Small group questions

Transcription

1 Small grup questins Exdus 33:12-34:14 - Our cmpassinate and gracius Gd Leaders if the questins make n sense r yu dn t knw the answer please cntact the preacher! 1. As yu were grwing up, what did yu think was Gd s default dispsitin tward yu? 2. Recall where ur passage fits in the unflding histry f Israel. 3. Lk again at 33:13. What a lvely request! Cmpare Philippians 3:10-11 and Cl 1:9ff. 4. Lk again at 33:15. What is the blessing f the New Cvenant in regard t the presence f Gd? (Wh ges with yu?!) Cmpassinate 5. What was the significance f Gd prclaiming his name? 6. Why culdn t Mses see Gd s face? (33:23) 7. Frm where des cmpassin emanate in Biblical understanding? 8. Explre the explanatin r unflding f cmpassin list the features 34:6ff. Hw d yu feel abut this descriptin f Gd? Just 9. If all are guilty, which guilty peple des Gd frgive and which des he nt frgive? 10. What is meant by punishing the children and their children fr the sin f the fathers? (34:7) 11. What is Mses respnse t seeing this picture f Gd? (34:8) Cnclusin 12. A friend thinks that past sin in their life means they can never be frgiven and never accepted by Gd. Hw d yu help them? 13. Anther friend things Gd is a pushver and that their sin desn t matter. What d yu say t them? 14. What will yu take away frm this first sermn in ur cmpassin series?

2 Date: 10 September 2017 Services: 730am, 930am, Peregian (via Chris), 630pm Series: Cmpassin Passage: Exdus 33:12-34:14 Title: Our Cmpassinate and Gracius Gd Outline: Cmpassinate and Just ********************************* If I gave yu just tw wrds t describe yur spuse r yur clsest friend r ne f yur children r ne f yur parents hw wuld yu g? Just tw wrds Hw can yu cmprehensively describe smene in just tw wrds? Ok let me leave that ne with yu and ask yu anther What is Gd s default feeling dispsitin tward yu? Twards us as humans? Yu have may grwn up thinking he s always angry cheesed ff with us We can never be gd enugh never pull ur scks up high enugh? Like a teenager trying t please their parents hair s t lng); skirt s t shrt, rm s t messy; drives t fast; desn t study enugh; desn t help enugh arund hme yu can just never please them! and we ften feel that that is hw it wrks with Gd we re always a disappintment; we try hard but fail frequently we can never win. and his default dispsitin twards us is a mix f anger and disappintment well there are tw wrds I want t share with yu this mrning which I think will g a lng way t challenging that here s the first and it s reflected in the title f ur new sermn series we start tday: 1. Cmpassinate Read with me 34:5 Then the LORD came dwn in the clud and std there with him (Mses) and prclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in frnt f Mses, prclaiming, The LORD, the LORD, the cmpassinate and gracius Gd, slw t anger, abunding live and faithfulness, maintaining lve t thusands and frgiving wickedness, rebellin and sin. Sme backgrund will be helpful. S Israel have been led ut f Egypt They are abut t cme face t face with the challenge f mving int the prmised land. Mses seeks assurance that the Lrd will g with them I lve his request in 33:13 teach me yur ways s I may knw yu Is that yur prayer tday as we pen Gd s wrd? Teach me yur ways s I may knw yu // Then he adds - 33:15 if yur Presence des nt g with us, d nt send us up frm here why wuld yu want t embark n carrying ut Gd s will if yu weren t assured he was with yu.? Mses said t Gd this is what will distinguish us frm all the ther peple n the face f the earth that Gd ges with them //// d yu knw friends that nw under the new cvenant that is what distinguishes yu us frm all the ther peple n the earth??

3 Gd ges with us!!! Think abut it // Gd by his Hly Spirit indwells every Christian he lives in us and with us // When Susan was kissing Michael t send him ff n the train t schl every mrning her wrds t him yu knw wh ges with yu? When yu head ut this dr this mrning yu knw wh ges with yu. When yu re heading ut tmrrw int what ever Mnday hlds fr yu yu knw wh ges with yu. Int that challenge, in the midst f that great jy and delight as yu walk n the beach r int the dctr s surgery r n t the glf field r int that family crisis yu knw wh ges with yu!!! /// Well Gd in 33:17 says I will d the very thing yu have asked, because I am pleased with yu and I knw yu by name. that s a prmise that has cme thrugh t us in the New Testament Jhn 10 ur shepherd Jesus knws us by name But there s smething else Mses asks fr 33:18 nw shw me yur glry Mses lngs t see and understand Gd in all his glry s that he has the curage t lead Gd s peple in t the future What wuld it mean t see Gd in all his glry? We dn t attach must significance t names any mre S des any ne knw what Christpher means? Bearing Christ It was thught that the riginal Christpher bre the baby Christ acrss a river when he was yung and hence became the patrn saint f travellers!! Any way names dn t mean much tday s yu have in fact smene named Mr Shrt wh s very tall; yu may knw smene named Jy wh s anything but; r smene Mrs Jlly wh actually lives up t her name But in the ancient wrld especially f Gd his name reveals smething f his nature and character His name is his persn. S lk with me at 33:19 Mses has asked t see Gd s glry and Gd respnds by prmising he will cause his gdness t pass in frnt f him and he will prclaim his name the LORD in capital letters which reflects the Hebrew name f Gd Yahweh! Nw lk with me at the tw places in ur passage Gd s name is spelled ut 33:19 I will prclaim my name in yur presence. And by way f explanatin he ges n I will have mercy n whm I have mercy and I will have cmpassin n whm I will have cmpassin.. nw ver t 34:6 He passed in frnt f Mses, prclaiming, the LORD, the LORD Yahweh, Yahweh the cmpassinate and gracius Gd. I want us t see and understand this mrning that basic t the very nature and character f Gd inherent in the name f Gd is his cmpassin. Nw we re ging t be reminded in this series that we think f cmpassin as cming frm the heart yu knw ur heart ges ut t thse suffering frm the hurricanes in USA r the flds in Asia r the earthquake in Mexic

4 But in the ancient wrld cmpassin is understd as emanating frm yur gut frm yur bwels Yu knw that feeling when yu feel sick fr smene r yu have butterflies frm anxiety that s cmpassin that s where it cmes frm And I want yu t knw this mrning that that is Gd s default psitin tward yu That s wh Gd is That s what drives him That s is character is nature his default setting He is cmpassinate What des that lk like? Well we dn t have t guess this is what his cmpassin lks like. He is gracius generus beynd anything we deserve Slw t anger. Patient with us when we trip up and make mistakes Abunding in lve nt because we are lvely but because he is lve and faithfulness that is he is lyal he s cmmitted t us he keeps his prmises maintaining lve t thusands (Remember fr Gd s lved the wrld!!) frgiving wickedness, rebellin and sin anything that is against his will, that breaks his heart, that is unbecming r inapprpriate he stands willing t frgive. Brthers and sisters this is brilliant news Beautiful news. This is ur Gd cmpassinate and gracius This is his nature This is hw he is tward yu. This is his glry his gdness his magnificence! // But there s mre There s mre because we knw mre than Mses knew We ve seen mre than Mses saw! In the pages f the New Testament in the glry f the New Cvenant we have seen his Sn Jesus What des Jhn say abut Jesus in the pening verses f his gspel? We have seen his glry, the glry f the One and Only, wh came frm the Father, full f grace and truth. Jesus himself says in Jhn 14 if yu ve seen me, yu ve seen the Father We knw that the gift f Jesus, came frm Gd s great cmpassin frm his lve fr Gd s lved the wrld that he gave his ne and nly Sn s that whever believes in him will nt perish but have eternal life. He has demnstrated his faithfulness by never giving up n his peple. Thrugh all their unfaithfulness in the prmised land their idlatry their rebellin he remains faithful and then purs ut his lve as he gives his Sn. Jesus lived the perfect life we culdn t live and died the death we deserve and THAT is hw he can frgive wickedness, rebellin and sin because the recrd f ur failure and the law which std against it has been nailed with Jesus t the crss

5 This is lve nt that we first lved him but that he lved us and sent his Sn as atning sacrifice fr ur sin I Jhn 4 /// D yu knw the reactin f Mses when this visin was revealed f ur cmpassinate and gracius Gd? Have a lk with me at 34:8 Mses bwed t the grund at nce and wrshipped. Filled with awe and wnder Gbsmacked at such cmpassin and grace and frgiveness. And yu? // 2. JUST yet there is anther aspect f Gd presented fr us in the visin f Gd s glry Mses saw. And I want t make it clear, that this is nt a but, but an and. That is this is nt a flip side f Gd t srt f balance up the gd side It s nt that Gd is cmpassinaite BUT smehw the dwn side is that he s als just The Bible is nt the slightest bit embarrassed at the justice f Gd as we tend t be N the Bible desn t present his cmpassin as the glrius bit and his justice as the shameful r awkward bit his justice is part and parcel f his glry S let s lk again at 34:6-7 The LORD, the LORD, the cmpassinate and gracius Gd, slw t anger, abunding in lve and faithfulness, maintaining lve t thusands and frgiving wickedness, rebellin and sin. Yet he des nt leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children fr the sin f the fathers t the third and furth generatin. Oh Mark, yu might be thinking, why did yu have t g and wreck a perfectly nice sermn by bringing this up!! But let s see if can unpack this a little. The verse just said frgiving wickedness, rebellin and sin AND THEN he des nt leave the guilty unpunished. Which is it? Surely he either frgives r he punishes? What s ging n? Hang n - all sinners are guilty by definitin. S which guilty nes will he frgive?... And which guilty nes will he nt frgive? It s helpful t see the way ther parts f the Old Testament use this prclamatin in Exdus Fr example. In Jel 2:12 13 Gd says t the rebellius peple, "Yet even nw return t me with all yur heart with fasting, with weeping, and with murning; and rend yur hearts and nt yur garments." And Jel ges n t encurage the peple, "Return t the Lrd, yur Gd, fr he is gracius and merciful, slw t anger, and abunding in steadfast lve S Jel uses ur verse Exdus 34:6 t encurage the peple that if they return t the Lrd, he will turn away frm the judgement he is abut t bring n them. S the assumptin is that the peple whm the Lrd will nt frgive are the unrepentant peple wh will nt return t Gd with all their heart. That's the way Jel understd Exdus 34:5 7. Frgiveness is fr peple wh repent. The refusal f frgiveness, is fr thse unwilling t repent!

6 he will frgive the guilty wh turn frm their sin and turn t Gd with their whle heart. And the guilty wh turn dwn his cmpassinate and gracius ffer f mercy, will face his judgement. // Fr Gd is cmpassinate and just. // There are tw kinds f peple wh are hard t help as a minister. One thinks they are t far gne t be frgiven. The ther thinks frgiveness is a snap. One thinks they are utterly disqualified fr the kingdm. The ther thinks they are a she-in. The ne thinks Gd is nly full f anger and judgement. The ther thinks Gd is a pushver. One is blind t the magnificence f Gd's mercy. The ther is blind t the magnitude f their wn sin and rebellin. /// Which are yu tday? Which message d yu need t hear? Let me address the first categry first thse wh think they are smehw disqualified frm frgiveness If Gd is slw t anger even thugh we give him every reasn t be angry with us because f ur sin, then he must be very merciful and frgiving "merciful and gracius frgiving wickedness, rebellin and sin." The reasn Gd is slw t anger is nt that he desn't ntice ur sin but that he frgives it and we knw that that came at the cst f the death f his Sn Jesus!!! And nt just sme kinds f sin. Fr thse f yu wh feel that there is a categry f sin that is beynd Gd's frgiveness, please give up having yur wn pinin and trust what Gd says in his wrd! He frgives wickedness, rebellin and sin The reasn Gd used all three Hebrew wrds fr sin here is t shw that all srts and degrees f sin are frgivable. He piles them up t make plain what he means. There are n categries f unfrgivable sins. / The nly sin that is unfrgivable, is the sin frm which peple refuse t repent. If yu can repent and turn frm yur sin, yu can be frgiven! Turn frm yur sin this mrning, trust in Jesus Christ as yur Saviur and Lrd, and yu will find a depth in Gd's mercy like all the depth f the sea! yet in clsing if I may I want t say t yu wh think frgiveness is easy that Gd is a pushver that he desn t really care r mind hw yu live that everyne will be OK in the end then think again fr if yu refuse t repent then there s n frgiveness where des this leave us this mrning in the first f ur series n Gd s cmpassin? Tw wrds abut Gd is he COMPASSIONATE and he is JUST

7 We ve std with Mses n Mt Sinai this mrning. And with him we ve seen the great glry f Gd Yahweh Yahweh the cmpassinate and gracius Gd slw t anger abunding in lve and faithfulness frgiving wickedness fr all wh ask and yet fr thse wh want t say n thanks, they will face his judgment and we bw in awe. We ve std with the disciples wh saw in Jesus, the glry f the ne and nly wh came in grace and truth and we bw in awe We ve std beneath the crss and n the crss we saw ur Saviur take ur sin and bear ur shame and that nailed with him was bth the law and the recrd f ur failure and we see where Gd s cmpassin and his justice meet we see there hw it is pssible fr him t frgive sin because in himself he paid the price and we bw in awe And we stand at the empty tmb and we like Mses n the muntain can nly bw t the grund and fall in wrship fr we have seen Gd s glry Our cmpassinate and just Gd