An Appeal for a Mediator

So we're beginning our worship this evening singing in Psalm 65.

Psalm number 65, that's in the St. Psalms version on page 82,

singing to the tune St. David, verses 1 to 7.

In Zion, praise awaits you, Lord.

To you our vows will pay.

To you all people will come near.

You hear us when we pray.

When we were overwhelmed by sins and guilt upon us lay,

you pardoned all our trespasses and washed our guilt away.

How blessed are those you choose and bring within your courts of grace.

We're filled with blessings in your house, in your most holy place.

Psalm 65, singing on to the end of verse 7.

In Zion, praise awaits you, Lord.

In Zion, praise awaits you, Lord.

To you our vows will pay.

To you all people will come near.

You hear us when we pray.

When we were overwhelmed by sins and guilt upon us lay,

You pardoned all our trespasses and washed our guilt away.

How blessed are those you choose and bring within your courts of grace.

We're filled with blessings in your house, in your most holy place.

With awesome deeds of righteousness, you answer us, O God.

ZARROW stilleses, O God.

Our Savior, O God, O God.

Our Savior, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O dobry.

hope over the seas and all the earth above.

By strength and power you are the hills, you have the ocean voice.

You come, let you know of the wind and still the hills' voice.

We're going to call upon the Lord now in prayer. Let's join together in prayer.

Our gracious and eternal God,

we draw near to you this evening conscious of the truth of these words we have been singing,

that you are the God who hears and answers the prayers of your people,

that you are the one to whom we draw near now with our petitions and our thanksgivings.

And we give thanks, Lord, that you have opened this way for us,

that we can so freely use through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We thank you tonight, O Lord, for this privilege we have.

We thank you that we can follow these words of the psalmist so readily for ourselves,

that even though he spoke of your house as the temple in those days long ago,

we give thanks that we draw near to you to the courts of heaven.

We give thanks that we are able to do so through our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has ascended on high and has led captivity captive

and has set down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty on high.

We thank you for the guarantee you give your people,

that they are acceptable and accepted by you

through him who loved them and gave himself for them.

Help us then, we pray, to draw near to you tonight in faith.

O Lord, we have so many things within ourselves

and around us in the world in which we live

that could cause us to hesitate.

That would be sources of doubt for us were we to allow them

to place doubts in our mind as to what we do

when we come near to God.

Or even hesitancy in drawing near to you.

Though we know our unworthiness, Lord,

feels like we are indeed meant to be hesitant before you.

Yet you make it clear in your word that it is not so.

That we should come before you, Lord, with believing hearts,

with minds ready to be filled by the teaching of your Spirit.

And we ask tonight that you would help us

to have our minds engaged with your truth

and to depend upon your Holy Spirit as we come.

We give thanks, O Lord, for the advantage you give us

as we find ourselves under the Gospel

and as we find ourselves educated by this Gospel

through the application of it to our hearts and minds by your Spirit.

We pray, O Lord, that tonight you would add to our understanding,

to our commitment to you.

That you would enable us to take from this evening's worship

a greater desire and a further resolve

to live as your people in the world.

We give thanks, Lord, that we belong to a believing people.

We're not confined to our own locality or to our own nation.

That we belong to a people spread throughout the world

whose trust is in the Lord

and who form his own living church on earth.

We pray, Lord, as we acknowledge these great things

that you would help us to be thankful

for the heritage that you have given us

to be part of as we find ourselves

even this evening to benefit from those who have gone before us,

from their faithfulness to your truth

and from the teaching that they gave us

in regard to the things of God.

We pray that our concern to pass these on

to our own children and grandchildren

may be amply fulfilled through your blessing.

And we pray tonight, gracious one,

for all the gatherings of your people.

We ask that where your beloved people are gathered

that they may too know your blessing

as we seek for ourselves.

That they may come under the guidance

of your Holy Spirit and your truth.

And that you would prepare us and prepare them

to live in this world that is so opposed to you

in so many ways.

Help us, we pray, in our own locality,

in our own nation,

as we face so many challenges to the gospel,

challenges to our own upholding of it.

Lord, help us to trust in you

and help us to be truly mindful of your word

as being fully sufficient

to meet with the needs of our age.

We give thanks that it reveals to us

even the things that we ought to expect

on to the end of the world

and the way in which people are foretold in your word

as would be opposed to your truth,

would seek out for themselves alternatives to God,

alternatives to trusting in you.

We pray that you would maintain us faithful,

maintain us active for you, Lord,

privately and publicly,

so that we may have that desire in our heart fulfilled

to bring glory and honor to your name.

We thank you as your servant, Jude,

in his epistle reminds us

that we are given that charge

of looking after your truth

even as the faith wants delivered to the saints.

And, Lord, our concern is

that you would help us

to do so meaningfully

and engagingly with the world in which we live

and that we may therefore not hide our light

under a bushel.

So remember us here as a congregation

also in all our concerns,

in all our activities.

We pray that you would continue, Lord,

to provide for us as you have down through the years.

You know our concerns, Lord,

to have the gospel supported

by the means that you give us.

We pray that whether we think of

that support being financial or material

or even the way of our own commitment personally

to give of our time

and of our gift to it,

we pray, Lord,

that you would enable us

to do it with thankfulness.

And we ask that you would bless our community

and bless the gospel among us, we pray.

Enlarge the place of our borders,

as your word tells us,

help us, help us, oh Lord,

to further depend upon

the grace of your spirit

to bless your word.

Remember those around us, Lord,

who care not for these things,

those who are affected

by the rampant secularism of our age,

to turn away from the things of God

and to give attention instead

to those ideologies and those teachings

which cannot satisfy our human souls

and which have such a destructive effect,

not only, Lord, personally on lives,

but also collectively,

as we see throughout our land.

we ask again that you would bless

every effort made to bring the gospel

before the world of our day,

not only by the services of your church

and by specific evangelistic endeavors,

but also through the ongoing witness of your people,

engaging individually with others

in their own neighborhoods and localities,

places of work.

remember that witness, Lord, we pray,

and bless it,

and bless it even beyond

what we are able ourselves

to imagine or to think.

We pray that you bless tonight

those who belong to us

and are unable to be present.

Remember those prevented

by the severity of the weather.

Bless them, we pray.

Bless those who are engaged online

with our service this evening.

We thank you, Lord, for that facility

and pray that it may be blessed

to those who partake of it,

not only here locally,

but throughout our land,

even throughout the world,

as we hear from time to time

of those who are thankful

and give information to us

about the benefits they receive from it.

And we thank you for every other congregation

that disseminates the gospel

through these means.

And we ask that these may be used

to the furtherance of your kingdom on earth

and the praise and the glory of your name.

Grant, O Lord,

that we may nevertheless be thankful

that we are able collectively

to join together physically,

to join together as we do tonight.

Lord, we ask that your blessing

will follow all that we seek to do

in your name.

Remember those tonight who are ill.

Be with them, we pray,

as they are known to ourselves,

those of our congregation,

those families,

those individuals who have,

at this time,

experienced trial of that kind.

Remember them, we pray,

those who have undergone treatment,

those who have undergone surgery,

those who are looking forward to such,

those who have difficulties

of mental health and issues with that.

Lord, remember them, we pray.

Remember our young people.

Bless them, we pray,

as they become familiar with your truth.

Help them to understand it.

Help us to pass it on to them meaningfully.

And in a way that will truly engage

with the situation that they face

in their young days.

Grant your blessing, we pray,

to our children,

to our grandchildren,

to those who face an uncertain future,

except for the fact that

all things are certain with yourself.

And we ask that you would continue

to bless all that we seek to do

in your name as a congregation,

as we reach out with the gospel

in different forms.

Bless us then now, we pray.

Continue to watch over us

during such weather

as we experience

and keep us safe,

pardoning all our sins

and receiving our thanks.

For Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Let's sing again to God's praise

in Psalm 119.

Psalm 119 from St. Sam's,

page 157,

singing to the tune,

Rockingham,

and singing verses 9 to 16.

How can the young keep their life pure

by doing what your word demands?

I seek you with my heart and soul.

Let me not stray from your commands.

Your word I've hidden in my heart

to keep me from offending you.

Praise be to you, O Lord my God.

Teach me your statutes,

firm and true.

We'll sing the whole of that section,

these four stanzas.

How can the young keep their life pure?

How can the young keep their life pure?

How can the young keep their life pure?

By doing all your word demands?

I seek you with my heart and soul.

Let me not stray from your commands.

Your word I've hidden in my heart

to keep me from offending you.

Praise be to you, O Lord my God.

Each junior statutes, firm and true.

Each law proceeding from your heart,

I gladly with my lips and hope.

I love to follow your commands,

as other child to count their own.

I meditated upon your ways,

and long your precepts I replay.

I take delight in your degrees.

Your word I never will be great.

Amen.

Let's turn now to read God's word.

We're reading tonight in the book of Exodus.

The book of Exodus and chapter 20.

And we can read through the whole chapter

from the beginning.

Exodus chapter 20.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates.

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.

Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God has given you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor's.

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking,

the people were afraid and trembled.

And they stood far off and said to Moses,

You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us lest we die.

Moses said to the people,

Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.

The people stood afar off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

And the Lord said to Moses,

Thus you shall say to the people of Israel,

You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.

You shall not make gods of silver to be with me,

nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.

An altar of earth you shall make for me,

and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings,

your sheep and your oxen.

In every place where I cause my name to be remembered,

I will come to you and bless you.

If you make me an altar of stone,

you shall not build it of hewn stones,

for if you wield your tool on it, you profane it.

And you shall not go up by steps to my altar,

that your nakedness be not exposed on it.

Amen.

May God bless to us these words,

and to his name be the praise.

We're going to sing further from Psalm 119,

but this time in the Scottish Psalter version.

That's on page 402,

singing from verse 33 to the end of that section at verse 40.

Tune this time as St. Columba.

Teach me, O Lord,

the perfect way of thy precepts divine,

and to observe it to the end I shall my heart incline.

Give understanding unto me,

so keep thy law shall I.

Yea, even with my whole heart,

I shall observe it carefully.

In thy law's path make me to know,

for I delight therein,

my heart unto thy testimonies,

and not to greed incline.

This whole psalm, of course,

is mainly focused on the Word of God,

and different words are used to describe that Word of God,

precepts, law, testimonies, and so on.

And all the way through,

the psalmist is giving us

the benefits that he has received

from the Word of God

as he has sought to keep it for himself.

And so we follow that

as we turn this evening to Exodus chapter 20,

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

where the emphasis is on the law of God especially.

But of course, the Word of God,

as it includes the law of God,

includes other besides the gospel,

as well as the law.

So the whole Word of God,

you could say,

is encapsulated,

even as we sing about God's law and testimonies

from Psalm 119.

So from verse 33 to the tunes in Columba,

Teach me, O Lord,

the perfect way.

Teach me, O Lord,

the perfect way

of thy presence divine,

and to observe it to the end,

I shall my heart deny.

Give understanding unto thee,

So deep thy love shall I,

Ye, in with my whole heart I shall,

O servant carefully.

O servant carefully.

In thy love's path make me to go,

For I delight in him,

My heart unto thy testimonies,

And ought to thee in life.

Turn thou away my sight and eyes,

From you in gravity,

And in thy good and holy way,

Be pleased to quake in me.

Confirm to thee thy grace,

Vance carefully.

You will,

The gracious word,

Which I think I'll be here,

In celle you will shoutmys,

The King that's 2nd of blastery of death,

This I carefree.

The King that's makes me to go,

For I delight in you,

He hath to give unto thee,

Even of hy vself-nayers.

Once Stadt activ夜 it is making me,

Turn thou away,

For missionary it is available,

For in my home,

And have your peace in life away,

May my dear people

Or do thy judgment be

Though for thy peace

There's high among

In my truth be in thee

Please turn with me now to Exodus 20, a passage we read a few moments ago.

And tonight we're going to focus on verses 18 to 21, set in the context, of course, of the chapter as an account of giving the law to the people of Israel.

Well, Deuteronomy is a book that contains the sayings of Moses and reminders to the people of what the Lord had delivered them from.

They're actually now ready to enter the promised land as you come to Deuteronomy.

But here in Exodus, of course, it's the giving of the law.

And in the giving of the law, the Lord is setting out these things for them in a way that really shows his own awesomeness and his greatness.

We'll quote from Deuteronomy later on as words that are related to this.

But here, in terms of the giving of the law, is the effect that the whole incident had on the people.

This was a really awesome occasion.

I go back to verse chapter 19 and verses 16 to 20.

There you can see the description.

In the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast,

so that all the people in the camp trembled.

And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God.

And they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire.

The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.

What an awesome occasion!

And what a description that is of that occasion.

That whole mountain that the people were standing on, standing near, trembled in the presence of the Lord.

It was an indication to them that the Lord himself actually was there.

They couldn't, of course, see God.

But they were sensible to his presence as they saw the effect that his descent, or the presence of God, had on the creation itself.

As the mountain was on fire and smoked and trembled under their feet.

And it's little wonder that they were actually terrified.

As you read here in chapter 20, when they saw, verse 18, they saw the thunder, the flashes of lightning, the sound of the trumpet, the mountain smoking.

The people were afraid and trembled.

And that fear that being afraid is not a small, slight thing.

They were really terrified.

And no wonder, because they were participants in this incredible occasion and event where the Lord had descended on Mount Sinai.

In fact, when you go to chapter 12 of the epistle to the Hebrews, it adds significantly there that even Moses said,

I exceedingly fear and tremble.

Now, that's not told us in the Exodus account of the event, but the fact that it's still within the Word of God means it's true.

Even Moses, this man who was so familiar with God, this man who knew what it was to be in the presence of this holy God.

And yet here is an occasion where even he trembled.

And if Moses trembled with the knowledge and the closeness and the way in which you are so familiar with being close to God,

if he trembled, then that itself tells you this must have been a completely awesome occasion.

We just can't, we can only just barely imagine what it must have been like.

I mean, we know in recent days and other times the devastating effects of an earthquake.

And you'll see nowadays video of people taking a video of an earthquake as it's taking place within buildings and outside buildings.

And you can see the cameras are just all over the place.

They're just being rattled as the earth moves, as the earth shakes beneath them.

And people, of course, are terrified.

Well, that's exactly what was happening in Mount Sinai.

It wasn't necessarily an earthquake, but the mountain itself trembled just like as an earthquake.

You see it still to this day.

But with fire and lightnings and thunders, all of that just added to the overwhelming experience of being in the presence of God.

God having descended in his presence to the earth.

And so the people came to Moses with this request.

They came as they trembled and stood afar off.

They would not come near to this immediate area.

They said, you speak to us and we will listen.

But don't let God speak to us lest we die.

You see, they were aware of being in the presence of God, aware of their own sinfulness, of what they were as created human beings and sinful human beings at that.

And here they are in the presence of this God who has descended on this mountain and caused this mountain to tremble and to smoke and so on.

And they say, you speak to us.

Don't let God speak to us in case we die.

Don't let God speak to us in case we die.

How Moses in the Old Testament is one of the primary examples of mediatorship in the Old Testament.

And here they are effectively asking Moses to mediate for them.

You speak to us.

You convey God's word to us.

You stand between us and God.

Don't let God come near to us.

Don't let God speak to us.

But you do it.

And if you do it, then we'll be safe.

But if God comes to speak to us, it's likely that we will die.

So there's the first of all, the people's fear.

And then we'll look at the purpose of God, where Moses said to them, don't fear, do not fear, for God has come to test you that the fear of him may be before you and that you may not sin.

And thirdly, at the end of the final point, a third point will be the person of Moses in this context, very briefly.

People's fear, the purpose of God, and the person of Moses.

Well, here's the people's fear.

They're aware of God's presence, as we said.

They heard the voice of God, and they trembled before them.

And they were afraid that they were just very near death.

That's really the experience they had.

They had come to realize that they were in the presence of this holy God,

the God who was now showing himself to them with such a tremendous power and effect.

And here they are, afraid they're going to die.

So they stood afar off.

They did not dare to draw near in that context.

Now, that's something, of course, that you find elsewhere in the Bible.

For example, in Isaiah chapter 6, we have an account of Isaiah's call to be a prophet,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

and how part of that was how he saw the Lord high and lifted up, sitting on a throne,

and how his robe, the train of his robe, filled the temple, and so on.

And he saw the seraphim, and they were calling out to one another,

holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory.

And in a similar way to Sinai, the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called,

and the house was filled with smoke.

You see the similarity there, because it's to do with the presence of this awesome, holy God.

And God reiterating, as it were, his holiness through the words of the seraphim.

And I said, Isaiah goes on to say, I said,

Woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips,

and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.

For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

What is Isaiah aware of more than anything else?

Yes, he's aware of the presence of God, but for himself, as respects himself.

What is he aware of? He's aware of his own utter sinfulness.

And because he's aware of his sinfulness in the presence of this holy God,

he's actually convinced that he's about to die.

I am undone.

The words really mean, I am going to die.

I can't stand in the presence of this God as I am,

so the only likely outcome of this is death for me.

See, when God does come near to us, even through the gospel,

through his word, through his law,

and impresses upon us his own awesome holiness,

if ever you've come to know that in your experience,

even to a small degree,

what you're really aware of is your own sinfulness in the presence of that,

and even that you're worthy of nothing else but that you would die

in the presence of this holy God.

You become aware of your sinfulness.

You become aware of death as the inevitable consequence of sin.

Or as the Bible puts it elsewhere,

the wages of sin is death.

And as you're aware of that,

and as that impresses itself upon you,

in most cases people are aware of their need of a mediator,

someone to come and stand between them and this God,

someone to actually act for them and on their behalf,

someone to actually cause that they will not die,

though that as they see it is the likely outcome

of God's holy presence coming into their experience.

And that, of course, is an aspect of the law of God itself.

This is a context, a chapter dealing with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai,

and all of these accompanying elements

are really an indicator of how important an event this was

in the experience of Israel.

God giving his law,

and God saying through these tremendous manifestations of himself

through the creation trembling,

how important, how awesome this is,

how important this law is going to be for the people,

and how they must regard it as a revelation

of God's own nature, effectively,

and what he's like,

and who they need to be,

and what they need to be in his presence.

It brings to you the knowledge of sin,

this law of God,

when it says,

this is the summary, of course,

of the law in the Ten Commandments,

where it talks about,

you shall not murder,

you shall not commit adultery,

you shall not steal,

you shall not be a false witness,

you shall have no other gods before me,

and so on.

There is the whole law of God,

the requirement of God morally,

summed up in these Ten Commandments.

And as they're summed up

in these Ten Commandments,

it brings to us the knowledge of sin,

the knowledge of our own demerit,

the knowledge of what we're liable to

as a consequence of our sin,

that we are liable to death,

liable to God's condemnation,

liable justly to all of these things.

And that's why,

in some ways,

in many ways,

indeed,

our society is the way it is.

The absence of this law

in the minds of people

and the consideration of people

leads to the kind of thing

that you find in our own society,

in the Western world,

especially today.

The law of God being largely absent

from people's thoughts,

from people's considerations,

from people's practices,

you're inevitably left with

something like secularism

as its foundation,

or other ideologies,

and what you're left with then

is really just people's own ideas

of what morality should be like,

or what way of life should be lived,

a life that's pleasing just to ourselves.

But the Bible tells us

that we need more than that.

We need a foundation.

We need this God

and this law of God

to be foundational for us.

When you put God's law

and God's word aside,

you inevitably end up

with the chaos

and the moral chaos

and the immorality

that sadly characterizes us

as a people so much.

Well, there's the people's fear then.

And secondly,

that leads us to think

of the purpose of God.

In verse 20,

Moses said to the people,

Do not fear,

for God has come to test you

that the fear of him

may be before you.

And it's interesting

that he says that,

that God has come

to test them.

And if you compare that

with Deuteronomy,

as we said earlier,

Deuteronomy is

a word that's given to them

before they enter

the promised land,

but a reminder

and a reiteration of things

like the giving of the law.

And if you go to

Deuteronomy chapter 8,

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

for example,

you'll find from verse,

the beginning of the chapter,

really the whole commandment.

God says that,

I command you today,

you shall be careful to do

that you may go

and you may live

and multiply

and go in and possess

the land the Lord gave.

And you shall remember

the way,

the whole way

that the Lord your God

has led you

these 40 years

in the wilderness

that he might humble you,

testing you

to know what was in your heart,

whether you would keep

his commandments or not.

And he goes through there

talking about the things

they experienced

in the wilderness

and it's all a period

of testing for them.

Are they going to be obedient

to God or not?

Are they going to set

the Lord before them

as their God

or are they going to turn

to other gods?

What are they going to do

when they enter into

the promised land

that's now before them?

Are they still going

to be true to God?

Are they going to just

abandon the ways of God?

You see,

that's why God was reminding them

at that stage

of what he had given them

on Mount Sinai

and why he had tested them

on Mount Sinai

by this tremendous manifestation.

It wasn't to kill them.

It wasn't to actually

annihilate them.

It wasn't to bring them death.

It was to test them.

To test them

whether they would be obedient

and faithful

to this God or not.

And you know,

God,

whenever he tests us

in his providence,

they may not be

anything like

the tremendous event

of Sinai,

but every time

the Lord is testing us

in whatever way

and to whatever degree,

that testing of God

is actually

a positive,

advantageous thing

if we take it

in the right spirit.

And whatever testing

you're going through

tonight as a Christian,

don't look at it

as a negative

in God's providence.

Don't think it's something

that just somehow or other

sits outside

of God's purpose

for you.

Don't go along

with the idea

that God doesn't

really intend

or want you

to have any suffering

at all in your life

and that therefore

you have to appeal

to him to take

the suffering away.

That you can live

a far better life

without suffering

at all.

That your faith

will be much stronger

if you didn't have

any such suffering

in your life.

That way of thinking

is not respectful

of the teaching

of the word of God.

God does test us.

God tests us

in his providence.

God tests us

by various events

in our lives.

God tests us

by illness.

God tests us

by bereavement.

God tests us

in many ways

in his providence.

All of these things

are under his

complete control.

And tonight

when God

is bringing you

something

testing in your life,

remember

he's not

giving you that

so that you

will think

badly of him.

So that you

will think

he's not

dealing with you

really in a way

that's advantageous

or positive for you.

Every testing

has its own benefit.

But we need

to receive it

faithfully,

trustingly,

lovingly.

Now that's easy

to say in words.

That's easy to say

standing in a pulpit.

Much more difficult

to know it,

to accept it

and to receive it

when you're actually

in that testing.

But as the epistle

to the Hebrews

puts it

in terms of

chastisement

or chastening,

it's not pleasant

for the time

that it's

being experienced.

Neither is any

type of suffering

in the providence

of God.

But afterward,

how does it put it?

It yields the

peaceable fruit

of righteousness

to all those

not only

who have been tested

but who have

actually carried

the test

positively.

Who have been

exercised

thereby.

God is testing

us

so that we

will come

to himself

and be exercised

all the more

in our relationship

with him.

And that's why

he goes on to say

it's so that the fear

of him

might be before you

and that you may

not sin.

There's a number

of things there.

He's not come

he says to you

to kill you

don't fear

he has come

to test you

so that the fear

of him may be

before you.

Now we often

come across

as we've done

a number of times

on other occasions

the fear of God

and the meaning

of the fear of God

and what does the Bible

mean by the fear of God

and what is it

to be a God fearer

words which are not

all that current

in our present usage

of them

but used to be

very common

and sadly

have fallen out

of use

in many ways

the fear of God

of being a God fearer

is something

that really

is so significant

to understand

what that means.

Well the fear of God

as in many places

in the Bible

includes such things

as being in awe

of God.

See God is teaching

the people here

Moses is saying

he has drawn near to you

he's come to test you

that the fear of him

may be before you

that you will come

to be in awe

of him

as the great God

who is your deliverer

who is your God

your creator

your savior

and living in awe

of God

is not the same

as living

in a way

that's afraid

of him

in fact

the fear of God

is in many ways

the opposite

of being afraid

of God

the people here

were afraid

but Moses is assuring

them

no he says

don't be afraid

he has not come down

so that you will be

afraid of him

he's come down

so that the fear

of him may go before you

that you'll have love

and respect

and awe

of him

and of his ways

and of his word

and of his commandments

because you see

the fear of God

at the very heart

of the fear of God

is love for God

and love for God

means respect for God

that's really the fear

of God in action

if you like

and Israel is not

to keep the law

of God

because they're afraid

of God

but out of love

and respect for him

out of the fear

of him

that's what leads us

to be careful

with regard to

the word of God

and how we apply it

to our lives

and see

that combination

is important as well

that combination

of love

and of law

it's important

that we keep them together

because love needs the law

and law needs love

these are not opposites

these are not contradictory

that's not necessarily

what our society

thinks of it

because when you think

of presenting

the law of God

the ten commandments

the teaching of the Bible

even generally

to the world

of our days

you'll very soon find out

they don't want to know that

they don't want to be under law

but their own law

the law that people have

for themselves

their own ideas

of what's right and wrong

their own ideology

but love without

law

you could compare it

I think to

I'm sure you've all seen

and especially

if you've kept chickens

you know that sometimes

an egg is laid

without a shell

and it's rather difficult

to pick up that egg

without your finger

piercing it

it's a perfectly good enough

egg to eat

the inside is perfectly okay

you have the yolk

and you have the white

but you don't have the shell

it's a very

it's a very malleable

movable thing

all too easily broken

something you've got to be

very careful

how you handle

and in some ways

if you think of love

without the law of God

underneath it

or along with it

it's a bit like that

malleable

movable

thing

that the egg

without the shell is

or think of

something

mallowy

something without

any structure

love needs

the law of God

to give it that

shape

that firmness

to give it that

foundational

if you like

it's not necessarily

foundational

to love

but love

requires

the law of God

to give it

the structure

that's required

love can't exist

without structure

that's why it's so

meaningless

to hear this

often repeated

mantra today

with regard to

lifestyles that are

contrary to the word

of God

love is love

what does that mean

love is love

love is what I make it

that's what it means

love is how I define it

love is how it best

fits with my ideology

love is how it

how it

how it fits with

how I see the world

how I see my place

in it

how I see my lifestyle

love is love

so different

to the definition

and the teaching

of the Bible

as to what love is

love for God

primarily

and first of all

but love

as it extends

to loving your fellow

Christians

and loving the world

indeed

it has to have

a firmness to it

what does provide

how does that

firmness provide it

well the word of God

the law of God

if you go to the opposite

and the law of God

without love

what do you have

well that's something

if you like to have

another illustration

it's rather like

a grindstone

which just goes on

grinding

and goes on grinding

the more you try

to keep it

as Paul found out

the more it grinds you

and the more it grinds you

the more it hurts

it just wears you down

you try and keep

the law of God

without love for God

without respect

and awe

in loving God

and you'll find

that's its effect

when Paul

and Saul of Tarsus

thought he was really

managing the situation

so well

his own life

those things

he now says

having come to know Christ

what gain did I have

I count them now

as just rubbish

something to be

thrown away

his own righteousness

that is he means

he wasn't actually

rubbishing the law

of God

but he was rubbishing

his own attitude

to it

his own attempt

to keep it

by his own strength

and so love

and law

actually go together

and you see

it's saying here

that the love

that the fear

of God

which we're saying

contains the love

of God

may be before you

in other words

it's not to be

an occasional thing

for you

God is saying

to Israel

that it may be

before you

that it may be

part of your path

onwards

that you may

always place it

before you

that it may always

direct your life

as you see

from Psalm 119

so often

the word of God

the precepts

of God

they're not laborious

when you love

the Lord

they're not burdensome

when you love

the Lord

they're actually

a guide to life

they keep your life

in check

they guide you

on the way

so he says

that the fear

of him

may be

before you

not occasional

but as part

of your path

Psalm 1

that man

has perfect

blessedness

who walks

not astray

in counsel

of ungodly men

or stands

in sinners way

whose loves

the Lord

who meditates

on the law

of God

night and day

we need

the law

of God

before us

always

that's

again so

contrary

to the way

our society

sadly

see things

law

and love

as we said

kept

or regarded

as opposites

and especially

the law

of God

itself

and friends

you're all

too conscious

I'm sure

of how

lawlessness

or the

degree of

lawlessness

that has

crept

into our

society

into the

behavior

of people

when you

find

violence

all too

soon

accompanying

different

types

of

demonstrations

on our

streets

what's

behind

that

why

is that

the way

it is

why can't

people

demonstrate

peaceably

although some

of course

do

well it's

largely because

there's no

concept of

the law

of God

no concept

of being

answerable

to a higher

authority

than

themselves

and certainly

not answerable

to God

because they

don't believe

in him

well here is

Moses saying

this is why

this event

has happened

this is why

God has

come down

don't be

afraid

but it's so

that you

may have

the fear

of him

before you

that you

may not

sin

because you

see the

outcome

of the

fear of

God

as something

that regulates

your heart

your thoughts

your way of

life

the outcome

of that

the inevitable

consequence

of having

the fear

of God

as the

guide

of your

life

is holiness

of life

is so

that you

may not

sin

that's why

God has

come

that the

fear of

him may

be before

you

and that

you may

not sin

in relation

to that

it's not

our own

efforts to

keep the

law of

God

that ensure

that we

do not

sin

it's

actually

our love

for God

and respect

for his

law

that has

the effect

of not

wanting to

sin in

the presence

of God

holiness

in other

words

likeness

to God

himself

and you

may be

saying

tonight

well

I'm just

left out of

the picture

altogether

then

what hope

is there

for me

when I know

that I'm a

sinner

when I know

that even

as a

Christian

I do

sin

from day

to day

I'm

conscious

of my

sin

and here's

a passage

saying that

the fear

of God

may be

before you

so that

you may

not sin

where does

that leave

me

well if you're

conscious of

your sin

tonight

what do you

do with

it

you go

to Jesus

with it

you confess

it to

Jesus

whether you're

a Christian

converted

or otherwise

but you go

to God

with it

you express

it to

him

whenever you

are a

Christian

as many

of you are

tonight

and you're

conscious

of still

sinning

against the

Lord

and so

difficult

to actually

control

some of the

urges in

your own

heart

some of the

constant

motions of

sin in

your mind

and in

your heart

what do

you do

well where

is the

answer

the answer

is in

first

John

chapter

two

verses

one

to

two

my

beloved

children

I write

these things

to you

he says

so that

you may

not sin

but if

anyone

does

sin

we have

an advocate

with the

father

Jesus

Christ

the

righteous

one

and he

is the

propitiation

for our

sin

he is

God's

answer

to his

own

anger

against us

for our

sins

go to

Jesus

he's

already

paid the

price

of sin

he continues

to be

the mediator

between us

and God

when we

come

and have

our trust

in him

and he

continues

to make

intercession

for his

people

from his

throne

in heaven

he presents

the perfection

of his

own

atonement

the death

he died

at Calvary

the life

of obedience

he lived

he continually

presents that

to God

even by his

person being

there

we have an

advocate

with the

father

and he is

the propitiation

for our

sins

so don't

despair

tonight

don't treat

your sin

lightly

don't think

of it in

such a way

as says

well I can

go to

Jesus

with it

any time

that's not

what he's

saying

yes you

can do

that

but you

need to

constantly

have in

your mind

and I

must too

when I'm

conscious

of my

sin

I look

to God

I look

to his

provision

I look

to the

Savior

I look

to Jesus

I look

to him

as the

mediator

I look

to his

intercession

I look

to him

as the

one God

has provided

for me

so that

I will

not die

for my

sins

who's

looking after

your own

life

tonight

who's

looking after

your eternity

who's looking

after what

happened

what happens

to you

during the

course of

life

who's

looking after

what will

be the

case

when you

die

or after

you die

who's

looking after

your present

who's looking

after your

future

in what

or in

whom

is your

trust

well if

it's in

Jesus

it is

well

it is

well

with your

soul

and if

it's not

you don't

have a

mediator

if you

haven't

come to

accept him

to trust

in him

you're

facing

God

in your

own

ability

in your

own

strength

and where's

that going

to get

us

because

the wages

of sin

is death

so there's

the people's

fear

the purpose

of God

and very

very briefly

the person

of Moses

we said

the people's

request

or plea

here

when they're

afraid to

draw near

is saying

to Moses

you speak

to us

don't let

God speak

to us

in case

we die

in the

Old Testament

we have

a number

of people

that represent

Jesus

and you could

say are

foreshadowing

of Jesus

we use the

word type

a type

of Christ

means somebody

who's symbolic

in a sense

of Christ

in the

prophecies

or in the

teachings

of the Old

Testament

leading up

to the time

of Jesus

himself

and if

you ask

who is

the main

type

of a

mediator

in the

Old Testament

to teach

us about

Jesus

and the

way Jesus

was going

to come

to be

the mediator

well

in many

ways

it's

Moses

because

Moses

here

is asked

by the

people

to come

and stand

between

them

and God

or at

least

speak

to them

that's

the same

thing

as a

mediator

speaking

for God

to the

people

rather than

God

himself

coming

destructively

to

them

for their

sin

and Moses

as a

mediator

you see

that wonderful

chapter in

chapter 32

where the

people had

so grievously

sinned against

the Lord

in fashioning

creating this

golden calf

and beginning

to worship

it

while Moses

was up in

the mountain

God revealed

to him

that the

people had

corrupted

themselves

made a

calf

and the

Lord

said

I have

seen

this

people

behold

it is a

stiff neck

people

now therefore

leave me

alone

that my

wrath

may burn

hot against

them

that I

may consume

them in

order that I

may make a

great nation

of you

what a great

test for

Moses

God is

saying to

him

don't appeal

to me

don't

don't

don't

actually

as he

puts it

there

leave me

alone

let me

alone

stop

praying for

this

people

I'm

going to

destroy

them

Moses

said

he

implored

the

Lord

instead

of that

Moses

acted

as the

mediator

oh

Lord

why

does

your

wrath

burn

hot

against

your

people

why

should

the

Egyptians

say

with

evil

intent

he

brought

them

out

to

kill

them

turn

from

your

burning

anger

and

relent

remember

Abraham

Isaac

and

Israel

your

servants

and so

the

Lord

turned

from

the