based upon, of course, the passage
in Genesis chapter 22. If you would, go back with me
to the book of Exodus and the 33rd chapter. Our subject this
morning is Moses the Mediator. Moses the Mediator. Again, let's ask for God's blessings. Lord, as we meet together this
hour, we ask for Your presence. Lord, as Moses said to the Lord,
said to You so many hundreds and hundreds of years ago, if
Thy presence go not with us, We go no further. This is where
we stop. Oh, to have the glorious presence
of Jehovah with us, and we believe, Father, Your Word, where You
said, through Your Son, where two or three are gathered together,
I'll be in the midst. So believing that You're with
us, believing that we have the very gospel of your grace to
set forth to these dear folks. Lord, we shall continue and ask
for your grace to not only bless the speaker, but to bless each
of the hearers, those who are gathered here and those who are
watching the live stream. Lord, we need you every hour. And this is indeed the hour of
our need for sure right now. So bless and magnify your name
for Jesus' sake. Amen. The people of Israel had
done something awful They had insisted that Aaron make a golden
calf, and they worshiped that golden calf, and God was angry. In fact, he told Moses in the
32nd chapter, he said, my wrath is waxed very hot against these
people. The Lord, speaking in language
that we can understand, in essence said, I'm very upset over this. Of
course, God doesn't have emotions like we do. But he said, I'm pushed to vengeance. And therefore he told the children
of Israel, I'll go with you no further. This is a breach between
you and me. You've done this very horrible
thing. And now we're separated. If I
go with you, my very presence will kill you. So I'll go no further. I'll send
my angel with you." That's the angel of the covenant. That's
the Lord Jesus, the messenger from God, the messenger of grace. The Savior would go with them.
In fact, the Lord had made that promise to Israel several chapters
back. He said, I'll send my angel with
you. So the angel of God is going to accompany them. Now, in this
chapter, we discover that Moses and the Lord meet two times. The first time that they met
is when Moses went into the tabernacle to give the people a real vivid
awareness of the awfulness, the very seriousness of their breach,
of their sin against God. The Lord tells Moses, you take
that temporary tabernacle. There was a tent in the middle
of the congregation of Israel where people would come out and
worship God there. And Moses would meet with the
Lord there to receive instructions pertaining to the people and
pertaining to the things that needed to be done in Israel.
But God told Moses, you move that tabernacle outside the camp
of Israel. I'm not even going to stay among
them. And that was just another indication
of God's anger over what they had done. And Moses went out to that tabernacle
to meet with God. And he went out two times. The very first time he went out,
As he entered in, all of the rest of Israel watched as he
entered in to the door of that tent. And then they beheld the presence
of God indicated by a cloud. That cloud came down in front
of the tabernacle, that temporary tabernacle. And Moses and God
met. There is no record of what was
said between each other. There is no record of what happened
when Moses was in that tent with God. But all the people were very
interested in that meeting. In fact, the Word of God says,
every man stood at his tent door. And they watched. They watched
as their representative, their mediator, went in. And then they watched as that
cloud that indicated the presence of God, that cloud, it came down. It had departed from them for
a little while. And then it came down. That cloud
stood in front of the door. And there's God. and Moses together. We have no indication of what
was said, what happened inside the tabernacle. That leads me
to think of another representative, another mediator. That's our
mediator, Christ Jesus. And he and God met upon Mount
Calvary. And God didn't, He didn't send,
He didn't send a cloud that day. He just put His, He put His hand
over the sun. And nobody saw, nobody could
enter in fully to what happened when God and our Mediator met
together. Words are insufficient to fully
set forth that meeting. It was a meeting of justice falling
on the representative of the sinful. I remind you that in
this story here in chapter 33, Moses was not guilty of the transgressions
of the people. He was not a worshiper of the
golden calf. He had no part in the transgression. But he willingly numbered himself
among the people. And he was their representative
even so. Our Lord Jesus, though absolutely
innocent of any idolatry, any blasphemy, any offense against
God's justice, but representing all of His people, representing
you, representing you, representing you, representing you, you, me,
all of His children, our Lord Jesus, He took it on
Himself to meet with God and to be dealt with in the most
severest way by God's justice. Oh, we hear just a little bit
of what happened on that cross of Calvary when the Savior lifted up His
voice and said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And
Isaiah tells us he was wounded by transgressions, bruised for
our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was on him, and with his stripes we're healed. Our God and our great mediator,
our great high priest, met together. and a glorious transaction took
place as he fully paid the sin debt of all of us. But there's another meeting then
that took place between Moses and the Lord. And if you aren't
very careful, you'll kind of read right over it. We know Moses
came out of that tabernacle. The scripture says so. Notice in verse 11, the Lord
spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend. And then Moses, he turned again
into the camp. In other words, he left that
tabernacle. That meeting is over. That meeting has ended. Be it
known to you and all the world, the meeting upon Mount Calvary,
it forever settled the issue of our salvation. That death put away all of the
transgressions of God's people. That death established righteousness
for us. We are right with God because
of our Savior who stood between us and a God who is justly angry
with us over our sins. His justice was offended. Our
Lord Jesus made things right. That's what he did. He made things
right with God. He paid a debt that he himself
did not owe except in the fact that God charged it to his account. And therefore he died in our
stead. And he came out. Like Moses came out of meeting
with God, our Lord Jesus, he came out, he arose again. He
arose. So Moses turns again to the camp. Notice verse 12, though. And
Moses said unto the Lord, so here's what we can, this is understood,
though not stated. Between verses 11 and 12, Moses
goes back to the tabernacle because that's where God met with him.
Remember, that tabernacle is a picture of our Lord Jesus.
And God will not meet with, He won't even speak to anybody,
not even Moses, except through a mediator. And so Moses goes back to the
tabernacle. You want to meet with God? Oh,
hear me, dear sinner friend. You want to meet with a holy
God? You've got to get to the tabernacle. You've got to get
to Christ Jesus. There's no other meeting place
for poor, guilty souls like you and me. No other meeting place
with a holy, just God except in the tabernacle of God, that
is Christ Jesus. This word who has made flesh
and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. We meet
with God in the word, the word who was manifest in the flesh,
the word who tabernacled in the flesh. That's where you meet
with God. You don't meet with God in a denomination. You don't meet with God at an
earthly altar that some people call the table in front of the
auditorium of a religious establishment. You meet with God in a person,
Christ the Lord. So Moses, having come out of
that tabernacle, which I think pictures the resurrection of
our Lord Jesus. He now, in verse number 12, he
goes back in. He goes back in. And as he goes back in, I'm reminded
of this, our Lord Jesus, who left heaven's glory and came
to this earth and then entered into the darkness to deal with
God on behalf of the guilty sinners that we are, our Lord Jesus who
lived, died, and arose again, he's gone back to God. He's gone
back to God. And he's the mediator. He's the
exalted great high priest of all of God's people. He represents
us. Think of it as a man in heaven,
the God man. And though he died, he came back. And then he has now ascended
back to heaven. 40 days after his death, he ascended
back to heaven. there to represent us. In beginning in verse 12, here's
Moses as the intercessor or as the mediator. Our Lord Jesus,
you see, when He ascended back to glory, His ministry now is
a ministry of intercession. He's the go-between. He's the
mediator. And Moses said to the Lord, he
dares to speak to God. Isn't it amazing that you and
I who are by nature sinful people, we are welcomed, welcomed at
the throne of grace. Moses by nature, he's just like
us. He's a sinful man and during
his ministry, we see him as a rebel sometimes. But he could speak to God. And he spoke to God the same
way that you and I speak to God through this mighty mediator. And Moses said to the Lord, he
said, see, Lord, you said to me, bring up
this people. That's how you phrased it, Lord,
this people, this people. Notice a little further down
in verse 13 though, the last statement, consider Lord that
this nation, They're not just this people. They're your people. That's what he said. This is
how he appealed to God. They're not just a bunch of random
people. They're not a people who belong
to nobody. Lord, they're your people. They're the people for whom the
sacrifice has been offered because you remember at the end of chapter
32, Moses made atonement for the people. Lord, they're not merely this
people and they're certainly not my people. It's interesting
over in chapter 32 when the Lord appears to Moses and tells him
what the children of Israel are doing, the Lord said, thy people
are down there acting like a bunch of fools, thy people. And you
know what Moses said? They're your people, Lord. How long have we been the Lord's
people? Always. It was for His people that the
Savior came into the world. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people. They're not just this people.
They're not Moses' people. Lord, they're Thy people. You
chose them. You bought them. You called them. You preserved them. You've loved
them. They're Your people. And Moses, he emphasizes the
fact God had been gracious to him and to them. Notice how many
times the word grace or a form of it is used in verse, first
of all, verse 12. Right at the end, and thou hast
also found grace in my sight. Lord, that's what you said. You
said I found grace in your sight. Verse 13, now therefore I pray
thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, would you show me
or manifest to me thy way, that I may know thee? You can't know
God unless He teaches you the way. You want to know God? This is life eternal, to know
God and Jesus Christ, whom God has sent. Want to know God? You better find out the way to
God. And the way to God is a living person, Christ the Lord. John
14, six. He says, show me or manifest
to me now thy way that I may know thee. I wanna know you,
Lord. Like Paul said in Philippians
chapter three, I wanna know you in the power of the resurrection
of Christ. that I may find grace in thy
sight. And consider, Lord, Lord, think
about this. Let me remind you, Lord." That's
what he's saying. This nation is thy people. Moses said, I wanna know the way. Show me the
way. And the Lord said in verse 14,
my presence shall go with thee. I'll give you rest. And Moses said this in verse
15. He said to God, if thy presence
go not with me, carry us not up hence. We just stop right
here. If your presence isn't with us
and no need to take no step, over seven years ago, well over
seven years ago now, I was contacted by this congregation about if
I would consider coming to be your pastor. And that was a matter
about which I prayed very, very much because I was quite contented
with where we were And Nancy had just gone on disability. She wasn't able to teach anymore. And that was fine. We were fine with that and fine
where we were. And then kind of out of the blue,
so to speak, this was presented to me. And as I prayed about
it, and then I finally got peace about it. This is what I asked
God for. This is what I prayed. Lord,
if thy presence go not with me, I'm not going. And I'll tell
you something else. Before I come up on this platform
to preach to you, that's still my prayer. If thy presence go
not with me, I don't want to climb these couple of stairs. And could I say this to each
of you? Before you enter into these doors, before you enter
into this congregation, to be a member of this congregation,
that should also be your prayer. Even before you leave the house,
Lord, if thy presence go not with me, What's the use in going? What's the use in us meeting
if God's presence isn't here? Well, we'd be just like all the
goat pastures around here, all the false religious edifices. We'd be just like them. where
God isn't exalted, where Christ and Him crucified, buried, risen
and exalted, where He's not magnified. We'll be like everybody else.
Lord, if Your presence doesn't go with us, what's the use in
us even existing? Don't you agree with that? What's
the use in us existing? I saw one of the signs Riding
down the road the other day, big church downtown. Healing
service. And of course they have served,
come have your pets blessed. And bless your bikes. I want us to be blessed. I want us to do something for
us, and I tell you, nothing of any eternal value will ever be
done unless God's presence is here. And you know that's true. And Moses continues in verse
16, he said, For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy
people have found grace in thy sight? Lord, we've talked about
being your people as we pass through various nations. We've told them, listen, God's
been gracious to us. God's been merciful to us. He
redeemed us out of Egyptian bondage. Lord, if you don't go with us,
All that we've said is meaningless. Lord, surely you'll go with us. I tell you what, those words
that God spoke, they rang out in the heart and mind of Moses. God said, I'm not going with
you. That's a dagger in the heart
of God's servant. Oh God, if you don't go with
us, you said you're not going. Oh Lord, please, please go with
us. Go with us. And God said there
in verse 14, my presence will go with you. You know, to me,
this is Moses. He's an intercessor here. He's
a mediator. On behalf of all the children
of Israel, Lord, I know what You said. But we need You to go with us. We don't deserve it. We're not
worthy of Your presence. But if You would, would You go
with us? And the Lord said to Moses, verse
17, this is a man who prevailed in
prayer, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken. Don't you think? To me, that's
kind of the way Moses would feel. That's the way I'd feel. I'm so concerned. I'm sure that's
what's going through Moses' mind. And God said, here's the reason.
Because of my grace. There it is again. There's that
grace. It's because of your grace, Lord, that this is happening. And God said, and I know you
by name. I know you by name. because he
wrote the name of Moses down in the Lamb's Book of Life before
the world began. I know your name. And then Moses,
he kind of collected himself, and he asked this. If it was me, if I'd been Moses,
I'd kind of clear my throat and straighten myself up, you know.
Because this next request, it's one thing to ask for the way. Lord, show us your way. And the
way is Christ. It's the way of grace. But it's
another thing to make this request. This is daring. I beseech thee, show me thy glory."
I want to see your glory. That's one of the most daring
requests, maybe the most daring prayer petition in all the Word
of God. Show me thy glory. And God said,
I'll make all my goodness pass before you, I will proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee. The goodness of God, the goodness
of God is seen in creation. The heavens declare the glory
of God. It's what the script, the psalmist
said. Providence shows the glory of
God. God moving all things in the
direction that He would have them to go according to His own
eternal purpose for of Him and through Him and to Him are all
things to whom be glory, both now and forever. There's the
glory of God in creation and the glory of God in providence. But His true goodness, all of
His goodness, is seen in salvation. And so here's what the Lord said
to him. I will proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee. And I'll be gracious to whom
I'll be gracious. And I'll show mercy on whom I'll
show mercy. That's my glory. You argue against sovereign grace,
God choosing a people, unto salvation, you have trouble with that. God
said, that's my glory now. You mess with my glory. Leave
that alone. You may not be happy with the
way that God sends, that's one thing. That's discontent, that's
certainly not good. But if you're upset and you disagree
with the way God saves sinners, that's a serious issue right
there now. Because now you're messing with
His glory. Now you can't rob Him of His
glory. God's going to be glorious no
matter what happens to you and no matter what happens to me.
But He said, that's my glory. by sovereign grace and not sovereign
mercy. And it's wrapped up in the eternal
purpose of God. In verse 20, God said, you can't
see my face for there shall no man see me and live. The Lord said, but, verse 21,
behold, Moses, there is a place right beside me. Where is the Son of God? At the
right hand of the majesty on high. There's a place by me. Thou shalt stand upon a rock.
That rock is Christ. First Corinthians chapter 10.
No doubt about that. And it shall come to pass while
my glory passes by, I'm going to put you in the cleft of the
rock. I've made a wound in the rock.
I've made a hole in the rock. And when my glory passes by,
I'm going to put you in the cleft of the rock. And the word put
means to lay hands on and move from one place to another. That's
what effectual grace is. It's God putting His hands on
you, not in anger, not in wrath, not in malice. but in irresistible,
effectual, sovereign, saving grace. And He puts you in that
one who was wounded for our transgressions, as I quoted a little bit ago.
His side was wounded. The Lord puts us in the smitten
Savior, and we find safety. God says in verse 23, and then
I'll take my hand away, and you'll see my back parts, but you can't see my face. You
know when we will see His face? When we get to glory. Well, Jim,
what's meant by the back part? You'll see my back parts. As
a person walks away from you, let's say you're looking at me
from over here. One of the last things you'll
see is my heel. There it goes. When the Lord says, you'll see
my back part, you'll see my heel. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. The seed of the woman will bruise
the serpent's head. Fatal blow. And you know what
the serpent will do? Bruise his heel. That's the sufferings
of our Lord Jesus Christ. You want to see the glory of
God? Behold that man who came to this earth. Behold him wounded,
bruised, and smitten. Behold His sufferings upon the
cross of Calvary. His heal. And consider He suffered all
that He did for His people. Moses the Mediator. And he represents
our Lord Jesus in that first visit in the tabernacle. that
secretive visit, and in that second visit with the Father,
as He is our intercessor, our advocate, our go-between, our
mediator. And to those of you who know
not our God, Christ is the way. Oh, that God would enable you
to run to the great Savior of sinners, And here's what's got
to happen. He'll have to pick you up, as
it were, and put you in Him. Save you by His grace. That's
almighty grace. That's what it takes to save
us, isn't it? Almighty free grace. Well, let's sing 489.