I want to begin this morning
by turning to Exodus 33. Exodus chapter 33. Our text is Mark chapter 2. And in the text, Brother Chris
just read, Our Lord walked up to a man named
Levi, or Matthew, same person. And our Lord said to him, follow
me. Follow me. And he got up and
he followed him. It seems like such a simple account,
doesn't it? It only took one verse of scripture
to say that. There's a man sitting at the
receipt of customs. He walked up to him and said, follow me. And he arose and followed him. Two words are spoken. A response takes place. But in order to have that simple
transaction, what appears to be a very simple transaction,
Something very deep had to take place. Very deep. Something so holy and mysterious. It almost can't be entered into.
So deep. I want us to begin this morning
here in Exodus 33 and I want us to see what had to be done. For that to take place. Alright,
Exodus 33. Moses said in verse 18, he said to God, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. Show me your glory. Now this is Exodus chapter 33. This is toward the end of the
book of Exodus. By this point, Moses had seen
all of God's plagues come down on Egypt. Rivers turned to blood. They didn't just turn red, they
turned to blood. They couldn't drink the water.
They turned to blood. Indescribable darkness. They said that the darkness was
so great, the Egyptians had to sit in their place for three
days. That's how great it was. Now,
there was light in all the tents of the Israels. But absolute
darkness. Death. The firstborn male in
every house shall die. Absolute, and it happened. Absolute
death. Moses saw the Red Sea part. Now, I had to study on that just
for a little bit. And I've always had it in my
mind that he walked up to the water and the water just went
like that. But do you know what it says? It became a wall unto
them. And at the top of the Red Sea,
there's two little fingers. And the one they crossed is 6,000
feet deep. The Empire State Building is
1,200 feet deep. Five Empire State Buildings on
top of each other. Its shortest width is 12 miles
wide. Its longest is 17. So for at
least 12 miles, they walked in water that was almost a mile
and a quarter tall. It would have almost gone to
a vanishing point. Can you imagine? Moses saw this
happen. They came up to him and they
said, Moses, what are we going to do? And Moses had no idea. He's just a man. But he believed
God. And so he told him, I don't know,
but stand still and you will see the salvation of the Lord.
You stand still. Wait on the Lord, I say. Wait
on the Lord. And all of a sudden, and for
12 miles they walked through. That sea had ocean life in it. They went by the light of the
moon and the pillar of fire. They could see whales and sharks
and jellyfish. I can envision the kids sticking
their arm in there going, don't do that, honey. I don't want
this wall coming down. It's not coming down. Not yet.
Moses saw this. Can you imagine his thankfulness
to God? Oh, thank you, Lord. I told somewhere
between two and three million people that you would provide
and you did. Moses saw a dead, dry rock when
everybody was about to die of thirst. called on the Lord and
they saw a dead, dry rock just start gushing water, enough to
fill three million people. And then he saw that exact same
rock follow them everywhere they went. Same rock, same rock. Moses saw bread fall out of heaven. What are we going to eat? Lord,
what are we going to eat? Moses saw the power of God and
he saw the majesty of God, but he knew. He knew that these miracles
are not the root of the matter. They're not the root of the matter.
He knew there is something more to this. Something deeper in this. He knew these things were pointing
to something. They were all there to point
us to something. There's something greater than
miracles. Miracles are great, but there's
something greater than miracles. Everybody's focused on the miracles. Moses knew there's something
greater in all this. So in verse 18, he said, After all that, he said, I beseech
thee, show me thy glory. And God said, I will make all
my goodness, that means my beauty, my gladness, my welfare, I will
make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the
name of the Lord. I'm going to tell you who Jehovah
is. I'm going to reveal God to you. Everybody thinks they know who
God is. He said, I'm going to reveal
God to you and it's going to strike fear into you. It is going
to strike fear into you. And then I'm going to show grace
to you. The gift that I have given, my
only precious son. I'm going to show you who God
is, and it's going to strike absolute fear into you. And then
I'm going to show you who my only begotten son is. And then
I'm going to show you what mercy actually is. You see, he said in verse 20,
Thou canst not see my face. For there shall no man see me
and live. I am too holy, and you are too
sinful. If a sinner sees God face to
face, he will die. If a sinner sees God face to
face, he will die. The only way that a man can go
meet God and not die is if he's not a sinner. He has to be perfect. He has
to be righteous. He has to be acceptable. Otherwise,
you will die. No man can see me face to face
and live. No man. But, there is a place. There's a place. Verse 21, And
the Lord said, Behold, There is a place by me and thou shalt
stand upon a rock. That place is my son, Jesus Christ. He is the rock. My graciousness
is that I will give you my son. My mercy is that I will break
my son. That's grace and mercy. Verse 22, And it shall come to
pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a
cliff of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass
by. That place is my Son. Jesus Christ,
he is that rock. My glory is going to pass by
my majesty and my holiness and my demands and my standard. It's going to pass by. And I'm going to put you in that
broken place. And then I'm going to cover you
with my hand. I'm going to put you in the broken one, the Son
of God Almighty, in the cliff of that rock, and then I'm going
to cover you with my hand. Who is the right hand of God
Almighty? Jesus Christ, the broken one. I'm going to put you in my Son,
and then I'm going to cover you with my Son. And verse 24 says,
the end of it says, while I pass by. Pass by means be wrath. While I be wrath, I'm going to
put you in that rock and I'm going to cover you and while
I be wrath, while all my holiness and my righteousness and my judgment
beats on that rock, the one that you are safely tucked up inside. After my holiness passes by,
after everything that is not worthy to stand in my presence
has been judged and destroyed, verse 23, I will take away my
hand and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not
be seen. After it's all over, I'm going
to let you have a glimpse of God. That's my glory. That's my glory. Chapter 34 verse
6 says, And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed the
Lord. This is what he said while he
was passing by. He said something. He proclaimed the Lord. The Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping
mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and
sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's
children unto the third and fourth generation." Adam sinned. And because of that, his children
sinned. Cain, Abel, Seth, all of his children sinned. Because
his children sinned, their children sinned, Adam's grandchildren.
And it went on and on and on, all the way down to my grandfather. His name was Gerald Stoniker.
And he sinned. And because of that, my father,
Marvin Stoniker, he sinned. And because of that, I sinned. And because of that, my children
have sinned. We are all sinners in the hands
of an angry God. But he said, this is my glory.
If you want to see my glory, here it is. I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. And I will show mercy on whom
I will show mercy by hiding them in that rock and then spewing
out my wrath on that rock. That's what had to happen before
our story could take place in Mark chapter 2. Every bit of
that, it had to happen before our story could take place in
Mark chapter 2. Because all of that took place,
the merciful Savior, the Rock, walked up to a sinner who was
sitting there in his sin and he said, okay, follow me. Come on. Go back over there to Mark chapter
2. Verse 13 says, And He went forth
again by the seaside, and all the multitude resorted unto Him,
and He taught them. What did He teach them? Exodus
33. Christ and Him crucified. It's
actually the same thing that Genesis 1.1 says. and everything
after that all the way to Revelation 22, 21. The same thing. It all declares the glory of
God. We talk about the glory of God. We're here to glorify God and
to see His glory. What is it? I'll be gracious
to whom I'll be gracious, and I'll show mercy on whom I'll
show mercy. Verse 14, And as he passed by,
he saw Levi. one of the ones who God put in
that rock. While our Lord walked this earth,
He was seeking every sinner that God put in that rock. And He
would find them out. There's one right there that
God put in that rock. So He walked straight up to Matthew. Verse 14 says, As He passed by,
He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt of custom. Levi or Matthew, who is the writer
of the first gospel, Matthew, he was a publican. He was a Jew who collected tax
money from the other Jews to give it to the Romans. He was
a hated man, a hated man. All publicans were hated, usually
because they were all thieves. They would go tell their own
countrymen, you owe more than they really did, and then they
would keep the difference and send what they actually owed
to the Romans. So they were hated people. Publicans were considered
to be the lowest, and Levi was a sinner. That's what he was.
Verse 14 says, As he passed by, he saw Levi,
the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt of custom, and
he said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. He followed him. This grace that
is God's glory, it's called effectual. And what that means is it's effective. It's very effective. Whoever
is a recipient of it, that grace shall not fail. It's not going
to fail. He said, follow me. And he got
up and he followed him. Every work that Christ does gets
the intended result. Every time. We preach this gospel
because it is the power of God unto salvation. I rest in that. It's not up to me. I don't need
to speak this well. I don't need to give a good oratory
today. This word is going to do whatever God sends it to do. Declare it. And then stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord. Everything our God starts,
He finishes. Every sinner that He seeks, He
came seeking Levi. Every sinner that He seeks will
seek Him. Every sinner that He finds will
find Him. Every time. Levi was not seeking
Him. Levi is sitting over here counting
his money, sitting at the table. Yep, right here, folks. Put it
right there. Levi didn't want to follow him.
Would you rather sit here and take your money or follow me?
Which one would you rather do? I'm good. Levi had no idea that grace and
mercy had come to him all the way back in Exodus 33. which
was a picture of what happened before the foundation of the
world. God had a rock and God took this wicked man and shoved
him inside that rock and then God spewed out his wrath on that
rock. And Levi sitting over here in
his ignorance, no idea. Going about his life, no idea.
He had no idea that grace and mercy had come. He had no idea
he needed it. No idea. This was all the Lord's
doing. Levi did not see him walking
by and say, you know what? I'm tired of being a bad person.
I think I'm going to follow him. This was all the Lord's doing.
It's that way every time. I'm quite positive that Levi
was very happy in his sin. He wasn't looking for a change.
Thank God, Levi did not have a say in the matter. He did not
have a say in this matter. God's call went out. Levi couldn't
resist it. He arose and followed Him. I
thank God that He has not called me to convince anybody to follow
Christ. It's not my calling. What do you do for a living?
I'm a winner of souls. No, I'm a preacher of the gospel. God wins all souls. Well, through this declaration,
God himself will say to the heart, follow me, just like he did to
Levi, follow me. Every single one that God comes
to and says, follow me, will arise and follow him, every one. Luke gives this same account.
Go with me over to Luke chapter 5. Luke 5, look at verse 27. And after these things, he went
forth and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of
custom. And he said unto him, follow
me. And he left all. Rose up and
followed him. He left it all. He left it all. He did not scrape anything up
and take it with him. He left it all. That's what every
sinner will gladly do. To follow Christ. Everyone. He'll leave his good works. I've
got some really good works on the table. I've brought some
things to the table. Don't you want those? He'll leave
his good works. He'll leave his decisions, he'll
leave his pride, he'll leave his self-righteousness, he'll
leave everything this world has to offer in order to follow Jesus
Christ every time. Our Lord did not drag Brother
Levi. He didn't get him by the hair
and say, now come on. He said, follow me, and Levi thought,
that's about the only thing I want to do in life. Levi, you want
to take any of that with you? He went willingly. Where are
you going Levi? The pearl of great price just
walked by. What's that? Mine eyes have seen
the glory of the coming of the Lord. You know, if God ever shows
the unsearchable riches of Christ to a sinner, that sinner will
want nothing else, nothing else. Every time he'll do what Levi
did right here in Luke 5 verse 29 says, Levi made him, he followed
him. Where are we going? Your house. Told Zacchaeus the same thing,
didn't it? Going to your house. Verse 29, Levi made him a great
feast in his own house. And there was a great company
of publicans and of others that sat down with them. Levi invited
every publican and sinner he could find to come see the Lord
Jesus Christ. I only know publicans and sinners.
Nobody else will have anything to do with me. Bring them all. Come see a man. Come see a man. Go back over to Mark chapter
2 verse 15. Mark 2 verse 15, it says, And
it came to pass that as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many
publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples. For there were many, many, and they followed him. They followed
him. Our Lord will receive sinners. Levi knew that he had found mercy
and he went around telling every sinner he could, you can find
mercy too. And God didn't let him lie. Moses
said, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. The Lord
will deliver you this day. And God didn't let him lie. You
can find mercy too. We are sinners in the hands of
an angry God. We are going to go meet God.
And without Christ, if we just see Him face to face, but you can find mercy too. There
is a place. There is a rock that was broken and there's room for many that
you can fit a number no man could number inside that cliff to the
rock. Many publicans and sinners came
to him and they all said, Lord, what about us? Come on, follow
me. Whoever will let him come. Only
the ones that God's grace has come to will, but whoever will
let him come. Verse 16, and when the scribes
and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said
unto his disciples, how is it that he eateth and drinketh with
publicans and sinners? They asked the disciples out.
The disciples were sinners too. Levi was a publican. Levi was
a sinner. He was being called right here
to be an apostle. He wrote the first book of the
New Testament, penned it. God Almighty made a publican
an apostle. And the disciples, these Pharisees
came to the disciples and they said, how is it that he eats
with publicans and sinners? And they don't give an answer. They could have asked anybody
in that room, how is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans
and sinners? What they're saying is, why would
he choose you? I don't know. I don't know. Why would he choose
you? I don't, I really don't know.
I don't have an answer for you. No saved sinner can answer that
question. Why me? Why me? That's one of the things that
every sinner will never understand. Why me? Verse 17 says, When Jesus
heard it, He spoke up. He knows why. He knows why His
Father chose whom He did. He knows why He redeemed who
He did. He knows why the Spirit calls
whom He does. Verse 17, when Jesus heard it,
He saith unto them, they that are whole have no need of the
physician. But they that are sick, I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. That's
why I'm eating with them. You want to know why I'm here
eating with publicans and sinners and not over there in the good
house with you? It's because they were the ones that God my
father put in the rock. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance." Honestly, really, among us in this building
this morning, why did he come to call sinners and not the righteous? Why did he come to call sinners
and not the righteous? Two types of people in this world.
Absolute sinners and those who don't believe they are absolute
sinners, even though they are. Why would He come to call the
sinners instead of the righteous? I don't know. I don't know. But He did. It says He did. He said He did. So come, ye sinners, poor and
needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready stands
to save you full of pity, love and power. If you hear him through
this word, say to your heart, follow me. Then with your heart, with your
heart arise and go to him. He will embrace you in his arms
and he will not let me be a liar. He will embrace you in His arms. In the arms of your dear Savior,
there are 10,000 charms. My prayer is that every one of
us will hear Him say this morning, follow me. There's just a few
of us here. We got about half of our crowd this morning. There's
not many. And He is able. My prayer is
that every soul in this room will hear him say, follow me. Come on. You were in that rock. Follow me. Lord, I come, I come,
I come to thee. No man can except you draw me,
so draw me, because I come. Okay, let's stand together.