Exodus - The Only Hope For Sinners - Exodus: 32-33

Welcome to the roots where it's all about Jesus. We

love God, we love people, we reach the loss, and

we make disciples. That's what we're all about here. And

we've actually been in a series. I'm going to jump

right into it. We've been in a series going through

the Book of Exodus. Have you guys been enjoying the

series so far? At preaching it? Like us pastors have

had a fantastic time because we've been learning so much

as we're studying every single week to teach through it,

and we've been learning a ton, so hopefully you guys

are learning a ton too. But this book is broken

up into three major movements or three sections. God delivers,

God demands, and God dwells. God delivers his people from

captivity in Egypt, and then he leads them to Mount

Sinai where he shares the law with them, and he

makes demands of his people. And finally he dwells among

his people, fulfilling the promise he made to them. But

we're still in the second section or movement of this book,

which is the biggest part of the book, where God

is making his demands of the people. We're getting close

to the end of that and transitioning. But all of

this is in press operation for that last section where

God will dwell with his people. And last week we

learned that just how serious God is about holiness, the

lengths that he will go to to make sure that

everything around him is holy. He shows us how important

he takes it or how seriously he takes it. He

made the priests holy. Their garments had to be holy.

The tabernacle was holy, everything in it, the tent itself,

the altars, and all of the utensils. Everything was just

covered in oil, the anointing oil, to make it holy.

God was making sure that everything in his presence or

in his dwelling place among the people was holy. This

is what Moses or God was instructing Moses to have

the people of Israel do. And God gave these instructions

to Moses while he was up on the mountain with him,

and he was up there for forty days and forty nights.

And at the end of these instructions he gets to

the very end of telling him all of these things

to have the people do. God lets Moses know what

the people are doing in his absence, and let me

tell you it's not good. What they were doing in

Moses' absence was not good. Who did their homework and

read the chapters ahead of time? You know you ready,

you know what's about to happen. But that's where we're

going to be picking it up today in Exodus chapter

thirty two. So you can start turning there now in

your bibles. And if you need a Bible or don't

have them, we have some at the resource desk and lobby.

Please grab one of those and keep it. We want

you to have it. But we're going to be an

Exodus chapter thirty two today and I want to pray

before we start in any event. So God, we just

come to you right now and ask you to lead

and guide our time in your word today. Give us

ears to hear everything you'd have us here today. God,

let us understand it, let us put it in our

hearts and carry it with us and apply it to

our lives, and take it with us everywhere we go.

But God, we are just ready to be for you

to do surgery on our hearts as we dive into

your word. So God, we thank you for this moment.

Give it fully to you for your glory. And everybody

said a men, children, of Israel are kind of a mess,

but so were we sometimes, right, children Visrael are kind

of a mess. God gives them the ten Commandments. Then

he gives them the rest of the law. And do

you remember what the people's response was when they heard

God's law. Look at Exodus. You can stay in your

bible in Exust thirty two, but I'll put on the

screen here. Exodus twenty four, verse seven says, then he

took the Book of the Covenant and read it in

the hearing of the people. And they said, all that

the Lord has spoken, we will do, and we will

be obedient. And Moses took the blood and threw it

on the people and said, behold the blood of the

Covenant that the Lord has made with you. In accordance

with all these words, all that the Lord has spoken,

we will do, and we will be obedient. This is

the people's response when they hear God's commands or his words.

And this is after hearing such commands as in Exodus

chapter twenty, verse three. 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 either Lord

your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of

the fathers on 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. Greg,

why are you reading all these verses that we've already

preached through. Well's because we need to remember specifically what

the children of Israel agreed to. God said, have no

other gods before me, and don't make any carved images,

don't bow down or serve them. So no other gods,

no idols. That's what he says, and they all responded

with we will be obedient, we will do all that

the Lord has said. Well, Moses is gone for forty

days and forty nights on the top of the mountain

in the cloud with God, and then that very short

amount of time, the people have already created an idol

and started worshiping it in those forty days and forty nights.

But it's also during this time that we see in

our text Moses go to bat for the people before God.

He intercedes for the people because he's a mediator between

God and man. And as I was studying and reading

this story, I'm just thinking about Moses and the people.

Remind me of my last or my latest jury duty summons.

Who's done jury duty before? Oh yeah, so you guys

will understand this. We're in the room and the judges

explaining the process. And the very first thing he did

was explain who all the people in the room were

and what their purpose was and their role was, starting

with himself. He's the judge, he said. The judge's role

is to define the law. Okay, that makes sense. He'll

tell us what the laws. Any points to the jury

and says the jury their job is to determine the

facts of the case and determine or decide guilty or

not guilty. And this was a criminal case, this last

one I was called in for. And so there's a

prosecution and the prosecution and their role is to prove

the guilt of the defendant, and the defendant being the

one who's accused of committing a crime. And then they said,

here's the defense attorney. This is where I started paying attention.

The defense attorneys, the one who's representing and fighting for

the defendant. The defense attorney's job is literally to defend

the accused in front of others. The one being accused

is completely at the mercy of the one defending them.

And so I see a person sitting there, helpless, needing

to be represented, needing someone to defend them before others.

And that's what I see happening with the children of

Israel before God, except that they are guilty. We know

that much because we're reading the Bible. But God's demands

are a problem for the children of Israel because, like

Aaron says, the people are set on evil. They're sinful.

That's what the people are. They're sinful so much so

that God is ready to wipe them all out and

start over. He's like, let me just start over. This

sinful group of people has only one hope, and that

hope is that Moses will stand before God and plead

on their behalf, that he would implore or beg God

to show mercy. And it's through Moses' actions that we

actually see God relent. So I called today's message the

only hope for sinners, the only hope for sinners. Just

like the defendants sitting in the courtroom, whose only hope

is found in the intercession of a mediator. I'm thrown

around around all these big words, all defined later one

of the big words for me because I had to

look them all up. The only hope for these people

sitting in the courtroom is the intercession of a mediator

or the defense attorney. The only hope for a sinful person,

The only hope that a sinful person has is in

the intercession of a mediator. The same exact thing. A

sinful person is guilty because they sin. That's what makes

them a sinner, And the only way they'll receive mercy

is if someone will intercede for them. And So, what

I want us to really see today as we're kind

of walking through the Children of Israel story, is that

God's mercy on sinners comes through intercession. That God's mercy

on sinners comes through intercession. We'll see that with Moses

for the children of Israel, but we also see that

in Jesus for us. So let's look at what the

children of Israel did. What could be so bad? How

could they miss the mark so bad? Exitus thirty two,

verse one. When the people saw that Moses delayed to

come down from the mountain. That people gathered themselves together

to Aaron and said to him up, make us gods,

who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the

man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,

we do not know what has become of him. Man,

how quick the mighty have fallen again. It's only been

forty days. That's just under a month and a half,

which in terms of like this is a terrible example

in terms of like a missing person, that's a really

long time. But for everything that they've seen God do

with their own eyes through Egypt and all of the

ten plagues and this exodus out of Egypt, they saw

God do all that. This, They saw him in the

pillar of Fire and the pillar of smoke. They're seeing

him lead the people. That's not very much time for

them to turn. How did they turn so fast after

seeing all that? Turn in the fact that they demand

that Aaron makes them a god. So, because they don't

know what happened to Moses, they say, get up, make

us gods. So Aaron does the right thing, and he

rebukes him. Oh wait, no he doesn't, No, he does

not do that. That would be great if he did,

but he didn't. Verse two. So Aaron said to them,

take off the rings of gold that are in the

ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and

bring them to me. So all the people took off

the rings of gold that were in their ears and

brought them to Erin. And he received the gold from

their hand and paid attention to this, and fashioned it

with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And

they said, the people of Israel said, these are your gods,

o Israel, who brought you up out of the land

of Egypt. God had a plan for all that gold.

We know that because the last couple of weeks we've

been talking about all the instructions to build the tabernacle

that's where all that gold was supposed to be used.

This is not the purpose that God had for all

the gold that he blessed the children of Israel with.

Erin tells the people to give them the gold, and

he fashions it with a graving tool into a golden calf,

to which the people say, to all of Israel, here

are your gods. Well verse five. When Erin saw this,

when he saw the people's response, he built an altar

before it, and Erin made a proclamation and said, tomorrow

shall be a feast to the Lord. And they rose

up early in the next or early the next day,

and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings, which is

only supposed to be done unto the Lord. And the

people sat down to eat and drink and rose up

to play or to party. People are completely forgotten or

completely ignored the first two of the ten commandments. They

just received from the Lord in just forty days. They've

forgotten the promise, They've forgotten the covenant. They this was

a willing thing they did. God didn't strong arm them.

He said, here's what it is, and they said, we'll

do it. This is a willing thing that they've already forgotten.

And they've turned so quickly to worship an idle or

a false a false God. So that the people have

done is they've turned to sin rather than waiting on

the Lord. Their lack of patience led them to sin.

And that made me think of Sarah and Abraham. God

promised to give them a child in their old age. Well,

my notes I wrote when they were mega old is

actually what I said. Because they were there like one

hundred promise to give them a child, and through that child,

their offspring would be as numerous as the stars or

sand on the sea shore. Well, they got in patient

while waiting for God to fulfill his promise, and Sarah

gave her maid servant to Abraham as a wife, and

they had another kid, and that caused all kinds of problems.

We can't let our own lack of patience cause us

to sin against God. And it doesn't even matter what

it is. We know that God provides for his children.

That's a truth we see in scripture. But do we

cut financial corners and be dishonest with our money in

order to make quick gain? Now, for this, true intimacy

and companionship is provided within the confines of a biblical

godly marriage. But do you lack patience and have sex

before marriage, even if it's at your feetance? This one

was super convicting for me. The same Holy Spirit that's

in work in me is at work in my spouse

transforming them into the image of Christ. But do I

grow impatient and manipulate or force them into change? What

all of this I think is showing is that I

think I can meet my needs better than God can

it's a rejection of God's order of things and me

taking things into my own hands, going outside because I'm impatient.

I'm telling God, I think I can meet my needs

better than you can. We're no better than the children

of Israel. So when I joke and say Israel, you know,

the children of Israel kind of a mess, we really

are too. We're just we're no better than them. It's

showing a lack of patience in the Lord, a refusal

to wait for the Lord's timing on things. So what

the children of Israel doing when Moses was up on

the mountain still, But none of this is a surprise

to God. He knows exactly what the people are doing.

And he tells Moses. Look at verse seven, and the

Lord said to Moses, go down, for your people, whom

you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted himself.

I love this. God doesn't even call him his people,

his name my people. He says, your people whom you

brought up. He says that to Moses verse eight, they

have turned aside quickly out of the way that I

have commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden

calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said,

these are your gods, o Israel, who brought you up

out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said

to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold it

is a stiff necked people. That means rebellious and stubborn.

Now therefore let me alone, Leave me alone, that my

wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume

them in order that I may make a great nation

of you. God is mad, and rightly so. People have

broken the first two commandment's already, the first two of

the Big ten. God is so mad he wants to

wipe them all out and start over with Moses. But

this is where we see the beauty of intercession. This

is where Moses becomes the mediator between the people and God.

We see him intercede for the people verse eleven. But

Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, Oh Lord,

why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom

you have brought out of the land of Egypt with

great power and with a mighty hand. See what Moses

did there, He just flipped it on what God said before.

Don't call it, don't call my people they're your people.

Neither of them want to claim the people right now.

But he implores God and implore means to entreat, which

is to earnestly, urgently, or sincerely plead with or beg

to beseech. So he's imploring God, He's begging him. Why

does your wrath burn hot against your people? Verse twelve,

Why should the Egyptians say, with evil and ted did

he bring them out to kill them in the mountains

and to consume them from the face of the earth.

Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster

against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, your servants,

to whom you swore by your own self, and said

to them, I will multiply your offspring as the stars

of the heaven, And all this land that I have

promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall

inherit it forever. So Moses is begging God to relent

from his anger, saying, remember the people, Remember your promise

to the people. He's also appealing to God, saying, don't

give the Egyptians the satisfaction of saying, oh would you

do to save them? To kill them out in the wilderness.

In a way, It kind of just feels like Moses

is throwing every single thing he can think of out

there in an attempt to get God to relent from

his anger. I mean, you guys have heard the spaghetti

against the wall example, right, Throw enough wet noodles on

the wall and one of them's bound a stick. No,

not as many people, A few people. I don't cook.

That's why it's funny that I'm using this example, because

I don't cook anything. I mean, I make a pretty

mean peeb in Jane. But that's about it. But Moses

is throwing all these examples out there. One of these

reasons has got to get God to relent. One of

them has got to do it. But this is what

intercession is. To intercede means to intervene on behalf of another,

acting as a mediator in a dispute, or pleading to

help someone in trouble. And I love this part of

it involves using one's influence to persuade someone in authority,

often to resolve conflict or prevent punishment. Now that sounds

like exactly what Moses is doing for the people before

the Lord. There's a conflict between God and the people.

There is a punishment that the people rightly deserve. But

Moses is using his influence or favor with the Lord

to persuade God to show mercy. He's pulling out all

the stops, He's trying everything he can think of to

get God to relent. Moses is acting as a mediator

between the two parties. He's being the defense attorney for

the people. It's what he's doing. He's intervening on their

behalf and interceding for them. And get this, it worked.

It actually worked. Look at verse fourteen, and the Lord relented.

He relented from the disaster that he had spoken of

bringing on his people. God's mercy on sinners comes through intercession.

Moses interceded for the people, and God extended mercy. You

guys know what mercy is, right, Mercy's not getting the

punishment you deserve. You did something wrong and there are consequences.

I have a little short story. I remember we were

target shooting one day with a bunch of friends, and

we went down to a spot where our friend has

been shooting quote for the last thirty years end quote.

So we have a lot of people down there and

we're all just target shooting. You look up and we

see a county sheriff walking down the hill, and so

we all stop shooting and we walk up and sit

and he's like, hey, you guys are like a shooting

club or something. We're like, no, he's and then he

said the words that stopped me in my tracks. You

know this is private property, right. I looked over at

my friend with like daggers in my eyes. I was like,

how dare you get me in trouble? I was so mad.

We were trespassing and we were shooting guns while we

were trespassing. That's terrible. Well, the sheriff was showed us mercy.

He said, I'm gonna write your names down, but I

don't want to see you guys out here again. And

we're like, yes, sir, we're sorry, and we will move

right along. But that's some mercy right right there. We

could have received a fine or even actually had jail

time for that. Like I started looking up the laws

and I was like, oh man, we could have been

in some big trouble. But that's so we got to

see some mercy. Moses is interceding for the people, and

God relented. He extended mercy to the people. Now even

though we may be shown mercy from the highest authority

for something, So we're shown mercy. How many of you

know that sometimes there's still earthly consequences. There's still things

that will be consequences now, and Moses is gonna bring

some of those consequences to bear on the people. He

comes down the mountain and he's carrying the two stone tablets,

the ones that God wrote on with his very finger,

and he hears the sound of celebration for singing. Look

at verse nineteen. And as soon as he came near

the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses

anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of

his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Bro,

God just gave you those. Every time I read this,

I'm like, man, that's I mean, do what you're gonna do.

I don't think if God gave me something, I would

ever throw it on the ground break in. That's just

me personally. But if you look at the symbolism here,

there's something actually that we can see that's pretty profound.

By making a golden calf and worshiping it, what have

the people just done? They've broken God's law and his commands.

So Moses taking these two stone tablets and breaking them,

which are the stone tablets of the testimony that had

the ten Commandments on them, is a beautiful picture of

what the people had just done. People had broken the commandments,

these stone tablets being broken verse twenty He took the

calf that they had made. He burned it with fire,

he grounded to powder, scattered it on the water, and

he made the people of Israel drink it. Man, that's hardcore.

Moses is not messing around. He's showing the people you'd

done messed up. Makes him drink the idol. And after

that happens, he turns to Aaron, who he left in charge,

and he has a little conversation. And Moses said to Aarin,

this is verse twenty one. What did this people do

to you that you have brought such a great sin

upon them? And Aaron said, let not the anger of

my lord burn hot. You know the people they are

set on evil, that they are set on evil, For

they said to me, make us gods who shall go

before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought

us up out of the land of Egypt, we do

not know what has become of him. So I said

to them, let any of you have gold, take it off.

So they gave it to me, and I threw it

in the fire. Now came this calf. Aaron, sir, you

are a liar. That's not what happened. You can just

throw the gold in the fire, and out came a calf.

Verse four, I read it said he fashioned it with

an engraving tool. He made this thing. And that word

fashioned is the same word that's used for when God

created man. So Aaron formed this golden calf. But was

it because of his desire for approval of the people.

Was he trying to appease them so we didn't have

to listen to their whining? Did he fear the people?

What did this people do to you, Aarin, that you'd

bring such a great sin upon them? Aarin wasn't just

forming an idol of gold for the people. What Aarin

was doing in that moment was bowing down to his

own idol the people. It's like idle inception. I like

that joke a little too much, But the reality is

we have to be really careful of this in ourselves.

We have to watch ourselves for how we interact with

people too. Do we want the approval or do we

want to be liked by people so much that will

succumb to sin. Well, everyone else is gossiping and slandering,

and I didn't want to think I was weird? What

will people think if I don't keep drinking and cussing?

Is just how everybody talks now or fellas, All the

guys are making crude and crafts jokes. I'm one of

the guys too. Reality is we're never too old for

high school problems. We just try to act grown up

about it. If you look at a toddler throwing a fit,

we have the same problems. Now our fits just look

more grown up. This is high school problems. Maybe it

isn't approval that we're looking for the acceptance of others.

Maybe we just don't want to deal with it. I

don't want to deal with a headache of what this

would bring. It's easier not to say something, because then

it will be a whole conversation. Everyone else is sinning

around me. It's just easier to go with the flow.

But I think that all all of what this is

is making the people an idol that we bow down to,

rather than bowing down to God. And obeying him. We're

choosing to disobey Him for the sake of obeying the world.

So I always asked the question, do we fear man

more than we fear God? Do we fear man more

than we fear God? If we fear God the way

we should, then we will never bow down to another idol.

It's when we fail to fear the Lord that we

do what Erin did, when we bend, or we bow

to the will of sinful people, or even our own

sinful will. But what happens next is is pretty intense.

But I think what this shows us is how serious

God takes his covenant with his people. God has Moses

call all who stand with the Lord to him, and

the ones who answers the tribe of Levi, and then

God sends the Levites to the camp, killing left and right,

and about three thousand men of the people fall that day.

And if this feels heavy handed, I need you to

remember what the people actually deserve, deserve to be fully

wiped out. God wants to consume them all and start

over with Moses. So even this, which seems really intense,

this heavy handed act, is still an act of mercy.

It's not giving the people what they actually deserve, which

is far worse. So Moses tells the people, let me

go talk to God again. Perhaps perhaps I can make

atonement for your sin. Look at verse thirty one. So

Moses returned to the Lord and said, alas, this people

has sinned a great sin. God already knew. He told

them to go down there and look at it. They

have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if

you will forgive their sin, please forgive their sin, Lord,

But if not, please blot me out of your book

that you have written. But the Lord said to Moses,

whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of

my book. But now go lead the people to the

place about which I've spoken to you. Behold, my angel

shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit,

I will visit their sin upon them. Then the Lord

sent a plague on the people because they made the calf,

the one that Aaron made. Just in case you thought

it was a different golden calf they were talking about.

God really wanted to make sure they that they knew

of This plague is because of the caf you know,

the one Eron made. But Moses he's here interceding for

the people again. He's asking the Lord to please forgive

them and if they won't, if he won't forgive them,

and he's like, then just wipe me out, like take

me out, Lord. But God reassures Moses, and I think

this is a comfort for us as well. God isn't

saying that he just punishes people without reason. He punishes

those who deserve it, who sin against him. It's the

saying that we've probably grown up saying, if you do

the crime, you do the time. This is how real

justice is supposed to work. And God is the very

definition of justice. He's the perfect and just judge. He's

not like us. I mean, you catch me on a

day when I'm in a bad mood, you might get treated. Mean,

it's not right, that's wrong. You didn't do anything to

warrant it. But God is different. He's not like that

punishes those who sin against him. So God tells Moses

to keep going with the plan that they already have,

follow the Angel that will lead you into the Promised Land.

But then he tells them that he won't go with him.

He's like, I'm not gonna go because if I did,

I would probably consume you on the way because of

your sin. They are so stiff necked, they're stubborn, rebellious.

And this is actually devastating news for the people, and

they all mourn because of it. They mourn the words

that God tells them. But here comes Moses interceding for

the people one more time. This is the third time

he intercedes for them. This is chapter thirty three, verse twelve.

Moses said to the Lord, see you say to me

bring up this people, But you have not let me

know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said,

I know you by name, and you've also found favor

in my sight. Now, therefore, if I've found favor in

your sight, please show me now your ways that I

may know you. In order to find favor in your sight,

consider too that this nation is your people. And he

God said, my presence will go with you, and I

will give you rest. And he responds, and he says

to him, if your presence will not go with me,

do not bring us up from here. For how shall

it be known that I have found favor in your sight?

I and your people? Is it not in your going

with us? So that we are distinct? I and your

people from every other people on the face of the earth.

And the Lord said to Moses, this very thing you

have spoken, I will do, for you have found favor

in my sight, and I know you by name. Moses

is getting pretty bold with the Lord in this. Consider

that we are your people. The only thing that makes

us different from any other people on the planet is you.

It's that your presence goes with us. God, please go

with us. That's what Moses is saying. But you guys

know that that is literally what makes us different from

the world now to is that we have the presence

of the Lord with us and in us. That's what

makes us different from the world. But this is the

third time Moses gone to God on behalf of the people,

to mediate, to intercede, to plead with the Lord. In

all three times God has shown mercy because God's mercy

on sinners comes through intercession. God's mercy on sinners comes

through intercession. Moses was the defense attorney for the people

of Israel, the people who are very much so guilty

before God. They had broken the covenant, they'd broken the

commands of God. They were guilty beforehand. But Moses interceded

for them. So I will ask we all stand guilty

before God. Who's your defense attorney? Who's interceding for you?

Kind of the worship team? Come on, please, who's interceding

for you? Who's standing before the Lord and arguing on

your behalf? Because Moses is dead, he can't do it,

He's dead and gone. So who's defending you? Who's pleading

for you? Or are you trying to stand and plead

for yourself? Are you arguing for yourself? Problem with that

is you and I are guilty before God. The only

thing we can say is you're right, God, I'm guilty.

That's the only thing we can say. So who are

you going to turn to? Who are you going to

rely on to defend you? I'm going to tell you

that there's only one person who can There's only one

person who can mediate between you and God, who can

actually make a difference. It's one Timothy two verses five

and six. For there's one God, and there's one mediator

between God and men, the man Christ, Jesus, who gave

himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony

given at the proper time. Jesus is the only one

who can actually stand and mediate between us and God.

He's the only one who can do it because he

gave himself as ransom for us. So when God looks

at us and says, you've broken my commands and you

stand guilty, if you turn to Jesus as your defense

to defend you, Jesus says, don't worry, Dad, I already

paid the bill, the blood that they owe for their sin.

I paid it because when I said that God is

true justice, there is a debt because of sin that

must be paid. If God does not get payment for that,

that makes him unjust. So something has to be paid.

If he just were to just say, oh, forget the debt,

he's not just, but he's merciful. But the beautiful thing

is he's the just and the justifier in that Christ

died for our sins. That Christ paid the penalty that

we owed. He paid the debt to God for us.

That's the song that we're closing with, the song that

we sang last. Jesus paid it all. No one else

can stand before God and say that on our behalf

but Jesus. And here's the cool thing. He doesn't just

say it once. He says that every time we sin,

look at Hebrews seven seven twenty fives. Consequently, he is

able to save to the uttermost, which means completely or

at all times. He's able to save to the uttermost

those who draw near to God through him, since He

always lives to make intercession for them. So those who

draw near to God through Jesus are saved completely or

at all times, because Jesus is always making intercession for us.

He's always pleading with God the Father for us. So

what that means is if we've put faith in Jesus,

or if we abide in him, if we cling to

Jesus in faith, then we can say what Paul says

in Romans eight with confidence. So won't you actually to

turn to Romans eight in your bible, Romans chapter eight,

and we'll be reading verses thirty one through thirty four

because they're Romans eight cool Chapter eight, Verse thirty one

through thirty four. This is what we can say with

confidence if we put faith in Jesus, What then shall

we say to these things? If God is for us,

who can be against us? He who did not spare

his own son, but gave him up for us all,

how will he not also with him graciously give us

all things. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect

It is God who justifies, who is to condemn Christ.

Jesus is the one who died more than that, who

was raised, who is at the right hand of God,

who indeed is interceding for us. If God's already declared

us justified through the blood of Jesus, who can say

we're guilty. No one, No one can say we're guilty.

It's God, the one who says we're good. It's his

law we broke, and he just said we're good. And

the reason God says we're good, the reason he is

showing us mercy, is because we are depending and relying

upon Jesus to intercede for us. He paid the debt

we owe, he pleads on our behalf. He resolved the

conflict that we have with God and prevents the punishment

that we deserve. God's mercy on sinners is given through intercession.

Repent of your sins, which means to turn from your

sin and put faith in Jesus. Turn to Jesus and

rely on him as your advocate, your mediator, your intercessor.

He's the only hope there is for sinners like you

and I the only hope. There is no other hope

for a sinner before the Lord. So let's not be

like the children of Israel who became impatient with the

Lord from him in sin. And let's not be like Aaron,

who bent to the will of the people and bowed

to his own idol, which was the people. Instead, let's

abide in Christ always, to live in Christ always, but

also to remember that when we are like the Israelites,

because we will fail, we will sin when we turn

from the Lord, and we sin. That as long as

we are still relying on Jesus as our only means

of forgiveness and salvation, that he is standing before God

the Father, making intercession for us. He's our advocate, the

righteous one, Jesus. So don't hope in anyone or anything else,

not even yourself, not your works, not you're trying to

be good enough, not you're being better than the person

down the street. Only Jesus. Our only hope is in Jesus,

because he is the only hope for sinners. Putting faith

in Jesus, believe him, believing in his perfect life, his

sacrificial death, and his resurrection from the dead. That is

the only hope there is for sinners to turn to

Jesus to be our intercessor before God, because God's mercy

on sinners comes through intercession. Can you guys stand your

feet please,