Oh, for grace to love thee more. Last year, Brother Larry Brown
and I were driving down to Tennessee, and Larry had let me know frequently
that he's driven through the mountains, Cumberland Pass with
me, Numerous times over the years, always at night, he couldn't
see a thing. So we drove down during the day.
And I took him a route that I had not been in a long time. After
you go through the tunnels, you get off the road and take off
through the Cumberland Gap, actually go through the gap. And Larry
was driving, and we were just enjoying the scenery. And he
said to me, he said, don't you know When those fellas saw that
gap, they knew they had discovered something going through those
mountains. I rarely ever cross over the
mountains and observe the rugged, rugged, rugged terrain. And unless
you have been in the mountains enough to get out and walk some
of the terrain, climb those hills, and try to go from one place
to the other, you can't imagine how rugged the terrain is just
looking at it. But I go through the mountains and I think, what
remarkable people those early pioneers must have been who kept
pressing westward in this country, having to leave the Shenandoah
Valley in Virginia and cross the mountains to come over here.
It's just, either they were remarkable people or they were scared to
death or something, they would leave them behind. They were just remarkable
people, tough, tough folks going to a land they didn't have any
idea what to expect. Only they could expect warring
Indians, wild beasts, rugged hills, and a tough life. That's all they knew to expect.
They must have been truly remarkable. But just suppose, just suppose,
they started out on that journey with some promises. promises
that once they got to the other side of those rugged, rugged
mountains, they would inherit a land of indescribable bounty
and pleasure. A land in which there would be
nothing but peace and prosperity and health and life endlessly. A land in which every enemy would
bow at their feet and every obstacle would become a help to them along
the way. And that before going into that
land, there would be a mighty angel to go before them, who
would conquer their foes, clear the path, and take possession
of the land in their name, and would assuredly bring them into
the land. Well, I think maybe I would have
gone on that journey. I believe I said, put me in line. That's
just exactly what we have in our text this evening. Exodus
chapter 20, chapter 23, beginning at verse 20. The Lord God gave the children
of Israel his law at Sinai. And now he is about to lead them
into the land of Canaan through a direct path of 40 years wandering
in the wilderness. The title of my message tonight
is The Angel Sent Before Us, or Christ Our Protector. Take
your pick. Exodus chapter 23. After giving
his law, the Lord promises that he will try his people and he
will prove them again and again. but He graciously encourages
them. He promised them that He would give them the infinite
care of His abiding love and assured them that His angel would
go before them, keep them in the way, and at last bring them
into that land He had prepared for them specifically. And we'll
begin here in this 20th verse and work our way through the
end of the chapter, verse 33. But as we do, please remember
Please remember, as you read the Old Testament, as we read
these verses, these things were written for our learning and
our admonition that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures,
might have hope. This is more than a historic
record. We are about to read the Word
of God given to you and me, filled with promises. Promises here,
not merely ancient promises to an ancient people about an ancient
land, but present promises. Promises to you and to me. God's true Israel. Those who
are called the Israel of God. His holy nation. His chosen people. We are given these promises from
our God. And just as the Lord God fulfilled
all the promises He made to Israel as a civil nation, and He did
fulfill them. We'll look at it in a little
bit in Joshua 23. Every promise he gave to Israel, every promise
he gave to Abraham as the covenant head of Israel as a physical
nation, he fulfilled in Joshua's day. Let no one tell you that
there's some promises God hasn't yet fulfilled to Israel, land
promises and so on. He fulfilled them when Joshua
brought them into the land. And just as he fulfilled all
those covenant promises made to Abraham, in spite of Israel's
disobedience, in spite of their disobedience,
so he will fulfill every promise of his grace in spite of you
and in spite of me. In spite of what we do, not because
of what we do. In spite of what we are, not
because of what we are. First, let's look at this angel
in verse 20 Behold, I send an angel before thee, and our translators
rightly capitalize the word angel. This angel I send before thee
is to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the place
which I have prepared. The land of Canaan was specifically
created and prepared by God for the children of Israel. It was
given to the children of Israel as a matter of promise. It is
used in the Scripture to represent two things. Now, when you read
commentaries or hear sermons and folks deal with the land
of Canaan, you'll hear one fellow say, this is not talking about
heaven, this is talking about the believer's experience now.
The other fellow say, no, this is not talking about the believer's
experience now, this is talking about heaven. Both of them are
wrong and both of them are right. The passages dealing with the
land of Canaan clearly have reference to heaven's everlasting glory.
Canaan is compared to that final resting place in which our Lord
Jesus sits now in Hebrews chapter 4. There are those who could
not enter in because of unbelief and those who certainly must
enter in because of God's promise. We shall be carried into our
land of inheritance by the hand of our God. And the land of Canaan
is also used in scripture to speak of the believer's present
experience of grace. We recognize that in the land
of Canaan there are many enemies that must be subdued. And so
it is with the believer as we live in this world. We live in
the midst of countless enemies, enemies within. who must be subdued,
who must be brought down, who must be purged from the land,
and that by the hand of our God. Canaan represents our whole experience
of grace, culminating at last in heavenly glory. Here the Lord
God promises that he will send his angel before us. And this
angel has two specific assignments, two tasks that he must perform. two tasks for which he as God's
angel, the word means messenger, he as God's messenger must perform. They are things for which he
and he alone is responsible. It is his responsibility to keep
us in the way and it is his responsibility to bring us into the land, the
place the Lord God has prepared for us. Does any ask who is this
angel? Need I tell you this angel is
Jesus Christ our Redeemer, the angel of the covenant. This is
the angel that Moses heard speak in the bush, whom he worshipped
as the Lord God. This angel is both Jehovah and
Jehovah's messenger. He is Jehovah our Savior, Jehovah
our Protector. He is described in this manner
in the scriptures. He is called the angel of the
Lord who led Israel in the wilderness, who saved them and redeemed them
and bore them and carried them all the days of old, that one
against whom Israel rebelled, that one against whom Israel
sinned, that one they tempted for 40 years in the wilderness.
Now I know a A lot of folks say, we can't refer to Christ as an
angel, that's derogatory, that's not correct. This does not in
any way reflect upon our Lord's character as God, any more than
referring to Him as a man reflects upon His character as God. This
angel is the angel of the Lord that constantly appeared to the
children of God in the Old Testament in a pre-incarnate human form. He appeared to them in the form
of a man to tell them he is coming indeed as a man. He is the angel
of the Lord's presence. But there are two things clearly
in this text that make it unmistakably clear that the angel here is
our Savior. In verse 21, we're told that
this angel has the authority and ability to forgive sin. And
none can forgive sin but God. And then we're told again in
verse 21, at the very end of this verse, the Lord God says,
my name is in him. That is, I'm in him. He is me. This is my character. You see
it in this angel. Christ our Lord is that angel.
of whom the prophets so often spoke as our Savior and our great
Redeemer and Protector. He's the angel of the Lord that
Zechariah saw standing in the midst of the myrtle trees. The
trees representing God's people and he stands in the midst of
them to defend his people, interceding for them. He is Michael the archangel
who stood beside Joshua when Satan arose to accuse him and
would bring up Moses against Joshua. The angel of the Lord
stood by and defended Joshua. This is how the psalmist speaks.
The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him
and delivereth them. I've told you this before when
I was, sometimes young fellows like to be a little severe and
I wasn't any less severe than others. I have a very dear friend
who's with the Lord now, Brother Elmer Harrell. He was a very
simple man. He used to pray and I was a little
annoyed to hear him pray. He'd say, Lord, encamp round
about us. And I thought, that's a kind
of strange way to talk until I read in the scriptures. The
angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him. He
pitches his tent around us all the time. Zechariah describes
him as setting a fire around us. He encamps around us to protect
us and to fight off our foes at all times, to defend his feeble
ones in the earth, Isaiah 63. He says, in the affliction he
was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In
his love and in his pity, he, the angel of God's presence,
redeemed them and bared them and carried them all the days
of old. Now, look what God says here
in our text about Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, as the angel of
the Lord sent before us. Behold, I send an angel before
thee. I'm sending this angel ahead
of you. to keep thee in the way, and
to bring thee into the place which I have prepared for you."
Especially prepared. First, he declares, I send my
angel before you. I send him ahead of you. I send him to lead the way, to
go before you. The Lord Jesus was sent forth
by our God before us as our surety in the covenant of grace. And
he was sent forth from everlasting. His goings forth had been of
old, even from everlasting. He was sent forth before us when
He came into the world in the fullness of time as our substitute
to establish righteousness and to redeem us. Sent before us
to judgment. Sent before us to death. Sent
before us in resurrection glory into heaven itself as our forerunner. There to take possession of heaven
in our room and in our stead. He is sent before us in His good
providence as our Savior. Just as He must needs go through
Samaria There is an appointed time of love for each of God's
elect. And the Lord Jesus goes before them to seek and to save
His own. And He arranges all things necessary
for their good. And He is sent before us in this
journey of ours. He went ahead. He didn't just
blaze the trail. He went ahead in the trail and
made all things smooth and easy for us. Not only did He make
them smooth and easy, He is Himself the way. He puts us in the way
and He keeps us in the way. This is what God promises. I
send Him before you to keep thee in the way. Oh, thank God. that he does. Not only is that
his work and his responsibility, the Lord God declares that he
will bring us at last into the place which he has prepared for
us. Turn to John chapter 10. John
chapter 10. Now when we speak of something
being the responsibility of God's Son, You need to understand that. You need to understand what's
meant. Is the Son of God responsible to anybody? He is responsible
to His Father. As Jehovah's Servant, He voluntarily
made Himself responsible to His Father. He made Himself responsible
by pledging Himself as our Redeemer, and as our surety, He is bound
by His Word. Thus, the whole of our salvation
I mean by that the complete salvation of all God's elect. The complete
salvation of those people given to Him from eternity. The complete
salvation of all represented by Him is His responsibility. Let's see if this is what Scripture
says. John chapter 10 verse 14. The Lord Jesus is here speaking
of Himself in this servant character. in this character as our substitute
and our surety, here called our shepherd. I am the good shepherd,
a shepherd to whom sheep have been entrusted. David tended
his father's sheep. Moses took care of his father-in-law's
sheep. They were trusted to them as
shepherds. They were responsible to care
for them. to provide them, to protect them,
to feed them, to lead them in their pastures, to lead them
out in the morning and bring them in in the evening. And it
was their responsibility to see to it that every sheep that went
out was brought back in. That was the shepherd's responsibility.
Nobody ever thought about punishing the sheep for not coming back
in. That's the shepherd's responsibility. No one ever thought about calling
the sheep to account. That's the shepherd's responsibility.
The Lord Jesus says, I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep. I know who they are, and I know
where they are. I know everything about them, and I know them.
I love them. And them known am I. My sheep
know me. They know me. They know me because
I've called them. I've called them by name, and
they heard the shepherd's voice, and I lead them out. As the Father
knoweth me, Even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life
for everybody. I lay down my life for the sheep. Just in case somebody might think
there's some other sheep around somewhere. The sheep. The sheep
my father gave me. And other sheep I have. Not just
these that you're looking at now. Not these right here in
this assembly here tonight. Other sheep I have which are
not of this fold. They haven't yet been born. They
haven't yet been brought into the world. I have other sheep
not of this Jewish fold. Them also, look at the word,
I must break. Must. Now, I've got a little secret
to share with you. The surest way to get me not
to do something, is tell me I got to do it. Surest way to get me
not to do it. I'm sorry. There's still that
much of Adam in me and a heap sight more. But the surest way
to get me not to do something is tell me you got to do it.
You're going to do this. Just ask anybody who knows me.
That's just not the way to get things done. Unless. Unless. It's something I've declared
I will do. Unless it's something I'm responsible
to do. Unless it's something that I
have engaged to do. The Lord Jesus, as our surety,
engaged to save our souls. And He said, I've got to do it.
This word must, it means it's binding upon me. Binding upon
me because this is my Father's decree. Binding upon me because
this is my oath. binding upon me, because this
is what I came to do as Jehovah's servant, as the shepherd of the
sheep. Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice,
and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth
my Father love me. You mean the Father didn't love
the Son before? Of course He did. Of course He did. But He
says the Father loves me because I have earned His love as his
servant, as the surety of my people, as the shepherd of my
sheep. The Father loves me because I deserve it. I've earned it.
Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down in myself. I have the power to lay it down.
I have the power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. He is Jehovah's servant who said,
I love my father, love my master, I love my wife, I love my children,
here, bore my ear, I'll do what you say. And he took the commandment
to redeem and save his people. Now, look at verses 21 and 22
back in our text. I've been talking to you about
free grace, free salvation, free mercy. Promises of grace and
mercy that are pure, free, and unconditional. No qualification. But in verses 21 and 22, Darwin,
there's a condition here. There's a condition. And the
condition's obedience. Look what it says. Beware of
him, beware of my angel. Obey his voice. Provoke him not,
for he will not pardon your transgressions. For my name's in him. Remember
when Moses said, Lord, show me your glory? God said, I am the
Lord. I will by no means clear the
guilty. My name's in him. My name's in
him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice and do, look what
it says, all. Wow. You mean that's the condition? All you got to do is everything
he says? That's all you got to do. That's all you got to do. And the children of Israel will
see it when we get in chapter 24. They say, well, what was
it God said do? Man, that's a snap. We'll do
that. Just tell me what it is, Lord, you want me to do. I can
do that. How foolish man is. God says, thou shalt do all that
I speak. Then will I be an enemy unto
thine enemies and an adversary unto thine adversaries. Does
that mean that God's grace is conditional? Does God require
obedience from us as a condition of mercy? Does God's promise
depend upon our obedience? A thousand times hear me, no. No. You may be thinking, but
Pastor, these verses sure seem to read that way. Let's see if
they do. Did the children of Israel obey
the Lord? We read it in Psalm 106, didn't we? Again, and again,
and again, and again, while they were in Egypt. at the Red Sea,
when they got to the other side of the sea, just as soon as they
got to the other side of the sea and saw Pharaoh's armies, they
gathered up all the things they did from the dead soldiers of
Pharaoh's armies and started in the wilderness, and again,
and God raised up this thing and that, and again, and again,
and again. They provoked me to anger. Forty years, God said, they provoked
me to my face. Forty years. Well, did God cast
them off? Paul said, even as late as Romans
chapter 11, said God's not cast them off. God's not cast off
His people whom He forged yet. No. No, God's not cast them off.
Did God fulfill His promises? Did He bring them into the land
and do what He said He would do? Turn to Joshua chapter 23. Let's see. Nevertheless, He saved them for
His namesake. He swore he was going to bring
them into his land, didn't he? He told Abraham, he said, now they're
going down to Egypt 400 years, and after 400 years I'm going
to bring them out, I'm going to bring them to this land, and they're
going to inherit this land. He said he would. Here he says you've
got to obey. They didn't obey. Joshua 23,
verse 3. Joshua is speaking. You have
seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto you, unto all
these nations, because of you. For the Lord your God is he that
hath fought for you. Verse 9. For the Lord hath driven
out from before you great nations and strong. But as for you, no
man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of
you shall chase a thousand. For the Lord your God, he it
is that fighteth for you as he hath promised you. Verse 11,
take good heed therefore unto yourselves that you love the
Lord your God else if you do in any wise go back and cleave
unto the remnant of these nations even these that remain among
you and shall make marriages with them and go into the land
of them and they to you. But get down to verse 14, and
behold this day I'm going the way of all the earth And ye know
in all your hearts and in all your souls, now watch this, that
not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the
Lord your God spake unto you concerning you. All are come
to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. Well, I have to ask, Lord, what
is the obedience you require of me? What is the obedience
upon which these promises are conditioned? And yet the children
of Israel obeyed not. They obeyed not. Many perished
in the wilderness because of what? What does the book say? Unbelief. What is the obedience
God requires of you? It's called in Romans 16, verse
16, the obedience of faith. God requires that we bring to
Him everything He has commanded. And when we bring to Him His
Son, we bring Him perfect obedience and complete satisfaction so
that God Almighty in perfect justice gives us the reward of
glorious inheritance with Him in heaven itself. Oh, that's
mercy. Free mercy. Just as God uses
Israel for an illustration, He brings to pass in reality in
our lives. We, His children, in spite of
all our faults and failures and sins, in spite of all our feeble
weakness and infirmity, in spite of all the misery and woe of
our fallen nature, God Almighty made us a promise, and God Almighty
is as good as His promise, for His promises are all yea and
amen in Christ Jesus, not in you and not in me. The angel
sent before us was sent before us to make salvation sure and
he's done it. Verse 23, for mine angel shall
go before thee. He went before me and obeyed
God's law. He went before me and satisfied
divine justice. Mine angel shall go before thee,
and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites,
and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I'll cut
them off. I'll cut them off. All our enemies, all our foes,
all our raging, raging militias, vile foes within called sin cuts
them off with Satan he takes our sins out of the way and nails
them to his cross just as God took these foes of Israel out
of the land of Canaan by his angel bringing them into the
land the Lord Jesus went before us and by his death as our substitute
He cut off the foes. He brings us into the land. Verses 24 through 26, God again
demands that we keep ourselves from idols and from idolatry,
promising His unfailing grace to all who worship Him. To our
enemies, Christ is an enemy. To our adversaries, He's an adversary. He blesses our bread and water,
making them nourishing and refreshing to us. He frees us from sickness
and disease, all the consequences of sin. In verse 26, he says,
there'll not be anything barren in all the land. In the kingdom
of grace, there's no such thing as a barren womb, no miscarriages,
no abortions, no fruitless soul. Brother Don, what are you talking
about? What are you talking about? I've had two or three abortions.
I've had two or three miscarriages. I've had no fruit from my womb. What are you talking about? The
fruit of the Spirit in God's people, in them all. And it is
brought forth by His hand, exactly as He will, for the glory of
His name and the good of our souls. Every heaven-born soul
has his days fulfilled, and the Lord God promises to satisfy
us with long life, eternal life, salvation in Christ
Jesus the Lord. Look at verse 27. I will send
my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom
thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their
back to thee. Our enemies. Our enemies are not the people
of this world. We spend our lives preaching
the gospel to the people of this world, praying for God to gather
his elect out of this world. But if men set themselves in
opposition to God's church, and they do, they do, men set themselves
in opposition to God's church, they set themselves in opposition
to God. Do you understand that? Now,
I don't mean we shouldn't be careful and responsible. I don't
mean we shouldn't be responsible citizens. You know better than
that. We ought to be the most responsible of all citizens.
But fear nothing. Fear nothing. Those who set themselves
against us set themselves against God. Those who set themselves
against one who follows Christ set themselves against Christ.
Those who seek to harm one of God's children seek to harm God
Himself, and that's not going to happen. It's just not going
to happen. They find themselves, after all, fleeing when nobody's
pursuing. This is what the wise man said,
the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as
a lion. The wicked, they always think
somebody's after them. They're paranoid. They flee and,
what have you got against me? I don't even know your name.
What have I got against you? No, no. They flee because they're
guilty. But God promises that he will cause his own to inherit
his promised grace, everlasting glory with Christ Jesus. with
supernatural works, just as He caused Israel to inherit and
possess the land of Canaan. Look at verse 23. Or verse 28,
rather. I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivites,
and the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before thee. Whoever heard tale of nations
Not just families, not just communities, nations being destroyed by hornets. Any upon whom God sends hornets. And with just that much ease.
God says I'll drive them out with hornets. With hornets. None
but God could do so. But really our enemies are those
within. Enemies with which we must do
battle continually. like the Amorites, and the Hittites,
and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and the Canaanites
within. They are the Canaanites dwelling
in our hearts, the lust of our flesh. But for wise and holy
reasons, known only to himself, the Lord God says, I'm not going
to do this all at once. You're going to have to fight
with these enemies. as long as you live on this earth.
Verse 29, I will not drive them out from before thee in one year,
lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field multiply
against thee. By little and little I will drive
them out from before thee, until thou be increased and inherit
the land. How often I'm asked, Mother Don, why All these lusts,
these lusts obscene. Why these corruptions? Why so much unbelief? Why so much coldness? Why such
sin? Why? God could just as easily remove
all sin from me while I live in the midst of nothing but sin
as remove it from me when it takes me to glory. Do you doubt that? Have any question
about that? He can make your heart burn with
love for him right now just as he shall when you see him face
to face and just as permanently. Oh,
why, Lord, have you left us here like this? He hasn't left us
here. He's put us here with himself
going before us all the time like this for at least these
reasons. That we may ever know and demonstrate
that salvation is altogether his work of grace. What you do or don't do, Phil
Simpson, ain't got a thing on this earth to do with it. His
salvation's got a lot to do with what you do or don't do. But
your doing or not doing has nothing to do with his salvation. He's
left us here like this, that we may ever be made to know and
to remember that the only thing that distinguishes us from anybody
else on this earth or anybody in hell is God's distinguishing
grace. He alone makes us to differ.
And the difference is the difference of election and redemption and
regeneration and preservation. And that's all the difference.
He's left us here like this, that we may ever be made to know
in the sweet experience of his grace, My grace is sufficient
for thee. What do I need? Nothing but grace. Just grace. And His grace is
sufficient. Sufficient. Paul said, as that
messenger God sent him to Bethlehem, after he had seen things nobody
else had seen, Lest he be exalted above measure, he prayed three
times, God, take it from me. Take it from me. Take it from
me. Just as we pray, oh, God, take
this from me. Take it from me. He said, live
with it. Live with it. And learn every
day, by grace, is sufficient for thee." Does the Lord Jesus bring us into the land of promise? Does
He go before us to bring us there? The latter part of the chapter
He tells us that He will cause us to inherit all the land from
the river unto Canaan. Twice we're told that our Lord
Jesus will reign with an everlasting dominion from sea unto the ends
of the earth, from the river to the ends of the earth. I take
that to mean he set the bounds of our habitation limitlessly
over all the vast expanse of creation when he has made all
things new. And we shall reign with Christ
forever in his glory, in perfect righteousness. And he, the angel
of God, shall bring us at last into that land prepared for us
and settle us in the land according to God's purpose for the glory
of his grace. Oh, may he do that for you. May
the Lord Jesus set himself in our hearts and set our hearts
upon him until he brings us at last face to face with him. Amen. Let's turn in our hymn
books to number 517.