspect of their journey, every aspect of their deliverance, every aspect of their future.

And this law that God has given in the Mosaic Covenant is an expression of that. Is God required to give these people this law? Absolutely not. Is God required to give these people these promises? Absolutely not. What kind of individual, what kind of individual would continue to guide, instruct, and do things for spoiled children who kick and scream and say, "I don't want to come"?

And that's why I thought of my parents. Good fatherhood. How difficult it is to try and drag your child. How difficult it is to see your child upset. But God is the perfect Father. God has His desire set on them for their good. And so here and now He gives them this law to promise them, to promise them and to love them.

This is our God. I want to say this. If ever you thought that at any moment in all of history that salvation was by the work of man, it has never been. There is an element to which there is a unilateral nature to every covenant seen in the Bible.

Yes, the Mosaic Covenant was conditional. It says "if." There's a fat "if." If you keep my covenants. But there's an element to which every covenant is still nonetheless unilateral, completely unconditional. Why? Because it comes from an unconditional Father who loves this deeply. It comes from God who's so good and therefore His laws are good.

His laws are absolutely good. He is guiding them, instructing them, restraining them from sin. And look at what He's done. Have you personally seen God's, not just deliverance from bad stuff, but God's loving, fatherly care in your life? Can you testify to that? Have you seen it for yourself?

I encourage you. It's the best thing. Now going to point number five. Point number five, so then, why is the law still seen as a curse? Why does the New Testament talk about it that way? Why do we typically see the law as oppressive? Why does the scripture talk about it that way, that we are under the captivity of the law?

Make sense of this dilemma and paradox. You're saying God's law is good. It comes from a good God and He is pouring out His love and yet when we read it in the New Testament, it's like, "Do away with it!" because it's captivate, as in the bad sense. It's slavery.

Why? Well, let's take a look. One of the first passages I want to share with you is Galatians chapter three. In your own time, please read the whole chapter because it's going to answer for you what is the purpose of the law. But for the sake of time, I want to read this little section.

It says, "For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, 'Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them.' Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith.

But the law is not of faith, rather the one who does them shall live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. So yes, most certainly, the law, according to the Mosaic Covenant, had curses. The law had demands and expectations.

The problem was it demanded perfection. That if you were to live by it, you would have to live by it completely. You see that? The law demanded that kind of perfection. What's more, later in that same chapter, it's going to describe to us that the law is not opposed or will nullify the promises of the covenants.

The law is stipulations, commands, and expectations, but it does not nullify the promises. And then lastly, in Galatians, it teaches us that the law is your tutor, teaching you and guiding you and preparing you for Christ, instructing you. That's the purpose of the law. But in other passes, I want to go with you to talk about this paradox.

So the law is good, the law in many ways is perfect, and yet it's a curse to me. Why? Please turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 7, verse 4 through 14. It's going to be a lengthy segment, but it's worthwhile for us to read it. So please go in your Bibles to Romans chapter 7, verse 4 through 14.

And we're going to walk down that passage step by step. Good, it's there for us in terms of the points. So again, Romans chapter 7, Apostle Paul is going to talk about the law, the law of God. And this is what he's going to say starting Romans 7, verse 4.

"Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to one another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive." So yes, does it hold us captive? Yes. "So that we serve in a new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." So the law, it did hold us captive, and it was a written code of God.

But furthermore, verse 7, "What then shall we say? That the law is sin?" That's an important question. And he answers, "By no means. Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness." So we see what the law has done.

The law has aroused in us what our hearts contain. We're there thinking everything is fine. We're there living our lives. And the law imposes upon us a certain standard and pressure, and the sin comes out. What's more, it says, "For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law.

But when the commandment came, sin came alive, and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me." So there is our paradox, rephrased by Apostle Paul. This Word of God, the law, was intent actually on promises of life. But it proved to be deadly to you.

Why, Paul? Why is it deadly to me? Why is a law that comes from a good God deadly to me? Verse 11, "Because sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Did that which is good then bring death to me? By no means. It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh sold under sin." See the difference there?

There is an immense problem. We see the goodness of God. We see the goodness of His Word. He is a loving, perfect Father up here. But when the Word comes, it not only reveals to us this perfect God, when the Word comes it reveals to us this sinner and how thoroughly sinful he is, how thoroughly wretched I am.

There is a problem of the massive divide, which is our next point. There is a massive divide then between us and God. The problem is that when the sinner is confronted with this perfect Father, there is doom. And when this sinner then is confronted with this perfect Father's law, there is doom.

That's why it's oppressive. That's why it's captivating. That's why there feels to be no freedom, because of the great massive divide. So the story in the book of Exodus is interesting, because God has drawn them near by delivering them out, guiding them through the wilderness, bringing them to a point of promise at the mountain.

And yet, they're so far. They're so far. They're so close and yet so far. God is eminent. He is there. He is ready to deliver, and yet He is transcendent. And so everything about that screams, "You can't come to Him." And that's actually how the story goes. If you turn back into your Bibles at chapter 19, I'm going to start reading from verse 7, and look at how the story goes.

That God is beginning to give the Mosaic Covenant with His promise of the treasure of possession of who they will be, the greatest title basically that we can afford. We would be a priesthood, right, of kingdom of priests and a holy nation unto Him. And yet look what He says, verse 7.

So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all the words which the Lord had commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken we shall do." And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may believe in you forever." Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. So you see what he's doing. He's running back and forth, up and down the mountain to mediate for the people.

Verse 10. "The Lord also said to Moses, 'Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments. Let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai and the sight of all the people.'" But look at this, verse 12.

"You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Beware that you do not go up to the mountain or touch even the border of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through.

Whether beast or man, he shall not live. When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up towards the mountain.' So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. He said to the people, 'Be ready for the third day.

Do not even go near a woman.' For it came about on the third day when it was morning that there was thunder, lightning flashes and thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses on top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 'Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord will break out against them.' Moses said to the Lord, 'The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you have warned us, saying, "Set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it."' Then the Lord said to him, 'Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests of the people break through to come upon the Lord, or he will break forth upon them.' So Moses went down to the people and told them.

Then God spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.'" That lengthy scripture I read to you because I want to have in our minds this incredible paradox that we've been grappling with as we're talking about maybe our notions of the Old Testament, the notions of the Mosaic Covenant, that it's good, but there's this incredible paradox, but we're so far.

Did you know that when the people received the gracious Ten Commandments by which they lived, they received it in absolute terror? They were so afraid, the people kept crying out to Moses, 'Moses, Moses, you speak to us, but don't let this god speak to us, or we're going to die.' I want you to imagine coming into this service.

You walk in through the doors, and for us, we have nice people saying, 'Hi, welcome. Is this your first time?' You know, 'No, it's my fifth,' or something, whatever it may be. But instead, rather than seeing nice people with smiles, you see people in military fatigue. They have guns on them.

They have helmets on. And then they hand to you a helmet and say, 'You better wear this.' You go to your seats, and rather than seeing Bibles under your chair, you see Kevlar vests. You see yellow tape all around that says, 'Caution, caution,' like this was some homicide scene.

Why? Because there's potential death in the moment of their worship. God is not safe, but is incredibly dangerous. Everything about this scene screams, 'There is such distance that you cannot come.' Everything, everything from the mediation of Moses as he goes up and down and up and down. If you study it, he goes up and down multiple times.

And as you guys know, the people, they say, 'Yes, of course we'll obey.' But no, they don't. As soon as Moses comes down with tablets in chapter 32, what does he see? A golden calf? Are you serious? And he throws the tablets on the floor and the ground breaks open.

Bunch of people die, and what happens? Moses goes up to the mountain again to mediate. 'Lord, do not destroy these people. I pray you have mercy.' God writes a new set of commandment tablets and he goes down to renew the covenant. Moses goes up and down and up and down.

His mediation, you know what that tells us? You're so far. You're so close, but you're so far. The dense cloud covering his glory, you're so far. The barrier all around the mountain that no man shall cross, you're so far. The penalty of death when you cross this boundary, even if you're an animal, you're so far.

The volcano, right? The thunder, the lightning, the trembling, the earthquakes all telling you, you're so far. This is an incredibly intense scene of Scripture which leaves us with our hands in the air saying, 'What do we do? What can we do if there is such a massive divide? What can we do if the presence of God is so deadly to me?

What do I do? He just demanded faithfulness, but I'm going to die if I get close. What do I do?' And that is the most important question today. I would like to speak to anybody who is in this room who is not a Christian. This is an immense question for you.

God has every right to demand of you holiness and righteousness, even if you have no power to do it. And God has every right to judge you for every failure to obey. Why? Because God is God and He is King. His reign and authority does not stop in the prison and His reign and authority does not stop anywhere.

God has every right to demand righteousness from everyone, even from unsaved sinners. But the question is, then what do you do? And if you're thinking, 'There's nothing,' then amen, you're absolutely right. It is absolutely impossible for a man to scale this mountain. It is an absolute impossibility for a man to cross this boundary.

It is an absolute impossibility for a man to change who he is in his sin and remove his flesh, to remove his depravity. So what do you do? And this is where we come. This is where we come to God and say, 'God, because I cannot, You must. You must draw me to Your mountain.

You must draw me to Your presence. You must forgive my sin. You must change me. You must sanctify me. You must give me new heart.' And I want to give you this promise. When God promises you will be my treasured possession, God is promising you that should you believe in His Son, whom He laid down as the sacrifice to do all that for you, to absolutely forgive you, to change you, to cause you to be holy, His promise is there for you.

Should you come to Him, God will do it for you. That is the essence of the Christian gospel. We come to the end of ourselves, come to the mountain, and we realize, 'I'm so close, but I'm so far. And from here, I can go no further on my own.' And this is where the offer of Christ comes.

What the law could not do, what Moses could not do in his mediation, Christ has done for you. Christ has done for you. Believe on the name of Jesus Christ and come to Him. But I also want to speak to all of you, brothers and sisters who regularly wrestle with sin.

We all do. The Bible says we fall in many ways. We struggle in many ways of the mind, of the heart, of the action, of our desires. In so many ways, willfully, we sin. Brothers and sisters, what do you do with that sin? Can I ask you, for those of you who are Christians, do you feel like this?

Do you feel close yet so far? Do you feel like you've come to this strange mountain where there's clouds, smoke, and a distance between you and your Father? I want to remind you today that the only way for us to deal with our sin is through the mediation of Christ.

That's how we did it at first, and that's how you're going to do it the rest of your life. There is no sin you're going to overcome because you say, 'Well, I will do it.' But you haven't. 'Well, I'm going to run away and hide.' You're not going to be able to.

'Well, I'm going to try better.' No, you're not. The sin that exists in our lives, we come by the name of Christ, through the mediation of our perfect priest, of our mediator, Jesus Christ. Lord, I come to you. Now, the difference, though, the difference, though, is stellar because the Scripture teaches us when we are in Jesus Christ, he does not guide us through the wilderness to the mountain and an inanimate, scary figure and representation of how holy God is.

Rather, Scripture teaches us that we come completely into his presence. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 18 says this, "For you do not come to a mountain that can be touched. You do not come to a mountain that is a blazing fire, to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of trumpets and the sound of words, which sound as such that those who heard begged that no further words be spoken to them.

For they could not bear the command, 'If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.' And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, 'I am full of fear and trembling, but you, for those of you who are in Christ, you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly of the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant.'" That's Hebrews chapter 12.

To make that all kind of wrap up and make sense for you and to close this off, this is what I want to say. For every Christian, you are going to feel this temptation when you sin to feel like you're coming to Mount Zion fearful. And you're going to react in multiple ways, whether it's blame, "Oh man, I sinned because of that." Whether it's running away and hiding, whether it's distinguishing yourself, whether it's hardening your heart.

But the challenge is this, do not fear. Why? Because although God is still the same holy God as seen on that Mount Sinai, this God is your Father. And He's loved you from beginning to end. And this good Father, when you come in repentance and you come in the name of Jesus, is not going to penalize you with this wrap.

He's going to give you forgiveness and grace upon grace as He did from the days of Abraham. Abraham and Moses are indebted to Christ. Abraham and Moses are thankful in their hearts. Why? Because all of the Father's love come to a pinnacle in Christ. And the challenge for you every day, come to the Lord Jesus.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do want to thank you, God, that you have revealed yourself as the most faithful, loving God. A Father who is perfect in the way that you discipline, in the way that you teach, in the way that you instruct your children. For that, God, we want to thank you so much.

And I pray, Lord, you would teach us what it means to love you as our Father. God, help us not to miss the point of your covenants, that God, you wanted to covenant yourself and be in a relationship with these people, that you wanted to share and express your love with them.

And I pray, Father God, that for every single person here, as we've heard these words, we would long to experience that with you. We thank you, it's in Christ's name we pray.