John closed his first epistle,
the first John, with these words. Little children, keep yourselves
from idols. Now, we may be thinking, well,
I don't have any statues in my house or religious relics. Good. You shouldn't. But idolatry
is much more than that, any kind of false concept of God. Any God that's not the God of
this book, idolatry. And Paul, speaking to the Corinthians,
there's some nine or 10 Old Testament stories he refers to. You've probably noticed I've
been looking at each of them, but tonight He said, do not be
idolaters as some of them were, and he speaks of the golden calf
incident. I've entitled this message, Idolatry
and the Golden Calf that Aaron made, and around that calf the
people did eat and drink, the scripture says, and they rose
up to play. I think that's a fitting description
of human religion. Play acting. Pretending, pretense,
playing. Now in Exodus chapters 20 through
23, God gave Moses the law. In the law were the 10 commandments. You can turn to Exodus 24 if
you would like. We're going to go there, but
let me remind you of what he said in the law. The 10 commandments. A lot of other commandments too.
Ceremonial commandments, civil commandments, but let's just
talk about the 10 commandments. You'll have no other God before
me. The commandment against idolatry. And he says, the reason people
make idols is because of their hatred of me. You can read this. They don't like the way I am.
Therefore they invent a God they like better. and the commandment
with regard to taking his name in vain. The Lord's name is so
holy that to use his name in an irreverent fashion deserves
eternal damnation. What a God we serve. The commandment
with regard to keeping the Sabbath, which cannot be understood apart from
the gospel. I realize that. Somebody says, well, I'm not
going to work on Sunday. Well, do you rest in Christ? That's
the point. And I believe the Sabbath was
put in the Ten Commandments. It's more of a ceremonial law.
And I've heard people say, well, you have the ceremonial law,
you got the moral law, you got the civil law, and they split
it apart. and say, well, we're not under
the ceremonial law, we're not under the civil law, but we're
under the moral law. Now, wait a minute, where do
you think that you can, we're under this part, we're not under
this part. In the Ten Commandments, God gives a ceremonial law that,
with regard to the Sabbath. And if someone even picked up
sticks, they would be stoned to death. And then there's the
law regarding obedience to your parents and respect and honoring
your parents and honoring all authority. And then the commandment,
thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt not covet. What a
glorious law. I love the law of God. Love it. Let me tell you why
I love it. In Christ, I've kept it. I don't
have to worry about that law condemning me. The law looks
at me and says, I'm without fault. I love the law of God. Now, if
I think that, well, I keep it. No, you don't. Well, I partially
keep it. No, you don't. There's no such
thing as partial obedience. All the law does is expose sin. And it gives no remedy for sin.
It just exposes sin. But Moses gives the law. And I love it, after he gave
the law, the first thing he did was make an altar. He knew it
wouldn't be kept. And that altar was for sacrifice
in that same chapter. But hear the words of the children
of Israel after the giving of the law. Verse three, Exodus
24. And Moses came and told the people,
the words of the Lord, and all the judgments, and all the people
answered with one voice, and said all the words which the
Lord has said will we do. Has there ever been a bigger
lie ever told? We're gonna do it all, Moses. And Moses wrote all the words
of the Lord, rose up early in the morning and built an altar
under the hill and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of
Israel. What'd he build an altar for? For sacrifice. Why? He knew they wouldn't keep the
law. He knew it was just words. And he sent young men of the
children of Israel which offered burnt offerings and sacrifice,
peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half
of the blood and put it on basins and half of the blood he sprinkled
on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant
and read it in the audience of the people. He read the 10 commandments
and the civil laws and the ceremonial laws. And they said, again, all
that the Lord has said will we do and be obedient. And Moses took blood. Why? He knew they wouldn't. He knew
they couldn't. So he took blood and sprinkled
it on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant, which
the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words, all these words,
I know what you're going to do. And this blood of the covenant
was made for that. Now look in verse 12 of chapter
24. 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've 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 says
unto the elders, tarry ye here for us until we come again unto
you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any have any
matters to do, let them 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, and 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
mount 40 days and 40 nights. Now this whole time, the children
of Israel could see the cloud, the thunderings, the lightnings,
the fire. They were witnesses to this.
And they knew Moses was upon the cloud. Now turn to Exodus
31, verse 18. And he gave unto Moses, this
is the end of those 40 days, And he gave unto Moses, when
he'd made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two
tables of testimony, tables of stone written with the finger
of God. Now, remember, they see the lightning,
the fire. They know Moses is up there.
But look in chapter 32, verse one. And when the people saw
that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, The people
gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him,
up, make us gods. What could possibly be more absurd
than a man-made god? Up, make us gods. They see the fire on top of Mount
Sinai, and yet they're so brazen. up, make us God's 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
is become of him. Man-made gods will go before
us. Now understand this, Everything that is not the God of the Bible
in all of his glorious attributes is a man-made God and idol, nothing
more. But yet the people say, up, make
us gods to go before us. Now, perhaps Deep down, they
didn't have any love for the God Moses had told them of in
Exodus 24, and this is their attempt to modify him and make
a God they were more comfortable with, a God that fit in more
with their agenda, a God they were okay with. As for this Moses,
we know not what's become of him. Moses was always very unpopular
among the children of Israel. Verse two, Exodus 32. And Aaron
said unto them, break off the golden earrings which are on
the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters,
and bring them unto me. Now this was not Aaron's idea,
but he became complicit in their sin. And all the people break
off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought
them unto Aaron. Now I think that there's some significance
to the fact that what was used to make the idol had something
to do with taking something from their ear. Faith cometh by hearing, and
there's no hearing involved here. There's the manufacturing of
an idol with their golden earrings, the gold they got from the Egyptians. And all the people break off
the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them
unto Aaron. And he received them at their
hand, Aaron. Why did he do this? Well, he
did. And I want you to understand,
and I want myself to understand this about myself. We do the
same thing, apart from the grace of God. Don't get too hard on
Aaron. What Aaron did was terrible.
But that picture's a weak man. Aaron was a weak man. He was manipulated by these people.
He was affected by these people. And he received them at their
hand and fashioned it with a graving tool. after he'd made it a golden
calf. And they said, Aaron didn't say
this, they said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which brought
thee out of the land of Egypt. Now remember, this was only months
since they'd left, a very short time. And now they have fashioned
themselves a new god. These be thy gods, which brought
thee up out of the land of Egypt. Verse five, and when Aaron saw
it, he built an altar before it. Aaron made proclamation and
said, tomorrow is a feast to the Lord, Jehovah. I think perhaps
Aaron's trying to legitimatize this. He's going to bring the
Lord's name in it. And he's saying, all this is,
is a representation of the Lord, a golden calf. Calfs are powerful.
The Lord's powerful. Look what he did. And we're going
to name this under the name of Jehovah. Tomorrow, we're going
to have a feast unto Jehovah. And they rose up early, this
is the scripture that Paul quotes in 1 Corinthians 10, and they
rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and
brought peace offerings to this golden calf. Not to the Lord
God, to this golden calf. They sacrificed to him, and I
guess they call this a visible representation of Jehovah. Jeroboam
would do this sometime later, if you'll remember, and make
two golden calves. and he brought them away from
Jerusalem. You're supposed to go to Jerusalem
to worship. He said, let me make this easier for you. I'll put
one in Dan and one in Beersheba and you won't have to make this
long trip. And two golden calves and the people of Israel did
it. It's called the sin of Jeroboam. All human religion is summarized
by this verse. They rose, they sat down to eat
and drink fleshly. Fleshly. of the flesh. And they rose up to play. That's all. Human religion is. A church where
the gospel's not preached, it's flesh. And they're rising up
to play. It's a game. Verse seven. And the Lord said unto Moses,
go get thee down. For thy people, which thou broughtest
out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. Now notice
what the Lord says. He says, your people. He didn't
call my people now. He says, your people, which you brought
out of the land, they have corrupted themselves. They've turned aside
quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They've made
them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed
thereunto, and said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which have
brought thee out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto
Moses, I've seen this people, and behold, it's a stiff-necked
people, a cruel, hard-hearted, obstinate, stubborn people. That's my assessment of these
people. Verse 11, or verse 10, now therefore,
let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, that I
may consume them, and I'll make of thee a great nation. I'll
wipe them all out and start all over with you. Now, Moses, at
this time, as he is quite often, is a type of Christ in that he
intercedes for the people. He intercedes for these people.
Now, he hadn't seen it yet, but he intercedes for these people.
Look what he says in verse 11. And Moses besought the Lord his
God and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy
people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt
with great power and with a mighty hand? Now, notice how he's dealing
with this narrative. They're not my people. They're
your people. I didn't bring them out. You
brought them out with your mighty, great power. Wherefore, verse
12, wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, for mischief did
he bring them out to slay them in the mountains and to consume
them from the face of the earth? Hold your finger there and turn
to Numbers 14. The same thing happens here. Numbers 14, where
Moses prays for the people. You know, when Moses prayed for
the people, the Lord answered him. I'd wanna have Moses praying
for me, wouldn't you? Every time he prayed for somebody,
the Lord answered Moses. Now, you and I both know that
that's a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, our great intercessor.
Do you know anybody he prays for? They're saved. He said,
I pray not for the world, but for them which you've given me,
for they are thine. Peter, Satan has desired to have
you that he may sift you as wheat, I prayed for you. When the Lord
Jesus Christ said, Father, forgive them, they know not what they
do. Was there anybody that he prayed for that wasn't forgiven?
No, everybody he prayed for was forgiven. Now look at Moses here
in Numbers chapter 14. He's interceding for the people.
And I love the arguments he uses with the Lord interceding for
these people. We read beginning in verse 11. And the Lord said unto Moses,
how long will this people provoke me? And how long will it be ere
they believe me for all the signs which I showed among them? I'll
smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them and will
make of thee a greater nation, a mightier than they. Same thing
that he said in Exodus 32. And Moses said unto the Lord,
then the Egyptians shall hear for thou broughtest up this people
in thy might from among them, and they will tell it to the
inhabitants of this land, for they have heard that thou, Lord,
are among the people, that thou, Lord, art seen face to face,
and that the cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before
them by daytime, here in a pillar of cloud, and in a pillar of
fire by night. Now if you kill all this people
as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of
thee will speak, saying, because the Lord was not able, to bring
this people into the land, which he's swearing to them. Therefore,
he has slain them in the wilderness. The issue of salvation is his
ability. His ability to save you without
any contribution from you. That is the issue. And Moses
brings this up to the Lord. I love the way he says this.
He says in Verse 17, and now I beseech thee, let the power
of my Lord be great according as thou hast spoken. You've already
said this, the Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy, forgiving
iniquity and transgression, and by no means clear the guilty.
There's the gospel. He judges sin, he has mercy,
and he won't clear the guilty. That can only be understood in
light of the cross. And he said this after this event
with the golden calf. He's bringing it up again. This
is what you said way back then. The Lord is long-suffering, of
great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no
means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children of the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I
beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, according unto the
greatness of thy mercy. And as thou hast forgiven this
people from Egypt, even until now, forgive them the way you've
always forgiven them, freely, for Christ's sake. Oh, what a
prayer Moses is praying for these people. Now go back to Exodus
chapter 32. Turn, verse 12, turn from thy
fierce wrath and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest by thine own self
and said unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven
and all this land that I've spoken of will I give unto your seed
and they shall inherit it forever. Now, Lord, you said this, if
you kill them all, that's not gonna take place and we know that's
not gonna happen. That's what he's saying. He's appealing to
the covenant that God made. Now, that's the only appeal. And Moses
understood that. And look what it says in verse
14, and the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to
do unto his people. Now the reason he repented of
the evil which he thought to do, because he was never gonna
do it in the first place, and this was used to cause Moses to pray
this prayer. The Lord brought about all of this to cause Moses
to pray this prayer. Now understand this. God's mercy
does not come to you apart from you and me asking for it and
praying this prayer. The Lord works through this.
And he repented of the great evil. There's one who also says,
you're not a man that you should repent. God never changes his
mind. But here we see the Lord's actions. Now, verse 15. And Moses turned
and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony
were in his hand, with the law written in them. 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. Can you imagine how he felt about
these tables of stone that God wrote on and gave the law? He's headed back down the mount.
And when Joshua heard, verse 17, when Joshua heard the noise
of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, there's noise
of war in this camp. Here's Moses' reply, he says,
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 Moses had a temper. Early on when he saw an Egyptian
mistreating one of his brethren, he killed him and he hid the
body in the sand. You remember when he grew so
angry at the children of Israel because they were murmuring about
water. He smoked the rock twice in disobedience
to God. And he had a great wrath at that
time. And here when he sees these people,
there was immorality going on because it says Aaron made him
take off their clothes. And they were naked, they were
running around this idolatrous a golden calf, and Moses was
so mad that he took that law that God had written and threw
it down and broke the stones. Now that was because of his anger,
but there's more significance to this than just him being mad. Every law that you said you'd
keep, you've broken. Every single one of them. You have not kept any of these
commandments, although you promised to. It was all hot air. It was all a lie. You've broken
every commandment. Now I want you to stop and think
for just a moment. Is there one commandment of the
10 commandments that you personally have kept? If you say yes, you have no understanding
of God's holy law. You and I have not kept one commandment
one time. And if I believe I have, I betray
myself that I have no spiritual understanding of God's holy law. Every commandment was broken. Verse 20, and he took the calf,
which they had made and burnt it in the fire and ground it into powder and made the children
of Israel drink of it. Now, I want you to picture this
in your mind. I don't know how I did it. I'm sure it was a huge
golden calf. He ground it all into powder,
he put it in the water, and he made the children of Israel drink
it. You know that golden calf was
gonna come out in their excrement. He was showing them the utter
vileness of that golden calf they made. 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, and Aaron said, let not the anger
of my Lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people that
they're set on mischief. They're set on evil. Wouldn't
that be a description of everybody? Genesis 6, 5, God saw the wickedness
of man, that's the same word, the mischief of man, the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That would
describe everybody in this room and everybody outside of this
room. Aaron understood these people, you know them, they're
set on mischief. For they said unto me, verse
23, they said unto me, make us gods which shall go before us.
As for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land
of Egypt, we want not what's become of him. And I said unto
them, whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they
gave it to me. Then I cast it in the fire. Out came his calf. Out came the calf. Aaron, you
made the calf with a graving tool. But Aaron's not taking
any responsibility at this time. Out came this calf. I suppose
he was afraid of Moses. He didn't know what Moses was
going to do to him. So he tried to lessen his responsibility. Out came this calf. Verse 25. And when Moses saw
that the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked unto
their shame among their enemies, then Moses stood in the gate
of the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side. Who is on the Lord's side? Here is the issue. Who is on the Lord's side? Now, let me try to give something
that'll tell me and you whether or not we're on the Lord's side.
Now, let me say that this does not mean we're indifferent about
men. You know, I want to see men saved, don't you? There isn't
anybody I wish to go to hell. I want to see men brought to
a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to see people
saved. I'm not indifferent about men.
I'm not against men in that sense. I want to preach the gospel to
them. I want to preach the gospel to them. I want them to hear
the truth of how God saves sinners by Christ. I want everybody to
hear. I want everybody to believe. So this is not being against
man. Still the question is, who's on the Lord's side? Have you
ever taking sides with God against yourself. That will determine whether or
not you're really on the Lord's side. Have you ever been in agreement
with God? You agree with everything he
says. And you take his side against
yourself. You're on the Lord's side. You're
not on man's side. You're on the Lord's side. And
Moses said, who's on the Lord's side? Let him come to 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 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. Seems like a lot more committed
idolatry than that. I don't know why it was only
3,000 men. Perhaps these were the ringleaders in it. I don't
know. But that's how many people died in 9-11, if you'll remember.
A great slaughter. 3,000 men that had partaken in
this idolatry. He said, if you're on the Lord's
side, put your sword on and put them to death. And that's what
they did. Verse 29. Moses had said, consecrate yourself
today to the Lord, every man upon his son and upon his brother,
that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. There would be no blessing
apart from this consecration to the Lord. Now the consecration
does not cause the blessing, but there's no blessing without
it. Consecrate yourself to the Lord. I want to be on his side,
don't you? I want to be on his side. I'm not so much asking
if he's on my side, am I on his side? That's the issue. I want
to be on the Lord's side. Verse 30, and it came to pass on the morrow
that Moses said unto the people, you have sinned a great sin. I don't know, other than the
cross itself, if there is a greater sin recorded in the Bible than
this. What the people do. Moses said unto the people, you
have sinned a great sin, and here is Moses once again as a
type of Christ, and now I will go unto the Lord. Peradventure
I shall make an atonement for your sin. Now, as a type of Christ,
Christ didn't commit the sin. Moses didn't commit that particular
sin. Oh, I didn't know he did in his
heart, but he didn't commit that particular sin. The only one
who can make an atonement is the one who didn't commit the
sin. Christ Jesus never sinned, and that makes him able, because
of who he is, to make atonement. Now, that word atonement, the
word's not even found in the New Testament, but it means to
cancel to disannul, to put away, to pardon, to forgive, and that
is what the Lord's death on the cross was. It was an atoning
death. You know, there was much instruction
with regard to the atonement in these times when Moses went
back up to speak with the Lord about the tabernacle and so on. They were even given, I love
the story about the atonement money. Everybody was to give
atonement money. The rich, the poor, they gave
the exact same thing. You see, there's only one thing
the Lord will accept. That's the atoning work of his son.
And he said, I want to make an atonement for you. Verse 31, and Moses returned
unto the Lord and said, oh, this people have sinned a great sin
and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive
their sin, And if not, blot me, I pray thee,
out of thy book which thou hast written. Now, hear what Moses
says. I want you to forgive their sin.
And if you don't, I want you to blot me out of the book. The Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's
one thing. That couldn't have happened with
Moses, could it? but the Lord Jesus Christ was
blotted out for his people. That's how atonement was made.
He willingly went to the cross and bore the full wrath of God
for my sin. Moses here is a type of Christ,
isn't he? Christ did, was blotted out. He was, had all the full equivalent
of eternal hell poured upon him in his people's place. But Moses
here acts as a type of Christ. He was. He said, I take full
responsibility for their salvation. And the Lord said unto Moses,
whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my
book. Now even Moses, you don't tell the Lord what to do. He
was wrong in saying this. You don't tell the Lord, you
do this, and if you don't do it, I want you to blot me out.
He was wrong in saying this. And the Lord says, you're not
going to talk to me that way. The Lord said unto Moses, whosoever
has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore,
go now to lead the people into the place which I have spoken
unto thee. Behold, mine angel shall go before thee. Not me,
but mine angel. Nevertheless, in the day when
I visit, I'll visit their sin upon them. And the Lord plagued
the people, because they had made the calf which Aaron made.
Yes, Aaron made it, but all the people made it. When Adam sinned,
we all sinned. We were in him. And the Lord
said unto Moses, chapter 33, and the Lord said unto Moses,
depart and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast
brought up out of the land of Egypt, into the land that I swear
unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying unto thy seed will
I give it, and I will send an angel, a created angel before
thee, and I'll drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite,
the Perizzite, the Hivite, the Jebusite, into a land flowing
with milk and honey, For I'll not go up in the midst of thee,
for thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee in the way.
And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned. And no man did put on his ornaments,
for the Lord had said, Moses, say unto the children of Israel,
you're a stiff-necked people. I'll come up into the midst of
thee in a moment and consume thee. Therefore now put off thine
ornaments from thee, that I might know what to do with thee. Ornaments
are what makes us look good. They're false, but we think they
make us look good. What's he say? Strip them off.
Everything that you think makes you look good, strip it off and
stand before God is a naked sinner. And the children, verse six,
and the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments
by the Mount Oreb. And Moses took the tabernacle
and pitched it without the camp afar off from the camp and called
it the tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass that everyone
which sought the Lord went out into the tabernacle of the congregation,
which was without the camp. And it came to pass when Moses
went out into the tabernacle that all the people rose up and
stood every man of his tent door and looked unto Moses until he'd
gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass as Moses
entered the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended and stood at
the door of the tabernacle and the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy
pillar stand at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose
up and worshiped every man at his tent door. And the Lord spake
unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. Now before we go on, that is
the privilege of every child of God. The Lord said, you are
my friends. What a friend. What a friend. The Lord counts
me his friend. If I'm in Christ, the Lord counts
me his friend. And here Moses is speaking to
the Lord face to face as a man speaketh with his friend. And he turned again into the
camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man,
departed not out of the tabernacle. And Moses said unto the Lord
during this time when the Lord was speaking to him face to face
as a man speaks with his friend, Lord, see thou sayest unto me,
bring up this people, and thou hast not let me know whom thou
wilt send with me, yet thou hast said. Now remember, when we're
dealing with the Lord, we're going by what he said, always. You said this, I didn't say this,
you said it. Bring up this people, thou has
not let me know whom thou will sit with me, yet thou has said
I know thee by name, and thou has also found grace in my sight.
Now therefore I pray thee, if I found grace in thy sight, show
me now thy way. that I might know thee, that
I might find grace in thy sight, and consider that this nation
is thy people. And he said, my presence shall
go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, if thy
presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein
shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in
thy sight? Is it not that thou goest with us? And so shall we
be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are
upon the face of the earth. And the Lord said unto Moses,
I'll do this thing also that thou hast spoken. For, here's
why, thou hast found grace in my sight. Same way Noah did.
Remember, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The children
of Israel found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And I know
thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. And there's not a more significant,
I'm just gonna read these and close. There's not a more significant
passage of scripture in all the word of God than this right here,
where Moses says, I beseech you, Show me your glory. Now remember,
Moses had seen God destroy Egypt. Moses had seen manna come down
from heaven. Moses had seen water come out
of a rock. Moses had seen the Red Sea parted. Moses had been given the law,
the law of God, and yet he says, I know I haven't seen your glory
yet. I beseech you, show me your glory. And here's the Lord's answer.
And he said, I'll make all my goodness pass before thee. And I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee. And I will be gracious. to whom
I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Here's the Lord's glory. His
goodness in saving a bunch of people this wicked. I'll make my goodness pass before
thee. I'll proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee. Now that's not just talking about
articulating his name. His name is his attributes. Every
attribute is manifest in God saving people like this and people
like me and you. His sovereignty, his justice,
his love, his power, his wisdom. I'll proclaim my name before
you and I will be gracious. to whom I will be gracious and
will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. God is gracious. I will be gracious. And understand this, it's his
sovereign grace. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. And if anybody objects to that,
all you're saying is, God's not fair. God's not giving me what's
coming to me. No, if you know anything about
grace, you know it's sovereign, distinguishing grace. I will
be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I will show mercy
on whom I will show mercy. That is God's glory. So in this horrible event, of
the golden calf and the wickedness of the children of Israel were
given the very glory of God, His goodness, His name, His grace. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. Your word is so glorious. It's so true. It reflects your
person. Lord, we really believe it's
your word. And Lord, how we thank you that
because of who you are, that you will be gracious and you
will show mercy because that's your nature. And Lord, how we
thank you that In showing mercy, you'll know in no wise clear
the guilty that you have made a way to make us who are guilty
in and of ourselves actually not guilty and clean before you
through the blood of thy dear son. Lord, bless this message
for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray.