Fire on the Mountain

Sin never brings us closer to God

It is 72 days until the national election and having just heard Yahweh speak the 10 commandments to His people, there is something we need to discuss.

Both parties are weak on the sanctity of human life - but one party’s platform is built on the absolute rejection of the 6th commandment.

Exodus 20:13 ““You shall not murder.”

In the official Democratic Party Platform under the section titled, “Achieving Universal, Affordable, Quality Heath Care”

Way down the page there is a sub-heading of “Securing Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice.”

It says a lot, but I want to read two sentences in particular.

“We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion.”

“We will repeal the Hyde Amendment, and protect and codify the right to reproductive freedom.”

Those two sentences say two things

First, the Democratic platform supports abortion as a fundamental right, right up to the moment of birth.

And, according to the law the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate signed into law in his home state, if an unwanted child is born alive, they can be given care.

Not live-sustaining care - just care - supposedly until the child naturally dies.

Second, with the repeal of the Hyde amendment, you and I will be paying for abortions in America with our tax dollars.

Both are immoral and what makes them immoral is they fly in the face of the moral Law-Giver, Yahweh.

Abortion doesn’t enhance a woman’s relationship with God.

Abortion doesn’t enhance a woman’s relationship with a man.

And abortion doesn’t make a man some sort of women’s super-hero.

Abortion is sin, and sin never brings us closer to God - ever.

Turn with me if you will to Exodus 20:18-26.

While you look this up, let me speak to the kids right quick.

I’ve encouraged you for the last two weeks to memorize the Ten Commandments.

I hope you are still working on that.

One of the most important things the ten commandments teaches us is that we can’d keep them all of the time.

If your mom or dad has ever told you not to do something, and you did it anyway, you broke one of the commandments.

And if it involved cookies - don’t eat that cookie before dinner - and you ate it anyway

Now, you’ve broken two commandments with one cookie.

You took a cookie you weren’t suppose to take and you dishonored your parent.

What the 10 commandments teach us is we need a Savior

And thank the Lord, we have one - His name is Jesus.

As you listen today, listen to how knowing that we are sinful should cause us to want a Savior.

It is all of our prayers that one day you’ll understand that so well, that you’ll realize Jesus is your Savior, and you will trust Him forever.

Our three words to help you listen today are Jesus, Fear and Sin.

Let us all hear now the word of the Lord from the book of Exodus 20:18-26

Exodus 20:18–26 ESV

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Let us pray:

Dear Brave Jesus,

You faced unimaginable horror to do your Father’s will.

Yet, you conquered the horror so we could be saved.

Lord Jesus, please have the Holy Spirit make us strong in the faith.

Please illuminate Your word today so our sin won’t make us despair

But will instead, show us how much more we need you.

Thank you for being so tough and so compassionate.

Amen

Look at verse 18 - Exodus 20:18 “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off”

Remember all of the instructions about not touching the mountain

And if someone did touch the mountain they would die, remember that?

But what actually happened when God came down to the mountain and spoke out loud to all of the people?

Instead of rushing forward, they retreated

Why?

You know when strange things happened - and this was undoubtedly strange - that there is always at least one person who wants to investigate.

Someone - and in a half million people or more - they’d been a number of curious people that would want to know.

But no one did.

No one approached the mountain.

In fact, when they stood far off - that probably retreated back to camp.

Why?

Why were they so fearful?

You know because I’ve told your more times than you can count that my favorite teacher of all time was my 4th grade teacher, Ms. Brill.

Something happened in her class one day and I did something uncharacteristic of me - and I was wrong.

Other kids did it too and I was a part of the correction Ms. Brill gave to us.

But she pulled me aside one on one.

And she told me that she didn’t expect that of me in particular.

That I wasn’t that kind of boy.

She was sweet, kind, loving, compassionate, and forgiving, but she was right.

And her words cut so deep into my soul that I remember it today.

Ms. Brill’s holiness - if you will

Really made my sinfulness stand out.

They ran back to camp not simply in fear of the noise and smoke and fire.

They ran back because God’s holiness made their sin stand out.

They were puny, weak, small, frail, sinful

And this Yahweh, made the earth quake with His presence.

They knew they were in the presence of a God who was more powerful and more different than any god they had ever encountered.

Before they finally enter the promised land, Moses will remind them about this moment in Deuteronomy 5.

Deuteronomy 5:23–27 ESV

And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

In fact, the author of Hebrews says, “Hebrews 12:21

Hebrews 12:21 ESV

Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”

Sin doesn’t draw us to the Lord.

Sin causes us to want to run and hide.

To stay in the shadows and play in the dark - why do you think those people who do violent things wear mask?

They don’t want anyone to know who they are.

Because they know what they are doing is wrong

And it’s wrong because it is against God.

Sin separates us from God.

So why did God put on this display if it caused people to be terrified and to run?

Look at verse 20 Exodus 20:20 “Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.””

The fear of God is a remedy for sin

We’ve worked hard to water down this concept of God.

We worked hard to make churches “seeker-sensitive”

Get rid of things that the man or woman on the street could find offensive.

Preach nothing but the love of God.

We’ve misunderstood that the fear of the Lord IS teaching the love of God.

I fear the Lord.

I love Him, I adore Him, I admire Him, I long to see Him, I am grateful for Him, the list could go on and on

But I also fear Him.

I have no idea what He might call me to do that might be mentally or physically painful.

And I know who I am - will I be a man of God enough to conquer like Jesus did.

I fear His discipline.

Discipline for sin is painful.

Hebrews 12:11 ESV

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Because He loves us, the Lord will discipline us - and I don’t know anyone who enjoys painful correction.

Moses tells them Exodus 20:20 “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.””

Don’t be afraid right this moment.

The Lord has done this thing to prove to you that the fear of God will be your motivation not to sin.

You know, when my kids were small, I’d much rather my kids obey because they love me rather than because they are afraid of me.

Yet, if it was fear that drove them to obey and learn life lessons, then fear it had to be.

Again, Hebrews 12:9

Hebrews 12:9 ESV

Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?

If the fear of punishment from me was enough to keep my children from doing something that would endanger their life, then that’s a win.

If the fear of the Lord’s discipline is enough to keep me away from sin that would endanger my life, then that’s a bigger win.

I know what we are talking about for some of you is fighting decades of teaching telling you that the word fear for God is simply a deep reverence.

And I know what we are saying today isn’t simply a deep reverence - this text is telling us that it’s way more than that.

Our perception of God has to be that He is a being so wholly different from us and so wholly more powerful than us that our existence is endangered by His power.

Let Jesus tell us: Matthew 10:28

Matthew 10:28 ESV

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Almighty God not only has the power to destroy us for all eternity, He has the right to as well.

[Psa 100:3 KJV] [3] Know ye that the LORD he [is] God: [it is] he [that] hath made us, and not we ourselves;...

Standing unprotected before God drives us to fear

But now here is what we need to see - jump down to verse 24

Exodus 20:24 “An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.”

The Lord has made a way for us to see wrath and mercy, fear and love

He told them to make an altar and He gave them specific instructions for it.

Those are cool but for today they aren’t our point.

Our point is this - there are two kinds of offerings to be sacrificed on the altar.

The first is the burnt offering.

The entire animal is slaughtered and all of it’s blood spilled on the dirt.

Later on in Leviticus this will spelled out very clearly.

Leviticus 17:11 ESV

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

The animal is to be slaughtered and then placed on the altar and burned completely.

When the fire goes out, nothing will be left but bones and maybe even some of them are burned up.

This is a picture of hell.

This is a picture of the person who takes their sins into eternity with them

This is the person who rejects God - who runs as far away as possible for as long as possible.

Until one day there is no where left to run.

Their life is required of them.

They are called to stand before God.

And as much as they will plead about all of the good things they did - it won’t matter.

All of their good works will be nothing more than filthy rags in the Lord’s sight.

It’s the as the same picture of Jesus hanging on the cross.

That’s the level of punishment a person who is carrying their own sins deserves.

As the man Jesus hung there, He felt His life draining away one drop at the time.

Until at last, every drop of blood that gave Jesus life dripped on the ground, and Jesus died.

For everyone who stands defiantly in the face of God, this is how their life will end - they will eternally die.

But the Lord said build an altar for more than an object lesson.

The altar is where God will cause His name to be remembered.

And at that place God will come and God will bless you.

When we see the burnt offering being consumed by the flames and we remember our sinfulness

And that’s our destiny, we cry out to the Lord

We recognize our sinfulness, we repent of our sins and we plead sincerely for forgiveness.

And the Lord is quick to forgive.

Our destiny is changed.

There is one more thing to talk about in just a moment.,

But before we go there - I want to offer you the opportunity to repent of your sins.

I want us to have a moment to stop and remember our sinfulness

And remember what an absolutely unbelievable amount of compassion and courage it took to save us.

So that we can take just a moment and thank the Lord for calling us close and saving our souls.

We deserved hell and instead, we are given heaven by the mercy and grace of God.

I also want to offer this - if you see in the picture of the burnt offering a picture of your destiny

Listen to me and believe, you do not have to spend eternity in hell.

It’s not your destiny unless you continue to reject the Lord’s mercy and salvation.

You might be the nicest person in Gray

You might be the most helpful and caring person in Gray

Everyone might look at you and wish they were you - but your good deeds won’t mitigate a single sin when you stand before the Lord.

Everything you have ever done good will be filthy rags and God will grant your wish and send you to hell.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

The burnt offering, Jesus’ body, was given as a substitute for you.

Jesus will take your sins and experience the wrath of God for you

And He will allow you to live as a son or daughter of God with all of its benefits

If you will trust Him with your life.

He will forgive every dark secret that haunts your nights

The things you’ve done that have stained your life, He will wash them away.

And He will make you brand new - you will be born again to a brand new life.

If - only if - you will repent and trust Jesus with your life.

We’ll pray and then have a few moments to pray - during those few minutes, I invite you to come tell me you want to follow Jesus.

Let us stand and pray:

Pray

You can be seated.

Remember there was as second kind of offering in verse 24 - it was a peace offering.

The peace offering is essentially a cook-out with the Lord as the host.

The animal is to be cooked on the altar and everyone who belongs to the offering is to eat it.

Later on the rules will be expanded to include bringing bread to this offering

Almost like bringing bread for sandwiches.

Remember what the Lord said about the offerings.

“In every place (that’s wherever they built an altar) where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.

For those who trusted in the Lord, that becomes a fellowship meal.

We sit down to eat - our sins forgiven by the sacrifice of the burnt offering

And we eat the roasted meat of the peace offering with some bread in the presence of the Lord.

And I can’t help but believe, that part of the blessing is enjoying a good piece of grilled meat shared with Godly friends.

Wherever two or three are gathered, right?

Well, there are two or three gathered together here today, aren’t there?

And prepared on the tables before us by some dedicated members of our fellowship is some bread and some juice.

It’s not exactly a peace-offering cook-out, but the purpose is the same.

We’ll come to the table - and with the Lord watching

And the Holy Spirit whispering words of love and forgiveness into our spirits

We’ll take the bread and the juice, and we’ll remember that we are saved by the blood of the Lamb.

Romans 5:8–11 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

We who trust Jesus have been made right with God - holy, reborn, new and accepted

And by taking the bread and juice today, we are proclaiming to the world that Jesus died for us and He is coming again.

Let us pray:

Elder prayer

We are aware this is a bit awkward for those of you who are not saved.

You should not take the bread and the juice.

Our prayer is that you would be saved - that you would be one of us - we pray that one day and hopefully that’s today

But if not, that one day you can enjoy the satisfaction we know that we are born again.

But for today - you may remain in your seat if you wish, or stand in line and simply step past the one serving when your time comes.

We ask everyone to exit your pew to the left and proceed forward to the station closest to you.

You may eat the wafer immediately or you can take it back to your seat if you wish to pray for a bit.

If you need gluten free, please come to the middle table.

But all of us, all of us, let’s enjoy this meal with our brothers and sisters and be blessed by Jesus.

Please rise and come to the table.