I'm the slow man. I'm the slow man. Good evening. Let's all stand
together and sing hymn number 52. Hymn number 52. Majestic sweetness
sits enthroned upon the Savior's brow. His head with radiant glories
crowned His lips with grace o'erflow, His lips with grace o'erflow. No mortal can with Him compare
Among the sons of men. Fairer is He than all the fair,
who filled the heavenly train, who filled the heavenly train. He saw me plunged in deep distress
and flew to my relief. For me he bore the shameful cross,
And carried all my grief And carried all my grief To Him I
owe my life and breath And all the joys I have He makes me triumph
over death and saves me from the grave, and saves me from
the grave. Be seated. We'll sing hymn number
199. 199. Sinners Jesus will receive. Sound this word of grace to all
who the heavenly pathway lead. All who linger, all who fall,
sing it o'er and o'er again. Christ receiveth sinful men. Make the message clear and plain. Christ receiveth sinful men. Come, and He will give you rest. Trust Him, for His word is plain. He will take the sinful list. Christ receiveth sinful men. Sing it o'er and o'er again,
Christ received at Zion's cruel end. Make the message clear and
plain, Christ received her simple men. Now my heart condemns me
not, Here before the law I stand. He who cleansed me from all spot,
Satisfied its last demand, Sing it o'er and o'er again, Christ
receiveth silent fulmin. Make the message clear and plain,
Christ receiveth silent fulmin. Christ receiveth sinful men,
even me with all my sin, purged from every spot and stain. Heaven with Him I enter in, Singing
o'er and o'er again. Christ receive us in a moment,
Make the message clear and plain, Have your Bibles with you this
evening. I'd like to read the book of Isaiah, chapter 42. Isaiah
42. Behold, my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect in whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and a smoking flack shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. shall not fail or be discouraged
till he hath set judgment in the earth. The isles shall wait
for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that
created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth
the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath
unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein, I
the Lord have called thee in righteousness and will hold thine
hand and will keep thee. give thee for a covenant of the
people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring
out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness
out of the prison house. I am the Lord, that is my name,
and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise
to graven images. Behold, the former things are
come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring
forth, I tell you of them. Sing unto the Lord a new song,
and his praise from the end of the earth. Ye that go down to
the sea, and all that is therein, the isles and inhabitants thereof,
let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice.
The villages that Kedar doth inhabit, let the inhabitants
of the rocks sing. Let them shout from the top of
the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare
his praise in the islands. The Lord shall go forth as a
mighty man and shall stir up jealousy like a man of war. He
shall cry, yea, roar. He shall prevail against his
enemies. I have long time holding my peace. I have been still and refrained
myself. Now will I cry like a travailing
woman. I will destroy and devour at once. I will make waste mountains
and hills and dry up all their herbs. And I will make the rivers
islands. And I will dry up the pools.
I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not. I will lead
them in the path that they have not known. I will make darkness
light before them and crooked things straight. These things
will I do unto them and not forsake them. They shall be turned back. They shall be greatly ashamed
to trust engraven images that say to the molten images, ye
are our gods. Here ye deaf and look ye blind
that ye may see. Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind is he that
is perfect, and blind is the Lord's servant. Seeing many things,
but thou observest not, opening the ears, but heareth not, the
Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake. He will
magnify the law and make it honorable. But this is a people robbed and
spoiled. They are all of them snared in
holes, and they are hidden in prison houses. there for a prey,
and none delivereth it. For a spoil, and none saith restore. Who among you will give ear to
this? Who will hearken and hear for
the time to come? Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and
Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord, he against
whom we have sinned? They would not walk in his ways,
neither were they obedient unto his law. Therefore he has poured
upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of the battle,
and it hath sent him on fire round about, yet he knew not,
and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. But now thus
saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee,
O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called
thee by name. By thy name thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. Through the rivers, they shall
not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I, the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior, I gave Egypt, thy ransom, Ethiopia,
and sea before thee. Since thou wast precious in my
sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee. Therefore
will I give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not,
for I with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from
far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even every
one that is called by my name. For I have created him for my
glory. I have formed him, yea, I have made him. Lord God Almighty, our Holy Father,
we come to you through your blessed Son. Father, we thank you that we
are privileged to come to you through
your Thank you for having an intercessor. We heard
this morning. We can't come into your presence
without coming through our blessed Savior. Father, we thank you for this
day and for this place together to worship. Thank you for our
dear pastor. Thank you for the saints who
are gathered out here. Thank you for the message this
morning. Pray that you would deliver to us another one this
evening. Thank you for your plentiful,
bountiful mercies and grace. Thank you for your righteousness,
your holiness, power in your mind, perfect will,
Perfect judgment. Lord, we thank you most of all
for your blessed son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Be made into the flesh. Perfect life. Die a death that
none other can die. risen with him. Lord, we ask that you would teach
us. Lord Jesus Christ, teach us thy
word. Us in our hearts. Lord, we ask
that you would keep us or we trust you'll see us through. Pray for those who are weak and
weary, burdened, those going through great trials. Names come to mind, but you know
better than we do. Father, we ask that you would
have mercy on our lost loved ones and on our friends. For them, what only you can do.
I ask that you would guide us and
keep us. I will. I ask that that will be done
in all things on this earth that they are in heaven, for Christ's
sake. Amen. Page 34 in our course books,
we'll sing the love of God. 34 in the course book. The love of God is greater far
than tongue or pin can ever tell. It goes beyond the highest star
and reaches to the lowest hell. The guilty bear bowed down with
care, God gave his Son to win. His erring child He reconciled,
And parted from His sin. O love of God, how rich and pure,
How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure The
saints' and angels' song. When hoary times shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall, When men who hear refuse
to pray, On rocks and hills and mountains call, God's love so
sure shall still endure, All measureless and strong. Redeeming grace to Adam's race,
The saints' and angels' song. O love of God, how rich and pure,
How measureless and strong. It shall forevermore endure The
saints' and angels' song. Could we with ink Could we with
think the oceans fill, And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above Would drain the oceans dry, Nor
could the scroll contain the whole. Though stretched from
sky to sky. O love of God, how rich and pure,
How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure The
saints' and angels' song. Look in Exodus 19 tonight with
me, if you will. Exodus 19. Talk about God's awful presence. You know, God is not like us
in any way whatsoever, none. I know that some people make
a God after their own image, make a God that suits them. And if you keep searching around,
you'll find one that'll suit you somewhere, somehow, some
way. You know, David said in Psalm
51, 50, in verse 19, he said, Thou thoughtest I was altogether
one like yourself. You really thought I was like
you, really did. There's a lot of people who think
that God's like them. And I'm certainly grateful he's
not like us. Oh, I'm so grateful he's not
like us. We're mutable, he's immutable. We're sinful, he's eternally
holy. And the Lord God, the Lord Jehovah
manifested himself in his power. Oh my, how his power in creating
the earth, You know, He spake and it was done. He commanded
and it stood fast. Thy word, O Lord, is forever
settled in heaven. God's power, O how it was manifested
in creation, manifested when He brought Israel up out of Egypt,
manifested toward us when He saved us. You know what power
God used against us to bring us to Himself? Oh my. And then His faithfulness. Oh,
bless His name for His faithfulness. How faithful He is. How faithful
He is. And now He's gonna make Israel,
Israel here, to know something about His glory, to make His
awful, awful presence known, that He truly dwells in a light
that no man can see, that He's the only and blessed potentate.
Now, look with me in verse 9, and we'll read down to verse
23. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear
when I speak with thee, and believe thee forever. And Moses told
the words of the people unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto
Moses, Go unto the people, sanctify them today and tomorrow, and
let them wash their clothes. And be ready against the third
day, for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of
all the people, upon Mount Sinai, and thou shalt set bounds upon
the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves. Go not
unto the mount, or touch the border of it. Whosoever touches
the mount shall surely be put to death. There shall not a hand
touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through. Whether
it be beast or man, it shall not live. And when the trumpet
soundeth, long shall they come up to the mount. And Moses went
down among the people, from the people, and unto the people sanctified
the people. And be ready, he said, against
the third day. Come not at your wives. And it
came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there was
lightnings and thunder upon the mountain, thick cloud upon the
mountain, the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud. So all the people
that was of the cramp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp to meet with God. And they stood at the nether
part of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was altogether
on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and
the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the
whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet
sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and
God answered him in a voice. and the Lord came down upon Mount
Sinai on the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses up
to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And then the Lord
said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through
to the Lord, degaze, and many of them perish. And let not the
priests also come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest
the Lord break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord,
The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for thou chargest
us, saying, Set bounds upon the mountain and sanctify it. Well, that don't sound like the
God anybody wants to be around today. You know, he said, Our
gods are consuming fire. And over in Hebrews, it says
that Moses exceedingly fear and quaked. And here's God, he's
gonna come down. He said he's gonna come down
in a great thick cloud. Ain't that what he said there
in verse nine? I'm gonna come down in a thick
cloud upon Sinai. And why did he come down? Why
was there a thick cloud? Why was there a thick cloud?
Well, to hide God, to hide the secrets, to hide the mystery,
to hide God. No man can see God and live.
Even when God took Moses, when he said, show me your glory,
God said, you can't see me and live. So he said, I'll put you
in the cleft of the rock and put my hand over you, and I'll
let you see my hinder parts. I'll let you see my hinder parts.
And I tell you, thank God that he came down to reveal the secret
things, that they belong unto the Lord. And thank God for the
things that's revealed. But no man, no man can see God
and live. And that's what he said, lest
they come and gaze upon me and die. You know, to come down inside
of the people, ain't that what he said in verse 11? And he said,
be ready against the third day for I will come down in the sight
of all the people upon Mount Sinai. Now let me tell you something,
when he comes down, they're not going to see no image. They're
not going to see no image. They're not going to see no physical
bodily presence. They're not going to see that.
There's not no image. God said don't never make an image. Never
make an image. of anything in the heavens, anything
on this earth, and certainly make no image of God." He said,
God is a spirit. But he said, you know, when God's
seen there, he said, listen, you're not going to see no image.
You're going to hear a voice. There's going to be no image
here. There's going to be no bodily presence. There ain't
going to be no cross with a purple scarf around it. Not going to
be that. But they'll see enough. And here
enough, when God comes down in that thick cloud, that God was
among them. And Sinai was so high, Sinai
was so high that all of Israel could see and all other countries
could see. And they seen that there was
some ordinary, extraordinary experience and appearance taking
place up there. You imagine, and over in Revelation
it says the same thing, that He comes with a thick cloud,
He comes with thunder and lightning. Thunder and lightning. And God
came down, I'll tell you something else He came down to do, to put
honor upon Moses. Ain't that what He said in verse
9? And the Lord said unto Moses, All that I come unto thee in
a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak, Oh, thank
God, I want to hear when the Lord speaks. And look what he
said. And when I speak with thee and believe thee forever, he
said, I want people to understand that you are my mouthpiece, that
you're my mediator, that I don't have anything to do with anybody
apart from you. You're the only one that I'm
going to talk to. And then you go talk to the people. And that's
the way it is right now. God will, I said it this morning,
I'll tell you what, I get so repetitious, but you know how
we get things? Over and over and over. But here's
the thing that he says, I'm gonna come down in the people, I'm
gonna come among the people, but I want people to understand
that I'm with you. That I've got a relationship
with you. You're the only one that's allowed
to come into my presence. You're the only one ever seen
my glory. And oh, God came down, and I
want people to know that I speak with you and believe thee forever.
And this was typical of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look over in Matthew
17. Look in Matthew 17. You're talking about God coming down in a thick cloud. Look here in Matthew 17. My he was typical of our Savior
our Lord Jesus Christ Look what he said here in chapter 17 last
verse of 28 verse 28 of chapter 16 says this I He said, Verily or truly I say
unto you, there shall be some standing here which shall not
taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
And that's what happens here in the first five verses. You
fellows are going to be alive, and you're going to see me, what
I'm like in my real kingdom, when you'll see me like I am
before I was on this earth, and what I'll be when I leave here.
And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John, his brother,
bringeth up into a high mountain, and was transfigured before them. And listen to this now, and his
face did shine as the sun. That's bright. When I look at
the sun, surely thought I was waving to somebody the other
day, and I was trying to hold my hand over the sun so I could
see. Well, Caesar, I can't, you know, the sun gets so bright,
you got to put your hand up to look at something. And that's
the way the Lord was. He said his face was as bright
and shining as the sun. And his raiment was white as
the light. And behold, there appeared unto
them Moses and Elijah talking with them. Then answered Peter,
and said unto Jesus, Lord, it's good for us to be here. For if
you will, let us make here three tabernacles, one for you, one
for Moses, and one for Elijah. And listen to what happens now.
While he, yes, spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them,
and a voice came out of that cloud. You think about that. Here are these feathers. Peter
just got through saying, Lord, I'm so happy to be here. I'm
so glad to be here. Let's make us three tabernacles,
three little tabernacles. Boy, by the time that come out
of his mouth, this cloud come down. Come right down on him,
and a voice come out of that cloud. What would you think if
a cloud come down? You know, you're just walking
out under a cloud, and somebody in that cloud start talking to
you. Well, that's what happened here, God speaking. Look what
it says here. And behold, a voice come out
of the cloud and said, this, this is my beloved son, whom
I am well pleased. You hear him, you hear him. And when the disciples heard
it, they fell on their face, fell on their face. And you know,
I'll tell you something else. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when those
People, they came and they said, you seek honor, you know, you,
God, God comes and you seek honor for man. You won't honor God,
but you seek honor for man. He said, and you know, you won't
honor men, but how in the world? He said, if you'd believe Moses,
they wanted to believe something. They wanted to believe something
that they raised from the dead. But he said, if you believe not Moses,
you will not believe me because Moses wrote to me. And here he
is writing about him. Right here, he's writing about
Christ, the Mediator. And oh my, you know, that God
was expressing, God is sundry at times, and in diverse manners,
spake unto the prophets by the fathers. But now he speaks unto
us, how? By sun, in the sun, the Lord
Jesus Christ. But that was a dip, go back over
in Exodus, excuse me. Now that was a visible presence
upon the mountain. But it was cloud, it was a cloud
and fire and smoke and lightning. And you know, and when the apostles,
when they believed, they said so that they would know that
God was with them and that they believed the scriptures tells
us that cloven tongues came upon them like fire to teach them
and teach them. Let me show you something else
in John 17, 17, 7, 17. I should have kept you over there
when I was over there. Look in John 7, 17. This is what we're talking about
here. And oh, this is what he was talking
about, about God through Christ. If any man will do his will,
he shall know of the doctrine. the teaching, the truth, whether
it be of God or whether I speak of myself. And I tell you what,
he that speaketh of himself seeks his own glory, but he that seeketh
his glory that's in him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness
in him. Oh my. So God, you know, he's
gonna make his self known, but he does it through somebody else.
And look what happens now. And then he told these folks
to get prepared. He told them to get prepared.
Look down in verse 10. And the Lord said unto Moses,
go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow. What
do you think he means, sanctify the people? You know, that word
sanctified, most people think about it means that you make
yourself holy. But when he said sanctify the
people, what he's saying is, you set the people apart because
I'm fixing to come down. These people cannot come down
unless they're sanctified, unless they're made holy, unless they're
made acceptable to me. And you know, Job over in Job
chapter one, it says, Job said he sanctified his sons. Now,
his sons was having a party when he just said this. They was over
in their house having a party, a big birthday party. And here
they are, and Job said, bless my sons' sin. He said, I sanctify
them, and he started offering sacrifices. Sons was having a
party. How did he sanctify them? He
set them apart in his mind, and he said, God, please have mercy
on my children. They may have sinned, and I bring
a sacrifice for them. Set them apart. Set them apart
for yourself. And that's what God said to Moses.
Set these people apart. I'm coming down. And when I come
down, people got to be acceptable. And I tell you, our Lord Jesus
Christ, and you know, He really means leave off your worldly
business. He's coming down. God's coming down. God's coming
down. Get ready to listen. Get ready
to hear. Get ready to see what's going
to be said. He's coming down to speak. Oh, my. I don't know how in the world
people could believe that they could get better as they got
older. You know, you get You quit this sin, that sin,
another sin, and all that until you progress to become holy. Well, if that's true, I haven't
moved a peg. I haven't moved that much since
the day God sent. I haven't moved that much. I've
not progressed any at all. If I progressed, I don't know
anything about it. But oh my, he said, you know,
you sanctify these people, sanctify. Set them apart, they're my people.
And oh, Job sanctified his son. He said, oh, sanctify the people.
Sanctify the people. And I tell you, you got to be
sanctified. And look what it says down here
in verse 14. And Moses went down from the
mount unto the people, And look what it says here, and Moses
sanctified the people. Moses did it. Who sanctifies
us? Christ is our wisdom, our sanctification,
and our righteousness. There's three sanctifications
in the Bible. And you know, we're sanctified
in God the Father. sanctified by the Holy Ghost
and sanctified by Christ. Now, that means that's about
as sanctified as you can get, ain't it? Huh? You can't be set
more apart than that. And you know, Peter said this,
sanctify the Lord God in your mind. Now, how do you sanctify
God? Our Lord said, I sanctify myself
for their sake. Now our Lord was as holy, I mean,
he was always holy, harmless, and undefiled. So what did he
mean when he said, I sanctify myself? What does he mean when
he said, I set myself apart? That means that I'm going to
go to the cross, I'm going to set myself apart to God Almighty,
to His glory, to His will, His obedience, and I'm going to do
what He tells me to do, and if it costs me my life and my life's
blood, that's what He meant. I'm going to sanctify myself.
And when it says, sanctify the Lord God in your mind, that means
set God in a place in your mind that nobody else can occupy.
Nobody else can occupy in your mind like God does. Ain't that
right? Everybody that's a believer understands
that there's nobody can occupy, you know, come into your mind
and do something with your mind like God can. You can't set God
apart and make him holy. He's in your, you know, you start thinking about God
and you're thinking about just yourself, just yourself. What kind of God? What is God
that He could come down and have anything to do with us? How can He speak to us? How can
He touch us? Moses came down to sanctify the
people. Christ is the only one who could
sanctify us. Christ is. And then look what
it said here in verse 11. And be ready. Let them be ready. I come ready. Y'all come ready. We come ready to these services.
And there's two things preparing for the Lord to come down. Look
what they are. And one in verse 10, one of them is, let them
wash their clothes. And the other one is, And the
people down in verse 14, and they washed their clothes. Now,
what does it mean, wash their clothes? Well, he said, you know,
you've got to have clean clothes. You know, you come to the presence
of God. And that's another thing that I do not understand, and
I hope I'm not being legalist here, but God helping me, I cannot
understand people wearing shorts into a worship service. cannot understand people sitting
around drinking coca-colas in a worship service. I can't understand
people coming into a worship service with a cap still on their
head. But people do that. You know what that tells me one
thing? They have no reverence for God. You can't have a reverence
for a God that, that's a, that, that The smoke comes off the mountain
and the mountain trembles and shakes. God knows that I don't understand
it. People do what they want to do.
But you know, every one of us, when we get up on Wednesday or
Sunday or Sunday night, you know what we do? We come prepared
to worship. And God don't actually look on
our clothes. He doesn't do that. But why do
we do that? Because we want to present ourselves
before God in a manner that would befit Him being an infinitely
holy, righteous God. Now, I've often said that God
sees us as we really are. I could have all the clothes
on that anybody could possibly have on, but God still sees me
just like I am. But still yet, we get ready to
come to worship. And that's what he said, get
ready. And I, you know, God doesn't judge us by our clothes, but
we prepare to come into the presence of God. But if he, they had to
wash their clothes, and he looked on the outward appearance there,
imagine what he does on the inside. If the outside's gotta be clean,
imagine what the inside's gotta be like. Imagine what the inward's
gonna be like. Huh? Oh, my. I want to show you
several things if I can. First of all, I want you to start
in John 15 with me. John 15. I want you to see this. Talking about being clean. John
15. Look what our Lord said here. Look what he said in verse three.
Now you are cleaned through the word which I've spoken unto you. I've cleaned you up. How'd you
do it? With the word that I've spoken
unto you. Word that I've spoken unto you.
Look in John 17, 17. Sanctify them through thy truth
thy word is truth You know how God washes us and cleanses us
with the washing of water by the word You know said it over
Hebrews he said you know the washing of dear water and what
the only washing that we can have when our Lord washed the
disciples feet and When he took his towel, girded himself, and
washed his disciples' feet. And he told them, he said, now
you're clean. Every one of you is clean. Except the one, he's talking
about Judas, and he's got down to wash their feet. And you know
what he was showing them there? That your walk has to be washed,
that your walk has to be cleaned, that your walk has to be sanctified,
that your walk has to be made acceptable to God. And the only
thing that can make us acceptable to God is for Christ to warn
us with His Word, and He's got to wash our feet. He washes our
feet, He washes our mind, He washes our hearts. He washes
our wheel. He washes our poor little old
brains. He clears it out of all the cobwebs
sometimes. Ain't you grateful he does that?
Oh, my. And then he said, you know, these
folks, they had to wash their clothes. Let me tell you something. Christ put clothes on us, and
it's called the righteousness of Christ. And you can't have
a better clothes on than that, you know? You know, I got on
this little old gray jacket and this check tie, but I'll tell
you one thing, God's got a robe around me and he's got one around
you. It's called the righteousness
of Christ. And I tell you, when you're clothed with that, that's
the best clothes you could possibly have on in the presence of God.
Ain't that right, Jane? That's the best clothes you can
have on. Best clothes you can have on. And then look what he
said down verses 12 and 13. He says, and thou shalt set bounds
unto the people round about. Take heed to yourselves that
you go not up unto the mount or touch the border of it. Whosoever
touches the mount shall surely be put to death. Thou shalt not
in hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through.
Whether it be beast or man, it shall not live. When the trumpet
soundeth long, they shall come up to the mountain. God set boundaries
around that mountain. He set boundaries around that
mountain. You got two million people here. That's what you
got. You got about right at two million people. And out of that
two million people, God only used one as the one to speak
to. And here he comes, and God is unapproachable by such vile,
vile people. And I say this, beloved, the
law will never let us draw near. I tell you what, he said, if
you cross and get on that mountain past the boundaries that I've
set, I've set a boundary, and you cross that boundary, it's
gonna cost you your life. And that tells me that if anybody
wants to come into the presence of God based on the law, on the
boundaries that God set, and you know what boundaries God
set? This is my beloved son, hear him. The boundaries that
God set, he set in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And you come
to God any other way and it'll cost you your soul. You come
to God any other way, you approach God any other way, and it's death. It's death. And all the law pronounces
death. He's the judge of all the earth.
And our gods are consuming fire. And I thank God for the gospel. Thank God for the grace that
came by our Lord Jesus Christ. As I said this morning, we're
able to enter into the holiest of holies through a new and living
way through the blood of Christ. Through the blood of Christ.
And he set bounds. God set bounds. You know, it's sad to me. It's
a very sad thing to me. So many peoples left the gospel. And you wonder why. You wonder
why. Because they did not like the
boundaries that God set. A lot of people don't like the
boundaries that God set. He said, you that desire to be
under the law, don't you hear the law? You want to be under
it? They said it pronounces death
on you if you don't keep it. It pronounces a curse upon you. Who hath bewitched you? I marvel
that you so soon removed from the grace of Christ unto another
gospel, which is really not another. And oh my, I don't know if any
of y'all remember this. Years and years and years ago,
we was in that old building and it was, It would get cold in
the wintertime, and one time we took and built a little wall
up one side of the building so we could meet in just one part
of the building to keep it warm. Do y'all remember something?
Y'all remember that? I come in there one Sunday morning, and
I was telling my sweet wife about it today. I said, I remember
coming in, and I said, you know, I don't think we know anything
about the worship of God. I don't think we have any idea
of what, how God's worshipped. And I started talking about how
God is worshipped. Got to have a sacrifice. Got
to have blood. You can't have your traditions.
You can't have your altars. You can't have your works. You
can't have your dedication. You can't have Your promises,
you can't have your vows, you can't have your will to be involved
in it. And you know that when God was
approached in Genesis chapter three, the only one that God
accepted was Abel. You know why? Because Abel brought
a lamb. Brought a lamb. And I tell you,
and from that time on, from that time on, by God's grace, God help us to understand that
God is not like us, and we've got to come into His presence
the way He said. He said bounds. Don't cross those
bounds. Don't run to your will. Don't
run to the law. Don't run to your works. Don't
run to anything. Our Lord says, nobody, nobody,
no man can come unto Me. Yep, through and by me. Philip
said, show us the Father and I'll be satisfied. He said, Philip,
have you been with me such a long time and you've not seen me? If you've seen me, you've seen
the Father. And the people that came to Christ,
they came asking for mercy. Three lepers came down from the
mountain one day, three of them, and they said, Lord, They ought
to know who he was. They understand that they was
dealing with Jehovah God, God in the flesh. And they said,
Lord, if you will, if you will, thou can make us clean. I can't clean myself up. I can't
cure leprosy. I can't cure sin. And God set
a boundary. A place, a way. And he said, I will be thou clean. And that's what he says to all
of his elect. I will be thou clean. And I'm going to stay in them
boundaries, ain't you? I'm going to stay where God, I'm going
to stay right where God says stay, right here. That's what
I'm going to do. God helping me, that's what I'm
going to do. Oh my, thank God for the gospel. for the grace
that came by our Lord Jesus Christ. Then there was a summons given.
Look what it said here in verse 13. There shall not a hand touch it, but
he shall surely be stoned through and shot through, whether it
be beast or man, he shall not live. Now this is what I want
you to say. And when the trumpet, trumpet soundeth long, they shall
come up to the mount. Well, what'd he mean? When you
hear a trumpet blow, it's time for you to come to where I set
the boundaries. You come right there. Uh-huh.
And oh, my, what in the world is he talking about? There was
two silver trumpets God told him to make. And those silver
trumpets, that means, first and foremost, the gospel. God's mouthpiece,
the same, you know, over in 1 Corinthians 14, he says, if the trumpet makes
an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to war? Now,
when I was in the service, every morning, you heard a trumpet
sound. As a revelry, get out of bed. And at night, they done taps. That means go to bed. That's
the end of your day. And you understand those. If
they'd have got up and just went, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop,
nobody would know what they're saying. But they had to get up
and get out. And when they go to war, they
have a certain sound that they have. And that's what he's saying. When that trumpet sounds, you
come on. Come on. And that's exactly what's
going to happen to us one of these days. When the trumpet
shall sound, the Lord himself shall descend. We're going to
hear a trumpet. And our Lord's going to blow
that trumpet. And you know what's going to
happen? We're going to be changed in a moment in the twinkling
of an eye. and be caught up with the Lord.
And when that trumpet sounds, oh my, when you hear it, take
your place at the foot of the mountains. Take your place at
the foot of the mountains. No man, no one man's voice could
reach so many people, but the voice of God did. You know, when
we read in Revelations, it sounded like the voice of, sound of many
waters, voice like thunder, God's voice is, when He speaks, people
are going to hear. And oh, my. Well, now look down
here in verse 16. The time comes for Him to come.
Verse 18. And Mount Sinai was altogether
on a smoke, Now listen to this. Because the Lord descended upon
it, the first thing he did, he came in fire. Fire. Consuming fire. And the smoke
thereof ascended, went up as the smoke of a furnace, and the
whole mountain quaked. And when the voice of the trumpet
sounded long and waxed louder and louder, oh, the time comes And you know
who's the preacher? God's the preacher. God's the
one doing the talking. God's the one doing the speaking.
And oh, he descended in fire. He came in glorious, glorious
majesty with his Shekinah glory. His pulpit, his throne was that
thick cloud and that fire. Smoke covered it with smoke. And the scripture says, and the
ground, look what it said in verse 16. And it came to pass
on the third day in the morning, thunders and lightnings and a
thick cloud upon the mountain, and the voice of the trumpet
was exceeding loud, and all the people there were trembled. Even
the mountain trembled at the presence of God Almighty. Oh,
the congregation was gathered together and called by the sound
of a trumpet. And that's how we're called together,
by the sound of the gospel, by the sound of the grace of God,
by the sound of a preacher proclaiming the gospel. And how'd all the
people react? Verse 17, Moses brought forth
the people out of the camp to meet with God. Did you notice
that? They couldn't be with God. Moses
had to bring them. God has to bring us. Christ has
to bring us. And they stood at the nether
part of the mountain. Oh my. And that's the way Moses
brought the people to meet God. And we can't, God, he was the
just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. There were thunderings
and lightnings and this struck all the people. And the people
were filled with awe and wonder. And Moses was called up to the
mountain. Look down at verse 20. And the Lord came down upon Mount
Sinai on the top of the mountain. And listen to this. And the Lord
called Moses up to the top of the mount. And Moses went up. Moses went up. God called him
up. How do we get into God's presence? And look what he said, I've got
to hurry, I do. And the Lord said to Moses, now
go back down there, got him up on the mountain, now you go back
down, and you charge the people, charge the people lest they break
through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. What
he said is you look on God outside of Christ, you look on God outside,
they looked on God outside of Moses, and they would perish.
they would perish. And the priest, and also, and
Moses said in verse 23, Moses said unto the people, Cannot
come unto the Mount Sinai without charge to set bounds upon the
mountain. And God knows the presumption
of men, that men's going to come into his presence, and they're
going to try to gaze upon him. They're going to try to gaze
upon him, and he says, Listen, you can't gaze on me. You can't
do it. If somebody don't bring you,
you can't gaze. It'll kill you, you can't see
me. And I wanna show you one thing and then I'm gonna be through.
And God can only be approached through a mediator, through Moses.
Moses had to bring the people. But look in Deuteronomy chapter
five. In Deuteronomy chapter five,
we'll show you something. This was a blessing to me when
I saw it the other day. Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse
4 and 5. The Lord talked with you face
to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire. Now listen
to this, and I stood between the Lord and you at that time.
I stood between you to show you the word of the Lord. In other words, I got to come
down and tell you what God said. And oh, look what he says. And
you were afraid by reason of the fire, and went up not unto
the fire because of the Lord. But here what I said was, is
that I stood between you and God, and I told you what God
said. Told you what God said. And our
Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to tell us what God said. He come to tell us who God was. He come to tell us how we approach
God. He come to tell us how we're
clean, how we're sanctified. And boy, if you try to get to
God apart from Christ, there is no hope for anybody. That's
why we pray so, so for our family, for our families, our sons and
daughters. Oh, Got to talk to somebody,
one of my kids the other day, and I said, oh, you need to come
hear the gospel. You need to come hear the gospel. Now, I
may surprise you one of these days. I said, no, you won't surprise
me. You won't surprise me. I'll be grateful. I'll be thankful.
But you won't surprise me. You know, God is so gracious.
God is so good in Christ. What we're saying, Christ receiveth
sin for man, even me with all my sin. Our blessed Savior, oh, our blessed
Lord. We want to worship, we want to,
you're a spirit, we worship you in spirit and we worship you
in truth. You find us and you seek us out and you teach us
that we worship you in spirit and in truth. Lord, don't ever, ever let us
stray. and go beyond the boundaries
that you set. Never cross a boundary that you
set. Never cross a place that you set. You set Christ before
us as our all in all, our Savior, our Redeemer, the lover of our
soul, the one who washed us in his own blood, cleansed us from
our sin, the one who sanctifies us with his word, the one who
washes us with the water of his word. God bless these dear saints. Bless those that are listening.
Please help us to bring glory to you, not only in what we say,
but how we live in this world to bring glory to you. Forgive
us of everything that's unlike you. Thank you for the scriptures
read this evening and the prayers that's been prayed. Thank you
for the saints of God that gathered to worship Pray in glory to yourself
through us all for Christ's sake. Amen and amen. Turn your eyes
upon Jesus Pull in his wonderful face And the things of earth
will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.