Shunned Love

Grace Covenant Reformed Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Well, this past week has certainly been one of those times that will go down in history as an event and a time in which people will remember where they were when they heard the news.

00:38

Not necessarily because they, in and of themselves, were even familiar with this young man,

00:45

Charlie Kirk, but how the nation in which we live has since responded.

00:59

There have been, of course, a great outpouring of sympathy, of prayers for the family, but there have also been many who have responded in ways that cannot be described as anything less than pure evil.

01:22

Praising the death of an individual who did not resort to nor condone violence, even against those with whom he disagreed.

01:37

Outside of all of that, one of the amazing things that has occurred is that there have been countless videos being shared of this young man proclaiming truth, not backing down, never being ashamed, but boldly and repeatedly proclaiming the gospel.

02:08

To be sure, there are certainly places where his theology and ours may not align a hundred percent, but he was very clear in his faith, it was very clear that he led his family in faith, it was very clear that he proclaimed his faith.

02:35

Quite honestly, regardless of what the news media call it, most likely at the end of the day, he was killed for his faith.

02:56

The fact that we live in a world that is broken should not come as any shock to any believer.

03:08

We simply turn into the pages of scripture. We know this.

03:19

For just over 400 years, first as colonies of Great Britain and Spain, and then later as the

03:30

United States of America, we have lived in a place where, for the most part, we have been free to worship and have never truly faced religious persecution.

03:45

We may have faced opposition, but persecution, true persecution, the threat of death because of our faith has been something that we have only read about in books or articles or maybe witnessed in videos or other parts of the world, or you may have actually been in other parts of the world and witnessed these atrocities.

04:14

What is worrisome is that even though we have only faced opposition and not persecution,

04:26

Christians in America today seem very prepared to compromise their values, their beliefs, their faith when it comes to the word of God.

04:46

So it's clear that the church in America has two major problems. The first of those problems is a problem that has existed since the dawn of time when

05:01

Adam and Eve first succumbed to the great temptation and sinned and fell.

05:08

It's the reality that there exists a system that is evil and demonic and still exists in this world, the system that will continuously oppose

05:23

God at every stand. And I'll be honest,

05:31

I have concerns about this system, but the truth of the matter is, is if I'm a believer and I believe the word of God and I understand the word of God, that system's already defeated.

05:51

Doesn't mean we won't face repercussions, don't mean we won't deal with things this side of glory, but it does mean that in the final analysis, that system has been eradicated.

06:05

What does concern me much more so is the second problem that the church in America faces.

06:14

This problem, quite honestly, is the one which is rooted in the very heart of so -called churches and so -called

06:22

Christians throughout our nation. This truth is just like everything else we face is addressed in scripture.

06:39

It comes as no surprise to God. It should come as no surprise to us because he has given it to us in his word.

06:52

Now, I know that oftentimes we have spoken repeatedly regarding scripture, regarding our reliance on scripture, our belief around scripture, the centrality of the

07:11

Bible to this church. And I will be honest with you, it's not the last time you're going to hear me say it because at the end of the day, it is the entire reason that we exist.

07:33

His word is everything that we need for life, for godliness.

07:42

Brother Daniel added a word the other day that I haven't used before, but I'm going to be honest, I've included it this morning because I liked it and that is certain.

07:54

It's infallible. It's inerrant. It's all -sufficient. It's all -authoritative. It is certain.

08:00

It is complete. And we will not stop preaching that from this pulpit as long as I draw breath or we remain this side of glory.

08:26

The reason we draw so much attention to this is because there are so many professing

08:38

Christians and so -called churches today who do not agree that the

08:43

Bible is some or any of those things. There are a couple of reasons for that view.

08:55

One of these is that simply, although they may profess to be Christians, they simply do not have true saving faith.

09:06

They are what scripture describes as those among us who are not of us.

09:17

Secondly, though, beyond the fact that they are sinners, some of these people will not stand firm on the word of God because they have lost their first love.

09:36

One of the most difficult books for many in the church today is the book, the final book, the book that closes out the canon.

09:47

Likely written between 85 and 95 AD as John was stranded, outcast on the island of Patmos, the book provides the final inspired words of God given to us through the apostle

10:09

John. Most of us love to turn to this book and the argument ultimately becomes final things, the description of the ultimate battle, the defeat of Satan, the final gathering of the people of God to dwell with this

10:25

God. But the book also contains other things for us. It contains seven letters to seven churches.

10:38

Each one of those churches teaches us something different. But one of these letters in particular ties into the events that are recorded in the lives of the

10:47

Israelites as they surround in the wilderness beneath Sinai.

10:57

We find this letter in the first verses of Revelation chapter 2 where we read these words.

11:04

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write, this is what the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands says.

11:16

I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance and that you cannot bear with those who are evil and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not.

11:30

And you found them to be false. And you have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake.

11:36

You also have not grown weary but I have this against you. That you have left your first love.

11:49

Therefore, remember from where you have fallen and repent and do the deed you did at first.

11:58

But if not, I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent.

12:09

Yet this I do have, this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which

12:14

I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

12:20

To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.

12:30

As God gives these words, as Christ gave these words to John to write to the church at Ephesus, the goal of course was to help those that were within the church to see what they had done, to call them to repentance and demonstrate once again his everlasting grace and mercy for his people.

12:51

What we see detailed for us are again two different very different types of people, those who believe and those who are amongst us who do not believe.

13:00

Those who believe will repent and believe and as it tells us in verse 7 of there, they will be ushered in to the paradise.

13:09

Those who do not will fall away. But this church was not alone.

13:18

You see, the Jews have had this problem for much of the Old Testament. In fact, we see it come to light over and over again.

13:29

One of those occurring while Moses is in the midst of receiving God's word.

13:38

And so over the next several weeks, we are going to look at a section of the book of Exodus and our journey that begins in chapter 32 and ends in chapter 34 that is somewhat parenthetical.

13:52

Now what this means simply is that it kind of steps away from the normal flow of the narrative to introduce to us some additional information, but it is all still tied together.

14:10

If you will, turn with me once again in your Bible to the book of Exodus as we again return to this historic narrative of God delivering his people from the land of Egypt for his glory and for their good.

14:29

Having turned, please stand for the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, sufficient, certain, authoritative, and complete word.

14:44

Beginning in Exodus chapter 32, beginning in the first verse, reading down through the 10th,

14:50

God's word says to us these things. Then the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain.

15:01

So the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, Arise, make us gods who will go before us.

15:10

As for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.

15:19

And Aaron said to them, Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.

15:29

Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in the ears and brought them to Aaron. And he took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf.

15:42

And they said, These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.

15:52

And Aaron looked and built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.

16:03

So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.

16:14

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, Go, go down at once for your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.

16:24

They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf and have worshipped it and have sacrificed to it and have said,

16:34

These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. And Yahweh said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff -necked people.

16:51

Now then, let me alone, that my anger may burn against them, and then

16:59

I might consume them, and I will make you a great nation.

17:09

Merciful Heavenly Father, we thank you again that we can gather in your presence this morning to worship you, to adore you, to glorify you.

17:22

Father, as we now turn to your word, our prayer is that your spirit illuminates the truth of this word to our hearts.

17:30

As we study this together, Father, may we be convicted of our failings. May we repent of our sins.

17:37

May we trust in the knowledge that just as we confess our sins, that you are ever faithful to forgive us of our sins, even as Christ's blood has already cleansed us from all unrighteousness.

17:50

Grant us strength to forgive others, just as you have already forgiven us.

17:58

We thank you for the bountiful provision in our lives, knowing that our every need is met in Christ Jesus.

18:08

Lord, direct our paths, strengthen our faith, uphold our resolve so that we may stand firm and speak out your truth.

18:22

Father, we thank you for the precious gift of Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and your faithful hand that ever guides us.

18:33

We ask all of these things in the precious and wonderful name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

18:39

You may be seated. Before we dive right into the text this morning, we need to take a few moments and just realign ourselves to understand exactly the context in which these events are occurring.

18:57

Although they are parenthetical somewhat, they are, again, tied directly back to all of the events that have unfolded.

19:06

What we see here and what began in Exodus chapter 19 was God giving

19:11

Moses a set of specific commands in order to prepare himself and the people of Israel for the purpose of making themselves ready for God to descend on Sinai.

19:26

He ended that in verse 24 of Exodus 19 with these words,

19:32

Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you, but do not let the priest and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest he break out against them.

19:43

Moses is given the command to go back down to the people, to share the message that God has already given, and then return.

19:52

As he goes down and returns to God on Mount Sinai, we see in verses 20 through 22, and he returns in chapters 20 through 23, the giving of the law to Moses for the

20:10

Israelites. This giving of the law that occurs in Exodus 20 through 23 was not only the moral law of God, the

20:21

Ten Commandments, but also the judicial law of God. As these two things are given to Moses, these two portions, he is commanded to write them in a book and then come down in chapter 24 to return to the people, and we see and saw in chapter 24 of Exodus this covenant between God and Israel be ratified.

20:48

You'll remember there was this huge worship service where they ratified the covenant, and there was a question and answer time in Exodus 24 verse 7 and 8.

21:00

It says, Moses then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, all that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.

21:11

So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, behold the blood of the covenant which Yahweh has cut with you in accordance with all these words.

21:21

As a refresher, just so that you remember the covenant dictates were that God would be their

21:27

God and they would be his people if they obeyed what

21:33

God commanded them. That was the entirety of the covenant. Once that covenant had been ratified, once the people had agreed to the covenant and had been accepted,

21:45

God told Moses in verse 12 of chapter 24, now Yahweh said to Moses, come up to me on the mountain and remain there and I will give you the stones with the law and the commandment which

21:58

I have written for their instruction. In verse 18 it says that Moses entered the cloud of mist as he went up on the mountain and Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.

22:09

You may recall from our conversation last week where Moses was given the two tablets of stone that this time period of the 40 days and 40 nights has now passed and Moses is beginning his descent.

22:24

At some point however during those 40 days, the people of Israel began to do things a little differently.

22:37

Now in the midst of this time during this 40 days, Moses is on the mountain giving the commands regarding the tabernacle and the institution of the priesthood, the sacrificial system, all of these things have been given to him along with the testimony, these two tablets that he has been given.

22:57

All of these things occurred during that time period. So chapters 32 through 34 again begin at some point while Moses is on the mountain and deal with the aftermath of the rebellion of the people of God.

23:16

Now the words of the first verse of chapter 32 set for us the tone of the people as they stood at the base of this mountain.

23:27

Very often I have heard this being taught in Sunday school and in other places in such a way as to excuse what the people were doing.

23:42

The focal point of this gets placed on the fact that Moses is missing and the people are lost with the idea that they do the things that they do out of fear or confusion because God wasn't there and their leader wasn't there.

24:01

The danger in this teaching however is that it de -emphasizes the real problem.

24:09

It seeks to give these people a way out and reduce this to a simple mistake on the part of a people versus calling it what it truly is and that is rebellion against God.

24:28

The language that is used helps to provide us with some clues however we have to go beyond our common understanding of the

24:38

English language to dig into exactly what the original text teaches us here because as this verse opens up in verse one it says then the people saw that Moses delayed.

24:52

Well for us that doesn't really mean a whole lot. It means that they visually acknowledged that Moses was later coming than they expected him to be.

25:00

However when you dig into the original language this word saw carries with it this idea of thought and consideration.

25:10

This is beginning to weigh on their mind. The word delay carries with it two different ideas.

25:17

One that it didn't occur in a time frame which they thought it should and secondly its root is a different form of the word that typically means that to bring shame and so the idea being that there was some shame that was given to the people because Moses was still on the mountain with God or maybe

25:39

Moses had abandoned them altogether but the truth of the matter is their words speak to what their true heart problem is as they begin to feel this frustration.

26:03

They begin to lose patience. They begin to desire what they wanted to occur.

26:13

Sound familiar? These are things that we struggle with right? God's not moving in our time.

26:22

He's not moving in our way. We get frustrated. We get agitated and while this certainly doesn't sound menacing what occurs here is that that this happens and it says so that the people assembled about Aaron.

26:43

Now that word is soft because what's really happening here, what's being drawn out for us in picture form through these words is that the entirety of the people of Israel have now cornered

27:00

Aaron and have menacingly come to him and their first word to him is an imperative.

27:09

Arise! Get up! We need to do something. Now it's interesting they did not come to him and say to him

27:19

Aaron you are second in command. We're concerned that Moses has not come down from the mountain and so what do you propose that we do?

27:29

Instead what they do is supply to Aaron exactly what they expect to be done. Get up!

27:36

Make for us gods who will go before us.

27:44

That terminology gods is plural and what we see here is that this is the real issue at hand.

27:57

The issue at hand is not that they're concerned about Moses. The issue at hand is not that they are worried about Moses.

28:04

The issue at hand is not that they are upset with Moses. The issue at hand is that they have turned their face from God.

28:15

A .W. Pink writes they have cast off their allegiance to Jehovah.

28:22

Their hearts have departed from them. They were impatient.

28:30

They were restless in their cry earlier in Exodus.

28:37

All that Yahweh has spoken we will do and we will be obedient has been forgotten has been cast aside and they feeling that they knew what was right and better for them have said we would like to return to our former ways of worshiping many gods.

29:05

They had abandoned the one true God. The one who has literally brought them up from the bondage of Egypt.

29:20

To be sure we can look around us and we can know that this world has abandoned

29:27

God. But you need to understand we should not expect anything different than that from those who are not believers.

29:38

Scripture is very clear. Romans if nothing else in scripture has ever opened your eyes to it just reading the first few chapters of the book of Romans should illuminate all of this to you.

29:50

Because we traded the truth of God for a lie and worshiped the created rather than the creator.

30:01

There was this deliberate holding down of the truth.

30:13

But when we look at churches, when we look at people who proclaim themselves to be people of God, how casually, how often with maybe not even any real thought cast them aside for this world and then turn and make idols for ourselves of created things that can never fulfill what

30:42

God can. Let's put those thoughts on hold for a moment.

30:49

We will return to them in just a few minutes. We see here in this first verse not only do they reject

30:59

God, they also reject the man that God has given to them.

31:07

The man that God has placed over them. The man that God has used to bring them up.

31:16

He has gone from being the deliverer to this Moses in the span of a few breaths.

31:29

The very commands that they swore to obey they have already violated the first three.

31:38

If you remember Exodus 20 verses 4 through 6, you shall not make for yourselves an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or the water under the earth.

31:49

You shall not worship them for I or serve them for I, Yahweh, your God, am a jealous

31:54

God visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

32:05

All of this coming after God said, I alone am God. There will be no other gods before me.

32:14

And yet right here at the very foot of the mountain with God still resting on the mountain, the lightning, the thunder, the clouds, all of this still occurring, they have forfeited their covenantal rights.

32:34

And so we see the people gathering around Moses. We see the people demanding that Moses, I mean that Aaron, excuse me, we see the people gathering around Aaron.

32:44

We see them demanding Aaron to create for them these gods.

32:57

And so in verse 2, we get Aaron's response. Aaron, you remember

33:05

Aaron, this is the same Aaron that God has, while Moses has been on the top of the mountain,

33:13

God has chosen this Aaron and his bloodline to be the high priest and the common priest within the tabernacle.

33:23

Now, lest we be tempted to cut Aaron some slack here by stating that he was simply giving the people what they wanted, we need reminders that compromising the word of God for the sake of getting along is sinful.

33:42

Compromising the word of God for the sake of not offending someone is sinful.

33:51

Not taking a stand according to the word of God is sinful.

33:58

And what we see here is that Aaron again considers the statements that have been made.

34:05

Notice in verse 2, and Aaron said to them, this idea carried here in this word said to them, talks about Aaron considering the commands that they have made.

34:17

Now Aaron has an opportunity here. Aaron, the brother of Moses, the one who has worked closely with Moses, who has been privy to more of the truth than most of these other can, folds, much like the disciples that would abandon

34:38

Jesus, Aaron in his own way makes his cry the same as that of Peter.

34:45

And instead of telling them and correcting them, giving them back what has already been given, reminding them of the words that they have promised to live by, reminding them of the commands of God, calling out their sin and calling them to repentance.

35:08

By the way, just as a side note, just so that we're all clear here, that's not judgment.

35:17

I don't know about you, but I'm sick of the world telling me don't judge and trying to use the

35:23

Bible to tell me not to judge when the Bible is the standard by which we are all going to be judged.

35:29

And the truth of the matter is, is that when I see sin in the life of a believer, or I see sin in the life of a non -believer,

35:37

I am and you are by command of God responsible to point that out.

35:45

Now, don't be hardy. Don't be, I'm better than you. It's done in love.

35:52

It's done in the right manner, but you still call it out. You still tell them that they are called to repent.

36:02

Aaron did none of these things. What did he do? Pretty much exactly what the church in America does today.

36:11

He simply gave in to their desires, but it goes a step beyond that.

36:18

You see, one of the things that I think we miss oftentimes as we study this passage is exactly what

36:25

Aaron actually did. And this is a two -fold thing that Aaron did.

36:30

One, if you'll notice in the text, Aaron didn't just take the earrings.

36:37

He didn't just melt them down and pour them into a mold. Notice what it says in verse four, that after in verse two, he commands them to tear off the rings, bring them to him, and the people responded.

36:52

They did these things. In verse four, it says, and he took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool.

37:00

Now, what you need to understand is I don't know how many of you know anything about casting metal, but casting metal in and of itself is somewhat of an art form.

37:10

The metals have to be the right temperature. You have to remove the draw so that you make sure that the metals are as pure as possible. And then you pour them into the form.

37:17

And when they come out of the form, in this day and age, they are typically still a little rough around the edges.

37:24

They have to be cleaned up. Now, we can say, okay, well, this graving tool was simply to take off the sharp edges so the idol wouldn't damage anyone.

37:34

But this type of tool that is being described here goes deeper than that. You see, Aaron didn't just make them something that they could call a god.

37:42

Aaron made something beautiful that they could call a god. He put time and effort and energy into this idol.

37:52

How many of us put time and effort and energy into idols?

38:02

Then he goes beyond that. Notice the next thing that he does.

38:11

He builds the idol. The people proclaim this as their gods.

38:17

And then Aaron builds an altar to it and declares a feast to Yahweh.

38:28

Now, I hope that even without me elaborating much on that line, that kind of gives you a chill.

38:35

Because what Aaron has done is said that this idol is

38:41

Yahweh. This thing that you bow down to, this created thing that I have created for you, this is the almighty.

38:53

This is the one who brought us up out of the land of Egypt. Credit for God's work being given to some created thing, something that cannot exist apart from the hand of man, being given priority over the very creator.

39:16

And all of this takes place in a span of 40 days or less.

39:24

40 days. Within 40 days, they went from a cry of absolute obedience to a cry that gives

39:36

God's glory and honor to a created thing.

39:43

And the temptation that led up to this? Impatience. Impatience of the people of God to simply wait on God, to accept

39:52

His timing, to obey the one who had delivered them from bondage, who had and would continue to sustain them.

40:01

40 days. You know, I'm reminded of another 40 days. 40 days where immediately after coming up out of his baptism, the

40:13

Lord Jesus is forced into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, led there for the purpose of being tempted.

40:20

Three times during that time period was He tempted with things that we couldn't even imagine.

40:27

And He stood firm. And He stood strong. He stayed faithful.

40:38

Israel, the people that God had called His own, abandoned.

40:47

But not only that, it continues to decline.

40:53

Because after Aaron builds the altar, after Aaron says we will have a feast to Yahweh, then we see in verse 6 that the people rose early, offered burnt offerings, and bought peace offerings, and then sat down to eat and to drink and to rise up and to pray.

41:14

Not only had they rejected God, not only had they made an idol to replace

41:19

God, they had gone so far being led by Aaron to excuse and perhaps in their mind soften their sin, calling the detestable creation they had made

41:30

Yahweh, using the very covenant name that God had given to them, to only

41:35

His people, offering sacrifices and peace offerings before it, and then going about their life in the pleasures of the flesh.

41:47

One theologian writes, Alas, alas, it has ever been thus in man's history.

41:55

The human heart lusts after something that can be seen. It loves that which meets and gratifies the senses.

42:03

It is only faith that can endure as seeing Him who is invisible. Hence in every age men have been forward to set up and lean upon human imitations of divine realities.

42:17

Thus it is we see the counterfeits of corrupt religion multiplied before our eyes.

42:24

Those things which we know upon the authority of God's word to be defined divine and heavenly realities.

42:34

The professing church has transformed into human and earthly inventions.

42:45

The professing church, the people of God, have transformed into human and earthly inventions.

42:52

They have become weary of hanging upon an invisible arm, of trusting in an invisible sacrifice, of having recourse to an invisible priest, of committing themselves to an invisible head.

43:05

They have set about making these things and thus from age to age have been busily at work with a graving tool in hand.

43:13

Graving and fashioning one thing after another until we can at length recognize as little similarity between much of what we see around us and what we read in the word as between a molten calf and the

43:27

God of Israel. The church has become this reality where we have continuously done that.

43:45

Psalm 106 verses 19 through 21, they made a calf and and worshiped a molten image.

43:54

Thus they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass.

44:01

They forgot God their savior who had done great things in Egypt.

44:10

The question we have to ask ourselves is in our zeal to be obedient have we sometimes set up these idols trading and exchanging the glory that we would receive from God for something that looks like an ox and eats grass?

44:32

Which brings us to the fact again that they had forgotten their first love. But what cannot be missed, what should not be missed, what we must see is that the response of God here is twofold.

44:52

It is both filled with wrath and filled with mercy.

45:00

Nehemiah captures this in Nehemiah chapter 9, the end of verse 17 through verse 18, and you did not forsake them even when they made for themselves a molten calf and said, this is your

45:14

God who brought you up from Egypt and committed great blasphemies.

45:22

Again you recall the covenant, the covenant that explicitly stated that God would be their

45:27

God and they would be his people as long as they obeyed his commands. And here we see utter breakage of their side and God in his righteous anger,

45:50

God in his righteous wrath commands Moses to go back to the people for they have corrupted themselves.

46:00

That it was they who broke the covenant. Notice the language that God uses when he sends

46:10

Moses back. He says to Moses in verse 7, go.

46:23

Now all we get, and I don't know what translation of scripture you're using, I'm using the LSB, it contains the word go with an exclamation point.

46:31

Hopefully yours at least has an exclamation point. But I want you to think for just a minute, you're

46:38

Moses, you're standing on the top of this mountain, you have no idea what's happening below. And all at once you get this command from God, this thunderous command to go, to get down the mountain, go at once for your people.

46:59

God has determined according to the terms of the covenant that these are no longer his people.

47:12

They are Moses' people. They are not the people of God.

47:19

In this moment, in this situation, in this reality, it is necessary for us to understand that even now disobedient to the commands of God has drastic effects.

47:38

I want to interject two things here. First, the old covenant was simple in basic terms.

47:46

You obey his commands, he will be their God. The people failed. The truth of the matter is that we are just as incapable of having done anything different.

47:59

The reality is this is the first purpose of the law, to show us that we have no hope apart from the work of Christ. In his perfection, he perfectly fulfilled the law.

48:09

In that same perfection, he went to the cross. In that perfection, he took upon himself the curse, the payment, the penalty for our sins.

48:21

This is verified, of course, in the resurrection. His enthronement and his glory manifested in the ascension.

48:30

Oftentimes, we people are guilty of placing ourselves falsely in a narrative and then altering the course by saying things like, well, if I was there,

48:38

I would have done it differently. But the reality is if we had been there, the outcome would have been the same.

48:47

Because we, just like every other human that has ever walked this earth prior to being regenerated, are totally incapable of not sinning.

49:02

We do not have the ability to not sin. The second thing I want to bring up is how closely

49:09

God was monitoring the situation. We all talk about and will say if you ask

49:17

God, ask people about the attributes of God, typically you always get the big three, right?

49:24

Omnipotent, omnipresent, all -knowing, all -powerful, everywhere, all at once, right?

49:31

Those are the ones that people can rattle off. The problem is I don't think we believe it. But the reality is

49:39

God is monitoring this situation very closely at the foot of Mount Sinai, so closely, in fact, that when he comes to his conversation with Moses, at the end of verse 8, he literally quotes what they have said regarding the gods, where they said, these are your gods,

49:57

O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. I wonder how often we operate in the same place.

50:14

God knew of the impatience of the people. God knew of Aaron's attempt to make this something other than it was.

50:22

Earlier we talked about the impatience of the people to wait and listen. I said we would come back to that. How often do we do the same things?

50:31

We may not use the same words. We may not take gold and melt it down and make ourselves a little calf.

50:38

But how many times do we do things, put God's name on them that have little to nothing to actually do with God, and they certainly do not glorify him, and they certainly are not for him.

50:52

They're not in obedience to him. They're not for his glory. They do not edify his people. They do not proclaim his truth.

50:58

Yet we attach his name in hopes, in hopes that it will soothe it over with God.

51:11

We may not use these same words of the people of Israel or of Aaron, but even the thing which you do can become an idol when the intent is not to honor and glorify

51:25

God, but to elevate you. It may not even be something that makes more of you, but if it affects your view of him, if it attempts to draw you or distract you away from him in any way, when it leads you to that moment of compromises, causes you to be disobedient to him, you have made your own molten calf, your own idol, chose your own

51:50

God. It comes down to this.

51:59

God has stated what is going on. He has commanded Moses to go down for his people, have damaged themselves, corrupted themselves, and then we see verses 9 and 10.

52:18

Verse 9, we come across a term. This is the first time this term is used in the Old Testament. It will become a term that is used frequently in the

52:25

Old Testament to describe the people of Israel. He says in verse 9, And Yahweh said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff -necked people.

52:38

This description of being a stiff -necked people finds its roots in the world of agriculture.

52:45

It was traditionally used to describe an oxen who develops a condition after one of two things happen.

52:54

Either first, the yoke that he has been given is too heavy, or the burden is too heavy to match the yoke, or the oxen resists the yoke itself.

53:13

How true is this of the nation of Israel? How true is this of us?

53:25

In both ways, how often is the burden too heavy to carry with our own yoke, and yet we still struggle to do it?

53:36

We still determined that we're going to do it our way, by ourself, in our time, our effort, our everything.

53:50

There's a word for that. Old Testament calls it stiff -necked. We call it hard -headed, stubborn.

53:59

There's a better word, stupid. But then there's the second thing, right?

54:09

The first thing was that the burden is too heavy and we're carrying it with the wrong yoke.

54:15

The second one is that we are resistant to the yoke itself, fighting against the yoke.

54:23

Now, I would guess that there may be a small handful of people in this room today who have any idea what it means to pull a plow with a donkey, a mule, an ox, a sheep, a goat, anything other than a tractor.

54:40

But I can remember tales, because I never witnessed it, but I can remember tales of my great -grandfather who had a mule, and that's how they pulled the plow.

54:51

And as he would hook this thing up, and you try to keep it in a straight row, it took sticks to the head, because these things fought against the guiding force.

55:04

Israel repeatedly fights against God's guidance and direction in the

55:09

Old Testament. How often do we fight against God's guidance and direction in our own personal lives?

55:18

Again, we can apply the same terminology, stiff -necked, stubborn, hard -headed, or just sum it all up in stupid.

55:29

Best line that ever came out of Forrest Gump. Stupid is as stupid does. What's amazing here is that since these people were stubborn, they were stiff -necked, they were determined to forge their own path, they incited the wrath of God.

55:56

Now, we avoid that term in churches today. We don't want to talk about the wrath of God. We may hurt someone's feelings. But the truth of the matter is, is that we need to help people understand that it is

56:07

God's wrath from which they are being saved. R .C.

56:13

Sproul repeatedly taught, repeatedly said, repeatedly pointed out that the thing that we need salvation from is

56:21

God. You're being saved from God, from His wrath, from eternal torment under the wrath of God.

56:31

Notice the words in verse 10, that my anger may burn against them and that I may consume them.

56:40

We so often look at words like this and we go, well, that's not right. That's not fair. That's not just. If God was a loving

56:46

God, He would never say these things. God is a loving God and yet He still says these things. Why? Because He is righteous and He is just and He is true and His word says these are the punishments for disobeying my word, my truth.

57:05

And so in His righteous and just judgment, destruction. I mean, if you go all the way back to the garden, we've said this before.

57:15

This is not the first time you see the command. It's not the last time you see the command. It was the very first response to sin.

57:23

It was the very first response in His command to Adam. It was the very first consequence. Adam, you have all of these things to eat from.

57:31

If you eat from this one tree on the day that you eat from it, you will surely die. The first consequence was sin.

57:36

The only consequence from sin is death. And so this desire to burn

57:43

His anger against them, to consume them is righteous. They broke the covenant.

57:53

The consequences of which have been spelled out. In truth, they should have been totally consumed.

58:04

But God, but God. Now those words specifically are not found here.

58:20

But what they convey is, notice the closing clause.

58:29

He tells Moses, my anger, I want to burn my anger against them.

58:36

I want to consume them. And then he says to Moses, and I will make you a great nation.

58:53

These people had earned everything that was coming to them.

59:02

You and I have earned eternal torment.

59:08

Everlasting judgment. Wrath of God. Eternity in hell.

59:16

But God, God demonstrates mercy to us just as He demonstrated mercy here in the words, and I will make you a great nation.

59:31

What amazing grace. What amazing grace that is poured out on a people who deserve nothing less than total destruction that they would be afforded the opportunity to go on.

59:46

In the weeks to come, we will study this more. But for now, know that there is hope even when it seems hopeless.

59:55

That God Himself has not waited for us to get right and come to Him. He came to us.

01:00:00

He Himself stepped out of all eternity. The Word became flesh, dwelt among us.

01:00:07

That Word, the Lord Jesus, went to the cross to pay for our sin, providing a way for us to be reconciled to God that is by grace through faith.

01:00:17

When we place our faith in Him and Him alone, when we repent of our sins, when we believe, when we have faith in Christ, and we begin to live for Him for eternity.

01:00:28

Beloved, this story, this historical account of the molten calf or the golden calf as it was always called when

01:00:41

I grew up, it's not just a story from ancient Israel.

01:00:46

It's not just a historical event. It is a mirror that should be held up to our own hearts.

01:00:56

The people of Sinai had seen the mighty hand of God. They had heard

01:01:02

His voice. They had vowed obedience. Yet within 40 days, they had forgotten their covenant.

01:01:09

They had broke it. They had abandoned their first love and fashioned a God of their own making. Their impatience revealed the idolatry that still lingered within them.

01:01:22

And we can sit here 2 ,000 years removed from Christ, and we can in our haughty nature shake our heads at their foolishness, but we must ask ourselves, are we really so different?

01:01:35

How often do we grow restless when God delays? How often do we, when we feel

01:01:43

God is delaying, turn to the comforts of the world? When we baptize our compromises in religious language and call it worship, how often do we elevate our desires, our traditions, our opinions above the clear, concise, certain, sufficient, authoritative word of the living

01:02:06

God? The Lord's message to the church in Ephesus resounds in our day.

01:02:16

You have left your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the deeds you did at first.

01:02:29

Brothers and sisters, Christ still walks among His lampstands even now. Even now,

01:02:38

He is calling His people to return to Him with wholehearted devotion. Listen, our greatest danger is not the hostility of this world, but the coldness of a heart that drifts from God while bearing

01:02:51

His name. It's the sin of apathy.

01:02:59

This week, this death of this young man who boldly proclaimed the gospel. The growing hostility we see toward truth in our own nation reminds us that the cost of faithfulness may soon be higher than many of us have ever known.

01:03:14

The question is, will we stand firm? Will you stand firm when the world mocks?

01:03:24

Will you stand firm when the persecution comes? How can you say yes if you can't even stand and simply wait?

01:03:41

How can we say yes if we will not simply stand still?

01:03:53

Will you trade the glory of the invisible God for the fleeting approval of man? Church, hear the call of Christ.

01:04:04

Remember, repent, and return. Cling to the word that is sufficient and sure.

01:04:19

Cling to the word that is sufficient and sure.

01:04:26

Let us pray. Gracious and Holy Father, Lord, we bow before You, humbled by the truth of Your word.

01:04:43

Father, we confess that our hearts are often restless. They are prone to wander.

01:04:53

They are, as Calvin put it, idol factories. Forgive us.

01:05:03

Forgive us for these idols that we have fashioned, these things that we have loved, that we have trusted, that we have served more than we have served

01:05:12

You. Thank You for Your unending mercy.

01:05:21

Your faithful love that holds back the wrath that we deserve. Thank You for the blood of Christ that has cleansed us from every sin.

01:05:33

Thank You for the work of Your Spirit calling us, convicting us, bringing us to repentance.

01:05:43

Father, strengthen our resolve to stand firm when the world opposes Your truth.

01:05:50

Lord, keep us faithful when trials come our way. Teach us to wait on You with patient hope, treasuring

01:06:07

Your word as sufficient and sure and loving You above all things. Lord, guard our hearts from compromise, renewing us the joy of our first love.

01:06:23

Father, let us shine as lights in the dark in the night of this rebellious age.

01:06:33

Father, we pray all these things in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.