Mark read that passage of Scripture. The thing that I would conclude is that God Almighty is just. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of a holy God. Sometimes I think about how trifling
We all are. When we speak of Him and how,
when we even mention Him, how reverent we ought to
be. I want you to look in your Bibles
with me now at Exodus 33. I asked Brother Mark to read
that passage of Scripture. I'd like to deal, Lord willing,
in the next four Sundays. I started looking at chapter
33, and I was going to just deal with chapter 33 just in one message,
but it appears as though to me that I'll probably deal with
it in four messages, of which this will be the first. In Exodus
33, considering what the Lord had Just done, 3,000 men. God told those Levites, man trifle with God,
and God sent those Levites in there. They killed 3,000 people. Exodus chapter 33, verse 1, 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, 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, the Hittite,
the Perizzite, the Hivite, the Jebusite unto a land flowing
with milk and honey. will not go up in the midst of
thee. For thou art a stiff-necked people,
lest I consume thee in the way.' 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,
saying to 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 I 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. 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 there 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 worshiped every man in his tent
door." The Lord had given Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob a promise. And He promised them that He
was going to give them a land, a picture. Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob is a picture of God's people, God's elect, God's chosen. Remember, this is the chapter
right here where the Lord told Moses, I will have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. He promised Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, I'm going to give you a land. And God's Word is sure.
There's no maybes with God. He said, I'm the Lord. I change
not. This little, as I said, this
little fickle God that men think that they can change. This is
not the God of the Bible. The Lord told Moses after what
had happened. Chapter 32 that Brother Mark
just read. He said, depart and go up hence. Listen to this. Thou and the
people that thou has brought up. You notice the separation there in the way the
Lord said that. You take this people, the ones
You brought up out of the land of Egypt, and You take them into
the land, which I swear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. My Word, that's not going to
fade away. I'm going to give it to them.
But when He told Moses to take the people into that land, Here's
the words that just arrested Moses and the people when they
heard it. I will not go up in the midst
of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee in
the way. I read that, and I mean my heart,
Freddie. Moses is going to say this in
a minute, Lord, if You don't go. If You don't go with us,
don't send us. I think about the peril of being without Christ. The peril without His presence. I was preparing a message yesterday
down the road. talking about His presence. And
I said this. I said it would be better for
Peter or for me or for anybody else, it would be better for
me to stand there freezing, standing with Him, than it would be to
be warming myself by the fire, standing in the midst of those
that were just questioning and rebelling and hating Him. Lord, if You're not there, if
He's not here, if He doesn't meet with us, if
two or three are not gathered together truly, Jeff, in His
name, well then, let's just forget it. Let's just forget it. There's enough shenanigans going
on in this world to just grieve a believer to no end. Lord, if
you're not here, what do we have? Men are alienated from God because
of man's rebellion against God. Men are alienated from God because
of man's rebellion against God. The people had dared make a golden
calf and they worshipped it. Somebody could say, how, how,
how could they have done that? How could they have done that?
My friends, we all had our conversation in time past and the lust of
our flesh fulfilling the desires of our flesh and of the mind
and were by nature children of wrath against God, even as others. And whether or not we completely
understand all of it, we understand part of this, that old nature
is still in us. Somebody said, well, I'm a born-again
Christian. If you are, then you know that
that nature is still in you. You know it. That's why Paul
said, O wretched man, that I am. Every man born in Adam comes
forth with a heart that wants to worship an idol. That's what
they want. That's what we just talked about.
You will not come to Me that you might have life. Every man
born in Adam produces a God of his imagination. It was totally
by the long-suffering and mercy of Almighty God that all of Israel
was not obliterated that day. It was by the mercy of God that
Adam and Eve weren't obliterated, that mankind wasn't obliterated
in them. As soon as they sinned against
God, it is by the grace of God. 2 Peter 3.9, the Lord is not slack
concerning His promises. Some men count slackness, but
is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish.
And who are the any? All that He has everlastingly
loved in Christ. All that He chose, Ephesians
1, 4, before the foundation of the world. Everyone that He elected
in grace and mercy, Revelation 4 says, out of every nation and
kindred and tribe and tongue. And Paul the Apostle says even
now there is a remnant according to the election of grace. If
there's any hope for anybody, it's that God chose to show mercy
to some. He loved the order of man. Thanks
be unto God. If you're here today and you
know anything concerning His sovereign saving grace, it's
because He chose to show mercy. The Lord Himself had a remnant. in Israel. Moses was there. Joshua was there. Caleb was there. And there was a bunch of them,
obviously, that the Lord showed mercy to. Why didn't He kill
them all? Because the Lord is not slack
concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to usward, to His people, not willing that any of His people
should perish, all are going to come to Him if the Father
gave them. How do I know that? The Lord
Jesus Christ said it in John 6, 37. The Lord Himself sent a message back
with Moses concerning His displeasure. And the people, in verse 4 of
Exodus 33, when they heard these evil tidings, they mourned and
no man put on him his ornaments." You know, when the Lord gives
a man or a woman a heart to hear what they really are, what they
really are by nature, it grieves them. It grieves them. How do you know it grieves them?
Well, first of all, I know it by experience. But the way I
know it by experience is because the Spirit of God has taken God's
Word by His Holy Spirit and taught that to me. That's how I know
it. Job said, I loathe myself. I
loathe myself. Any person that is just always
so happy and pleased with themselves. I don't know a believer that
just walks around You know, always on cloud nine, always on the
mountaintop, just every believer that I talk to, oh, they're joyful. I'm not saying they're not joyful,
but joyful is not this state of ecstasy where men just, you
know, how's everything going? Everything's just great. Well,
when I look at myself, I say, oh, wretched man, that I am.
That's a good place to be. I praise the Lord. Teach me that. It's only when the Lord gives
a man a heart does he see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the honor that is due unto Him. Not unto us, O Lord, not
unto us, but unto Thy name give glory for Thy mercy and for Thy
truth's sake. The people, when they heard concerning
what they had done, they had errands. They wanted Aaron to build them
a golden calf. And he said, give me your gold. He gave him the
gold. He melted it and he took an engraving tool. He took an
engraving tool and he made it. And when Moses asked him about
it, what's going on here? Most amazing thing you've ever
seen, Moses. They gave me this gold and I
just threw it in the fire and this calf just came out. Man
is a liar. He is a liar. He comes forth from his mother's
womb speaking lies. All that I might be taught truth
concerning Him who is the truth. The Lord, He told them what they
did. They mourned, and no man put
on his ornaments. It was jewelry. I looked it up
to see what it was. It was jewelry. and the reason
that they wore all this jewelry. Same reason we wear jewelry,
you know, today. You know, number one, it makes
us beautiful, we think. It exhibits our wealth, our honor. And, you know, somebody has on
a certain ring, you know. Oh, man, that's a nice ring.
Where'd you get that? Oh, I went to West Point. Oh, that's my family crest. The Scripture says, they mourned
and no man put on his ornaments. Oh, the blessed place when a
man or a woman is brought to realize you can't make yourself
beautiful. You can't make yourself wealthy.
You can't give yourself any honor. in His mercy and grace. Verse
7, He provided a place. A place that He was going to
set forth where He would be met. I like this. I'm not going to
preach on this this morning. But just turn over in Exodus
33. Just look at verse 21. I just,
the reason I said that, he said there's a place. Look at verse
20. And the Lord said, Behold, there's a place by me, and thou
shalt stand upon a rock. Lord willing, I'm going to preach
on that here in the next few Sundays. The Lord had provided
a place. The people had sinned against
God. There's no doubt about it. I mean, they're guilty. They're
just guilty as they could be. And you leave them, leave them
to themselves. that is guilty, guilty before
God, and God is just. Like I said before, we live in
a world today where there's a plea bargaining and, you know, well,
actually it was a felony, but we'll just make it a misdemeanor
and stuff. Not God. God Himself is just. I'm a just God. But in the mercy
of God Almighty, there was a place. And verse 7 says, after verse
6, that people 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. that desired the Lord, everyone
that sought the Lord, everyone humbled by the grace of God,
by the power of God. No man has the ability to humble
himself. There has only been one that
ever humbled himself, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He
humbled himself and made himself of no reputation. Man, I don't
care how much he thinks he can humble himself before God and
make himself of no reputation before God. He can't. He cannot. Man is by nature a rebel against
God. And Almighty God, if any man
is going to seek Him, The Lord is going to have to give that
man a heart. I want you to turn to Jeremiah
29. Jeremiah 29. You know, it's good
to take God's Word and to look at God's Word. As I've said before,
if I say something and I don't back it up, then you have reason
to doubt. If I can't back it up with Scripture,
Jeremiah 29, verse 11, For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give
you an expected end. Then shall you call upon Me,
and you shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And you shall seek Me and find
Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart. And I
will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your
captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations and
from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord, and
I will bring you again into the place which I caused you to be
carried away captive." I know this. I know that some are going
to seek Him. I know they will. How? How will they seek Him? They
will seek Him as Almighty God gives them a heart, a new heart,
to cry out, to call. How thankful a man or a woman
should be when they realize that the Lord Himself has been pleased
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to not mark. Thou, Lord, Psalm 133, Thou,
Lord, if Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who
can stand? If the Lord Himself would deal
with me right now, there has been enough arrogance in my heart,
enough pride in my heart since I have stood up for this second
message, much less the first, there's been enough arrogance
in my heart and lack of respect before Him in my own self. For Almighty God, if He should
mark iniquities, thanks be unto Him that there's forgiveness
with the Lord. Why will God forgive sin? Why will God forgive sin? Number
one, because He's just. He's a just God. If we confess
our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. If Christ
has paid the debt for His people, then God forgives them justly.
He paid the debt of it. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ
back in Exodus 33. A picture of Him. They had sinned against God.
God had brought them to a place. You talk about a picture of the
gospel. You know, you and I, we're the
ones in that crowd making that golden calf, standing naked,
dancing, hollering. You know, no righteousness to
cover us. We're the guilty ones. We're
the ones. We're guilty. And we're exposed. Almighty God sends Down Moses
and Joshua. They were caught. Caught. Makes me think of that passage.
Deliver them from going down to the pit. I found a ransom.
They caught. They were going. I know exactly. What did he do? He showed them what they were.
They didn't put their ornaments on. What a blessed place for man
or woman to come. And they said, you know what?
This whole stuff of free will and all these beautiful ornaments
and things that I've done, I'm just sick of it. I'm sick of
it. I'm sick of it. Trying to make
myself pretty before God. What a beautiful place to be.
And then to realize in the wonder that God would bring a man or
a woman to not want to put all their fake stuff on, try to fool
other people, try to think they're fooling God and the Lord provided
a tabernacle, and put a place outside the camp. And it came
to pass You know, when it says it came
to pass, it sets forth that God had purposed it. It came to pass. It came to pass. Everyone that
sought the Lord. Everyone that had a heart. Oh,
the blessedness of seeing that which comes to pass. Almighty
God had eternally purposed to show mercy to some folks in Fairmont,
West Virginia. And he came to pass. Raised up
a preacher. Came to pass. There the Scripture
says it. They watched. Verse 9, as Moses
entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended.
That pillar that was the symbol of God's guidance. That symbol
of God's protection stood between the nation of Israel the Egyptians,
now the pillar, that assurance of God's communion. Oh, where
sin did abound, grace did much more abound. There's no message that sets
forth peace and comfort, joy in the heart of a sinner until
they realize that the Lord Himself has provided the tabernacle.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself. That place where God is going
to meet with a sinner. Many of them died in that wilderness. Three thousand of them died that
day right there. But all that knew Him in grace,
God had preserved them. And they sought Him. They sought
Him. They sought Him. They watched
as Moses entered that tabernacle and talked with the Lord. And
don't miss the meaning here. Moses is a picture of our great
high priest right here. Moses is a picture right here
of our great high priest. Entering in to that place that
Almighty God had established, that place of that tabernacle,
And when they saw that pillar, that cloudy pillar, they knew,
God has shown mercy to us. And the Scripture says, and they
rose up and worshipped God. They worshipped. You know, there
is nothing that draws a man's heart to bow before God Almighty
and to look away from themselves. like realizing God has shown
mercy to me. They worship. They rose up. And the Lord's people do that
right now. They watched Moses. The Scripture says it came to
pass as Moses entered into the tabernacle. At verse 9, the cloudy
pillar descended and stood at the door, and the Lord talked
with Moses. And all the people, verse 10,
saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door. And all
the people rose up and worshipped every man in his tent. Just beholding Moses as a picture
of Christ, the great high priest, entering in to the very presence
of God where that cloudy pillar stood. I want you to look at
Acts 1 in closing. Acts 1. Acts 1, verse 9. Back in the Old Testament, back
in the wilderness, God had shown mercy. And there was Moses, a
type, a picture, a shadow. of the Lord Jesus Christ entering
into the very presence of God in that cloudy pillar. Acts 1,
verse 9, the Lord had been speaking to his disciples. It says, Acts
1, 9, and when he had spoken these things, while they beheld,
he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, As he went up,
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also
said, You men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken
up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen him go into heaven." Oh, I know this. I know I'm guilty. I know I was
born guilty. I know all I did was just exhibit
what I am by nature, a rebel against God. I know that God
has shown mercy to me by exposing my guilt, the exposing of man's
guilt. Paul thanked the Lord for that.
I will read this to you. Acts, Romans 7, 25, I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, he thanked God through the
Lord Jesus Christ for two things. So then with the mind, the new
mind, that new man that doesn't sin, that's what 1 John said.
So then with the mind, I myself serve, bow to, acknowledge the
law of God. I bow to God's law that it's
good, it's right. But he said also what he thanked
the Lord for, with the flesh, to serve the law of sin. You
said he thanked God for that? He thanked God that God revealed
it to him. Every man does it, but only by
the grace of God does a man know it. If the Lord reveals to you
what you are by nature, oh, you're a blessed person, blessed. Here I am guilty, but God mercifully
revealed it to me. And then in kindness and compassion
revealed to me that there's a place that He can be sought. A place
where He Himself has put away my guilt through a substitute. and taught me of that substitute
who is also my mediator and great high priest, whoever liveth to
make intercession for me?" Oh, those given a heart to know their
need of the Lord Jesus Christ, they look to Him who meets on
their behalf before the throne of God, ever living. Seeing then, Hebrews 4.14, then
that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. My friend, for all those that
He's everlastingly loved and called out of darkness, let me
tell you right now what He's doing. He is, for His sake, for
His honor by His blood. Father, consider them as You
consider me. Deal with them as You deal with
me. Look upon them as they are in
me. Oh, that God might show mercy to us for Christ's sake. Amen.