PASTOR RON ARBAUGH - CALVARY CHAPEL SAN ANTONIO

Transcription

1 Exod 34:1-35; 1 The LORD said to Moses, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. You remember what happened to the first set of tablets Moses came down from his first encounter with God on Mt. Sinai and found the Israelites engaged in idol worship and sexual immorality. He got angry and threw them down and broke them into pieces It was a hugely symbolic gesture. The people had broken the commandments they had earlier agreed to keep so Moses broke the tablets just as they had broken the law written on them 2 Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain." Why? Because no one can approach God s holy 1

2 mountain apart from grace and grace requires a mediator 4 So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Once again there is an important picture for us to see. Think about Moses trip back up the mountain carrying these 2 large, heavy stone tablets climbing is hard enough without a burden to carry That is a picture of what it s like trying to get to God on the basis of keeping the law. Why is it that so many people (even Christians) insist on trying to get to God by their own deeds, by being nice people? This is a principle that I keep harping on: we are all saved by grace. We don t deserve to be saved, we don t deserve heaven we are saved by grace Why is it, then, that almost immediately after we get saved, we start trying to prove that we deserved to be saved all along? 2

3 Think about it: we begin trying to do things to make God happy with us, to make Him love us more. But if He loved you enough to save you when you had done nothing at all for Him, what makes you think He can love you any more than He already does? Paul had the same concerns. Please turn to Gal 3:1-7; 1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing-- if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? 6 Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 3

4 So, what is the answer if it s true that we can t climb the mountain of God carrying this heavy load? 5 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. Jn.1:1 declares that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Then, in v14, John declares that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us You see, just like God came down to meet Moses on the mountain, because Moses could never go up to God, God had to come down and God came down to earth to meet sinful, law-breaking man in the Person of Jesus Christ. That one thing is the difference between religion and relationship. Religion tries (keeps on trying) to make it up the mountain of God even though the tablets of stone is heavy Relationship, on the other hand, knows that we can never make it. Relationship confesses our sin, our inability to make it to God on our own terms. Once we ve done that, God can come down and meet us because He already has 4

5 That is why it is necessary to repent (to be willing to stop) from our sinful lifestyle so God will come down and meet us... When God does come down, who is it that we meet? Who exactly is God? 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD (Name equals character or nature), the compassionate and gracious God, We learn 3 things about God in this one verse. The 1 st thing God proclaims about Himself is that He is compassionate and gracious Think about this for a minute. We ve been studying Moses intercession for the stubborn, stiff-necked people of Israel. It could appear that God was ready to wipe them out. But now we see that it was God s heart all along to save them, to be patient with them, to forgive them of their cow-worshipping festival This is critical for you to hear with the ears of the Holy Spirit God WANTS to forgive you! He wants to bless you. He wants to be with you! You haven t made Him angry or frustrated with you patience (longsuffering) is the thing God does the best 5

6 slow to anger, The KJV & NKJV says longsuffering This is the 2 nd thing we learn about God. Aren t you glad God is willing to suffer for a long time with you? You want to know who God is? He is God who never tired of, never grew impatient with, you! When someone asks you who Jesus Christ is tell them that He was the One who suffered for me and with me! That is why we love Him so 3 rd, God is abounding in love and faithfulness, abounding is many, much, great (think of a non-stop geyser). The masculine noun form of this word makes God (literally) the captain, or chief, of love and faithfulness If the truth be told, many of us think that God stops loving us when we do something wrong. This verse says He is infinite in love, perfect in capacity. In other words, He has no degree of love He loves you as much when you are bad as He does when you are good How faithful is God? 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion 6

7 and sin. God is so faithful that He is continually willing to forgive Note here that all possible types of sin (wickedness, rebellion, and sin) are mentioned. The point is clearly that there is no sin God is unwilling to forgive Yet he does not leave the {guilty} (not in original texts wrongly (I believe) added by translators) guilty unpunished; he punishes (horrible translation. KJV uses the word visits. It means to pay attention to, to observe, to attend to) the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." NKJV; "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation." Remember, the context here is God s goodness, His faithfulness to forgive and bear with sin and sinners This DOES NOT say that my sons will be punished by God for my sins. There is no 7

8 such thing as a generational curse! Ezek 18:1-4; 1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: "'The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? 3 "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. 4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son-- both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. God is saying (v3) that He never wants to hear this kind of garbage quoted by His people again! Yet, the bad, hurtful teaching continues even in our day Individual, personal responsibility! We want to hear no more talk about generational curses my alcoholism dooms my kids, my mom/dad is to blame for the condition of my life. NO! What is being said then? If I sin, God will convict me, He will visit me, He will deal with me for my unfaithfulness. If my sons sin, God will visit them, too You see, He loves them as much as He loves me. God is simply saying here that no matter 8

9 what I do, God will chase my descendants down to the 3 rd and 4 th generation because He loves them No sinner ever gets away without the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Obviously, people reject the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but it is not because God didn t try to track them down 8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. (we should all be quick to worship when God s nature is revealed! This is literally that Moses was anxious to worship! In other words, he couldn t wait! Ever feel like that?) 9

10 8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. 9 "O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes," he said, "then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiffnecked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance." God s character (compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness) prompts Moses to plead yet again for the people Never hesitate to ask God to extend His goodness to you! You see, if we know how good God is, if we know how anxious He is to forgive sins, if we know how eager God is to restore and renew, we will learn to come to God quickly and often regardless of our circumstances Notice here how he deals with God he tells the truth about the circumstances. Lord, we are stiff-necked and wicked. Yet take us still as your inheritance. Moses because he is getting closer and closer to God, knows now that what God really wants all He wants is the people 10

11 Look how quick God is to say yes 10 Then the LORD said: "I am making a covenant with you (notice here that God is the One dictating the terms and conditions of the covenant. He doesn t negotiate). Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. Look at the components that led to God saying yes. Moses has been interceding, mediating, for the people of Israel. In v8, Moses worshipped. In v9, Moses was honest about the real condition of the people. Now, in v10, God says yes and once again promises to do marvelous things for Israel All you need to do to get right with God, to insure that He will be with you, that He will go ahead of you, is to worship Him, get real with Him, and then FOLLOW Him! I love how easy God makes it for us to return to Him when we mess up This is the very thing God has spoken to my heart regarding CCSA! We have yet to even BEGIN to see the power and goodness of God 11

12 in our city! Isa 1:19; If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land The same thing remains true for us. Do right and it will go well with you. Do wrong and things will get only worse This is important to remember. God does these marvelous things for Israel even though they did NOT obey Him, though they remained stubborn and stiff-necked. Even tonight God will do for you if you come to Him with a pure heart and ask 11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. I want you to think for a moment about the people traveling with Moses. God makes them this incredible promise with no strings attached He will drive out all their enemies Yet we know that when Moses sends out spies to take a look at the promise land, 10 of the 12 have already forgotten! 2 of them see an enemy who will be vanquished while the rest of them see giants. They open the door to fear There are lots of things that can get in the way of you and me experiencing the glory of God. 12

13 There are things that we permit in our lives enemies just like Israel s enemies listed here that prevent us from enjoying the fullness of our relationship. Because those enemies are always hovering around, God repeats certain aspects of the law, things He has already dealt with Ever notice how God never tires of warning us about those things which keep us from being blessed? Moses has experienced the glory of God. He knows better than anyone how wonderful it is. This is why God can now reveal these things to Moses because he understands better than anyone what they people will be missing if they allow sin to creep in Here goes the list 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. The Canaanite culture was so corrupt that the people were beyond redemption (talk about their eventual destruction under Joshua). Their sin had been completely filled up. God did not want their sinful practices to corrupt Israel. This is the 13

14 reason God tells us not make treaties with the world. Discuss danger of worldly alliances 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Smash our sin, those things that keep us from experiencing the great things God wants to do in us and through us (Gideon, Hezekiah, Josiah) 14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. This word for jealous is used only of God. The reason is because only God is jealous for others. The rest of us get jealous for ourselves. God is jealous for you! He wants only the best for you and for me! He is a great, great God 15 "Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.. Many 14

15 of the Canaanite gods were fertility gods; i.e., gods that promoted sexual immorality. Things haven t changed much, have they? Do you know there are more than 50 direct warnings from God about in the OT about being intermarrying with foreigners (unbelievers)? God knows the danger; man refuses to listen. Here s an example (Balaam and King Balak): Num 25:1-3; 1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD's anger burned against them. 17 "Do not make cast idols. I imagine that Aaron, upon hearing this, winced a little, don t you? We all make our own idols. Not in the same way Aaron did. He made a calf; you and I we just change the image of God into one that conforms to the things we want to do. If I want to have a sexual relationship that is ungodly, I turn God into a god of pleasure God wants me to be happy 15

16 18 "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. Passover and unleavened bread remember how I delivered you from Egypt (world), how I called you to holiness by removing your sin 19 "The first offspring of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. This is a warning against being enslaved by possessions. God says, I am to get the best of who you are and what you ve got. Why? It s the proof (evidence) that we truly do belong to God. If I am giving to God what He has given to me, if He gets the best of everything, then it proves that He is really first in my life 20 Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. The donkey is stubborn. 16

17 This donkey speaks of humans you and me! We ve been redeemed by a lamb just like the donkey. We are to remember that our freedom comes at the expense of an innocent lamb. Only a stubborn donkey of a man would refuse The penalty? A broken neck! Good picture here how hard do you think it would be to break a donkey s neck? Redeem all your firstborn sons. "No one is to appear before me emptyhanded. Important come to church to serve, not to be served, not to have your needs met. Every time you come before God, come with your hands full! What can I do, Lord? Who can I pray for/with? 21 "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest. Jesus is our rest Too many of us think we have to keep plowing to provide for our family. No, God says, rest completely in me and I will provide the harvest... 17

18 God is serious about resting. Do you remember when He told Israel to give the land a rest every 7 years? The land, God promised, would produce more than enough even in the year of rest to amply supply the people. But the people didn t listen! Why is it that we think obedience is an option? God got His year of rest back for 490 years! According to 2 Chron.36, that s why Israel was in captivity for 70 years to pay back the land for the rest it did not receive 22 "Celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD, the God of Israel. God is calling the men to get away and renew fellowship with Him. Too busy to get completely alone with God? Bad idea; you re busier than God wants you to be good plug just before our men s retreat Look at what results. Do this and 24 I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no one will 18

19 covet (I will protect your job, your sales leads, your property! In other words, God will protect your stuff better than you can if you just do what He says to do) your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the LORD your God. 25 "Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning. You can t come to God with your offering (Rom.12:1-2) while continuing to live in willful sin 26 "Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. Our offerings belong to the house of God. A lot of work God wants to do through the church isn t done because the money that should be going to the church is being spread all around to too many places Is it OK to give to people, to causes, to parachurch ministries? Of course it is as long as you don t take from the church to do it! Use your extra money (prayerfully) as the Lord leads. But it has ALWAYS been God s intention that the firstfruits should go to the church 19

20 "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk." We covered this in our study of Exodus 23; in ancient cultures, people would eat the meat and drink the milk of the same animals during fertility rites. God did not want His people to be associated with worshipping gods or goddesses of fertility. This, then, is another call to sexual purity 27 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." 28 Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water (miraculous nature of the encounter validated). And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant-- the Ten Commandments. Now, it was time for Moses and Israel to go about inheriting the land and realizing all these glorious promises. Did they? Well, of course not we know the story. But why? Disobedience; they simply did not keep their end of the bargain. Are you? If so, glowing is in your future 20

21 29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. This is such a great picture and I am especially moved by Moses humility he wasn t even aware he was glowing! This is what happens in the presence of the Lord The more time you spend with Him, the more normal it seems to you. Others notice, they make comments but, for you, it is just an every day experience. I have seen so many of your countenances change when you weren t even aware you were being changed. Glowing is good 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. People are often afraid to come near to someone who is glowing. Why? Because your very glow challenges them to get a glow themselves! Do you remember the man who had been crippled for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda (Jn.5)? Jesus approached him with one question: Do you want to get well? You see, lots of people don t want to change. 21

22 Lots won t accept the challenge to glow from the presence of the Lord That s why your example, Moses example here, makes people afraid. It strips away their excuses it makes them accountable to draw near to the Lord for themselves 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. This is another example of good/great leadership and the result is a good one 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 2 Cor.3 says it was to keep them from seeing the glory fade 34 But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. Re-charging. Why? Because we leak. God pours the water of His Word in, the power 22

23 of His Spirit, and we let it leak out all over the place! That s why we have to stay connected to the source of power Jesus! Cell phone or PC example Moses went back he hurried back into the presence of the Lord because he didn t want anyone to see that his glory was fading. He only wanted people to see, when they looked at him, to see the glory! Wouldn t you like that? Whenever anyone sees you, they see you filled with the power of the Spirit? They see you happy, content, peaceful? And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD. When your glory seems to be fading, run to be re-connected to Jesus. Don t let others see you or your problems. Let them see Jesus I know there are things that you think are too difficult, just too much to deal with. But a face that glows is the answer to every problem! Not a phony-glow, a genuine Jesus-glow 23