0:00 Before we stand up to read God's word, there's this one verse that, Jesus states a phrase that really ministered to my heart. It's in Luke nine forty four, and the Lord says to his disciples, let these words sink into your ears. It's half a verse, but that phrase is so significant. He's telling his disciples to do something with the words that are being said. Let them sink into your ears.
0:32 That says something about how we can hear God's word. We choose how to receive God's word. We give whatever attention we desire, and we have the ability to either let it slip out of our ears or retain it. And I read this quote earlier today that really stirred me as well, and I hope it stirs you. It's a simple observation in the New Testament.
0:58 Judas heard every single one of Christ's sermons. That's what the statement was. Judas heard every single sermon that Jesus preached. If you're familiar with Judas, you know how his life ends. And so as we stand up to read God's word, may we ask him to have the eagerness and the desire and the ability to retain the words that we hear week by week.
1:26 So would you stand with me as you open up your bibles to Exodus chapter 19? And we may not be hearers of the word only, but doers even in a chapter like this. We won't be reading all of this chapter, just the first few verses. I'm reading from the ESV translation. Beginning in verse one of Exodus 19, the bible says, on the third new moon, after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.
1:59 They set up from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. Then Israel encamped before the mountain while Moses went up to God. The Lord called him out of the mountain saying, thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the people of Israel, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
2:34 These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. Let's pray together. Father, we choose to let these words sink into our ears, that they may reach our hearts. But we ask, Lord, for a great protection over every heart, that the birds of the air may not rob what you wanna say, but that it may land on good soil, and that, Lord, may bear fruit for your glory. And so, lord, we just ask that in this place, you would till our hearts and that you would soften our understanding of who you are.
3:10 And these precious verses that we're gonna explore, may they change our lives. May they change and renew the way we think about you, about ourselves, about the world. Lord, we submit to the authority of the scriptures. We do not create a god in our own image. Lord, we love you.
3:26 We honor you. We bless you for one another. May we know you in a greater way tonight, corporately, and may it come to us individually throughout our days. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
3:38 You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. I praise God for his providence. It doesn't seem never seems to make me really that every time we come to a certain certain place or a certain season of the year, there's just this right text that fits the moment. And we talked about this last week that we are coming to the center of the book of Exodus, but really it is a transitional moment, not just for the Israelites of this day, but for the entire understanding of scripture. We are about to touch on tread in the waters of a place in which God will officially deal with his people in a new way.
4:23 And hopefully, we'll be able to get there. But these verses are moments where things are gonna happen in significant matters, especially in Exodus chapter 20. But the verses that we just read are jam packed with truth. Jam packed with truth. We know that god has been leading the people and they are coming to this moment, and this moment is so, once again, significant for them.
4:48 And And so let's just begin this way. In your reading of Exodus 19, for those who are familiar with the bible study you know you're supposed to read it every week. Right? Chapter by chapter. What can we say?
5:01 What observations we have in the verses that we just read? There's specific words, specific commands, specific details that are vital for us to grasp. Yes. Go ahead.
5:13 So verses five and six, I noticed that the same promises are listed in first Peter two nine.
5:19 Sure. Absolutely. So you see similar promises in five and six with the New Testament church, which is very significant concerning the gospel as well. What else can we say? Yes.
5:33 Is this the first time that God mentions priests, with the Egyptian of Israel?
5:41 The first time he mentioned priests? Probably concerning their ministry election, yes. This is something that he's gonna reveal about their purpose on the Earth, their election, why they were chosen by God. And so this is gonna play out, and there's something really important. Who is he addressing in this text?
5:59 The nation of Israel to be a kingdom of priests. He's not speaking to the Levites. Speaking to the entire nation. That's important. Anything else?
6:14 Remember, especially when we're reading old testament narrative. Put up those rear view mirrors and look back and see, have I seen something before? Is there familiar passages or familiar phrases? Is there familiar scenes? Places?
6:26 Is there something that I've seen in the past that might bring insight to what I'm reading right now? On the third day moon, the king Jesus has three months. The people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt. On that day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set up from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness.
6:50 There, Israel encamped before the mountain. What mountain? It's stating the mountain as though it claims that we know which mountain it's speaking of. Yes. God made a promise to Moses that when he comes out Ah, so what chapter is that in?
7:09 Exodus chapter three. So we look back at this this mountain. What mountain is it? Does anybody know at the top of their head? Mount Sinai.
7:17 Mount Sinai. There's another word. Horeb. Horeb. Right.
7:20 And so Horeb was where god encountered Moses and commissioned him initially in Exodus chapter three. And what we read in these verses in 19 is a fulfillment of a promise, and this is the promise. It's found in chapter three verse 12. He He said, but I will be with you. It's Moses like, who am I to lead the people of Israel?
7:41 He says, but I will be with you. And this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you when you have brought the people out of Egypt. You shall serve god on this mountain. Full circle. So with that in mind, what can we take out of that?
8:04 Simple as that. He's a faithful God. The same God that commissioned him in the beginning is the same God that sustained him throughout the process, and he is the same God that will bring him until the end. This is speaking of the goodness and faithfulness of God. He said something and it came to pass and I just love the image.
8:24 I mean, he could have told him I will meet you on that mountain or let No, he says I'm gonna bring you to this mountain. What do you think was going through Moses' mind? I can imagine. He shows up, he gets to Mount Sinai, and he looks over and he sees millions of people that he led out of Egypt through the power and the grace of God, and he thought to himself, man, when I started, I was leading sheep around this area. And here's god's goodness.
8:48 Here's god's faithfulness. Now he's allowing me to lead a nation. And he, I'm sure, was stunned by the faithfulness of god. Because the sign that he said in Exodus three, it wasn't an immediate thing. It's not like here, this is how you're gonna know I'm with you.
9:04 Tada. He does that later on as Moses increases in his doubt, but he says this is the sign that I'm gonna bring you to a certain place. I'm gonna bring you to where you need to be, and that's a sign for you and me. Sometimes all we need to do is just get a flashback to understand the faithfulness of God. The fact that you are kept by God right now.
9:28 The fact that you are preserved by God. The fact that you still love Jesus. The fact that you still want to know him more. That is by God's grace. And sometimes we need to just take a route back to the mountain when we start to just see how God has truly brought us to where we are at, and he has been faithful from the beginning.
9:46 So here's Moses, he's there. He's at the same mountain. God kept his word. God will keep you. He will keep me.
9:56 He will lead us. He's the same god. If he commissioned, if he sent you, if he promised you, he'll do it. And Moses comes to that place and here he is. He started out with these sheep, now he's got a nation by God's grace, by God's province and his sovereignty.
10:13 But there's something different. Though it is the same mountain, he's about to he's about to discover something about god that he's never known before. Because we know how god manifested himself in Exodus three, don't we? How? Burning bush.
10:34 How does god reveal himself in Exodus 19? Let's read together in verse 18. 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. Now, sometimes we read these things and we don't allow ourselves to feel the text.
10:55 The entire mountain trembled, And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and god answered him in thunder. God answered him in thunder. That's loud. The lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain and lord called Moses to the top of the mountain. And before that in verse 16, it says, on the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast.
11:25 So we know in Exodus three, he sees a burning bush and it's God. And now we come to Exodus 19 and he sees a burning what? Mountain. And it's God. And I believe that speaks something about our walk with the Lord.
11:39 That as we walk with him faithfully, as we allow him to lead us, something increases. Our revelation of his holiness increases. Our understanding of his power increases. Our understanding of his faithfulness increases. And we get to, as we walk in this life with him, we get to get greater glimpse of his glory, greater understanding of his character, and all we have to do is just abide.
12:12 All we have to do is abide and let him lead, and you and I get to have the opportunity to be stunned by how he wants to reveal himself to us from glory to glory. And so this is what Moses is about to see. He's not gonna see a burning bush. He's gonna see glorious mountain trembling, a people trembling with it. Speak to the faithfulness of god.
12:37 There Israel encountered before the mountain while Moses went up to god in verse three. The lord called to him out of the mountain saying, thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the people of Israel. Look how god addresses them. What does he say? Go speak to the house of Jacob and go talk to the people of Israel.
12:59 It's as though God wants to have the people be reminded of their humble beginnings. You started as Jacob. You started as one man. Now look where I brought you from. And you and I also have to do the same.
13:12 We have to be reminded of where we came from from time to time. We have to be reminded of how broken we were, how messed up we were before god found us. This humbles us. This keeps us low. We don't go too far when we are reminded of where god found us and how he found us.
13:31 And when we remember where we came from, we realize that it's only by his grace where he made us to be who we are. Go speak to the house of Jacob and go talk to the people of Israel. And what's his message? You so have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Oh, what a precious verse.
13:57 What is he provoking the people to do? Remember. Remember what? He says, you yourself have seen how I've delivered you and how I bore you on eagle's wings. God does not choose his words lightly.
14:14 He does not choose certain imagery lightly. He wants us to ask the question, out of all the animals in the kingdom, why wouldn't you choose an eagle to parallel how you delivered us out of Egypt? Why an eagle? Out of all things. Could have said a lion, could have said anything.
14:35 He says, no. I bore you on eagle's wings. Yes, Neil?
14:42 In Deuteronomy thirty two eleven, it, like, kinda it shows how an eagle, like, how an eagle takes care of, the child of, so how, like, I was just comparing it to say how an eagle takes care of just, like, how god takes care of us.
15:01 The bible tells us why he chose eagles as an example. When you go to Deuteronomy 32 and the song of Moses verse eleven and twelve, look what Moses says about God concerning his dealing with the people of Israel. He says in verse 11, like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them up on his pinions, the lord alone guided them. No foreign god was with them. The bible interprets the bible.
15:35 We know why he chose the eagle's wings as an example, as a metaphor. So we have it up in verse 11. You can go back. These are the reasons why. As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spread her out her wings, takes them, bears them on her wings, the lord alone guides them.
15:54 Okay. So how he dealt with Israel is explained in that verse. So this is what he does. First thing he does. Verse 11 says what?
16:07 He stirs up their nest. He stirs up their nest. Eagles, when they have their babies, when they have the little young ones, and they are mature enough to fly. It is the mother that comes and provokes them and stirs them to come out of their comfort zone in order for them to step into a moment of transition, specifically into adulthood. But the problem is these egos, because they are so cared for by their parents, they are well fed every day, they are protected by those mighty wingspans, they're comfortable.
16:45 They're comfortable in those nests. And so the mother has to do something to stir them up. So what does she do? She comes and she removes the fur and removes the wool where these young ones would lay in because they were warm. And now they are exposed to sharp sticks and thorns, making them get up and move.
17:10 The mother also would not bring as much food as she would as usual, or sometimes she would allow the food to be outside and that's provoking and inviting these birds to come to a place in which they have to step out of the nest. And so there's a sense in which the mother eagle would arouse them through discomfort, through agitation. And in Deuteronomy thirty two eleven, this is talking about how god dealt with Israel, because God did the very same thing with the people of Israel in Egypt. Egypt was hatched, so to speak. Sorry.
17:51 Israel was hatched in Egypt. This nation grew in that place. And And God comes and what does he do? He sends his messengers and they stir things up. They had a message.
18:03 They came and they they wanted to provoke them out of their comfort zone. They came to convince them that there was something better than Egypt. There was something better than leeks and melon and onions. There was a land flowing with milk and honey. He came through his messengers, and they agitated Egypt, brought them to a place in which they have to cough up the people of god.
18:29 And god does the same thing today. The same way he sent Moses and Aaron, he sends messengers today. What does he do? He comes to people that are in bondage in Egypt, that are under the slavery of pharaoh, and they come to bring a message of hope and a message of freedom. And sometimes they come to strike the conscience through the gospel and the conviction of the holy spirit to get you to a place in which you're not comfortable with your lifestyle anymore.
19:02 You realize that you are in bondage. You realize that God has something better for you. You realize that there is a reality in which God wants to have a relationship with you. And so God stirs up the nest like an eagle does for his young. But not only that, it says, spreads abroad her wings.
19:22 So it's true of salvation that god stirs people's lives up. Right? He he sends Moses and Aaron to go out, but he also uses circumstances too because there's just some people that don't need to hear sermons anymore. You know what they need? Unfortunately, catastrophes.
19:38 They need rock bottom moments until they realize how short life is. What did the psalmist say in in Psalms one nineteen? He says, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. What was he saying there? In my rebellion, I was walking no problem against god's word, but it wasn't until I was afflicted that I came back and I kept your word.
20:08 If you hear a sermon and you know God is speaking to you, don't come to a place in which he has to afflict you until you understand it. Get it quick. And it's also true sanctification, this idea of a bird's nest and a mother coming to her young ones. Why? Because in order for us as believers to mature, to be stretched, we have to go through trials.
20:35 We have to go through tribulations. We have to go through shakings in life. Sometimes we get too comfortable and God has to allow us to go through some fire. Why? Because we don't wanna stay as babes.
20:45 God wants us to mature into something majestic and beautiful to reflect the image of Christ. In order for that to happen, things gotta be shaken up a little bit. But here's the beautiful thing, she spreads abroad her wings. Meaning what? When you look at the text in the original, it says she flutters her wings, and that word in the Hebrew is only used three times including this time.
21:07 And the one other time it's used is in Genesis one, where it says that the Holy Spirit hovers over the earth. And so I believe when it talks about this eagle fluttering her wings above her young, it speaks of the protective presence of God even in moments where we are shaken. Even in moments where we are pulled through trials and tribulations and circumstances and persecutions, he's right there. He's protecting. He's over us.
21:36 We hide under the shadow of his wings. And it says also that he takes them or he catches them and bears them on his wings. Now this isn't necessarily proven, but by this text, we can get this idea that there is this understanding that when birds, especially eagles, try to learn how to fly, they are not used to it, so they fall in the process. And right at the right moment, the eagle comes and swifts and picks up that baby baby eagle and lifts them up. And I'm not here to debate whether that's true or not.
22:10 I'm just here to preach the text. There's this idea in which the mother eagle or that parent eagle comes and lifts that young one up, especially in moments where they are this close of hitting the ground. And that's when they believe that eagles would come. They let that bird fall and fall and fall and came at the precision timing to bring them up, to lift them again, to reassure them that they are there, to deliver them at the right moment. That's true of god, isn't it?
22:37 We can say that's true. That There are moments where we feel like we're falling, we don't understand where god is, and we feel like we're twirling three sixty, and we have no sense of stability, no sense of direction. And at the right moment, it seems that god loves to come at the fourth quarter. And I love to say this, the fourth quarter, three seconds left, no time outs. That's when God loves to come.
22:57 Why? Because in those moments, you know it's God when he delivers you. You know it's God when he steps into your life. You know that it's not circumstance or some human initiative. No.
23:07 It's God almighty that came to my rescue. Flutters and catches them. And it says, in verse 12, that the lord alone guides them. The lord alone guides them. And I believe in light of this understanding of eagles, that is very beautiful because it's not just the wings, the majestic wings of that bird.
23:30 It's the eyesight. That an eagle has the ability to see in a distance four to eight times more than a human eye. And you can see a small rabbit moving from a little over a mile away, and some people even believe even more. The movement of a rabbit as far as a mile away, that bird has a perspective that no other animal really has. And I love to parallel that truth with the lord that he himself has a perspective that you and I don't have.
24:16 That he sees into the future. He has foreknowledge. He understands what's to come. And guess what? He's our guide.
24:28 And we can rely on him and trust in him that when we do not see, he sees and he leads. Oh, when we just cling to his opinions, because he is the ultimate guide and he has the eyesight that no man has. But in the same way, he invites us to develop that eyesight as well because he's given us his word, and he's given us through his word perspective that a person who rejects his word does not have. We see in the natural. We also understand in the spiritual.
25:05 And so we must also develop those things. But it's not just this text. Since we're talking about eagles, we know the famous verse, do we not? Isaiah forty thirty one. They who wait upon the lord.
25:21 They shall mount up with wings like eagles. Has anybody ever seen a hummingbird fly? What do they do? What's the beauty of it, so to speak? Scrap movement, but it's fine with their skin still.
25:42 Flap their wings. Have you seen a duck fly? Geese fly. They flap their wings. Sometimes their necks are extended.
25:49 They they look like they're giving a lot of energy. Have you ever seen an eagle fly? Has anybody ever seen an eagle fly? What's the beauty and majesty of an eagle when it flies, especially when it migrates for long distances?
26:04 Like, the wings are, like, still.
26:06 That's it. You rarely see an eagle flap its wings. It soars. It glides. There's almost this ease and this effortless strength being given over to the eagle as it's flying.
26:26 Why? This is why. It uses the wind to lift it up. It depends up on these things called, wind thermals. And so these eagles, they wait for these hot pockets of wind that swirl up and they take advantage and they just expand themselves and allow those winds to just pick them up.
26:48 And that is the secret to how they soar high. That is the secret to how they fly for long distances with rarely flapping. And they do this so they don't have to burn their energy, especially when they're going to a certain direction for a long time. And so when you see an eagle, and different birds as well, but when you see an eagle do that, and you see these other birds such as the hummingbird or or a duck or something flap their wings, there's a difference. One is dependent upon another power source.
27:17 And when the bible says you shall mount up with wings like eagles, I believe in some sense it is telling us that we are to experience in this Christian walk a sense of ease and effortless strength and striving if we're dependent upon another source, the Holy Spirit. He picks us up. He guides us. He empowers us. He fills us with strength.
27:47 He's the one that does the work in us. What did what did the apostle Paul say? He says a glorious thing, and we can miss it if we just read it too quickly. He says this. He goes, him we proclaim.
27:56 Colossians one twenty eight twenty nine. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone. Side note. There's warning and teaching, not just teaching. Warning everyone and teaching everyone that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
28:15 Look what he says. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy whose energy? His energy that he powerfully works within me. Through all his missionary endeavors, through all his preaching and all the things that he's done, the great things for God, he did it in the strength of the Holy Spirit. And he admits that.
28:42 All of these things that I've done, all these projects, all these crusades, all of these things are done through his power in and through me. You see a lot of Christians striving. See a lot of Christians trying to fight sin in their own power. You see a lot of Christians trying to please God in their own strength. Do you know in order for you to please God, you need God?
29:06 The very means by which we please God is through the Holy Spirit, who is God. It's all him. So what do you and I do? We yield. We lift up our wings and we wait, and we allow him to work in and through us.
29:21 We allow him to carry us. So many people wanna try to fight their sin and they're doing in their own power. And the bible clearly says, by the power of the holy spirit, you shall do it. So what does that look like practically? It looks like this.
29:34 Lord, I have this sin. Kill it in me. I have nothing within myself to destroy this individual sin. I come to you, lord, and I ask. You promised me you promised me that sin shall not have dominion over me.
29:52 Kill the enemy, Lord. I yield to you. I cannot do it in my own strength. I cannot think the right way. I cannot cut off the right you know, listen.
30:02 A lot of sin, yes. Jesus said cut off. There are practical means, but more than anything, it's a hard issue. And guess who has to deal with the heart? Who can only handle this deceitfully thing, this wicked thing?
30:13 God himself. Lord, I need you. I need your power in me. I bring this before you. This doubt, this unforgiveness, this lust, this pride, this jealousy, destroy it.
30:31 And we come to him, and we come to him, and and we wait on him and we wait on him, and he lifts you up at the right time. You lift us up on make on wings like eels. But to just add another note on these things, and we can go on and on, but there's something else about an eagle that I think is so fantastic. Have you ever seen eagles flying together? Solitary birds.
31:13 They fly alone. And a great reason is because they fly in an altitude in which these other little birds can't fly at. And you will rarely you will not really see a bird like an eagle hanging out with these little ones. And I believe that speaks of those who wanna go high in god, that wanna reach an altitude in their relationship with him, have to realize that there is a very, very high chance that you have to to disassociate with yourself. Disassociate with those birds that like to hang up together on those telephone poles and chirp and chirp and chirp.
32:00 And that's the cost if you wanna get a perspective on life that those birds do not have. That's the price you and I have to pay if you wanna go to that place in which you are at an altitude in God that others don't even think about or even desire. You see those birds up there? Rarely are they with other birds. Eagles are rarely with another bird, another eagle unless they're in mating season or unless they're with their family.
32:29 And I believe that speaks of those that wanna be in a place with god. The higher you go up, the lonelier it gets on this level. But it's worth it when you get up there and you see the view. And how you how you were taken up on the eagle's wings and brought you to the promised land. Is that what he said?
32:59 And brought you to the land flowing with milk and honey and brought you to the place in which you will have vineyards and farms and cattle beyond numbers. Is that what god said? What did he say in Exodus nineteen four? I bore you on eagle's wings for what purpose? To bring you to myself.
33:21 That's the ultimate purpose of his deliverance. And the primary purpose of his deliverance with the people of Israel is the primary purpose of his deliverance through Jesus Christ to bring you to him. All those other things are secondary consequences. The cross, yes, takes you from position in the wrath of god and hell for all eternity to an eternal bliss with god. Yes.
33:47 Yes. There is a peace that surpasses understanding that comes with our relationship. Yes. But ultimately, it comes down to this, that you and him have undefiled, untainted, unveiled communion with him. And that is experienced climatically in heaven when we step into glory and see him face to face.
34:12 That is the very anchor. That is the very that is the bull's eye of the gospel. And if we really understand that, if we really get past this idea that, oh, God save me so I can get out of hell. Oh, God save me so that I can see it at the mere supper of the lamb. If we can get past that and really feel and know that God saved me, then he sent his son for what?
34:36 To bring me to himself. You won't have such an identity crisis in life. You won't be too concerned about those that don't wanna associate with you or don't wanna walk this life with you. You have won God almighty that delivered you to bring you to him. What a glorious truth.
35:02 And I'm sorry to break it to you if you had another idea in mind, but heaven is about that. It's about eternal communion with him. And if you don't want him now, what makes you think you're gonna want him for all eternity? I'm baffled. I'm absolutely it's mind numbing to me how there are so many believers that have not little, zero interest in wanting to know God.
35:34 When Jesus himself says, now this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you've sent. And this is the only logical question I can come up with, if you don't want God now, why would you want him for all eternity? If you're not pursuing him now, what do you think you're gonna do in heaven? And John Piper asked this question, if heaven did not have god, would you still want heaven? Let me say that again.
36:07 If heaven did not have Jesus Christ, would you still want it? In Isaiah six, hundreds of years before Christ comes in the flesh, the prophet gets a vision and he sees the angels saying, holy, holy, holy. And you fast forward hundreds of years later to the last book of the Bible, and John the Apostle gets a revelation of heaven, and he sees the angels, and they're saying the very same thing. Holy. Holy.
36:45 Holy. That should tell something to you and me about heaven, that the angels don't get bored of God. But when they behold him, they just keep staring at him, all the way to the point where there are creatures that are filled with eyes in and out. They just wanna behold him. And as you behold him, there's not a detail in there that will ever bore you because he is that glorious.
37:14 He is that exuberant. He is that majestic. He dispenses so much splendor that a thousand years would not be enough for us to gaze upon him. The spirit and the bride say, come, lord Jesus. Paul says that we, in our tents, groan to be in our eternal dwelling.
37:40 There should be some and I get it. We do fight the flesh and there are some things that come into our life and there are other godly desires, but there somewhere in the faculty of your being, there has to be this desire saying, lord, I wanna see you. I wanna know you. And if you deliver me for you and me to have communion with you, with one another, may I have the faith to believe and may have the hunger to seek what you paid for. Verse five.
38:15 Now therefore hold up. He said all those things. Remember where you came from. Remember how I delivered you. Remember how I bore you on eagle's wings.
38:27 Why? Now therefore. So he said verse four in order to motivate them for verse five. So now that you know that I delivered you, and now that you know that I bore you on eagle's wings, and now that you know that I paid a price, that I delivered you to be in relationship with me, now therefore, obey my voice and keep my covenant. Did god give the commands and then deliver the people?
39:02 Did he say, hey. Hey. Hear the commands, people of Israel, and when you do these right, then I'll deliver you. No. He delivered them.
39:12 And out of their deliverance and out of reminding them of their deliverance, the people of Israel would be motivated to obedience. That people would be stirred up to say, yes, Lord. Give me your commands because I am doing this out of the revelation that I am saved by your grace. Now, therefore, obey my voice. There's an order here.
39:36 Grace. You experience grace, then we move on to a life of obedience. He delivered you not because you obeyed, but we obeyed because we've been delivered. And as you do, as you obey, keep his covenant. There are blessings.
39:53 What are those blessings? There are three blessings. You shall be my treasure possession, one, among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine. Verse six. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
40:08 These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. Three things, treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. Same it's the same for us today. We're saved by grace. We obey out of the motivation of his goodness, and some of us are missing out on the joy of obedience because we have a lack of the revelation of the goodness of god.
40:33 If we are not obeying out of joy, we've completely missed why we're obeying in the first place. The joy of obedience is we are unworthy servants. We are only doing what you told us to do. The joy of obedience is, here's my life because you gave your life. The joy of obedience is, lord, because you gave all that you are, I give all that I am.
40:57 If you're not doing it in that motivation, you guys take a step back. You have these out of order. You have obey my voice and then I'll deliver you. Obey my voice and then I'll bear you on evil's wings and then I'll bring you to myself. Hold up there.
41:13 How do I know that I'm in that order? Well, how do you know if you have joy? Do you have joy in your obedience? Or is there pain? Is there is my burden is light, Jesus said.
41:28 My yoke is easy and my burden is light. And you have so many Christians hunched over spiritually, beating themselves up every single day because they didn't keep up with their track record. Because they're looking at another person, they see how much they prayed. Looking at another person, they see how much they memorize scripture. They're looking at another person, how much they share their faith.
41:46 And all they do is they see how low they are, and they're completely missing it. This is huge today, especially those that strive to wanting to be godly. All you need to do is lift your wings and let the spirit of god lift you. And let him do it in you. Effortless ease, rest, joy, enjoyment.
42:14 My treasure possession. Now this is amazing. He says, you as a nation will be a kingdom of priests. God's original plan for the entire people group of Israel was that they would become priests. But what turned it around?
42:38 It doesn't happen after Moses came back. Yeah. Moses goes up, comes back down, and they're all dancing around naked in a golden calf. And so that that purpose was stripped away from them. And then Moses says what?
42:51 Where is on the Lord's side come come to me and who comes to him? Yeah. The tribe of Levi comes to him. So now Levi comes to him and they've been given the duties of a priest. They've been given the duties of an of an intercessor as mediator between the people and God.
43:04 But something else happened. Jesus comes in. And he, through the cross, reverses all of those things. So it's not just Israel. It's not just the Levites.
43:16 It's for all people, including gentiles. And you are what? A kingdom priest. What? You're a chosen race, a a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of my own possessions?
43:29 First Peter two nine, it's been extended now in this covenant to all people to embrace that role that you and I now represent God to the people, and we come to God and intercede on behalf of those that need intercession. So we see that. We see Israel done to the Levites, and then Christ reverses all of that and he starts a new plan, Gentiles included. It's a beautiful thing. And you shall be a holy nation.
43:53 In Christ, this all these things, as Nahyan said earlier, all these things have been given over. And this is why when you read the New Testament, you have to keep this in mind. When you see these introductions to the letters of the apostles writing to these gentile people, they're saying you're chosen people. You're the elect. And I believe that that's referencing to the fact that they've been given the door has been opened now to the gentiles to walk into the calling and the election that Israel once had.
44:22 So what happens? Beautiful message. So Moses came and called the elders, verse seven, of the people and set before them all these words that the lord had commanded. All the people answered together and said, all that the lord has spoken, we will do. And Moses reported the words of the people to the lord.
44:41 And the lord said to Moses, behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe you forever. Verse seven to verse nine. Is there any observations that we can make there?
44:57 Yes. Moses acted as as a mediator between god and men.
45:02 Yes. Absolutely. Moses is acting as a mediator, and that is important, especially in light of verse 17. Great observation. Any other observation?
45:11 I think God took Israel's word seriously. He was serious about when they accepted it to be a part of this conditional covenant, then he gave back and became a covenant.
45:24 Yes. So those words and god takes words very seriously. He took those words to heart, and he moved forward with establishing his covenant. Yes. If you read this chapter, you'll notice something about Moses.
45:39 It's a very subtle thing, but I think it's significant, especially if you're a spiritual leader at any level. If you notice, Moses goes up and down a lot. He goes up to the mountain. He meets with god and he hears from god. He comes down to the mountain.
45:54 He delivers the message. He goes back up to the mountain. He comes back down. He goes back. He does this a lot.
45:58 And that's a lot for an 80 year old man. But there's a cost to this. And if you're a spiritual leader, worship leader, bible study leader, whatever, this is a principle for us. That in order for us to be effective to the people, we have to be consistent by meeting with God. He went up and he came down.
46:23 He got a word from God by being alone with God. And because of that, he had something to give to the people of God. And if you and I wanna be effective to those that we serve, speaking to the leaders in here, you and I have to pay the price of climbing up the mountain and meeting with the lord and waiting on him and opening this word and letting it speak to us and letting it become a fire in our bones. Because it's not burning in you. How's it gonna burn another people?
46:52 If you're not passionate about this book, how are people gonna be passionate about this book and the truth found in it? So Moses pays a price and it's a picture of the leader. He has to pay that price. You climb up so that he can have something to bring back down. Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words.
47:11 He had words to say because he met with the living god. The people answered together, all the lord has done, we will we will do. Look at verse nine. And the lord said to Moses, this is interesting, behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud. Why?
47:30 I mean, he could have done it any other way, but he's coming in a thick cloud. Drama. Drama? Oh, it's gonna be dramatic, Eva. We're gonna see that.
47:45 Look at verse 21 of Exodus chapter 20. The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where god was. So now we know it's not just a thick cloud, it's a dark cloud. Does anybody have an idea why? That's beautiful.
48:21 That's the answer a 100%. God veiled his will lest they should die. And he comes to cover himself. Why? Because this is his motive.
48:33 I wanna be as close as I can to
48:37 That's the heart of God. We have to see this. Don't believe for a second that somebody would say that God in the Old Testament has a little less grace than the New Testament. Here he is, longing to be with his people, but knowing his nature and their nature and knowing that if his nature comes in contact with their nature, it will be a big mess. And so let me be a veil of my glory.
49:01 And let me come to them as close as I can to be with them. That's the heart of God. And I believe too that this thick darkness, this concept, is also something in light of our pursuit after God, that he does not unveil himself so easily. That we have to be willing to go into the darkness, so to speak. We have to be willing to go and press into god in order to get that greater glimpse of who he is.
49:30 So many people say, well, I asked god to show himself to me. I'm seeking God and God hasn't showed me something in his word. God hasn't revealed himself to me in prayer. As one man said, God does not reveal himself to the common gaze, but he wraps himself. And we have to show him that we're willing to wait and that we're willing to press in and willing to stay at his door knocking until he opens and reveals and gives us a glimpse of who he is.
50:02 God is too precious, too holy, to unveil, and to reveal who he is to just anybody. In fact, Jesus told his disciples, don't throw your pearls to swine. Don't throw the truths of god's word to just anybody because they'll trample on it and they'll hate you as well. Never mind god himself. The truths of god's word can't be just thrown out to anybody that just wants to hear no.
50:32 It's those that are willing to value and treasure that relationship, value and treasure this word, willing to pay any price, and god says that is somebody that I can reveal myself to. Because he's not a product. He's a person. When Moses told the words of people to the lord, the lord said to Moses, go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, verse 11, and be ready for the third day. For on the third day, the lord will come down on Mount Sinai and decide all the people, and you shall set limits for the people all around saying, take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it.
51:11 Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. So these verses explain something. One, in order to approach god, what do we need? Plans. Put in his consecration.
51:26 Consecration. Who shall ascend on the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and the pure heart and does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. Psalms 24.
51:40 And so it's this understanding that if we we know this. If we wanna approach god, we must consecrate ourselves. This was true for Moses when he was at Mount Sinai in the beginning. He had to take off his sandals representing taking off any association and all the dirt that he's picked up from the world and to come with bare feet, and it's true in this too. See, it's the same principle.
52:00 If we're gonna approach god, we have to consecrate ourselves. And also here we see that there are limits around the mountain. There are limits that were set. And I believe this speaks of something of our relationship with god here that it is limited. That we do not have the full picture yet.
52:18 That we don't have the unfiltered, face to face experience that we will have in glory. And so there's limitation. But one day, as first Corinthians, there will be a time in which we will see face to face. We will not see through a mirror dimly anymore. We won't have this flesh to pull us down and distractions in this life.
52:39 No. It's gonna be completely clean. Transparent. Close process. So much so that we need new bodies to even live in that place.
52:50 And the sign of them to come would be a trumpet sound, a long blast. They shall come up to the mountain. So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated people, and they washed their garments. And he said to people, be ready for the third day. Do not go and hear a woman.
53:06 Verse 16. On the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast. He's coming with a trumpet blast to take his people home. Is that is that what the bible says? That we will hear a trumpet blast, and he will take us up to meet the lord in the air.
53:29 It's a picture. And so all the people in the camp trembled. I would tremble too if there was a trumpet blast and nobody was blowing the trumpet. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. And you already said this, brother.
53:51 Moses is the mediator between the people and god. If it was not for Moses, the people wouldn't have the chance to even come near to god. And as Israel had their ambassador and their mediator, Moses, so we have ours who is Jesus Christ. And if it's not for Jesus Christ, we do do not have any access to god the father, the same god that showed up here. And that's why we pray in Jesus's name.
54:18 It's not some lucky charm thing that you sign at the end of your prayer that it will get to heaven. No. We are saying I have access and I have boldness to pray this prayer because of Jesus, because of the spiritual from the cross. And so we approach his throne with boldness because we are clothed in the righteousness and we are hidden in Christ. He's our mediator.
54:39 But I also think on a practical level level, again, for leaders, it is the leader's job to lead people to God. Not to themselves, not to their personality, not to their ministry, not to their denomination, not to their church. Their main ambition is, motive of every person, not mingled with any other ambition, but the sole purpose of saying how can I through my life, and we were even praying this earlier, that the same way on the Mount Of Transfiguration, that the cloud of God would come and hide Elijah and Moses and the only person that we've seen is Jesus, That no man would be ever seen? That no man would ever be praised. That no man would ever be exalted.
55:30 Even Elijah and Moses, that they would be hidden by God and the only person we would see and adore is Christ. And Moses brought the people out that can't meet god and they took their stand on the foot. Now we read these verses, but there's one little detail that I think we're closing in a minute. I think it's so beautiful in light of god's heart. Verse 19.
55:53 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and god answered him in thunder. That's the verse. What's significant about that verse?
56:11 It's, the complete opposite. When Elijah comes back in sec second Kings, he answered him in a still small voice, whereas here, he answers in thunder.
56:22 Yes. He answers very loudly here. Absolutely. This is a purpose and a desire that God's trying to establish here. We're gonna learn that next week in Exodus chapter 20.
56:31 Yes. He does speak in thunder. How would they call to come close? What was the trigger for them to come near to god? A trumpet blast.
56:43 But in verse 19, it says that the trumpet blast grew louder. Louder. And this is what I believe about this verse, is that god and his intensity for his desire for them to come near, allow that trumpet to get louder and louder. Calling them to come. Come.
57:02 It's the invitation to come. Don't hesitate. Don't hold back. And that trumpet blast only accelerate, only got louder, and the people heard it, and the people trembled. But I believe it's God saying, come.
57:16 Come to me. Come to me. Don't fear in a way that you run away from me. He says that in the next chapter. Come near, and it grew louder.
57:24 It's the invitation of God for intimacy. And when you read this book, it's God shouting at you. Come near to me. Come closer to me. All of this is for us to love him and know him more.
57:44 It's the cry of his heart the same way it was the trumpet blast here. Come. Abide. Sit at my feet. Know me.
57:53 Include me in your life. Converse with me. Pour out your heart. I'm inviting you into that place. I'm invite I'm inviting here's the intensity of it.
58:01 I'm shouting it louder and louder. Moses spoke and god answered him in thunder, and the lord came down on Mount Sinai. At the top of the mountain, Moses went up. And the lord said to Moses from verse 21 I'm gonna read all that. Verse 21 down.
58:19 He basically warns Moses to warn the people. Because Moses goes up to the mountain and he says clearly, go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the lord, to look and many of them perish. So So there could have been some idea where they saw Moses go up and maybe some of them got excited and said, let's go up with them. Maybe some of them said, let's join him. Let's go and see this.
58:41 Maybe there were some that were bold enough to do that and and god even brings it down to the priest. He says, don't let the priest come up either. So as much as there was this intensity and desire and invitation for the people to come near to god, there's also this chasm. There's this barrier. Sin.
59:03 The holiness of god and the sinfulness of man, there's only so much. There's only such a proximity in which we can tread on before he annihilates us. So God in his love and mercy concerning the people says, don't let them come too close, lest I break through to them and destroy them. Because my holiness demands to eradicate sin in my presence, which is important. Because later on in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses says, because you were afraid.
59:41 And it was god wanted them to have the fear of god. He says, god will send a prophet like me to come, and he'll speak forth the words of god. Deuteronomy 18. So as close as they came to this mountain, it was not enough for god almighty. And so when he comes again, not in some fiery, glorious, blazing appearance in a dark cloud, but as a man.
1:00:15 And he doesn't show up on Mount Sinai again. He shows up on Mount Calvary, and he dies on a cross to make a way for you and I to enter in. Because that mountain was not close enough. That tabernacle in the wilderness was not close enough. How close does god wanna get with you and me?
1:00:41 He says, my spirit will be in you forever. How how much closer can you get than that? That he changed his home address, so to speak, and made his abiding place in you and me. That is the cry of God's heart. Us.
1:01:04 Us. Knowing knowing full well that we have the free will to enter into a place where god is not pleased. Knowing full well that the holy spirit, though he will never leave us nor forsake us, we can do things to grieve him. We can walk into places that might hurt him. We can entertain our ourselves with things that Jesus died on the cross for, and he made a promise that he would seal us with his spirit, and he would even allow himself to be taken to areas that he would not wanna go.
1:01:33 Why? Because he loves us. Amen. And wants to be with us. And he's willing to transform us and be patient with us because this is the heart of the god that we sang about tonight.
1:01:49 And he's worthy of of praise. They consecrated themselves. They did not do anything, unholy, for three days. What was the motivation? Because they were gonna be god.
1:02:04 Holiness is exciting when you realize that it brings you closer to God. Holiness is devastating and a chore and labor when you're doing it for any other reason other than that purpose. And if we get that, that we consecrate ourselves. I don't touch any unclean thing. I don't entertain myself with any unclean thing.
1:02:27 I don't do anything that would defile and hinder my intimacy with Jesus. You will fight sin a lot easier. A lot easier. If you're trying to be somebody to somebody else, if you're trying not to diss disappoint your fellow brother and sister in Christ, though that is important, if any other motive trumps over the motive of wanting to get closer to Christ, you will fail in your fight against sin. And if you even have any hint of victory, it will be dreadful because it's not motivated in love for Jesus.
1:02:58 That's the secret. Liberate yourself with that truth that holiness is the invitation into greater joys in god. And having clarity in my heart for the pure in heart shall see God. And so I see sin and go, that that will hinder me from coming closer to that mountain. And I'm not satisfied being in the back line.
1:03:24 I'm not satisfied being at the tent. I wanna get as close to that limit as possible till I step into glory. That's the motivation. And if anybody's told you anything otherwise, I feel bad. But if you understand that truth, then you cleanse yourself because you love him and he loves you.
1:03:45 And on top of that, he gives you the power to do it, and he gives you the ease and the wings to do it. I'm a wholehearted believer that the Christian faith is a victorious walk. Constant victory. Not because I invented it, because the bible says it. That we can walk in a constant state of victory in god based on his power and his promise.
1:04:09 And I would love for us to pray for what we just heard. There's so many things within that. One of them could be, lord, I I've seen you as a burning bush, but I wanna see you on that mountain. I wanna see you in a way that I've never seen you before. It could be this idea where you're probably exhausted.
1:04:30 There's probably no joy in your walk with the lord right now, and you need to be taken up by the wind of god, and you need to be able to get to a place in which you soar in him. How does that come when you wait on god? If you're willing to wait on god because the flesh hates the way. When you wait on god, you will sense him living. Or maybe you have no desire to know god when the very purpose of his deliverance was to bring you to himself.
1:05:00 There's just nothing in you that wants to know him. I mean, you like hearing sermons about him. You like singing songs about but there's nothing within you that says, god, I just need to know you more. God, even if I don't know anybody else and I have to soar by myself, I'm willing to do it to get to that place in you. Let me fly.
1:05:18 I don't wanna hang out on the telephone pole anymore with other birds just chirping about random things. I wanna get up. God is willing to do that too. He's here because he promised to be in the midst of us. Father, we thank you tonight.
1:05:38 We meditate upon these truths found in this glorious text. Thank you that you borrow some eagle's wings and that you've led us through the wilderness, and you're still leading us through swiftly and gently. That in your wisdom, in order for us to mature, you take things that we're comfortable with, the things that we lean on outside of of you so that we can stretch forth our wings and grow. Thank you. That the heart of you, even in the second book of the bible, even in the first book of the bible, is to reconcile man with yourself.
1:06:20 That every command, every everything is motivated out of love. To try to harmonize the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. That you are willing to wrap yourself in thick darkness so that you can come in close proximity to sinful people. And in the same way you wrapped yourself in flesh, you wrapped yourself with nerves and veins and organs and a body to be tempted, to be beaten with, to have your beard pulled out of your face, to have your eyes swollen and bruised, to have thorns sticking into your skull. You paid a price for us to have communion with you forever and ever.
1:07:11 How can we not say? How can we not consecrate? How can we not pursue holiness knowing that that is the very central idea of it? To walk with you. So, lord, for any person in this place, we ask that if they are tired, if they are weary, if they are running and falling, if they are walking and stumbling, lord, you said that you would lift us up on wings like eagles.
1:07:41 Lord, there might be some people here that are really working hard to please you when you did all the work in the first place and that are motivated in obedience other than joyful revelation of the goodness and grace of God upon us. Lord, may you give us your Holy Spirit to obey you, to walk in your ways effortlessly and at ease because we are being lifted up by another power source. We call upon the holy spirit and ask for that. So lord, if there's any unforgiveness, if there's any lust, pride, jealousy, envy, covetousness, all these nasty things that creep into our hearts. And maybe it's been something that we've been struggling with for a long time and we haven't seen victory in weeks or months or day.
1:08:32 Whatever it may be, Lord, may we take a hold of your promises concerning whom you have given us to be empowered to live the way Jesus Christ lived. May we find the humility to lay these sins before you say I confess my sin. God, break it off my life. Romans six fourteen says, for sin will have no dominion over you. For since you are not under the law, but under grace, sin will have no dominion over you.
1:09:10 That's not a command. That's a promise.
