May it please God to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
book of Deuteronomy, the fourth chapter, and we'll read verse
10. The book of Deuteronomy, the
fourth chapter, and we'll read verse 10. Specially the day that thou stoodest
before the Lord thy God in Horeb. When the Lord said unto me, gather
me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that
they may learn to fear me all the days, that they shall live
upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. It was not to be many days before
Moses was to be taken from the children of Israel. And therefore we observe that
he wrote these books of the Bible, the first five books of the Bible,
and especially now this book of Deuteronomy, and he is recording
for Israel those things which they were shown, those things
which they heard, and those things which they were commanded to
do and commanded to keep. And we can see as he wrote these
words how concerned he was that Israel would not depart from
them, and that Israel would not forget them, and that Israel
will pass on. this wonderful word to their
children and their children's children. And numerous times
it is Moses' desire that the children of Israel should indeed
do just that. And so he refers here to that
occasion, and it was of course an amazing occasion. when the
Lord came down upon Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb as it's called
here, they are one and the same, and he came down in that wonderful
demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of
God, the power of the Saviour. And it was something which They
would not forget and He desired they should not forget and to
pass on this wonderful occasion. Because they did not see God,
there was no similitude that they saw God, but they did hear
the Word of God. God did speak to them out of
that cloud, out of the fire, out of that darkness. It was
an amazing occasion. It was an occasion when Israel
trembled, and so they should. Israel trembled on that occasion,
and God spoke to them the Ten Commandments. And as we know,
then later he wrote those Ten Commandments on those tables
of stone. Well, this was the occasion that
Moses is referring here. on this occasion, when they were
really given what we might term the covenant of works. And of course, Israel did not
keep them. Nobody has been able to keep
those Ten Commandments apart from our great and glorious Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we have this statement here
and we read something of the majesty of that occasion when
Israel came and stood under the mountain and the mountain burned
with fire unto the midst of heaven with darkness clouds and thick
darkness and the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the voice of the words,
but saw no similitude, only you heard a voice." Now, I just want
to contrast that situation with that which the Apostle Paul speaks
of in the epistle to the Hebrews. And in the twelfth chapter, he
refers to this occasion. And in the eighteenth verse of
the twelfth chapter, we read, For ye are not come unto the
mountain that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor
unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of
a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated
that the word should not be spoken to them any more. For they could
not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast taps
the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake." Well, that's the statement that Paul is referring
to, recorded, of course, in Exodus and also in the verses that we
read in Deuteronomy. But now he comes and says, but
A year I come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company
of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, and to God, the judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel." So here the Apostle
Paul sets before us the covenant of grace. So we have here in
the Old Testament there the covenant of works and here we have set
before us the covenant of grace. And we have the vast difference
between the law and the gospel. Servant of God, when he was inspired
to write these words, he came and said, especially the day
that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb. We may ponder and think, well,
what relevance is that to us today? Well, it has every relevance
to you and me today. And you may say, well, what is
that relevance? Well, I'll tell you what the
relevance is. When the Holy Spirit of God comes
and touches our hearts, it is that we see God as a holy, righteous
God. And the Spirit of God shows to
us then something of our sinnership. And what is the effect? Well,
I believe the effect in measure is that you and I tremble before
the greatness and holiness of God. And we tremble because the
Spirit of God shows to us that we are a guilty, hell-deserving
sinner and that we are guilty and therefore we need to be redeemed
from our sins. And we need to be saved from
our sins. And we need to be delivered from
that wrath to come. Well then, surely such a concern
can only be put there by the great and blessed work of the
Holy Spirit. So how encouraging It should
be, although perhaps we may not have thought so, may not think
so, at the present time, that to view the greatness of God
and the terribleness of God, which it is, out of Christ, we
may tremble, we may be afraid, we may shake, we may fear. And what is it? Well, bless God, if it's the
work the glorious work of the Holy Spirit coming into our lives and showing us the need we have
of a Saviour, because as we are, we are condemned under the holy
law of God. I'm sure we are familiar with
the Ten Commandments and we can read them, of course, in the
20th of Exodus where they're listed very clearly. And if we
read down that list of those commandments, none of us will
be able to say, well, of course, I've kept this and I've kept
that and I've done everything perfectly right. We will all
have to come and confess that we have failed. And I believe,
perhaps not initially, but I believe as the Spirit of God works in
our hearts and shows us the true state of our heart, we will have
to confess that we indeed are guilty of committing all those
sins which the Ten Commandments speak to us that we should not
do. And if we need any illustration
to that, remember what the Lord Jesus spoke when he was speaking
about adultery. And he just said, well, If we
would think after a woman to lust after her, we've committed
that sin in our heart. And it goes the same for murder. We may think, well, I wish that
person wasn't about or wasn't here. And what we're really doing
is wishing that that person was not there. And therefore, it
will be an amazing mercy if the Spirit of God shows to us that
we are indeed black sinners And that we are guilty of all those
commands which the Lord has said, thou shalt not. And yet we have. Well, here was a position, you
see, when God came down onto this mountain of Horeb, in that
cloud, in that great illustration of almighty power, when the whole
mountain shook, the fire came down, and it was evident This
was indeed the Holy God himself. It was not just some freak situation. It was the Holy God and the children
of Israel realized it and they trembled before it. Well, let
us then consider ourselves today and to see whether there has
been brought into our heart any trembling before a Holy God. Realising that we have offended
this great God. Moses clearly wanted the people
to remember that occasion. And I believe it's something
that you and I should also remember in our lives. The time when the
Spirit of God first came and convinced us that we were a sinner. convinced us that we were a guilty
person before a holy God, and brought us to consider ourselves. Consider what we were doing, and what we were saying, and
what we were thinking. Were they good things, or were
they bad things? And were we able to stand and
say, well, I'm a righteous person? Or have the Spirit of God convinced
us of our unrighteousness? Now, such a situation is not
pleasant to our nature, to our natural life. Because we want
to just carry on in this sinful world without anything to turn
us away from the vanities of life and our nature wants to
carry on. But what a blessing if the Spirit of God, and it's
very humbling to think that the Holy Spirit of God should have
taken notice of such insignificant people as you and me. And we
haven't just been left to wander on aimlessly, as it were, in
this sinful world. But the Spirit of God has come
upon us and has brought us to that position where that Spirit
of God has brought life into our souls. And that life, of
course, is by the Spirit of God. and that life directs us to see
something of our true state, our innermost being. We understand,
of course, about our natural life, but it's the Spirit's work
that shows to us something of our inner life, something of
the life of our soul. Mostly people are unconcerned
about the condition of their soul. and you and I will be virtually
untouched until the Holy Spirit comes and alerts us to something
of our lost condition. And what a blessing it will be
if we are brought to that place that the Apostle Paul was able
to speak to when he wrote that letter to the Ephesians, and
in that second chapter, he commenced by saying, and what a blessing
if we are amongst those, and you hath he quickened, that means,
and you hath he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and in
sins. That means we had no spiritual
life. That means as we were born, we
were born in trespasses and in sins, and we were spiritually
dead. But what a blessing if we have
the evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit, which has brought
us, as it were, to stand before a holy God. These people, these
Israelites, they were commanded to come and to stand before the
presence of Almighty God. And what an occasion it was.
And Moses wanted them to never forget that wonderful occasion. What a blessing it is if you
and I don't forget the wonderful occasion when we were called
spiritually to stand before God. when the Spirit worked in our
hearts to this end. It wasn't perhaps a comfortable
situation. We may have tried to get rid
of other thoughts, to carry on and try and envelop ourselves
in the things of time. But when the Spirit of God works,
the Spirit of God never fails in its work. We are so thankful
to know that that which the Holy Spirit begins, it carries on. And the Holy Spirit completes
that great and glorious work. And so we can be thankful if
we have the evidence that the Holy Spirit has come and granted
us that appreciation but we stand before a holy, heart-searching
God. And the effect will be, perhaps,
as we have that picture in the parable of the publican, when
he had to come and he had to cry out from his heart, God,
be merciful to me, a sinner. And it's a good illustration
because it wasn't an involved prayer, was it? And it was a
very simple prayer. But the fact was, he prayed it
from his heart. He had a need for mercy to be
shown to him from Almighty God. And on the other hand, we have
the picture of the Pharisee who was well pleased with himself.
He didn't need any mercy. He didn't need any mercy. He
didn't think. He was self-righteous. He was pleased with all that
he was able to do, what he had done. And that was his religion. Satisfied with his own works. But the problem was, he had failed
in so many things and he didn't realise it. Well, if the Spirit
of God shows to us that we failed, We have not kept the Word of
God. We have disobeyed the Word of
God and in fact we cannot keep the Word of God because of that
nature of sin. That sin which we receive from
Adam and that is in us and it lives in our old nature and it's
always battling against our new nature. It's always trying to
turn us away from the things of God. Always trying to inform
us, well, the things of God are not very important. And in any
case, you can forget about them now. Think about them when you're
older. The devil is very cunning and
he's very skillful and never underestimate his ability to
deceive. He's always been a deceiver.
He always will be a deceiver. And let us not be taken in by
his deceit. And therefore we should be thankful
today that we have the Word of God which gives to us such a
glorious position, a glorious picture to direct us to, none
other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, here we have then this
concern of Moses as he came and desired that Israel might specially
Remember that day when they stood before the Lord. And perhaps
we should ask ourselves and we should seek that we might remember
especially the day perhaps when you and I stood before a holy
God. Perhaps for the first time. The time when the Spirit of God
spoke to our hearts. caused us to ponder, caused us
to consider our way, to see where we were going and what we were
thinking. Well, can we bless God then for
such an occasion? And I believe, you see, if that
is so, then we won't want to forget it, but the devil will
try and make us forget it. But you see, it's God honouring
to remember it. And why is that? Because it's
the work of the Holy Spirit. And that's why we should be so
thankful to be able to have discerned God's work in our heart and brought
us to that time when we stood before the Lord God. All of us will need that enlightenment,
that quickening, that blessing. The reality is, of course, that
every single person will come and stand before God at that
great day of judgment. No one will be able to escape. No one will be able to hide. We're told there were many who
would try and hide, But no one will be able to hide from Almighty
God on that great terrible day of judgment. We will all be there.
And therefore what a mercy if we have had already in our lives
that time when we have stood before the Lord God. And when
the Lord as it was looked at us with his eyes, and we've been
condemned by his holy law, and we've realised that we are a
lost and ruined sinner. Now such a situation is not pleasant
to our flesh, but you see, if it's the Spirit's work which
has brought us there, it will have a good end. If we've never been brought there,
there won't be a good end. But if the Spirit has brought
us there, there will be a good end. And if the Spirit's brought
us there, the Spirit will lead us then on to the way of salvation. And we should indeed be very,
very thankful that we have recorded, as we just referred to in that
chapter in the epistle to the Hebrews, what the Apostle was
able to speak and to instruct us in how wonderful it is that
the Lord has recorded such detail for us today to bring us back
to that time of convention when we stood before God and then
indeed to lead us on to view that great and glorious salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ and to Jesus. the mediator of the
new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better
things than that of Abel. Now just for a moment ponder
what the Apostle then says. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. You and I today are wonderfully
blessed with the word of God, the truth of God, from Genesis
to Revelation. And there will be that continued
temptation to refuse the Word of God, to think that somehow
we can escape having to turn to God and to do those things
which are right in accordance with the Word of God. And so
the apostle, you see, he writes to us here, see that you refuse
not him, that speaketh." Well, perhaps we have refused. Perhaps we look back in our lives
and we can see times when we refused to hear the Word of God because it was
going to interrupt our lives. And we turn our back upon God. Well, here is these solemn and
important words. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. You see, God speaks through his
word. What a good thing it is. And
God speaks to us. What a mercy it is for if they
escape not, who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall
not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven."
And so we have here a very solemn statement, don't we? You see,
we cannot, we must not, we dare not trifle with the Word of God. The Word of God is true. The
Word of God will not fail. All that the Word of God says
will come to pass. And so, as we have such wonderful
statements given to us, may they lay hold of us. May we realise
the significance of them and the
importance of them. And so to realise such a word
as this. when the Apostle speaks to the
General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written
in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of
just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the New
Covenant. Well, the blessing for us today
is that Lord Jesus Christ did come into this sinful world. He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. He didn't come to seek the righteous,
those who are righteous in their own eyes, but He came to seek
and to save those who in their own eyes view themselves as lost. Because the work of the Spirit
has brought them before God. They stand there and they realize
they are guilty, they're condemned, and they stand before a holy
God as lost and undone sinners. Now you see, in such a situation,
then it is, and not till then, that the Gospel takes on a different
picture, a different meaning. And it's then that the Lord Jesus
Christ begins perhaps to mean something. And it is then that
we rejoice in the fact that we do have the Lord Jesus Christ
and he's spoken here as the mediator. What does that mean? It means
the one who stands between us and a holy God. Now remember
on Horeb, God came down in his greatness and his holiness and
the people trembled. And they could not approach unto
that holy and righteous God. And it's still the same today.
You and I cannot approach unto a holy God the Father. Because
of His holiness, we're unholy. So how can we? God has provided
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the mediator between God and
man. the man Christ Jesus. Well, what a glorious truth that
is. For us today to know that we
have this mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the mediator
of the new covenant. And how did he come to that situation? My friends, he came there through
his great and glorious death. upon that cross at Calvary when
he shed his precious blood so that he would indeed be accepted. He shed his blood. Christ Jesus never sinned. He shed his blood to atone for
our sins. He died upon the cross at Calvary
so that he might redeem us. from our sins. He paid the price
which was required to redeem us because we were lost and ruined. We'd offended God. We'd sinned
against him. No hope. The Lord Jesus Christ
came and the price for sin was the shedding of blood. The apostle
says in the previous chapters without shedding of blood, there's
no forgiveness, there's no remission. So it is, for you and me, that
you and I cannot save ourselves. Because if we were to die, our
blood is polluted, it's not pure, it's sinful, but the Lord Jesus
Christ, he stood in our place. He bore the punishment instead. Never underestimate the great
cost of your and my salvation. What a blessing it is to realise
that as a guilty sinner standing before a holy God, we have a
mediator, a great and glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. and to Jesus, the mediator of
this new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh
better things than that of Abel. Well, what a mercy if you and
I, my friends, this morning are directed from our position of
standing on that day, especially the day that we were called to
stand, as it were, before God, that we then be directed to the
only remedy the Lord Jesus Christ. And then to have some little
understanding of the cost of our salvation and to realise
that through what Christ has done, we are set free. We are indeed delivered from
the wrath to come. We cannot pay the price for our
sins. We cannot redeem ourselves. We
have one who was so willing, and that none less than the Almighty
Son of God. It's beyond our understanding
to appreciate the wonder and the greatness of the plan of
salvation. To think that Almighty God took
upon Him that human form, our nature, so that he could die
in our place, the just for the unjust. Do we understand and see the
wonder and the glory of this plan of salvation? And through
what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, you and I have that good
hope of eternal life. We can look beyond our little
life on this earth, to look to that time when we shall be united
with Christ and that forever. And we shall not be able to claim,
well, it was because of what I did, because of my good works. No, we should only come desiring
to praise and to glorify our God for what he's done. and to
thank him for his wonderful love, for his wonderful mercy. We stand
amazed to think that God, that pure and holy and righteous God,
should have ever loved such a sinner as you and I are. Someone who
has turned their back upon God. Someone who has perhaps sinned
against God, sinned perhaps against light and knowledge, I've said
I would not have this man to rule over me, but to realise the powerful work
of the Holy Spirit has come upon us. And therefore to think that
the love of God was so great, so wonderful, isn't it, to ponder
that the Almighty God should have loved such a sinner so much
that the Saviour the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God,
the Eternal Son of God, should have come into this world and
to die, that you and I might live eternally. And to recognise that Christ
was willing to live that wonderful life, those 33 years of constant Aggravation, we might say, constant
enmity against the devil, attacking him all the time. Because remember,
we're told the Saviour is tempted in all points, like as we are,
yet without sin. Don't think that Lord Jesus Christ
had a simple, easy life. You consider that, my friends,
tempted in all points, like as we are, and we're all tempted
much, aren't we? The Lord Jesus is tempted at
all points. The continual harassment of Satan. How wonderful to think that the
Lord Jesus Christ stood firm, even when faced with that terrible
death, faced with that realization that he must suffer so greatly,
so amazing that there in the Gethsemane, he was able to pray
to his father, being in that agony, and we get some little
glimpse of that, when he, being in agony, shed, as it were, great
drops of blood, falling to the ground. It was a tremendous agony,
beyond what you and I can understand. And of course that was, as it
were, the beginning Then he had to go into that judgment hall
and to accept all those wrong statements and all those beatings
and mockings. How difficult to withstand. But the Savior absorbed it all. How meek he was in that judgment
hall. And then, of course, eventually
taken and nailed to that cross. and had to then endure on that
cross the hidings of his father's face. My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? And all these things were accomplished
so that you and I might be redeemed. You and I have stood, like Israel
did, before God, as it were, trembling because of our sin,
because of the holy law of God, and then to be directed to the
glorious covenant of grace and to be blessed for that realisation.
It is through His grace, unmerited favour. We never deserved it. But do we bless God for it? Do we thank him therefore that
the apostle was able to write such words and to be able to
say, wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, the things
of God cannot be moved are eternal. Let us have grace whereby we
might serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for
our God is a consuming fire. Well, this morning, let us not
forget then these words of Moses when he wrote on that occasion,
just a short time before he was taken from this earth, and to
bless God, if you and I have come to that place and we have
stood before a holy God, but bless God more. if we've been
directed to come and stand at Calvary and to view what Christ
has done to redeem our sins. Because, blessed with that wonderful
view, then we can think that by his grace one day we shall
be with him in glory, to praise him forever and ever. And so
these words this morning, especially the day that thou stoodest before
the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, gather
me, the people together, and I will make them hear my words. What a blessing, truth it is,
if God has made us hear his words. Perhaps we didn't want to. Bless
God who has made us hear his words, hear my words, that they
may learn to fear me in all the days they shall live upon the
earth and that they may teach their children. Amen.