Separated from God

Christ Reformed Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

One of the books in the

00:23

Old Testament that truly does not get a lot of attention is the book of Lamentations.

00:35

The book of Lamentations is actually a collection of five poems written by the prophet

00:42

Jeremiah and it marks the devastation of Jerusalem and Judah as Babylon invades and conquers them as part of their punishment for disobedience to God.

01:00

The text itself, actually there's four poems that are acrostics.

01:06

In other words, if you'll remember back to our study of Psalm 119, each word begins with that letter of the

01:13

Hebrew alphabet and so the first four are done in that manner and each one of those four catalog and then the events and the series of laments and then also express this sorrow and regret that Jeremiah is feeling and as he gives us these sorrows and regrets, he also intersperses throughout this passage these calls to remember the faithfulness and promises of God.

01:49

So he gives us these pictures of sorrow on one hand and on the other he gives us this picture of hope as we recall

01:57

God's faithful promises to his people. The fifth poem, the final poem, is a cry to Yahweh himself to remember his people.

02:09

But in the middle of the book of Lamentations or close to the middle of the book of Lamentations, we find a short passage that I want to introduce you to this morning if you maybe are not familiar with it.

02:24

It comes from the third chapter of Lamentations and it is in the 22nd and 23rd verse.

02:32

The loving kindness of Yahweh indeed never ceases, for his compassions never fail.

02:43

They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

02:53

Familiar words. Oftentimes we hear those words, we don't realize that they come in the middle of a writing about trials and tribulations.

03:05

What's really interesting though when you get to studying verse 22 is that there exists this issue that is called a textual criticism.

03:15

And so without going into huge details, a textual criticism is that there are a couple of ways that this can be translated and it's based on the way that you translate it, what this verse actually says.

03:30

And so we have the Aramaic translation and then we have the Hebraic translation.

03:36

The Aramaic translation would have been the original language. The Hebraic translation would have been what the Hebrew writers understood when they wrote it down.

03:44

And so you have to begin to take in context and things that are happening around it, the structure of the poem itself to actually try to determine the meaning so that we stay true.

03:55

What's interesting about this textual criticism though is in my view and in studying this passage, either way you take it, you end up with the exact same thing.

04:05

The only difference is the Hebraic way of recording it actually gives you a little bit stronger wording.

04:18

And so the King James Version actually records the Hebraic verses as they are translated.

04:29

This is what the King James Version reads here in chapter 3, verse 22. It is of the

04:36

Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because His compassions fail not.

04:48

They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.

04:55

At the end of the day, again, the passages essentially are teaching us the same thing that it is the reality of God's mercies that they never end.

05:05

The only difference is one letter in the translation that creates this different statement that we see in the

05:15

King James Version. And although they are very similar, the end, the meaning, again, is the same.

05:25

But if you'll notice, it's that first clause. It is the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.

05:34

It reminds me of a quote by the late Vody Bokom where in the middle of one of his sermons he says, do you not know it was

05:42

His mercy that woke you up this morning because His judgment should have killed you last night?

05:55

What a sobering reality. That just by virtue of awaking this morning, we experience the mercies of God.

06:14

As you may recall from our recent studies in the book of Exodus, this is where the people of Israel find themselves at the foot of Sinai as they wait

06:30

Moses' return from his effort to make an atonement on their behalf.

06:39

So last week we talked about Moses going back up with the purpose of attempting this atonement.

06:45

Remember we talked about how Moses used the word that we translate into the English, perhaps I can make an atonement, again pointing to the fact that we see

06:58

Moses does not have the ability to make this atonement, but that he does point us to the one who could and did make an atonement on behalf of his people.

07:17

This morning, as we move from Moses being on the top of the mountain to Moses down returning in chapter 33, we are going to over the next, this week and next week, take a look at what is really one passage, which is

07:37

Exodus 33 verses 1 through 11. Now, we could rush through the first seven verses and deal primarily with 7 through 11, but there are so many things that we would miss if we did that.

07:51

So in order to properly give the text its attention, we are going to deal this morning primarily with verses 1 through 7, and 7 will basically be a mention, and then next week we will pick up and deal again with verse 7 and down through 11.

08:11

As we have done in the past when we have come up to these type of places, we will read the text in its entirety each week so that we get the full picture of what

08:23

God is accomplishing. So with that being said, if you have already, if you have not already, please take your copy of God's Word, make your way to the 33rd chapter of Exodus and stand for the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, authoritative, sufficient, complete, and certain

08:45

Word. In Exodus chapter 33, beginning in the first verse, we read these words,

08:54

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, Go, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which

09:06

I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To your seed

09:12

I will give it. And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the

09:18

Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the

09:23

Hivite, and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, for I will not go up in your midst, because you are a stiff -necked people, lest I consume you on the way.

09:43

Then the people heard this sad word, and went into mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments.

09:53

So Yahweh said to Moses, Say to the sons of Israel, you are a stiff -necked people, should

10:00

I go up in your midst for one moment, I would consume you. So now put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what

10:10

I shall do with you. So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.

10:19

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting.

10:29

And everyone who sought Yahweh would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

10:37

And it happened whenever Moses went out to the tent, that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent.

10:48

And it happened whenever Moses entered the tent, that the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and Yahweh would speak with Moses.

10:58

And all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, and all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent.

11:08

Thus Yahweh used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.

11:16

Then Moses would return to the camp, and his attendant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

11:28

Our prayer this morning comes from the Valley of Vision, the deeps.

11:36

Most holy and merciful Lord, Lord, we ask that we have a deeper repentance, a greater horror of sin, and a deep dread of sin's approach.

12:02

Help us, we pray, to flee from sin, and to jealously resolve that our hearts are yours and yours alone.

12:15

Grant us a deeper trust that we would lose ourselves to find ourselves in you.

12:28

Father, you are the ground of our rest and the spring of our very being.

12:35

We pray that you grant us a deeper knowledge of our Lord Jesus as our Savior, our

12:41

Master, our Lord, and our King. Grant us deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in your word.

12:55

A stronger grip upon the truth that we find there. Lord, we pray for a deeper holiness in our speech, in our thoughts, and in our actions.

13:10

Let us not seek moral virtue apart from you alone.

13:19

Lord, we pray that we are deeply laid bare by the work of your Spirit, that we may be the fields prepared with roots of grace spreading far and wide until you and you alone are all that is seen in us, that your beauty is as golden as a summer harvest, and the fruitfulness of that work as that of the harvest.

13:51

Precious Father, we have no master but you, no law but yours.

13:58

No delight but you, no wealth but the riches of your glory, no good but that of Christ Jesus.

14:10

We have no peace but the peace which comes from King Jesus. Remind us that we are only what you make us, have nothing but what you provide, and apart from your grace are without hope.

14:26

We pray that your Spirit would root out all sin to the very depths of our being and then fill us to overflowing with your precious living water.

14:40

We ask these things in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. You may be seated.

14:52

Exodus chapter 2 concluded with these words.

14:58

So God heard their groaning and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

15:10

Now, it was not that God had forgotten his covenant with his people.

15:16

God does not forget, but that as a result of that covenant, the covenant that God made with his people, his eternal plan moves forward with the purpose of delivering them, his chosen people, from the land of Egypt.

15:37

The purpose of which, as he instructs Moses to inform Pharaoh in Exodus chapter 5 verse 1, was so that they may celebrate a feast to me in the wilderness.

15:50

Once the people have been freed from bondage in Egypt, God declares to Moses on the side of Sinai, on the top of Sinai in Exodus 25 verse 8, and let them make a sanctuary for me that I may dwell among them.

16:16

The entire purpose of delivering the people from the land of Egypt was so that God could dwell with his people.

16:26

And as you may recall, it is while Moses is on Sinai receiving the instructions from God concerning the construction of this sanctuary that they committed so grievous a sin.

16:44

This is why after making his plea before God at the end of chapter 32,

16:51

Moses is commanded here in the beginning of chapter 33 to go. The first word here is an imperative.

17:02

It is forceful. It is usually translated or often translated not only as go but as depart.

17:13

We see it translated as leave. Interestingly enough, the word can also be translated vanish or die.

17:28

Although as we saw last week, God has already shown mercy to the people of Israel by withholding the immediate destruction.

17:39

This does not mean that there are no consequences for their actions.

17:46

At the end of the day, what we see here is a proclamation by God showing that the relationship that they had enjoyed has now changed.

18:04

It's important to note here that throughout the events that we saw in chapter 32, we have seen interesting reaction from the people of God.

18:22

You see, what we have saw or seen is the anger of God burning.

18:31

God said, my anger burns against them. Now leave me alone that I may consume them.

18:40

We see Moses' anger burning as he reaches the bottom of Sinai, the foot of the mountain and stands before the people.

18:49

His anger again burns. We've seen the destruction of 3 ,000 people as a result of the sin that was committed.

19:07

But what we have not seen is a people who are aware of the nature of their sin, who are not sorrowful for the commitments of their sin.

19:30

In fact, the only mention we have of shame at all comes in chapter 32 verse 25, which is here only a comment by Moses on their sin.

19:41

The fact that they stood naked and ashamed, not that they felt the shame, not that they realized the shame, but that that's where they were in reality.

19:53

The people, however, were simply not sorrowful. They did not recognize the depths to which they had fallen, and they have shown no intention of repenting.

20:14

How true is this of our world today? The world is filled with people who are living their lives according to their wishes and their desires with no regard for the one who created them.

20:36

The depths to which some of these people have descended is not only mind -boggling, it is absolutely staggering.

20:50

They live with no fear of God. They live with no desire.

21:01

The reality is that it is the responsibility of the church to stand up and call these people to repentance.

21:17

This is a charge that we have been given. This is a charge that has been laid at the feet of Christians.

21:26

I want to be clear here because it's so easy to sidestep this

21:32

This is not a charge that has been laid at or given solely to the pastors and the leaders.

21:40

It's not a charge that has been given to the evangelist only. It's not a charge that has been given to the missionaries only.

21:47

It's not a charge that has been given to the study school teachers only. It is a charge that has been given to every

21:52

Christian everywhere. It is our responsibility to call the world to repentance.

22:03

I cringe when I hear people who profess to be

22:09

Christians make the statement that it is not our place to say anything.

22:19

So often I hear, listen, it's not my responsibility to tell them that they're doing wrong.

22:24

It's not my responsibility to tell them that they're going against the commands of God. In fact, we've gotten so good at it that what we do is we report, we actually point to the biblical mandate of the great commission and we use it and we say that it doesn't tell anyone that they have to do that.

22:44

But the reality is it's exact opposite. The great commission by very definition, the biblical mandate says that we are to make disciples of all nations, teaching them all that has been commanded.

23:03

Brothers and sisters, how can we make disciples? How can we teach them everything that has been commanded when we ourselves ignore those very commands?

23:16

You see, our problem is so often that although we are willing to proclaim the good news, we are terrified to proclaim the bad.

23:29

We are unwilling to call them on this standard.

23:42

I know for myself, in the past, I have made this statement that we cannot expect the world to behave as Christians.

23:55

And that's true. We cannot expect the world to behave in obedience to the word of God.

24:03

But we cannot allow that to be an excuse that stops us from proclaiming his word to all people.

24:15

Because at the root of it, we have to have an understanding that the moral law of God is written on the hearts of every man.

24:27

You see, I think we forget that sometimes. I think we talk about a lot of things and we forget the simple fact that every human being is created with the moral law of God written in their fabric.

24:47

And so it is right and it is good to stand up and call the world to repentance.

24:57

But you see, even the fact that we are unwilling to call the world to repentance is not the root of the problem.

25:09

The root of the problem is that we are not willing to call those who profess to be the church and those who profess to be

25:21

Christians and even those who truly are Christians to repentance. We don't want to stand up and stand firm with a brother and sister in Christ and say, listen,

25:33

I see what you're doing. It's sinful. Repent. I understand that's a hard conversation.

25:42

Hardest people to talk to about these things are family, right? If we're brothers and sisters in Christ, that becomes a difficult thing.

25:48

Especially when you're talking to a brother or sister that knows the Bible, because what's the first thing they say? Oh, wait, wait, you're worried about a speck in my eye.

25:55

You got a log sticking out of yours. Clean around your door. But don't be afraid to call your brother and sister to repentance.

26:05

It's not being halty. Listen, you don't go in there arrogant and say, you know, I'm perfect.

26:11

And because I'm perfect, I get to tell you how you should live. No, you say, listen, I'm a sinner.

26:18

I am broken. I am faulty. I have sins that I need to repent of.

26:26

But brother, I'm here to tell you that there are sins in your life that you need to repent of too. No, it's not easy.

26:37

A .W. Pink was absolutely right when he wrote these words. And one of the things that I find so fascinating about so many of these words that we read from these men who lived 100 years ago and longer is they could be living today writing the same thing.

26:55

A .W. Pink wrote this, Most solemnly does this speak to us and timely is its warning.

27:01

How readily neglected is this truth today. If there be little or no preaching of repentance to the unsaved, there is still less to those who are saved.

27:13

Yet concerning the one we read, but except ye repent, you shall all likewise perish.

27:21

And of the other, it is to be noted that the very first admonitory word of Christ to the seven churches in Revelations 2 and 3 is remember therefore from which you are fallen and repent.

27:36

It is because there is so little repentance among God's people today that his chastening hand is laid so heavily on so many of them.

27:51

The call to repent does not stop when you by faith become a

27:58

Christian. If anything, and hear me well, if anything, the call to repent in your life should grow heavier.

28:11

Your sins should feel more grievous. Why? Because you have the truth of Christ's death on the cross for those very sins.

28:25

Last week as we celebrated the Lord's Supper, we were reminded of the words that we find in 1

28:33

Corinthians 11 verse 26. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the

28:39

Lord until he comes. You're making a proclamation of the death of Christ and what that accomplished.

28:47

And as a believer, that should call us to this cost.

28:54

It should grieve us. It should put us at a point of repentance for our sin.

29:04

It's a daily thing, brothers and sisters. For a lot of us, it's a moment by moment thing, right?

29:15

I know it is for me if I'm in Walmart. That's why I try to stay out. The situation that we find here in chapter 33 of Exodus, the situation of the people of God is bleak, but God is faithful.

29:43

Notice God's promise here to fulfill his promise.

29:50

Verse 1 and 2, Yahweh spoke to Moses, Go, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt to the land of which

30:01

I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, to your seed I will give it, and I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the

30:09

Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Listen, as a people of God, as a rebellious people who have broken the covenant, they are no longer worthy to be called his people.

30:26

You notice the language? Very similar to the language at the beginning of verse of chapter 32, where God does not call them my people, he calls them

30:34

Moses' people. He says that they are the people that Moses led up out of the land. But even though they have broken this covenant, even though they have demonstrated their unfaithfulness, even though they have shown that they are no longer worthy to carry his name,

30:57

God is still God, and he does not change. He is ever faithful.

31:03

His promises are ever sure. And because they are so, he commands

31:09

Moses to take the people to the land which he has promised.

31:15

Now, it's easy to read through this, and without a good understanding, to simply pass by this and miss the beauty and the grace and the mercy that is displayed here.

31:28

You see, the first thing that we have to do to understand this is we need to look back to the original promise of God to Abram.

31:36

So often when we talk about covenants, and we talk about promises of God in the Old Testament, so often we talk about how that there was a two -part to the covenant.

31:46

There was the obedience to God's commands, and then God would be their God, and they would be his people.

31:53

And so we talk about how it's a works -based covenant. But if we go back and we examine the original covenant regarding the land that God makes with Abraham, we find that in Genesis chapter 15 or chapter 12, the covenant is in 15, but it starts in chapter 12.

32:10

So in chapter 12 of Genesis, verses 6 and 7, this is God calling

32:15

Abram out of the land of which he lived. He calls him to leave his family, to leave his land, to leave his father's house and go to a place that he'll make known to him when he gets there.

32:27

This has always been one of my favorite things about this call that God places on Abram's life. Abram, get up, leave everything you've ever known, except for your wives and the stuff you need to travel with.

32:42

Leave your family, leave your land, leave your father's house, and just go. I'll let you know where you're going when you get there.

32:50

Now, I don't know about any of you guys, but if you ever take a voyage, most of the time you want to know your destination before you ever leave the house, right?

32:59

How hard would it have been to, in faith, step out? By the way,

33:05

Abram was not a young man. He was by some standards, but he was not a young man when this occurred.

33:12

He had built his life and the call still came. And so we read these words in verses six and seven of Genesis chapter 12.

33:22

And Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem to the oak of Morah.

33:29

Now the Canaanite was then in the land. Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, to your seed,

33:35

I will give this land. So he built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.

33:41

Then later we get to chapter 15 and we see the formalization of this covenant.

33:46

So God has already told Abram that he is going to give him his land, this land. And then later in chapter 15, we read these words in verses eight down through verse 21.

33:57

And he said, oh, Lord Yahweh, how may I know that I will possess it? Possess it is the land that God has promised.

34:07

And so God said to him, Yahweh said to him, bring me a three -year -old heifer and a three -year -old female goat and a three -year -old ram and a turtle dove and a young pigeon.

34:16

Then he brought all these things, all these to him and split them into parts down the middle and laid each part opposite the other.

34:23

But he did not split apart the birds. Then the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses and Abram drove them away.

34:31

Now what happened, that when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.

34:39

Then God said to Abram, know for certain that your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs.

34:45

They will be enslaved and mistreated 400 years. But I will also judge the nation to whom they are enslaved and afterward they will come out with many possessions.

34:56

As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation, they will return here for the iniquity of the

35:04

Amorite is not yet complete. Now it happened that the sun had set and it was very dark and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.

35:19

On that day, Yahweh cut a covenant with Abram saying, to your seed

35:24

I have given this land from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, the

35:30

Kenite, the Kenizite and the Katamite and the Hittite and the Perizite and the

35:35

Repham and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Gergesite and the Jebusite. Now, it takes a little work in this passage and I'll go ahead and tell you that if you're interested in digging deeper into this passage,

35:51

R .C. Sproul has one of the greatest sermons on this particular passage, talks on this particular passage that you'll come into contact with.

36:00

But in the middle of this passage, we see the cutting of the covenant. Now, what's important for us this morning is to understand the terms of this covenant.

36:13

The terms of the covenant were, I, God, by my own power, by my own will, by my own providence, by my own strength will give this land to the people and how do you know?

36:25

Because I'm gonna swear by myself. That's the promise. Do you see the picture?

36:32

The promise of this covenant is not built on Abram. It's not built on Abram's descendants.

36:39

It's not built on all of the things that God will know that the people of Israel will do.

36:45

It's built on God. It's built on Him and Him alone.

36:54

Later in Exodus chapter 23, God repeats this particular covenant to Moses before He goes on to actually cut the covenant with the people in chapter 24.

37:06

That covenant is the one that says, if you will obey my commands, I will be your God and you will be my people.

37:12

That is the covenant that the people broke. In other words, in that covenant, the people had a role to play.

37:22

It was not all of God. The covenant that God entered into with Abram and later repeated to Moses was conditioned upon God Himself.

37:32

That He cut the covenant by His own guarantee. What better guarantee than the one who is ever faithful, ever true, never changing the covenant that is conditioned on the steadfast faithfulness of the

37:55

Almighty God. So just as there was nothing that Abram could do in Genesis 15 to enact the covenant, if you go back and you reread

38:06

Genesis chapter 15, you see that the only thing that Abram did was bring the animals that God declared for him to bring, cut them up and lay them out.

38:16

The oven and the torch is God passing through and swearing by Himself.

38:23

This is the same promise. Listen to me for a minute. This is the same promise.

38:32

This is the same promise that believers receive. This is the same promise that allows us and guarantees that we will enter new

38:43

Jerusalem because it will not be based on our merits. It will not be based on our efforts.

38:49

It will be based on the merits and righteousness of Christ alone. The beauty in all of this is that God chose

38:59

His people for the foundation of the world. The mercy that is displayed is that He Himself took the punishment for our sins, the grace that in by faith in the finished work of Christ, we are imputed with His righteousness so that we can stand in the presence of God, that we can receive the promises given in Revelations 21, verses one through five, where it says, then

39:27

I saw a new heaven. And a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there is no longer any sea.

39:37

And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

39:45

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and He will dwell among them and they shall be

39:55

His people and God Himself will be among them and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will no longer be any death.

40:03

There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain. The first things passed away.

40:10

And He who sits on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new.

40:19

And He commanded John, write, for these words are fateful and true.

40:29

The people of God will inherit the land that God has promised.

40:38

Just as the Israelites will ultimately inherit the land that God promised, the physical land.

40:50

But the biggest difference, the biggest difference is that although they would obtain the land, although God would go before them in the land, although God would drive out the inhabitants of the land,

41:13

His statement to them at this point is that He would not dwell in their midst.

41:24

And He gives them a reason. He doesn't leave them with no understanding. He wants, listen,

41:31

God wants them to see and understand their sin. And so He tells them, if I live amongst you,

41:42

I will consume you. Look at the way it reads here in verse five.

41:51

Should I go up in your midst for one moment, I would consume you.

42:05

And so He tells them in verse three, to go up to the land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go in your midst.

42:14

Why? Because you are a stiff -necked people.

42:22

We encountered this reference that would become a way that the people of Israel are known over and over again in the

42:31

Old Testament. We first encountered it in chapter 32. And hopefully you will recall that this phrase has agricultural roots.

42:42

It's important because it helps you understand what God is saying. You see, this developed in a beast of burden, typically an oxen, when they were either loaded with a yoke that was too heavy for them to bear, or they fought against the yoke that they had been given until it resulted in a condition that made them extremely difficult to work with.

43:14

Their necks would literally become stiff and hard to move.

43:21

Thus, it came to, in a word, they came to be known as stubborn.

43:32

Or hard -headed. Or I believe the word that I added to it when we went through this before was stupid.

43:44

As we so often are. God knew these people.

43:53

He knew that these people were too stubborn. That they demonstrated no sign of remorse, no desire for repentance.

44:01

And that they were bound to repeat their failure. I will not travel in your midst because you are a stiff -necked people, lest I consume you.

44:19

You recall those words, right? When the first sin occurred in this debacle of the golden calf, as God told

44:34

Moses to go to the people, he commanded Moses, let me alone for my anger burns against them so that I may consume them.

44:42

So that I may utterly destroy them. So that I may completely wipe them out.

44:52

How far the people of God have fallen. One theologian writes at the beginning of this book, when the people were in the furnace of Egypt, the

45:03

Lord could say, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

45:16

But now he has to say, I have seen this people and behold, it is a stiff -necked people.

45:26

An afflicted people is an object of grace. But a stiff -necked people must be humbled.

45:38

The cry of the oppressed Israel has been answered by the exhibition of grace. But the song of idolatrous

45:45

Israel must be answered by the voice of stern rebuke. In less than six weeks, it took less than six weeks for the people to go because of their behavior from a situation of God dictating to Moses the instructions for his dwelling place so that he could dwell among his people, that he could be with them, to God removing himself from their midst in an incredible act of mercy and grace.

46:24

Now we don't see God removing himself in this way as an act of mercy and grace.

46:32

But if we continue to think about the words that God uses and the fact that if he is in their midst, even for a moment, he will consume them, we begin to see the mercy.

46:47

And it is this removal that seems to begin to have an effect on the people.

47:00

Seldom do we as individuals realize what we have until it is gone.

47:09

And so often at that point, unfortunately it is too late to change the situation.

47:17

And so we need to take heed to this truth that is proclaimed here in a couple of different ways. First of all, in the grand scheme of things, as we have worked through chapters 32 and 33, we have made several references back to the letters of Christ to the churches in Asia.

47:34

Seven letters to seven real churches facing real issues that have real consequences. Now theologians can stand here and argue all day long as to whether or not these are seven church ages, seven types of church, seven types of Christians, seven whatevers.

47:52

At the end of the day, it goes deeper because it contains these truths that we have to understand and apply as individuals.

48:00

If you go back and you read the seven letters to the seven churches, they were absolutely written to seven real churches with real problems.

48:11

But when the people read the letter, one of the statements that Christ makes to them is that if they do not repent, he will remove the lampstand.

48:36

And if you may recall back to our study of the tabernacle, you may remember that the construction of the tent of meeting was in such a way that there would be little to no light as the priest entered into the holy place.

48:50

And so the lampstand was the only light by which the priest could conduct their duties.

48:57

And as we talked about this, we talked about how the lampstand was pointing us forward.

49:03

It was a type and a shadow of Christ. Christ was the only light by which the priest could conduct their responsibilities.

49:12

Christ is the only light by which the church operates. Remove the light, the operations cease.

49:22

Doesn't mean the church closes, but they are no longer the church because you've taken

49:28

Christ out. Out. Listen to me. The power of the church, the power of the church is not the pastor.

49:41

It's not the people. It's not the singing. It's not the structure. It is

49:48

Christ. When Christ is the center and head of the church, then the church is real.

50:00

But listen to me. If you take this out, if you take out his light, if you take out the power of the

50:09

Holy Spirit, we have nothing more than a social gathering dealing with worldly issues which have no eternal consequence.

50:19

And then there's the second thing. We could call it lesser, but the reality is it's not really lesser.

50:26

It goes back to most Christians today are quick to point out the flaws of the people of Israel.

50:32

I can remember sitting in Sunday school as a kid thinking, boy, these were a bunch of dummies.

50:41

Maybe none of you ever thought the same thing, but I honestly had this opinion of Israel. They were stupid. Because they, listen, you can't get it over and over and over and over again.

50:51

You do this thing over and over and over again. You face these consequences and over and over and over again, you still go back and do the exact same thing.

51:00

And so we are quick to point out the flaws of these people, but oftentimes we don't allow the truth of their situation to affect us in the way that it should.

51:20

These people took for granted the presence of God. I want you to think for just a moment about the events that have unfolded.

51:31

From a high level overview, these people have been enslaved for 400 years. They've been held in captivity.

51:40

God sends Moses as a deliverer. He literally decimates the

51:45

Egyptian pantheon of God's, demonstrates that there are none that are true and real, but him.

51:53

He leads them out, out of bondage that they had experienced for 400 years.

52:00

When they complain about bitter water, He gives them sweet. When they complain about food,

52:07

He gives them manna. When they complain about meat, He gives them meat. At every step of the way,

52:13

He has met their needs. And every step of the way, they have continually taken for granted because they lived in such a way so we can do what we want.

52:30

Sound familiar? How many of those in churches today live in this same manner?

52:39

And quite honestly, we have trained the people well in doing this. We have trained them well because what we have taught them is once saved, always saved, and we've left it right there.

52:51

And while, yes, once truly saved, always truly saved, what we have done a bad job of is explaining what salvation is, what it looks like, and what it generates.

53:02

And so they think that they can walk around and live this life in the way that they want to.

53:09

What we do is we make converts, not disciples. And like Jesus told the Pharisees, we travel halfway around the world to make one proselyte, and in doing so, make him twice the son of the devil.

53:22

Paul wrote to the church at Galatia. As he opened up his letter to them in verses six and seven,

53:29

I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel, which is really not another gospel.

53:37

Only there are some who are disturbing you, and they want to distort the gospel of Christ.

53:43

This is a church that Paul labored at, poured his heart and his soul into. This is a church that was discipled, and Paul is having to remind them that they have quickly turned away.

53:53

And if a church that has been discipled does this, how much faster will a church that is not being discipled do this?

54:02

If we don't teach the word, if we don't give them the truth, then we know that they will fall.

54:17

And so we begin to see these signs from the people of God that maybe they really are grieved a little.

54:24

Note here in verse four. Then the people heard this sad word and went into mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments.

54:33

Now this is just a way of expressing the sorrow that they began to feel. What's interesting here is that though they began to feel this sorrow,

54:43

God knew that they would not continue to feel this sorrow. Most of the time if we get in trouble, we're upset for a day, maybe two, things get back to normal, we keep on trucking like nothing ever happened, right?

54:58

So God tells Moses in verse six, He's already told him in verse five,

55:05

Yahweh said to Moses, Say to the sons of Israel, You are a stiff -necked people. Should I go up in your midst for one moment,

55:11

I would consume you. So now, in a demonstration of your sorrow, put off your ornaments from you so that I may know what

55:22

I shall do with you. Demonstrate your repentance.

55:30

Matthew Henry writes in reference to this verse, Put thyself into a posture of the penitent one, that the dispute may be determined in thy favor and mercy may rejoice against judgment.

55:43

Note calls to repentance or plain indications of mercy, that it may be designed. If the

55:48

Lord were pleased to kill us, justice knows what to do with a stiff -necked people.

55:55

But God has no pleasure in the death of those that die. Let them return and repent and then mercy, which otherwise is at a loss, knows what to do.

56:09

And so we see the people in verse six, strip themselves of their ornaments from Horeb onward, but they are still separated from God.

56:27

The reason I'm including verse seven this morning, we will deal in greater detail with it is because you need to see that even though they stripped their ornaments, even though they got to a place where they were repentant and they were sorrowful for their actions, the punishment remained.

56:45

Verse seven, now Moses used to take the tent and pinch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp.

56:50

And he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought Yahweh would go out of the tent of meeting. And it's those last four words, which was outside the camp.

57:03

That's five words, but close enough. We went from a place of God dwelling in the very center center of his people to his dwelling place, temporarily being moved completely outside of the camp.

57:23

Now, if you recall, when we were doing the instructions regarding the implementation of the priesthood, the waste things went outside the camp.

57:37

The things that had been tossed aside went outside the camp. And here we find

57:42

God going outside the camp because this is what the people, this is what their sin has called for.

58:01

So as we stand at the end of this passage, we see this sobering truth.

58:11

God's people had received his mercy, but there was still a consequence of their loss from their sin.

58:24

Yahweh had fulfilled his covenant promise or will fulfill his covenant promise. He will send them into the land that he swore, but his presence would no longer dwell among them.

58:38

What greater tragedy could there be to inherit the blessing, but lose the presence of the blesser?

58:47

Go back and reread Revelations chapter 21, verses one through five, and remove the presence of God.

58:56

It's no longer a blessing because that's the whole point.

59:03

The whole point is that we would be with him. The people of Israel had received the revelation of his power.

59:14

They had been given his word. They had seen the cloud of glory.

59:21

They had heard his voice thunder from the mountain, yet they became a stiff -necked, unrepentant, unmoved, unbroken people by their sin.

59:36

And yet even in the midst of this, even in the midst of God's people behaving in this manner, we find grace upon grace.

59:45

The same God who said, I will not go up in your midst, would later condescend to us to dwell among his people through the tabernacle, and ultimately his son who tabernacled among us as Christ, the perfect mediator, the one who bridges the gap of our sin, the true

01:00:06

Moses who intercedes for his people, not with the blood of goats or bulls, but of his own blood.

01:00:15

This text calls us to examine ourselves. If you're sitting here this morning, believer or unbeliever, this is a call to examine yourself.

01:00:24

This is a call to look deeply because possibly we too have grown stiff -necked.

01:00:34

Maybe we are unrepentant in heart. Maybe we presume on the mercy of God while neglecting the presence of God.

01:00:45

Ask yourself, has your walk become religiously routine with no heart?

01:00:56

What I mean by that is when you spend time in God's word, are you merely doing it to check a box or are you doing it to draw closer to him?

01:01:07

When you lift up your voice in praise, are you doing it to give him honor, to give him glory, or are you doing it because you're standing in a group of people who are singing and you know that's the expectation?

01:01:23

Question is, do we desire the blessings of God more than the presence of God?

01:01:32

Listen, we're thankful.

01:01:38

We are blessed as a church. We're in this beautiful facility, but what if it went away?

01:01:48

One of the beautiful things is we've had that opportunity, right? To at the last minute have to redirect and say, okay, well, we can't worship together here in this place, so we'll go worship in this place.

01:02:00

And we've been in some really cool places outside with nature and under a place with a fire pit.

01:02:06

And we've been in some other places that, well, let's just say we really don't want to go back again. But guess what? To gather and worship

01:02:14

God, we will. If that is where God leads, then let us go.

01:02:25

Because we should desire his presence more than the blessings of a comfortable environment, more than the blessings of a nice air conditioner unit in the summertime.

01:02:44

His presence is everything. So much so that the people of Israel mourned when they heard that God would not dwell among him.

01:02:57

Would we do the same? Would we do the same if God removed the lampstand?

01:03:07

The power of the Spirit were not in our midst. Would we mourn? Would we know it?

01:03:20

This passage stands as a reminder that our repentance is not a one -time act.

01:03:27

It is a lifelong posture. We bow before the King of kings and Lord of lords.

01:03:34

We submit to him. Listen, we've all heard it said, make

01:03:40

Jesus king of your life. You don't need to make him king. He's already king. You just need to bow before the King.

01:03:50

May this passage and the study of his word drive us to our knees in confession and thanksgiving.

01:03:58

May we rejoice that through Christ, God not only leads us to the promised land, because brothers and sisters, we're being led to the promised land, but then when we get there, he dwells with us.

01:04:16

Now he indwells us with his Spirit. Let us not be content to go forward without his presence for all the blessings of this life.

01:04:30

All things should be counted as dung to quote brother

01:04:35

Paul for the sake of Christ. Let's pray.

01:04:45

Most, most gracious and merciful father, Lord, we come before you humbled by the weight of our sin, awed by the depth of your mercy.

01:05:01

Lord, it is indeed your loving kindness that we are not consumed. It is indeed that your compassions do not fail.

01:05:14

Forgive us, we pray for the times that we have desired your gifts more than we have desired your presence for the moments when we have walked according to our own stubborn hearts rather than in submission to your word.

01:05:29

Father, we confess. I confess that I and we are often stiff -necked, that we are slow to repent, that we are so quick to justify that we are prone to forget the holiness of God.

01:05:48

It's you, oh Lord. You are ever faithful even when we are faithless.

01:05:57

We thank you for the intercession of Christ who bore our sin, who bridged the gap between a holy

01:06:04

God and a sinful people. Lord, renew in us a spirit of repentance and of faith.

01:06:15

Restore to us the joy of your salvation. Father, let us never grow comfortable without your presence.

01:06:25

Teach us to walk in obedience, to tremble at your word and to trust wholly in the righteousness of Christ Jesus.

01:06:33

We thank you, Father, for the mercy that woke us this morning and the grace that sustains us this hour.