Amen. All right, well I definitely plan on getting something out of it. I have a
lot of notes, but I will probably, for the sake of time, skip through a lot of things
here. But it's a great chapter here. The title of my sermon tonight is, The
Aftermath of the Golden Calf. The Aftermath of the Golden Calf. And like I
said in the announcements, the last chapter was a pretty rough chapter for
the children of Israel. Moses is up getting all the law and all the
instruction, and how the priests are supposed to be consecrated, what he's
supposed to do, all the cleansing and everything. And the people just
feel like Moses has been gone for too long, and so they decide to rebel against
the things that they just agreed to keep in Exodus chapter 24. So, and then God's
upset, and he says he's going to destroy them and start a new nation with Moses.
And Moses was like, oh no, don't do that. You know, what about the Egyptians are
going to say, well you just took them out there to kill them. And then Moses comes
down and sees what they're doing. He's like, no, kill everybody. You know, he's
just like, he throws a deck of hammers down. He's like, never mind, I agree with God now.
You know, basically. But you know, Moses, you know, he's constantly interceding for
the children of Israel. And, but he did get pretty upset. He did have, you know,
whoever was not on the Lord's side, you know, he said go and slay your brother,
the children of Israel. And it was a pretty bad ending to that chapter. But we
also saw just how quickly people can can get out of the way when, you know, the
leadership is not there. So, so again, the title tonight is The Aftermath of the
Golden Calf. And I'm going to have to preach this pretty quickly. I only have
four points to cover tonight. But the first point is the command to leave
Sinai and enter into the Promised Land. So God's going to give them the command
to leave Sinai now. So the original plan, remember, is for them to leave, to get the
commandments, to do the covenant. And the plan was not for them to stay there for
40 years. That comes because of what the children of Israel do,
continuously just doing wrong. But here, he's going to give them, he's saying,
let's go, let's go to the Promised Land. But remember, they send the 12 spies in,
and they get the evil report. We're not going to see that in this book of the
Bible. But that's what ends up happening. They bring the evil report. Joshua and
Caleb come back with the good report. God says you're going to die in this
wilderness. So that generation has to die out. So they have to travel in the
Promised Land, or in the Sinai for, not in Sinai, excuse me, but in,
they have to travel in the wilderness for 40 years until that generation dies
out. Then Joshua actually takes them to the Promised Land because the people
just upset Moses to the point where Moses actually doesn't, isn't allowed to
go into the Promised Land either because they drive him to the point of just
being so angry that he smashes the rock instead of talking to the rock. And then
that, you know, then Moses, you know, this great leader doesn't get to go either. So
that's kind of what what ends up happening. But let's look down at the
Bible, what it says here in verse 1. It says, And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart
and go up hence. Thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of
Egypt, unto the land which I swear unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying,
unto thy seed will I give it. Now if you understand the Bible, and I'm sure
everybody knows this in here, but in Galatians chapter 3 verse 16, I won't
have you turn there, but the Bible says, Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed
which is Christ. So when God says this in Exodus 33, he's talking about the seed
which is Christ. All right, so the seed is Christ. Now people, you know, modern day
they'll say, well that that land was promised to the Jews. That land was
promised to the children of Abraham. And you know, that would seem correct to some
people, but what it's really, who it was really promised to was Christ. And it was
a spiritual blessing. Abraham would be the father of many nations. Okay, and so
when it says thy seed, that's a singular term. Not seeds, but seed, right? So it's
not, it says, but as of one in Galatians 3 16, and to thy seed which is Christ. Not
as many, but as one. So it's never really truly been about the land specifically
and these special chosen people necessarily, but the special God-man
Christ Jesus, that the promises were actually made to. So through Christ,
many people would be saved. He's actually the Savior of the whole world. Kind of
went through that a lot this morning. Look at verse 2. And I will send an angel
before thee, and I will drive out the Canaanite, and the Amorite, and the Hittite,
and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. All these ites are gonna get
kicked out. Unto a land flowing with milk and honey, so a place of great blessing.
For I will not go up into the midst, I will not go up in the midst of thee, for
thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee in the way. So here you kind
of get the inkling that God's still a little upset, right, from the last
thing. So he's still upset. He's not happy with the children of Israel, and he
even says this to them in chapter 32, that there are stiff-necked people. But he
says, lest I consume thee in the way. He said, I don't even want to go with you
really. I'm not gonna go up in the midst of you, but I'll send an angel before you,
and he'll drive the Hittites and all these ites out of the way. The Canaanites
is basically, the seven nations of the Canaanites is who he's talking about. And
it says, when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned, and no man did put
on him his ornaments. Now that word ornaments there is talking about
things that you would add to your apparel. Now, an ornament means a thing
used to make something look more attractive, but usually having no
practical purpose, especially a small object such as a figurine. It can mean to
make something look more attractive by adding decorative items. So like, I don't
know if you remember the, was it the the two guys and judges that had the camels,
and they had the ornaments around their camels' necks or whatever, and they
took those off, and they had all these kind of like charm bracelets or
something. I don't know, you know what those, you know what I'm talking about,
those charm bracelets that they have. But ornaments for us, you know, they
could be like, I call it like the Mr. T startup kit, you know, like where you just
have like the the gold chains and, you know, just extra stuff to make it, your
stuff look flashy. This would be an ornament, this sword tie clip that
I'm wearing, or if you have like, I don't know, like cuff links or gold or silver
chain with wristwatches, a ring, you know, special rings, lapel pins, tie bars, things
like that, those would be ornaments. Now it says no man did put on his ornaments,
so notice it said no man, because the women were like, oh yeah right, you know,
I'm not going out without my ornaments on. So they're not gonna, they're not
gonna take their bracelets and jewelry off. But I think it does say the
children of Israel, so I'm just taking a shot at, yeah, where I can. So
verse five says, for the Lord had said unto Moses, say unto the children of
Israel, ye are a stiff-necked people, I will come up into the midst of thee in a
moment and consume thee, therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I
may know what to do unto thee. So he's a little irritated, he's so irritated that
he just doesn't even want to look at their bling that they have on at all.
Like to him, that's probably just an offense to see that they're wearing,
probably the stuff that they, when they spoiled the Egyptians and took all that
stuff with them, they took away jewels and earrings and all that stuff.
Remember Aaron took the earrings out of their ears and made the, you know, they
use that stuff to make something abominable and then to sit there and
wear it after they just have this big rebellion, wear whatever else that they
had on them, you know, to look, try to look fancy in front of each other and
in front of the Lord is probably an offense to him. So he's really offended
by the fact that they're wearing these ornaments, these things to make them
look a little more flashy. And it says, and the children of Israel stripped
themselves of their ornaments by the Mount Horeb. So God's upset. He points
out the fact that they're this stiff-necked people. And this is a term
that God uses throughout the Bible about the children of Israel. And when God's
people won't listen to him, he likens it to people being stiff-necked. Now, what
does that mean exactly? Because, you know, usually when we say, oh, I got a
stiff neck, it's usually it's like your neck is aching and you don't want to
really want to move it. But that kind of is what it's alluding to in a way that
you don't want to turn your, you know, you kind of like, you know, when kids
are pouting and they don't want to look up and they're kind of just doing this
number, they don't want to turn and face you when you're trying to reprove them
or something. It's kind of like that. That's what that's kind of how I think
that, like, when he's saying you have a hard, hard heart and a stiff neck,
because a hard heart is another thing that he says. So a stiff neck is like
it's something that's hard, right? It's your neck is hardened to the point where
you won't turn it and look God in the face or, you know, look God in the eyes
and and just deal with your issues. And kids, you know, they just wear their
feelings on their sleeves sometimes. And when they don't want to accept
reproof from their parents, they pout and they and they whine and they don't
want to look at you. Who's seen their kids do that before? Obviously,
everybody in this room that has kids has seen that. So and, you know, even as
adults, we can do that sometimes because a lot of these people are adults. So
sometimes we just don't want to hear what the Bible says about something we
just want to do. We're kind of we can be big babies too sometimes. And when God
is saying not to do something, we want to do something really bad. We'll find a
reason to be stiff necked or hard hearted about something and explain away
why we should be able to do the thing that we want to do even though we know
it's wrong. So God uses these terms to define how his people respond to his
reproof. Look back at one chapter at Exodus 32 nine, Exodus 32 nine, and this
is the first time that it's terms actually used in the Bible is in the
rebellion chapter when they first rebel against God here in Exodus 32. It was
really kind of the beginning of their mass rebellion. Obviously, there was
other chapters before this where they kind of were murmuring against the
leadership. But here it's just like an open rebellion. And they go to their
weak leader who was Aaron, and he just does everything that they want. He's
like the Rick Warren leader or whatever. But anyway, verse nine, the Bible says,
And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff
necked people. Now therefore, let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them,
and that I may consume them, and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses
besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy
people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power
and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, For
mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the mountains, and to consume
them from the face of the earth. Turn from my fierce wrath, and repent of this
evil against thy people. So, and again, right after this, Moses realizes why God's
so mad and freaks out, you know, in front of them, too. So he finally gets it. But
what is the application for us as Christians today when it comes to this
stuff here? Well, I would say this. Don't harden your heart to the Lord or the
things of God. Don't stiffen your neck to the things of God and the Word of God in
your life, either. Because we could be just like these people where we would
rebel, and we're just like, well, I'm just sick of following all these rules. I
knocked on a guy's door today, and he said, well, I grew up in a Baptist church.
And he said, I said, well, what kind of church was he? He said, Southern Baptist,
and you can't dance, you can't do all this, you can't, you just can't live your
life at all, is what he said. And I was just like, okay. So, like, he equates doing a
bunch of stuff that you shouldn't be doing to living your life. And that's
kind of how we can apply it sometimes as Christians, where we look back. Because,
look, these guys were always looking back to Egypt and wanting to go back to the
things of the world, to the things that they found comforting, even though they
were in bondage, even though they were having to go grab straw and make their
own brick and having to have a certain tale of bricks every single day. And they
were just in in hard bondage, their children were being murdered, and they
were just like, I'd rather do that than serve the Lord. And that's a bad place to
be. So our application, don't harden your heart, don't have a stiff neck. When God
is commanding us to do something, we should do it and be happy about it. Now,
Hebrews chapter 3 verse 7, even if you're not happy about it, just do it out of
duty. I mean, it was pretty cold out there today, let's just be honest. It was cold
the doors were cold, the people were cold, and the weather was cold. And it
wasn't really the most fun experience except for being able to just hang out
with your soul wanting partner, maybe get you through that couple hour time
time-lapse there. But that was a go-out-of-duty soul wanting time, really,
for me. I'm just, you know, just being honest. Obviously, if someone would have
said, hey, yeah, I want to hear the gospel, I'd have been happy to preach the gospel
to them. But it was just kind of one of those, yeah, let's just keep knocking and,
you know, what time is it? But, you know, but why do we go? Because we know we're
supposed to, you know, and we should have a good attitude about it even
though it might not be the most fun, enjoyable time. So it's not like I had a
bad attitude, I just wasn't having the greatest of times. There's, you know,
there's a happy medium there. So, but anyway, so Hebrews 3, did I have you turn
there? Hebrews 3, verse 7. And in this chapter, God likens, he'll look
back and talk about these specific situations here, and he mixes some of the
situations, but all that kind of relates to how the children of Israel acted in
that 40-year span. And some of it will apply to this, and some will apply to
other things that they did, but he likens what the children of Israel did that
and a lot of them weren't even saved, to how a Christian will act now. And he says,
don't behave like those people did. And he'll use examples of unsaved people and
apply it to us now. And I think it's, it's kind of masterful how Paul does this
because, you know, even though we are saved and we can't lose our salvation, we
can still get out of line and act like unsaved people do sometimes. It says in
Hebrews 3, 7, Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, today, if you will hear his voice,
harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of the temptation
in the wilderness. When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works
forty years, wherefore, I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do
always err in their heart, and they have not known my way. So I swear my wrath,
they shall not enter into my rest. Take heed, brethren, so who's it talking to? Is
it talking to people in church? Is it talking to someone that's saved? Yes, it
is, but he's taking unsaved people and making an application to us. Take heed,
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. Well, you're like,
well, what is that saying? It's not talking about not being saved. It's talking about
us just saying, well, I don't believe that verse because you just don't want to.
Isn't there saved people that don't want to believe that Jesus went to hell for
three days and three nights? There are. There's people that just don't want to
believe something. They don't want to believe that God would hate somebody,
and they'll just dig in on stuff like that, and those are just, you know, those
are just examples of things, but we can have an evil heart of unbelief sometimes.
It's just like that verse that says, if you believe not, yet he is faithful.
Sometimes we can not trust the promises and not trust the principles
of God, and we can have lapses of faith. It's not talking about
if you, you know, think that you're not saved or something. It's
talking about you lacking faith, and sometimes we do lack faith, but he's
admonishing us here to listen to what the Holy Ghost says, listen to what the
Bible says, listen to the Word of God, and trust in what it says. Take heed,
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from
the living God, because can you can you be saved and kind of depart from the
things of God? Yeah, people do it all the time. People stop going to church. People
stop fellowshiping with the Saints. People stop serving the Lord. They get
backslidden, and they get out, but they're still saved, so the difference is that a
lot of those people weren't saved, and so do you see how it's comparing there? It
says, but exhort one another daily. This is what's important. Exhort one another
daily while it is called today. See, every day is a new day for you to serve God
and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why it says to daily take up our
cross and follow after him, because it's a daily grind. It's not easy. It's easy to
fall out of your good habits. It's easy to just, if you're just scattered one day,
it's easy to fall out of Bible reading. It's easy to fall out of your prayer
time. It's easy to fall out of your church habits. If you're sick, if you miss
some church, it's easy to get out of the habit of going three times a week. It's
just easy to just fall out of spirituality, and so that's why he's
saying exhort one another daily while it's called today, lest any of you be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, because make no mistake about it,
folks, sin is deceitful, and it will deceive you and tell you, oh, you don't
need to go to church three times a week. That's ridiculous. That's what I thought
when I first got saved, too. When I first started going to a Baptist church, I
thought the same thing. I thought, you know what, this is a little ridiculous.
Three times a week, that's what I first thought, but then when I realized
what it did for my life and what it did for my family life, now I'm
three to thrive, and I've never looked back. I mean, there's been times when I
haven't been, but I've always known it was right, is what I'm
saying. So don't let sin harden you into deceiving you into doing something
that's not right, because it will do that. It will do that. So it says, for we are
made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast
unto the end. What's the goal? To finish the race. The goal is to stay in the race.
So whatever you got to do to stay in, whatever you got to do to freshen up
your life in Christ, that's what you got to do, because once it starts
becoming the same old thing, then it's gonna be the same old thing, and you're
gonna lose your zeal. Isn't it funny how, you know, when Jehu says, you know, come
with me, is your heart right, like my heart is right? You know how he says
that to him? I've always wondered, like, why he says that, and he says, come with me
and see my zeal for the Lord. He's like, this is how, you know, how do you know
your heart's right? Your zeal for the Lord. He's like, is your heart right?
Well, like, my heart's right? Well, let me show you how my heart is. Come see my zeal
for the Lord. And look, when we lose our zeal, and then you're just going through
the motions, and you're wah, wah, wah at my preaching, or you're wah, wah, wah
through church, that's when you're in danger of getting out of the whole
thing. It says, while it is said, verse 15, today, if you will hear his voice,
harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, for some, when they had
heard, did provoke. Howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. Not all of
them provoked him. Some of them were good. Joshua was good. Caleb was good.
I'm sure there was many others that were good, too. But what was the majority
like? The majority left and left in their heart long before they left in
their spirit. You know, before they died, they were already done. So, and, you
know, it says, howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with
whom was he grieved 40 years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose
carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom swear he that they should not
enter into his rest, but to them that believe not? So we see that they could
not enter in because of unbelief. Let us therefore fear, lest a promise be left
us of entering into his rest. Any of you should seem to come short of it, for
unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them. But the word preached
did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. We've
heard the gospel. We've believed the gospel. But you know what? They didn't.
So that's see where it's making the difference. But it's still making the
application to us as well. We can get like those people got. We can think
like those people thought. But we need to listen to the Holy Spirit. We need
to hear his voice today, and that needs to be something daily that we go
through. We can't just put that on the shelf and stop listening to the Holy
Spirit in our lives. Because if we do, we're in danger of having our hard or
a hard heart and a stiff neck through the deceitfulness of sin. And so what?
What's really the what? What is the application? Don't piss God off. Isn't
he pissed off in this in this chapter? He's upset. He's teed off. He's ticked
off. Don't provoke him. And so what provokes him? The what? What provoked
him that what are they doing?
Isn't it funny how people leave a church like this? And then the next
thing you know, they're at a rock concert. Next thing you know, you know,
the ladies are wearing pants and just all this stuff is like what? What
provokes him that they're airing in their heart, always that their heart is
hardened and they have a stiff neck and they just want to go back to whatever
they were doing before. They don't even believe what the Bible says. Or
either they just know what it says and they don't care. And that's what
upsets him. So what are we supposed to be? Steadfast unto the end. Have
faith. Be reproved. Don't turn your neck like a little baby. Don't don't
just say, I'm not gonna list of what you say. That's what kids do. But you
know what? He's talking about adults because adults do the same thing and
adults can get hardened. Their heart gets hardened too.
Don't get hardened through your little pet sins that you love so much. Don't
get all stiff neck when they get trounced on by the preaching of God's
word. Oh, it hurts me. How dare you talk about my pet sin, whatever that
sin is. I don't even need to mention him. You already know what they are.
You're thinking about him right now.
I'm gonna skip Proverbs one, but Proverbs one is talking about
reprobates. But, you know, God talks about turn you at my reproof. Behold,
I will pour out my spirit upon you and make known my words unto you. But you
know, the flip side of that is when you won't hear what is what is Proverbs
one talk about? It talks about the reprobate in the Old Testament. But
Proverbs is for us today, too. And, you know, if we won't listen to God's
word, we're gonna eat the fruits of our own life, too. And when you late 20
years later, after you've walked away from everything and your kids have
turned out terribly and your life is a mess, you know, and then you're like,
Well, where was God when this happened and that happened? He was saying, Go to
church, but you weren't there. He was saying, Hey, get your life in order and,
you know, maybe take your kids out of public school and homeschool them. Or,
you know, whatever else the Bible is saying that you refused to do and you
walked away. Well, you know, where was God? He was telling you what to do,
but you weren't listening. You weren't hearing what he said every day while it
is today. You wanted to be doing whatever you wanted to do, and you were
deceived by the sin that you wanted to be deceived by. And now you wonder why
your life's a wreck? Your life is a wreck because you refused to hear the
word of God. That's why.
Acts 7 51. Here's another one that's preached to the reprobates.
You don't have to turn there. I'm gonna read it. He's stiff necked and
uncircumcised in heart and ears. You do always resist the Holy Ghost as your
fathers did. So do you. And, you know, right after Stephen says this, they
kill him for it. But it's true is the day is long. Those people are stiff
necked and uncircumcised in heart. God said it in Exodus Chapter 32. He says
that in Exodus Chapter 33, he says it throughout the whole Bible. And when
Jesus came to him, they killed him. And then when Jesus, his people are
preaching to them, they murder him. They murdered Stephen because they're stiff
necked and hard hearted. They gnashed with their teeth on him and murdered
him. And all I'm trying to say is don't be like the heathen and fall from your
steadfastness and let sin deceive you because you're gonna be entering into
a world of pain when you piss God off. Because, you know, what did Moses do? Kill
these people. What did God want to do? He said, I don't even want to go into the
Promised Land with you. I don't even want to go in the midst with you. Like, is that
what you want your testimony to be? That God didn't even want to be with you ever?
I mean, God is in the midst of you. If you're saved today, the Holy Spirit of
God is in the midst of you. And it's like, but, you know, it's like, you know,
sometimes I'm thinking maybe he doesn't want to be in the midst of you. But he
promised he would. So why don't you be a person that's worthy of being in the
midst of? You know what I mean? Number two tonight, we're gonna look at the
tabernacle of the congregation. Look at verse seven. It says in verse seven, and
Moses took the tabernacle. It's not gonna get any easier from here on out, folks.
And Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp, afar off
from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of the congregation.
And so Moses, that's what Moses named it, right? And it came to pass that
everyone which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation,
which was without the camp. So Moses intentionally took it away from a
convenient place for them to go to it. So you see, it says he pitched it without
the camp, afar off from the camp. He didn't make it easy for them to get
there. They couldn't just roll out of bed and roll over to the tabernacle or
just see it, see through the doors from their from their window, wherever they
were, where their tent was at. They couldn't just see inside the services.
They didn't have WiFi to where they could see the services from home. They
actually had to go and purposely go to this place that's called the
tabernacle. Moses made sure that attending the church in the wilderness
had to be done on purpose and with purpose. And you know what? That's
that's how it is today for us, too. A lot of people travel from quite far
away, and you came here with purpose. So I'm about to preach some stuff to
you guys right now. But I'm preaching to the choir because you're all here
right now.
But let this, you know, let this stuff be, you know, and I preach this stuff
till I'm blue in the face until the cows come home. But how, Brother Sean,
what was the attendance this morning? Where are you at? 75. What was the
attendance tonight? So, okay, well, it's pretty close. But do you remember?
It's pretty close. That's pretty close, but it's not as many as there was in
this morning. But a lot of times there's a drastic drop off.
Okay,
now, when we first started our church, sometimes it actually happened on a
regular occasion where our evening service was bigger than our morning
service. Who remembers that?
Okay, and I thought that was really cool. But that almost never happens
now. Almost never happens now. So turn to Psalm chapter 92 verse 12. Psalm
chapter 92 verse 12. So Moses pitched the camp. He pitched the and he called
it the tabernacle of the congregation. And it says everyone which sought the
Lord went out under the tabernacle of the congregation. So who are they
seeking? What is the purpose of coming to church? Is it just to listen to me
preach? I hope not. Is it is it to hang out with your friends? I hope that's
not the only reason. Because what is the reason why they went out to the
tabernacle? They went out to the tabernacle for what? What did it say
there? Everyone that sought the Lord went out onto the tabernacle of the
congregation. They're seeking the Lord. That is the purpose. We're seeking the
Lord. That's why you should come to church. And the word congregation means
church. And it was without the camp. They had to go on purpose here in Psalm
chapter 92. Look at verse 12. The Bible says the righteous shall flourish like
the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted
in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. So what is the
Bible's likening us to? If you're like a plant and you're always in the house of
the Lord, what's it say about you? It says you're gonna flourish in the courts
of your God. It says you're gonna be like a palm tree. A palm tree can
survive in desert places. Palm trees are all over the world. Palm trees are can
survive. I mean the children of Israel are in the in the desert and they come
upon a place where there's 70 palm trees. I mean palm trees can survive in some
pretty rough territory. The cedars of Lebanon are these great renowned cedar
trees that are pretty much in a high desert type area. And so but they're
renowned for being strong and big and used for great buildings. The
buildings of the temple were built by the cedars of Lebanon. Look at verse 14.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing.
That's supposed to be a term of endearment, okay, obviously. But like a
like a plant if it's fat if a plant is fat and flourishing that means it's
healthy and doing well, okay. So it says to show that the Lord is upright he is
my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him. So again it's the focus. What is
it? The Lord. The Lord is the focus but the the thing that's going to help us is
to be planted in the house of the Lord. Look at Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews
chapter 13. And you know we should be coming here to seek the Lord. That's the
purpose. And the tabernacle of the congregation is what Moses called it. Why
did he call it that? Because that's where the congregation was supposed to meet
with the Lord. The Lord goes there. The Lord you know appeared to them there.
His presence would go with them and go into that tabernacle and he would meet
with the man of God. He would meet with Moses. He meets with them in this chapter.
Look at Hebrews 13 verse 8. The Bible says Jesus Christ the same yesterday and
today and forever. Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines for
it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace not with meats
which have not profited them and that have been occupied therein. We have an
altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the
bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high
priest for sin are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also that he might
sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the gate. Let us go
therefore on to him without the camp bearing his reproach. So isn't it
interesting though how Moses took the tabernacle and he took it out out of the
camp afar off and where is the place where we're supposed to meet with the
Lord? We're supposed to meet with the Lord here in the local New Testament
Church and God is among us. The Lord Jesus Christ is among us and so he says
in verse 13 let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his
reproach. So we need to leave our habitations and go and meet with the
place where God's going to be and where's he going to be? He's going to be
meeting with his Saints that have come to meet with the Lord. So and you know
what I'll just tell you this why Moses put the tabernacle the congregation
without the camp? So that those that truly seek him would go forth from their
places of comfort from their warm fuzzy slippers and jammies to meet with the
Lord and bear his reproach. And you know what I'm not ashamed for one second to
say that I go to Sure Foundation Baptist Church. And I'm not ashamed to
call all of you my friends at this church. I'm not ashamed of one single
person that goes here and I'm not ashamed of anything that I believe about
what our doctrine is at this church and when people reproach us you know what
that's the reproach of Christ because that is what we find in the Bible. And if
they're upset about that then that's too bad because I'm gonna I'm gonna go to a
place without the camp and I'm gonna bear the reproach of my Savior and I
don't care what anybody says I don't care what the news says I don't care
what the police say I don't care what the public says I'm gonna go to the
place where the Lord's name is gonna be preached and where he's gonna be
glorified where he's gonna be honored where we're gonna sing songs like we
sang at the beginning of this service and where the Bible is gonna be preached
unfettered unfiltered and whatever's in it it's gonna be preached and everybody
all God's people are gonna say amen to it I'm not ashamed why would I be
ashamed I'm ashamed of churches I used to go to I'm ashamed of a lot of
churches that are in this city they call themselves churches like that faggot
church down there that says all are welcome with all their little doors and
stuff down there I'm ashamed of that church I'm ashamed of any church that
has a rainbow flag hanging out the side of their building anywhere I'm ashamed
of any church like that but I'm never gonna be ashamed of this church as long
as the Bible is being preached here Hebrews chapter 13 verse 14 it says for
here we have no continuing city but we seek one to come by him therefore let us
offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our
lips giving thanks to his name and to do good and to communicate forget not for
with such sacrifices God is well pleased you know what God loves he loves
you know the sacrifice of praise to him he loves our singing to him and praying
to him and and the word and to communicate forget not to communicate
the Word of God and God's well pleased with those things he's pleased that we
come to church and it says obey them they have the rule over you and submit
yourselves for they watch for your souls as they must give account that they may
do a joy not with grief for that is unprofitable for you I'll just say
something that I want you to obey get your backside in church and keep it
there how about that quit skipping on church over every little thing and look
if you're sick I'm not down on you please stay home I'm coughing up here
but I'm not sick I'm just I'm losing my voice or whatever but just stay in
church get in church you know don't use weak excuses be here when you can be if
you're but again if you're sick if you know something's going on I understand
there's reasons I'm not I'm not trying to get down on people that have legit
reasons but you know some people just find any reason to not come
Hebrews 10 24 says let us consider one another thanks buddy let's consider one
another to provoke unto love and good works not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much
the more as you see the day approaching this is 3,500 years ago where Moses put
the tabernacle of the wilderness out for people to go to you know and God wants
us to go more not less and again I'm preaching the choir I understand that
but isn't it funny how these verses here refer back to Moses in the
tabernacle look at verse 26 for if we sin willfully after we have received the
knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins but a certain
fearful looking of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the
adversary so it's talking about the adversaries getting devoured but then
it's applying it to us as in we can get punished for sins right he that despised
Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much more
sore punishment suppose he shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under
foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was
sanctified an unholy thing and that's done despite the spirit of grace for we
know him that has said vengeance belongeth unto me I will recompense say
at the Lord and again the Lord shall judge his people who's he gonna judge
his people it is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of living God and look I
mean the things I was preaching about this morning they should scare you from
taking the Lord's Supper when you're when you shouldn't be doing it I mean I
like to preach that stuff because I would be afraid to do it because I don't
want to die early I mean I don't want to get sick you know for not for taking it
unworthily or whatever but like I also want to go to church because I don't
like this little curse that's put in here afterwards for not going to church
it's saying we should be in church we should do it and I don't like this
saying you know vengeance belongs unto me I'm like oh man and like you're like
probably thinking well pastor you're saying that skipping church is just you
know God's gonna you know fall you're gonna fall into the hands of living God
well maybe it depends on what your attitudes about what is your attitude
about it because that's probably what it depends upon if it's legit yeah but if
it's just you don't care then I think that that's a different story go back to
our text and Exodus chapter 33 Exodus chapter 33
Exodus 33 verse 8 says and it came to pass when Moses went out unto the
tabernacle that all the people rose up and stood every man at his tent door and
looked after Moses until he was gone into the tabernacle this is really
interesting verse because you know Moses has to go to church Moses is the man of
God right Moses goes to church and then every man is standing at their tent door
it's like what's Moses you know what's Moses doing you know I don't know I mean
I just find that kind of strange that they're just standing in their tent door
looked after Moses till he's gone and it came to pass as Moses entered in the
tabernacle the cloudy pillar descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle
and the Lord talked with Moses so why go to church well God's gonna use his man
to speak he's gonna use his man he's gonna speak to his man he's gonna speak
he's gonna use that man to speak to you and you're gonna hear from God from this
book right here that's that's why you should go to church God's presence is
going to be there and because the Holy Spirit is in every saved believer and
when we gather together we are the church we are the congregation we are
the assembly we are the church of the living God look at verse 10 and all the
people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door and all the people
rose up and worshiped every man in his tent door and the Lord spake unto Moses
face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend and he turned again into the camp
but his servant Joshua the son of Nun a young man departed not out of the
tabernacle which I find it interesting but he's the successor to Moses that
will lead the people into the Promised Land now I don't have time to really get
into this too much but I'll just read the verses I won't have you turn there
Acts 737 I think I've brought this up recently but it says this is that Moses
which said unto the children of Israel prophet shall the Lord your God raise up
unto you of your brethren like unto me him shall ye hear this is he that was in
the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the Mount
Sinai with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give to us to whom our
fathers would not obey but thrust him from them and their hearts turned back
again to Egypt so it talks about the church in the wilderness so church means
congregation congregation means church so people say well the church didn't
happen until the New Testament that's not true there was always a church in
there was a church in the wilderness there was a place where they could
and you see them standing there Psalm 22 22 says I will declare thy name unto my
brethren in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee Hebrews
2 12 quotes that and says saying I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the
midst of the church while I sing praise unto thee so church and congregation are
used interchangeably Psalm 121 1 says I was glad when they said unto me let us
go into the house of the Lord first Timothy Timothy chapter 3 15 says but if
I Terry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the
house of God which is the church of the living God the pillar and ground of the
truth why should we go to church well because this is the house of God this is
the pillar and ground of the truth like why would you not want to go to the
house of God you're gonna this is the pillar ground truth this is where truth
comes out this is where the bedrock of truth comes forth it should be the place
where it comes forth and this is the rock this is where we're gonna get our
information from we're gonna get it from the source from the Lord himself from
his book Psalm chapter 84 and look I've been in both places I've been I've grew
up I didn't go to church till I was 25 years old really I mean I'd gone a
couple times I went to my dad's nut job Church a few times and laughed at them
and then I went to an Assemblies of God Church one time and went to a Sunday
school class or something learned about Jonah and got some candy or something
went home never went again until I was older and 14 I was laughing at them
doing tongues and stuff but that was all my exposure but I've been also in a
position where I wasn't in church even after being saved for a little while and
I've experienced both parts of life being in church or being out of church
unsaved and saved and Psalm 84 is a great is a great verse it says for a day
in thy courts is better than a thousand I had rather be a doorkeeper in the
house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness and you know what
I've been through both and I'll pick to be in the house of the Lord as a
doorkeeper any day of the week and I don't even think that's a bad thing I
like opening the door for people and greeting people I think it's fine I like
doing it it's not like to me that's not like a slight at all I mean I think it's
a good job you just talk to people and say hi and I do that sometimes people
know that but I'd rather be in the house of God doing anything than to be in the
tents of wickedness any day of the week I would just exhort you to stay in
church you're all in here today I know I'm preaching the choir but there might
come a day when you get tempted through sin to leave or to be to just get out of
out of serving the Lord and I would say it's a big mistake it's a wrong road to
choose and stay stay with the Christian life number three moat we see Moses's
intercession so God's still upset he's fired up and he doesn't want to go into
the Promised Land with him he wants to send this angel before them and Moses
you know he's still even after what happened in the last chapter he still
has grace towards the people of God towards the children of Israel look at
verse 12 back in our text it says and Moses said unto the Lord see thou sayest
unto me bring up this people and thou hast not let me know whom thou will send
with me yet thou has said I know thee by name and thou hast also found grace in
my sight now therefore I pray thee I if I have found grace in thy sight show me
now thy way and that I may know thee that I may find grace in thy sight and
consider that this nation is thy people so you see how he's still bringing the
people in with it he's like I still want you to remember that they're your people
Lord you know even though you don't want to you know he's still God's still kind
of trash-talking him calling him stiff-necked and saying he doesn't want
to go in the midst of them and he said my presence shall go with thee I will
give thee rest and he said unto them unto him if thy presence go not with me
carry us not up hence he's like if you're not going with me God then I
don't want to go for wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have
found grace in thy sight is is it not in that thou goest with us so shall we be
separated I and thy people from all the people that are upon the face of the
earth so you know God knows Moses by name he knows us by name and you know
when he said whosoever he did include me you know that song he included me so you
know Moses is saying like if we just went by ourselves nobody would know that
you know that we are you know we'd be separated from from the rest of the
people and nobody would know that you're with us you know they how would they
know like why we're separated from you and verse 17 says in the Lord and the
Lord said unto Moses I will do this thing also that thou has spoken for thou
has found grace in my sight and I know thee by name so and I don't think he's
just saying he only knows Moses by name he knows everybody by name that's his
people he knows everybody the Bible says in Genesis 6 8 but Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord and people get this idea and there's this sensational
teaching that you know grace didn't happen until Jesus came and and the
Bible does kind of allude to the fact that grace came by truth you know Moses
was you know the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ
that's true but there was still grace before Jesus came because why would it
say that Moses had grace in his sight why would it say that Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord that was well before Moses well how do you explain
that well because Jesus died for all those people too you know he just he
died at a specific appointed time but his grace still covered all that from
from behind and it still covers everything forward so how how does that
grace work well you know got you know obviously God covered everybody by faith
it's always been by faith there's never been another way to be saved but besides
by faith so when it talks about grace what does grace mean well I like this
little acronym and you can write it down if you want to but grace is God's riches
at Christ's expense so God gives eternal life he gives salvation he gives it at
Christ's expense Christ paid for it Christ had to suffer for it Christ rose
again you know all those things came at the expense of what Christ paid for so
we get those things because Christ paid for them for us otherwise we wouldn't
get them Ephesians 2 8 9 says for by grace are you saved through faith and
that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should
boast it's definitely not of our works but it did come with a price it cost
Jesus everything cost him his life cost him you know three days three nights in
hell it cost him you know leaving glory getting spit on getting made fun of
getting buffeted in the face his beard ripped out the crown of thorns put on
his head the lash to his back the crucifixion you know and you're like
well you know yeah but he only went through that for a little while well
let's see you go through what he went through for how long he went through it
and see how you do it probably wouldn't do very well well see you live a perfect
life for 33 years I mean we can't do it that's why he had to do it so grace
means unmerited favor we don't deserve it we get favor but we don't deserve it
God gives it anyway and the fact that God knows our individual name is pretty
cool you know I was talking to a guy named Jesse I was with brother Mon on
Friday and I just started talking to this guy at his car I knew he wasn't
gonna listen but I just kind of just tried to to shoot off some some stuff to
maybe pique his interest a little bit and some things of God and his name was
Jesse so and I just said I've used this before but I just said I asked him what
his name was he said my name is Jesse I said well Jesse you know there's a lot
of Jesse's in this world we have a Jesse right here it's different Jesse but God
knows his name there's Jesse in the Bible the father David but but I said
Jesse I said you're individual there's nobody like you in this world I said you
might have a doppelganger that looks like you but nobody is quite like you
nobody has the same fingerprints as you do I said if you were laying on the
ground dead Jesse people would say that's Jesse but that's not really you
Jesse because your soul is gone someplace I said when you die your soul
that whatever makes you you whatever energizes that body is gone someplace
when your body's dead I said it's either gonna go to heaven it's gonna go
to hell and I said you know you have to make the decision of where it's gonna go
and then you have to believe on Christ you know and you go to heaven I mean I
just kind of just gave him some some really quick things to deal with but it
is true there is nobody like us now I do want to maybe I didn't really look into
this I just was thinking about it but our identical twins do they have the
same fingerprints does anybody know they do I so they're identical in every way
same fingerprints because they one could be taller than the other right so that's
not identical somebody do some smartphone stuff for me real quick they
have the same DNA I don't know if I can trust Sean science and what can anybody
look it up for me real quick and say the identical twins have the same
fingerprints but anyway but yeah says no computer says no what does chat GPT
say is that where you got it okay chat GTP knows well I'm just gonna assume
that that's true I didn't think that they did have the same fingerprints but
yeah I mean you can like when I always say you have a doppelganger well you can
literally have an identical twin but that person still is not you you're
still an individual different and God knows your name God knows everything
about you and you know it's it's really referenced to us in Matthew chapter
number 10 if you want to turn there real quickly Matthew chapter 10 because like
we kind of get this you kind of see that God's only dealing with Moses because in
the time that we're dealing with like you know Jesus hasn't died the veil
hasn't rent in twain you know God is only dealing with man in a certain way
and he's not talking to everybody face to face like he's talking with Moses
he's not allowing just anybody to approach to him ever they had to wear
the little bells and have the certain outfits on and all this other stuff they
haven't even started doing this yet we're still not even at that stage yet
but it says in Matthew 10 28 says and fear not them which kill the body but
are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both
soul and body in hell are not two sparrows sold for a farthing and one of
them shall not fall on the ground without your father but the very hairs
of your head are all numbered it's not it's you know it you're it's not saying
necessarily that he knows I mean he knows it sounds like he's saying he
knows the exact number and if one falls out he probably knows exactly how many
are left after that he knows somewhere down the line I had more than I do now
and I was in denial for years I didn't even know I'd never looked at the mirror
at the back of my hair I didn't care until my kids told me I was bald I was
I was horrified but I'm hoping those numbers come back but it says fear ye
not therefore you're more of more value than many sparrows so take that
Greenpeace take that PETA we're of more value than many sparrows probably all
the sparrows in the world really but we're individually important to God and
I don't want people to lose sight of that and lose track of that because it's
a very important thing for us to remember we start thinking how big God
is and how small we are but for some reason and I don't I don't know why I
don't understand it but for some reason he cares about us and sometimes I just
think why why does he care about me I don't know why but he does and when it
comes to his people he does love us and even though he might get irritated with
us he still cares for us he still loves us and you know but we still love our
children when we get mad at them too right it's like you could be really mad
at your kids and they could get the spanking of a lifetime but you're still
love them after that so he's really upset with his children here he wants to
wipe off the face of the planet but he doesn't right he holds back now last
point here I'll try to make it really quick here so go back to our text now
I've already I already preached like a whole sermon on this so I'm not gonna
re-preach that sermon but I do want to just bring up a couple things about it
so Exodus 33 verse 18 and my point is no man can see God's face and live so Exodus
33 18 it says and he said I beseech thee show me thy glory and he said I will I
will make all my goodness pass before thee and I will proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee and be and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and
I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy and he said thou canst not see my
face for there shall no man see me and live so God this this is God the Father
obviously talking to him and it says in the Lord said behold there is a place
by me and thou shalt stand upon a rock and it shall come to pass while my glory
passeth by that I will put put thee in a cliff of the rock and will cover thee
with my hand while I pass by and I will take away my hand and thou shalt see my
back parts but my face shall not be seen so Moses is asking to see the glory of
God but God said he's not allowed you cannot see my face and live so he's
offering to put him on this rock which of course there was a rock that followed
them talked about in the New Testament and it says that rock was Jesus right so
he sets him on this rock I'm not sure if that's the same rock but it kind of
makes sense that it might be and he covered he puts him in a cliff of the
rock and he says I'll let my glory pass before you and I'll cover you with my
hand and you can see the backside of me when I pass by so he could see the
backside of him when he passes by but he's not allowed to see his face now we
believe in the Trinity the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost we know that you
can't see the face of the Father and live but people saw the face of the Son
and lived right John even saw the glorified Son of God and lived right in
the book of Revelation they saw him on the Mount of Transfiguration and lived
right the Holy Ghost John the Baptist saw the the Holy Spirit descend as you
know as a bot in a bodily shape as a dove would would flutter down and rested
upon Jesus but for the most part you know God is a spirit he's invisible he
cannot be seen but unless he wants to be seen right I understand that God is on
omniscient omnipresent you know he's all-knowing he's all powerful and he can
be everywhere at once right so he can be in all of us simultaneously the Holy
Spirit they can be in all believers in the world at the same time at different
times of the day but yet everywhere else where he wants to be I mean there's no
limitations on God but then it's the same for Jesus how is he in the midst of
us where two or three are gathered in together how is he how is he in heaven
with the thief on the cross and at the same time in hell for three days and
three nights how do you explain that well I mean he's God okay but you know
there's people that will say that there's no that God just you know he has
no real form this is all just conjecture it's not real and I know I really went
into that a lot but when we were we were singing the psalm this morning Psalm
chapter 11 and people say well when it's talking about body parts and and these
you know God having a finger and etching the tables of stone with his finger you
know that that's just it's just saying that doesn't it's just it doesn't really
mean that okay but so then why is he saying it what so did Moses not really
see his backside was that just pretend or what so he said you know when he
says I'll put my hand there is that just pretend world no so but does God could
God you know appear he appeared in a burning bush I mean he can appear how he
wants I'm sure but does he have a place that he dwells in well I'm just gonna
read a few verses here in in in our Psalm chapter 11 that we were at and it
says the Lord is in the in his holy temple the Lord's throne is in heaven
now if he didn't have a throne in heaven I mean that he wouldn't have a he
doesn't have a certain place that he do you think he never sits there he has a
throne in heaven but he never sits there how come the Bible says that he sits
there then how can the Bible says that on the right hand of that throne Jesus
has a throne that's next to the throne of his father and he sits there too
and then it says his eyes behold his eyelids try the children of men but he
doesn't really have eyes and the Lord trieth the righteous but the wicked and
him that loveth violence his soul hateth so I mean those are just a few verses
but you know it talks about his glory passing by his backside you can't see my
face you know his eye and obviously sometimes it is using you know things
that might be you know it's just might be using it as an example but God does
have features God does have a body Jesus has a body okay so to say that he
doesn't is just weird but we walk by faith and not by sight in our life as a
Christian and we have a more sure word of prophecy Peter saw the transfigured
Jesus on the mount of transfiguration and he said we have a more sure word of
prophecy the Word of God okay John in John chapter 20 you know Thomas says I
won't believe unless I can reach Heather the my finger and and and all this other
stuff and in Jesus's wounds and you know when he sees me he bows down he says my
Lord my God and Thomas says because I see me and it's believed blessed are
they that have not seen me and yet have believed you know we really do have a
better and more real and more pleasing faith than they did back then and you're
like well how so well because see a lot of people say seeing is believing and I
won't believe unless I can see but we Jesus said bless are they that have not
seen and yet believe and he's talking about us you know we don't see all these
miracles you know hands-on we don't God doesn't appear in some smoke cloud and
come into the to the tabernacle that we're in or anything like that but the
Bible says without faith it is impossible to please him for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 so it's proof that we actually
please God without all the pageantry and you know skeptics and scoffers require a
sign they require you know all this other thing all these other things but
and they they're like where's the promise of his coming and you know we
believe it by faith and that is that's what God really wants he wants us to
look at this book he wants us to believe on Christ because someone told us by
faith and he wants us to look at this book and he wants us to believe what it
says and when we do that that is the most pleasing faith that we can give and
one day yes we will see him face to face and I'll show you that verse and then
we'll be done all right well let's go to Revelation chapter 21 or 22 excuse me
verse 3 you're like when we'll be able to see the father's face we will in
Revelation 22 verse 3 it says and there shall be no more curse but the throne of
God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him and they
shall see his face and his name shall be in their foreheads and there shall be no
night there and they need no candle neither light of the Sun for the Lord
God giveth them light and they shall reign forever and ever so one day we
will see his face and Moses didn't even get to see his face but we will all get
to see his face one day in heaven so that's Exodus 33 let's pray Lord we
thank you so much for this great chapter in the Bible pray that you just bless
every single person that was here tonight and Lord those that couldn't be
here for whatever reason I pray you bless them also Lord just lay it on our
hearts to make your things and the things of God and serving you Lord the
most important things in our life Lord of course taking care of our family and
other things in our life are important but let's help us to make you the most
important important thing and as we approach the Lord's Supper coming up in
a couple weeks I pray that you just help us all to have our hearts right and to
be clean before you as we partake together in that special day pray that
you just bless us all and take care of us as we go our separate ways in Jesus
and we pray amen