Unholy Cow
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Exodus 32:26 (KJV (WS))
26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
In these words we have one of the great challenges of the Bible.
“Who is on the LORD’s side?”
What prompted this question was what Moses found when he descended from the mountain.
Israel had gotten impatient while Moses was away, and when he come back, he finds them worshipping a golden calf - an unholy cow.
When seeing this, he issues his call - a call that is much needed today in this age of ignorance, superstition, and false religion. He says, “Who is on the LORD’s side?”
The main thing happening in the book of Exodus is found in:
8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
The goal is the presence of God…And the ironic thing is, the unholy cow was created to solve the perceived problem of God’s absence.
1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
It is an attempt to solve a problem that does not exist. But it brings to light a larger problem and that is lack of trust, lack of faith in God...
It’s obvious that Israel here is walking by sight. They were first putting their trust in Moses, and now they want other gods. We are to have faith in God!
You’re either on the LORD’s side or you’re not. There’s no in between.
With the Lord’s help, I want to show you some things out of this passage concerning this unholy cow and the LORD’s side...
I-What it means to be on the Lord’s side
I-What it means to be on the Lord’s side
You can tell from the lives that people live what side they are on…
When you are on the Lord’s side, it means to be done with:
The world’s side
The world’s side
When we give in to the pressures of the world and modern society’s emphasis upon materialism, we are on the world’s side.
1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
The children of Israel wanted a god they could see, so they made a golden calf.
This was the first time Aaron had this responsibility and unfortunately he is going to fail, flop, and flounder miserably. Aaron will fail because he will try to serve two masters.
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Aaron was a good man, but not a strong man. He caves in to the majority and peer pressure. Aaron yields to the crowd just like Pilate who yielded to the cries, “Crucify Him!”
Aaron caters to please the crowd and it brings nothing but trouble to him and the nation.
My friends, we are to be in this world, but not of this world.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
To be on the Lord’s side means we are to be done with the world’s side, we are also to be done with:
Self
Self
Look at what God says about His people:
9 And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Stiffnecked is a way of saying they were, hard-hearted, obstinate, going their own way, self-reliant.
And many of us are no different today; we believe we can manage ourselves in any and every situation.
19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.
20 Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;
22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.
The Israelites forgot what God had done and returned to their old wicked ways.
How quickly we forget. We forget that God gave us life in this world. We forget that he is the source of all our gifts and the origin of all our blessings. We forget that he sent his own Son to die for our sins. We forget that he has put his Spirit into our hearts as a guarantee of eternal life. And when we forget, we turn back to the same old idolatries: money, sex, and power.
If we are on the Lord’s side, we realize that without Him, we can do nothing!
Sin
Sin
Their sin is referred to a couple times in this chapter:
21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
Exodus 32:30 (KJV (WS))
30 ...Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin...
The Bible always emphasizes man’s sin. Man was born a sinner and has continued to practice sinful habits.
The sin the children of Israel committed here in our text was disobedience, distrust, and distortion…all the things we’ve talked about already.
We must understand that these things didn’t just happen back then, they are happening today!
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
God tells us here, “I’ve given you examples! Don’t make the same mistakes!”
To be on the Lord’s side means to turn away from sin (repent) and turn toward God, away from self-reliance and from the things of the world.
To be on the Lord’s side means to be done with the world, with self, and with sin...
II-What it costs to be on the Lord’s side
II-What it costs to be on the Lord’s side
Jesus always urge would-be disciples to “count the cost” before following Him.
Luke 14:27–28 (KJV (WS))
27 ...whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
J.C. Ryle wrote, “...a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice - which costs nothing, is worth nothing.”
“To be saved cost us nothing…to be a disciple costs us everything”
The cost of being on the Lord’s side is:
Confession
Confession
Look at:
26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
“All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.”
They took “one pace forward” like volunteers in an army. They became conspicuous as they stepped over the line, confessing that they were willing to be on the Lord’s side.
Siding with the minority
Siding with the minority
The people of God in the Bible are always a remnant. God has always worked through minorities.
Never, in the Bible, do you find the majority siding with God! It’s always the minority!
2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
We must be willing to stand alone if need be; yet not alone, rather, with Him!
Abraham Lincoln, responding to a general that had mentioned having God on their side, said this: “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”
The cost of being on the Lord’s side is confession, siding with the minority, and also:
Becoming active
Becoming active
Look at what the Bible says in the next verse:
27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.
In this verse, we see the judgment for those who weren’t on the Lord’s side, but I want to make a point that the ones that were on the Lord’s side became active; they had to do something! There was a job for them!
When you choose the Lord’s side, you’ll become active.
You can’t spell gospel without go! We must be active in obedience to the Great Commission to “go into all the world...”
So, we’ve seen what it means to be on the Lord’s side, What it costs to be on the Lord’s side, thirdly, let’s look at:
III-How to enlist on the Lord’s side
III-How to enlist on the Lord’s side
There are three things we must do to enlist on the Lord’s side, and we find them right here in our text this morning:
Accept the invitation
Accept the invitation
26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
“Let him come unto me.” is the invitation here...
Today, Jesus gives that invitation. As Moses was God’s representative, so now Jesus is God’s representative.
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The last invitation we find in all the Bible:
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Will you accept that invitation and get on the Lord’s side?
Answer the challenge
Answer the challenge
Notice what Moses says here in verse 26...
Exodus 32:26 (KJV (WS))
26 ...Who is...let him come unto me...
How personal Moses was! Although all the sons of Levi accepted the invitation and answered the challenge, each man had to decide for himself after weighing the pros and cons. You alone can answer the challenge and decide to completely follow Jesus.
Receive the Savior
Receive the Savior
Moses was the Old Testament savior or deliverer of God’s people. He promised to make an atonement for them...
30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.
Jesus made an atonement between sinful man and a holy God when He died (the Just for the unjust) on Calvary’s cross.
Now He says:
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Conclusion
Conclusion
There is no room for neutrality in the Christian life. Not to be on the Lord’s side is to oppose Him. The Lord’s side is one of honor, duty, and one we will ultimately wish we had chosen or will be glad we chose. Being on the Lord’s side carries certain obligations.
1. It involves personal consecration to the Lord. He must be #1.
2. It involves renouncing earthly ties of worldliness and carnal living.
3. It involves doing the Lord’s work.
Are you on the Lord’s side this morning?
