AUTHORS » Joe Anady

Oct 22
23

Discussion Questions For Sermon: What Is The Gospel?

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AT HOME OR IN GOSPEL COMMUNITY GROUPS

Sermon manuscript available at emmausrbc.org

  • Why is it important to tell the backstory of creation and of man’s fall into sin when proclaiming the good news that salvation is available through faith in Christ?
  • What ought to be said about creation?
  • What ought to be said about the fall?
  • What ought to be said about redemption?
  • What ought to be said about the consummation of all things?
  • Having proclaimed the gospel, what should men and women be urged to do?
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Oct 22
23

Morning Sermon: What Is The Gospel?, Acts 13:13-43

Scripture Reading: Acts 13:13-43

“Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, ‘Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.’ So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: ‘Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “ ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ Therefore he says also in another psalm, ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about: ‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’’ As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.” (Acts 13:13–43, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

As you can see, we have taken a little break from our study of the book of Exodus. This break will not last long. We will return to Exodus next Sunday, Lord willing. And I do hope that today’s sermon will help to propel us forward through the chapters that remain. 

The title of the sermon today is, What Is The Gospel? I decided to preach this sermon for four reasons. 

One, I wish to clearly communicate the gospel message knowing that there may be some in our midst who have not yet heard the gospel. That would be surprising to me if a person has been attending for any length of time, for the gospel is indeed proclaimed here Lord’s Day after Lord’s Day as we make our way through various texts of scripture. But today I will proclaim the gospel in a very direct way, and perhaps the Lord would be pleased to use this gospel presentation to draw someone to salvation through faith in Christ.

Two, it is not only those who do not have faith in Christ who need to hear the gospel but Christians too. Those who have heard the gospel before and have believed it to the saving of their souls, need to hear to gospel message again and again. It is good for us to be reminded of what God has done for us. It is good for us to reflect upon gospel truth so that we might grow in our appreciation for what God has done. Indeed, as we contemplate the gospel our love and gratitude towards God and Christ will increase.   

Three, I wish to clearly communicate the gospel message to you today so that you, Christian, might know how to do the same. Granted, not all Christians are called and gifted to preach and teach in the church. And not all are called and gifted to minister the word out in the world as evangelists (strictly speaking). But all Christians are called to be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in them. And what is the reason for the hope that is in us except the gospel of Jesus Christ? Brothers and sisters, if someone were to ask you the question, what is the gospel?, or if you had the opportunity to proclaim the gospel, would you know what to say?  I do trust the majority of you know the Bible well. I’m confident that your understanding of and belief in the gospel is strong. But if you are not prepared to clearly and succinctly present the gospel when the opportunity arises, you will likely allow the opportunity to pass you by. Today, I hope to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to you clearly and succinctly as an example so that you might be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you.

Four, I wish to clearly communicate the gospel to you today to prepare us for the remainder of our study of the book of Exodus. Chapters 35-39 of the book of Exodus describe the building of the tabernacle. Chapter 40 describes the glory of God filling the tabernacle. I’ve already warned you that these chapters are repetitive. Detailed instructions for the building of the tabernacle were given to Moses on the mountain and these are recorded for us in Exodus 25-31. Now here in Exodus 35-39, the building of the tabernacle according to the design shown to Moses is described to us. These chapters repeat what was said before, but the repetition is important. As we work our way through the repetition of Exodus 35-39 I will take the opportunity to back away from the tedious details of the text to talk about the biblical theology of the tabernacle. I hope to show you that the tabernacle of the Old Covenant proclaimed the gospel. In other words, the tabernacle of Old was very much about Jesus Christ and the good news that has come to us regarding the work he has accomplished and the victory he has won. 

And so today I simply wish to answer this most foundational question, what is the gospel?

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The Gospel Is Good News

There are two things foundational things that you need to know before we get into the specifics. 

First of all, you should know that the word gospel simply means good news. Gospel means good news. In fact, the word itself is not uniquely Christian. The Greek word is εὐαγγέλιον. It can be used to describe any kind of good news. One Greek lexicon says that the word refers to “‘news that makes one happy’ or ‘information that causes one joy’ or ‘words that bring smiles’ or ‘a message that causes the heart to be sweet.’” (Louw Nida, 412). So then, in a general sense, gospel simply means good news. Our king has won the war and has repelled the invaders, is good news. Your lost son has been found, is good news. In just a moment we will come to consider the gospel of Jesus Christ, but before we come to that, do not miss this simple fact: the gospel is news. It is not a way of life. It is not good works. It is an announcement or proclamation. It is a message of joy. Yes, belief in the gospel will produce a certain way of life. And yes, we are to adorn the gospel with good works. But the gospel is a message – a message of joy that must be proclaimed. 

The second foundational thing that you need to know is that the gospel is a story. In fact, this is true of all good news. It’s hard to imagine any kind of good news being received as good news without a backstory. You know, back in the olden days – before the invention of the internet, phones, the telegraph, and even the printing press – the news would be spread from town to town by heralds, or criers. If a king had a message to spread, he would send out his heralds or messengers. Now, imagine a  herald standing in the middle of the town square saying, “I have good news, the king has won the war.” I think you would agree with me that that proclamation of good news would only be received as good news by the citizens of that town if it were set against the backdrop of bad news. The announcement, “the king has won the war”, would not cause the citizens to rejoice unless they knew there was a war. Without the backstory, the proclamation of good news would not make sense. Instead of rejoicing, the citizens would look at the hareld with confusion and bewilderment on their faces. Wait, what did you say? The king has won the war? What war? We did not know there was a war! But if the citizens of that land were first told the bad news that an enemy was approaching and was threatening the nation, their homes, and their families, and if the citizens were carrying within them angst regarding the threat, then the news, the king has won the war, would not bewilder them, but would immediately be recognized as good news – indeed, great news –  and all would erupt in celebration. You see, for this reason, I have said, the gospel is a story. The gospel is not a simple announcement, but a story. And it is a story that begins with bad news. The good news of Jesus Christ can only be appreciated as good news when it is delivered as a story. 

To approach a stranger on the streets and to say to them, Jesus loves you, is not the gospel. Or to say, Jesus died for sinners and the forgiveness of sins is available to all who have faith in him (though much better than the simple statement, Jesus loves you) is not really the gospel either, for you have not told the story! Do not be surprised, especially in our day and age (when so many are ignorant of the basic teachings of the Bible, when that person looks at you with confusion on their face! Jesus? Who is he? Why did he die? What do you mean by “sinners”? Am I a sinner? Are you saying that I need forgiveness? Etc.  You see, when the gospel is presented as a mere announcement separated from the story that is told in scripture, it will not be recognized as good news. The king has won the war and has saved us? What king? What war? Saved us from what? Why should I care?

 So then, we begin with these two truths. One, the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news – it is a joyous announcement or proclamation. Two, if the good news of the gospel is to be received as good news, a story must be told. The good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ can only be comprehended if the story of redemption that is told in the Bible is understood. 

In the remainder of the sermon today I wish to tell you that story. I will tell it in four parts. And I want you to memorize these parts. The story of the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is the story of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. 

Can you repeat those words after me? Creation. Fall. Redemption. Consummation.

. 

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Creation

If we wish to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ clearly then we must begin where the Bible begins, and that is with the story of creation. The very first verse of the Bible says this: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, ESV). So then, there is God, and there is his creation. Everything that exists falls into these two categories – God and creation – Creator and creature. 

There is so much to say about God. What is his nature? What are his attributes? How does he relate to this world he has made? Indeed, the rest of the scriptures from Genesis 1:1 onward reveal God to us. In the scriptures, we learn there is only one God (Baptist Catechism, 8), that he is “a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth” (BC, 7), and that, “there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory” (BC, 9).

These truths about God are essential truths. In fact, I would argue that a person cannot be saved without believing these foundational truths about God. But I have a question for you: must we proclaim these truths about God – truths about his nature, his attributes, and his tri-unity – every time we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ?  I think not. Much of this can be reserved for later should a person desire to know more. The goal here is to tell the backstory so that the good news regarding salvation in Jesus Christ can be intelligible. So what does a person need to know in order to understand why the news that Jesus died for sins and rose in victory is good news? Well, first of all, they need to know that God exists and that in the beginning, he created all things seen and unseen, including mankind.

The second thing that must be said about creation is that when God created the heavens and earth everything was good. In the beginning, the heavenly realm, the earthly realm, and everything within them were good. These realms and the creatures placed within them were upright, pure, and without defect. Everything was as it should be. No sin, no sickness, no death. Everything that was brought into being by the word of God was good. Indeed, it was very good. The narrative of Genesis 1 makes this clear.  

The third thing that should be said about creation is this: after God created the man Adam, he placed him in a special garden. That garden was a temple, for there man enjoyed communion with God. And in that garden, God entered into a covenant of works with man. I’m afraid this fact is often forgotten in our presentations of the gospel. But I think you would agree with me that it is a very important part of the story. One cannot really understand man’s fall into sin, redemption in Christ Jesus, or the idea of consummation, apart from the covenant of works that was made with Adam in the garden. 

Now, please do not misunderstand me. I am well aware of the fact that your time with a person may be very limited and that you might need to present the gospel of Jesus Christ very quickly. When that is the case, I would not fault you at all for skipping over this detail or that in the hopes that you will have an opportunity to say more at a later time. But if possible, do not forget to talk about the garden temple and the covenant of works that was made with Adam there. It is an important part of the backstory. 

After God created Adam and Eve, he entered into a covenant with them. Adam was to guard the garden-temple that God had placed them in. He was to expand its borders. He and his wife Eve were to fill it with their offspring. This they were to do with love for God in their hearts. They were to worship him as priests. They were to serve him as kings on earth. They were to proclaim his word as prophets. But this was a time of testing for them. 

Two things were given to Adam and Eve to signify that this was a time of testing 

First of all, they were given the weekly Sabbath. Six days they were to work, and on the seventh day, they were to rest. This they were to do in imitation of their Maker, who took six days to create the heavens and earth. He rested on the seventh day as a pattern for them. The Sabbath day was (and is) a sign. It signified God’s eternal rest. And it was an invitation to the man and women to enter that eternal rest through their faithful work and obedience. 

The second thing given to Adam and Eve to show that they were in a time of testing were two trees: the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

What did the tree of life signify? It symbolized the reward that God would graciously give to Adam and Eve if they passed the test. They would pass from life to life, that is to say, from life in paradise to eternal life in glory. The tree of life was a symbol of this, and its presence in the garden of Eden was a sign of the test that Adam was under. 

And what did the tree of the knowledge of good and evil signify? It signified rebellion, and the curse that would come upon the man, the woman, and all of their descendants should they fail to keep the garden temple, to expand its borders, and to fill the earth with worshipers of YHWH, the one true God, creator of all things seen and unseen. 

 When we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must tell the story of creation, for it is the backdrop against which the story of our fall into sin, our redemption in Christ, and the consummation of all things is set. When we speak of creation we must say, in the beginning, God created the heavens and earth and all things seen and unseen. Everything that came from his hand, including man, was good, indeed very good. But “when God had created man, He entered into a covenant of life [or works]  with him upon condition of perfect obedience: forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death” (BC, 15). This story of creation, and of the covenant of creation, is the story that is told in Genesis 1 and 2. If people do not possess this foundational knowledge already, we ought to begin here when telling people the good news about salvation through faith in Christ. 

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Fall

Now that we have discussed the creation, let us move on to the subject of man’s fall into sin. This is the bad news which makes the good news good. Christ came to solve a problem. He came to defeat an enemy, rescue captives, restore what was lost, and finish a work left undone. If people are to understand the good news of Jesus Christ, they must first know something about the problem, the enemy, the bondage, the loss, and the unfished work. It is the very bad news of man’s fall into sin that makes the good news of man’s salvation in Christ Jesus comprehensible.

So what needs to be said concerning man’s fall into sin? Two things: One, the fact of the fall ought to be proclaimed. Two, the effects of the fall ought to be explained. 

The story of the temptation of man and of Adam’s rebellion against God is told in Genesis 3. I trust that you know that story well. A rebel from the heavenly realm approached Eve on earth in the form of a serpent and tempted her. And Eve in turn tempted her husband, Adam. The serpent claimed that God’s word was not true, that God was holding out on them, and that they could be enlightened and empowered, if only they would eat of the forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – by the way, the evil one utters the same kind of lies even to this present day. Adam sinned against God when he listened to the word of the intruder instead of the word of God. With evil rebellion, discontentment, and pride in his heart, he took fruit from the forbidden tree and ate. As I have said, that story is told in Genesis 3. The doctrinal truths concerning man’s fall into sin are summarized in questions 16 through 18 of our catechism. 

Q. 16. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?

A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God. (Gen. 3:6; Eccles. 7:29; Rom. 5:12)

Q. 17. What is sin?

A. Sin is any [lack] of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. (1 John 3:4; Rom. 5:13)

Q. 18. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?

A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit. (Gen. 3:6,12,13)

Now, what were the effects of Adam’s sin? Truthfully, a lot could be said about this. The effects were truly devastating. I will present them under three headings:

One, the curses of the covenant of works (or of life, or creation) fell upon Adam and Eve

The wages of sin is death: Physical death. Spiritual death: alienation from God, wrath, depravity. . 

Two, the blessings promised under the covenant of works were lost.

Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden and the way to the tree of life and all that it signified was blocked off. 

Three, the guilt of Adam’s sin, the loss of original righteousness, and the curses of the covenant were transmitted  to all of Adam’s descendants, that is to say, to all humanity, for Adam was the head or representative of all humanity.  All who were born of Adam and Eve (and that includes you and me) are born in Adam, in sin, under the broken covenant of works and its curses.  

The story of the temptation of man and of man’s fall into sin is told in Genesis 3:1-13. The effects of Adam’s fall into sin are observed in Genesis 3:14 through to the end of Genesis 6. Indeed, the effects of Adam’s fall into sin are observable in all of the scriptures from Genesis 3:14 onward. Also, they are observable in the whole course of human history. That we are by nature fallen and sinful creatures should be evident to anyone with eyes to see. 

The great doctrinal truths regarding the effects of Adam’s fall into sin are summarized nicely in Baptist Catechism 19-22.  

Q. 19. Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?

A. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself but for his posterity, all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression. (1 Cor. 15:21,22; Rom. 5:12,18,19)

Q. 20. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?

A. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery. (Ps. 51:5; Rom. 5:18,19: Is. 64:6)

Q. 21. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereunto man fell?

A. The sinfulness of that estate whereunto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin, together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it. (Rom. 5:19; 3:10; Eph. 2:1; Is. 53:6; Ps. 51:5; Matt. 15:19)

Q. 22. What is the misery of that estate whereunto man fell?

A. All mankind, by their fall lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever. (Gen. 3:8,24; Eph. 2:3; Gal. 3:10; Rom. 6:23; Matt. 25:41-46; Ps. 9:17)

As I have said, this bad news is the backdrop against which the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is set.  Apart from at least a superficial understanding of the backstory of creation and man’s fall into sin, the story of our redemption in Christ Jesus would be unintelligible. 

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Redemption

Let us now consider the work of redemption that Christ has accomplished. To redeem is to buy back. Or, if you prefer, we can talk about the work of salvation that Christ has accomplished. To save is to rescue. Whichever term you prefer, we need to talk about Jesus Christ and the work that he has done to rescue sinners from their sin and misery. 

I’ll briefly talk about our redemption under three headings. 

One, let us ask, what did Christ come to save us from? 

Answer: He came to save us from all of the miseries that came upon the children of Adam when he fell into sin and broke the covenant. 

Remember questions 21 and 22 of our catechism. 

Q. 21. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereunto man fell?

A. The sinfulness of that estate whereunto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin, together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it. (Rom. 5:19; 3:10; Eph. 2:1; Is. 53:6; Ps. 51:5; Matt. 15:19)

Q. 22. What is the misery of that estate whereunto man fell?

A. All mankind, by their fall lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever. (Gen. 3:8,24; Eph. 2:3; Gal. 3:10; Rom. 6:23; Matt. 25:41-46; Ps. 9:17)

What did Christ come to save us from? All of that! 

Two, what did Christ come to save is to? 

Answer: he came so save us so that we might have what was offered to Adam but forfeited. He came to pay for our sins so that he might cleanse us, and live a righteous life so that he might give us his righteousness. This is so that we might be reconciled to the Father and enter into the eternal Sabbath rest that was offered to Adam. Christ came to give us eternal life of which the tree of life was a symbol. Christ came to bring his people into the eternal and blessed presence of God in his eschatological temple wherein heaven and earth will be made one. All of that was offered to Adam in the covenant of works, but was forfeited. Christ came to save us to that. 

Three, how did Christ accomplish this work?   

Answer: Christ, the eternal Word of God took to himself a human nature. He accomplished our redemption by living in obedience to God’s law and by suffering and dying in the place of sinners. He endured God’s wrath in the place of those given to him by the Father. He atoned for their sins as he died as their substitute. He rose again on the third day in victory and ascended into heaven as the first fruit and forerunner of all who are united to him by faith.

Here is the thing that I want you to recognize: What Christ came to redeem us from, what he came to redeem us to, and the way in which he accomplished our redemption, is very much related to the story of creation, to the covenant that God made with Adam in the garden, and to the breaking of that covenant. Christ came to save us from the curses of that covenant. He came to redeem us so that he might bring us into that state of glory that Adam failed to obtain. And he accomplished this redemption in the flesh, as the God-man, the only mediator between God and man, the second Adam. 

Stated differently, whereas the first Adam broke the covenant that God made with him as head or representative of the human race, the second Adam, Christ the Lord, was faithful to keep the covenant that God made with him as the head or representative of those given to him by the Father. What covenant was this? It was not the covenant of works that was made with Adam in the garden, but the covenant of redemption made between the Father and Son in eternity. There are many places in the scriptures where we are given a glimpse into the terms of that covenant (Isaiah 42:1-7, Isaiah 50:4-9, Luke 4:17–21). Perhaps the most famous is John 17 where Christ prays to Father and says things like this: “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. ‘I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.’” (John 17:1–6, ESV)

As we consider texts like John 17, along with the so-called servant songs of Isaiah 42 and 50, it becomes clear that in eternity the Father covenanted with the Son (and the Spirit) to redeem a people from amongst fallen humanity, from every tongue, tribe, and nation, and to bring them safely into the new heavens and earth, which Adam failed to obtain. What would the Son have to do to accomplish this? First, he would have to take to himself a true human nature. He would humble himself by “being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross, in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time (BC 30). And after this, he would be exulted in victory by his “rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day” (BC 31). 

You see, Christ did not merely keep the terms of the covenant that was made with Adam in the garden. That covenant required perfect and perpetual obedience. And that covenant was broken! Christ kept the terms of, what we call, the covenant of redemption. Not only did he have to be perfectly and perpetually obedient to the law of God in the whole of life, he also had to suffer in the place of other, die for others, and endure the wrath for others. No such thing was required of the first Adam. But this was required of the second Adam, for he was sent to rescue fallen and hell-bound sinners. Thanks be to God for the redemption that is ours in Christ Jesus. 

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Consummation

Please allow me to say just a word about consummation. To proclaim the gospel it is important for us to speak of creation, fall, and redemption in Christ. I would argue that it is also good to speak of consummation. 

To consummate is to make a thing complete or final. And here I simply want to stress that though Christ accomplished the redemption of those given to him by the Father nearly 2,000 years ago, and though the Spirit has been applying the redemption earned by Christ to the elect in every age from Adam’s day to the present, the consummation of all things is still in our future. 

The scriptures teach that Christ will come again. He will come, as Hebrews 9:28 says,  “not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” When comes, he will not atone for sin – for that work has been done – but to bring all who have faith in him into the new heavens and earth which he has earned. Also, he will judge those not in him with eternal damnation. 

I say that it would be good for us to speak of the consummation of all things when we proclaim the gospel because it will help those we share with to fully understand what Christ has come to save us from and save us to. 

Christ did not come to merely give you a better life on earth. In fact, for many followers of Christ, life on earth is made more difficult, not easier, because of their profession of faith. No, he came to redeem us so that we might be with him and in the presence of God’s glory forever and ever in the new heavens and earth which he has purchased by his shed blood. 

And Christ did not come to merely wash your sins away and to renew you inwardly so that you might enjoy a clean conscience before God and walk in his ways on earth. No, he has cleaned of sin to save you from the wrath of God. He has cleansed you and renewed you to make you fit for the new heavens and earth. 

Stated differently, when we speak of the consummate state – that is, of the second coming of Christ, the final judgment, and the new heavens and earth – the story of our redemption in Christ is completed. Notice, Christ will not take his people back to Eden. He will not place them under that covenant of works again, which was a covenant of testing. And neither will he set before them the two trees – tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. No, when Christ returnes he will bring them into the state of rest and glory of which the weekly Sabbath day and the tree of life are signs. What was offered to the first Adam but lost, the second Adam has won. And this he has done, not for himself only, but for all who are united to him by faith.

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Conclusion 

Creation, fall, redemption, consummation. Yes, I am away that you will not always have 45 minutes to proclaim the gospel to someone. In fact, you will often have 5 minutes or less. Find a way to tell people the good news of Jesus Christ. Tell them the back story of creation and of man’s fall into sin. Tell them that Christ has come to save sinners. If you have the opportunity, tell them about the consummate state – what Christ has saved us from and to. And urge them to turn from their sins, to place their faith in Christ, and to be baptized in the church, wherein they will be taught to observe all that Christ has commanded. In brief, tell them that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:16–18, ESV).

Posted in Sermons, Joe Anady, Acts 13:13-43, Posted by Joe. Comments Off on Morning Sermon: What Is The Gospel?, Acts 13:13-43

Oct 22
16

Discussion Questions For Sermon On Exodus 34

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AT HOME OR IN GOSPEL COMMUNITY GROUPS

Sermon manuscript available at emmausrbc.org

  • The Old Mosaic Covenant was a covenant of works. Israel broke it. They deserved to be cut off. But God showed mercy. Why did God show mercy? On what basis?
  • Why is it important to see that a new covenant was not being made with Isarel in this episode? The one they just entered into and broke was being reinstated. What evidence for this is found in the text?
  • What does this reinstatement of the covenant reveal about the LORD, his attributes, and his ways? 
  • What does the LORD further reveal about himself in this text? See Exodus 34:6-8.
  • What did the radiant glory that fell upon Moses signify? What did the fact of it fading signify? See 2 Corinthians 3.
  • Discuss the mercy of God, or his patience with fallen humanity. What is its purpose? Why has he delayed the full and final judgment?
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Posted in Study Guides, Gospel Community Groups, Gospel Community Groups, Joe Anady, Posted by Joe. Comments Off on Discussion Questions For Sermon On Exodus 34

Oct 22
16

Morning Sermon: Exodus 34, The LORD, The LORD, A God Merciful And Gracious

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 34

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.’ So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, ‘If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.’ And he said, ‘Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods. You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed. Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel. For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year. You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. And the LORD said to Moses, Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.’ So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the LORD had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.” (Exodus 34, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Romans 9

“I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: ‘About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.’ And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea, ‘Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’’ ‘And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.’ And as Isaiah predicted, ‘If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.’ What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’” (Romans 9, ESV)

*****

Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

There is a lot of repetition found in the book of Exodus in chapters 34 through 39. Next Sunday, Lord willing, I will tell you about the repetition found in Exodus 35 through 39 regarding the building of the tabernacle according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain. Today our focus is on chapter 34. Here the covenant that the LORD entered into with Israel is renewed. In fact, a better word would probably be reinstated. The covenant was so badly broken when Israel forgot the Lord and ran full speed into idolatry in the worshipping of that golden calf that Aaron had made, it was not restoration that was needed, but total reinstatement. The covenant was broken, as signified by the breaking of the stone tablets which contained the Ten Commandments. Here the covenant is reinstated, as signified by the making of new tablets. So as I have said, there is a great deal of repetition here as key elements from earlier in Exodus from the original making of the Old Mosaic Covenant are stated yet again. The repetition is crucial. It makes it very clear that this is not a new or different covenant, but a gracious reinstatement of the one that had just been made, which Isarel had broken through their corporate idolatry. Here also in this reinstatement of the covenant we see the mercy and grace of God put on display. And really, I think that is the main point of it all.I suppose the repetition in the text might tempt some to tune out, but that would be a great mistake, brothers and sisters. There is much for us to learn from this text. There is much application to be made. 

For the sake of clarity, I will present this text to you under three headings: One, The Covenant Reinstated. Two, The Name Of The LORD Further Revealed. And three, The Leadership Of Moses Reestablished. 

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The Covenant Reinstated

First, let us consider that the LORD graciously reinstated the covenant he had previously made with Israel through Moses at Sinai after the people had quickly obliterated it through their corporate idolatry.   

That the LORD graciously reinstated the very same covenant that he had not long before made with Israel is made abundantly clear in verse 1 of Exodus 34. “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.’” (Exodus 34:1, ESV)

In this text, we learn that Moses was invited to come back up the mountain into the presence of God. He was there again for forty days and forty nights. He neither ate nor drank, but the LORD sustained him. And while there, the LORD wrote on these tablets of stone with his own “finger” the very same words that were written upon the first set, which Moses threw to the ground and broke when he found the people in idolatry. 

So what exactly was written on these stone tablets? Verse 28 is very clear that it was the Ten Commandments, or the Ten Words – the very same commandments that are recorded for us in Exodus 20:2-17. These ten moral laws written on stone functioned as the foundation for all of the other laws given to Israel. These ten moral laws written on stone stood for the whole of the covenant that God had made with Israel at Sinai. As you know, other laws were added to these. The Old Mosaic Covenant contained civil laws and ceremonial laws too. We call these civil and ceremonial laws positive laws, for they were added to the moral law, and they were uniquely binding on Old Covenant Israel. But these civil and ceremonial laws were not written on the stone tablets – only the Ten Commandments were. 

This is an important observation to make. It will help us to answer the question, which law has been written on the hearts of the New Covenant people of God in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah 31? Answer: not the civil or ceremonial, but the moral law only. Just as the LORD wrote the moral law on stone for Old Covenant Israel, so too has the LORD written the moral law on the hearts of the New Covenant people of God through the regenerating power of his Holy Spirit. 

One question we should ask concerning the stone tables is this: why two tablets, and not one? 

Were two tablets needed so that the LORD would have enough space to write the words which we have recorded for us in Exodus 20:2-17? I think not. The Ten Commandments do not take up more than half a page in my English translation of the Bible. Space was not the issue. Or was it so that the Ten Commandments could be divided into two sections, the first tablet containing commandments one through four, which pertain to the proper worship of God, and the second tablet containing commandments five through ten, which pertain to the proper treatment of our fellow man. That’s possible. After all, we see that the scriptures themselves do recognize this division. Christ himself summarized the whole law according to this division when he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40, ESV). This is why we use the phrase “the two tables of the law”. By this, we refer to this obvious division within the moral law, the first four commandments having to do with our love for God, and the last six commandments having to do with our love for man.

But I do not think this is the reason for the two tablets either. Instead, it is my view that both tablets had all Ten Commandments written on them. In other words, they were identical copies. One tablet was Israel’s “copy” of the covenant law, and the other tablet was YHWH’s “copy”. Indeed, in those days, this is how kings would enter into covenants or treaties with each other. When a great king entered into a covenant with a lesser king, the great king would establish the terms of the covenant. These terms would be agreed to before witnesses. The terms would be written down, and each party would receive a copy. In this way, the terms of the relationship would be clearly communicated and ratified through a formal covenant. That is what is happening here. YHWH, the King of kings and Lord of lords, is graciously entering into a covenant with Israel. The Ten Commandments written on stone by God summarize the terms of it. One tablet is Israel’s, and the other is the Lord’s. Both were to be kept in the ark of the covenant in the most holy place in the tabernacle, where the LORD would meet with his people, Isarel. 

So then, it is clear that YHWH is here reinstating the same covenant that he made with Israel earlier, which they had broken through their corporate idolatry. And this fact becomes even more clear when we see that in this text many other laws were restated too.  Earlier in Exodus, we learned that to the moral law summarized in the Ten Commandments, God added civil laws and ceremonial laws. We were told all about the giving of these civil and ceremonial laws in Exodus 21 through 31. These additional (positive) laws were not written by the finger of God on the stone tablets, but they were written down by Moses. This book (or scroll) that Moses wrote was a record of all of the laws which the LORD revealed to him for Isarel. In Exodus 24:7 this book is called “the book of the covenant.” In Deuteronomy 29:21 it is called the “book of the law”. And in that Deuteronomy text we learn that once this “Book of the Law” was completed, the Levites were “put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD” (see Deuteronomy 31:26–27, ESV). 

Here is the thing that we must notice: when the LORD reinstated the Old Covenant after Israel’s idolatry, he did not only provide them with a new set of stone tablets containing the moral law. He also restated some of the positive laws too. And this was to make it clear that everything that was said before was still in force. I will not take the time to show you this in detail, for that would be too tedious to accomplish in the time we have remaining. I think it will be sufficient for me to say that, according to this text, Israel was still to observe the feasts the Lord had commanded earlier. They were to worship as God had prescribed earlier. You will notice in this text that a very strong emphasis is placed on the laws governing worship. And very strong warnings are issued concerning the threat of idolatry. This makes perfect sense given Israel’s recent rebellion. This also makes sense given what Israel was about to do, namely, construct the tabernacle according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain. 

So here in Exodus 34 the covenant that God made with Israel at Sinai is restored or reinstated. This covenant was a covenant of works. This meant that its blessings had to be earned by the people through their obedience. It also meant that it could be broken, which would make the people liable to its curses.  In the Exodus story, we learn that the people broke it only almost as soon as it had been made. They deserved judgment. But for his namesake, and for the sake of the unconditional promises he previously made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob concerning the possession of Canaan and the blessing of the nations through their offspring, the Messiah, the LORD showed mercy and grace. 

This really is the truth that is put on display in this episode in the history of redemption: the LORD was merciful and gracious to Israel. Though they deserved his judgment because they broke his covenant, he was patient with them. He passed over their transgressions so that he might fulfill the promises he made to Abraham concerning the Messiah. Brothers and sisters, it should be clear to you that for God to relate to man at all after Adam’s fall into sin requires mercy and grace from God. 

*****

The Name Of The LORD Further Revealed

This brings us to the second heading of the sermon: The Name Of The LORD Further Revealed. 

Do not forget the request that Moses made when he previously interceded for Israel as recorded in chapter Exodus 33. In verse 13 Moses we hear Moses speak to the Lord, saying, “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight” (Exodus 33:13, ESV). In 33:18 he says, “Please show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18, ESV). Indeed, the LORD did at that time show Moses his glory and reveal his name and ways to him. And what did the LORD reveal concerning his ways? In 33:19 the LORD proclaimed his name, YHWH, saying, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19, ESV). In this statement, the LORD revealed something to Moses concerning his ways. He is a gracious and merciful God. And he has the right to show mercy and grace to whomever he wills. The Apostle Pual interprets this passage this way when he quotes it in Romans 9 and then says in verse 16, “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:16, ESV). And a little later he says, “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Romans 9:18, ESV).

You will notice that here in Exodus 34 the LORD further reveals his name to Moses as he reinstitutes the covenant. In 34:6 we read, “The LORD passed before [Moses] and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped” (Exodus 34:6–8, ESV).

Notice that the LORD cited five attributes that characterize him. First, he is “merciful”. This Hebrew word can also be translated as compassionate. Secondly, he is “gracious”, meaning that he does things for people that they do not deserve. Thirdly, he is “slow to anger”, or patient with those who sin against him. Fourthly, he is “abounding in steadfast love”. This means that God is overflowing with covenant loyalty. And fifthly, he is abounding in faithfulness. This means that God is true. He keeps his word. 

These unchanging perfections of God are what produce his gracious actions toward us as described in verse 7: “…keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” The phrase, “keeping steadfast love” could be translated as keeping covenant loyalty or faithfulness. That is the meaning. And the phrase, “for thousands” could be translated, to the thousandth generation. I believe that is the meaning. But then we have this word of clarification: The LORD “will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:7, ESV).

Let us now put it all together. 

Here the LORD further revealed his name to Moses. This means that he further revealed his character or his attributes. YHWH is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…” This is YHWH’s character. This is who he is. These are his attributes.

And what are his ways? What is he doing amongst the children Adam who have fallen into sin and rebellion? What is he doing, in partaicular, with the Hebrews? He is keeping covenant faithfulness to the thousandth generation. He is “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” But do not forget about his justice, brothers and sisters! He “will by no means clear the guilty” of the sins they commit in every generation.  

I think it is important to recognize that this revelation of the divine name and of the attributes of God, along with the revelation of the ways of the LORD, agree perfectly with what God has done to bring about our redemption in Christ Jesus? Stated differently, what the LORD has done to bring about our redemption in Christ Jesus in history agrees perfectly with his character. He did not judge Adam fully and finally when he broke the Covenant of Works that God had made with him, but showed mercy. He gave Adam a promise concerning salvation through the Covenant of Grace. That promise was intrusted to Abraham and to Israel. But in order to bring the Christ into the world through Isarel in fulfulmment to the promises preveiouly made, it was necessary for the LORD to merciful. He would have to be patient with sinners and pass over their sin for a time. He would have to withhold his wrath lest the children of Adam and Abraham be consumed by him. Indeed, this is what the LORD has done. He has, to use the language of Paul in Romans 9,  “has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?”   

Here in Exodus 34 the LORD further reveales himself to Moses, and through him to Israel and to the world, saying , ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped” (Exodus 34:6–8, ESV). May our response be the same as his. When we consider the LORD’s mercy, and his sovereign right to show mercy to whomever he wills, may we bow our heads toward the earth and worship. How sad it is to see that many who claim to be followers of Christ and worshippers of YHWH in our day and age do the opposite when they hear of the LORD’s sovereign right to show mercy to whomever he wills. Instead of worshipping him they rage against the LORD and complain, saying, this is not fair! They error in that they do not comprehend what our sins deserve. God would be right and fair and just to cut us all off and to without his blessed presence from us for all eternity! He would do no wrong to judge us all for our sins. That he is patient with rebel sinners, and that he has determined to save some by the merits of Christ imputed to us and received by faith, is astonishing. His grace is amazing. And if you do not agree, I wonder if you know YHWH, for he has revealed himself as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.” He has revealed himself as the LORD, saying, “And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19, ESV). 

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The Leadership Of Moses Reestablished

So then, in our passage we see that the covenant that God made with Israel at Sinai was reinstated after the Israelites had broken it. We have also considered further revelation of the Divine name. Thirdly, let us consider that Moses’ leadership over Israel was in this episode firmly reestablished.

Here is what I mean. Moses was again on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. What happened the last time he was away? The people dismissed Moses as their leader and sought to control Aaron, saying, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (Exodus 32:1, ESV). The question is this: what will happen when Moses comes down the mountain this second time with new tablets? Will the people have rebelled? Will they be engaged in idolatry once more? No, in this instance Moses returns to a people who have been humbled.  They maintained their reverence for the LORD in his absence, and they even possed greater respect for the man Moses. 

In verses 29 and following we learn that the LORD did something for Moses to assist with this. “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.” (Exodus 34:29–30, ESV)

This radiance that was set upon Moses by the LORD functioned as a sign that he had indeed communed with the LORD. This was a sign that Moses was indeed the servant of the LORD and was sent by him to function as the mediator of the Old Covenant. And so in this way the leadership of Moses was reestablished. 

But do not miss this very significant point. The radiant glory that was placed upon Moses did quickly fade. And this was to signify that though Moses was a faithful servant in God’s house, he was not the Messiah, the LORD of glory come in the flesh. And though the Old Covenant which he mediated was good so far as it fulfilled the purposes that God had for it, it was not meant to be permanent, but would in the fulness of time fade away in the face of Christ and the New Covenant ratified in his blood. 

Do you remember that episode recorded for us in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke wherein Jesus went up onto the mountain with Peter, James, and John? He “led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them” (Mark 9:2–3, ESV). And who else appeared there on the mountain except for Moses, the mediator of the Old Covenant, and the great prophet Elijah? At this moment God was signifying that he had set his favor upon Jesus to be the mediator of the New Covenant and that Moses and Elijah were happy to see his day, to give way to him, and to fade in the background. Indeed, they would have agreed with John the Baptist, who was the greatest of the Old Covenant prophets, who spoke of Jesus, saying, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30, ESV).

The radiant glory that fell upon Moses signified his favor and close communion with the LORD, but it faded. It faded, not because of something that Moses had done, but because he, and the covenant of which he served as mediator, was designed to fade. The Old Covenant was glorious, but it was designed to give way to the far surpassing and never-fading glory of the New, with Christ as mediator. If you wish to have a text in support of this, you may go to 2 Corinthians 3 some other time. 

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Conclusion

Let me now conclude with three brief suggestions for further contemplation. 

One, let us contemplate God, his names, and his ways as revealed to us in Jesus Christ and in Holy Scripture. Remember the words of Christ in his high priestly prayer: “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3, ESV). If you wish to know God and Christ truly and to have eternal life in him, then you must submit to God’s word. You must “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21, ESV). Many people claim to know God and Christ and to love them, but they will not surrender to divine revelation. Instead, they make a god and savior for themselves after their image and according to their desires and reason. If we wish to know God and to contemplate him truly, then we must surrender to his word. He is LORD. And he has said, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19, ESV). 

Two, let us contemplate the mercy and patience of God. Here I am not referring to the mercy he has shown to us in Christ Jesus to save us from our sins, but the mercy that he shows to all men living in all times and places. It is incredible to consider the patience of the LORD. He has for millennia restrained the outpouring of his wrath. He even gives good gifts to men – even to those who hate him. Have you ever looked out upon the city and thought to yourself, our God is so very patient? Indeed, he is merciful. He does not immediately give men what they deserve. He is patient. And this is to leave room for the full accomplishment and application of salvation to all of his elect. We must give praise to God for his mercy.

Three, let us contemplate and give thanks to God for the way of salvation he has provided for the world, that is to say, for people from every tongue tribe, and nation. As we continue in our study of Exodus we must not lose sight of the fact that he entered into a covenant with Israel, was patient with them for many hundreds of years, and was faithful to preserve them so that he might bring the Messiah into the world through them, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty…” 

Praise be to YHWH for his abundant mercy and grace. 

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Oct 22
9

Afternoon Sermon: What Is Justification?, Baptist, Galatians 2:15–21 Catechism 36

Baptist Catechism 36

Q. 36. What is justification?

A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein He pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone. (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 5:19; Phil. 3:9; Gal. 2:16)

Scripture Reading: Galatians 2:15–21

“We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (Galatians 2:15–21, ESV)

*****

Q. 36. What is justification?

  1. “Justification is an act of God’s free grace…”
    1. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 3:23–24, ESV)
  2. “Wherein He pardoneth all our sins…”
    1. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace…” (Ephesians 1:7, ESV)
  3. “And accepteth us as righteous in His sight…”
    1. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV)
  4. “Only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us…”
    1. “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19, ESV)
    2. “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…” (Philippians 3:8–9, ESV)
  5. “And received by faith alone.”
    1. “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16, ESV)
Posted in Sermons, Joe Anady, Posted by Joe. Comments Off on Afternoon Sermon: What Is Justification?, Baptist, Galatians 2:15–21 Catechism 36

Oct 22
9

Discussion Questions: Exodus 33

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AT HOME OR IN GOSPEL COMMUNITY GROUPS

Sermon manuscript available at emmausrbc.org

  • Israel was encamped at Mt. Sinai for almost a year. Try to give an overview of everything that happened while there.
  • How does this text relate to the instructions given for the building of the tabernacle and the sin of idolatry? In other words, what problem or question is addressed here in Exodus 33?
  • This was a test for Isarel and for Moses. How so?
  • Why was it important that the LORD be present in the midst of his people? Why was this important to Moses and Israel? Why was this important in terms of what it communicated about the goal of our redemption in Christ Jesus?
  • Is your greatest desire to dwell in God’s presence and to enjoy his beauty and glory? Read Psalm 27:4 and John 17:3. Discuss the implications. 
  • How can we enjoy the presence of God now?
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Oct 22
9

Morning Sermon: Not Without Your Presence, Exodus 33

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 33

“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.’ When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the LORD had said to Moses, ‘Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’’ Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. Moses said to the LORD, ‘See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.’ And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ And he said to him, ‘If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?’ And the LORD said to Moses, ‘This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.’ Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory.’ And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’ And the LORD said, ‘Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen’” (Exodus 33, ESV).

New Testament Reading: John 17:1–19

“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” (John 17:1–19, ESV)

*****

Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

Did you know that Israel was encamped at Sinai for about a year? In Exodus 19:1 we read, “On the third new moon (or three months) after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai” (Exodus 19:1, ESV). And in Numbers 10:11 we read, “In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran” (Numbers 10:11–12, ESV). So then, from the time that Isarel entered into the wilderness of Sinai, to the time that Isarel fully departed the wilderness of Sinia, nearly a year had passed. 

A lot of things happened during that year. I would like to very briefly tell you about what happened. And the reason for this overview is so that we might better understand and appreciate the passage that is before us today. 

When Isarel encamped at Mt. Sinai, God spoke to them through Moses and introduced the covenant that he would make with them. After this, the LORD spoke the Ten Commandments to Isarel directly. The people received the moral law and begged that no further word be spoken to them, but that Moses function as a middleman. After this, Moses drew near to God while the people stood afar off. The LORD gave Moses additional laws – laws about worship, and laws to govern Israel’s unique society. During this time, the Lord did also restate the unconditional promises that he had previously made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob concerning the land of Canaan and Israel’s possession of it as a nation.  The LORD did also promise to “send an angel before [Israel] to guard [them] on the way and to bring [them] to the place that [he had] prepared” (Exodus 23:20, ESV). After all of this – that is to say, after the proposal of the covenant, and the communication of the terms of the covenant – the Old Mosaic Covenant was confirmed. Exodus 24 tells us all about that. And after the covenant was confirmed, Moses was called to go up on the mountain and into the glorious presence of God. He was up on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. There he received instructions for the building of a tabernacle. He was also given instructions concerning the priests who were to minister there, what they were to wear, and how they were to be consecrated. 

Do not miss the significance of this, brothers and sisters. That tabernacle was designed by God to be the place where he would be present with his people in a special way to bless them. Yes, God is omnipresent. He is not confined to heaven, which is the realm that he created in the beginning wherin he manifests his glory to the angels he has made. And nor would he be confined to the Most Holy Place of this tabernacle that he told Moses to make. When we say that God would be present with his people through this tabernacle we do not deny his omnipresence, instead, we acknowledge that though God is everywhere present, he is also able to manifest his glory in a special way to bless his people on earth, with whom he has entered into covenant. The tabernacle was designed to be such a place. It was a replica of the heavenly throne room of God. It was a replica of Eden. It was a prototype of the new heavens and earth. And this tabernacle was designed to be placed in the midst of the tribes of Isarel. There Isarel would be invited to come before the LORD, to worship and serve him, in the way that God had commanded. It was to be a little taste of heaven for them. It was to be a little taste of what Adam and Eve enjoyed in Eden before sin entered the world. It was to be a little foretaste of the New heavens and earth, as well as a picture of Jesus the Messiah and the work that he would do to take his elect into the new heavens and earth, through the veil, that is, through his broken body and shed blood.

The tabernacle was a wonderful and gracious gift to Isarel, wouldn’t you agree?  It marked them off from all of the other nations in a most glorious way. Through the tabernacle, and later, the temple, the LORD would present in the midst of Israel in an utterly unique way. While the LORD is God of all people, under the Old Covenant, the LORD was Israel’s God in a special way, and they were LORD’s special people, unique from all of the other nations on earth, through the covenant that God with Abraham, and with them through Moses. You must see this. The tabernacle was all about God’s presence – the presence of God in the midst of his people – and the way that God had provided for his people to come before him to worship and serve him. 

So then, what happened after these instructions concerning the building of the tabernacle were given to Moses up on the mountain? It was then that the people fell into idolatry and broke the terms of the covenant that God had made with them only 40 days earlier, making them liable to the curses of the covenant that had been threatened.

 Moses was gone for 40 days, remember? The people grew impatient. And so they convinced Aaron, who was to be the high priest of Israel to make an image for them to worship. The people wanted a god who would be present with them – something visible, tangible, and I would argue, controllable. And so Aaron foolishly crafted gold into an image of a young bull, and many within Isarel took that image and ran full speed into polytheistic idolatry. They forgot the LORD who had redeemed them, led them, and fed them in the wilderness, with whom they had entered into a special covenantal bond. They broke that covenant of works by violating its terms and deserved to be cut off.. 

You will probably remember from the sermon last Sunday that the LORD threatened to blot Israel out entirely, and to start fresh with Moses. But what did Moses do? He interceded for Isarel. He prayed to the LORD and appealed for mercy. And what did the LORD do? The LORD relented from the judgment he had threatened. In this way – through the means of the threat of righteous judgment and Moses’ faithful intercession, and the LORD relenting from following through on his threat – the mercy and grace of God was shown forth, which was LORD’s decree from all eternity.

So then, the LORD did not blot Isarel out to start fresh with Moses. No, for his namesake, and for the sake of the promises he had previously made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he showed mercy. Some of the individual idolaters were judged by the priests with the sword. Other individual idolaters were judged through a plague that God poured out on the people. But by the mercy of God, the nation as a whole was spared.

There is a question that remains, though. What about the tabernacle? Would it be built? Would the LORD still dwell in the midst of this people, given their stiff-necked, hard-hearted, idolatrous rebellion? Would he relent from the pouring out of his wrath for his name’s sake? Yes. Would he bring this people into the land of Canaan in fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham concerning his descendants? Yes. But would the LORD tabernacle in the midst of Israel and invite them to draw near to him in worship? That is the question that is still looming as we come to our text for today.

Of course, we know how the story goes. We know that Isarel would eventually build the tabernacle according to the design that God revealed to Moses on the mountain. Exodus 36:1-40:33 tells us all about that. And we know that the LORD did fill this tabernacle with his special presence. In fact, the book of Exodus concludes with an account of the glory of the LORD filling the tent. In 40:33ff we read, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.” (Exodus 40:34–38, ESV). 

So you can see that the year Israel spent at Sinai was an eventful one. In addition to what has already been stated, there at Sinai the people of Israel would build the tabernacle and observe the first of the yearly Passover feasts (Numbers 9) before moving on in stages toward Canaan, the land of promise.

Let us now go to our text for today. And as we go there we must feel the unresolved tension concerning the question, would the LORD tabernacle in the midst of his people now that they broke the covenant through their idolatry? 

The text may be divided into three parts. Firstly, in verses 1-11, the LORD threatens to withhold the blessing of his presence from Israel. Secondly, in verses 12-16, Moses intercedes on behalf of Israel. Thirdly, in verses 17-23, the LORD shows mercy to Moses and to Israel and agrees to dwell in the midst of them. 

*****

The Threat

First, let us consider the threat. 

Verse 1: “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it’” (Exodus 33:1, ESV). Two things must be noted about this verse. 

One, building upon the last passage, the LORD here reiterates his promise to bring the people of Israel into the land which he swore to give to them as the offspring of  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So God’s grace and his covenant faithfulness are here put on display. According to the terms of the Mosaic Covenant, Israel deserved to be cut off. But the LORD made unconditional promises to Abraham regarding the land. Paul this Apostle speaks to this reality when he says in Galatians 3:17, “This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise “(Galatians 3:17–18, ESV).

Two, though God’s grace is shown forth, there is also in this statement the threat of judgment, for the LORD commanded that Israel move on from Sinai without the tabernacle. It’s as if the LORD said, Ok, I’ll give you the land because of my promise to Abraham, but I’m withholding my special presence. You’ve lost that blessing because you have broken the terms of this covenant that I have made with you at Sinai. 

Verses 2 and 3 confirm that this is the case. There the Lord says, “I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people” (Exodus 33:2–3, ESV). So then, the LORD would go before Israel trough his angel just as he did before in the pillar of fire and cloud, but he would not “go up among” the people – that is to say, he would not dwell in the midst of the in the tabernacle according to the plan that he had shown to Moses on the mountain. Why? Lest he consumed the people because of their sin, for they were a stiff-necked people. 

In verse 4, the response of the people to this disastrous word is described to us. In fact, the response is surprising. It is very different than what you might expect given how wicked the people were only a short time before. “When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’ Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward” (Exodus 33:4–6, ESV).

Clearly, Israel had been purified somewhat. The idolaters had been put to death by the sword and the plague. And clearly, Israel had been humbled. If the people were still arrogant and worldly, they would have been content to have the land without the LORD’s presence. But because Isarel had been purged of the egregious idolaters and humbled, they mourned over the thought of the LORD’s presence being withheld from them. They mourned inwardly in the heart, and they mourned externally by removing their jewelry. In fact, they would not put it back on from that day onward. 

I suppose I should press you all with a question at this point. Would you be content to have earthly blessing without the LORD’s presence? Or to state it another way, would you be happy to enter into the new heavens and earth if God was not present there? If you were to answer that question honestly, it would reveal a great deal about your heart. The worldly man – the idolater – has his heart set on the things of this world – health, wealth, and prosperity –  and thinks very little of God and far surpassing value of knowing him, being in a right relationship with him, and dwelling in his glorious presence forever and ever.

So many passages of scripture come to mind which speak of the surpassing worth of knowing God and being in a right relationship with him through faith in Christ Jesus so that we might behold his glory forever and ever. Indeed, only a fool would exchange that – what theologians call the beatific vision – for the treasures of this earth. One passage that came to mind what Psalm 27:4 where King David famously says, “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4, ESV). Using the langue of our passage for today, the one thing that David desired above all was to be in the presence of the LORD in his holy temple. Is that your highest desire? That is the question. Or is your heart set on the things of this world?

Verses 7-11 of Exodus 33 are very interesting. Here we have a kind of parenthetical remark inserted to more cleary show what the LORD meant when threatened to “not go up among” the people. Verse 7: “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent” (Exodus 33:7–11, ESV).

This tent was not the tabernacle, for the tabernacle had not yet been constructed, but is meant to be contrasted with the tabernacle. During this time, after Moses had come down from the mountain to find the people in idolatry, and before the covenant was graciously renewed and the tabernacle finally built, Moses would set up a tent. There he would commune with God. And there people could come to inquire of the LORD. When Moses was gone from the tent, Joshua would guard it. 

As I have said, this was not the tabernacle but is to be contrasted with it. Notice, first of all, where it was set up. Not in the middle of the tribes of Israel as the tabernacle was to be, but outside the camp. Secondly, notice who ministered at this tent. Not Aaron and the Levites, but Moses alone. Joshua, his trusted servant would keep it. The reasons for this are obvious given Aaron’s recent rebellion. Three, notice that the people do not draw near as a community, but stand afar off at the door of their tent. They stood afar off and observed. They did not freely draw near. They would worship, “each at his tent door” (Exodus 33:10, ESV). This tent that Moses set up was a temporary substitute for the tabernacle, and sent a very strong message – the people were alienated from YHWH because of the sin and rebellion, and the LORD withheld his presence from the people. 

We are not told how long this arrangement lasted. Was it weeks or months? Really, it does not matter. The message is clear. There was a period of time between the breaking of the Mosaic covenant and the renewal of it (34:10ff) where the LORD threatened to lead his people into the land but to withhold his presence. This tent and Moses’ ministry there are put forward as an illustration of that period of time and of that dynamic.

I think it is very important for us to view this period of time as a time of testing and purification for Israel. They sinned as a nation. The Lord judged them and withdrew his presence from them. What would they do? Would humble themselves before the Lord? Would they sorrow over their sin?  Would they cry out for mercy? Or would they grow even more hard-hearted, stubborn and rebellious?  In this text, we see that the nation mourned and that Moses interceded. 

*****

The Intercession

Let us now consider Moses’ intercession in verses 12-16. The same thing must be said here which was said in our consideration of the previous passage. Whenever the LORD reveals to one of his people the judgment that he is about to pour out, it is an invitation for that person to intercede. Here the LORD threatens to withhold his presence from Israel as a consequence of their sin, and here Moses proves himself yet again to be a faithful servant in God’s house as he intercedes on behalf of the people. 

Verse 12: “Moses said to the LORD, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” (Exodus 33:12–13, ESV).

What does Moses request here except an even greater knowledge of God than what he had previously enjoyed? This is a truly incredible request, for we know that the LORD had already revealed himself to Moses in very profound ways. He spoke to him out of the burning bush, and revealed the meaning of his name YHWH, as the I AM. Moses was given a glimpse into heaven along with Aaron and the 70. He was invited up on the mountain to receive the law of God and instructions concerning the tabernacle. Indeed, we have just heard that the LORD spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11, ESV). What did Moses seek, then, when he said to the LORD, “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.” Clearly, he wished to know the LORD more deeply. He wished to see the LORD to the degree that he was able to comprehend and withstand. He wanted to know the LORD’s “ways” –  “please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.” You see, Moses was not merely seeking a vision of the glory of God, he wanted to know more about who God is – his character –  his ways.  

When he says in verse 13, “Consider too that this nation is your people”, he means, do not forget Isarel. Do this for me, and do this for them. Taken in context, the request is clear. Give us more of you, LORD. Do not hold your presence, but come near to us, and draw us near to you. Reveal your glory to us. And more than this, reveal your ways. Show us who you are so that we might honor you. That is what Moses requested for himself and on behalf of Israel. 

I wonder, brothers and sisters, do you have the same desire to know God? And when I say, “to know God”, I do not mean to see a vision of him, or to feel an emotion concerning him. This is not how God is known. To know God is to be in a right relationship with him. To know God, is to enjoy his presence. To know God, is to understand who he is, his attributes, and his ways. This is really the point of it all, and Moses understood this. 

I’m reminded of that prayer that Jesus prayed as recorded in John 17. “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:1–3, ESV). Did you hear it? “And this is eternal life, that they know you…” When I say that “Moses understood this”, I mean that he understood what God was doing with Isarel. The LORD had redeemed them, entered into covenant with them, and would give them Canaan so that the Messiah might be brought into the world through them in order to provide salvation for all whom the Father had given to him. The point of it all was to reconcile sinners. The point of it all was to bring sinners into the presence of God to enjoy eternal life. “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God”, Jesus prayed. Moses understood that this was the end goal – the highest prize – and so he cried out to God, saying, “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.” And he did not forget Israel, but interceded for them, saying, “consider too that this nation is your people.”

The LORD was quick to show mercy, saying in verse 14, “And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest’” (Exodus 33:14, ESV). Presence and rest. Presence and rest. These two words could be used to describe the new heavens and earth! And by the grace of God, Israel would be given a little foretaste of the presence of God in the tabernacle and the rest of God in Canaan, once they took possession of it. 

The LORD was quick to show mercy, but Moses continued to intercede in verse 15 with even more boldness in verse 15: “ And he said to him, ‘If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:14–16, ESV). I’ve already said that Moses got it. He understood that the real treasure was not rest in Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, but God’s presence. “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.” For Isarel to go up from there and into Canaan without the presence of the LORD would be like setting off on your honeymoon vacation without your bride! You see, sometimes it’s not about the destination but the one you are with. And certainly, this is the case with Canaan, and the new heavens and earth. It is God’s presence that will make heaven heavenly. 

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The Mercy

Let us now briefly consider the mercy of God. The LORD has already relented from his threat to not go up amongst the people in verse 14, saying, “And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest’” (Exodus 33:14, ESV), but the LORD was especially kind to Moses. 

In verse  17 we read, “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name’” (Exodus 33:17, ESV).

Verse 18: “Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory’” (Exodus 33:18, ESV). Indeed Moses, and all of Israel with him, had seen the glory of God manifest on Sanai. This must mean, show me more of you. LORD. Give me all that I can handle. 

“And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19, ESV). When the LORD said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you”, this does not imply that there is badness in God. No, the word “goodness” can mean “beauty”. Here the LORD agreed to show Moses his beauty. And when the LORD said that he would proclaim his name before him “the LORD” it does not only mean that God’s name, YHWH, would be uttered or pronounced for Moses (indeed, the name YHWH was already known), but that the LORD would reveal more of its meaning to Moses. The names of God reveal truths concerning who he is. By the name YHWH, we know that the LORD is the self-existent one. And here it is stressed that he is merciful and gracious. In connection with the name YHWH, the LORD said, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19, ESV). Certainly, that truth concerning God was revealed in the episode surrounding the worship of the golden calf. All of Israel deserved to be cut off. Some were judged. Some were spared. Aaron was one who was spared. YHWH is merciful, and he has the sovereign right to show mercy to whomever he wills. To know YHWH is to know this about him. 

In verse 20 it is clarified that although Moses would be shown the beauty and glory of the LORD, and though he would receive a greater revelation of the LORD than what he had previously received, he would not see the LORD as he is, for no man can see the LORD as he is and live. The LORD spoke to Moses saying, “‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’ And the LORD said, ‘Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen’” (Exodus 33:20–23, ESV). 

We know that God is spirit. He does not have hands, a back, or a face. He is a most pure spirit. He does not have body parts, therefore. And yet in this passage, human body parts are attributed to him so that we might comprehend the truth of what Moses experienced up on the mountain. He was blessed to behold the beauty and glory of the LORD and to receive a greater revelation concerning his name and his ways. The revelation he received was true, but it was in no way a complete and unmediated revelation of the divine nature. Man, much less sinful men, and women, are incapable of fully comprehendeing God. We may know God truly, but not exhaustively. A finite creature is incapable of comprehending the infinite One, the Creator of all things seen and unseen. 

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Conclusion

You know, there are some passages in Holy Scripture that really seem to get the heart of things. This is one of them, in my opinion. 

What is the point or aim of our redemption in Christ Jesus? Why has he freed us from bondage to sin? Why has he washed away the sins of those who believe in him? Why has he made us right in the sight of God by clothing us with his righteousness? Why has he promised to bring us into the new heavens and earth wherein we will enjoy eternal rest? What’s the point? What is the aim? Is it not that we would be reconciled to the Father, to be in a right relationship with him, so that we might worship, serve, glorify and enjoy him forever and ever?  Indeed, this is the aim or highest objective of our redemption in Christ Jesus. 

You have been freed, so that… You have been washed, so that… You have been justified, so that… So that you might know God, behold his glory, worship, serve, and enjoy him forever and ever. You were made for this. You were redeemed for this. We were made to commune with you Maker, and through Christ it is possible.

And it is possible now, brothers and sisters. If God has been merciful to give you the gift of faith and repentance, then your communion with God is be enjoyed now. You have been freed, washed, justified, and clothed in Christ’s righteousness now, so that you might enjoy communion with God, not only in the new heavens and earth, but now, for God is present with his people. He dwells in the midst of us, for you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. 

What God did with Israel so long ago to redeem them, entering to covenant with them, and to set his tabernacle in the midst of them wherein his glory would be manifest, was an early picture of these heavenly and eternal realities that are ours now in Christ Jesus. In Christ, the eternal Word of God tabernacled amongst us. And through Christ, you, church, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. May David’s song be ours now and for eternity: “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4, ESV).

Posted in Sermons, Joe Anady, Posted by Joe. Comments Off on Morning Sermon: Not Without Your Presence, Exodus 33

Oct 22
2

Afternoon Sermon: What Benefits Do They That Are Effectually Called, Partake Of In This Life?, Baptist Catechism 35, Romans 8:28–39

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Baptist Catechism 35

Q. 35. What benefits do they that are effectually called, partake of in this life?

A. They that are effectually called, do in this life partake of justification, adoption, sanctification, and the several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from them. (Rom. 8:30; Gal. 3:26; 1 Cor. 6:11; Rom. 8:31,32; Eph. 1:5; 1 Cor. 1:30)

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:28–39

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:28–39, ESV)

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  1. What benefits do they that are effectually called, partake of in this life?
    1. “They that are effectually called, do in this life…”
      • Rember that those who are effectually called are given the gift of faith… these benefits are received by faith, but the faith is a gift.
        • BC 34. “Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel.”
      • Notice, these are benefits enjoyed “in this life.”
        1. Q. 40. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
        2. Q. 41. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
    2. “Justification…”
      • Declared not guilty in a legal way. 
        • “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:30, ESV)
    3. “Adoption…” 
      • Brought into the family of God.
        • “We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:3, ESV)
        • “He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will…” (Ephesians 1:5, ESV)
        • “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (Galatians 3:26, ESV)
    4. “Sanctification…”
      • Positional
        • “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11, ESV)
      •  Progressive
        • “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6, ESV)
    5. “And the several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from them.”
      • “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31–32, ESV)
Posted in Sermons, Joe Anady, Posted by Joe. Comments Off on Afternoon Sermon: What Benefits Do They That Are Effectually Called, Partake Of In This Life?, Baptist Catechism 35, Romans 8:28–39

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