The Glory of God

or nothing that can be slowed down.

And we also now turn to a final section in this series of sermons about the glory of God.

I read an article a couple years ago where it talks about how different cultures

differentiate or divide how they deem power.

So maybe on the East Coast you are known as powerful because of your title

or maybe how much money you make or even what avenue or apartment complex you might live in.

Maybe on the West Coast your power might come from what you look like

or maybe what you've done to make yourself look in a certain degree

or how cultural you can be, multicultural you can be.

I read that and they ignored Garfield County, Enid, Oklahoma.

And I kind of started to wonder what does power look like in my own context?

And I think in my own context that what really power looks like is not really who you know

but how quickly you can connect the dots from who you know to who those people should know.

You know, my mom's from Iowa.

And if anyone even comes close to being from Iowa, she is immediately being like,

what part?

And where'd you go to school?

Or, oh, did you know so-and-so?

I knew him.

He was the mayor of that place.

And all of a sudden I know, I pick up on this, even in my culture's, my church's context,

there's a lot of German people, like I said last night, in our county.

But there is a different kind of German people on the north side of town than on the west side of town.

And then you go a little bit, maybe 30 miles south, you go into a really Catholic area

to where all of a sudden if you're in that and you don't know anyone and you're not a part of anything,

you have no power.

A theologian once said that the most powerful thing about us is what comes into our minds when we think about God.

This is the powerful truth, though it's not the message we often hear.

Instead, we're often told that the value that you and I have is the number of friends that we can collect

or the number of followers we can have, whether we're leading in an industry

or even gaining followers on Instagram or our success.

We gather up for ourselves through our grades or our career transitions,

maybe even our achievements or incomes, the connections that we have.

But our God offers a different and completely different message.

He tells us that eternal life is found in knowing him.

Eternal life.

There's not much more power than that.

Eternal life is found exclusively in knowing him.

God doesn't want us to be confused about who he is either.

So you don't have to go on this, you know, mystic walk in the woods

hoping to understand and know who the cosmic power of the universe is.

He's made himself known to us, not only so that we can understand his character,

but also so that we can enter into a relationship with him.

And this knowledge isn't just about facts that you learn.

There's this constant tension that's presented to us in the scriptures

where the onus of the question is actually placed on you and how you respond to it.

God has graciously made himself known.

And this power and this knowledge isn't supposed to just stay in your head,

but is also supposed to shape your heart and your life,

leading to a constant state of worship and day-by-day devotion.

So the most important thing about you,

the most powerful thing about you,

is what comes into your mind when you think about God.

And to know God is to know both his character and to know him relationally.

I want you to see in the first part of this passage an unveiling,

almost doctrine, you could say, an unveiling, beautiful picture of God.

If you look at Exodus 34, a passage where God makes himself known in a remarkable way,

this chapter offers you a glimpse of who God is.

Though it doesn't tell us everything,

it offers you an incredibly powerful glimpse of who God is.

To set the context,

Moses, the author of this text,

and in many ways one of the main characters of the movement of Exodus,

is leading the Israelites.

So you can see him as the commander of their army.

And they have been rescued from Egypt.

At this point they've been crossing the Red Sea.

They've received the Ten Commandments.

But after Moses received the commandments,

he came down to find his people worshiping a golden calf

instead of the one true God.

So in response to this,

God calls Moses back up to the mountain,

and here Moses makes an audacious request.

You can see it there in your text.

Verse 5,

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there

and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

And this comes after Moses asked the Lord to show me your glory.

He gave him something.

He went down.

He saw something terrible.

God brought him back up.

And he wants to ask the Lord to show me your glory.

And in Exodus 34, God answers that.

Now imagine what it'd be like to be Moses.

This is the true God who has performed incredible miracles.

This is the God who Moses is saying,

Show me your glory.

He turned water into blood,

sent plagues in the form of frogs and gnats,

brought darkness, hail, parted the Red Sea.

This is the God who's provided manna from heaven,

water from rocks,

and now Moses is about to enter God in a new way.

And you'd expect a dramatic visual experience,

something like being given a golden ticket to a tour factory

or something that almost feels 40 in your immersion,

virtual reality in your understanding,

where you see the inner workings of something so spectacular and amazing.

And that's certainly what Moses would have expected too.

Show me your glory.

The Lord responds in a way that demonstrates that he's about to.

But in verse 5,

the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there

and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

God passed by Moses,

showing him his glory before.

But here's the surprising part.

The focus isn't on what Moses saw.

In fact, you actually see no description here

of God's appearance at all.

Show me your glory.

And you and I reading this text today are not seeing that.

In fact, there's no description of God's appearance.

Moses asked to see God's glory,

but instead of a detailed visual image,

what Moses receives is a proclamation.

Show me your glory.

And God gives him a sermon,

a revelation of God's name and character.

And this is significant because God doesn't satisfy Moses' request

by showing a dazzling sight.

Instead, he proclaims something.

Look here at the text.

He proclaims his name twice.

In doing so, God reveals his character.

Where Moses wanted sight,

God gives him a deeper spoken description of who he is.

It's as if Moses wanted to see the movie,

but God gives him the speech instead.

I took a Shakespeare class in high school,

and I know you're going to think,

wow, that's impressive.

But it was a Shakespeare book on tape class

where all we would do is sit in the class

and hear Shakespeare out loud.

And then when we were done with that,

we would watch the movie.

But then we were tested over the book.

It was miserable.

I didn't want to read the book.

I just saw the movie.

And then you start to see,

oh man, movies are a little bit different

than what the book says.

Moses wanted the easy way.

God gives him a speech.

We're all like Moses before this.

Human tendency.

How many of you have thought,

if I could only see God,

then I'd believe.

Maybe even if I could only see what God was doing.

Pull back the curtain.

Show me the spinning gears.

Then I'd be calm and content.

Then I'd follow you.

Moses, in some ways,

is expressing the same desire,

but God doesn't reveal himself

through spectacular visual display.

Instead, he makes himself known

through his very word.

God's revelation isn't meant to give us

a physical picture to satisfy our curiosity.

He reveals his glory in a way

that speaks to our hearts and minds.

Through his word.

Capital W-O-R-D.

Where the lasting revelation of God

comes not in sight,

but in faith.

In truth.

Of his own character

that's being proclaimed to us

by his very word.

This passage reminds us

that faith is not by what we see,

but about trusting the very word of God

as reveals himself to us.

Where God makes himself known,

not through images,

but through his proclamation.

Where his word invites us to know

and worship him.

It's hard to give a bigger emphasis here

on the doctrine of scripture.

In it being effective.

In it being sufficient.

Where this word is an invitation,

again, not to gaze at something,

but to see God in his word

and to hear his voice in his word.

The second thing I think you see in this text

is not only the coming proclamation of God

as a revelation of himself,

but also the revelation of God's glory here

in a couple of verses.

This is the meaty part, right?

This is where you want to do the heavy lifting.

Moses says,

I want to see your glory,

and God gives him a description of his attributes.

God reveals himself to Moses,

not just through a visual display,

but through the proclamation of his name.

And in verse 6,

you see the Lord, the Lord.

And this isn't just a proper name like ours,

but when God proclaims his name,

he's actually revealing the essence of his being,

his character, and his nature.

We want this to be the case for us.

All of us have something in mind

when you hear the name of the Kennedys,

the Roosevelt's.

Remember when I was like 7 or 8 years old,

my dad was like,

hey, we're not the Kennedys.

The Griffins are not the Roosevelt's.

We need to act well,

but you need to not be haughty.

Your name doesn't bring with it a kingdom.

The opposite here.

Through his name, God defines himself

so that he can be known by his people,

inviting them into himself.

When God says the Lord,

it's the name Yahweh,

the great I am.

This is the same name revealed to Moses

in Exodus 3 at the burning bush,

meaning I am who I am.

It speaks of his self-existence,

his independence,

where unlike us,

he is not contingent on food

or sleep or other necessities.

God depends on nothing.

I just can't get over that reality.

He is eternal without a beginning

or an end.

I don't know if this is right mathematically,

but someone told me

the eternality of God

is like the number zero

with the edges,

all the edges being taken off.

You just can't understand it.

You can't fathom it.

For us,

life requires

all these things,

food, sleep,

other necessities,

but life also requires death.

Something must die

to sustain our physical bodies.

We sleep to survive

and we have to

have a start date and an end date,

but God never sleeps.

One of the most comforting

psalm verses in the Bible

is that God never rests.

He never had a beginning

and he will never have an end.

He simply is the I am.

This name reveals a God

who is completely independent

and self-sustaining

these two repetition,

defining things about the Lord

where you and I are always

in a state of becoming something,

hopefully in a positive way,

becoming a better father,

becoming a better friend,

becoming a better worker.

Our God is never becoming.

He is being.

This revelation of God's name

is not just mind-blowing theologically,

but it's an invitation

to know him personally.

By declaring his name,

he is showing us

that while he is beyond

our full comprehension,

he also makes himself known.

The Lord.

The Lord.

Where God is transcendent yet personal.

The reverberation

from the heavens

onto Moses' ears and face.

Not just intellectually,

not just physically,

but relationally.

Or to go even further

in Exodus 34, 6-7,

it's where he describes himself.

A God who is merciful

and gracious,

slow to anger,

and abounding in steadfast love

and faithfulness.

These are not just abstract qualities,

and so I want to pull at them

like balls of string

only to understand

more fully of what they're about.

To see the attributes

of God's glory

in this particular passage

is the first thing

that God says

when he reveals himself to Moses

is that he's merciful.

He gives his name,

and the first characteristic

he emphasizes

is his mercy.

He could have chosen other things,

but he chooses mercy.

It's his mercy

that hasn't cast them off.

It's his pity

and action

towards these miserable people

that has spared them

from being put out.

It's his mercy

that allowed them

to cross the Red Sea

without drowning

like the Egyptians.

It's his mercy

that brought them

to Sinai

even after they worshipped

the golden calf.

And despite their failures,

God remains with them

because he is merciful.

He's poured himself out

on mercy

and no closer to running out

than when he started.

He is moved

by the misery

of others

and acts to relieve it.

It's a state of pity

in action.

In our case,

you think of the word

misery comes in part

from the word pity.

About a month ago,

my very near

and dear to my heart,

my New York Yankees,

greatest baseball team

in world history,

my New York Yankees,

fell short

in the World Series.

And I understand

that probably all of you

had great pity on me.

I'm sure you sat there

and you were like,

poor you,

poor you,

another year.

That's not the kind

of pity that God has

when it talks about

his mercy.

He doesn't just see us

wandering,

sinful,

in need of a saving grace

and goes,

poor you,

if you'd only done better.

But we see

this action

of pity

where it meets

mercy,

undeserved

and unearned,

freely given.

the Israelites

had shown

their miserable character

by rebelling

and complaining

from the moment

they left Egypt.

In Exodus 32,

after God

delivered them

from slavery,

they made a golden calf

and worshipped it.

And yet God

in his mercy

draws near to them,

again,

revealing his name

and his character.

I'm often,

and I would imagine

it brings us

great joy

in great tears

when we see

an older friend

come to Christ

by God's saving work.

Seventy years later,

eighty years later,

God being slow

in his mercy

but very powerful

in his mercy

is the same energy

that we look at

when maybe our

eight-year-old

confesses Christ

and says he wants

to abandon

all that he has.

And you might

look at him and go,

you have nothing

that I haven't given you.

In the same way

that it's God

in his mercy

who would say

you have nothing

that I haven't given you

but come to me

in the same way.

God is merciful.

Lamentations 3,

we read,

the steadfast love

of the Lord

never ceases

and his mercies

never come to an end.

His mercies

never run out.

But the Lord

is not only merciful,

verse 6,

the next word,

he's also gracious.

He freely blesses

the undeserving.

We often hear

that grace

is unmerited favor.

But we sometimes

say that

with a little too

excitement.

Grace is not

just unmerited favor.

It is love

from God

towards those

who deserve

the opposite

of love.

It is life

where only death

is deserved.

It is power

at work

in the powerlessness.

That's the grace

of God.

Think of Abraham

long before this.

Before he was

the father

of many nations,

he was an idolater

serving other gods.

Yet,

what does God do?

He calls Abraham

and makes

a great promise

within him.

That's grace.

The one who had

nothing,

was doing the wrong

thing,

is now fueled

and fired up

by the Lord.

Through Abraham,

all nations would be

blessed,

not just because

of anything Abraham

did,

but because God

is gracious.

Similarly,

Jacob,

after him,

later known as Israel,

the one from whom

the nation is named,

was deceitful

and not of great

character

for much of his life.

Yet,

God blessed him

and made promises

to him

and through him

would come

the Savior.

This is all because

God is gracious,

not that Jacob

was great.

God's grace

doesn't just cancel debt,

it actually supplies

an infinite line

of credit

in the other direction.

This is the grace

of God.

He is merciful

and gracious

and these are the

first two words

he uses to describe

himself after revealing

his name.

The Lord,

the Lord,

merciful and gracious.

And every human being

needs to know

these two words

after hearing

the Lord's name.

Without his mercy

and his grace,

we are like Abraham

worshipping other gods

or like Jacob

going after the golden calf.

But because God

is merciful and gracious,

we can know him.

I wonder if this is the way

that you talk about

God to other people.

I would imagine

some people talk

about God to you

in what they want

and how they feel

they've been oppressed

or in how they've

been bothered

and how do you

talk about God?

Here's how God

presents himself

to us.

One theologian said

that God distributes

his blessings

where he might

otherwise send

his thunders.

His mercy

and his grace

are like the sun

ever ready

shining upon

us without effort.

But thunderstorms

need to be built up.

They take time.

They take energy.

They take development.

One of the coolest things

I think in the world

is the slow coming,

more precise predictions

of things like

thunderstorms

and lightning

and tornadoes.

One of my best friends

from college

is a meteorologist

in the National Weather

Center in Norman,

Oklahoma.

And I just think

that's really cool.

He's a behind-the-scenes guy.

His PhD was in flooding.

So if you ever have

a question on rivers flooding,

race is your guy.

So we always pester him

whenever it's tornado season

texting him throughout the day.

He's like,

guys, I'm literally

working right now.

This is the go moment

for all of us.

And he said,

actually,

we've been working

on this set of cells,

figuring out these set of cells

for about three days now.

It's just now touching

Lotton, Oklahoma.

And you've got five or eight hours

to figure it out.

You see this slow-moving

characteristic of the Lord

where the first few things

like grace and mercy

are like the sun.

They're always shining.

But here you have this build-up.

of the way the Lord

talks about his character.

Not that it's ever-changing,

but he says that he is

slow to anger.

In other words,

he defers his anger

and is willing to be patient.

Unlike his mercy and grace,

which flow freely,

his anger is stirred.

Exodus 3 illustrates this beautifully.

When Moses encounters

the burning bush,

he hesitates and questions God.

But God remains patient,

offering reassurance,

promises, and signs.

Yet even after all of this,

Moses still resists

and asks God

to send someone else,

then only God's anger

began to burn.

And even then,

he remains slow to act.

We see the same

in Pharaoh's story

where God gives him

a sign after sign

of bringing judgment.

Or in the book of Joshua

where God waits patiently

for the nations

in the promised land

to repent.

And in the story of Jonah

where God relents

from destroying Nineveh

when they repent.

Jonah is actually

angry with God

for being so slow to anger.

Jonah knew that God

is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love.

Even in the person of Jesus

who is taunted

by the very people

he created,

we see him slow to anger

as an attribute.

I think there's a,

I think this is right.

I hope it's right.

I recently just preached

through the book of Joshua

and you see this

tremendous figure

at the beginning

of the book of Joshua

where they see something

that looks like

a soldier of the heavens,

an angel of the Lord

and he's holding

within him a sword.

And he says that

he's the commander

of the Lord's army.

And then what does

the Lord's army do

for the next several chapters?

They destroy

all of God's enemies

in order to do what?

Offer peace.

Follow the Lord this way.

Worship the Lord this way.

Obey the Lord this way.

You see that,

you see that trend

coming almost top-sided

in the New Testament

where Jesus,

who I think the commander

of the Lord

is a pre-incarnation figure of,

you see Jesus

and what does he come to do?

What does he say

that he comes to do?

Offer peace.

Until how long?

In the book of Revelation

when he comes back

with the sword.

See here that the Lord

is slow to anger

where God abounds

in his slowness

to the degree

that he abounds

in steadfast love.

You see this in verse 6.

Another attribute mentioned.

This is love

that is not fickle

or fleeting

but reliable

and constant.

It's not based

on the loveliness

or the recipient

but on the character

of God himself.

He loves

because he is loved

to the degree

in Deuteronomy 7.

God tells them

that he chose them

not because they were

a great nation

or did wonderful things

but because he loved them.

And that's the nature

of God's steadfast love.

It abounds

and is not dependent on us.

God's steadfast love

is also expressed

in his own forgiveness.

You see here

that he forgives

the iniquity,

the transgression,

in the sin

because of his abundance

and love.

This forgiveness

is comprehensive

covering every kind

of wrongdoing.

He doesn't forgive

because we are deserving

but because he is

abounding in love

and then finally

he is abounding

in faithfulness

in verse 6.

Everything he is

and says

is absolutely reliable.

In a world

where commitments

are often broken

God's faithfulness

is actually refreshing

to us.

When he makes a promise

he keeps it.

When he made a promise

promise to Abraham

despite all odds

he fulfilled it.

When he promised Moses

that he would bring Israel

out of Egypt

that seemed like a big task

he fulfills it.

God's faithfulness

is steady

unwavering.

It's an unwavering truth

that you and I

can depend on

unlike other gods

or religions

or other things

that you and I

can put our trust in.

Other things

that are unpredictable

and very often frightening

the God of the scriptures

is reliable

and trustworthy.

He is merciful

and gracious.

He is slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love.

I wonder if this is

what you would say

when you tell yourself

about God.

I would imagine

in a room this size

there are a good amount

of you

who have just gone through

so, so much

and you're going to ask

the honest question

why is God

doing this to me?

Why is God

putting me through this?

Going back to last night

too,

very often

you have to

preach to yourself

at least the truth

about who God is.

And he is not

one who punishes

his children.

He is not one

who inflicts

sinful ways

on those whom he loves.

He is not one of those

who is trying to trap you

into falling

into sin.

But he is the one

who is merciful,

gracious,

abounding in faithfulness

and love slow to anger.

Now we see this

as wonderful

and in the beginning

of the scriptures.

And you're going to

keep reading on

and on in the scriptures

so many more words,

thousands more words,

maybe a thousand

more pages

and there is a tension

here in this God

making himself

known to his people

and his people

responding not well

to this God

and this tension

continues to unfold itself

until finally

it is revealed

in the coming

God-man Christ Jesus

where the fullness

of God's character

is revealed

to his people.

It's in Christ Jesus

that we see

the fullness

or that we see

the fullest display

of God

where he is the

radiance of the glory

of God it says.

In him the fullness

of God dwells bodily

and in him

we see the fullest

display of all

of the attributes

of God.

Because what is

happening when

Jesus comes on

is that he is

all of these things

perfectly.

He is God.

This is not some

new revelation

of God.

He's not some

new God on the scene

where you have to

discount the one

of the old

because now you

have something

refreshing.

This is the radiance

of the one

that is being portrayed

in words

in a sermon

to Moses.

He's showing the

character of God

because of who he is.

He's the greatest

display of mercy

and grace.

He's the one

who came to seek

and save the lost.

When you think about

Exodus 34

and a God being

merciful and gracious

Jesus is the one

who is the greatest

display of these

two things.

So when we have

the miserable

blind man crying out

in the New Testament

have mercy on me

Jesus is drawn to him

heals him

forgives him

out of his mercy

and grace.

when we have

a bleeding woman

coming up to him

who couldn't be

healed by any

other person

though she spent

all of her money

and life trying

to find relief

he just allows

a hem of his

garment to be

touched

and she's

instantly healed

and he doesn't

just leave it

at the healing

because he's

full of grace.

He heals her

and then calls

to her and says

daughter

your faith

has healed you.

daughter

he calls her

he heals

forgives

and welcomes

into his family.

Also you think of

Exodus 34

being slow to anger

he's the greatest

display of being

slow to anger.

Here's a man

that the scripture

calls a man of

sorrows

acquainted with grief

a grief

a grief from the

hands of people

men and women

he created

and he's slow

to anger with them.

They're the ones

who are literally

killing him

and he's slow

to anger with them.

He doesn't call

down legions

of angels

to defend him

though he could have.

He doesn't bring up

those around him

to push back

on their darkness

though he could have.

He willingly suffers

at their hands

because he's slow

to anger

all showcasing

to us

like in Exodus 34

the God of love

here is

the Savior

displaying all

the love of God

where he demonstrates

his love for us

in this

and that while

we were still sinners

Christ died for us

where 1 John

1 John 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 says

this is love

not that we have

loved God

but that God

has loved us

and gave his son

as a propitiation

for sin.

He didn't see

something lovely

in the world

and go

that's the apple

that I want to be

of my eye

that's the flower

that I want to be

on my dinner table

he is love

and out of that love

he sends his son

and makes him

a propitiation

for sin

turning Jesus

away from the anger

and wrath

and wrath

of God

he does that

in his son

Jesus

we also see

that God

is faithful

in Exodus 34

and it's Jesus

who is the greatest

display of faithfulness

of God

he kept all

of God's word

not one part

did he skip over

or failed to fulfill

he kept all of it

we might

miss out on one

you know

you think of the

rich young ruler

who says

I just want a way

to be healed

or I want a way

to have eternal life

and what does Jesus say

great follow all

the commandments

and he goes

I've done that

he goes I've done that

and he goes great

then sell everything

and give it to the poor

and follow me

but what did that

rich young man

what did he not believe

that it would be

actually in his

eternal best interest

to follow Jesus

selling everything

actually isn't that hard

arguably it's a

really good way

to make a lot of money

if you have a lot of stuff

any of you who work

in inventory

you want to sell

everything in inventory

don't you

even giving everything away

that's not really that bad

people want to be generous

don't you want to be generous

isn't it nice

like now that I have a son

I want to buy

I just bought my son

a NBA

the professional basketball team

what are they

the Oklahoma City Thunder

the mascot is Rumble

it's a bison

and I like looked at that

and saw it online

I was like

I don't care at all

about basketball

but I want Bradley

to have that rumble

it's easy to give stuff away

it is impossible

to follow Jesus

if you think it won't be

in your best interest

if you don't think

Jesus is going to be faithful

to provide for you

and what I mean by that

is eternal life

salvation

heaven and earth

being collided

to a new heavens

and new earth

if you don't think

he's going to be faithful

then you would actually

be logically right

to not follow him

but here we see that

Jesus

of everything

in the scriptures

that he was to obey

even the words

of the father

his response was

yes and amen

to all of God's promises

he's the seed

of the woman

that was promised

in Genesis 3

he's the offspring

of Abraham

who through many

sons would come

he was the blessing

that would flow

through many nations

he was the true

and better temple

the one who made

his tabernacle

among his people

who was lifted up

sends his spirit

so those people

could be a temple

themselves

and he's the true

and better rest

that was promised

in the land

and from the Sabbath

that were pointing

toward it

we see here

words that invoke

a desire for sacrifice

in Exodus 34

recognizing that Jesus

was the true

and better lamb

he was the sacrificial lamb

that was not just one

like an animal

before it

but he was the one

who was truly God

truly man

without any blemish

where he and his sacrifice

could fully

truly take a replacement

for us

as he died on the cross

he's the greater king

that comes from the line

of David

surpassing the righteousness

and glory of David

who followed him

he reigns

not just for a little while

over his people

but eternally

in Jesus

we see the yes

and amen

the savior king

who rules

and reigns on high

I have one of the

I have a privilege

of doing a lot

of the membership interviews

so when people

aim to join our church

they take a class

they're interviewed

by one of our elders

part of the interview

is to understand

if they have a good

articulation of the gospel

and part of that

their understanding

articulation of the gospel

people really

step on themselves

when they

they either do things

to Jesus

that haven't been done

or they don't do things

to Jesus

that have been done

like everyone wants

to crucify Jesus

in their testimony

of what the gospel is

no one wants to raise him

from the grave

he died for my sins

and you're like

and then what

is he still there

and they're like

oh he was raised

from the grave

on the third day

and you're like

and then what

is he still roaming

around the earth

and you're like

no he's in heaven

yes

ruling and reigning

on high

not a temporary king

and he's also

the greatest display

of God's justice

where we don't see

a mean God

of the Old Testament

and a soft

loving Jesus

in the new

no Jesus

was no man

who was soft on sin

he was upset about sin

as much as his father

and so against sin

he's willing

to be crucified

for it

where the cross

tells us

that our sin

is so bad

that Jesus

had to die

but it also tells us

that God is so good

that he was willing

to do this

so that there could be

forgiveness provided

for his people

so in Jesus

we see the tension

of verse 7

relieved

in Exodus 34

where Jesus

is the one

who comes

and is the atoning

sacrifice for sin

the only place

for forgiveness

and the only sacrifice

that can take away

sin of the world

in him

we see God

as both just

and justifier

as he holds up

righteousness

perfectly

and completely

and he is still

justifying sinners

and bringing them

into a relationship

to himself

through Christ

so friends

what about you

Moses wanted God

to show him

his glory

what about you

in him

you can have

a God

who is for you

in Jesus

you can have

a life

with his

transcendent God

through our

connection

to Jesus

by faith

through our

unity

with Jesus

by our

repentance

we can not

only know God

but also reflect

who God is

it's at this point

that we recognize

that we can be

true image bearers

like we should have

been at the beginning

with Adam and Eve

pouring out the

reflection of the

image of the

one true living God

the message of the

gospel

isn't just recognizing

God for who he is

Jesus for who he is

and what he has done

but to recognize

what he has done

so that you may

do what he has

called you to do

in Jesus

we can be merciful

because we've

received mercy

in him

we can be

gracious

because we've

received the

grace of God

we ought to be

the most gracious

people on the

planet

and the most

merciful people

alive

in our

lifelessness

in our

powerlessness

that's what we

know of Jesus

in Jesus

we can be people

who are slow

to anger

because the

worst thing

that could

happen to us

has already

happened

on the cross

as Jesus

was crucified

on our behalf

in Jesus

we can abound

in love

because Jesus

abounded in love

for us

and poured out

his love

into our hearts

where we no longer

need to love

from the outside

of him

we have all

that we need

in him

so now we can

abound in love

toward him

and toward others

and in Jesus

we can be just

always looking for

what is right

in obeying the

Lord

and good

in what is

a life in response

to God

because we know

that there is a God

who cares

about great justice

in our hearts

and in the people

around us

in the end

there will be

no injustice

whether dealt

with at the cross

or in hell

no injustice

will remain

what do you think

about when you

think about God

that's the most

important thing

about you

and God makes

himself known

not just

for our information

but also

as an invitation

for us to know

him

and the response

is left

to you

response here

is left

to you

but I pray

that we would

take our cue

from Moses

in Exodus

Exodus 34:8

34 verse 8

see there with

your eyes

hold on to it

with your hearts

Moses quickly

bowed his head

toward the earth

and worshiped

us

our gracious

and heavenly

father we come

to you this morning

again

in great thankfulness

for all that you

have done

for us

not only

in Moses'

words

but also

in the cross

of Christ

where love

and mercy

met

love

and justice

met

where anger

was

as it should

have been

poured out

on us

it was poured

out on your

son for us

God we are

so grateful

for this

we pray

that we would

respond

by being

reminded

so greatly

of your

glorious gospel

of the glory

of you

our God

pray this in

Jesus name

amen

well on the night

before Jesus

was crucified

he ate dinner

with his disciples

and he gave them

a picture

or a sign

of what is

known as the

gospel

if you've ever

wondered what

the gospel

is like

you and I

have a picture

of it

a sign

of it

he took bread

in that moment

he took bread

he took wine

there were elements

there at the meal

he took these

elements at the meal

there and he passed

them around

as a meal

and said that

they should be

received as a sign

of his body

and his blood

the bread

of the body

and the cup

of his blood

and that he would

be crucified

for these people

and they could

see it through

these elements

by you and me

taking these elements

this morning

the elements

of the Lord's

supper

it takes us

back

it calls us

to a point

of reminiscing

it's not just

remembering something

but it's

reminiscing something

it's almost like

we're there

we're a part

of it

because it

proclaims his

death

now I'm the only

one who prepared

a sermon this

morning

I would trust

but in this

moment

in this action

all of you

who partake

of it

are also

preaching a

message

you are

proclaiming

the Lord's

death

now this

meal

is for those

who are

repentant

blood-bought

believers

in the

Lord Jesus

Christ

so if

you're here

today

and you're

a believer

in Jesus

Christ

this meal

is for you

it's not

for those

who are

unbelievers

we would ask

that you would

consider the

gospel that you

would have heard

the claims

of Christ

and allow

these moments

of passing

over or

passing by

I pray as a

catalyst for

you to

question

your understanding

of the Lord

Jesus Christ

your understanding

of what his

death and

resurrection

can mean

for you

Paul is

also clear

one of the

authors of

the New

Testament

Paul is

also clear

that all

of us

should examine

ourselves

before partaking

of these

elements

and to

confess our

sins

and if we

find ourselves

in unrepentant

sins

refusing to

repent of

our sins

friend as

that is you

I also want

to ask you

to not

partake in

the supper

as well

use it

as a time

of fasting

where you

see the

pain of

missing out

as others

get to

partake

as a

catalyst

for you

to come

to the

water

where it

is good

to come

to the

meal

where it

is

nourishing

now in

some ways

in a moment

I'm going

to pray

and then

after that

we'll all

be invited

up to the

tables

where you'll

take the

elements

back to

your seat

and then

we'll all

take them

together

in a

moment

but before

that as

we partake

when we

partake

remember that

Christ

willingly

poured out

his blood

a new

covenant

uniting us

to God

in his

boundless

mercy

uniting us

to God

in his

abundant

grace

uniting us

to a

God

who was

so thankful

that he was

slow to

anger

for us

uniting us

to a

God

who was

faithful

drawing us

into a

fellowship

with him

through his

own

sacrifice

and we

pray

and then

we'll

guide

our

elements

our

gracious

and

heavenly

father

we thank

you

for what

these

moments

mean

what

these

elements

mean

we pray

that you

would

nourish

us

we pray

that he

would

allow us

to

reminisce

on your

glorious

death

we pray

that you

would

give us

joy

in this

we ask

this in

Jesus name

amen

amen