If you wish to follow along,
turn to Exodus chapter 33. Exodus chapter 33. Now, as has
usually been my practice, I will not read the whole chapter, but
I will mention most of it as we go through this chapter. Exodus chapter 33. I hope most
of you had the chance to, an opportunity to read the chapter.
In light of what is said in Exodus chapter 33, let me give you something
about today's so-called professed Christianity. Man-centered, professed
Christianity will read such a passage as our text, that is Exodus chapter
33, and they view the Lord God as fickle, mutable, unstable,
and able to be manipulated. That's what they see. And I have
to confess to you that my flesh, when it reads this chapter, that's
what my flesh sees as well. It's almost as if Moses is arguing
the Lord into something. But nothing could be further
from the truth. Consider the main verse now if
I was to ask you, what do you think the main verse is in chapter
33 a Part of me is prone to go to the end of the chapter and
say God's absolute sovereignty But that's not the center of
this chapter. Let me give you the center of
this chapter Exodus 33 in verse 7 and Moses took the tabernacle
and pitched it without the camp afar off from the camp and called
it the Tabernacle of Congregation. Now, folks say that this is not
the tabernacle that was erected later that had the white fence
around it. It was a different building and
that's really neither here nor there. Here's the thing, and
it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out
unto the tabernacle of the congregation which was without the camp. That's the central verse of this
chapter. Consider this. In chapter 32,
which we looked at last week, and in chapter 33, both of these
chapters confirm the covenant of God's promise. Moses mentioned
it in chapter 32 and verse 13, and then God now mentions it
in chapter 33. Look at the first few verses.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou
and the people which thou hast brought 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. And we know who
that's talking about. That's talking about Jesus Christ. And I will send an angel before
thee. You see that? Now this is the
angel that God had told Moses and the people of Israel, you
follow him and you listen to him. This angel is Jesus Christ. And I will send an angel before
thee and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and
the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite
unto a land flowing with milk and honey. so first of all the
promise is confirmed both by moses in chapter thirty two and
by god in chapter thirty three now listen to what the apostle
paul says about that turn to galatians chapter three galatians chapter three in verse
fifteen brethren I speak after the manner of men, though it
be but a man's covenant. Yet if it be confirmed, no man
disannulleth or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. The promise we just read of is
included in that. Were the promises made. He saith
not, and to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed,
which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which
we see had just been given to Israel, the law which was 400
and 30 years after cannot disannul that it should make the promise
of none effect. Somebody was going to enter the
land. Somebody's going to enter the land, but it wasn't these
people in particular Wasn't these people there's a second thing
God exposes our true condition Chapter 32 in verse 9. He says
this is a stiff-necked people a stiff-necked people God then
confirms it, chapter 33 and verse 3, unto a land flowing with milk
and honey, for I will not go up in the midst of thee, for
thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee in the way. And remember, he did. Every one over 20 years old their
carcasses fail in the wilderness So again human religion reads
this and they see God bouncing back and forth God's not bouncing
anywhere God's moving straight ahead according to his sovereign
purpose Romans chapter 3 in verse verses 9 through 20 tell us our
plight in Adam There's not one of us good Not one of us is good. No, not one. None of us are righteous. I'm talking about even right
now today. In myself, in my flesh dwells
no good thing. There's number three. God then
reveals free, reigning, sovereign grace in the Messiah. Now this
is important. You may disagree with me on this,
but you could be wrong if you wish. The Messiah is promised. That's
verse two. And I will send an angel before
thee. Okay, the Messiah is promised,
but he's not yet named. And Moses recognizes this and
acknowledges this in verse 12. And Moses said unto the Lord,
see thou sayest unto me, bring up this people and thou hast
not let me know whom thou will send with me. Who is this angel? That's who he's asking about.
Who is this angel? And bless be to God, God shows
him that angel. He declares that angel's name
to him, although we're not given the name in the context. Look
at what he says. And the Lord said unto Moses,
verse 17, 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
Moses immediately says, I beseech thee, show me your glory. Show
me your 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 he did. We're not given the
account of it, But you know what, I believe he told him, my name
is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I am Jesus Christ the Lord. Moses wrote of me, Christ said. Now look, look what he says.
And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I 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. What is God's
face? The only face God's ever had
is Jesus of Nazareth. God is spirit. but in the person of his son,
he is spirit and flesh. Look, 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 cleft of the rock, and I will cover thee with mine
hand while I pass by, and I will take away mine hand, and thou
shalt see my back parts. Isn't that amazing? Jesus Christ
revealed himself to Moses at this time. I like that. I like that. His hinder parts.
His human form was seen by Moses, wasn't it? His human form. Who has hinder parts but a man? But a man. This benefit. That is the presence God promised,
the actual promise itself of the land, and the revelation
of God as their God is at God's own sovereign choice. And he
states that clearly to Moses in chapter 33, verses 17 through
19. And remember what the apostle
Paul wrote in Romans chapter 9, verse 6. Not as though the
word of God has taken none effect. What about all these Jews? They
perished in the wilderness. They are not all Israel, which
are of Israel. But the Israel of God entered
in. And God's Israel always enters
in. Hebrew says there remaineth a
rest for the people of God. You see, not every Israelite
was chosen to grace. He or she may have been a member
of a chosen race, a created race, but not every Israelite was chosen
to grace and mercy and compassion. And that's exactly what Jesus
Christ told Moses. I will be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. Our human minds rise up in hatred
against that. But I'm glad he said, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. It is not left up to the
human creature. You see, God's election cannot
be merited, but neither can it be demerited. That's right. God's election cannot be merited,
but it cannot be demerited. He said, for the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand, it was
said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. So here's
the question. How do we know the difference? Our text helps us on this vital
subject. Everyone who sought the Lord
did what? They left the camp and went to
the tabernacle of the congregation. Now this is important because
there's four things I want to give to you. This will be the
remainder of my message. The difference is not a mere
shame of sins. You hear what I'm saying? A lot
of people become ashamed of their sins when they're caught. When
they're exposed look at what it says here about these Israelites
chapter 33 verse 4 5 & 6 so when the people heard these evil tidings
They mourned And no man did put on him his ornaments for the
Lord had sent him to Moses saying to the children of Israel You're
a stiff-necked people I will come up in the midst of thee
in a moment and consume thee. Therefore put off thine 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. You remember when that woman
was caught in the act of adultery? It says, caught in the very act.
And they brought her unto our Lord and placed her in the midst
of these people and said, what does the law say we ought to
do? And basically our Lord said this. Now listen, she is to be
stoned. But the only person that can
do it is a person who is without sin. And it says they being convicted
in their conscience. Just because you're convicted
of sin don't mean you're a part of God's people. People say,
well, I know I'm a sinner. Most everybody will tell you
that. But not too many cry out, Lord, be merciful to me, the
sinner. It's not even mere religious
intrigue and worship. Look at 8, 9, and 10. And it
came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that
all the people rose up, and stood every man at his 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 worshiped. But where did they worship? Did
they go to the tabernacle? No, they worshiped where? At
their tent door. Their tent door. Most people
think as long as you're worshiping God, then everything's okay.
As long as you're worshiping God, that means you're one of
God's and that just ain't so. Cain worshiped God, didn't he? Cain worshiped God. But he didn't
worship God according to God's ordained way. The Samaritan woman
worshipped. She worshipped. And he said,
you worship. You don't know what. Just worship
itself is not enough. You remember Lydia, the seller
of purple? It says she worshipped God. Does it not? But that didn't do her lick of
good. Because God had to open her heart so that she would attend
unto the things that were spoken by Paul. I used to look at that
and I thought, well here was a woman regenerated for years.
Just not so. It's just not so. God did the
work on that woman when the gospel was there. Now the gospel didn't
do the work. God did the work so that she
would hear the gospel. But think of it. Most people
think, well, I go to church. I try to live a decent life.
I worship God. I sing the songs. I pray my prayers. I read the Bible. That doesn't
cut it. It didn't cut it for Israel.
They worshiped, but they worshiped at their tent door rather than
approaching God the way God had ordained. You see, it is approaching
God outside the camp. You see it is approaching God
outside the camp. It is seeking the Lord where
the Lord has ordained We seek him And that is none other than
at the feet of Jesus Christ and in an amazing verse 11 and the
Lord spake unto Moses Face to face as a man speaketh unto his
friend and he turned again into the camp but his servant Joshua
Isn't that something? Now who is Joshua? Now Joshua
was a real bodified man, but Joshua typifies our Lord Jesus
Christ. But his servant Joshua, the son
of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. The New Testament reveals to
us that this place of worship is a person. Hebrews 13 verses
8 through 13 declares that we have an altar. Yes, and it's
not down front here Our altar is a person Our sacrifice is
a person the offerer is a person Jesus Christ is the only place
that you can properly worship God He that does not honor the
Son does not honor the Father And it's that simple. And yet
it's that impossible for us to do apart from God's grace. Because we will worship anything
and everything other than Jesus Christ alone. The New Testament's
quite clear. You see, there is but one place
to seek the Lord. That's my title. The one place
to seek the Lord. Lord Jesus Christ said come unto
me Come unto me I deserve to be consumed Don't you oh, yeah,
I deserve to be consumed I Do not deserve God's presence These
Israelites did not deserve God's presence They're no worse than
I am They're no worse than you are. We are by nature a stiff-necked
people. The one, was it Stephen, wasn't
it? Said you do always resist the
Holy Ghost. Why? Because you're uncircumcised
in heart and ears. I deserve to be consumed. I do
not deserve God's presence. I have no merit to the promises. I can't earn them. Oh, but thank
God I can't demerit them away. Somebody's going to enter in.
Somebody's going to worship at the right place to the right
person. I'll come to Christ. That's what
I'll do. Not, I came to Christ yesterday,
Joe, but right now is what matters. I don't care where you claim
to have been yesterday. Where are you today? Where are
you today when tomorrow arrives and becomes today? Where are
you then? I will seek God in the face of
Jesus Christ Look at this passage. I know you're familiar with it
2nd Corinthians chapter 4 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 therefore
Seeing we have received this ministry. What ministry is he
talking about? The gospel ministry. That's the only ministry there
is. Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received
mercy, we faint not. But have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty. Now I know most people think
this is talking about the bars and the brothels. They certainly
would be included in that. Don't you misunderstand me. But
Satan's major work is behind pulpits. His ministers are ministers of
righteousness, not of the bars and the brothels. That's just
our wicked, evil flesh. but have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the
word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth,
commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight
of God. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost. in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness. God does not offer light to any
man. God does not offer light to any
woman. God must command the light to
shine. He's got to command the light
to shine. But when he commands the light
to shine, bless God it will shine. You won't be able to stop it.
I won't be able to stop it. The demons in hell and Satan
himself will not be able to stop it. For God who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, oh look at it, has shined in
our hearts. To give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God. And now we're not just having
to see the hinder parts. We actually get to look at him
in his face. And his face is declared right here in this book.
Hmm to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ Knowledge doesn't save you, but God don't save
you apart from knowledge And that knowledge is of a person
The place we worship is a person. Yes, sir. I The person we worship
is Jesus Christ. And when do we worship him? God
willing, every moment of every day. Paul, the apostle, if he
be the one who wrote Hebrews, says, we go without the camp. And we worship God without the
camp. I plead. God doesn't beg anybody,
but I can. I do. I plead with men and women,
flee to Jesus Christ. Well, I believe I have, preacher,
but I'm just sometimes not sure. Flee to Jesus Christ. Just keep
fleeing to Jesus Christ. It's that simple and yet that
impossible apart from grace. But if He gives you grace, just
flee to Jesus Christ. Don't worry about yesterday.
You can't change anything about yesterday. I can't even change
five minutes ago. Oh God, bow me down to the person
of Jesus Christ. We have this treasure, where?
In earthen vessels. There are occasions when I, when
Joe stands here and preach, when I listen to other men preach,
I look up there and I say, you know what? That's just a clay
pot. You know that? You know why he
put it in clay pots? So that God gets all the glory.
If you know me, you know he's just a clay pot. At best, Joe,
I'm a nightjar. You know what a nightpot is?
Used to slide it under the bed so you didn't have to go outside
in the cold. At best, we're a nightpot. But let me tell you something,
in these nightpots dwells the very glory of God. Joe mentioned, we're bought with
a price. Our body is His and He lives
in us. I can't fathom that. So how do
I get to Christ? Just trust Him, just believe
Him. He's in you if you believe Him. He's in you if you believe Him.
1 John chapter 5, and I'll close
with this. 1 John chapter 5. How many times, you know, I love
doctrine. And we ought to love doctrine.
And we need to stand fast in the doctrine. But we're not coming
to a doctrine. We're coming to a person. I don't
know how many times because I have certain doctrines I believe that
I try to convince myself I'm okay because I believe those
doctrines. That that's the evidence that I'm born of God, that I
believe these doctrines. That's just not it. Here's what
John said. First John chapter five. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. That's the only
evidence God's ever gonna give us. That's the only evidence
God's ever gonna give us. Belief in Jesus Christ. Well,
I I just know this happened to me way back yonder. That's not
what it's about That's not what it's about. If you was deceived
yesterday, you're probably still deceived today But I know this
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God
now that birth must come first. Yes, sir. I That birth must come
first, but nobody can claim the birth until they believe. And
I don't have to explain that. Make that all fit, preacher.
Ain't gonna do it. As I said before, I'm not a splainer, I'm
a proclaimer. And whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born
of God. And every one that loveth him
that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him. God's people love Christ. God's
people love one another. And that's just the way it is.
If you don't, you ain't born of God. If you do, you are born
of God. Now you remember what I said,
I think it was last Sunday. Maybe it was last Sunday. But I just
need some assurance. I understand that. I understand
that. But remember, our assurance is
seated at the right hand of God the Father. Amen. That's exactly
right. Our assurance is that He is already
there, and He's already there saying the rest of them's coming
behind. Amen. He is called the anchor of our
soul so when you need assurance believe Christ When you need
assurance just believe Christ, and it's that simple But yet,
it's that impossible apart from the grace of God father May these
stammering words Be a benefit to our soul as we know your words
will be of benefit to our soul. May the Lord Jesus Christ receive
all the honor, the praise, and the glory. Amen. Let's stand
and sing