Rememberance

Introduction

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena

I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Exodus 40:34-38

If you forgot your Bible please use the one in front of you and if you dont have a Bible at all, please take home the one in front of you as a free gift to you

Opening

We are closing out our sermon series in the book of Exodus

And while we may not have hit every chapter we highlighted many of the important themes

End the sermon series with a pretty bow

Todays bow is going to be detailed

It is going to be heavy on teaching so please take notes

We will be reading through a lot of scripture

But the goal of this particular sermon is simple

To magnify the glory of God and his detail for us

Lets jump right in

If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along,

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 40:34–38.

This is the Word of the Lord - You may now be seated

Sermon

Glory of the Lord

And as we come to the end, we are given this passage where it says that the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle

And many times we talk about God’s glory without ever fully undertanding or fully conveying that the glory of the Lord means

And so first we look at two things concerning God’s glory: his internal glory and his external glory

Internal Glory

holiness - God is set apart

His charater and very eseence makes him greater than all things

It makes him perfect

It makes him the authority

It makes him all powerful

If there is a police officer in the middle of the road and and eighteen wheeler is driving fast on the road

And the officer sticks out his hand to make the truck and the truck comes to a complete stop,

The officer didnt make the truck stop with his power, rather he stopped him with his authority

When there is a weight lifter in the gym with the goal of getting stronger - he/she picks up the heavy weights with their power and strength

The weight does nothing but sit there until acted upon by the strength of the lifter

So the lifter is acting out of his/her strength and not their authority

But our God internally is all powerful, and all knowing, and He has all of the authority

So only God can set the laws of morality of what is right and wrong

His holiness and his sovereignty work hand in hand

External Glory

And then there God’s external glory

God’s external glory is all of the manifestations of God’s physical presence

Wherever God is dwelling there is an external manifestation of who He is

And in Exodus God’s glory was manifested through the burning bush

Gods glory was minifested before Moses in a bright light where Moses’ face had to be shielded

And now we see God’s glory manifested in a cloud

And as God was dwelling in the cloud, as his glory was externally radiating in the cloud -

But then he came to dwell in the tabernacle and his external glory was still seen through the cloud

But even though his external glory was seen in the cloud and he was dwelling in the tabernacle

He still had his internal glory - He was holy - and so Moses could not go into the tent!

And so wherever God is, whatever object or form he takes to dwell, he always has his internal glory

But then his external glory can be manifested in different ways

A Holy God/God of detail

If you are reading through Exodus with us in the Daily Bible Plan, you have probably come accross some not so fun chapters

In fact, it was noted in our community group last week that it has been a challenge because of all the detail that is given

And if I am being honest, I would agree that these chapters have been a challenge

But at the same time, I think we are all grateful that God is specific

He doesn’t just say “surprise me”

He doesn’t say “just give me your best”

He doesnt say “worship me however you want”

He doesn’t say “follow your own path”

Rather, Since our God is Holy and glorious, it would make sense that God is a God of order and detail

God is a specific God

Lets consider his specificity

And we will do this by looking at several ways in which God was specific

Specific in his authority

God was specific in telling Moses how he is to convey the authority of God

God calls Moses to be a mediator and to act on God’s authority

Genesis 3 the Burning Bush - Moses was to go and convey the authority of God to Pharaoh

God was specific that Moses was to go to the Israelites and Elders and convey that the one true God who lives through all generations has sent him by His authority

And they would listen to Moses but the Pharaoh wouldn’t

Specific in his power

Power to save Moses

Power to appear how he pleases

Power of the 10 plagues

Power of parting the sea

Power to provide for his people - he even does that in a specific way

Specific in Instruction

insturction - concerning morality (authority) - 10 commandments

instruction - concerning conduct (power) - laws of how the people were to live

instruction - tabernacle

Specific in his covenant/promises

God is specific in his covenats/promises

We hve been often going back to Genesis 15:13-16

“Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.””

God tells Abraham exactly the details that he needs to know

God is specific in his covenant

Abraham, you will be dead when this happens but know for certain that your offspring will be living in a land that is not their own, and they will be servants, and they will be afflicted for 400 years,

But I will judge the nation that is lourding over them and when I free the people they will leave with great posessions

And you Abraham will die peacefully and live a long life

Now, as human, beings, I can only imagine Abraham maybe wanting more detail

However, God is specific in revealing to Abraham exactly what he needs to know

Specific to dwell

Lastly, we find that God is specific to dwell among his people

And when this comes to pass - after the Israelites come out with great posessions

God doesn’t just leave them alone - He doesn’t abandon them

Rather, they are his people whom he loves and he wants to dwell among them

And so his glory fills the tabernacle

And when its time to move on God leads the Israelites to move

God loves and cares for his people

And that is how this book of Exodus ends, that the glory of the Lord is dwelling among the people

Jesus’ glory

While this is the end of Exodus, it is not the end of the Bible

Nor is it the end of God’s work

Even before Exodus, in the book of Genesis, there is a specific promise of a Savior

And at the end of Exodus the Savior had not come yet so it has to go on

And thats why we talk about Jesus

Because Jesus was and is the promised Savior that did come to earth

He was fully God and was fully man

That means that he beheld the glory of God

That means that he was the glory of God

Last week I read John 1:14 and highlighted that Jesus came to dwell among us

Today I want to highlight that in that verse, John talks about his glory

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Today I want to highlight that in that verse, John talks about his glory

The glory of Jesus was and is because he is God

The glory of the Lord was among the people!

Jesus walked on this earth and taught as the glory of God

And while he dwelt among the people he had a purpose a specific purpose and a specific message

Philippians 2:5–11 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus came from heaven and dwelt among the people

The glory of the Lord came from heaven and dwelt among the poeple

And because of his death and resurrection Jesus has both the power and authority to save us

That as the Holy Spirit works in our hearts and our eyes are opened and ears hear, our hearts are changed with our belief in Jesus Christ

That the hopeless sinner who is dead and enslaved to sin, can be made alive and free because of the glory of the Lord

Glory within us

And I don’t want you to miss this,

In the garden of Eden God dwelt with man before the fall - Eden was the tabernacle and displayed his glory

Man sinned and had to be sent out, seperated from God and his glory

In the desert - still separated but among the people God and his glory comes to dwell in the tabernacle

They had to stop and build the tabernacle so God can come dwell among them

Then they had to tear it down and physically carry the tabernacle wherever they went

But then Jesus in his glory comes to dwell among the people

And because of Jesus’ work and our faith and trust in Him - We are now the tabernacle because we have the Holy Spirit of the Lord dwelling within us

But that also means that we are beholding the glory of the Lord!

We are reflect the glory of the Lord

2 Corinthians 3:16–18 “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

We are a people transformed by the glory of God, for the glory of God, and to the glory of God

And this doesn’t happen by accident

This work is specific

Your salvation is specific, your purpose as a believer is specific

And by God’s design, your walk with Jesus is to be specific

We are to be specific in doing things from the glory of God, to the glory of God, and to reflect the glory of God

1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Such a small verse with a lot of detail

Whatever you do

so like at work? - whatever you do

What if im working out? - whatever you do

What if I am hanging out with friends? - whatever you do

Do it all for yourself? No, do it for the glory of God

SIn and Glory

Please put a pin right there in 1 Corinthians 10

Now many of you know Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

So, how can we reflect the glory of God and fall short of it at the same time?

And the answer is that even though we are redeemed by Christ,

in our humaness, we are still tempted and can still fall into sin

When we sin, we are unrighteous

And Romans 3:23 points back to Romans 1

Romans 1:22–23 “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

The word I want us to focus on is exchange

When we sin, There is an exchange of the glory of the immortal God for idols

When the Israelites made the Golden calf, after the 10 commandments had been given

They exchanged their worship, attentention, and devotion for God - to something else

And when we sin, this is what we are doing

We choose to put something else ahead of our worship, attention, and devotion of Christ

And so we are exchanging the glory of Christ to sin - and by extention - we fall short!

And you may or may not know this but today is Palm Sunday

It is the start of the beginning of the road leading up to death of Jesus

Where the people were laying palm branches and cloaks at the feet of Jesus as he rode in

And just days later those very same people will be the ones to say crucify Him!

And it can be easy to say “How dare they” but at the same, “How dare us”!

How dare we entertain sin

How dare we exchange the reflection of the Glory of the Lord for sin

And yet, although we fall short time and time again

The death of our Savior one time pays the penalty for all of our failings

How specific is that!?

How detailed is that!?

That the Glory of the Lord would forgive us over and over and over again

That we can walk confidently in the forgiveness of our sins and strive to reflect the glory of God!

I cant make this up! No one can! Our God has spoken and he has detailed these things to us

The question is, do we believe him!?

Christian Living

Now, in light of Christs glory and work for us, in light of our new freedom,

Lets go back to 1 Corinthians 10,

Written by the Apostle Paul, he is teaching about the book of Exodus and how it pertains to the church

He starts off by reminding the people of the deliverance and then mentions their failings

And after he tells the people that these things were written so that they may learn from them, he writes this in verse 13

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

So we can know for certain that because of Jesus, no sin has power over us

When we do sin, we do it willfully - we do it while there is a way out

And then Paul says flee from idolotry - flee from sin

Application

So, God has internal and external glory

God is a specific and detailed God

Jesus, being God, has glory

Jesus’ death and glory saves

We need saving because we fall short of the glory of God

We put our faith and trust in Jesus to save us and he does

Jesus forgives us of our sins

And because now the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us we can flee from sin and reflect the glory of God

So, we have two application points today

Discern yourself and reflect the glory of God to others

In between Paul speaking about the Exodus and then his encouragement to do all things for the glory of God, is

1 Corinthians 10:23–24 ““All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”

You know yourself and God knows you

We are freed in Christ

2. Read your Bible

God is specific to us in his authority, power, instruction, and promises

Yet, we often ask where is God and why isnt he speaking to me

We act as if God is witholding details essential to living our life

38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.

We are not left alone

The Holy Spirit and the Bible is what you need for daily living