Well, good evening, everyone. If you'd open your Bibles with me to Psalm 143. Psalm 143. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Give ear to my supplications. In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with thy servant, For in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

For the enemy hath persecuted my soul. He hath smitten my life down to the ground. He hath made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old. I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee. My soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land. Hear me speedily, O Lord. My spirit faileth.

Hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning, for in thee do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies. I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Thy spirit is good. Lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy namesake.

For thy righteousness' sake, bring my soul out of trouble. And of thy mercy, cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul. For I am thy servant. All right, Sean. If you would turn in your hymnal to song number 299, and we'll sing day by day. 299. Day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here.

Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure gives unto each day what he deems best. Lovingly, it's part of pain and pleasure. mingling toil with peace and rest. Every day the Lord himself is near me with a special mercy for each hour. All my cares he fain would bear and cheer me. He whose name is counselor and power. The protection of his child and treasure. is a charge that on himself he laid. As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure. This the pledge to me he made.

Help me then in every tribulation. So to trust thy promises, O Lord, that I lose not faith's sweet consolation, offered me within thy holy Word. Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, E'er to take as from a father's hand. one by one, the days, the moments fleeting, till I reach the promised land. OK, if you would now turn to, oh, I think I've got the wrong page there.

450. Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? 450. There will never be a sweeter story. Story of the Savior's love divine. Love that brought him from the realms of glory. Just to save a sinful soul like mine. Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful. Wonderful. Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful it is to me. Boundless as the universe around me. Reaching to the farthest soul away. Saving, keeping love, it was that found me.

That is why my heart can truly say, Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful. Wonderful, oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful it is to me. Love beyond our human comprehension. Love of God in Christ, how can it be? This will be my theme and never-ending, great redeeming love of Calvary. Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful? Wonderful, oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful it is to me.

Let's open our Bibles now to Exodus chapter 32. Exodus chapter 32. We'll begin reading in verse 15. And Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand. The tables were written on both their sides, on the one side and on the other side. On the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God. And the writing was the writing of God graven upon the tables.

And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, there is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, it's not the voice of them that shout for mastery. Neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass as soon as he came nigh to the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing.

And Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands and break them beneath the mount. And he took the calf, which they had made, and burn it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot, Thou knowest the people, that they're set on mischief.

For they said unto me, make us gods, which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not what has become of him. And I said unto them, whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me. Then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. And when Moses saw that the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked under their shame among their enemies. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me.

And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp and slay every man his brother. and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And there fell of the people that day about 3,000 men.

For Moses had said, consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, even every man upon his son and upon his brother, that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. And it came to pass on the morrow that Moses said unto the people, You have sinned a great sin.

And now I will go up unto the Lord. Perventure, I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the Lord and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin and it made them gods of gold. Yet now, if that will forgive their sin, and if not blot me, I pray thee out of thy book, which thou has written. And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Therefore, now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee. Behold, mine angel shall go before thee. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And the Lord plagued the people because they made the calf which Aaron made. We'll end our reading there. Let's bow together in prayer.

Our father, we are so thankful that you've given us another opportunity to meet together tonight, to read your word, to sing your praises, and to hear the gospel of your son preached. Father, I pray that tonight that you would enable us to glorify your matchless name.

How thankful we are that you are God alone, ruling and reigning over everything that happens in your creation. We're thankful father for your mercy and your grace, your wisdom to find a ransom that will enable you to be just and still justify ungodly men and women like we are. We thank you for the sacrifice of your son, his precious blood, which cleanses us from all sin. We thank you for sending your spirit to give us life and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ to dwell in our hearts, to lead us and guide us to Christ. Father, we thank you for your gospel, this glorious good news of who the Lord Jesus Christ is and everything that he's accomplished for his people. Father, we are so thankful.

And I pray you would not let us take this blessed privilege of worshiping you for granted, but that we might treat it carefully, reverently, come before you in fear and trembling, seeking to hear a word from thee. Father, I pray you'd bless us tonight with a word from thee. While we pray for ourselves, we pray for your people wherever they're gathering together tonight. Father, cause your gospel to go forth in power for your great namesake and for the good of your people. Father, we pray a special blessing for our country and the indeed the whole world at this time that father you would be with our leaders grant them wisdom and understanding.

Move their hearts for good. We pray. We know their heart is in your hands. You turn it that whether so ever you will just like the rivers of waters. Father, we pray you turn them for good to to preserve and protect the freedoms that we have so long enjoyed in this country. Father, we don't ask that you bless us for our sake, but for your great name's sake. Bless us for Christ's sake, we pray. For it's in his precious name, for his sake and his glory, we pray. Amen.

I titled the message tonight, Sin, Wrath, and Mercy. And the first, I'll just jump right into it. I couldn't really think of any other introduction other than the title, Sin, Wrath, and Mercy. And the first point I see in our text is this. We can only be saved through the law. If sinners would be saved, we must keep the law. I should say it better this way. The law must be kept.

God will never set aside his law in order to accept anyone. If you'll turn over a page in Exodus 34, this is the Lord speaking to Moses, describing himself. He says, 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 the fourth generation. So God will not set aside his law to please anyone. But here's man's problem. Now, if we would be saved, the law must be kept. But our problem is we've already broken God's law.

And Moses gives us such a clear picture of this here, verse 15 in our text. And Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand. The tables were written on both their sides. On the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God. And the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, He said unto Moses, there is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, it's not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh into the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing, and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands and break them beneath the mount. Now I've heard A lot of people beat pretty hard on Moses for throwing these tables of stone down and breaking them. And without question, he shouldn't have done that. But you know what? God never reprimanded him for it. God never did reprimanding for it.

And there's a reason for that, which we'll see in a minute. But you imagine being Moses coming down from this mountain for 40 days and nights. Moses has been alone with God. I mean, can you imagine? There's none of the junk that the people are doing and people bringing their problems to him and just all the things that go on. He was alone with almighty God and God talked to him.

God with his finger wrote those 10 commandments on the stones and gave them to Moses. I mean, You talk about a mountaintop experience. I mean, I think I've been to the mountaintop and I hear a message that last 40 minutes is just so great. Moses has been on the mountain for 40 days alone with God. And then to come back down the mountain and see the people just steeped in idolatry. I mean, it just took 40 days for him being gone.

They're dancing around. Naked, I guess. I don't know at what point Aaron had them take their clothes off, but just dancing around and acting a fool around this golden calf, you know? And Moses saw that and he just lost it. You know, just threw those tables of stone down and broke them.

And anybody with any kind of temper at all can understand exactly how that happened. But here's the picture. And this is the important teaching of this. It's not that Moses should have done that. is that God requires his law to be kept perfectly, perfectly. If we would be accepted, we must be perfect. And Moses gave us a real good picture of what happens when the law is put in the hands of man. When God puts his law into our hands to obey this law to earn our own righteousness, we do the exact same thing Moses did.

We just throw it down and break it, just smash it to smithereens. We can't even keep one of God's commandments, much less all of them. All men have been doing from the very moment Adam fell until right now, 6,000 some odd years later, is doing nothing but sin. That's all we've been doing. We cannot keep the law. We haven't kept the law, but we must be perfect if we would be accepted.

So here's the question. Is there any way we can be saved? Is there any way our sin can be forgiven? And thank God the answer to that is yes. I mean, I'd give up preaching if the answer to that question was not yes. We have good news for sinners. There's a way of salvation. There is a way of forgiveness of sin. There's just one way, but it's a mighty good way. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

And sometime later, after Moses had broken those first tables of the law, you know the story how God called Moses back up to the mountain. He said, two stones, two tables of stones like you did before, and bring them up. And God wrote again with his finger and wrote the Ten Commandments on those tables of stone. But he didn't leave them in Moses' hands, did he?

He told Moses, Fast as you can, you get to the Ark of the Covenant, and you put this law in the Ark of the Covenant, and you cover it with the mercy seat that's covered with blood. That's a picture of how God can save his people. That's a picture of how our sin can be forgiven. You'll recall that Ark in the mercy seat is a picture of Christ. That law was put in the mercy seat, just like the law was put in the Lord Jesus Christ. When he came to obey the law, it was in his hands. Not in our hands anymore, it's in his hand. And he obeyed the law perfectly.

In every jot, in every tittle. You know, even if we could obey, you know, some laws, and we'd forget one of them, slip up, and you know, then once we slipped up on this one point, you know, we're guilty of all. In every jot, in every tittle, He obeyed God's law perfectly. And not just outwardly, but in his heart, in his mind, in his intentions, in his soul. He kept the law perfectly. And as the representative of his people, when he obeyed the law, so did you who believe.

That's how we're made righteous. It's not through us obeying the law, it's through Christ obeying the law. See, salvation's got to come through the law, doesn't it? But since we can't obey it, Christ came to obey the law for his people. See, God requires perfection. So the son came and did what the father required. He made his people perfect because he took the law out of the hands of his people and took it into his own hand to keep it for his people. Well, the second thing I see is this. The law must be kept. The second thing is the corruption of sin. is in us. It's in us. It's inside us. Verse 20, and he took the calf, which they had made and burn it in the fire, ground it to powder and started upon the water and made the children of Israel drink of it.

Now that golden idol is corrupt. I mean, just, I mean, it's the height of insult to, to make this, this golden calf and say, that's God. that led us out of the land of Egypt. I mean, what an insult to the person and the character of God. It's just corruption. And Moses just ground this into the powder and put it on the water and made the people drink it. Well, now the corruption's in them. We don't have to drink something in order to make us corrupt. We're born with the corruption in us. This is just a picture. We're born with a corruption in us, so that all we can do is sin. We can't do anything but sin.

And also, just kind of an interesting point, without getting too gross or graphic, eventually, that gold came out. It came out in the form of human waste. That's what idolatry's worth. I mean, not only is it not worth anything, it has no value, it's disgusting. That's what comes out of you and me.

And their shame was not only inward, it was also outward. Verse 25 says that Aaron had made them naked under their shame among their enemies. Now sin is a corruption. It's a corruption from within. We sin because that's all our nature. That's all our heart, natural heart can do is sin. It loves sin. And the sin it loves the most is trying to earn a righteousness before God. Do something by my own works that they'll make God accept me. That is the thing, the sin our heart loves the most. And where that leaves us is naked. Naked before God without a covering of righteousness. Well, now that the sin has been exposed, look what Moses says in verse 26.

And Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, who's on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he's in, well, before I go on, let's stop here for a second. Moses said, who's on the Lord's side? Who's on the Lord's side?

I think it was President Lincoln somewhat asking in this matter of the civil war, do you think God's on our side? He said, well, I don't know, Might not have this quote exactly right, but this part I got right. I don't know. But the important thing is, are we on God's side?

This is the question Moses asked, who's on the Lord's side? Now, I'd like for that to be me, and I'd like for that to be you. Wouldn't you like to be on the Lord's side? Well, what is it to be on the Lord's side? Well, it's to take sides with God against ourselves. It's whatever God says about me, He's absolutely right.

Everything He says in His Word, there's none good, no not one. I drink iniquity like water. My feet are swift to shed blood. My hands are swift to mischief. True, Lord, true. No excuse, no nothing, just unvarnished, true. Everything God says about me is true. God says I deserve to be sent to hell. I'm taking sides with God against myself and say, Lord, you're right. That's exactly what I deserve. Being on the Lord's side is to justify God, is to say whatever God does is right. And if God chooses to send me to hell, he's right to do it. That's exactly what I deserve.

Let me show you an example of that in Psalm 51. Psalm 51, verse one. You know the story here. This is the Psalm that David wrote after he was caught in this adultery with Bathsheba. And he says, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me throughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. against thee. The only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest." Now, David is begging for mercy. And it's not because, oh, you know, this sin's not that big a deal, or, you know, I didn't mean to do it, or we can cover this. He's begging for mercy according to the loving kindness of God, according to the character and mercy of God.

And he says, Lord, if you don't forgive my sin, if you don't cover my iniquity and you send me to hell, you're right in doing it. That you'll be clear when you judge, everybody will say, that's the right verdict. That's exactly what I deserve. That is being on God's side. It's justifying God.

Now look over at 1 John 1. If a person justifies God, That has to mean that they're saying, I'm a sinner. I'm confessing that everything I am, everything I've done, my nature is sin. Look here at 1 John 1 verse 8. If we say we have no sin, and he means there, John means there a sin nature, that we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That tells me if we are on the Lord's side and we justify God, we take God's side against ourselves, He'll forgive our sins. That's what that's saying. He'll forgive our sins. And you know an interesting thing about being on the Lord's side? If you're on the Lord's side and you're willing to take sides with God against yourself, you're willing to justify God no matter what it is He does with you, you're on the Lord's side. And you know why you're on the Lord's side? Because he's on your side first. And if the Lord be for you, who can be against you? Isn't that a, what a wonderful place to be on the Lord's side. Nothing formed can ever harm your soul if you're on the Lord's side. Because if you're on the Lord's side, he was on your side first. But you know, man by nature does not want to admit that we're guilty doing. Don't want to admit we're guilty.

I love cop shows. I love them. I love them. Because within 45 minutes, I can see the crime and see justice served. That's about my attention span. I love them. I just love to see the bad guy go to jail and get what he deserves. in the shows that I watch. This is where I get my law degree, you know, watching TV crime shows. But this is in real life, too.

A dude's caught red-handed. I mean, he's red-handed. He's on film, color, high-def film, committing the crime. And he comes before the judge, and he says, not guilty. I mean, we just, I mean, how far does it somehow take us before we're saying we're guilty? This is man's nature. It's not my fault. It's not my fault. That's the third point. This is man's reaction to sin. It's not my fault.

Look at back in Exodus 32, our text, verse 21. And Moses said unto Aaron, what did this people unto thee that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, let not the anger of my Lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people that they're set on mischief. That's true.

For they said unto me, make us gods. we shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what's become of him. And I said unto them, whoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me, and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. Now, I don't know, Aaron must have thought that Moses was born yesterday. I mean, who can believe such a story? I just threw the gold into the fire, and I came to this calf, you know?

It's not my fault. It's the people's fault. And that's our nature. And it's not my fault. And you know, that came directly from the root of the tree, from Adam. Adam, Lord, it was the woman that you gave me. She made me. Insinuating to God that if you hadn't given me this woman, I wouldn't have sinned.

So God, it's your fault. Now that's blaming my sin on the holy God. I mean, how foolish is it? And I've heard people do this. They hear the gospel, they get in their mind some grasp of what we call the doctrines of grace, they get some grasp of God's sovereignty, and they say, well, I mean, God made me this way, so God can't be mad at me. That's blaming my sin on God's sovereignty, isn't it? Let me show you that in Romans chapter nine. That's not new to our generation and our time. The apostle Paul dealt with it too. Romans nine, verse 17. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee. and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Therefore, hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. He has mercy on one, they're redeemed. He leaves the other alone, and they're hardened, and they're destroyed. Well, thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? You know, if God had mercy on one, he left another one alone to harden him, why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

Nobody can do anything that's against the will of God. And I absolutely love Paul's answer. Nay, but O man, who art thou that replyest against God? In our language today, we'd say, just who do you think you are? Who do you think you are to reply against God? Show the thing form, say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? See, it's not our nature to say, my sin is my fault. It's God's fault.

I can say, if I got a hold of a little bit of doctrine, I can understand the fall and original sin that I was made guilty in Adam. And I can say, well, Lord, it's not my fault. It's Adam's fault. I mean, if he hadn't sinned, I wouldn't be in this mess. You know, it's Adam's fault.

Or I can say, well, I mean, I know I sin sometimes, but, Lord, it's just because of my surroundings. If you'd put me in better surroundings, why I wouldn't sin? You know, if you just, no. My sin is my fault. Your sin is your fault. And I won't be saved until the Lord teaches me that truth. My sin is my fault, and it deserves to be punished in hell. Your God is a merciful God. He's merciful. But he's not gonna have mercy on me until my sin is my fault. If my sin is not my fault, I don't need mercy. I just need an attorney that can shift the blame over somebody else. If my sin is not my fault, I don't need mercy.

Here's who God is merciful to. God be merciful to me, the sinner. You know, John said if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Well, I don't even know all my sins. I mean, I don't know that I can I'm sure I just sin without ever realizing it, you know, but it's confessing who I am. Everything I do is sin, and it's my fault. That's who the Lord will be merciful to. Our God's a gracious God. He'll be gracious to whom He will be gracious, but now He's only gonna be gracious to sinners.

If my sin's not my fault, I don't need grace, do I? Just give me what I deserve and give somebody else what they deserve. They're the ones that put me in this mess. God will not be gracious to me until my sin is my fault. David said, but there is forgiveness with thee. But God's not gonna forgive my sin if it's not my fault. If it's not my fault, he can forgive somebody else. If God's gonna forgive me, my sin has got to be my fault. It's my sin.

And we'll come back to this in just a minute. But I think this is the best place to start covering this. Aren't you thankful? That's not what Christ our substitute said at Calvary. Father, it's not my sin. It's not my fault. Don't punish me. If he had said that, we'd have no sacrifice for sin. But if you look at Psalm 40, you see what he did say. Psalm 40. Verse 12, for innumerable evils have compassed me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of mine head. Therefore my heart faileth me.

Now our savior admitted that sin had been made his. He didn't say, my people committed this, so take it easy on me. He admitted, that sin's mine. You made that mine, and he knew that would require God's justice. But since he took the sin of his people away from them and made it his, God can be merciful to you and me, because he already gave Christ the punishment that we deserve. All comes back to this, man's reaction is to say, it's not my fault. If the spirit dwells in us, this is what we'll say. It's my fault. Father, look all through me and find any sin in me. Don't overlook one and put them all on Christ. That's our only plea. Because here's the fourth thing. The holy God absolutely must pour out his wrath against sin.

Verse 26 says, then Moses stood in the gate of the camp. and said, who's on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him, and he said unto them, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from the gate, or from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses, And there fell of the people that day about 3,000 men. For Moses had said, consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, even every man upon his son and upon his brother, that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

Now this is harsh. I mean, this is harsh. But you know what? It's a picture. Sin must be punished. because God is holy. God cannot overlook sin. He will not overlook sin. He must punish it. Now, what all is involved with these, the tribe of Levi going through and killing 3000 men with the sword and just what that looked like that day and the next day. And just the, um, I can't really get a grasp on, but here is what I do know. This is a picture of redemption. God is no respecter of persons.

And this sounds so harsh to tell these Levites to go kill your cousins. Go kill them with the edge of the sword, your brother, your companion, your best friend. People have partook in this idolatry. You go kill them with your sword, face to face, not just shooting them from a great distance. I mean, face to face you do this. But this is a picture.

That is exactly what the father did to his son at Calvary. When the son was made sin, the father gave him justice. And he did it as it were, face to face, with his own sword. Scripture talks about the father plunging the sword of justice into the heart of his fellow. He took that sword and plunged it into the heart and the soul of his son because that's what his son deserved. because he'd been made guilty of the sin of God's elect, and it's the only way sin could be paid for.

You see, there is a way for God to show mercy. To guilty, vile sinners, there's a way for God to show mercy, but not until justice has been satisfied. See, God must be just. He must be. But he also must be merciful. They're both the attributes of God's character, He must be both. Now can somebody tell me how you do that? How can you be just and let a sinner go free? How is that possible? It only comes through Christ, our substitute.

Look here at verse 30. And it came to pass on the morrow that Moses said unto the people, you've sinned a great sin. And now I will go unto the Lord, perventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the Lord and said, oh, this people have sinned a great sin and it made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou will forgive their sin. And there's just a pause there. If you'll forgive their sin. I'm sure Moses meant that would be good. That would be fine. I'd be thankful if you forgive their sin. Pause.

And if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. Now Moses asked the Lord to blot him out of God's book if he does not forgive this sin of the people, the children of Israel. And I looked and looked at that. And like I have in my notes, I don't think, let me rephrase that, I know. I don't love anybody enough. to say, damn me, if you won't forgive their sin. But that's what Moses said, isn't it?

Lord, blot me out of the book that you've written, if you don't forgive the sin of this people. And I love the Lord's answer, verse 33. And the Lord said unto Moses, whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Him will I blot out of my book. Now when Moses made intercession for the people here, just like we looked at last week, he's a picture of Christ.

When the son, God the son was made sin, the father cut him off. He cut him off for the sin of his people and slew him for the sin of his people. I mean, he was dead. His body was dead. His body laid lifeless in a tomb for three days. And you know why the father did that? so that the sin of God's people would be forgiven.

Those people that the Father wrote their names in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world, the people that the Father elected unto salvation, if their sin is not paid for, their names will be crossed off the Book of God. So Christ came, and he said, Father, make me sin for my people, and I'll pay the debt. And I'll pay the debt. And Christ died for their sin, so their debt's paid. They have no more debt.

And if Christ came and suffered and died for you, the Lord says here, whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. If Christ took your sin away from you, took it into his own body on the tree at Calvary, you've not sinned against God. Now you think of that. God will not blot you out of his book. if Christ took your sin away and put it away by his precious blood.

Now this day, at least 3,000 men died. And I don't know, I mean, there's no way they had time to bury all those bodies. I reckon they just picked up the camp and left those bodies laying there in the desert. 3,000 bodies. And they're there dead because justice says that's what they deserve.

And we kind of focus on this number, 3,000 people, and that's a lot of people. But you know what? Many more people were spared than died that day. And the whole reason for it was the intercession of Moses, where Moses asked the Lord to forgive their sin. And this is a picture of the Day of Judgment. And that day, everyone, every son of Adam, will receive exactly what they deserve, exactly.

Every unbeliever will be damned because justice says that's what they deserve. They did not believe on the name of my son and they'll be damned. But everyone, without exception, for whom Christ died, for whom Christ makes intercession right now, they will live. They'll have eternal life in glory with Christ because justice demands it. If Christ died in your place, you can never die the second death.

Justice demands it. If the Lord Jesus Christ says to you, welcome. Enter into the glory that I prepared for you from the foundation of the world. You know why he'll say that to you? Because that's what you deserve. Because you were in Christ when he earned it for you. It's exactly what you deserve. That's God's saving grace, giving to his people everything that Christ earned for them.

Scripture doesn't really tell us a whole lot about heaven, does it? But I can't wait to be in a body and a soul and be given everything that the Lord Jesus Christ earned. I can't wait. It's so glorious, our human minds cannot comprehend it right now.

But that's what we're going to have, and it'll be right for God to give it to us. But until then, until then, until that day that the Lord calls us home and out of these bodies. Now, if we're believers, our sins forgiven. Our sins forgiven because Christ shed his blood, put that sin, our sins forgiven. But we're still going to feel the fact of sin in our bodies. Verse 34.

The Lord says, therefore, now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee. Behold, mine angel shall go before thee. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And the Lord plagued the people because they made the calf which Aaron made. The Lord forgave the people. He didn't destroy them all right then, but they were plagued because of this. All the rest of their trip through to the promised land. And that's what we're going through right now. You know, our sin's forgiven, but these bodies are falling apart day by day by day by day.

I talked to Brother David Edmondson last week. I was asking him how he was doing, how he's feeling, and he said, well, he said, I recently turned 70. He said, on my 70th birthday, I woke up, my shoulder hurt, my elbow hurt, my hip hurt, and my knee hurt, and I had a doctor's appointment. And I thought, welcome to your 70s.

It's not going to get any better. The effect of seeing this body, we're going to deal with that until the day the Lord calls us home. But when the Lord calls us home, we're done with sin. We're done with the effect of it. We're done living in a world of it. We're done living with the nature of it. We will be done with sin. And it'll all be because of the sacrifice and the intercession of Christ. His sacrifice that put away our sin and His intercession that He made for us all the way through this journey here below. And I thank God for it, don't you? If that's my hope, the sacrifice of Christ to put away my sin, and He intercedes for me right now, I got a good hope.

Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. We love to read and study these pictures of Christ and then to see how he is so much better. That he is everything that we need. And Lord, we pray hasten the day when you can return and bring your people home to be with you where we'll be made body and soul just like our Lord Jesus Christ and being able to worship Him perfectly for eternity. But Lord, until then, we're thankful that you give us these times to meet together and ask that you would meet with us when we do meet. Keep giving us more pictures of Christ, more sights of Christ by faith, More times we can feed on Him by faith to sustain us until that time that you call us home. Father, it's in Christ's name, for His sake we pray and give thanks. Amen. All right, Shawn. OK, if you would, turn in your hymnal to song number 388 and stand as we sing, have thine own way, Lord. 388. Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way.

Thou art the potter, I am the clay. mold me and make me after Thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still. Have Thine own way, Lord, Have thine own way. Search me and try me. Master today. wider than snow. Wash me just now, as in thy presence humbly I bow. Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. Wounded and weary, help me, I pray. Power, all power, surely is thine. Touch me and heal me, Savior divine. Have thine own way, Lord, Have thine own way Hold o'er my being Absolute sway Fill with thy spirit Till all shall see Christ only, always living in me.