Would you turn to Exodus 24? I'm going to attempt to speak
upon this subject, how to deal with any matters. Pretty broad
subject, isn't it? How to deal with any matters.
Now you'll see why I entitled that as we read our text. Exodus 24. beginning in verse 12. And the Lord said unto Moses,
come up to me into the Mount and be there. And I will give
thee tables of stone and a law and commandments, which I have
written that thou mayest teach them. And Moses rose up. and his minister Joshua and Moses
went up into the mount of God. And he said unto the elders,
tarry ye here for us until we come again unto you. And behold, Aaron and her are
with you. If any man have any matters to
do, let him come unto them. And Moses went up into the mount,
and a cloud covered the mount, and the glory of the Lord abode
upon Mount Sinai. And the cloud covered it six
days. We're going to look at this next
week. In the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of
the cloud, and the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring
fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of
Israel, And Moses went into the midst of the cloud and get him
up into the mount. And Moses was in the mountain
40 days and 40 nights. Now the Lord calls Moses up to
the top of Mount Sinai into his very presence. That's an awesome
thing to think about. That passage of scripture just,
it's almost scary reading it, isn't it? I mean, the way he
goes into the very presence of the Lord, the bright cloud and
so on, and he's called in and spends 40 days there. And he tells the elders that
were up there with him, the 70 elders, he said, now this is
what I want you to do. I want you to wait for me until I return. Now, does that sound close to
something else? Our Lord ascending back to his
father and saying, wait for me until I return. And you know,
that's what we're doing right now. We're waiting for his return. And I'm asking myself the question,
am I really doing that? Yes, I am. I am waiting for his
return. And Moses gives some very specific
instructions with regard to every matter. He says, take them to
Aaron and her. Now, who is Aaron? Aaron is the
great high priest. He represents the priesthood
and the intercession of Christ. with whatever matter you may
have, bring it to the great high priest Aaron and her. Her, both Gil and Pink say he
represents the Holy Spirit. There is something in his name,
the meaning of his name that makes them say that, and it is,
we know, the Holy Spirit that enables us to come to our great
high priest. This is a spiritual act. It can't
be done in the strength and energy of the flesh. The only way I
can truly come into the presence of Christ and call upon his name
is as God the Holy Spirit enables me. Now, as we live in this world,
we are waiting for his return. The Lord Jesus will come again.
Isn't that wonderful? He will return. And he'll come
as a thief in the night when nobody expects him. I know when
he's going to come. He's going to come when nobody
thinks he's coming. I think it's interesting. I was talking to
somebody recently or tonight about a fellow that's made a
date as to when he's going to come. I don't know when he's going
to come, but I know he won't come that day. I'm sure of it. The day and the
hour knows no man. And he's going to come as a thief
in the night. But when he returns, all will know who he is. Now,
he's not going to come again the way he came the first time
as a as a suffering servant. He's going to come as a mighty
reigning king. And every eye is going to see
him and everybody's going to know who he is. I love to think
of that. You know, so many people, they
don't believe on the Lord. They don't believe he's God.
They're going to find out he is. He's going to come as the
lightning is going to light the sky. Everybody is going to know
exactly who he is. And while the unbeliever will
be terrified, the believer will be glorified in his return. Look in first John chapter three,
look at a couple of scriptures with me. Charles Spurgeon preached a message
On this verse of Scripture, he entitled it, The Beautific Vision. Verse 2 of 1 John chapter 3,
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be. John, speaking under the direct
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, when talking about being in glory
when talking about being glorified when talking about being like
the Lord Jesus Christ even under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
he says we don't can't even imagine what we're gonna be. Can you
imagine what it would be to be without sin? Now that's something
that I cannot even fathom. Can't even fathom it. But beloved,
the day is coming. Let's go on reading. It does not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, and that's talking
about his second advent, when he comes with great glory, we
shall be like him. For we shall see Him as He is. What a beatific vision. What
a vision we're awaiting. Turn to Hebrews chapter 9. Turn
back a few pages to Hebrews chapter 9. Verse 28. So was once, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for Him. And I'm somebody looking for
Him right now. I'm looking for Him. That means more than looking
for His return. You know, when my name is called
on Judgment Day, you know what I'm going to be doing? I'm going
to be looking for Him to answer for me. I really am. I'm looking for Him in the Scriptures. When I read the Bible, I'm looking
for Him. This is our vocation, looking
for Him. Unto them that look for Him.
What's He going to do? Shall He appear the second time
without sin? without my sin, he bore my sin
and it's gone, it's blotted out, it's put away and he's gonna
appear to them without sin unto salvation. Now if we believe
that, if we are actually waiting upon the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we will not make this world our home. We're strangers and we're pilgrims
and this world is not our home And we're waiting for the coming
of our beloved. We're waiting for the coming
of our Savior, waiting for His return. You're there in Hebrews,
look in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 13. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. That's me. and they were persuaded
of them, and embraced them, and they confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such
things declare plainly that they seek a country, not the one here.
And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they
came out, they might have had opportunities to have returned,
but now they desire a better country, that is an heavenly.
Wherefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he
hath prepared for them a city. We're waiting for that city,
aren't we? And we're just biding our time. Now, I enjoy life here.
I enjoy my family. I enjoy you. I'm not saying I'm
just wanting to get out of here because everything's miserable.
No, I enjoy life. But I realize and I really believe
that this is nothing. This is not my home. My home
is in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there we're
going to have a worship service continually that's nothing like
this. Nothing like this. So we're looking
for his return, waiting for him to return. We live in this world,
but we're not of this world. We're just here temporarily.
Now look back at our text, what he says in Exodus 24. And he said unto the elders,
tarry ye here for us until we come again to you. Now that word
means Sit down. Wait. Be quiet. We're waiting on our Lord. Don't
have anything better to do, do we? We're waiting on our Lord. Now this word, Terry, is generally
translated, abide. Abide. How many times do we read
in the New Testament, abide in Christ? Abide in Christ. That's a place that I stay. Abide
in me. Abide in me is the branch cannot
bear fruit except it abide in the vine. No more can you except
you abide in me. I abide in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I stay there. I remain there. I don't want
to be seen outside of Him. Now what does it mean to abide
in Christ? It means this. Here's exactly what it means.
At Passover, that house with the blood on the door. When the Lord is passing through
in judgment, where do you want to be? In the house. Nowhere else. You don't want
to stick a finger out the window. You want to simply be in the
house. When God comes looking for me,
there's only one place I want him to find me. That's in the
Lord Jesus Christ, so he doesn't see anything but Christ. Is that where you want to be found?
I don't want him to see anything but the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
here's my biography, Jesus Christ the Lord. That's my biography.
You want me to tell my life story? My life story is found in the
four Gospels. The obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't want to be found any
other way. That's why Paul said, Oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law. I don't want to have anything
to do with that. But that which is through the faithfulness of
Christ, the righteousness, which is of God by faith. Abide in
Him. until he returns. Now look what
he says next in our text. And he said unto the elders,
tarry ye here for us, abide here for us, and we can see this,
the gospel here so clearly, until we come again unto you, waiting
for the coming of our Lord. And behold, Aaron and her are
with you. If any man have any matters to
do, let him come unto them. Now if you have any matters,
and that covers everything. everything, sins, problems, conflicts,
discouragements, any matters, any concerns, any causes, any
business, any diseases. I've got these words out of the
dictionary. That's all the words it gave for this thing of matters
and strong concordance. any diseases, whether physical
or spiritual, any matters to do, we're to bring them to Aaron
and her. Now, who is Aaron? Who is her? Do you remember when we were
first introduced to these two men? Turn back to Exodus chapter 17,
verse eight. Then came Amalek and fought with
Israel in Rephidim and Amalek represents the flesh. And the
Lord is so against Amalek. Look what it says in verse 14.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in
a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua. For I will utterly
put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses
built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nisi. For
he said, Because the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have
war with Amalek from generation to generation. Now Amalek represents
my natural flesh, your natural flesh. Then came Amalek, and
fought with Israel, and rephited them. And Moses said unto Joshua,
Choose us out men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow
I'll stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my
hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with
Amalek, and Moses, Aaron, and Hur. There's these two men, Aaron
and Hur. This is the first time they're mentioned together. They
went up to the top of the hill, and it came to pass when Moses
held up his hand, Now, what does this holding up of the hand signify?
Well, the first time it's mentioned in the scripture is when Abraham
held up his hand when the king of Sodom said, give me the goods
or give me the people and everything else will be given to you. All
my stuff that you recovered, it'll be given to you. And Abraham
said, I don't want it. I don't want anything that comes from
you. I've held up my hands to the Lord God. It represents complete
dependence on Him. He said I'm not even going to
take a shoelace from you unless you say I've made Abraham rich. The
Lord made me rich. The Lord is my wealth. The Lord
is my Savior. The Lord is my salvation. I'm
not looking for a thing out of you. So holding up the hands
represents dependence on the Lord. It represents faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's go on reading. And
it came to pass, verse 11, when Moses held up his hand, that
Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand,
Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy.
Can you imagine how difficult it would be to just keep your
hands held up all that time? It'd be impossible. Flesh is
weak, isn't it? Moses' hands were heavy. And
they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat there on,
and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands. The one on the one side
and the other on the other side, and his hands were steady into
the going down of the sun. He sat there on that rock with
Aaron on one side holding up one hand and her on the other.
Aaron, the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the intercession
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know the reason I can hold
my hands up and believe? Because Christ prays for me.
He said, I've prayed for you that your faith fail not. The
reason my faith is not going to fail is because of the intercession
of the Lord Jesus Christ as He's typified in Aaron and her, the
Holy Spirit. Why does my faith continue? Because
God, the Holy Spirit, gives it to me. He's the one who causes
me to continue looking to Christ. So this is where we're first
introduced to Aaron and her. Now, Moses said, if you have
any matters, problems, weaknesses, troubles, the cares, the anxieties,
the sins, the conflicts that are associated with the flesh.
You see, we're still in this body of sin, and I'm painfully
aware of it. We still have reason to cry,
just like Paul did in Romans chapter 7, when Paul, under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul, the mighty apostle, the
chief apostle, Paul said, wretched, miserable, sinful. Oh, wretched man that I am. He didn't say how I used to be,
but how I am right now. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me from this body of death? And when he's talking
about this body of death, this is an allusion to a dead body
chained to a Roman prisoner. Can you imagine having a dead,
rotting, stinking carcass chained to you? They really had to do
that. And that's exactly what he was
referring to when he was talking about his sinful body. Now, what
are we to do? We're to bring these matters
to Aaron and her until that time when we are completely delivered
from the being of sin at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever matters they are. That
just covers everything. In everything, by prayer and
supplication, let your request be made known unto God. In everything. Aren't you thankful it says everything?
No sin is too big, no problem is too small. Jesus is Lord of
all. Everything I'm to bring to Him. I'm to bring to Aaron. Let's
consider Aaron first. Aaron, the great high priest. This refers to the priesthood
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the intercession of Christ. Now
what is a priest? This is very important. What
is a priest? A priest is a man who represents
another man to God. That's what a priest is by definition.
He's a mediator. He's a go-between. You see, a
sinful man cannot come into the presence of a holy God. He must have a priest to represent
him. And that priest cannot be a sinful
man. That would make him no different
than the sinful man he represents. He must be a man without sin. Now there's only one who fits
that description in there. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only priest. He's the one great high priest
and for anybody else to arrogate to himself the office of a priest
is to arrogate to himself an office that's reserved only for
Christ and an office for which he is utterly unfit. There's only one great high priest. the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, why
do we need a priest? You know, that's pretty easy
to answer that question. Because God is holy. And because
we are sinful. That's enough of an answer, isn't
it? That's why I need a priest. Who needs a priest? A sinner. That's who needs a priest. A
sinner who can't come into God's presence on his own. He's scared
to do it. He knows he'd be wiped out if
he did. He needs somebody to represent him. Now, if you're
a hypothetical sinner, a hypothetical priest will do. If you're a theoretical
sinner, a theoretical priest will do. But if you're a real
sinner, you need a real priest to represent you before a holy
God. Now, I want us to consider our
great high priest, his person, his calling, and his character. And it will show us his qualifications
to be our high priest and why we can bring any matter, any
matter, any matter to him. And for God to be able to hear
this priest, this priest must be as good as God himself. You see, if a sinful man is a
priest. What's he got that the man he's
representing doesn't have? I mean, he's sinful. God's not
going to hear him. For God to be able to hear this priest and
accept what this priest has to say in my behalf, this priest
is going to have to be as good as God himself. Jesus Christ
is God. He's as good as God himself. He has the ear of God. But for him to represent me,
he's going to have to be a man. Yes, this priest is God himself,
but this priest is also man, one who can represent me. There is one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus, because he is the
God man. He brings God in touch with me,
and he brings me in touch with God as my representative. Now, he is eminently qualified
to be priest. Turn with me for a moment to
Hebrews chapter 5. We're going to look at several scriptures
in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 5. I want us to consider his calling
as a priest. You know, there's a lot of men,
thousands of men, who call themselves priests. And they say, God has
called me to this office. There are men who claim to be
preachers who say, God has called me to be a preacher. Now it's
one thing to say you're called of God, and it's a completely
different thing to be called of God. And really there's only
one who was called of God to this office, this office of the
great high priest. Now look here in Hebrews chapter
five, beginning in verse four. And no man takes this honor unto
himself of being a priest, but he that's called of God. as was
Aaron, the Old Testament priest who typified our great high priest. So also Christ glorified not
himself to be made an high priest, But he that said unto him, thou
art my son, today have I begotten thee. And he said in another
place, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Now, obviously he's called by God to be priest and he is well
qualified to be a priest. Now, let's look at his character. We see that God has called him
to this and therefore he's well qualified, but let's look at
his character. Look in Hebrews chapter seven, verse 26. And remember, he has to be holy
to be a true priest. Now look what it says in Hebrew
726, gotta be as good as God. For such an high priest became
us. He's just exactly what we needed, who is holy, harmless. undefiled, separate from sinners,
and made higher than the heavens. Who needeth not daily as those
high priests to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then
for the sins of the people? For this he did once when he
offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests
which have infirmities, but the word of the oath which was sent
the law maketh the Son who is consecrated forevermore. We see
his holiness. But let me ask you this. We see
His utter holiness and purity that makes Him accepted when
He comes before God. But what good would a holy priest
do me and you if He weren't also compassionate and merciful and
gracious? What good would it do you if
He's not someone who could be touched with the feelings of
your infirmities? Now, our glorious High Priest,
look in Hebrews chapter 5 verse 1, for every High Priest taken from
among men, is ordained for men in things pertaining to God,
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, who
can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the
way, for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity."
Now, our Lord Jesus Christ, this is what a glorious priest he
is. He's high and holy and yet, He can be moved to sympathy when
he sees my feeling of sin, my feeling of weakness, my feeling
of powerlessness, my feeling of being alone. He's moved to
sympathy by that. And the only way you can truly
sympathize with somebody is if you've been there. If you've
experienced it, you know when somebody tries to sympathize
with you when they've never experienced it, it doesn't really mean much
to you, does it? But he was made sin. He bore, and this amazes
me so much, everything that is associated with sin, he experienced. He felt guilty. He felt guilty. He felt shame. Who for the joy
that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame? You know what it is to be ashamed
when you've been exposed, when you've been humiliated and you're
so ashamed of yourself? He felt the shame of my sin.
So when I feel burdened under my sin, He's sympathetic. Let me prove that from the Scriptures.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14. Seeing then that we
have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus,
the son of God, let us hold fast our profession for we have not
an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities. He's touched, moved to sympathy. But he was at all points tempted,
like as we are, yet without sin. Now, if one of my brothers or
sisters falls into some grievous sin. You know, it's really not
hard for me to be compassionate toward them. Because whatever
they've done, I've done. And if I haven't done it outwardly,
I've done it in my heart. And if I've not done it outwardly,
it's only because restraining grace has kept me from it. So
it's not hard to be compassionate toward my brother. But how can
Christ be compassionate? Because he experienced it more
acutely than you or I. That's what took place on the
cross. He felt the guilt, the shame and the weakness of sin
on the cross. And because of that, he is touched
by the feeling of our infirmities. Now look back in Hebrews chapter
5. What's this priest have to offer? He says that whatever
matters you have, take it to the priest. Take it to the Aaron,
the Lord Jesus Christ, talking about his intercession. For every,
verse 1, chapter 5, verse 1, for every high priest, taken
from among men, is ordained for men and things pertaining to
God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Now
what does this man have to offer God? He's got to have something
to offer for me on my behalf. What's he have to offer God?
He offers His own precious blood. He stands before the very presence
of God offering His own precious blood. Is God pleased with that? Does God accept His blood? Oh,
you know God is well pleased with the blood of His Son. It's
always fresh. It's always powerful. It's always
all that's needed. Oh, my priest offers his own
precious blood. I love that passage of scripture.
Who is he that can condemn? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather that's risen again.
who's even at the right hand of God who maketh intercession
for us. He represents me right now, making
intercession for me. And this is what's so glorious
about this intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's making
that intercession for me when I'm aware of it and when I'm
not aware of it. He's always there. Sometimes I'm aware of
it, and I come creeping into my closet and just put, oh, have
mercy on me for Christ's sake. May he represent me. Sometimes
I'm keenly aware of my only hope being the intercession of Christ.
Sometimes I'm not even thinking about it. You know, I love that
verse of scripture in 1 John chapter 2. He says, these things
write unto you that you sin not. Make it your business. Make it your goal. Make it your
objective to never sin again. Never. When you do. When you do. We have an Advocate. We have an Intercessor with the
Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. Now, He doesn't say, if you confess
your sin, then you have the Advocate, or when you're sorry for your
sins, then you have... No! When you sin, we have an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. And he ever liveth
to make intercession for us. I love that scripture that we
open the service with. Wherefore, he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them. And I tell you what, right
now I'm coming to God by him. I'm not coming to God beside
him. I'm not coming to God behind him. I'm coming to God by him. As I'm united to Him, when He
comes into God's presence, I'm coming too. I come to God by
the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's able to save them to
the uttermost that come to God by Him. Now briefly consider
the place of his ministry. It's not some creepy, dark confessional
booth. I don't know of anything more
creepy. I mean, that's creepy. People come in, you come in and
tell some other man your sin and all you're doing is corrupting
him along with him. How corrupt he must be in the first. That's
creepy, isn't it? Dark, scary, you know what? It's creepy. But the place of his ministry,
ministry is not in some dark, creepy confessional book booth. Turn to Hebrews 9 verse 24. For Christ is not entered into the
holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true,
but into heaven itself. Here's the place of his ministry
into heaven itself now to appear. in the presence of God. What
are those last two words for us? Isn't that wonderful for
us? He's there for me. And notice
the posture of his priesthood. Look in Hebrews chapter 10 verse
11. And every priest, talking about
the Old Testament priests, they stand daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
But this man, after he'd offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He sat down
because his work is finished. My sins already been forgiven.
It's hard being forgiven. Sins I haven't even committed
yet. They're already forgiven. His work is finished. He's seated
on a throne ruling and reigning. And we're to come to God by Him.
Now there's Aaron. Any matter you got, bring to
Aaron. And I'm going to be real brief
with this last point. Let's talk about her. He said, any matters
you have bring to Aaron and her. The Holy Spirit actually enables
us to come to God by Him. In our experience, we come to
God through the Lord Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. We would
not and could not do this without the Holy Spirit enabling us.
This is Christ in you, the hope of glory. You know that all we
experience of Christ is by the Spirit of God. All we experience
of Christ is by the Spirit of God. But you'll find this very
interesting. The way you spell her, the Hebrew
word her, in the English language is C-H-U-W-R. That's the way they pronounce
it in the Hebrew dictionary. And there is another word that
is spelled the exact same way. C-H-U-W-R. Same accent, same
Hebrew word. They're right beside each other.
Same word. There's no difference between them. And you know what
the next word is? White linen. White linen. Now, what is white linen? Fine
linen, clean and white. This is the righteousness of
the saints. That is the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, any matter you have, I don't
care what it is, bring it to this. He is my righteousness
before God, and that cannot be taken away. And whatever matter
I have, I'm always to bring it to this. Let me turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 10. beginning in verse 3. For though
we walk in the flesh, we do, we do not war after the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and
every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of Christ and bringing into captivity every thought to The obedience
of Christ. Every thought I have is to be
brought into captivity to the obedience, the law-keeping, the
righteousness of Christ. I bring every thought into subjection
to that. And what joy there is in that! I'm the righteousness of God.
And any thought that is contrary to that thought is to be cast
down and pulled down. It's wrong. Believer, this is
your heritage. You are literally the righteousness
of God in him. And hence your boldness to come
into his presence. So her, yes, the Holy Spirit
is the only one who can teach us this. I mean, this is beyond
the grasp of a natural man. Her, the Holy Spirit, teaches
us of this white linen, the Lord Jesus Christ, our righteousness
before God, and any matter you have. It's okay, isn't it? Whatever God brings your way,
that's all right. I'm the righteousness of God
in him. So with regard to all matters,
what are we to do until he returns? We're to bring them to our great
high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a priest he is. Isn't
he a wonderful priest, appearing in the presence of God for us?
We bring these matters to our great high priest, and by the
Holy Spirit, we know we have this fine linen, clean and white,
the righteousness of the saints, which is the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. Now, give me that information,
I can deal with anything. May God give us grace to bring
all of our matters to him. Let's pray together.