["O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"] Let me die myself in Thee, In
the bosom of the Lord. All thy goodness I return Thee,
O Savior, O come, O come, Emmanuel, God the Maker of my life, Lamb
of God, I adore thee. O night divine, O night divine,
O night divine, O night divine, O night divine, O night divine, Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave How deep in my heart I pray,
Take me to thy cross I pray, When the mountains in the west,
And the stars in the east, Now I'm safe, the world's in
my hand. The most beautiful friend I've found. Why, I promise thee, when my
highest dreams break in half, Then I spoke in words of love,
Spirit of my Fatherland, Let me hide myself with Thee. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Book of Exodus, chapter 33. Exodus,
chapter 33. 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. When I will send an angel
before thee, I will drive up the Canaanites, the Amorites,
and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the high knights and the
jebusites, unto a land flowed with milk and honey. For I will
not go up in the midst of them, for there are 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
his ornaments For the LORD hath 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 everyone 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 the 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 friends. 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. And 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 am 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 in thee. 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 to the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while
I pass by, and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my
back parts, but my face shall not be seen. May the Lord bless
the reading of his own precious word and grant to us a spirit
of real prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is and art and art to come, we seek to bow before thy glorious
majesty, Thou art the high and lofty One that inhabited eternity,
whose name is Holy. And Lord, we are unholy, we are unclean,
we are unrighteous altogether. Thy word solemnly declares, there
is none that doeth good, no, not one. And so we would humble
ourselves before Thee, and pray that thy presence may go with
us today and that the word of truth may be open to our heart
and to our understanding and that the name of the Lord may
be made precious unto us and that the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ and the love of God our Father and the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit may rest and abide upon us We do humbly beseech
thee. We pray to be drawn into spiritual
things. We pray that the word of truth
may be open to our heart and to our understanding, and that
it may come in the living power of the Spirit of God into our
hearts. We read of the sealing, whereby
ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. We pray that we might
have that seeding of the Spirit today, when the word of truth
is sealed into our hearts, when the eyes of our understanding
are enlightened, and we see no man save Jesus only, and we behold
that profound mystery of godliness of God manifest in the flesh.
For we do pray that we may behold thy glory. the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. We pray
to be washed in the precious blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, to cleanse us from all our sin. And we pray to be clothed
upon with that glorious everlasting robe of the righteousness of
Jesus Christ, that we may be fitted and prepared to stand
in thy presence, our nakedness covered. Hear us, O Lord, we
pray, and so be with us this day, and so bless us, we do beseech
thee. Remember our brethren the deacons,
graciously bless them, be with them in their respective pathways,
but guide them and direct them in that way, which thou wilt
have them to go, be with them in all their responsibilities,
not just here but elsewhere, and graciously undertake for
us. We pray, most gracious Lord, that we may be given that grace
to pray for one another and to bear one another's burdens, that
thereby fulfilling the law of Christ. We pray for our dear
brother and sister from Holland, now returned home, that thou
would be with them and guide them and direct them and visit
their souls. We do humbly beseech them. Lord, we pray that thou would
remember each one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship
and increase our love and increase our faith. We do humbly pray. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that this day We may be led of the Spirit of God, for as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Oh,
to know that divine leading of the Holy Ghost. Holy Ghost, we
look to thee. Raise the dead, the captive free,
from the mighty take the prey. Teach the weak to watch and pray. We pray, Most Gracious Lord,
the blessing upon Thee, the little ones and the children. We thank
Thee for them. We love to see them and hear
them in the sanctuary. We pray that Thou hast graciously
blessed them, that Thou hast put the fear of the Lord, which
is the beginning of wisdom, into their heart. We pray that Thou
hast graciously bless the young friends, and guide them and direct
them unto Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of sinners, that they
may be enabled by thy grace to put their trust in thee, and
to cast all their cares upon thee. Be with our young friends
in their pathway, whether it's in their education, or whether,
Lord, it's in their employment, we pray for them that Thou wouldst
graciously guide and direct them and be with them regarding a
partner in life's journey. We grant them a partner that
fears Thy name and that loves Thee. We think of that wonderful promise,
Lord, and we plead it before Thee. Instead of Thy father shall
be Thy children. whom thou mayest make princes
in all the earth. Lord, let thy work appear unto
thy servants and thy glory unto their children. We pray that
the prodigals may return, and that we may have that rejoicing
to see those prodigals return. We pray, O Lord, that thou, in
thy precious mercy, may remember all in the midst of the journey
of life and bless them and be with them and help them. Especially
think of parents that wisdom and grace may be given to them
to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord. And we may not do those things that will stumble them.
Hear us, O Lord, we cry, that for thy great name's sake. Lord,
we but we pray that thou would deliver us from the temptations
of Satan. And whether he comes as an angel
of light to deceive, or whether he comes as a roaring lion to
devour, we need thee to defend us. And thou hast promised in
thy word, and we plead that precious promise. When the enemy comes
in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard
against him. O most gracious Lord, we pray
to be led and taught and directed by Thee. We pray for grace to
be made fruitful under every good work and word and way, and that we may glorify our Father
which is in heaven. We pray that today we may be
made more spiritually minded We pray for the spirit of adoption,
for God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying,
Abba, Father, may that be so, Lord, even today. The sweet realisation
that we have an eternal Father who loves us with an everlasting
love. We pray that the Lord Jesus may
come and stand in our midst, and that we may hear his voice
and see his countenance and touch the hem of his garment and draw
from that sacred virtue that is in him, and that we may worship
him in spirit and in truth. Lord, we pray that thou, in thine
great mercy, would remember those of us in the evening time of
life's journey, and that, Lord, we that the longest can't be
long, when we soar through tracks unknown
and see beyond thy judgment throne. Lord, impress it upon our hearts
and minds, whether young or old, the vital need of being prepared
for that great day. And O Lord, we do pray that the
glory and light and power of the gospel may shine into this
village and the surrounding villages and hamlets, and that thou would
bring our sons from far and our daughters from the ends of the
earth, as promised they shall come. Lord, we watch for thy
appearing in this, and we beseech thee to have mercy upon us. We
thank thee for the light and power of the gospel that has
shone forth recently that quite a number, Lord, have come forth
to be baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost. And we thank thee for that, O
Lord. Go on, most mighty God, thy wonders to make known, put
forth thy Spirit with the Word. We do humbly pray thee for thy
great namesake. And, O Lord, We do pray for all
thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls
of Zion, that thou would set them free and at liberty today,
that thou would grant the fresh anointing of thy Spirit, the
unction of the Holy One, and signs to follow the preaching
of the Word. And O Lord, we do pray thee,
the great Lord of the harvest, that thou would send true labourers
into the harvest I have said in thy word, I have set watchmen
upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, that shall never hold their peace,
day nor night. Neither make mention of the Lord,
keep not silence. Give him no rest until he establish,
until he make Jerusalem a praise in all the earth. Lord, do hear
us, we pray thee, and grant us that true spiritual exercise
in our hearts regarding the churches of God, that regard in Zion the
church of the living God and our future prosperity. We pray
for those that go forth from among us and among the nations
of the earth who especially think of being saddled and that great
work that he is doing in so many different places in the distribution
of thy word, in the exposition of it, in the establishment of
orphanages, supply all his many returning needs, O Lord, we pray
Thee, and remember the Savannah Education Trust, and grant Thy
rich blessing upon them in Ghana, and that these sins may be regaled
to the great glory of Thy Name, we do humbly beseech Thee, that
poor sinners may be brought from darkness into light, from bondage
into liberty, from the worshipping of idols to worship the only
true God. Remember the Mombasa mission
and the great work they are doing in Kenya. May it please thee,
Lord, that thou wilt abundantly bless the labours of thy servants
there. And O Lord, we do desire to enter
into thy gates with praise and with the voice of thanksgiving.
We thank Thee for every mercy of Thy kind providence. We thank
Thee that Thou art God over all and blessed for evermore. We
thank Thee that Thou art able to do abundantly more than we
can even ask of Thee. We thank Thee that Thou hast
promised, I will never leave Thee nor forsake Thee. We thank
Thee that O Lord, for the incarnation of the Son of God, that wonderful,
profound mystery of godliness, of God manifest in the flesh.
Oh, we thank thee for the glory of his name, of his person. His
name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. Oh, we do thank thee for that
wonderful name. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
in the believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals
his wounds, drives away his fear. We thank Thee for that name,
for that glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee
that all power is given unto Him in heaven and earth. We thank
Thee that in that holy night He lived as a man here upon earth.
He fulfilled and honoured and magnified Thy holy law and brought
in righteousness for Thy people. We thank Thee for the sacred
glory of the Cross of Calvary, where sin has been put away,
where divine justice has been satisfied, where that holy sacrifice
was offered, where God and sinners are reconciled, and where He
died for our sins and rose again for our justification and swallowed
up death in victory. and brought life and immortality
to life through the gospel. Praise waiteth for thee, O God,
in Zion, and unto thee shall the vow be performed. We thank
thee that in him we know the love of our eternal Father, for
through him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Do be with us now, Lord, as we
turn to thy holy word. Come and touch one's lips with
the life-cold from of the heavenly water. Come and open the word
of truth to our heart, to our understanding. Come and unstop
the deathiness. We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us continue by singing together
hymn number 556, and the tune is Mathers 44. The Lord proclaims his name,
and sinners hear his voice. His mercy ever stands the same,
and we in him rejoice. 556 to Mathers 44. O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave I love you, too. ? We hope this time again ? ? Most
holy day of ours ? ? This Christmas time again ? ? God rest ye merry, gentle men
of God ? ? For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory ? ? Hark, the herald angels sing
? ? Glory to the newborn King ? ? Hark, the herald angels sing
? O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's ? Keep thy faithful choice ? ?
Proud and prosperous ? ? Till earth and heav'n adore thee ? The Lord's gracious help, I direct
your attention to the chapter that we read, the book of Exodus,
chapter 33, and we will read verse 19 for our text. Exodus
33, verse 19, and he said, I will make all my goodness pass
before thee, and 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. In the context here, In the previous
chapter it is recorded how that the Lord called Moses up into
the Mount Sinai or as it's often called Mount Horeb and that he was to bring up two
tablets of stone with him and that the Lord engraved on
those two tablets of stone the Holy Law of the Ten Commandments and what is known as God's Holy
Law. It was a terrible sight. We read
in the Hebrews that even Moses said, I do exceedingly fear and
quake because up in the mount of the Lord there was thunderings
and lightnings But that is the holy law of God. Dear friends, we cannot receive
any life in the holy law of God. We can only receive condemnation. And you might say to me, why
is that? because we all have sinned, every one of us. We're born in sin, we're shaped
in iniquity. And then he writes, he says,
doesn't he, since Adam, by transgression, fell, he ruined all his future
race. The seeds of evil, once brought
in, increased and filled the world with sin. And that is the
sad condition of the human race, alienated from God. God had said
to Adam and Eve, the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die, the tree of the knowledge of good and of evil. And the devil, whom the Lord
Jesus calls the father of lies, he said to Eve when she said
that we must not eat of the fruit And we see the father of lions,
what did he say? Thou shalt not surely die. The deceiver, that's who Satan
is. He came into the garden in the
form of a serpent and he spoke to Eve and she succumbed to his
temptation. We read that one of the very
first sins She saw that it was something to be desired. Covetous. You and I are by nature, our
fallen nature, we're covetous. And the holy law of God says
thou shalt not covet. But she saw it was something
to be desired, something to make one wise. And she took. You know, when
we walk in the paths of sin and of unrighteousness, it's one
step at a time. And gradually the enemy will
draw you, tempt you to do things, perhaps in a very gradual way.
You do one thing, and that one thing leads to another thing,
and that leads to another thing, and before you know where you
are, you're completely succumbed under the temptation. And we read that Adam and Eve
hid themselves from God when God, in the cool of the day,
came among them. They hid themselves. Of course,
the reality is, my beloved friends, that none of us can hide ourselves.
We know what the word of God means. It means they literally
hid from God, or tried to. They knew that they were naked
and they sewed fig leaves. And the Lord, He said, Adam,
where art thou? Adam, where art thou? You see, that terrible
thought of man from communion with God. God
made man upright, but he always had that propensity to fall into
sin. That is what is called free will.
And man chose his way, that was his free will. Eve took of the fruit, she gave
to Adam her husband, and their eyes were opened. And that is where man lost his
free will, in the fall, in the Garden of Eden. And the Lord had said, the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Now what that
means is, is that spiritually, man died. Thou shalt surely die. And as we read in the Hebrews,
as it is appointed unto man once to die. Sinner, you're going
to die. It is appointed unto man once to
die and after death to judge. Sinner, you're going to stand
before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. It's something that is
absolutely certain. That's why those two things are
joined together in the Holy Word of God. It is appointed on demand once to
die, and after death, the judgment. And to my mind, the reason why
the Holy Spirit has joined those two things together is we know,
every single one of us knows that we've got to die. It's a fact, it's a reality.
We know it will be so. Well, to my mind, why the Spirit
of God joins those two things together is you can be just as
sure as you know that you're going to die that you will stand
at the judgment seat. After death, the judgment is
something you cannot avoid. You can't avoid death and you
can't avoid the judgment day. and will be judged according
to God's holy law. We will. The ten commandments
that were given on Mount Sinai, we shall be judged according
to those ten commandments. You see, my beloved friend, when
Moses was up in the Mount of the Lord, and the Lord had engraven
those tablets of stone with the holy law of God on the back and
on the front, And that holy law, the Lord Jesus, really what you
might say, it brings it all together. He says,
the law of God, what it means, thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, and thy neighbor
as thyself. That's exactly what the law of
God declares. I think it's the first commandments
they refer to to God. Thou shalt have no other
gods before me. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. For the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain. And then we have a duty
that is laid upon us under the holy law of God to love our parents,
to honour them, to keep the sabbath time. These are all in the law
of the Ten Commandments, the Holy Law of God. And we're clearly
informed in Holy Scripture. Sin, that awful, hideous monster
sin. It's a terrible thing, you know, friends.
Sin is any transgression. of the law of God. That's the
definition of sin in Holy Scripture. We're often told today by philosophers
that there's no such thing as an absolute. Well, my beloved
friends, there is. And that is God's holy righteous
law. It is an absolute. It is divinely
certain. And the soul that's in it, it
shall die. We're going to die because we're
sinners. In Ecclesiastes it says, and
there is no discharge in that war. And we read here then in chapter
32 how while Moses was 40 days and 40 nights up in the mount
and the Lord was commuting with him And the Lord was engraving
on those tablets of stone, God did it with his own hand. We know that God doesn't have
bodily parts, but it's always used in a figurative sense. He
wrote the law of God, he engraved it on those tablets of stone. And the Lord said to Moses, get
ye down, for the people have turned. away from me and what
happened was is that the children of Israel came to Aaron, Moses'
brother, and they said, make us something that we can worship. As for this Moses, we don't even
know where he is. He's gone up into the mount of
the Lord and he's not come down in heaven. So Aaron said to them,
break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your
wife, your sons and your daughters and bring them unto me. And all
the people break off the golden earrings which were in their
ears and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their
hand and fashioned it with a braving tool. After he had made it a molten
calf and said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which brought the ark
out of the land of Egypt. What God had just written on
those tablets of stone with Moses, thou shalt not make any image. And that's exactly what they've
done. They made the golden calf their idol. They rose up in the morning and
they danced, many of them naked. or the terrible nature of sin. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Get thee down, go, get thee down for thy people which thou broughtest
out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly
out of the way which I commanded them. They have made them a molten
calf and have worshipped him and sacrificed thereunto and
said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out
of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto Moses,
I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked
people. Now therefore, let me alone that
my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume
them, and that I will make of thee a great nation. The Lord offered to Moses that
he would make of him a great nation. Now, we see Moses here
as an intercessor. He's actually a beautiful type
of Christ here in this chapter. And Moses sought the Lord, his
God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy
people which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt
with great power and with a mighty arm? Wherefore should the Egyptians
speak and say for the mischief? Did he bring them out to slay
them in the mountains and consume them from the face of the earth?
turn from thy fierce wrath and repent of this evil against thy
people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel,
oh how Moses here intercedes. And the Lord heard. It says in
verse 14, and the Lord repented of the evil which he fought to
do unto his people. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availed much. And Moses did. And the Lord repented
of the evil he fought to do unto his people. And then Moses turned
and went down from the mount and the two tables of the testimony
were in his hand. That's the law of God. The tables
were written on both their sides. That means it's a complete law.
Written on both sides. It's like that little book that
we're speaking of in the hand of the Lord in the book of the
Revelation. It was written on the backside.
In other words, it was complete, the decrees of God. And this
law is complete. It's God's holy, righteous law. It will never change. It's as
God is. It's unchangeable. And it says
here in verse 16, and the tables were the work of God, and the
writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. Joshua, he thought it was the
noise of war, and Moses said it is not the voice of them that
shout for the mastery, neither is it the voice of them that
cry for being overcome, but the voice of them that sing, do I
hear. that it came to pass, as soon
as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the
dancing, and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out
of his hands, and break them beneath them now. A broken law. That's what we see here. Moses, he saw the people given
to idolatry, dancing naked, worshipping a calf. and he cast down a holy law and break it. And that
is what you've done and that is what I've done. We've broken
God's holy law and we must face the consequences of a broken
law. We must. We will. In the day of judgment, we shall
answer before the eternal God for the law of God that we have
broken. And we see Moses here, he took
the calf which they had made and burnt it in the fire and
ground it to powder and strawed it upon the water and made the
children of Israel drink of it. Moses said to Aaron, what did
this people unto thee that thou hast brought so great a sin upon
them? Aaron was a much more flexible
person than Moses. willing to bend the rules. That's what we see in heaven.
Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people,
they are set on mission. They say unto me, make us gods,
we shall go before us. But as for this Moses, the man
that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not what
has become of him. You see, and then he took their
gold and made it. And Moses saw that the people
were naked, for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among
their enemies. You see, and then Moses challenged
them. Now if we go to verse 30, it
says, and it came to pass on the morrow that Moses said unto
the people, you have sinned against me. And now I will go up unto the
LORD. Peradventure I shall make an
atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the LORD
and said, O this people have sinned a great sin, and have
made them gods of gold. Yet now, if they will forgive
sin, and if not, then blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book
which thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my
heart. See, he says in verse 34, Therefore
now go, lead the people unto the place which I have spoken
unto thee. Behold my angel. What a wonderful
promise here. You'll notice that this angel
is written with a capital A. is because it refers to the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Behold, my angel shall go before
thee. Nevertheless, in the day when
I visit thee, I will visit their sin upon them, and the Lord plague
the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made. Then
we come to our chapter. You see, my beloved friends,
how Moses, he wrestled with the Lord. And he says in verse two, I will
send an angel. This is why the people were afraid.
This is not the angel of the covenant, which is Jesus Christ,
but I will send an angel before them. And I will drive out the
Canaanites, et cetera. under a land flowing with milk
and honey. Now it says, for I will not go
up in the midst of the... Up until this time the tabernacle
was right in the very center of the children of Israel and
when they encamped, they camped around the tabernacle. It was
the very center of their worship. So the Lord said that it would
not go among them, lest I consume thee in the way. And when the
people heard these evil tidings, they bore them. And no man did
put on him his ornaments. The Lord 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 me, that I may
know what to do. and the children of Israel strip
themselves. I understand my late grandfather,
Jacob Spiel of Blackhorse, he often used to say when he was
preaching, the Lord will bring you into the stripping room. And you know that is what the
Lord does with his children. You might say, what do you mean
the stripping room? You have to be stripped of all your fancied
neatness and goodness. All your good works, everything
that you have done, you have to be stripped of it. You have to be stripped of all
your self-righteousness. And every one of us in a lesser
or greater degree is afflicted with that self-righteousness. And that is absolutely abhorrent
unto the Eternal God, self-righteousness. You know, in the Gospels, the
Lord Jesus, he speaks more against the self-righteous Pharisees
than any other group of people. They were an abomination unto
him. They believed that they were right. Look at the two men
that went up to the temple to pray. Our Lord Jesus, using the
illustration of the Pharisees, They chose the highest places.
He said, unto thee, Lord. It wasn't a prayer, was it? I thank thee that I'm not as
other men are, even as this public. I fast so many times a day. I
tithe this and I tithe that. He was so full of himself. So
full of what he had done. So full of what he had accomplished. And there was the publican, the
tax collector. He could not so much as lift
his eyes up unto heaven, but he smote upon his breath, saying,
God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. You know, it's lovely the way
Toplady speaks in our opening hymn this morning. Not very often,
but when we come absolutely there, nothing in my hand I bring. To
be strict of everything, nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to
thy cross I cling. Foul I to the fountain fly. Wash
me, Saviour, or I die. What a mercy if we know what
it is to be strict of everything. and the children of Israel stripped
themselves of their ornaments by the Mount of Olives. And the Lord does that with us
in an experimental way. Now Moses said unto the Lord,
verse 12, See thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, and
thou wilt 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. What a mercy to find grace in
God's sight. What a mercy we read in the book
of Genesis and Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Grace
is the free unmerited favour of the eternal God. That's the
meaning of the word grace. And the Lord said, My presence
shall go with thee, verse 14, and I will give thee rest. My
presence shall go with thee. Dear friends, we know that the
Lord never leaves any of his people. He promised in his word,
I will never leave thee nor forsake you. he does withdraw the sweet sense
of his presence. The Holy Spirit, once it has
entered into the heart of a sinner and quickened that soul into
life, will never leave you. He will be with you forever.
But the hymn writer puts it so beautifully, when the Holy Spirit
withdraws his sweet influence in our hearts, no longer burns
our love. Our faith and patience fail.
Why? Because we've sinned, because
we've grieved the Holy Spirit of promise whereby you are sealed
under the day of redemption and we're exhorted not to grieve
the Holy Spirit of promise. But when we sin, when we willfully
sin, we grieve the Spirit and He withholds His sweet influence
and never leaves you. When he withholds his sweet influence,
the sweet comforts that you have felt are gone. When he withholds
his influence, you're desolate. I mean this spiritually. Moses says here he knew the meaning
of the word when he said in verse 14, if thy presence go not with
me, carry us not of hence. for wherein shall it be known
here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight. Now, he says here, and I love
just the first three words of our text in verse 19, and he
said, and he said, thus saith the Lord, and he said. Wonderful promise you know here.
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. You know, the essence of God's
goodness is in his mercy. And that is found only in one
place, in Jesus Christ. The only begotten Son of the
Father, full of grace and truth. Sinner, do you need grace? You'll
only find it in Jesus Christ. There's a constant thing throughout
the New Testament, is that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
is central to everything. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Word that has been very special
to me over the years is found in the epistle of James and he
gives more grace. Do you feel to lack grace? Sometimes perhaps you feel to
be void of grace? The hymn writer says there's
only marks of grace I cannot show. All polluted is my breath. Is that how you feel as you come
up to the house of God today? Desolate and afflicted? Graceless? That's how you feel? And he said, I will make all
my goodness pass before them. And I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before them. The name of the Lord. Solomon says in the book of the
Proverbs, The name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous
runneth into it. It's the place of refuge, a refuge
for sinners the gospel makes known. It is found in the merits
of Jesus alone. The weary, the tempted, the burdened
by sin were never exempted from entering therein. What a refuge,
glorious refuge. Now when the children of Israel
settled the promised land, and the Lord instructed Joshua to
set up seven cities of refuge. That if a person, not that committed
murder, but that manslaughter and inadvertently killed someone,
if they escaped in the city of refuge, they couldn't be, it
was a place of refuge and they couldn't be taken there. Those
cities of refuge are beautiful types of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the refuge of poor sinners. He's a hiding place. He's a hiding
place. And He said, I will make all
my goodness, that goodness that is in Christ, the eternal love
of God in Christ. God so loved the world, he gave
his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should be saved.
This is the refuge, my beloved friends. And ye shall call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. He
will save his people from their sins. That's the meaning of the
name Jesus. That's the refuge. that is set
before us in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. David, he
says in the book of Psalms, doesn't he? Thou art my rock and my refuge,
my strong and my high tower. Unto thee shall I continually
resort. My rock, my refuge. Behold, I lay in Zion a foundation,
a foundation. And we read as you go on here
after our text, in verse 21, and the Lord said,
Behold, there is a place binding, and thou shalt stand upon the
rock. What does he mean? Thus saith the High and Lofty
One, this is Isaiah 57, Thus saith the High and Lofty One
that inhabited the eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy
place with him that is of a humble and contrite spirit. That is
Christ who humbled himself. I dwell in the high and holy
place with him that is of a humble and contrite spirit. And you
know, my beloved friends, that we read in the Hebrews, don't
we, for such a high priest He came to us, who is passed into
the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. He dwells in the high and
holy place. He's the advocate, He's the intercessor
of His people. Christ is. There is a place by
Him. And thou shalt stand upon a rock. There's a hiding place. Tell
you this, He said, Thou art my hiding place. And the Lord said, Behold, there
is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon it. The Lord Jesus
answered Peter when he said, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And he said, Blessed art thou,
Son of Barjona, flesh and blood have not revealed this unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. And upon this rock I build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against him. And he says here in verse 22,
and it shall come to pass while my glory passes by that I will
put thee in a cliff of the rock and cover thee with my hand while
I pass by. And that is what Toplady takes
up in the lovely hymn that we began our service rock of ages
cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee, let the water and the
blood from thy riven side which flow, be of sin a double cure,
cleanse me from its guilt and power, and I will put thee in
a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand.
You know the amount of times that Christ is called The Lord's
hand. The Lord's hand. Let thy hand
be upon the man of my right hand, the Son of man, whom thou mayest
strong for thyself. That's Christ. It's the glorious
person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, I will make all
my goodness pass before thee. And I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee. You know we have those very well
known and beautiful names that are given by prophecy to our
Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah chapter 9. How beautifully is the person
of our Lord Jesus. By a name, It actually means
the person. It means the person. It says
here about the name. It's the person. The name of
the Lord. And in Isaiah chapter 9 we read,
For unto us a child is born, the glory of the person of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Unto us a son is given, and the
government shall be upon his shoulder. and his name shall
be called wonderful. The very fact that the Son of
God was made flesh is something that is very wonderful. Very wonderful. The work that he did, what he
did here as a man on earth, is wonderful. The law that man had
broken, he has fulfilled. He stood as a substitute of his
people. Wonderful. His name shall be
called Wonderful. Counsellor. You know, a counsellor
to plead, an advocate, a counsellor. To plead before his father's
throne. He pleads his own merits, his
own precious blood. His own glorious righteousness.
And when that poor sinner comes unto the Eternal Father, our
Lord Jesus Christ says, I have prayed for this one. I have suffered for this one.
I have died for this one. I have shed my precious blood
for this one. I have risen from the dead for
this one. I have swallowed up death in
victory. of the Lord, wonderful counsellor,
the mighty God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
mighty God. He's the eternal Son of the eternal
Father, wherefore He is able to save to the uttermost all
that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth, He ever liveth,
to make intercession for them. His name shall be called wonderful
counsellor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father. I am my Father,
I am one. He that hath the Son hath the
Father also. The everlasting Father. The only
way to the Father is through the Son. And I believe this is
another reason for this name, the everlasting Father. Because
we can only know the Father in the Son. The everlasting Father. The Prince, That's who Jesus is. His name
should be called the Prince of Peace. Peace by His cross as
Jesus made the Church's ever-living Head. He's made peace. He's reconciled. He fulfilled the Law. He honoured
and magnified the Law. He brought in everlasting righteousness
of the perfect obedience. of Jesus, the Son of God, to
the Holy Lord God, everlasting righteousness. And that is what He has done for His people. His
name, wonderful counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. He's the King of Peace. He's
the King of Peace. He's made peace. Doesn't the
Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews, he speaks there,
doesn't he, of this peace that Christ has made between the Church
and His Father? It says in chapter 7 of Hebrews
and verse 24, that this man, what man? The glorious holy God
man, the man of Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace. But this
man, because he continued ever, had an unchangeable priesthood.
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost, that
come unto God by him, seeing the ever-living. to make intercession
for them. He intercedes for his people. He's a wonderful Saviour. For
such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Who
needed not daily, as those High Priests, to offer up sacrifice,
first for his own sins and then for the people's, Well, this
he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh
men high priests which have infirmity, but the word of the oath which
was since the law maketh the son who is consecrated for evermore. And he said, I will make all
thy goodness pass before me. And I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before them, and will be gracious to whom I will
be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. May the Lord have his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 554. The tune is Norman 196. Though we walk through this wilderness,
God's promise is our stand. His goodness He will make to
pass before us in the life. in 554, tune normal, 196. O come ye, O come ye, O come
ye to Bethlehem. ? His truth and saving grace ?
? We now proclaim. ? ? Amen. ? Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ? And all the glory ? ? Gave to
us ? ? With love ? ? Of Jesus Christ. ? ? Firm on their strength ? ? And
strong in faith ? ? We truly believe this day ? ? And glory
to their name ? ? Hear us, we come as we were made. ? ? Heaven and earth shall hear,
? Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ? And God's will make this world
his own ? ? Because of sin and grace ? ? To keep the promise of Jesus'
peace ? ? Heaven and earth will sing ? ? And the Lord will reign
? ? Cherish us ? ? In the hope of
seeing the way ? ? Till day is changed ? ? Day is gone ? ? And
sing thy praises to thee ? Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father, the
sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us
each. Amen.