FARTHER ON

REFLECTION

SERMON Exodus 24:9-18

BENEDICTION

INTRODUCTION

In C.S. Lewis’s The Last Battle there is a passage that may help us understand what happened to Moses.

The book ends with the old land of Narnia passing away and all true Narnians entering the new Narnia. This is a picture of Heaven, in which the old passes away and all things become new. There is a tremendous sense of excitement as the subjects of that new and glorious kingdom begin to explore. They leap over hills and cascade down waterfalls. Each new thing they encounter is more amazing than anything they have ever seen before. They don’t stop; they keep moving faster and faster.

Everyone shouts, “farther up and farther in,” and then they rush off to see more wonders in their new land.

This was Moses’ experience on Mount Sinai. He went farther up and farther in.

God called him up the mountain.

He saw God’s glory, heard God’s voice, and ate and drank with him.

Then he entered into glory.

He kept going farther up and farther in until finally he was enveloped by the luminous, radiant presence of God.

Just a little bit closer…just a little bit farther. That’s probably what this year has felt like to many of us.

NOT HEAVEN ON EARTH...

But this thought of: we’re close, we’re close. Then the goal line get’s moved again.

What we commonly refer to as culture and social influence thrive in this space. Influencers are those tapped in to the next thing, calling us:

from where we are, to where they are

from what we bought in the past, to what they’re selling now

from what we’re thinking, believing, feeling, to their narrative

So when we hit a message like “FARTHER ON” or call one another to go farther up and farther in…I want to encourage you this morning, it’s not a moving target...

It’s farther up into His arms so that you can KNOW the heart of GOD

It’s FARTHER INto His presence so that you can remember that you were made for HIM…for eternity…that this Earth and all of its most splendid offers will fade

This is where Moses is in our text this morning.

HE’S ABOUT TO GO FARTHER UP.

HES A FEW STEPS FROM GOING FARTHER IN.

THIS WILL PROVE ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL IN ORDER FOR HIM TO FARTHER ON!

Transition

As we pick back up in our study of Exodus this morning, I want to remind you of where we are in the text:

3 movements:

Exodus 24 is one of the most ESSENTIAL chapters in the whole Old Testament.

It lays out the Biblical pattern for worship.

It establishes God’s covenant with his people on the basis of blood.

It tells how God gave his law.

It shows how mortal men met their Maker face-to-face … and lived to tell about it.

In our last study of this text, we stopped on verse 11 summarizing it up to that point as a grand INVITATION TO WORSHIP!

If we think of that call, that moment as a WORSHIP GATHERING, we’re not entirely off base.

That was for the LARGE group of people.

The meal was for a SMALLER group of people.

In our text this morning we see an even smaller group of people called in further.

Then an individual call to go further.

GOING FARTHER WITH 1

Moses & Joshua go farther toward the LORD’s call and presence than the rest of the group

Moses sent the Elders back to lead/serve

this move had real and lasting consequences…but it was still needful

Joshua, who is your 1? Who is your Moses?

not just your best bud that you can be “real” around

but the one that moves you closer to the LORD?

Who are you close to that is living in the LOVE of Christ, walking in the Spirit of Christ, but obediently fulfilling the Great Commission?

2 tim 1.12-14

But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

“WE learn by serving at someone else’s side”

You need someone pushing, pulling, leading, loving, shepherding you toward the LORD that SEES YOU…KNOWS YOU!

MOSES, who is your 1? Who is your Joshua?

who are you mentoring / discipling / encouraging / bringing closer to the LORD with you

to whom have you said, “follow me as I follow Christ”

this of course assumes that you are a healthy church member. (not perfect)

Titus 2 points us in this direction:

Men discipling men

Women discipling women

A lot of churches have a MEN’S MINISTRY, but may not be actually ministering to men in a way that advances God’s Kingdom.

A lot of churches have a WOMEN’S MINISTRY, but not be ministering to women in a way that advances God’s Kingdom.

DISCIPLESHIP CAN START WITH A LARGE GATHERING…but it goes FARTHER ON THAT THAT.

DISCIPLESHIP CAN HAPPEN IN A SMALLER GROUP GATHERING…but it goes FARTHER ON THAT THAT.

DISCIPLESHIP LIVED US has us LEARNING FROM A MOSES while we’re LEADING A JOSHUA.

Titus 2:7–8 ESV

7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

2 Timothy 2:1–2 ESV

1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

God called Moses - Joshua went as far as he could

GOING FARTHER AS 1

Moses had been getting closer and closer to God ever since the exodus started.

- He met with God at the burning bush.

- He spoke with God on the mountain and heard his voice from the glorious cloud.

- With the rest of Israel’s leaders, he saw God and shared a covenant meal with him.

- He was the mediator, the man who represented the people before God, and now God was inviting him to enter his glory.

Exodus 24:15–18 ESV

15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

God called Moses to go even higher so that He might give him the tablets of stone on which He had written the Ten Commandments.

This is the first mention of the tables of the law in Scripture.

It took Moses 6 days to get to the place where God wanted him to be.

The glory cloud “dwelt” on Mount Sinai, and the Hebrew word translated “abode” is shekinah, a word that both Jewish and Christian theologians use to describe the presence of God.

The cloud that covered the top of Mount Sinai and represented God’s glory was similar to that which appeared during the daytime to be a pillar of dark cloud and during the night to be a pillar of fire as described in 13:21–22; 14:19–20, 24.

The cloud had already served as a protection and guide for the Israelites in their flight from the Egyptians.

It was the same cloud previously indicated in 19:18. In Exodus as elsewhere in the Bible it represented God’s glorious presence: awesome, multifaceted, partly mysterious but also protective and encompassing.

The blazing fire on the mount reminds us that “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29).

Moses remained on the mount with God for forty days and forty nights (see Matt. 4:1–2), and during that time, God gave him the plans for the tabernacle and the priesthood.

What flows from this meeting are 16 chapters worth of profound spiritual truths about our HOLY GOD and how we approach HIM is worship and serve him “acceptably with reverence and godly fear”.

WHAT’S THE LESSON FOR US HERE?

All of this is an illustration of the important truth that we must grow IN OUR OWN WORSHIP EXPERIENCE with the Lord, and we are the ones who decide how “high” we will go.

THE LARGE GROUP

GOD CALLED THE LARGE GROUP TO WORSHIP…but they experienced God at a distance - that was God’s command for them.

The people at the base of the mountain were afraid to hear God’s voice and were satisfied to hear Moses speak to them (20:18–19)!

JESUS ONLY SPOKE TO LARGE CROWDS AND HANDFUL OF TIMES.

Large Gatherings are essential…but God calls us FARTHER UP AND FARTHER IN.

THE SMALL GROUP

GOD CALLED THE SMALLER GROUP TO WORSHIP. THEY EXPERIENCED A MEAL TOGETHER IN HIS PRESENCE.

But the small group could only go so far up.

JESUS SPENT MOST OF HIS TIME IN SMALL GROUPS. THAT’S WHERE DISCIPLESHIP WAS TAUGHT AND CAUGHT.

SMALL Groups / Bible Study Groups / Community Groups are essential to your relationship with God and relationship with the church. They will take you farther up and farther in with a community of believers. BUT GOD CALLS YOU FARTHER ON.

DISCIPLING RELATIONSHIPS

GOD CALLED MOSES UP HIGHER…HE AND JOSHUA WENT TOGETHER.

“WE learn by serving at someone else’s side”

The most intimate moments in Jesus ministry happened in the smallest groups of 3-4.

Jesus would pull Peter away from the charcoal fire in John 21 to teach him the most fundamental truth about leading the flock…loving Jesus

WE ARE HEADING TOWARD DYNAMIC FAITH WHEN SOMEONE WHO SEES US IS HELPING US TOWARD THE PRIZE....and we are helping someone else. Pushing us farther on.

YOUR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THROUGH CHRIST

The Large crowd was content to hang back, and have someone else tell them about God.

How tragic it is when God’s people settle for the lowest level when there are new heights of blessing for those who seek God with their whole hearts.

Hebrews 10:19–25 ESV

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

James 4:8 ESV

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

We don’t come fearfully to a stormy mountain but confidently to a glorious heavenly city where our names are written down as citizens of heaven...

Hebrews 12:18–19 ESV

18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.

Heb 12.18-19, 22-24

Hebrews 12:18–19 ESV

18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.

Hebrews 12:22–24 ESV

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

CALL TO ACTION:

(IT IS BETTER) FARTHER ON

As we travel through the desert Storms beset us on our way; But beyond the River Jordan Lies a field of endless days.

Refrain: Farther on still go farther, Count the milestones one by one. Jesus will forsake you never. It is better farther on.

Oh my brother are you weary Of the roughness of the way? Does your strength begin to fail you And your vigor to decay?

Jesus, Jesus will go with you, He will lead you to the throne, He who dyed His garments for you, And the winepress trod alone.

YOU GO FARTHER BY TAKING ONE STEP AT A TIME.

WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP FOR YOU? IT DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU ARE HEADED. WHERE ARE YOU HEADED?

YOU’LL GO FARTER WITH 1.

Ladies (from teens to queens), if you don’t have someone older than you in your life helping you move farther up and farther on in your walk with Christ, look around - (music) that’s what church family’s for!

Men (young and mature alike), if you don’t have someone older than you in your life helping you move farther up and farther on in your walk with Christ, look around - (music) that’s what church family’s for!

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO GO FARTER IN YOUR WALK WITH CHRIST PERSONALLY, HE HAS PROVIDED.

2 Peter 1:3–4 ESV

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

LET’S PRAY

WHAT’S YOUR NEXT STEP?

SALVATION?

BAPTISM?

MEMBERSHIP?

DISCIPLING? BEING DISCIPLED?

call to action

willing to disciple - let me know ( I NEED A JOSHUA)

need someone to disciple you - let me know (I NEED A MOSES)