Paul
Notes
Transcript
Call to Worship
27 Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!” 28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.
Prayer of Invocation
God - your grace is so amazing - incomprehendible …
Pastoral Prayer
Confession, Assurance of Pardon
Series
Recap
Illustration “Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom MOMMMM!”
I recall a few times this happened — one of our children trying to get Mom’s attention and she’s just in the zone — not hearing them.
“Pastor Chad, how awful to throw your wife under the bus like that!”
First of all, EVERYONE does this
Second, it’s really hard to recall a time when I did NOT hear someone when I’M THE ONE NOT HEARING THEM!
No doubt I’ve done it far more times than my lovely wife!
It is amazing the HUMAN ABILITY to HEAR and at the same time NOT HEAR.
ISRAEL heard the 10 commandments as God gave them to MOSES
They HEARD — and were TERRIFIED.
And in just a matter of days, that FEAR had faded to IMPATIENCE.
“Where is that MOSES guy!”
Why don’t we WORSHIP God anyway in our own way.
Let’s build an IDOL, offer some SACRIFICES to it, and then PARTY HARD
What could possibly be WRONG WITH THAT?
God, of course, KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT IS GOING ON
He tells MOSES — saying “I’m going to kill them all and start over with you.”
10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”
SOME WOULD READ THIS AND THINK — Look how vindictive and angry is their God!
But that’s not at all the right assessment of God’s response.
Rather, Look how GRACIOUS and MERCIFUL their God is:
He GRACIOUSLY gave Moses the OPPORTUNITY to PRAY — to PLEAD that God would not bring about this disaster.
God would have been fair and just to have killed ALL 600k men — rather he MERCIFULLY killed just 3,000.
Not only that — God is going to CONTINUE to go with them through the wilderness years and into the promised land.
Which brings us to the THEME VERSE where Moses RESPONDS to God’s lavish grace with WORSHIP:
Theme
18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’
And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
TEXT - Exodus 34:10-28
10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.
11 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. 13 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods. 17 “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.
18 “You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. 19 All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20 The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed. 21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22 You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. 23 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year. 25 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. 26 The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Introduction
Big Idea:
Our standing before God does not rely on our obedience but on His faithfulness.
Our standing before God does not rely on our obedience but on His faithfulness.
Covenant of Wonders v10-11
Covenant of Wonders v10-11
10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.
God is as God does — God does WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE
In re-upping the covenant with Israel, God says “I’m going to do things for you that no one has ever seen!”
And ANYONE on the outside who sees what I do will know that ISRAEL’S God is the REAL GOD
Israel’s standing before God did not rely on their works — God HAD been and would CONTINUE to do incredible works even though they were still a STIFF-NECKED PEOPLE.
v11 give us an example of something otherwise impossible that God is GOING TO DO for Israel
11 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
When you read about the CONQUEST of Canaan as recorded in the book of Joshua, you’ll notice that Israel did not just sit back and watch God conquer the nations.
But you’ll come away thinking “ONLY GOD COULD DO THAT!”
Jericho was a HIGHLY FORTIFIED city
High walls, and a water supply within the city walls so they could sithstand a long siege if need be.
And what was the battle plan?
March around the walls of the city several times over the course of a week.
Imagine the SHOCK of the JERICHO-ANS when the wall suddenly was reduced to rubble and Israel could attack from all sides — and in short order kill everyone.
The way Israel had been acting — grumbling against God, defying God — They certainly had not earned God’s help in taking the land
But it’s ok because:
Big Idea:
Our standing before God does not rely on our obedience but on His faithfulness.
Our standing before God does not rely on our obedience but on His faithfulness.
I’M STICKING WITH THIS BIG IDEA, BUT I need to give some clarification:
By STANDING — I do not mean to imply that REGARDLESS of what you might do, God will give you all the blessings he has in store.
By STANDING, I MEAN our RELATIONSHIP STATUS before God.
In these recent chapters of Exodus, ISRAEL has been so rebellious. And their STANDING as God’s CHOSEN PEOPLE did not change because of that.
If you are GOD’S CHILD having laid your sin down at the cross — and by faith exchanged your sin for His Righteousness — your STANDING (your RELATIONSHIP to God as his adopted child) is SECURE.
SECURE because the FATHER is FAITHFUL,
The SON KEEPS His Own.
and the SPIRIT GUARANTEES our salvation.
ALL THREE PERSONS of the GODHEAD are faithful to KEEP YOU AS HIS CHILD.
Though our STANDING is secured by God’s FAITHFULNESS
HOW the Father interacts with us IS connected to our own ACTIONS
Any good father would not abandon his child for an outburst of anger, or for hitting a sibling.
The sin of the child will change the way the parent interacts with the child, but the RELATIONSHIP REMAINS.
Covenant of Exclusivity v12-17
Covenant of Exclusivity v12-17
(Covenant of Wonders)
God’s FIRST REQUIREMENT is more or less a repeat of the FIRST TWO commandments.
12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. 13 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods. 17 “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.
There is no “live and let live” in this passage.
There is no “agree to disagree” regarding religion.
God’s people were to NOT TOLERATE the idols and symbols of OTHER RELIGIONS in their land.
They had to ALL BE DESTROYED and REMOVED
Perhaps with the pagan objects of worship destroyed, the people would be less tempted to WORSHIP OTHER GODS.
In addition to not having the objects of worship — they were to NOT FORMALLY COOPERATE with the worshippers of these idols.
No business partnership
No INTERMARRYING
God’s word is quite clear: this was never about ANCESTRY, ETHNICITY, LANGUAGE, or CULTURE.
The command to not ENTER INTO COVENANT or intermarry among the PAGANS was all about RELIGIOUS PURITY.
You marry someone who wants to continue worshipping their gods, it will impact you.
You become a business partner with someone who worship BAAL, it’s going to impact your holiness to one degree or another.
God demands EXCLUSIVE DEVOTION to Himself
He will not share His role as your GOD with anyone or anything else.
Covenant of Worship v18-26
Covenant of Worship v18-26
(Covenant of Wonders, Exclusivity)
The following commands are again repeats of commands given earlier.
18 “You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt.
The Feast of Unleavened bread is commenced with the PASSOVER — and is the first feast instituted by God — and remembers the EXODUS
And a few verses later other festivals are listed as well
19 All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20 The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed.
God claims personal ownership of all the FIRSTBORN MALES
of Israel’s ANIMALS
and of Israels PEOPLE
The animals were to be sacrificed (with option to sacrifice a lamb in place of a donkey)
But the BABY BOYS were to be REDEEMED — a substitute lamb sacrificed in his place.
The whole concept of SUBSTITUTIONARY DEATH is prevalent all through the Bible.
When ADAM sinned — he should have died.
But God sacrificed an ANIMAL (likely a lamb) to fashion clothing for Adam and Eve.
The whole sacrificial system outlined in the books Moses wrote are SUBSTITUTES.
The SIN sacrifice or ATONEMENT sacrifice — the animal dies INSTEAD of the ones who sinned.
ALL POINTING to Jesus — the TRUE SACRIFICE offered as a SUBSTITUTE for us.
Jesus DIED in our place
21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
The SABBATH is extremely important to God.
Even in the BUSY SEASONS OF LIFE — even during the times of PLANTING and HARVESTING — the crucial, busy times — GIVE A DAY TO GOD
This is the FOURTH time in Exodus God has stated his insistence that Israel do ZERO WORK on Saturday
I’ve preached two sermons from Exodus that were exclusively about the sabbath.
If you want a refresher, you can look those up online.
And the START of chapter 35 emphasizes the Sabbath once more.
You know what — When God commands something, He really only needs to do it ONCE. It is stated and God demands it be obeyed.
5x in Exodus — 5x!
Maybe setting aside a DAY for REST and WORSHIP is actually pretty important to God.
In addition to a WEEKLY REST from work, God commanded ANNUAL RESTS from work.
22 You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. 23 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
The Lord adds a special promise for the pilgrim to the three annual feasts that require his presence (vv. 23–24). The Lord will protect the pilgrim’s land from his ungodly neighbor, who might move the boundary markers or steal from the land while the pilgrim is absent. [REBC]
The FINAL instruction on Israel’s worship is v25-26
25 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. 26 The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
God’s worship is to be PURE — no LEAVEN (the symbol of sin)
The last phrase of v26 is always a bit jarring to read. It seems weird to us because we are so far removed from the CULTURE and PRACTICES of the nations back in the time this was written.
(pagan canaanite practice — abhorrent practice because of the symbolism: the mother’s milk which should be nourishing and comforting, should not be a weapon of death)
Covenant of Words v27-28
Covenant of Words v27-28
(Covenant of Wonders, Exclusivity, Worship)
27 And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”
Our religion is one of WORDS.
We have WORDS recorded for us that have been PRESERVED through copies and translations over the centuries.
And what’s truly fascinating, is that the OLDEST, ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS of portions of the Bible that we have discovered ALL READ THE SAME WAY as the Hebrew and Greek texts we use as reference today.
God has preserved His word for us so we can KNOW HIM
28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Conclusion
Big Idea:
Our standing before God does not rely on our obedience but on His faithfulness.
Our standing before God does not rely on our obedience but on His faithfulness.
our STANDING is not determined by OUR actions — but our BLESSINGS ARE.
Israel’s history is recorded throughout the old testament.
There are times when they really did seek to honor God
And in those times they experienced peace — growth — aka BLESSINGS
But there were times they were quite rebellious.
In those times God brought about DROUGHT and FAMINE
He brought WARS into the land.
He even had them carried off as CAPTIVES into a foreign land.
In their times of OBEDIENCE, they were counted as GOD’S PEOPLE — Their STANDING before God was that of ‘HIS OWN.’
And God blessed them.
In their times of REBELLION, they were STILL counted as GOD’S PEOPLE — their STANDING before God did not change.
But God’s DEALINGS with them certainly did.
SOME WOULD SCOFF at the God of the Bible:
All he does is RESTRICT what you can do — don’t do this! Don’t do that!
They see God as a COSMIC KILL-JOY — no fun for you!
But the reality found in scripture is there is no amount of GOOD WORKS DONE or BAD WORKS AVOIDED that will make you right with God.
Your standing before God is determined solely with what you have done with JESUS.
Have you TURNED from your sin and TRUSTED JESUS as your savior?
If not — REPENT & BELIEVE TODAY!
CONSIDER
FOR BELIEVERS:
Your standing before God does not rely on your obedience but on His faithfulness.
Your standing before God does not rely on your obedience but on His faithfulness.
Your obedience demonstrates your standing
Your obedience demonstrates your standing
So how are you doing?
Is your life CONSISTENT with your STANDING?
Do you LIVE in a godly fashion — or do you merely put on a godly facade when it’s time to go to church?
Who you are ALONE is who you are. When no one is watching, are you living a godly life?
Announcements
Check the bulletin
Remember Coffee Time on Tuesday at 10
Tonight at 5:00 we have a game night planned
Weather-permitting outside (lawn chairs)
Bring a side-dish and outdoor games
We’ll have it rain or shine
Training Hour starts at 10:30 - we have classes for all ages.
Benediction
Live your week with the attitude and intent of the Apostle Paul:
10 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death,
