Sermon – “Who Do “We” Listen To?”

18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” 20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. 22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you. 25 And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. 26 Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.” 23 But Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’” 24 Then the Lord said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.

17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise,[a] be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas,[d] because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Lori totally forgot is a great and mighty God He is awesome. This morning’s message will kind of highlight how important it is that his Grace flow down to his grace as he was now to that tree that blood cleanses us washes us. And makes us righteous and holy how early. You’ll see the importance of that in the in the message today. The message the titled. Who do we listen to who do we listen to we get the choice we make the choice or do we listen to do we listen to God to be more pointed. Or do we listen to Man Who Would you rather listen to. I hope it’s God Going back to the Old Testament this morning. A way back to Exodus Chapter twenty verses eighteen through twenty six. Now all the people witnessed the thunderings the lightning flashes the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw it they trembled and stood a far off then they said to Moses you speak with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us. Lest we die and Moses said to the people do not fear for God has come to test you that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin. I want to repeat that do not fear for God has come to test you and that is fair. Maybe before you so that you may not sin. I’ve got a pause again people. Why do we have so much sent to day in the world in our nation because there is no fear of God. That is fear. Maybe for us that we would not sin if there was truly a fear of God. People would not sin. So the people stood a far off. But Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was then the Lord said to Moses. Thus you sell say to the children of Israel. You have seen that I have talk with you from heaven. You shall not make any thing to be with me gods of silver or gods of gold. You shall not make for yourselves. An altar of earth you shall make for me and use all sacrifice on it. Your burnt offerings and your peace offerings your sheep and your oxen in every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you and if you make me an altar of stone. You shall not build it. Of huge stone for if you use your tool on it. You have profaned it. Nor shall you go up by steps to my altar that your nakedness may not be exposed on it. May God out his blessings to the hearing and reading of His Holy Word and let us pray. Father God we thank you so much for your work. We thank you God for your character we thank you that you are a holy God we thank you that you desire to speak your people and Father God may you speak to us this morning. May our ears be attuned to what you have to say by the way we listen intently to you Lord. Ned and not be the words of man let it not be my words but your words may your words penetrate into our hearts may receive what you have force the word in the dismay we fear you for your holy God in Jesus’ name amen. The first part of chapter twenty Many of you may be familiar with but I started with Chapter eighteen verses one through seven tane if you’re not very familiar with it contains the Ten Commandments. I’m going to be referring to those before first. I want to look at why were the people were afraid. Why were they so fearful. I’m going to pare from to give you. Ronnie. Jps they were so afraid that they said the most is listen we don’t even want to go to near that mountain. We only want to go near it. I mean if you would see the people I would imagine the ever seen someone that was so frightened that they they turned pale. I imagine they were pale. They were that frightened and I don’t blame them come or now this mountain was rumbling. Rumbling with the good the ground was probably shaking under their feet. There was lightning flashing all around. Not just one boat here in air but lightning flashing all around. There was smoke billing up from the mountain. There was that blaring trumpet they were still extremely frightened and I don’t blame them. You know about I’m not sure how many years ago six or seven years ago we were vacationing in it at Nags Head. YOU KNOW WHERE WERE else at the beach. And the house so we had a nice porch and it was screened in porch and we sat there one evening and way off a far out over the ocean was a lightning storm going on one out there that it was the most spectacular and brilliant thing. It was better than any fireworks I’d ever seen. I mean sometimes the sky would just all light up and sometimes the lightning was going this way and sometimes it was going down and it went on for a long long long time we sat there watched it and just amazed in just a beauty of it. And I felt perfectly comfortable and safe I wouldn’t afraid at all because I was a far piece from it. And I’m not too proud to stand here and tell you if that lightning storm would have been a bottom hour half a mile away. I have been hot tailing it incent doors. Because I have a great respect for lightning. Just ask someone that has been struck by lightning. I have a great respect for what I was not near I was a far from it. So I had no problem. To sit and watch and then. This relates were frightened so they said the most is you go up for us. You go up in unison the god you go listen to what he has to say then you come on back and you share with us and we’ll listen to you but we don’t want to go near that mountain. We don’t want to go listen to God and I’m not going to stand up here and tell you this morning that they should have sucked it up and they should or ran up to that mountain and spit in the god themselves I’m not going to tell you that what I am going to tell you is they had every right to be afraid. Because they were warned prior to this because as we study this out. If you go back to Exodus Exodus nineteen twenty one through twenty five and the Lord said to Moses go down and warn the people lest they break through the grays the gays and the Lord. And you better back up and warn the people that they break through to gaze at the Lord and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves. Lets the Lord break out against them but Moses said to the Lord the people cannot come up to the Mount Sinai for you warned us sane set bounds around the mountain the consecrated. Then the Lord said to him away get down and then come up you and Aaron with you but do not let the priest in the people break through to come up to the Lord. Lessee breakout against them. So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them. So the Moses went down and told the people these things. No wonder they were afraid they knew that if they broke through and gazed upon the Lord that they was going to perish. Now some people might read this passage inside of themselves or steal someone else. What kind of God Isn’t this what kind of God would not want people to come runnin and come up. To him and be able to listen to them himself themselves they might say well this sounds like an awful harsh and vengeful God on not allowing the people to come up to the mountain but whenever we again we study the whole thing out. Whenever we understand it we realize that this was a great merciful act of God by God warning them not to come through and gaze upon him was a merciful act and here’s why. That was a merciful act because our God is a holy God receive that our God is a holy God as a matter of fact our God is so holy that if a person would come into His presence without the proper purification or sanctification they would die. Does anybody remember reading about the priest after they built the tabernacle that he would only go into the most holy place once a year and there and there was certain rituals they had to go through they had to go through the cleansing in a pure bit caisson or if he went in there and if he was not purified properly he would die. Whenever they the nation of Israel would go to battle. Whenever they would come back from battle they would have to stay outside of the camp for seven days to cleanse themselves if they touched anything dead because our God is a Holy God. So it was a merciful act on God’s part to say I love you so much. I don’t want you to come into May end I or God does not change his character so that unholy or unsanctified people could come unto him and that’s hard for us in a in a in a changing world where everything changes so vastly it’s hard for us to comprehend as something that does not change our God does not change. I found I just look. Change and how things change so quickly. Today. And the found some stuff is Con in arresting the said ninety percent of all the items that you find a supermarket today didn’t even exist. Twenty years ago. That’s how much things change. More information has been produced in the last forty years than in the five hundred years prior to that. They say that fifty percent of most people graduating today are going into jobs that didn’t even exist when they were born. This one pastor shared He says My great grandfather rode a horse but was afraid of a train. Because of his change you didn’t like trains. He said my grandfather rode rode a train but was afraid of a car says my father rode in a car but was afraid of airplanes. He said I run an airplane but I’m afraid of a horse. The dramatic steps made electronic technology today are simply breathtaking the rate of change is so great. Today that we begin to ask is there nothing constant and a body will the answer is yes there is something that is constant and a body and it is God He is never changing. He is an anchor for the soul. You can be the anchor for your soul the Bible records this in James Chapter one Verse sixteen seventeen. Do not be deceived my beloved brother in every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning imagine trying to please a god that was always changing the rules. On several think about dad. You come to God as we can say Father. I’ve been faithful to this week. I didn’t go out and do this we all wait a minute I change the rules now that’s permissible now you’re not allowed to do this. Our God doesn’t change the rules and she’s always the same in Molokai three Verse six the Lord says for I am the Lord I do not change. Therefore you are not consumed those sons of Jacob he does not change. He will not change His Holiness. God in His mercy warned the children of Israel not to come because he loved them. Because he loved them. And after he warned them he revealed his holiness to them by warning because Nestle between what I read in Exodus twenty were he where the children wouldn’t go and what I read in Exodus nineteen where he gave them the warning is the ten commandments were God reveals His Holiness he reveals who he is and your Veals how he wants God’s people to live. Think about this up until the giving of the Ten Commandments. There was very little written about God’s character after the Ten Commandments and the Mosaic Law You know they had these writings to follow but up until that time they had very little most were stories handed down through memory of who God was and what he was like but here God is giving the children of Israel a clear and truthful wonder standing. Of who he is the one true God and a clear understanding of how he expects his people to live today. How he expects his people to be a witness to the rest of the world how they can see God. Remember the Israelites prior to going to the mountain of Sinai it had been too many days or months before they came out of Egypt after after having been enslaved for nearly four hundred years. Years but God knew that these people his people being among. Eat the Egyptians for so long began the gypsies had an influence had an influence on the children of Israel in Egypt they worshipped many gods. We know that they worshipped at least ten gods and we know that there was a plague for every god happy the Egyptian god of the Nile was the God of the water the water bear. So of course we had the plague of the water being turned to blood pick at the age of god of fertility or renewal with this goddess had the head of a frog. So we had the for all plague the probs coming up out of the Nile GEB was Egyptian god of the earth the Egyptian plague was the lice coming up out of the dust of the earth. Kepala the Egyptian god of creation movement and rebirth this goddess had the head of a fly. So there was the plague of the swarms of flies how for the Egyptian god of love and protection had the head of a cow. So then there was the death of all the cattle in livestock nut the Egyptian god of the sky. So we had the plague of the hail mingled with fire. RA the sun god. Then came to Egypt in plague of three days of complete darkness there were more that’s just a few. God wanted to make sure that the children understood that he was not just a god among many gods but that he was the one true God not some God formed or fashion by the. Were imagination of men they seen plenty of that in Egypt. He wanted to make sure they understood who he was that he was a holy God God knew that man had a tendency to want to see something in order to believe in it he knew that man had a tendency to want to be able to touch something to know that it is real. They had already proven that they allowed the Egyptians to influence them remember what happened when Moses was up on the Mount for forty days. We don’t know what happened to that Moses. We don’t know what’s coming. You need to build us a god. Nace they fashioned the golden calf. So yes they influence the children of Israel in that time. So now God’s making sure that they understood not a god to be fashioned by the hands of man that’s why I said verses twenty two through twenty five then the Lord said to Moses. Thus you shall say to the children of Israel. You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make any thing to be with me. He say. And I don’t even want you to fashion with your hands anything that you imagine me to be like I don’t want you to use your hands to fashion it. Not gods of silver or gods of gold. You shall not make for yourselves on the altar of earth you shall make for me and use all sacrifice on it are burnt offerings in your peace offering your sheep in your oxen and every place where I record my name I will come to you and will bless you and if you make me an altar stone you shall not build it. Of huge stone for if you use a to want tool on it you will profane it. God does not want us to get our hammer inches a while and go to work on that stone the fashion what a bust of Christ or bust of what we think God to look like he does not want us to fashion it. He wants us. Who believe in the one true God the invisible God and in Him alone. You shall have no other God before me you shall not make for yourself a carved image any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is only earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them for I had the LORD your God am a jealous God visiting iniquities of the fathers of punk among the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments. Or God is the invisible God we are not permitted to worship any other god or fashion anything that resembles him first. Timothy one seventeen says Now to the Cain eternal immortal invisible to God who alone is wise be honor and glory forever and ever amen. We are to believe without seeing that is what for what faith is my friends Hebrews eleven one through three says Now faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen for by the elders obtained a good testimony by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that the things which are saying were not made of things which are visible Jesus in chapter twenty verses twenty nine. Now. Jesus had been resurrected and he went into the disciples and they were all amazed that that he was able to see him but this first time that Jesus went to the disciples Thomas was not there. So whenever. Thomas comes back and Jesus had already left. They tell Thomas objets was here we seen him. Thomas said I won’t believe it. I won’t believe it unless I see it with my eyes and touch it with my hands then Jesus said Thomas because you have seen me. You have believed blessid are those who have not seen and yet have believed my friends we don’t have to see it. We don’t have to touch it. He is there the evidence of God is there it is around us every day it’s in his love. It’s in the love of his people the evidence is there this week as I was reading my devotional that I read as Oswald Chambers and he was remarking on this passage from Exodus when the people were afraid to go to Moses Oswald Chambers said this about those who would rather listen to the servants of God then God Himself says speak with us. But let not God speak with us. We show how little we love God by preferring to listen to his servants only we like to listen to personal testimonies they are so good to listen to aren’t they. But we do not desire that God Himself should speak to us why are we so terrified lest God should speak to us because we know that when God speaks either the thing must be done or we must tell God that we will not obey. If it is only the servants voice we hear we feel that it is not imperative that we obey we can say oh well that’s simply your own idea. Or we can say well it might be God’s idea but it’s not so hard to disobey if it’s only coming from a servant right. Think about that you go. Moses. We’ll just listen to you but we know how that turned out. We may not experience the conviction of the album. Geisha if we only listen to the servants of God But when we listen to God if we have sin in our lives we will have the conviction. We will feel the need to obey. If we listen to God second Timothy four three speaks of those who will not endure sound doctrine and they will keep up for themselves. Teachers who will tickle their itching ears. There’s plenty of teachers out there that’s going to tickle the years. If you’re walking in sin. I’m sure you can find a preacher out there somewhere and say it’s OK keep doing what you’re doing one. You need to listen the god. In for sin in your life. God will cleanse you that sin if you repent Who are you listening to. Are you listening. What others have to say and relying on the Tirpitz ation or you listening to God and His Word. I can tell you today with all confidence that God does not want us to stand a far off. He wants us to come near he wants us is His word says Draw near unto made and I will draw near unto you. Friends today we can draw nearer to God we don’t have to stand a far off like the children of Israel because remember that song because of the cross because of the blood of Christ we can draw near today. We do not have to be afraid. Hebrews ten thousand nine hundred twenty three says therefore brother and having both honest to enter the holiest by the Blood of Jesus. And I’m telling you we cannot go in there without the blood of Jesus. But by the Blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh and having our High Priest over the house of God. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Constans and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hope. Old fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful and again James four eight draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double minded. Draw nearer to him today. And as I spoke of that those wonderful Commandments nestled between the passages that I have use. I want to go ahead and share him today and God spoke all these words saying I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the House of Bondy’s you shall have no other gods before me you shall not make it for yourselves a carved image any likeness of anything that is heaven above or does on the earth beneath or does in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them for I the LORD your God am a jealous God visiting iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day. To keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God what did I say that God does not change. The Sabbath day is the day of the Lord our God. In it you shall do no work nor your sons nor your daughters nor your male servants nor your female servants nor your cattle nor your strangers who are within your gates for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth the sea and all that is in them and there and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and holloed it. Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is. Giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife nor his male servant nor his female servant nor his ox nor his donkey nor anything that is your neighbor’s I don’t think the Lord would be agri if I changed that last line just a little bit since we don’t have ox and we don’t have donkeys the donkeys were used to ride on. So do not covet your neighbor’s car or that that’s the ox the ox is used for work. So don’t covet your neighbor’s tractor. Or his truck. Exactly. Do not covet your neighbor’s tractor. Well I only have an old rundown for drafter he’s got a nice new John Deere don’t covet it. Say thank the Lord. He’s blessed my neighbors don’t covet God’s shares with us. What kind of god he is he is a Holy God. And we do not want our God to change who he is but I praise my God that He allowed Jesus at down at cross that I can draw near to him that we can listen to him. Yes God has many wonderful servants and pastors and teachers but make sure they line up with the Word of God because if they don’t we need to turn them off or turn away from them. Draw near to God and listen to him today men.