Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. When Moses returned from Sinai,
it was necessary that a veil be placed upon his face, because
his face shone, and this shining caused the people to fear looking
upon him. And when Aaron and all the children
of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and
they were afraid to come nigh him. Until Moses had done speaking
with them, he put a veil on his face. In this we see a picture
of the terror of the law which was given to Moses on Mount Sinai,
a mount which could not even be approached or touched by man
or beast lest they die. This is also a picture of the
sentence of death, which is upon the heads of those who are under
the law. Even as Paul says, the ministration of death written
and engraven in stones was glorious so that the children of Israel
could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory
of his countenance, which glory was to be done away. It is a
picture of the temporary nature of this law. Not only that, but
it is most clearly a picture of the darkness, which is upon
the hearts of all who think that they can approach the Lord through
the works of the law. Seeing then that we have such
hope, we use great plainness of speech. Not as Moses, which
put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could
not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But
their minds were blinded, for until this day remaineth the
same veil, untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament,
which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when
Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. This is the blindness
which is upon natural Israel, and subsequently upon all religious
men of whatever stripe, who would consider that any of their actions
could cause them to find favor in the sight of God. The kingdom
of God is hidden from them by this same veil that covered Moses'
face. The difficult thing is that such
men think that they can see, but do not know that they are
blind, haught, and lame. It was necessary that the law
be given, because men by nature are lawless and disobedient,
and unto every good work reprobate. The law is not given for a righteous
man, but for the lawless and disobedient. Therefore the giving
of the law manifested the deserved destruction of the wicked, and
takes away all grounds upon which a man might consider that he
could find favor with God through his own supposed deeds of righteousness. Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law
is the knowledge of sin. The law cannot produce or prevent
righteousness. It simply reveals the unrighteousness
of those to whom it is given. Yet just as surely as the law
was given to manifest the justice of God in the damnation of the
wicked, so too was it given to manifest the glorious grace of
God in delivering elect sinners from just condemnation through
the atoning work of Jesus Christ. And as the true glory of God
was hidden from the Jews by the veil upon Moses' face, so now
that veil has been lifted and those who are given eyes to see
can now behold the very face of God and live. For the law
was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
He that hath seen the Son hath seen the Father. This is the
clear declaration of the Father when he said to Peter, James,
and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. Hear ye him. And that which we
read of in the book of Hebrews, God who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the world, who being the brightness of his glory and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better
than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent
name than they. When Christ was crucified, the
veil or curtain of the temple was torn open, signifying that
the way into the Holy of Holies was open. Christ has offered
himself to God as a perfect sacrifice, but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. Those for whom He made this sacrifice
are one in the same with those who are given eyes to see His
glory. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. We look for no other,
for we have now seen Him who is the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. And we plainly declare that He
is the God, with even more fervor than those who witnessed the
fire fall from heaven and consume the altar on Mount Carmel in
Elijah's day. Again a new commandment I write
unto you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the
darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. Do you rejoice
in this light? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.