I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our worship here this evening. As we begin once more
in the Lord's house for another year, may we know the Lord's
presence and the Lord's blessing here. Those of you that are joining
with us online, may you likewise have the Lord's blessing through
the means of grace here. Let us commence by singing hymn
700. Before we sing, let's ask the
Lord's blessing, let's pray. O Lord our God, we do seek of
thee thy blessing upon our worship here this evening, and Lord indeed,
as we begin to gather here for another year, we do thank thee
for thy many mercies that we begin the year with. O Lord,
may we have Thy presence and Thy blessing to be known and
felt. So Lord, help us now to sing
Thy worthy praise. We ask through Thy name, Lord
Jesus. Amen. Hymn, 700. Tune, Jubilee 548. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God from Exodus chapter 33. Exodus chapter 33. If you have one of our free Bibles,
that is page 97, the second book in the Word of God. Exodus chapter 33, this chapter
comes immediately after the law of God had been given, written
in tables of stone. Those tables had been cast down
by Moses and broken as he viewed the people committing idolatry
and with the golden calf. So this is where we then begin
in what the Lord says to Moses and to the people. And the Lord said unto Moses
depart and go up hence thou and the people which thou hast brought
up out of the land of Egypt unto the land which I swear unto Abraham
to Isaac and to Jacob saying unto thy seed will I give it
And I will send an angel before thee, and I will drive out the
Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the
Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk and
honey. For I will not go up in the midst
of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee in
the wane. And when the people heard these
evil tidings, they mourned. And no man did put on him his
ornaments. For the Lord had said unto Moses,
Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiff-necked people. I will come up into the midst
of thee in a moment and consume thee. Therefore now put off thy
ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.' And
the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments
by the Mount Horeb. And Moses took the tabernacle
and pitched it without the camp afar off from the camp, and called
it the tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass that every
one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the
congregation which was without the camp. And it came to pass
when Moses went out unto the tabernacle that all the people
rose up and stood every man at his tent door and looked after
Moses until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to
pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar
descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord
talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy
pillar stand at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose
up and worshipped every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake
unto Moses face to face, As a man speaketh unto his friend. And
he turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son
of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. And Moses said unto the Lord,
See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, and thou hast
not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said,
I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore I pray thee, if
I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may
know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that
this nation is thy people. And he said, my presence shall
go with thee, and I will give thee rest. that he said unto
him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known
here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is
it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated,
I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face
of the earth. And the Lord said unto Moses,
I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for thou hast
found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said,
I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all
my goodness pass before thee. And I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will
be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And
he said, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man
see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there
is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock. and it shall
come to pass while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a
cliff of the rock, then will cover thee with my hand while
I pass by, and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see
my back parts, but my face shall not be seen. The Lord bless to
us that reading of his holy word and help us as we come before
him in prayer. Let us pray. Lord God of heaven and of earth,
our loving, Heavenly Father, we come before Thee through Thy
beloved Son, come before Thee, of whom our dear Lord said, The
Father himself loveth You. And Lord, we do thank Thee for
that everlasting and eternal love, and that as we pass from
one year unto the next, we would be reminded that Thou art the
same, yesterday and today and forever. And in that declaration
concerning Thyself, Lord Jesus, Thou dost declare Thyself to
be the Eternal God. O Lord, we do thank Thee for
God manifest in the flesh. We thank Thee for that which
we have remembered over these last weeks. and would remember
all the way through the year. And Lord, we do beg of Thee that
Thou would remember Thy promise, lo, I am with You always, even
unto the end of the world. We do pray that we might know
it in a very special way in the assemblies of Thy people. Thou
hast said that where two or three are gathered together in my name,
There am I in the midst. And Lord, though that word is
given in the context of a church meeting and discipline, yet it
stands true on its own. And Lord, we do thank Thee for
that precious truth. Lord, we do pray that we might
be gathered around Thee, and to Him shall the gathering of
the people be. and Lord, that it might be even,
Jesus, in the midst. O Lord, do favour us then, as
we stand on the threshold of another year. Lord, Thou knowest
what Thou hast in store for us each. We pray for Thy presence
in it. We pray for Thy grace to be upon
us. We pray, Lord, that Thy Holy
Spirit might be with us and that we might feel often the power
of thy spirit as the word is preached and heard, that what
the spirit saith unto the churches, there might be those given to
have an hearing ear to what he saith. And O Lord, we do pray
we might see thy goodness pass before us in the way, and that
thou hast given us eyes to see and a heart to perceive thy goings
in the sanctuary, and that we might see thine offspring come,
and hear the testimony of thy people, that thou hast sent blessing
in the house of God, that thou hast be pleased to remember us,
and furnish a table here, and do help in proclaiming thy word
for me as pastor here, and each of our visiting ministers through
the year. May thy blessing rest upon them,
especially while they minister here. We pray for each of thy
servants this night, to remember those that are laid aside. We
pray for thy kind, healing hand to Jaber's runt, to strengthen
him again. Remember others that may be laid
aside as well. Lord, we pray for help for thy
day, and Lord, in the coming week, funerals that will be attended,
if it is thy will, to give help to those that officiate at those
and do comfort those in bereavement. Lord, we do commit unto thee
the year as how we may be affected by our government. We pray for
those in authority over us. We seek wisdom for them. Do restrain
their hands when they desire to do wicked things, and do be
pleased to open their ears to good advice. Overturn the designs
of those that desire to bring in the Assisted Dying Bill. Lord,
may that be stopped and not brought into law. O Lord, hear our prayer. For this we pray. And do we please
to open the eyes of many of our representatives in Parliament
to see that the investigations in looking into this are so heavily
biased and weighted towards bringing it in. Lord, may they see it
is not done in a neutral way at all. Oh Lord, do be pleased
to use even this matter as a means of moving many to put down this
bill. Lord, we do pray that thou would
deliver us in many ways, enabling us still to worship and that
the laws that are made in our land might not be used to suppress
the freedom of speech and the preaching of the gospel, and,
Lord, that thou dost deliver us from wicked and unreasonable
men. We do desire of thee that we
might have the light of thy countenance in our own souls personally,
And as we gather, feel the love to the brethren, and that we
might know that thou dost know us and dost regard us. O Lord, be with each hill of
Zion, but especially we pray that thou dost be with us here,
and that thou dost make us a blessing to our congregation, whether
in the chapel or online, and those that hear the ministry
here. And Lord, that thou would increase
and build us up and make us a blessing to the people of Cranbrook. We
pray for those who have received Bibles from our Bible boxes.
Lord, that seed that has been sown maybe many years ago, do
cause that it might start to spring forth, that it might bring
forth fruit, that we might be encouraged to see it. We do pray
thy blessing on those that receive thy word through. the Bible offer
on the internet. And Lord, do bless each one that
does receive thy word. We pray that thou hast moved
them to attend a place of worship near them, those that are directed
to places by us. And Lord, we do thank thee for
answers to prayer regarding the uptake on that offer. O Lord,
may it be that thou art directing thy word to those who truly need
it, are thy children, will be blessed by it, and will live
to thine honour and glory. Lord, as we begin the year, we
would, with shame for our sins, we beg for mercy, pardon, sanctification,
to be washed, to be granted that blessing thou had exalted to
give, repentance and remission of sins unto Israel, and to remember
those that struggle with besetting sins and struggle with our old
nature. And Lord, do grant that Thou
wouldst give us, instead of a hard heart, a softened heart, instead
of no repentance, real repentance, and turning away from evil. Lord,
do break every snare, do lose every prisoner, and do grant
those true tokens of the forgiveness and pardon of our sins. Lord,
do grant that we might serve and follow Thee fully, that our
hearts be fully after Thee, not divided, not trying to serve
Thee and mammon, not trying to be two people. Lord, make us
wholly Thine, and do remember us in our thoughts and our affections. Lord, thou hast said that the
thought of foolishness is sin, and Lord, do deliver us and save
us. from empty vain thoughts, that
which does not profit, that which is not true, has no virtue, has
no praise. O Lord, do be pleased to grant
us that which is good and leads our affections and thoughts above. O Lord, we do seek now then that
further help, that thy blessing might be upon us now. Open up
thy word, guide our footsteps in it, make the Lord Jesus Christ
most precious to us. We thank thee for him, for his
precious blood, Lord, for his perfect sinless life, for thine
ascension into heaven and thy presence there. O Lord, we thank
thee for thine intercession. We thank thee for thy presence
here. Now, Lord, grant thy word as
a sweet savour of thyself, Lord Jesus, and that we might know
and feel thy presence this evening. We ask through thy name, Lord
Jesus. Amen. Hymn, 554. Tune, Norman 196. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Exodus chapter 33 and verse
14. And he said, my presence shall
go with thee, and I will give thee rest. Exodus 33, and verse 14, the
Lord's presence promised and known. As we began reading this chapter,
we mentioned as an introduction, the context. We read the last verse of the
previous chapter, And the Lord plagued the people because they
made the calf which Aaron made. And it was because of that idle
worship that Moses cast down the two tables of stone. They
were broken and God said then in this chapter that he himself
would not go before them. And it's really this whole chapter
is dealing with the subject of the Lord going with his people. In our text, the Lord promises
it and promises to give them rest. And Moses, with a real
sense of the importance of this, He said unto him, if thy presence
go not with me, carry us not up hence. It was the vital thing. And this is also highlighted
by the beginning of this chapter, because the Lord still says that
he will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the
Perizzite, the Hivite, the Jebusite, And he will bring them into a
land flowing with milk and honey. He will do what he swears to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but it won't be the Lord's presence,
it will be an angel before thee. And we read in verse four, when
the people heard these evil tidings. I wonder how that, works out
in our lives. If the Lord was to say, I will
give you health, I'll give you strength, I'll give you wealth,
I'll give you all of these things, but my presence won't be with
you, I'll send an angel, and the angel will do this, you'll
look upon it and you'll see it as done as I promised to provide,
but my presence shall not be with you, Would we call that
evil tidings? Would we be so desirous of the
Lord's presence when we think of this word as to pointing to
the rest of heaven? Would heaven be heaven without
the Lord? If there was all the host of
angels, if there was no sin, no sorrow, no affliction, no
trouble, no Satan, but no Lord. Would it still be heaven? This
is the emphasis of this chapter. And may it be the real desire
of our souls in this year we've entered upon that we have the
Lord's presence with us. That we have the same earnest
desire that Moses had If thy presence go not with me, carry
us not up hence. Moses made intercession for the
people of God. Moses took the tabernacle, not
the tabernacle that was made after Mount Sinai, but the tabernacle
where he met with the children of Israel in judgment before
that tabernacle was made, put it outside of the camp. In Hebrews
we read, Let us go therefore unto him without the camp, bearing
his reproach. And our Lord Jesus Christ suffered,
bled, and died without the camp, without the city. Moses makes intercession. The people of God repent. They
mourn. No man did put on his ornaments. And the Lord remembered them.
And the Lord made this promise, which is in our text. And the
Lord gives in this chapter what it means to have his presence,
those clear tokens of it. And in our text, another promise
that is joined to it, I will give thee rest. And so I want to look with the
Lord's help this evening. Firstly, the Lord's promised
presence. And then secondly, how his presence
is known as set forth in this chapter. There are many other
ways that it's set forth in the Word of God, but I want to confine
it to what is set forth in this chapter. And then lastly, the
promise joined to his presence that is known here, and I will
give thee rest. But firstly, the Lord's presence
and what it is a token of. There's two aspects to the Lord's
presence. Some people confuse them and
so lose out on the many blessings that are attendant with the Lord's
presence. The Lord has his omnipresence,
that is, there is no place where he is not. In Psalm 139, David,
the psalmist, he speaks of all the places where he could come. Really, we could sum it up, there
is no place where the psalmist could come where the Lord was
not. Whether it be in the heaven or
on the earth or beneath the earth, in the sea, in the womb, wherever
he was, the Lord would be there. He is omnipresent. But that is not what is being
said before us here. And when we think of the scriptures,
the whole emphasis of the gospel, of the work of our Lord Jesus
Christ, is to remedy, you might say, that which was lost in the
Garden of Eden. Because our first parents, before
they fell, they had the Lord's presence with them. Communion,
fellowship, walked with the Lord. But sin, it separates. Sin separates
between our God and us. For the work of our Lord Jesus
Christ is to reconcile, is to bring nigh, it is to restore
again his presence. It is to do, in effect, what
is done in this chapter. The chapter begins with the Lord
saying, I will not, because of your sin, go with you. In the
end, he is giving a promise that he will. And we think in the
Garden of Eden, how quickly, after man fell, was the first
promises of the Lord Jesus Christ given. So when we think of the
Lord's presence in this sense, it is his manifest presence,
when it is known in a specific way with his people. when it is evidenced, when they
feel it and they know it, and it is in a different way than
His omnipresence. We think of the times in Scripture
where His presence is specifically mentioned. We think of when our
Lord rose from the dead. He always knew where His disciples
were. He was ever present, but he had
those specific times he met with them in the upper room on the
Sea of Galilee, on the way to Emmaus. His specific presence
was known and was evidenced. We think of the promise, where
two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst. The context is a church meeting
and in discipline, but the verse stands alone. For where two or
three are gathered together in my name, whether it be for worship
or discipline, there are some that would say because it is
in that context, it cannot be applied to any other situation. And they forbid the Lord's people
and criticize them for using that in any other situation. They are wrong. And it is because
very often they use the argument, the Lord's presence is everywhere.
And so it is. But there it is spoken in the
assemblies of the saints. God is greatly to be feared in
the assemblies of the saints, to be heard in reverence of all
them that are about him, Forsake not the assembling of yourselves
together as the manner of some is, so much the more as you see
the day approaching. It is the Lord drawing near to
his people as he oft did with the disciples, as he blessed
them with his felt presence in the various places that they
came to. And so it is this manifest presence
that we want, that we desire as we begin another year. And it is then my desire in looking
at the tokens here, the evidences, or how the Lord's presence is
known, that we may be assured of that special presence, a presence
that has tokens and evidences bound up with it, that without
that being realized, we haven't got those tokens. If the Lord's
presence is just general and Lord's people never seek that
they might feel it or realize it in these ways, they don't
have these things that are bound up with it. And so, under this
point, there are two tokens. that abound with it. One is finding
grace in the Lord's sight. Now notice how often this is
brought forth in verse 12. Yet thou hast said, I know thee
by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. And then in verse 13. Now therefore
I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight. And then in verse 16, we have,
for wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have
found grace in thy sight. And he says, is it not in that
thou goest with us? And then in verse 17, The Lord said unto Moses, I will
do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for thou hast found
grace in my sight. And so we're thinking of the
verse 16 especially, that wherein shall it be known here that I
and thy people have found grace in thy sight, is it not, in that
thou goest with us? If we have the presence, if we
have the presence of the Lord going with us and we know it
from the clear tokens in this, clear evidences in this passage,
then we know that we have found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Grace is the free, unmerited
favor of God. It is completely the opposite
to works. And remember, the children of
Israel here, as far as their works, they were idolaters, they
were sinners, they transgressed, they'd angered the Lord, they'd
forfeited any right to His presence and blessing. But then the Lord
bestows grace, that which was unearned, unmerited, favour in
the face of provocation and rebellion. And it's the Lord's presence
that is a very clear evidence that we have found that grace
in His sight. And we are not then under works. The Lord is not looking upon
us under works, but under grace, looking upon us graciously. The
second thing it is a token of is being one of His people. In verse 13 we read, Now therefore
I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now
thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy
sight, and consider that this nation is thy people. Is thy people. And this comes
up later on as well, that it is the fact that the children
of Israel, those that Moses is leading, are the people of the
Lord. And so when we know the Lord's
presence, we have a scriptural evidence of being the people
of God. Remember when the Lord rose from
the dead and appeared to his dear disciples, it was only to
those that were His that He appeared to. And when we think of what
heaven is, heaven is where the Lord is in the midst of His people. And if we are a people that are
being prepared for that place, then we would expect that what
evidence of being that people is to have his presence here
below. Heaven will not be the first
time we know the presence of the Lord. He shall give grace
and glory. And we've already mentioned about
finding grace in the eyes of the Lord. And who is it that
finds grace? It is the people of God. It is
God's people that are given that grace. By grace ye are saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of
God. So the Lord's promised presence,
what it is a token of, but what is then, secondly, His presence? How do we know it? And I want
to keep close to This passage, as we said, there are other things
by which his presence is evidenced with the fear of the Lord, with
the faith that is given, love to the brethren, there are many
things throughout the Word of God. But I want to, this evening,
just stick to what the inspired Word says here in this portion. in this chapter, this context. Well, there are seven. There
are seven points here that are given to us. The first is the
Lord's knowledge of us. He says in verse 12, Thou hast
said, I know thee by name. I know thee. And this comes up
later on as well, verse 17, that I know thee by name. We think of our Lord, the well
of Samaria, and the Samaritan woman coming to that well. And when she desires to drink
of the living water that the Lord had to give, He said to
her, go, call thy husband, and come hither. And she said, I
have no husband. And he says, thou hast rightly
said, thou hast no husband. For thou hast had five husbands,
and he whom thou hast is not thine husband. And she said,
sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. The one thing that
she knew, she said, when Messiahs cometh, he will tell us all things. When she went later to the Samaritans,
she says, come see a man that told me all things that ever
I did. Is not this the Christ? She may
well have put it in a different way and said, come see a man
that knew all about me. That knew me, knew my name, knew
where I was, knew my life. And this is what is said here.
This is what Hagar said when she fled from Sarah and the Lord
met with her. And she said, thou God seest
me. That's what she called the Lord.
He called her. He knew her name. He knew where
she was. And he gave her direction to
return and to be in subject to Sarah. There are those times that the Lord
works in providence and works through the ministry in such
a way that we are left in no doubt. The Lord knows where we
are, where we are in our circumstances. He knows all about us. When we
think of the book of Esther, and the timing of providence
is there. The Lord knew his people, he
knew where Esther was, he knew where Mordecai, he knew where
the enemies of God were, but he timed things to perfection. And I've had those things in
my life that the Lord has brought in such a way that I have been
so persuaded the Lord knew exactly where I was So the second, as
it were, they knew all about me. It is a blessed thing to
then realize this. You know, if the Lord has shed
his blood for us, if he has loved us with an everlasting love,
if he has graven us upon the palms of his hands, If he has
prepared a place for us in heaven, do not think that he knows us
here. He knows where we are. He knows
about us. The kingdom of God standeth sure,
having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. And so this is the first evidence,
this first token that is given us here, a sense of the Lord's knowing
us and making us to feel that the Lord knows us. The second thing is that we will
be shown His way. In verse 13, Moses prays, if I have found
grace in thy sight, show me now thy way. That is what is set
before us here. If we are to know the Lord has
given us grace, we have grace in his sight, then he will show
us his way. Our Lord said to his dear disciples,
I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto me,
unto the Father, but by me. The way of salvation is through
our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ alone. It is not of works lest
any man should boast, and works are completely excluded in this
chapter. It is all of grace. That is God's
way. That is how he saves. And it
is through the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered without the gain
to put away his people's sin. That's showing us his way. will extend to the plan of salvation,
the way we are to worship, what pleases Him, the path of prayer,
the path of obedience, His way also in providence, those things
that we are to do in our life. Thou shalt hear a word behind
thee saying, this is the way, walking in it, when you turn
to the right hand, when you turn to the left. Be ye not as the horse and the
mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with
bit and bridle. The Lord says, I will instruct
thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go, I will guide
thee with mine eye. And like the horse rider, He
uses his eye to guide the horse. But he will use a bit and bridle,
but the Lord says, don't you be like that. You be like the
horse that hears the commands, the audible commands, and just
obeys them. And that's how we are, to listen,
to listen to the Lord and to his word directing us. The apostle
knew it in Providence. He knew the way stopped up. He knew the way to go forward. And thy word is a lamp unto my
feet, a light unto my path. And blessed are we if we hear
the Lord's direction in the word. What we are to do, how we are
to walk, what is pleasing to him, to be shown his way. is a token of his presence, just
like the rider's presence on the horse. The children of Israel
here, they're in the desert. No signposts, no roads, but they
had a fiery cloudy pillar to go over the tabernacles to show
them where they should go. Let thee, fiery, cloudy pillar,
guide me all my journey through. To be shown his way. Can we say that we have been
this past year and as we look forward to another year, do we
desire and is our prayer, Lord, show me now thy way. Show me
what Thou hast have me to do. Show me Thy salvation clearly,
that I might clearly understand and embrace that way of salvation
by grace alone. The Lord give us that token.
The third one is in the same verse and it goes on, that we
know the Lord. Verse 13, show me now thy way,
that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight. This
is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Take my yoke upon you,
learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, you shall find
rest unto your souls. that we are not strangers to
the Lord, to how he walks. The disciples, you know, when
they were with him, they had to learn, learn the Lord's way. When the Samaritans wouldn't
receive him as his faith was set to go up to Jerusalem, they
said, shall we command fire to come down from heaven and consume
them? like a lion's did. The Lord said,
you know not what spirit you are of. The Son of Man came not
to destroy men's lies, but to save them. And they had to learn
the Lord's way, how He would deal with the matter, what He
would do. And it's a blessed thing then
that we also have the mind of the Lord. We think of the Lord's
parable of the talents. And there were those that traded
their five talents, their 10 talents, they got double. And
then there was the one that hid his talent in the earth. And
he said, because I knew thee, that thou wast an austere man,
that is gathered where thou hast not sown. The Lord called him a wicked
servant. Did he really know the Lord?
He didn't, in a false representation of the Lord. May we truly know
him as he is set forth in the word of God, as he has been toward
us in our lives, as we have seen him in the sanctuary, as we've
heard him lifted up, on the pole of the everlasting gospel, may
we have a biblical, Holy Spirit-revealed view of the Lord Jesus Christ,
so that we may truly say that we do know the Lord. They shall all be taught of God. They shall all know me, from
the least even unto the greatest. He's one of the great marks,
the great evidence, as the Lord said, of himself as a good shepherd
and his sheep, that they know my voice and they follow me. They knew the shepherd. And in
a literal sense, you get a flock of sheep with a shepherd. Those
sheep, they know their shepherd, and the shepherd knows his sheep.
And this is the token here. This is the token that I may
know Thee, and may that be our prayer and desire this year as
well, that we might know the Lord, that we might not be strangers
to Him, but that we might know something of His teaching and
the knowledge of Him. Fourthly, and in verse 16, that we be separated unto the
Lord. For wherein shall it be known
here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight, is
it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated,
I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face
of the earth. Here is a very vital question
and a vital evidence. The Lord said of his people that,
he said, I am not of the world, and they are not of the world.
I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them. Come
ye out from among them. Touch not the unclean thing,
and I will receive you. You shall be my sons and my daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty. The children of Israel here had
been separated from amongst the Egyptians. They'd been separated
unto the Lord. They'd been given His laws. They were made a people, a special
people, of all people upon the face of the earth. And God's
elect, chosen for knowledge, foreknown people, those whom
he calls by his grace. He sanctifies, he separates them
unto himself. He brings them out. They are
special unto him. They are part of his eternal
kingdom, being gathered from every nation, kindred and tongue
here below. Never be ashamed of being different. You know, poor Peter, I prayed
for thee that thy faith fail not. But three times Peter denied
his Lord and Master that he ever knew him. He even started to
try and swear and curse so his own speech didn't betray him
as being associated with the Lord. What a solemn position
he got into. And we can be the same. We can
be ashamed of the Lord. We can deny Him. We can be silent
when we should speak. We can be in company that we
should not be in. Walk with the ungodly. Even use
the language of the ungodly. Justify the ungodly. Imitate
them. But God's people are to prize
this, that they are different. God has made them different.
Grace has made them different. He has plucked them from the
burning. He's opened their eyes. He's given them His law. He's
given them life. He's given them what the world
does not have. Never be ashamed of that difference
that the Lord makes. It's not that we should deliberately
try and make a difference. Stand by thyself. I am holier
than thou. Not that difference. not a self-righteous
difference, not a difference that makes us to be unfriendly,
ungracious, unkind, unhelpful people. No. God's people, as
much as lieth in you, that we are to live in peace with all
men, of all people upon the earth. We are to be like our Lord, meek
and mild, gracious, gentle unto all men, apt to teach, forgiving,
forbearing, being like our Lord and Master. And the Lord says, let them return
unto you, return not thou unto them. Where the Lord makes a
difference because of grace, And you say, I'm sorry, I cannot
go with you. I cannot walk in your ways. I
will not do what you are doing. They'll hate you for it. But
there's no alternative but in those situations to make a stand
and to show whose we are and who we serve and whose law we
obey and whether like the apostles, When they are forbidden to preach
any more in the name of the Lord, they said we ought to obey God
rather than men. When that choice is before us,
then we walk in the Lord's ways. And it is to be then a separated
people. When the Lord comes again with
power and great glory, then there's going to be a separation. The
Eternal One, whose sheep and goats, there's no middle. They're either those with the
Lord or separated from the Lord. And so it is here as well. Those
that are the Lord's and with Him, those who are not, in the
account here with the golden calf, who is on the Lord's side. Joshua, later on, as for me and
my house, we will serve the Lord. There's to be a division, a separating
unto the Lord, and there was here. When the tabernacles put
out outside the camp, those that went out unto it had to do so
very, very clearly. You imagine if you had an assembly
of people in one place here, and then there was got a tent,
and it was put a long way from that main group of people, and
it was then said, right, of all of you people, those that will
serve the Lord, you go to that tent. You know, if you wanted to keep
your profession secret, be hard, wouldn't it? If you were to identify
and to go to that tent, you'd have to walk over that intervening
ground and everyone would see who you were and where you were
going and what that was a testimony of. Like with the woman that
touched the hem of our Lord's garment. She thought she'd be
heard, but she couldn't be heard, even in that crowd. She had to
come and confess all what had happened to her. But this is
a token, a token of the Lord's presence, a token of his grace,
is that he has separated us. He has made that difference. He has changed our hearts. He
has put us amongst his children. He's taken us from the ungodly. and put us amongst his people. There is a true token. The fifth is this, that he makes
his goodness pass before us in the way. Verse 19, I will make
all my goodness pass before thee. You know, Abraham's servant,
when he went to get a wife for Isaac, he proved this. He made his prayer
to the Lord. He laid out what his errand was
and the situation where he was at the well and the women coming
to the well. And the Lord abundantly answered
his prayer. and he was clearly shown Rebecca
as the one that would marry Isaac. And when he rehearsed the matter
and told what had been done to Rebecca's father and brother,
then they said, the thing proceedeth from the Lord. It was the Lord
that had done it. His goodness had gone before. And many, many times, the people
of God proved this. You think of Queen Esther in
going to make her petition to the king, her own husband. If
she did not find grace in his sight, if he did not hold out
the golden scepter, she would be slain. but they made it a matter of
prayer over three days. And the Lord went before and
answered prayer, turned the heart of the king, he held out the
golden scepter. And you see again and again in
that account, the Lord going before. You can see the case with Ruth,
when she comes back with Naomi to the land of Bethlehem, Then
she goes out to glean amongst the sheaves. And we read her
hat was to light on the field belonging to Boaz. The world
would say, well, that was good luck. But the way the scriptures
put it, the Lord had gone before. When she came back, when she
showed Naomi what she had gleaned, which was more than usual, probably
Ruth didn't even realise it was. But Naomi said, blessed is he
that hath taken knowledge of thee. Then she inquires whose
field, then she's even more amazed. She says, the man is of near
kin to us. The Lord had gone before and
directed Ruth's footsteps in a way she didn't know. And it's
a blessed thing where the Lord changes hearts, opens up doors,
shuts doors. He goes before us in the way. You know, if we had someone that
was blind and they had to walk down a path and we were with
them and we saw on that path it had been windy and there were
several broken branches and sticks across the way and Things that
they would trip over, be injured, fall over with. And we went before
me. We quickly took all of those
things out of the way. And they went through that path
without a stumble, without a problem. Now, in one sense, they might
think, well, I didn't need to have anyone go before me. The
path was smooth. It was easy. But someone had gone before. And
when we see things working for good, we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them that are
called according to his purpose. Then very often that way is smooth
and made before us. The Lord says to his disciples,
you go to an upper room, you shall find it furnished. They
do, it's all done. The Lord had gone before. Go
to this man, you'll find that there are colds and an ass with
a cold sign. Loose him, let him go. And then
he says, what are you doing? Loosing the colds. Say the master
hath need of him. Now it comes to pass, they ask
and they say what they've been told to say. And the man lets
them go. We read that account Don't think
much of it. But would we just turn up and
just take someone's car from off their forecourt or a horse
from the... and expect to get away with a
word, well, someone has need of this? They say, well, yeah,
they may do, but it's mine, you're not having it. And you see how
the Lord had gone before and the hindrances taken out of the
way. The provision had been made.
This is the Lord's doing. Heaven and earth at his command,
he waits to answer prayer. And we are told here that I will
make all my goodness pass before thee in the way. And it's a blessed
thing when we find it in a spiritual way, where the Lord provides
for our souls, where he blesses the word, where the texts are
brought that are so suitable, so timely for us, such a help
and a strength for us. And we cannot but know that the
Lord has gone before us, maybe stopped up our way from going
to hear a particular minister, made us to hear another one,
and in doing that, We've heard a different text, a different
reading, and that has been a double blessing, a double help. And
we marvel at the things that the Lord has gone before and
done to bring about his will. Who is he that saith, and he
cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Well, the sixth thing is that
we will see his grace and mercy upon us. We have this in verse
19 again. I and will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. The sovereignty of God is hated
by so many that the Lord should show mercy to some and grace
to some but not to others. Natural man rises up to But you
know, if we feel our need of mercy that can never be deserved,
and our need of grace, no natural man that will rise up against
this will also be those that cleave to their own works, cleave
to their own righteousnesses. But these are those who have
nothing to plead, no righteousness of their own, nothing, and they
rely on grace. You see what we quoted before
in Ephesians, by grace you are saved through faith and not of
yourselves. It is the gift of God. The hymn
writer says, mercy through blood I make my plea, God be merciful
to me. The publican went down to his
house justified rather than the other because his prayer was
God be merciful to me, a sinner. The last one. We are given a
place to stand on and hide in. In verse 21, we read, The Lord
said, Behold, there is a place by me. Thou shalt stand upon
a rock. It shall come to pass that while
my glory passeth by, that I'll put thee in A cleft of the rock
will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. Rock of ages,
cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the
blood from thy riven side which flowed be of sin that double
cure, cleanse me from its guilt and power. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the rock on which the church is built. And the church is made
up of lively members, each one built up upon him. Our foundation,
our hope, our rock is all upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. And so it is a blessed portion
for the people of God when all around our soul gives way to
find that we have a rock, an unmoving foundation stone that
does not change. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday
and today and forever. How many times have we proved
that? When trials come, tribulations come, afflictions come, and we
sink and then as it were, sink upon that rock, upon that foundation. Hope there in God, I shall yet
praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God.
Underneath are the everlasting arms, the support that the Lord
has and the shelter for his people in Christ. The Ark in Noah's
day, a beautiful type of it, where the people of God as they
were saved, come thou into the ark. And there they were saved. And Moses has a little picture
of this here, the psalmist in Psalm 80 as well. Let thy hand
be upon the man at thy right hand, the son of man, whom thou
madest strong for thyself. And it is the presence of the
Lord that is the refuge and hiding place of his people. The children
of Israel had to have cities of refuge on each side of Jordan. And those that were guilty of
manslaughter, they could run. That refuge had to be short,
had to be nigh. They could run there. They were
saved from the avenger of blood. So our Lord is that refuge. He is the rock. Upon this rock
I'll build my church. The gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. To these then are these clear
tokens, these evidences of the presence of the Lord. I want to now come very quickly
to her last point, which was the promise joined to his presence
known here below. In our text, our text says, he
said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. Now we might say, well this promised
of rest, that it will be times like the Lord said, in me shall
have peace, in the world you shall have tribulation. But I
believe in the context here, He is bringing them to Canaan.
He is bringing them to what he swore to Abraham, to Isaac and
Jacob. He is going to bring them there.
And that Canaan is a type of heaven. It is to bring the people
of God to that rest that remaineth to the people of God. Eternal
rest. And the Lord says, I will give.
the rest. Here below we have tribulation. Here below, in this context here,
they were in the wilderness. They were in much trial. They couldn't build houses. They
had no resting place. They were pilgrims. They were
strangers. They had no place, no land of
their own. And it is said here, this is
not your rest. It is polluted. But this is a
promise of heaven. This is a promise of rest in
heaven. And whatever trials and tribulations
and troubles we have here and may have to face this year, may
we run the right step before us, looking unto Jesus who has
already entered into that rest. May we have respect unto the
recompense of the reward. May we remember that there remains
heaven for us, that the Lord has promised this. and these
tokens of his presence here below are an earnest of that rest. They are together in this text. My presence shall go with thee,
and I will give thee rest. The Lord who has given his presence
in the various ways we have set before you in this chapter, that
same Lord will give those for whom he has given this, he'll
give them heaven. He'll give them eternal rest.
We have it in the Psalms. He shall give grace and glory. No good thing shall he withhold
from them that walk up rightly. And where they walk up rightly
is where the Lord is with them. And his presence is known in
this way. So dear friends, take courage,
be encouraged, be strengthened if we have indeed these tokens
of having found grace in the sight of the Lord and being one
of his people, there remains a rest yet. There shall come
a year when we begin that year, but we won't end it here below.
We'll end it in glory, and may it be our earnest desire May
it be that our prayer is as earnest as what Moses was, if thy presence
go not with me, carry us not up hence. That we desire the
Lord's presence here, knowing that that leads to an assurance
of our presence with the Lord in heaven forever and ever. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. Hymn, 1101. Tune, St. Oswald 653. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now and evermore. Amen.