Alright, Exodus 23. Now, you
can imagine when I looked at Romans 10 and verse 16 for our
first message, and then I looked at Exodus 23, and I saw in both
cases we were dealing with the gospel being a command. That's
the kind of thing that gets a preacher excited when you come to two
passages and just by the Lord's providence, they're both dealing
with the same subject. And so that got me excited. So I want you to see here that
this gospel is a command and it includes a promise. First
of all, through the prophet Moses, God gave the children of Israel
his gospel command. Now I want you to see this in
verse 20, Exodus 23, 20. Behold, I send an angel before
thee. Now this angel is Christ. This
angel is Christ. How do you know that? Well, over
in 1 Corinthians 10 in verse 9, Paul said, Neither let us
tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed
of serpents. He's talking about the children
in the wilderness. They tempted Christ because Christ was the
one leading them through that wilderness. Christ has always
been God's messenger. He's always been God's messenger.
He's the messenger of the covenant. He's always been God's redeemer.
He was chosen of the Father before this world was made to represent
His covenant people. And He's the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. There's one mediator between
God and men. So if God's dealing with men,
He's dealing through Christ the mediator. He was doing it then
as he's doing it now. He's always saved one way, that's
through faith in Christ. And I'll show you some other
ways we know this is the angel, but let me show you a few things
here. First of all, we know this is
an angel because only Christ does what this angel was sent
to do. Verse 20, Behold, I send an angel
before thee to keep thee in the way. and to bring thee into the
place which I have prepared. That's what Christ has given
the charge to do in the covenant of grace. And here's the command
now. Here's the command to you and
me. Verse 21. Beware of him, fear him, reverence
him, and obey his voice. How do we, we saw this morning,
how do we obey the gospel? By believing on Christ. He's
saying believe on him, Follow Him. Obey Him. Obey His voice. Provoke Him not. Don't cease
fearing Him. Don't cease believing Him. That's
how you provoke Him. For He will not pardon your transgressions. Only God can pardon transgressions.
And Christ is God. That means this angel is Christ. He's God, the Christ, our Savior. For He has the ability to pardon
transgressions. That means this is Christ. He
said, He will not pardon your transgressions if you disobey
Him. Why? For my name is in Him. God's
name is only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's the promise,
verse 22. But if thou shalt indeed obey
His voice and do all that I speak, do all that Christ commands us,
then I will be an enemy to thine enemies and an adversary unto
thine adversaries. And here's what I want you to
see. Almost the same thing we saw
in the first hour or the same thing. The gospel is a command
to believe on Christ and all the promises of God are given
to the believer freely in Christ and by Christ. There's nothing
God has for sinners outside of Christ. It's all in Christ and
it's all by Christ. Every promise of God is in Christ
and by Christ. and it's through faith in Christ.
This gospel is a command. It's not an offer. It's a command. It's a command. Now first of
all, the gospel commands us to obey Christ for our own good. It's for our own good. Look here
in verse 20. Behold, I send an angel before
thee to keep thee in the way, to bring thee into the place
which I have prepared. Now Christ went before political
Israel, before this people here, to keep them in the physical
way. He kept them in that physical way through the desert to bring
them to that physical land that God had promised to give to them.
Christ led them and brought them into that way. But now Christ,
that pictured the fact that Christ is the forerunner who goes before
his elect and He keeps us in the spiritual way, and He leads
us in the spiritual way, and He brings us into that land God
promised that God prepared for His people, that is, into our
eternal inheritance. That's what we have here. Now
God's elect are called to obey the gospel command because Christ
has already gone before us. He said there, I send an angel
before thee. We're called to obey Him because
Christ has already gone before us under the law, under the law
to the cross. He's already went before us obeying
God's law. He's already been judged by God
for our transgressions. I am crucified with Christ. That's what Paul said. I am. That's what the believer is able
to say, I am. He went before me under the law,
obeying the law on my behalf as my representative. He went
before me to the cross, bearing my sin as my substitute under
the wrath and justice of God. So God calls us to believe on
Christ for our own good. That means I've already obeyed
the law and I've already suffered the justice of the law. I've
already been judged because I am crucified with Christ. God's
people, God's believing people in the day of judgment, it's
not going to be that we're going to be judged whether we're found
guilty or not guilty. We've already been judged at
Calvary in Christ when he poured out wrath upon Christ and put
away our sins. satisfied justice for his people.
So now, brethren, when we stand before God, Christ will represent
us and we won't have anything to worry about because that's
been settled by Christ on our behalf. And look at this, Christ
went before us to the grave. He's our forerunner that went
to the grave and was buried. And so you know what? The believer
has already died. We've already died. Listen, O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. What does that mean? Christ said,
he that believes on me, he'll never die. He'll never die. Oh, you're going to lay down
this body of death, but we're not going to die. Christ has
already went before us through death and He conquered that. And so we're not going to die.
We're going to close our eyes in this body and be present with
the Lord. You see how He said, I'm sending
this angel before you? He's already gone before us.
and Christ went before us within the veil. He's entered into the
holiest of holies, into God's very presence where He advocates
for His people, where He makes it so God can be faithful and
just to forgive us our sins. Whenever we sin, when a believer
sins and we come before God and we confess our sins, He's faithful
and just to forgive us our sins because we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He's the propitiation
for our sins. He's gone before us into that
holiest of holies. And the Hebrew writer said in
Hebrews 6.19, this is where our hope is, our hope. We have this
hope as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which
entereth into that within the veil where the forerunner is
for us entered. Even Jesus made a high priest
after the order of Melchizedek. He's already gone before us into
heaven. We're going to go with Him. We're
there with Him now according to Colossians 3.1 where our life
is hid in Christ with God. We're seated there at God's right
hand. We're going into glory. That's where our hope enters
and we have this sure and steadfast hope because He's gone before
us. We're called to obey this gospel. You see it's for our
own good. And this is so. Christ has already
gone before us. And we're called to obey this
gospel command because Christ Himself is the way in which He
keeps us. He said He's going to go before
you and keep you in the way. Christ is the way and He keeps
us in the way. Christ keeps us, each believer,
from looking for righteousness some other way. Because Christ
is our righteousness. You know what that means? To
have Christ as our righteousness? That means you and I, believer,
have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. No sin can be charged to us.
We're as righteous as God is righteous in Christ Jesus the
Lord. That's good news. You wouldn't
want to look... I don't want to look to my obedience.
I don't want to look to my hands to try to make me righteous.
Christ is the way. He said, I am the way. No man
comes to the Father but by me. We don't go looking for some
other way to make ourselves holy. Christ is our sanctification.
He's made unto us sanctification. When Christ is formed in a believer,
there's a new man created in holiness, in the holiness of
Christ, one with Christ. So that we've been made fit,
meet to enter into that and to that holiest of holies with Christ. Christ is the way to God and
He goes before us and keeps us in the way and none of His sheep
are going to stray out of the way. We're not looking for acceptance
in any other way because Christ is our acceptance with God. We're
called to obey the gospel command because Christ Himself, God has
prepared the place He's taking us to by sending His Son who's
prepared this place for us. He said, there behold I send
an angel before thee to bring thee into the place which I have
prepared. Go to John 14 verse 2. Look at
what our Lord Jesus said. This was when He was on His way
to the cross. Look what He said. John 14 verse
2. He said, Let not your heart be
troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's
house are many mansions, many dwellings. If it were not so,
I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that
where I am, there you may be also. Christ wouldn't lie to
his people. Christ would not lie to his people.
Christ would not suffer the cross to prepare a dwelling place for
us, to prepare us a habitation in heaven's glory and not come
again and receive us to himself that we may be with him where
he is. Christ would not lie. He said,
I'm the way, I'm the truth. And so He's prepared a way for
us, a place for us. When He gave that parable, you
remember of the last day and He said He'll set the sheep on
His right hand and He'll set the goats on His left hand. And
He said, Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand,
Come ye, now listen, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom. prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. You and I didn't do anything
to prepare this kingdom for us. How was it prepared from the
foundation of the world? Scripture says Christ is the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. When God chose
a people, Ephesians 1 says of every believer, we're blessed
by God our Father because He chose us in Christ and He blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in Him before the world was made.
And when He chose His people in Christ and Christ agreed to
go to the cross and to work out a righteousness for His people,
God ceased or never looked to His people, He looked to Christ
our surety. And Christ became the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. That kingdom has been prepared
for us from the foundation of the world. There's no possibility
Christ would not come and work the works because He's God. Nobody
can stop Him. So this thing's been... The Lord
says He declared the end from the beginning. He declared from
ancient time the things that are not yet done saying, My counsel
shall stand. I will do all my pleasure. Well, what's it like? What's
this place like? I can't tell you what it's like.
I don't know. Scripture says, I hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither has entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him. But I know this. I know who prepared it. God did. You and I are preparing this
place. God did. Christ prepared it. And it hadn't
even entered into our minds. the things that God's prepared
for them that love Him, for them that love Him. So due to all
these things, God says the gospel comes as command for us to obey
Christ. to obey Him. He's the way. He's the way and He's the one
that prepared this place and He's the one that's going to
keep us in the way. This is how we're going to get to God's promised
land, is in Christ. And so He tells us in Exodus
23 and verse 21, here's the command. Fear the Lord Jesus. He says
beware of Him. Beware of Him. That means reverence
Him. Fear Him. What does the scripture
tell us? Proverbs 9.10 says, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Whenever God gives
you a fear, a holy reverence in your heart for Christ, that's
when you'll start listening to Christ. That's when you'll stop
butting and say, but I want to have something. But what about
my works? But what about my will? Psst!
To your will and your works. When God gives you a reverence
for God, and you see Him holy and high and lifted up, that's
when you'll behold Christ as your wisdom and you'll start
listening to Him and being taught of Him. And that's when you'll
become wise unto salvation. Beware of Him. Follow Him. Reverence Him. God commands us
to obey Christ. He says, verse 21, and obey His
voice. This is what we spent the whole
first hour looking at. The Gospel is a command. It's
a command to obey Christ. You don't obey an offer. You
don't obey an invitation. You obey a command. Christ is
the King whom we are to obey. And he says there, verse 21,
provoke him not. Don't provoke him by treating
him irreverently and not fearing him. If we don't fear him and
we're irreverent toward him, that's going to provoke him.
Don't provoke him by refusing to obey his voice. Don't provoke
him by seeking another way. If the children of Israel went
out of the way, and they said, we're not following this angel.
We're going to go our own way. We're going to try to find the
promised land ourselves. That would have provoked him.
And the Lord is saying, and you won't enter in my promised land
that way. You just won't. You just won't. is Christ and we are to follow
Christ. He is the way, the truth and
the life. No man comes to the Father but
by Him. The way we obey the Gospel command
is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Why don't everybody believe
Him? It seems like everybody would
obey this Gospel command and believe on Christ. Why don't
they? Our natural heart hates God. Can I prove that to you? If you
go to Romans 8, it tells you the carnal heart. Look there,
go with me to Romans chapter 8. The carnal heart, that's the
natural heart you and I are born with. Look here, verse 5, they
that are after the flesh, they that are born after the flesh,
they that are fleshly minded, they mind the things of the flesh,
that means they mind their will, they mine their works, they mine
their righteousness so-called, their holiness so-called, they
want to come to God by their works, they mine the flesh. But
they that are after the Spirit, those born again, they mind the
things of the Spirit. They have spiritual understanding
so they can discern the things of the Spirit and they follow
after Christ and obey Him. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Watch
this. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God. That's all you and I were by
nature, the way we came into this world. That word enmity
means hatred of God. Our natural mind hates God. We don't hate the God of our
imagination. We don't hate the God that is
how we think He is. And He's just a gentle old man
upstairs that will let us, depend on us to let Him have His way.
We don't hate that God, but we hate the true and living God. Look, because the carnal mind
is not subject to the Word of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. That's why Christ said to Nicodemus,
you must be born again. The only way you're going to
fear Christ and the only way you're going to obey His voice
and not provoke Him is to be born from above, to be born again
by the Spirit of God. and given a new heart and a new
will to follow Him. And Christ said you must be born
again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit. We have to be born again of God
and given faith. Ephesians 2 says faith, you're
saved by grace through faith and that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God lest any man should boast. Not of works lest
any man should boast. We have to be created anew by
God and given faith by God to come and bow to Christ and trust
Christ. See, this whole thing of salvation,
Jonah was right. It really is of the Lord. It's
not of us. It's of the Lord. Everything.
A to Z. So lastly now, God gives promises
to those who obey the gospel. To obey this gospel command,
and He gives promises to those who disobey this gospel command.
Look at here, if any disobey this gospel command, Christ will
not pardon your transgressions. Look in verse 21. He says, Obey
him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is
in him. Now, there's no doubt that our
transgressions include every law of God that we've broken.
We broke the law in Adam, in the garden, I came forth from
my mother's womb speaking lies, the scripture says. We go astray
as soon as we be born. And we've never ever obeyed the
law, ever. The law is to be obeyed in thought
as well as deed. And you and I, you've broken
the law since you've been sitting here. So have I, since I've been
preaching. We're breakers of the law by
nature. And so, He will not pardon your
transgressions where you've broken the law. But let me tell you
something. Even a greater transgression
than that is disobeying this gospel command and not believing
on Christ. Look here. to transgress God
the Father's gospel command by transgressing Christ's command,
that's the greatest transgression there is. We saw this morning,
this is His commandment. This is God the Father's commandment
that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ
as Christ gave us commandment. Well, if I reject Christ's command,
I'm rejecting the Father's command to believe on His Son. That's
the greatest transgression of all, and he says he will not
pardon our transgression because God says my name is in him. What does that mean? It means
God the Father and God the Son, Christ Jesus, are one. He's the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. He's the express image of God. Christ said, I and my Father
are one. If you're going to behold the
name of God, that's to behold His person and all His glory. If you're going to behold that,
you're going to behold it in Christ Jesus, that God-man mediator. That's where we behold God. And
so because His name is in Christ, if we reject Christ, We've rejected
the Father, and for the Father's sake, for the Father's glory,
Christ will not pardon our transgression. You reject Christ, there remains
no more sacrifice for sin. That's the sin unto death. You
reject the one way of salvation, of course that's the sin unto
death. He's the only way to be saved
from death. You reject Him, there's no more
salvation. So He will not pardon. Christ
said, I'm coming in my Father's name, and you receive me not. Another will come in his own
name preaching a man and preaching man's works, him you'll receive. He said the works I do in my
Father's name bear witness of me. And he said all men should
honor the Son even as they honor the Father. And he that honors
not the Son honors not the Father who has sent him. And so God
says I won't pardon him. I won't pardon him. He will not
pardon him. To reject Christ is to reject
God. Remember whenever Christ said
that when the Spirit comes, He's going to convince my people of
sin. Remember what the sin was? Of sin because they believe not
on me. That's the sin He's going to
convince His people of. He said to Nicodemus in John
3.18, He that believeth on him is not condemned. But he that
believeth not is condemned already. Why? because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He's the only salvation
there is. But for those who obey the gospel
command, for those who obey Christ's voice by believing on Christ
and following Him, God gives some positive promises too. Listen
to what He says in verse 22. If thou shalt indeed obey his
voice, and do all that I speak, then I'll be an enemy unto thine
enemies, and an adversary to thine adversaries. For mine angel
shall go before thee, and he'll bring thee in unto the Amorites,
and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Cainites, and the Hivites,
and the Jebusites, and I will cut them off. Now listen, there's
no doubt that God is going to save you from any man who's an
enemy. There's no doubt about that.
He's going to save his people. But let me tell you something,
men are not our enemies. Our enemies are our own sinful
flesh. The sins of our own sinful flesh. That's what's represented here
by all these enemies in the land of Canaan is our own sinful flesh. That which is in me and you.
That's what's pictured here. Christ, by keeping the law as
our representative, by filling the law as our substitute, He's
cut off all the sins of His people. Just like He cut off those enemies
in the land of Canaan. He's cut off all our sins before
the law so that the law finds no fault in His people anymore. And God gives grace in Christ
and Christ keeps us so that His commands become promises of grace
to us. Now understand what I'm saying.
He says if you do this, I'm going to be an enemy to your enemy.
You've not believed Christ perfectly. I've not believed Christ perfectly.
But these are promises of grace. They're not promises of works.
All His commands become promises of grace in Christ Jesus. Let me show you what I mean.
Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do
after their works. That ceases to be a command that
says, don't do this. And it becomes a promise in Christ
because Christ is not going to allow it. So you shall not bow
down to their God. It becomes a promise. Christ
will not allow you to bow down to the idol gods of your flesh
and serve them and do after their works. There's still in every
believer this old flesh that would serve idol gods. We have
a lot of idols. Well, Christ has put away our
sins. Christ has made us righteous in Him. So He's not going to
allow you to turn from Him and bow down to these idols that
is in the flesh, in our flesh. He's going to cut them off. keep
you from bowing down to Him. But thou shalt utterly overthrow
them and break down their images. He keeps us bowing to Christ. He keeps us bowing to Christ
and not worshiping idols. To all that obey the gospel command
by God's grace, God gives more grace. It gives you grace to
believe and it gives you more grace. He makes us serve only
Christ and it's by Him that we're made fruitful. Look at what God
says, verse 25. And you shall serve the Lord
your God and He shall bless thy bread and thy water and I will
take sickness away from the midst of thee and there shall nothing
cast there young nor be barren in thy land the number of thy
days I will fulfill. This is a promise by God's grace
with Christ dwelling in us. You shall serve the Lord your
God. His people shall serve Him. He won't let us turn away from
Him. You shall serve Him. He shall bless your bread and
your water. That scripture tells us all our
fruitfulness is of Christ. Fruits of righteousness which
are by Jesus Christ. That's in Philippians chapter
1. They're fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ. He
produces, if you bear any good fruit, we don't boast in that. Christ produced that in us. He
said, I'm going to bless your bread and your water. He says,
there's not going to be any that's going to cast their young or
be barren in your land. I'm going to fulfill all your
days. He blesses us and makes us fruitful so that we're not
barren, we're fruitful, obeying God and doing what God will have
us to do as He ordained us to walk before the world was. And
not only that, He makes His church fruitful in that He makes our
gospel go forth and He makes, He uses us to preach the gospel
and He creates children. He makes children to be born
of Him and He makes us fruitful that way as well. All of these
are promises that come from Christ. The number of your days I'll
fulfill. He's going to keep His believing people all our days
right up until the day He's appointed that we're going to take our
last breath. He's going to keep His people. And then He's going
to give us eternal life. This is the promise of God to
all who obey Christ. He increases fear in our hearts.
Look, verse 27, I'll send my fear before thee. He's going
to increase fear in our hearts and that's how He's going to
subdue our sinful flesh. These enemies pictured here are
our sinful flesh. Verse 27, I'll destroy all the
people to whom thou shalt come and I'll make all thine enemies
turn their backs unto thee. I'll send hornets before thee
which shall drive out the Hivite and the Canite and the Hittite
from before thee. God literally used hornets, a
little hornet. He literally used a little hornet
to drive out all those enemies in the land of Canaan. He really
did that. That's a powerful God that can
call a hornet and use hornets to drive out the enemies before
his people. But now when you look at this
typically as a type and picture. Think about it this way. That
word hornet, you know what it means? It means a sting, a scourge. It means death is what it means. Scripture tells us Christ condemned
sin in the flesh. He condemned sin in the flesh.
And as He causes you to hear the Gospel, and He causes you
to hear how He condemned sin in the flesh, how He condemned
our death, He put a sting to our death and ended our death,
brethren. And the more you hear that, as
you hear that, as He blesses that, how He brought death to
our flesh and death to our sins and death to our condemnation,
by that message He brings death to our sinful flesh. He mortifies our flesh. He does that. You ever notice
in Colossians 3, Paul says, Seek ye, set your affection on things
above, where Christ sits at God's right hand, because you are dead
and your life is hid with Christ in God. And when Christ who is
our life shall appear, then shall you appear with Him in glory.
And then he says, Mortify therefore the deeds of the flesh. That's
how Christ mortifies them. He tells us the gospel. He declares
to us, you are seated. You are there with Christ. He
has mortified the deeds of your flesh. He has cut off your sins
before the law so that God will not condemn His people again.
There's therefore now no condemnation in Christ Jesus. And when you
hear that message, He cuts off these enemies in our flesh. He
subdues our flesh. and mortifies it. You know what
that word mortify the flesh means? Mortify means treat it as dead. God says that our old man of
sin has been crucified with him and it is dead. Before the law
of God, before God, our old man has been crucified, been slain,
has been brought under the justice of God and condemned. Now God
says he's dead. And by that message, He makes
you treat your old man of sin as what it is, dead. You don't
look to it for anything positive and you don't look to it and
get discouraged because of things negative. He makes you treat
your old man of sin as just dead because that's what it is. But
He only does that through this message of the gospel. That's what makes you not look
to your flesh is when you hear Christ exalted. But look at this,
verse 29. I will not drive them out before
thee in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the beasts
of the field multiply against thee. But little and little will
I drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased
to inherit the land. Now, when you're born of God,
and I want you to get this, I've said this, I've repeated this,
please get this. When you're born again of God,
and Christ is formed in you, and God makes Christ unto you
sanctification. You are as holy as you will ever
be. If you died right then, okay,
look at the thief on the cross. Scripture says, we have to have
that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. The thief
on the cross had his hands and his feet nailed to the cross,
but he had the holiness he needed to enter into God's presence.
the moment he believed, the moment he was born of God. Well, where
did that holiness come from? He didn't do anything. That holiness
doesn't come from our doing. That holiness is Christ in you,
the hope of glory. That's the holiness. When you're
born of Him, you've got, you're holy. You're fit to be partaker
of the inheritance of the saints and light right at the end. But through this message, Little
by little, God increases you. He grows you in grace and knowledge
of Christ. Now, you don't become less sinful
and less sinful and less sinful. Oh yes, people might look at
you and they might say, well he sure don't act like he used
to act. He sure act better than he used
to. I knew him when he was 20 years old. He don't act like
that anymore. But you, Because the more light
you get, the more light you get, the more God gives you the light
of Christ, the more you see sins in you that people don't see
looking at the outside. You see the sins of your thoughts.
You see the sins of your heart. And that keeps you abased and
that keeps you looking to Christ and depend upon Christ only.
And so just like He could have taken them in there and killed
all those enemies at once and brought them into the land of
Canaan. But He said, but then the land would have grown up
and you would have been defeated. See, He could take care of all
our sin at once in our flesh. But He doesn't. Because as you
go through this life, because you see sin in yourself, it keeps
you dependent on Christ. And looking to Christ only. And
that's how He keeps you from looking to you. And this is how
it's going to be. He says, until you inherit the
land. We're going to be in this body
of death with this old man of sin that's a sinner and this
new man that loves Christ and loves the gospel and is righteous
by Christ and holy by Christ. We're going to have these two
natures until the day we drop this body of death. And he does
that on purpose. to keep you looking to Christ.
To keep you looking to Him alone. And look, verse 31, He says,
I'm going to set your bounds. I'm going to set your bounds.
That means He's the authority. And He's got us hedged about
and He sets our bounds. He may let you see your old man
of sin by letting you sin just enough to see it. It's still
in you and bring it to the forefront so you acknowledge it. Keep you
dependent on Him, but He sets your bounds. He's not going to
let you fall away. He's going to keep you. But the
point is, He's the authority who sets the bounds. He's the
sovereign God who's keeping us hedged about and blessing us
and keeping us. Now, all these promises are in
Christ who is our strength. All these promises are to us
freely by God's grace through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
brethren. So listen to what he says here.
Listen to what he says here. He says to you, Behold, I send
an angel before thee as Christ. I am sending him to keep you
in the way. I am sending him to bring you
into a place which I have prepared. So he says now through the gospel.
Here is the command. Beware of him. Fear him. Reverence
Christ. Obey his voice. And provoke him
not. And Christ said, By grace, you
do all this by His grace, all these promises are yours in Christ.
But now you reject Him. Christ said, there's no pardon.
There's no pardon. If we reject Him, it's going
to be our fault. That's the will of man to reject
Him. But if we believe Him, you know why we do? Because God come
in and made us to be born again. He created us anew and He gave
us faith and repentance and grace to cast all our care on Him so
God gets all the glory for that. This is the difference between
works and grace. Works gives you something to
do so you can pat yourself on the back. Grace, the gospel I
preach says God does everything in the salvation of His people
freely without a cause in us so that we give Him all the honor
and all the glory. That's the difference. Adam,
I mean Cain and Abel. Cain came by works, Abel came
by grace. Cain came in the works of his
hands, Abel came in the blood of a lamb. How are you coming? Are you going to come in Christ?
Are you going to obey his voice? Are you going to obey this gospel
command? Or are you going to come in your own works? I pray
God make you come through faith in Christ today. These promises
are yours. Amen.