Turn back with me now to Exodus
chapter 40, and let's look at these last verses. Before we leave the book of Exodus,
I want to talk to you about this cloudy pillar. We've been reading
about it all the way through Exodus, and I've made some comments
about it, but we haven't looked at it in particular. this cloudy
pillar that appeared to them immediately after their exodus
out of Egypt, and stayed with them all the way until they were
settled in Canyon. Now, by way of introduction into
the message tonight, I want to mention six or seven prominent
places and things connected with this thing of clouds. We're using
cloud Here, obviously, is a type. If you look at a cloud, there's
nothing really in that cloud other than its spiritual value
to interest the believer. But there's much spiritual value
in it if you follow it through the Scriptures. The first mention
of the cloud. Anybody here know when the cloud
was first mentioned in the Bible? It was immediately after the
flood of Noah. God set His bow in the cloud. Set His bow in the cloud. His bow, speaking of the rainbow,
is a symbol of God's unchangeable covenant grace. And this covenant
grace is designed, maintained, and exercised to show chosen
sinners, to keep chosen sinners, and protect them from all that
threatens their everlasting souls. It's interesting to me that he
put his bow in the cloud, in the cloud. What is a cloud? That's what I asked myself sitting
in the study. I guess sometimes I ask myself
simple questions, but I just thought to myself, what is a
cloud? And I wasn't sure that my idea of a cloud was right,
so I looked it up to see what it is. And they said it's kind
of like an aerosol, a cloud is. It's just made up of billions
and billions of particles of water is what this cloud is. So that the cloud was that which
absorbed a portion of that wrath that poured out on mankind. That's what that cloud is. And
having absorbed that portion of wrath, was raised up into
the heavens. And there upon that cloud, God
set His covenant bow. He set His covenant bow. Now,
John said this in the book of Revelations. He said he saw heaven. He saw heaven. And a throne was
set there. in heaven. And one who sat upon
it. And there was a rainbow round
about his throne. Can you see from this very first
picture of that cloud and God's covenant bow upon it, what this
cloud symbolizes is Christ. That's what it symbolizes. And
God set it in the cloud. Now they didn't have any rain
before the flood. A mist came up from the ground
and watered everything. There was no cloud. But after
that flood, there was clouds. Clouds in the air. And then the
second prominent appearance of the clouds is in Succoth. That's
right outside, just immediately after Israel took what they took
from the Egyptians, and the Egyptians gave it to them willingly and
wanted them to leave. They were glad to see them go,
it says on Psalms. They wanted them to leave. And
so they did. So they did. And they'd no sooner,
if I'm looking at my map right in the back of the Bible, they'd
no sooner crossed the river Nile, than God's cloud appeared to
them there in Succoth, and followed them, and is following them now
where we're reading about there in Exodus. God will not have
His people journey through the wilderness alone, but He'll follow
them all the way. And then the third prominent
revelation of the cloud is given in Exodus chapter 19, where God
speaks through His servant concerning Sinai. You remember that when
God spoke to Moses there on Mount Sinai? And in this revelation,
bonds were set for the people. Not man or beast was permitted
to so much as touch that mountain, let alone go up in it. And yet
Moses went up into the cloud and spoke with God on that mountain. And then the next prominent mention
of the cloud is on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was Moses
and Elijah who represented the law and the prophets. They talked
to our Lord about His decease. Now, do you remember back in
some of the studies that I've given you what that word decease
means? Exodus. They talked there with
the Lord about His exodus. And Peter, looking at them, and
they were glistering in their appearance in white, he looked
at them, and he got excited, and he said, let's build three
tabernacles. Let's build three tabernacles.
One for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Christ. And immediately,
it said, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Immediately. As soon as
he said it. You remember what he said? This
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear you Him. Hear you Him. And then fifthly, we see the
cloud again mentioned at the ascension of Christ. Over in
Acts chapter 1 verse 9, where they're talking about the last
time they saw the Lord Jesus Christ. And they said, when He
had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up,
and a cloud received Him out of their sight. Here we see the
promise of God, the presence of God, carrying our Lord to
His throne in glory. And then sixthly, speaking of
that last and terrible day of the Lord, it says, they shall
see the Son of Man coming upon a cloud. He cometh with clouds
and power and great glory. And then there's one more that
I didn't even think about until we were preparing to leave the
house a while ago. And I told Kathy, I said, I think
I found one more reference to that cloud. In Hebrews chapter
12. After that great roll call of
faith. You remember what he said over
there? Let's turn over there and look at that. Over in Hebrews chapter 12. It goes all the way through chapter
11, given that great roll call of faith. And then he says here
in chapter 12, Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about,
was so great a cloud of witnesses. A cloud of witnesses. Let us
lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset
us. What do witnesses witness of?
What's he talking about here? He's talking about Christ. Talking
about Christ. Now the cloud, if I'm looking
at it correctly, is a picture of the Spirit of Christ. The
Spirit of Christ. And so it fits when it's in those
prophets of old. You remember reading over there
in Peter where it said they inquired as to what or what time that
Spirit of Christ which was in them did testify. That is that
cloud of witnesses he is talking about. Those Old Testament prophets
and these New Testament apostles and all these men and women who
have been called from the beginning of time, this great cloud of
witnesses. And so if you're talking about
them as a cloud, then you're talking about the spirit of Christ.
You're talking about a picture of Christ. You're talking about
the spirit of Christ. And on and on and on it goes.
And tonight, I've got four things I want you to see in our study
that I believe ought to help us to make the right application
to this blessed figure, and at the same time, give us some comfort
as we're enabled to see how these things are connected with us. The first thing I want you to
see is that this cloud manifested the presence of God. The presence
of God. Now you think about that, what
he's talking about here, the presence of God. What we do in
here and what's done in the churches out there, there'd be no difference
at all but for the presence of God. The presence of God. God did not speak, nor was He
spoken to, except through this cloud. Did you ever notice that? The cloud came down. And when
it came down, Moses would approach the cloud, and God would speak
to him out of the cloud, and then He'd go tell the people.
Or He'd tell Aaron and Aaron and tell the people. But God
spoke to it. And when He spoke to God, same
thing. Same thing. And when I think of the work
of the Holy Spirit, I cannot help but think of the presence
of God. And I don't care if it's in the
wilderness of Sinai or it's in the temple of Jerusalem. When
they built that big temple, when Solomon completed the work, it
said the cloud came down and filled that temple. Filled that
temple. And where the cloud came down
and filled that temple, it filled that temple with what we call
the Shekinah, the Shekinah glory. of God. So when you think about
the Holy Spirit, we think about the presence of God. And that's
in this cloudy pillar that followed them. This is what this symbolizes
to me. He told His disciples, you remember
what He told them when He left and ascended up into glory? He
said, you go to Jerusalem and wait. He didn't tell them to
vote. He didn't tell them to elect another He didn't tell
them to do any of those things. He told them to go to Jerusalem
and wait until they'd be endued with power from on high. And
of course, we know now by plain revelation of Scripture that
that power from on high was the Holy Spirit of God poured out
upon His church. Our victorious Lord was received
up into glory. His first order of business was
to send the Holy Spirit to manifest His presence to the church. And
all those chosen of God to be sons, and all those predestinated
to the adoption of the same, because they are sons, because
they are sons, God has sent forth His Spirit into their hearts,
whereby they cry, Abba, Father. As far as I know, there's no
other way to discern God's presence except by the Holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance. That's how
we know if we're called of God. That work of the Holy Spirit
within revealing Christ to the heart. I don't know any other
way to discern your election of God. Man's not willing, he's
made willing in the day of God's path. And so on. He's not seeking
God. How does God seek him? How does
God work in him? It's God who worketh in you both
to will and to do of His good pleasure. So this is the first
thing we discern when we look at this cloud. I see the presence
of God. That's what this cloud was put
there for. For them to know that. And then
the second thing I want you to see about this cloud is that
it was with them. It was with them. It wasn't with
Egypt. It wasn't with them and Egypt.
It was with them. It was a sign of God's favor
concerning Israel. And this cloud was there as a
blessing to us. It was there as a blessing. When God manifests the Spirit
of Christ upon His church, it's to bless them. That's what it's
for. It's to bless them. It's to make
His presence and favor known. Well, how do we know when God
has made His presence and favor known? How do we know that? The
sky is full of clouds. You know, you go over there in
the book of Jude, and he talks about clouds over there that
promise rain, but there's no rain. There's clouds over there
who promise something, but they don't give anything. So how do
we know that we have His clouds? How do we know that? The sky
is full of clouds, There's more than just one spirit in this
world. How do we know that we have the right spirit? Because
God speaks. God speaks. Because our cloud
illuminates. Because our clouds lead us and
protect us, stays with us. And because our cloud manifests
the glory of God. Turn back to Exodus chapter 16. Let me show you something back
here. Exodus chapter 16 and verse 10. Talking about this cloud,
this cloud of God. And it came to pass, verse 10,
Exodus chapter 16. As Aaron spake unto the whole
congregation of the children of Israel, that they look toward
the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in
the cloud." That's how you know if you have the right cloud,
the right spirit, because it reveals to the heart the glory
of God. And God's Spirit is particular.
It's not universal in its manifest presence. This cloud was manifested
especially to Israel. So this cloud indicates not only
God's presence with them, but it indicates God's favor to them. It was a blessing upon them.
And then thirdly, let's talk a little bit about what this
cloud was about. And primarily, as I said at the
get-go, this thing is about Christ. It's about Christ. And when we
talk about the Holy Spirit, over in John 16, our Lord said, it
is expedient for you that I go away. If I don't go away, the
Comforter is not going to come. But if I go away, I'll send to
you the Comforter. And when He comes, He's going
to convince the world of sin and righteousness and judgment.
And He said, here's how you're going to know the Holy Spirit
of God. He won't speak of Himself. He won't speak of Himself. But
He'll take the things of mine and show them unto you. That's
how you know the Spirit of Christ is upon His people. That's how
you know that the Spirit is upon this church or that church, because
He reveals Christ. They preach Christ. That whole
church is about nothing else but Christ. It was about Christ. He led them, it says, the way
in Exodus 13, 21. He revealed to them the will
of God. You can see that in Exodus 40,
37, and 38, where He said, when the cloud rested, they rested. When the cloud moved, they moved. revealed to them the will of
God. And most of all, and this is what I want you to see also,
that it ratified or set apart from all the others the one true
tabernacle of God. God had one tabernacle in which
He promised to meet with His people. But these heathens, they
had temples and tabernacles all over the place. You remember
I studied there in In Genesis, where old Pharaoh went out, or
early in the book of Exodus, I can't remember, I guess it
was early in the book of Exodus, where old Pharaoh would go out
there, and he had these little things built up too, and they'd
go out there and worship the river, and worship the frogs,
and all these. They had tabernacles, but they
had just one true tabernacle. Just one true tabernacle. And
God ratified that tabernacle by His presence in it. In Exodus
40, verse 34, it says, Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation,
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And as that tabernacle in the
wilderness was sanctified or set apart by the Spirit of God,
so it says in John 3, verse 34, For he whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto
him. When I think about the Old Testament
and its priests and sacrifices and cleansings and all these
things, what benefit would any of those things be without an
understanding? Huh? I was watching some football
games. They had all the playoffs, and I was watching some of the
playoffs, and I was happy to see all the underdogs won. But
as I was watching that, the Catholics had a commercial on there, and
in that commercial, They were talking about what all they stand
for. And in one of those things, they
said they received Christ through the sacraments. And so you can
go on and on in religion. I just happened to pick that
out because it was on my mind. But you can go into the Baptists
or the Methodists or any of the religions, any of the huge religious
denominations of our day. You can go through there. And
they go through ceremonies. And they do things. And they
have flags. And they have all these things. But these things
don't have any meaning. They don't understand what they
mean. And you can fill a place up with things, but if they don't
mean anything to you, you're not benefited by them. You follow
what I'm saying? There's no benefit in coming
to church, to a building, unless it means something. It has to
mean something. And the Holy Spirit of God is
who gave the meaning of the sacrifices. I mean, what would it accomplish?
Go out here and cut the throat of a lamb and burn it up on an
altar, take its blood in and sprinkle it out on an altar.
None of those things would accomplish anything. It's what they meant. It's what they pictured and what
they taught. Washing in a brass laver. What
would that do? Incense on an altar, blood on
a mercy seat. None of those things would make
any sense apart from Christ. And the Holy Spirit of God takes
those things and He teaches us the work of Christ. And everything in religion has
no purpose without the revelation of the Spirit of God in the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. And as this cloud abode in Israel,
it instructed Moses to in turn minister to Israel and teach
them what these things meant. This cloud is about the Savior
of Israel. And from this cloud, God caused
His manna to rain down. His manna rained down from this
cloud. And you can go on and on and on through these things.
It was a comfort to them. It was a comfort. It was a shade
by day and a fiery pillar by night. It not only gave off light,
but it gave off warmth. Gave off warmth. It was always
there. Always with them. Always for
them. Always a blessing to them. Where
would our comfort be without the Comforter? You see what I'm
saying? And that's why I say what I say
about religion. It's nothing but a powerless,
empty profession apart from Him. As the Holy Spirit comes to God's
elect, He brings life and light and sustenance and preservation
and so on. He comforts. He comforts. And then, fortunately, this cloud
manifested a two-fold division. A division. The first division
is very obvious, that is, this present evil world. He manifested
that when, you remember, as they approached the sea, God told
them to turn in here and go in this way. And so they did. And Egypt said, now we've got
them. Now we've got them. There's no escape here. And they
were coming hard on Israel. And God removed Himself from
their face and moved behind them. He moved behind them. Now watch
this, Exodus 14 verse 23. And the Egyptians pursued and
went after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's
horses, his chariots and horsemen. And it came to pass that in the
morning watch, And the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians
through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the
host of the Egyptians. And He took off their chariot
wheels, that they dragged them heavily, so that the Egyptians
said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth
for them and against the Egyptians." But it was too late, wasn't it?
It's too late. And God calls the waters to pour
in on top of them. The Holy Spirit of God
bears witness against all those who will not bow to Christ and
receive the things of the Spirit of God and bow to the will of
God. And most of the time, when His
curse becomes obvious, it's too late. Turn with me to Exodus
14. Let me see if I can show you
in this type how things are seen one way by believers and another
way by this world. Exodus chapter 14 verse 19. Did I just read that to you all? Okay. Exodus 14 verse 19. And
the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed
and went behind them, and the pillar of the cloud went from
before their face and stood behind them, and it came between the
camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. And it was a
cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these,
so that the one came not near the other all night." Which is
a light to us is utter darkness to others. I remember our Lord
praying on one occasion. He said, I thank Thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. What's light
to you is utter darkness to them. Utter darkness. What was favor to one, was a
division to the other. And what was comfort to one was
despair to the other. So the first of these divisions
is between Israel and the world, the heathen. And then secondly,
this cloud also made divisions among Israel. Now I want you
to see this. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 10. Paul makes application of this
to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 1. What we're talking about here
is the second part of the division made by this cloud, which represents
the Holy Spirit of God. He says in verse 1, 1 Corinthians
10, Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant,
how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed
through the sea. and were all baptized unto Moses
in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual
meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank
of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was
not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness."
And then he goes back to all those places where they rebelled
against God, where they played religion while Moses was on the
mountain, where they tempted Christ, where they murmured against
God and all of their idolatries. And then in verse 11, he tells
us, now all these things happened unto them for example. And they are written for our
admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore,
let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There was a lot in Israel who
thought they stood, but they fell. They fell. They were reckless
in their lives. They were unthoughtful in their
rebellion. They had no respect to the things
of the Spirit of God. And their carcasses fell in the
wilderness. Let me tell you something. Man looks on the outward countenance,
don't he? He looks on the outward countenance.
God looks on the heart. God can see your heart. I just
see what you do. I just hear what you say. But
God goes farther than that. He sees what's on your heart.
And He knows what's on your mind. Sometimes that which is highly
esteemed among man is an abomination to God. And God Himself will
divide within the assembly of the saints and bless those who
believe and curse those who don't. He'll separate them. He'll take
them out. He'll take them out. He'll cause something to happen
to remove them and take them right out of the midst. He'll
make them tired. I don't have a booklet at home
or a file where I go over there in the afternoon. I say, well,
I think I'll preach on faith. So I go over and look up faith
and pull out a message. That's not how my messages come.
I just study the Scriptures and God will call something to impress
me and I'll study on that. Also, I look at the congregation
and I look at things that are happening and I hear things that
are being said and I'll deal with those things as the need
arises. I'll deal with those things.
But what I'm saying to you is this. God Himself knows the problems. He knows the problems. And He
knows when to deal with them and He knows how to deal with
them. And He'll cause things to happen. He'll cause things
to happen just like He did in the wilderness. All those things
with all those men who wanted to overthrow Moses out in the
wilderness and with all those things went on. God brought those
things to pass in His providence. And He did it to take the troublemakers
out. And He did, didn't He? All the
way through. All the way through. And that's
what Paul is saying. You be careful. You be careful
with your lives. You be careful with the way you
act and the way you think and the way you treat things that
belong to God. You be careful with them. Because these things happen to
them for our example. Our example. May God be pleased
to manifest the Spirit of Christ in us through His Gospel and
enlighten us and comfort us and protect us and lead us by His
Spirit for Christ's sake.