Latest / Mount Eaton Church / The Word, “God Said “ - Exodus 20,32, 34

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The Word, “God Said “ - Exodus 20,32, 34 · Mount Eaton Church

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The Word of God is God's Word to us, and we must
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treat it as such. And what we're going to read
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in these three chapters is particularly... man's
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heart bent away, really not desiring God's word,
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and that the only way we can really hear God's
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word, truly hear it, know it, understand it,
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is by the Holy Spirit of God. And we'll prove
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this out in a minute, okay? So Father, I just
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ask that you would be with us as we open up your
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word, that you would guide us, that you would
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give us your wisdom. that you would speak to
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us through your word as we go through these three
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chapters, that we would clearly understand how
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you work through your word and how you draw men's
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hearts and how you sanctify us through your word
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and how you are the God of all creation who loves
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us and cares deeply for us, Lord. We don't worship
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your word, but we worship you, the God of the
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word. and we praise you and thank you that you
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are the faithful King of kings and Lord of lords.
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In Jesus' name, amen. So that's going to be something
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I think we're going to need to continue to be
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reminded of as we're going through this because
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we have a tendency when you emphasize the word
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all the time, people start to worship the word
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and the written word and not the God of the written
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word. or the word incarnate, Jesus Christ. And
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so remember, this is God giving us what we need
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for life and godliness, and that our very existence
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is completely dependent on God's word itself.
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Man does not live by bread alone, but by every
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word that comes from the mouth of God. So Exodus
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20, Exodus 20. What's interesting here is a lot
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of times we read, these these chapters and we
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have a tendency to think that it's the same event
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just told in like a different way and it's not
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it's three very distinct events and this is very
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important because i want you to understand what
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god is doing here so in chapter 20 we get to
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this point where the people of god have been
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brought to mount sinai And God is now about to
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lay down this clear standard of who he is in
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his character. It's not like they haven't seen
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it coming out of Egypt, but this is a clear declaration
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of God. Now, what God does here in chapter 20
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is he actually speaks his commandments. How many
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of you guys have watched Charlton Heston, Moses,
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and... Everybody thinks that just Moses goes
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up into this mountain and there's fire and then
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Moses watches God. And it's like, whoa. And he
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comes down and there's a golden cap and he throws
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it down and he crashes it. And then Moses has
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to carry up two stones and then God like, no.
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God tells his people three times. Three times.
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He gives the commands three times. And he warns
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them, and they still don't listen. So I want
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you to notice here, chapter 20. And God spoke
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all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God,
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who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out
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of the house of slavery. You shall have no other
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gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves
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a carved image or any likeness of anything that
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is in heaven above. or that is in the earth beneath,
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or that is in the water under the earth. You
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shall not bow down to them or serve them, for
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I am the Lord your God. I am Yahweh Elohim, am
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a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
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on the children to the third and fourth generation
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of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love
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to thousands of those who love me and keep my
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commandments. You shall not. Take the name of
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Yahweh Elohim in vain. For Yahweh will not hold
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him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember
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the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you
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shall labor and do all your work. But on the
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seventh day it is a Sabbath to Yahweh Elohim.
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On it you shall not do any work. You and your
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sons or your daughter, your male servant or your
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female servant. or your livestock, or the sojourner
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who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh
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made heaven and earth and the sea and all that
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is in them and rested on the seventh day. Therefore
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Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
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Honor your father and your mother that your days
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may be long in the land that Yahweh Elohim is
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giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not
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commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall
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not bear false witness against your neighbor.
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You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You
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shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male
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servant or his female servant or his ox or his
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donkey or anything that is your neighbor's. When
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all the people saw the thunder and the flashes
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of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and
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the mountain smoking, the people were afraid
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and trembled and they stood far off. and said
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to Moses, you speak to us and we will listen,
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but do not let God speak to us. Wow. Lest we
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die. Moses said to the people, do not fear, for
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God has come to you, come to test you, that the
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fear of him may be before you, that you may not
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sin. The people stood far off while Moses drew
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near to the thick darkness where God was. And
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Yahweh said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the
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people of Israel, You have seen for yourselves
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that I have talked with you from heaven. You
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shall not make gods of silver to be with me,
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nor shall you Make for yourselves gods of gold,
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an altar of earth. You shall make for me and
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sacrifice on it your offerings and your peace
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offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every
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place where I cause my name to be remembered,
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I will come to you and bless you. For if you
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wield your tool on it, you profane it. And you
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shall not go up to the steps to my altar that
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your nakedness may not be exposed. So what do
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we notice about this chapter? God hasn't written
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anything yet. He spoke to the people of Israel.
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Do you see the response? Of the people of Israel.
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Do not let God speak to us because if he speaks
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to us, we're going to die. Think about the mindset
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you have to have to think that God always wants
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to kill you. He leads you out of slavery where
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you were dying to bring you into freedom where
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you can live, and they say you led us out here
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to kill us, to starve us to death. Then he brings
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them to the mountain. He speaks to them the truth
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of his word, himself, his perfect standard of
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law that is given to them. And they go, don't
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talk to us because you're going to kill us if
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you talk to us. I want you to grasp that. Principle
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number one. God speaks his law and commands.
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Israel to obey. Not only does he tell Israel
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twice not to make any graven image, which he
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gives in the command, which he spoke first. Then
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he tells him again, which he says, don't make
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anything of silver to be with me. In other words,
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don't go and make yourself a God who will be
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me before you. And so, here we are, Exodus 20,
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1 -6. And God spoke all these words, saying,
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I am the Lord your God who brought you out of
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the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
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He reminds them of the God he is. He tells them,
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I did this for you. I brought you out. I led
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you. I am your shepherd, is basically what he's
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saying. And you shall have no other gods before
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me. You shall not make for yourself a graven
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image or any likeness of anything that is in
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heaven above or that is on the earth beneath.
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Or that is in the water and under the earth.
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And you shall not bow down to them nor serve
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them. For I am the Lord your God and a jealous
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God. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on
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the children to the third and fourth generation
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of those who hate me. I want you to get that.
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People don't love God. They hate God. Why? Disobedience
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and rebellion is a clear act of hatred towards
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them. That's what he means here. They don't want
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to obey me because they hate me. And they can
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obey me. And you're going to see that in a minute.
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But showing steadfast love to thousands of those
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who love me. He doesn't say to all the earth
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who will love me one day. It's only to those
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thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
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So this is not an issue of legalism here, which
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during the men's conference I was talking to
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Pastor Ben there, and there's always this fine
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line. Between legalism and grace. But with God,
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there isn't. God is all grace and all truth.
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He's both. He's law and grace. You don't separate
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the two. But because we have grown up in a seeker
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-sensitive environment and a modern -day idea
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of church, We've taken the very thing that God
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says that he is, truth and grace, and we've separated
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saying it's legalism and grace. But Jesus says,
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if you love me, obey me. He says again here in
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Exodus 26, by showing steadfast love to those
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who love me and keep my commands. Obedience is
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the standard. Why do I obey? Because I love him
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by faith. I love him. I want to obey him by faith
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because he's my God. That's my drive. That's
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what I want to do. Principle number two. God
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warns Israel and says, do not make gods of silver
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or gold to be with me. Don't do it. Like I said,
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he told him twice. Verse 18 and 24. Now when
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all the people saw the thunder and the flashes
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of lightning and saw the trumpet and the mountain
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smoking and the people were afraid and trembled
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and they stood far off and said to Moses. Isn't
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that interesting? God not only speaks to them,
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they hear the trumpet, they hear the voice of
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God, the commands of God as thunder. And they're
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so preoccupied with what they're seeing that
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they are not hearing. Words of life here. Two
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words of life. And they're afraid. And this is
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what they say to Moses. You speak to us and we
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will listen. No, you won't. If you're not going
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to listen to the living God, the creator of all
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the universe, there's no way you're going to
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listen to a man who bleeds like you and breathes
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like you and will eventually die like you. Give
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me a break. And Moses knows this. Because as
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you read the rest of the chapters and how Moses
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deals with the people, Moses is their ambassador.
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And Moses is their... Shepherd. And Moses is
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their priest. Because as we read later, Moses
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says, I will go before the Lord and ask to make
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atonement for you. That's Jesus. Look what he
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says. Look what else they say. But do not let
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God speak to us lest we die. But yet, the Torah
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and the Talmud, they live and die by that. They
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really don't listen to the word though. This
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is the issue here with the people of Israel.
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They willingly not listen. They're afraid. And
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in verse 20, Moses says to the people, such a
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good shepherd. Do not be afraid. For God has
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come to test you. That the fear of him may be
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before you that you may not sin. What's the fear?
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The command. You see the result of God speaking
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to you. This should bring to you a reverence
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of awe and respect to the point that you're going
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to do everything that you possibly can by his
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power in faith, not to disobey and make a graven
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image. He's preparing them. He's letting them
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know, you're going to do this. But I'm giving
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you an opportunity. But look at what it says
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in verse 21. This is interesting. For the people
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stood far off. Their hearts were what? Far from
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me. Their hearts were far from me. Why Moses
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drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
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Moses draws near because Moses knows by faith
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who God is and by faith believes his word. But
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the rest of Israel? Stood far off. They were
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terrified. So, thus you shall say to the people
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of Israel, this is what the Lord says, you have
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seen for yourselves that I have talked with you
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from heaven. And you shall not make gods of silver
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to be with me, nor shall you make for yourself
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gods of gold, an altar on the earth shall make
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For me, a sacrifice on it for burnt offerings
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and for peace offerings and for sheep and for
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oxen. This is your opportunity to come and worship
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me. But they don't. They don't. Exodus 31. Exodus
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31. I'm just going to do verse 18. Because what
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we read from Exodus 21 all the way to 31, which
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if you've been coming to Wednesday nights, you
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know, is God then has Moses, as he's talking
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with him on the mountain, write out all the rules.
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All the rules. How do you deal with slaves and
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how do you deal with men who are... behaving
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themselves and all these other rules. And it
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goes on. And then he tells them what the tabernacle
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is going to look like and how it's made and what
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it's going to be made of and how big it is. And
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he gives all the measurements and what the priest
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is supposed to be wearing. But he gets to 31.
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Verse 18. Principle number three. God gives Israel
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his command written by his own finger. Just to
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prove. Just to prove, again, I don't know if
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God has to prove anything. Really, he doesn't
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need to prove anything. But I'm just making a
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point. To reveal to the heart of the man, not
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only have I told you the commandments, but now
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I'm going to write it with my own finger. I'm
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going to hand it to you from my own hand. And
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he gave Moses, when he had finished speaking
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with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets. Of
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the testimony, tablets of stone written with
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his own finger. And Moses comes down. Chapter
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32. Look what it says. When the people saw that
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Moses had delayed to come down from the mountain,
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The people gathered themselves together to Aaron
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and said to him, you make us gods who shall go
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before us. As for this Moses, oh, as for this
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Moses, as for the Moses that you said, you speak
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to us and we'll listen to you, that only took
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five chapters. They abandoned that idea. As for
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this Moses, not my Moses, whose Moses is it?
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The man who brought us up out of the land of
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Egypt. We do not know what has become of him.
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The man who brought you out of Egypt, right?
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Oh, wait a minute. If I remember in the commandment
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that God spoke to you and he had... he was about
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to hand you, it says that I, the Lord God, led
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you out of the land of Egypt. Since when did
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Moses lead you out of Egypt? You remember who
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led him? In a pillar of fire, in a pillar of
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cloud? Oh, it's Moses though. So Aaron said to
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them, man, this dude, when I read, I can't help
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to get upset when I read these. I just, listen
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to what, this is Aaron, Moses' brother, who is
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going to be priest. Okay? This is mind -boggling.
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And then we're going to read to you Aaron's response.
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It's shocking. So Aaron said to them, take off
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your rings of gold that are in your ears. of
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your wives and your sons and your daughters and
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bring them to me. Really? So all the people took
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the rings of gold, rings of gold that were in
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their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he
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received the gold and from their hand he fashioned
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it with a graving tool and made a golden calf
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and said, These are your gods, O Israel. who
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brought you up out of the land of Egypt. When
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Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it.
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I mean, did God not say, don't do this? And when
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you build the altar, don't build it with you
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in stone. This is pure, unadulterated hatred.
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A rebellion of a people. Crazy. Let's keep reading.
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And this is what he says, and Aaron saw this,
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and he built an altar before it, and Aaron made
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a proclamation and said, let's celebrate. That's
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basically what he says. Tomorrow shall be a feast.
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To Yahweh. And they rose up. Early the next day.
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And offered burnt offerings. And brought peace
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offerings. And the people sat down and ate and
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drank. And rose up to play. They called the calf.
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Yahweh. And so the Lord said to Moses. Go down
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for your people. Whom brought whom you. Brought
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up out of the land of Egypt. That's kind of cool.
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They're saying that you brought them. So, hey,
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why don't you go and save your people? Because
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I am about to annihilate them. I am going to
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burn them to a crisp. I mean, God, at this point,
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was fed up about here. From a human perspective,
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like right here. You know you have that little
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bit as a parent that just keeps you from destroying
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your children? That's this part right here. Thank
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God you could see mine because if you had hair,
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you'd be guessing. Oh boy. Go down for your people
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whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have
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corrupted themselves. They have turned aside
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quickly out of the way that I commanded them.
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And they have made for themselves a golden calf
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and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it and
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said, These are your gods of Israel who brought
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you up out of the land of Egypt. And Yahweh said
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to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold,
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it is a stiff -necked people. Therefore, let
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me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them,
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and I may consume them in order that I may make
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a great nation of you, Moses. Because guess what?
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Nothing will stop my plan. I made a promise to
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Abraham, and that through Abraham I will bring
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the Messiah, and I'm going to do it with you
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now. But look what Moses does. Moses says, no,
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you can't do that. You can't do that. It's not
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like God didn't know he couldn't do that. Of
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course he wasn't. He could have. He wanted. He
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was. He was angry enough to do it. But he's testing
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Moses too. He's testing Moses too. He's seeing
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if Moses knows. He knows Moses knows. But God
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always tests his people. Tests the faith. When
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you go through trials of many kinds, it's the
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Lord testing you. And Moses implored. Yahweh
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Elohim and said oh Yahweh why does your wrath
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burn hot against your people whom you have brought
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out of the land of Egypt with great power and
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with a mighty hand you did it it wasn't me God
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knew he had Moses's heart and why should the
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Egyptians say with evil intent did he bring them
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out to kill them in the mountains and consume
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them with from the face of the earth. Turn from
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your burning anger and relent from your disaster
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against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac,
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and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore
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by your own self and said to them, I will multiply
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your offspring. And God relents. God relents.
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He says, fine, Moses. I don't disagree with you.
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I'm just glad you said it. So let's go do something.
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We're going to take care of this. I'm going to
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take care of this. And what does he do? Fourth
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principle. So what God does is he takes Moses
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down and Moses takes the tablets and he Breaks
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them. Destroys the tablets that God wrote with
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his own finger. And then melts all the gold and
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then grinds it into a powder and forces everyone
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to eat it. And then after they're done, God says,
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now you're going to separate them. The wheat
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from the chaff. This is wonderful. Because this
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is what he does to the church. And he separates
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them. Those who are on God's side stand where
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Moses is. What do you think Aaron does? I'm on
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Moses' side. And if you remember, in chapter
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32, verse 35, it says, Then Yahweh sent a plague
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on the people because they made the calf the
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one that Aaron made. So after he gives them a
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plague, he also, before the plague, goes and
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grabs the Levites and the Levites take a sword.
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And he tells him, take a sword. And the Levites
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annihilate those who are on the other side. They
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just kill them all. And then everyone who's alive,
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who has made a decision, they get a plague. It's
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like, you're not getting out of it. The only
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one who didn't get a plague was Moses. But everyone
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else got a plague. So. What God does now, tablets
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are broken. God writes on the tablets that Moses
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cuts out with his own hands because he broke
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the ones the Lord had made with his own finger.
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So God takes these tablets. He cuts them out
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with his own finger, writes on them with his
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own finger. Moses breaks them, and he's like,
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yo, Moses, I'm not doing that again, buddy. You
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broke the first ones, you're going to cut out
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the second ones. So he goes and he cuts out the
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second ones. And in chapter 34, verse 1 through
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4, it says this. The Lord said to Moses, cut
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for yourself two tablets of stone like the first.
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And I will write on the tablets the words that
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were on the first tablets which you broke. God
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writes the law. Because it's his law. Moses writes
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the rules. Be ready by morning and come up in
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the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself
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there to me on the top of the mountain. No one
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shall come with you. And let no one be seen throughout
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all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze
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on opposite of that mountain. So Moses cut two
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tablets of stone like the first, and he rose
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early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai
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as the Lord had commanded him. And he took in
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his hands two tablets of stone. You're going
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to carry the burden now, buddy. This is exactly
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what happens. So God gives the law verbally.
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God writes the law with his own hand and gives
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the law. With his own hand through Moses. He
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cuts it all out. And then Moses breaks the law
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that God wrote. And so Moses has to now bring
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up the law on tablets. Which God then writes
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back on the tablet and brings it back down the
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mountain. So whether I give it to you by my own
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voice or I write it with my own finger. Or if
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a man brings it to you. You still won't obey
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me. It doesn't matter how it's going to come.
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It can come in a whirlwind. Man will not obey
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God. They cannot obey God. It's an impossibility.
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What hope do we have? 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
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1 Corinthians chapter 2, 12 through 16. The same
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gift of faith needed and given to believe is
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the same gift of faith needed to obey the commands
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of God. The same faith that is needed to believe
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is the same faith that is needed to obey. Look
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what it says in 1 Corinthians 2. Now, we have
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received not the spirit of the world, but the
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spirit who is from God that we might understand
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the things freely given us. by God. There's a
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clue. What were the people lacking? The people
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were lacking the Spirit of God, their faith.
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I'm going to show that to you in a minute. That
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we might understand the things freely given by
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God, and we impart this in words not taught by
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human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit. interpreting
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spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
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The natural person does not accept the things
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of the Spirit of God for they are folly to him
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and he is not able to understand them because
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they are spiritually discerned. But the spiritual
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person judges all things but is himself to be
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judged by no one. Why? Because the Word of God
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judges him. For who has understood the mind of
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the Lord as to instruct him? But we have the
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mind of Christ. No one can come to Christ without
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the gift of faith by which the Holy Spirit brings
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the revelation of the truth of the word of God
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to their hearts and minds and the illumination
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work of the illuminating work of God, meaning
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the doctor of illumination, brings the truth
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to his mind and heart. Now I want you to think
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about that when you're dealing with the issue
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of the gospel. If they can't even understand
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the basic commandment, you should have no other
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gods before me, you should not make any gods
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of graven images, how in the world can anyone
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understand the gospel apart from the Spirit of
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God? Which is the greatest truth we have on the
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planet, that God himself died for his creation,
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for his people. Here's proof. Romans chapter
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9, verse 31 and 32. And I did it. I'm going to
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be done on time. But that, chapter 9, verse 31
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and 32, but that Israel who pursued a law that
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would lead to righteousness did not succeed in
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reaching that law. In other words, the people
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of Israel pursued a righteousness Through the
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law, but they didn't succeed in reaching that
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standard. Why? Why? Why couldn't they, if they've
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obeyed, as the young rich man said, I've kept
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all your commandments. Well, then go sell all
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you have and give it to the poor. He walked away
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and never came back. Why? Why couldn't he obey?
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Because they did not pursue it by faith. They're
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faithless. But, as it were, based on works, they
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have stumbled over the stumbling stone. Christ,
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the law incarnate. The reality of their disobedience
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is because of the condition of what they are.
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Creatures that are corrupt. Creatures without
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faith. You cannot obey the Word of God without
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the gift of faith. And you cannot receive the
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gift of faith unless the Holy Spirit is present.
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And that's the reality when we're dealing with
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the Word of God. Do I really know it? And if
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I know it, am I obeying it? And if the Spirit
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of God is present in me, then I should be pursuing
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it. It doesn't mean that I'm Trying to live a
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life that comes off self -righteously. But I'm
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trying to live a life that's pleasing to my God
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because I have within me the living God who gives
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me the power and the grace to accomplish his
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word. It's called grace. It's not the license
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to sin. But it is the power to do what is right.
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We don't become Christians because we want to
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get out of hell card. We become Christians because
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God in his grace and mercy saves a people. Which
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then he diverts his wrath away from them. He
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doesn't save us from hell. He saves us from himself.
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There is nothing worse than being in the hands
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of an angry God. So. I hope you understand that
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you guys are believers. Men and women of the
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living God. Who he has empowered and gifted to
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walk in newness of life by the grace he has given
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you. And you can obey because he loves you. And
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because he lives in you. That's my challenge.
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As we read the word, that we ask the God of the
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word to reveal himself to us through his word.
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Alright? Father, I want to thank you so much
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for your goodness and faithfulness. Thank you
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for your word. And Lord, may we learn that the
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reality of your revelation of the truth of your
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word to us, through the work of illumination
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by the by the Holy Spirit, and the gift of faith
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that we can know and believe and do is a gift.
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It's just an amazing thing. Thank you for your
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word. Thank you for the examples that you have
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given us to avoid, but also the great power of
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grace for us to do. Lord, we praise you and thank
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you. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, we're going
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to sing. Bible Waits.