A Life Filled With God's Glory, His Never-Ending Love

[0:00] If you would please take your Bibles and go to Exodus 34, or chapter 33, excuse me. Exodus chapter 33, if you're visiting with us or left your cell phone at home, pull out that black Bible and the chair in front of you.

[0:21] Start in the beginning, Genesis, then Exodus. Go to page 66. Page 66. I think it's down at the bottom you'll see.

[0:32] Exodus chapter 33. We're gonna start reading verse 12 and then we'll go into chapter 34, verse 9. This, I believe, is actually the crux of not just Exodus, but it's actually the foundational, a foundational, if not the foundational pillar within the Old Testament is this spoken word to Moses when Yahweh appeared to him.

[1:04] Exodus 33, starting in verse 12, and I'll read to chapter 34, verse 9. Then Moses said to Yahweh, Look, you say to me, bring up this people, but you yourself have not let me know who you will send with me.

[1:24] Moreover, you've said, I have known you by name, and you've also found favor in my sight, so therefore I pray, if I've found favor in your sight, let me know your ways, that I may know you, so I may find favor in your sight, consider too, that this nation is your people, verse 14.

[1:44] And Yahweh said, My presence shall go with you, and I'll give you rest. And Moses said to him, If your presence does not go, don't lead us up from here, for how then can it be known that I've found favor in your sight, I and your people?

[1:57] Is it not by you going with us, so that we, I, and your people, may be distinguished from all the people who are upon the face of the earth? 17.

[2:10] And Yahweh said to Moses, I will also do this thing of which you've spoken, for you've found favor in my sight, and I've known you by name. And Moses said, I pray, show me your glory.

[2:22] And he said, I myself will make all my wonderful benefits pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.

[2:36] But he said, you cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live. Then Yahweh said, behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock, and will come about, so while my glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and cover you with my hand until I pass by.

[2:54] And I'll take my hand away, and you shall see my back, and my face, but my face shall not be seen. Chapter 34. And Yahweh said to Moses, cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets, the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered.

[3:13] So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on top of the mountain, and no man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain.

[3:26] Even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that mountain. So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him.

[3:39] And he took two stone tablets in his hand, and the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood there with him as he called upon the name of Yahweh. Then Yahweh passed by in front of him and proclaimed, Yahweh, Yahweh, compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, rich in steadfast love and faithfulness, who keeps steadfast love for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet he will by no means grant absolute amnesty, bringing the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.

[4:23] And verse 8, Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worshiped, and he said, if now I've found favor in your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst even though this people is so stiff-necked.

[4:38] And please, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as your own possession. It was titled, Pakistan's Unceasing Bigotry.

[4:57] A judge, Judge Siddiqui, he made a judgment. He made it mandatory for every constitutional Muslim to guard and protect the finality of prophethood.

[5:15] So this judgment, as the writer says, quote, has left it to the people to interpret how such edicts are to be applied. This will only lead to more victimization of this country's already vulnerable religious minorities.

[5:32] It will provide extremist groups with justification to continue twisting religion to justify widespread killing and the destruction of sacred places and public property of Ahmadis, that's a sect of Muslims, as well as, he says later on in the article, Christians.

[5:51] He said at the beginning, this judgment will cause for minorities, will not only make them more vulnerable, but will also reinforce their exclusion from political participation, basic services, education, and employment.

[6:09] Pakistan's unceasing bigotry. How would you like to live in a place where there's never ending hatred of you because of your religious beliefs? and they make sure you know that too.

[6:24] How would you like to be in a place like that? How would you like to be in a situation like that? How would you like to face that? Can I present to you the opposite now?

[6:38] How would you like to be a part of something where there's never ending love? How would you like to be a part of something where there's never ending grace?

[6:51] How would you like to be a part of something where there's never ending mercy? That's Christianity. Christianity is about never ending love in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[7:07] Not hatred. Not vehemence from God. Not revenge that He will take upon you. No. Mercy, grace, and compassion from God. Exodus is about the Christian life displayed through historical narrative.

[7:25] As we come to this crux, today we're going to see the Christian life historically displayed that it's a life filled with God's glory with His never ending love.

[7:38] A life filled with God's glory. That's the Christian life. you need to reprogram your mind. Reprogram what you're thinking.

[7:54] Because our identity in Christ is changed. A life filled with God's glory or His never ending love.

[8:06] Statements for you. when we repent and look to Christ. Remember last week? Repent and look to Christ. The Father promises His unceasing, never ending, gracious, merciful love in His eternal Son.

[8:20] And this merciful, gracious love is the greatest display of His glory. You want to see the glory of God? Jesus. You want to see the glory of Christ?

[8:32] You want to see that's His love. Because of Jesus Christ, our Savior, we have God's never ending presence through His love, mercy, and grace.

[8:48] There's no need to fear, to have guilt, shame, or doubt. Trust His word.

[9:00] Trust His love. And this changes things. It changes things in reference to our identity in Christ. This is who I am in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[9:11] He loves me in Christ. And it changes our motivation on how we treat each other because as God has shown me grace and mercy, I show that same towards others.

[9:25] And then I proclaim, proclaim this grace and mercy to sinners just like me. This is what it does.

[9:36] This is how the grace and mercy of God changes us. Because of the Lord Jesus Christ interceding for us just like Moses does here, we can be fully assured that God is with us, granting us His inexhaustible, infinite, forgiving grace, compassion, and love.

[9:57] I mean, here you see the great themes of Christianity. Here in the book of Exodus, you see first slavery, right?

[10:11] Enslavement. You see that taking place and then you see redemption. God redeems, He delivers us. You see the covenant that's made. Idolatry comes into play, our sin.

[10:25] And then you see His discipline. Last of us, we saw repentance. And then His promise of His never-ending presence, love, grace, and mercy.

[10:37] All the way, we're starting all the way back in Exodus chapter 1, all the way coming to here, Exodus chapter 33 and 34. And the only way God is able to keep this promise of His love is because of the intercessory work of the eternal Son.

[10:58] As Moses interceded on behalf of Israel, so Jesus does for us. And the ultimate way He did that is He gave His life. And Jesus, given His life on the cross, is the greatest way God displays and magnifies His glory.

[11:17] You want to see God's glory? See the cross. for that is the hallmark of God's merciful, gracious love for us. People want to look for experience.

[11:28] People want to look for some esoteric, mystical type way by which they can know God. Friend, it's right in front of your face. It's the cross.

[11:40] That's where you see the greatest display of the glory of God because that's the greatest display of His love. So we cry out to the world, come.

[11:56] Come. Have your best life now by repenting and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. At the cross, you'll have a life filled with God's glory, a life filled with His never-ending love.

[12:14] We're going to look at the past in just a moment. There's a long introduction for you. This dialogue between Yahweh and Moses, it's similar to what happened last week in chapter 33.

[12:26] You know, there was, the Lord says something, Israel displays repentance. The Lord says something, Israel displays repentance. You're like, wait, is there like two conversations going on? No, no, no. It's two overlapping cycles.

[12:38] It looks like Moses was like pressing Yahweh, come on, come on, come on. And Yahweh's like, okay, no, that's not how it goes. Moses isn't belligerent here.

[12:53] It's a deliberate literary method to show that Moses was truly pleading earnestly, interceding for Israel, calling for Yahweh to stay with them, asking for reassurance.

[13:11] Notice how this is emphasizing Israel's need for Moses. I have it on the screen for you. Israel's very survival depended heavily upon Moses.

[13:24] He was their only hope, more than they realized. Jesus is your only hope, more than you realize. You can't earn grace.

[13:38] You can't earn love. He should destroy you, but He doesn't. When you are united to Christ, there's nothing but love that comes.

[13:50] And this is so vital for us to see as Moses is interceding for Israel, He's the glorious picture of Christ Jesus. He's asking Yahweh to give Him more solid assurance that Yahweh would be with them.

[14:07] He was pleading for mercy according to the nature of God. So, that being said, here's your points, right? Okay. Let's go through this.

[14:19] First, our intercessor asks, He starts asking, what is He asking? Three parts. First, I need your reassurance. Our intercessor, that's connecting us with Moses and with really Jesus, I need your reassurance.

[14:39] You see that in verse 12 and 13 of chapter 33. Moses said to Yahweh, see or look. You brought me, you say to me, bring up this people, but you haven't even told me, who is this person you're going to send with me?

[14:59] Moses brings two claims to Yahweh. This is the first one. First, Yahweh, okay, you say, you trusted me to make me Israel's leader.

[15:14] You receive me and so now I also receive your favor and yet, you're withholding information from me. Who is this angel?

[15:26] Almost. That's why he says, notice, verse 13, I pray, if I have found favor in your sight, let me know your ways that I may know you so I may find favor in your sight.

[15:43] Moses did not understand what Yahweh was doing. He was confused. Everything is transparent. Here you have the exodus.

[15:54] There's a covenant, but then there's this idolatry. The covenant's broken. Yahweh's ready to destroy them. Things are so bad what do I do now?

[16:09] That's what Moses is doing. Here, I'll put it on the screen. It's like Moses is saying this. What do I do now? Yahweh, what are your intents and your purposes in all of this? What do I do since you said you weren't going to go with us?

[16:24] What do you have in mind? What are your plans? I don't know. I need your reassurance. Which leads to the second one.

[16:36] I need your reassurance. We need your presence. Your mercy. 15 and 16. If your presence doesn't go, don't lead us up from here. Here's the second claim.

[16:47] This is your people. I and your people. Is it not by you going with us that we, I and your people, may be distinguished from all the people who are upon the face of the earth?

[16:59] You can't abandon the people that you've bound yourself to. Please come with us. We need you. We need your presence.

[17:12] We need your mercy. It's like he's saying, if Yahweh did not go with Israel, there would be no point for Israel to go anywhere. Israel will be just like any other nation. How would they be shown to be his chosen, distinct people?

[17:26] Remember back in chapter 19? You're my chosen people. You're my distinct people. Through you, I'm going to display myself to the world. He's saying, if you don't go with us, how are you going to do that?

[17:39] We need your presence. This was your goal from the beginning. You chose us to be your distinct people, to show the world the kind of God you were.

[17:50] Yes, he is going to show the world the kind of God he was. He's going to show the world that he was a loving and gracious God because he should have destroyed Israel. See? There's a method to what God's doing.

[18:05] I need your reassurance. We need your presence, your mercy. And then, the next part, I need your glory. 33.18. Then Moses said, I pray, show me your glory.

[18:20] Now let me tell you what this does not mean. This does not mean he wants some kind of special mystical experience with God. God. This does not mean he wants a direct vision of God that no human being should be asking.

[18:33] It doesn't mean that. So take those ideas and throw them out of your head. No? Moses already knew he couldn't see the glory of God.

[18:45] Moses already knew he couldn't see the face of God and live. Chapter 3, verse 6 of Exodus. God already told him that. He knew that. But he asked to see his glory.

[18:58] Israel had already seen his glory though. Chapter 16, verse 10. Chapter 24. Verse 16 and 17. Both aspects. Israel saw the glory of God.

[19:10] So why does Moses ask this then? What was he thinking? So what does this mean? Moses needed Yahweh to reassure him that he was Israel's God and he, Yahweh, would certainly go with Israel seeing her and Moses through this major crisis.

[19:34] In short, to assure Moses it's all good. That's what he's asking. Reassure me, please, oh God, I'm asking.

[19:46] I need to know that you're with us. We need reassurance. I need to know all is well because it's chaos down here. We need to know that you're going to be with us.

[20:01] Know you're going to show us mercy. It's like he keeps asking the same thing. Reassurance. We need your presence. We need your grace. I need your glory. He's asking the same thing. That's what he keeps.

[20:11] As a matter of fact, then he asks again. If you go to verse 10, notice he says, not verse 10, verse 9, excuse me. Oh Lord, I pray, let the Lord go with us.

[20:24] Right? He asks him again. You see Moses interceding, praying, asking, pleading for the Lord.

[20:34] We need to know you're going to be with us. So you have, he's asking, constantly asking, and here at the end he's constantly asking, and then you have right in the middle, God's going to reveal.

[20:47] He's going to respond. This leads us to the next point. Our God responds. The first response, I promise my presence. 33, 14. And then 33, verse 17.

[21:00] And he said, my presence shall go with you. I will give you my rest. Verse 17. I will do this thing of which you've spoken, for you've found favor in my sight, and I've known you by name.

[21:13] Yahweh embraced what Moses said, told Moses he would find favor, he found favor in his sight, and that he would go with Israel. Yahweh promised Moses that he would be with his people Israel.

[21:24] I promise my presence, but then he goes farther than that. I promise you my glory. I'll promise you my love. So see, Moses says, show me your glory.

[21:39] And it's like God says this. I'm going to do better than that. I'm going to show you all my wonderful benefits. So Moses was asking for reassurance, and God says, I'm going to give you even more than that.

[21:57] That's when he says, notice verse 19. And he said, I myself will make all my goodness, or my wonderful benefits, pass before you. I'll do better than that.

[22:08] I'll show you all my wonderful benefits. And we'll proclaim the name of Yahweh before you. So we're going to take those different parts one at a time.

[22:20] Why does, why does Yahweh give this kind of response to Moses? To give Moses more than what he asked. In other words, to give Moses a greater reassurance that he, Yahweh, God would be with him and them, Yahweh gave Moses a more profound understanding of his awesome character.

[22:42] His very presence would be a display of his great nature, of his great love. That's why they're mixed together. That's why they're together. His presence is his never-ending love.

[22:56] He would give Moses a deeper awareness of his goodness and how his goodness shows itself in displaying compassion and blessing his people. But see, that's where the part where it says, you can't see my face comes in.

[23:12] So Moses says, show us your glory. Show me your glory. Give me the reassurance. God says, I'm going to do better than that. I'm going to display to you my wonderful benefits but, notice, verse 20, but he said, you cannot see my face for no man can see me and live.

[23:33] This is a qualification. I'm going to do better than that, Moses. I'm going to show you my wonderful benefits but, I can't go that far. Yahweh qualified this display of his great character and nature by telling Moses there were aspects that he could not see.

[23:52] And by the way, Moses wasn't asking to see the face of God. Some people think this. Some people have said, Moses is asking to see the face of God. No, he's not asking that. He wasn't asking that at all. It's like the Lord is saying, I'll do better than show you my glory.

[24:09] I'll show you my wonderful benefits but I can't go so far as to show you my face. No one can see my face and live. But, you'll hear my awesomeness.

[24:24] You're going to hear it. I'm going to display it. Because Moses would only see God's back. We're going to talk about that more in just a moment but, he's only going to see God's back.

[24:36] Well, the problem is we don't know what Moses exactly saw, do we? We're not told that. But what we do know is what Yahweh emphasized for Moses, words describing his nature and character.

[24:55] In other words, seeing Yahweh was not wrapped up in some esoteric experience. Instead, Yahweh would proclaim, notice he says, his name.

[25:09] Verse 19, and will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you. And that these words would be descriptions of his wonderful benefits. So, what is Yahweh like?

[25:23] What's God like? Look to these benefits. benefits. This is what God's like. Plus, to know God is to know his wonderful benefits.

[25:39] The focus is not upon Moses actually seeing something. The focus is upon the wonderful nature and character of God. The focus is upon his goodness.

[25:51] That's the focus. Notice the next part there in verse 19. I'll proclaim the name of Yahweh before you and I'll be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.

[26:15] This communicates to us two aspects of Yahweh. First, he is sovereign to whom he shows compassion. So, I'm gonna display my goodness, my wonderful benefits but you need to know something, Moses.

[26:32] I'm not obligated to give you anything. God is not under obligation to show mercy, grace, and love. He doesn't need to do that or else it's not grace.

[26:48] He doesn't have to do anything. He chooses to show grace. God simply chooses to show grace. So, that's the first aspect.

[27:00] But there's something else too. Oh, by the way, he chooses to show grace for his glory. So, in other words, God's gonna be most glorified when he shows this much grace. That's how it works according to his glory.

[27:15] Second aspect, he decided to show abundant compassion toward his own people, particularly Israel who had just committed idolatry a couple days ago.

[27:30] He will indeed show favor and grace to Israel just as Moses asked. God decided to choose Israel to receive his compassion.

[27:42] He's sovereign in that. Israel certainly didn't deserve it and neither do we. I mean, think about it. For God to actually save anyone is amazing love and mercy.

[27:57] He would be totally just and right to destroy us. Friends, this is where we come to grips with sovereign or election. You did nothing to merit his love.

[28:10] God decided to save you. You didn't choose God. He chose you. That's why you believe. God chooses and the response is belief.

[28:26] You understand that. You see this. God's sovereign. He's not obligated to give you anything. He doesn't have to. And then notice what he does in verse 21, 22, 23.

[28:43] He obviously said, Behold, there's a place. You shall stand on the rock. My glory is passing by. I'll put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I pass by.

[28:55] I'll take my hand away. You'll see my back. Notice the anthropomorphic language. Anthropomorphic means human attributes given to God. Hand, back, face.

[29:08] God doesn't have hands. He doesn't have a back. He doesn't have a face because he's spirit. So what do you see? I don't know. Nobody knows because we're not told.

[29:19] Esau, it could be the pre-incarnate Christ but we're not told that. We don't know. But what's the point? What? God's wonderful benefits are so great that no one can withstand the full impact and live.

[29:38] The full impact of what? His power? The full impact of what? His might? The full impact of what? His splendor?

[29:49] No. The full impact of his love. You can't take it. The full impact of his grace.

[30:01] You can't take it. Isn't this amazing? You would think it would be the full impact of God's power, right? The full impact of God's splendor. No.

[30:12] It's the full impact of his love. Moses, you can't handle it. As a matter of fact, God, notice, God shielded Moses and the rock also somehow shielded Moses from the full power of God's goodness.

[30:29] You know, if there's, John Piper said this, if there's one thing that God loves to show, he loves to show his power. He loves to show his splendor.

[30:40] But he really loves to show his love. He really loves to show mercy and grace. So Moses would not only experience God's back, but an experience that far surpasses the two previous displays of God's glory.

[31:03] The full power of God's glory is seen in God's goodness. Okay, so now, what I want you to do is take your glasses, your New Testament glasses, and put your New Testament glasses on, friends.

[31:15] Now we're putting our New Testament glasses on. In other words, if you want to experience the full glory of God, then look to his goodness or his wonderful benefits, which is wrapped up in his name.

[31:29] Understand his name, you'll get a glimpse of his glory. If you know his glory, then you know something about his character. Okay, so let's, we're starting there, we're putting our New Testament glasses on, and we're looking through this through our New Testament glasses.

[31:44] God's wonderful benefits is wrapped up in his name. So if you understand God's name, you're going to get a glimpse of his glory. If you want to know his glory, then you know something about his character. And, if Jesus, the God-man, is the fullest representation of God, and him going to the cross is the fullest display of God's glory, then to experience God is to experience, embrace the cross of Christ.

[32:15] In other words, God's glory is seen most in Jesus Christ and him dying for us. Why? What does Jesus say in John 17, 1? Father, the hour has come, glorify the Son.

[32:32] How is the Son going to be glorified? What is the, what is the full, full display of the goodness of God? Jesus dying.

[32:45] that's, that's what it is. And what does Paul say about that? What does Paul say about this message? To some people, it's absolute, lunatic.

[33:00] It's, it's absurd. Why, why would, why would, why would you put your hope in some, some cross, person dying? Like somebody said to me in Jerome on Friday, Jesus didn't resurrect.

[33:17] He probably, all those prostitutes that he hung out with, they probably came over and he said, hey look, get me out of this. And they got him out and then he was living. He says, hey this is a great idea, let's tell everybody I was resurrected.

[33:30] Because the cross is foolishness, right? But to the called, what is it? The power of God.

[33:43] It's powerful. What's, what's, what's powerful? God created in the world? No. You see the greatest display of his power and his glory in the cross.

[33:58] Jesus dying at the cross we see the fullest display of both justice and love, judgment and mercy, holiness and grace.

[34:15] Because here, Jesus takes the weight of righteousness and justice and wrath so that what flows to you is love, mercy, grace, goodness and that's a powerful display of who God is.

[34:31] You want to see the glory of God? Look to Jesus. Be even more specific, look to Jesus' death. That's where you see the ultimate glory of God.

[34:44] This is why this is so important. Because when you put your New Testament glasses on you go, oh, oh, I see it now. Oh, this, this is what it was leading up to.

[34:59] Now I understand. So, now to chapter 34, we're actually going to get into blah, blah, blah, blah. Jim, you talk too much. Now we're actually going to get into in chapter 34 the actual speaking of his name.

[35:14] I want to touch on verses 1 through 5. Notice, he says, cut out the two stone tablets and do this and Mount Sinai. Nobody should be on the mountain. Nobody should be grazing. Nobody should be barbecuing.

[35:25] Everybody off the mountain. Goodbye. Why is that so important? Yahweh is already confirming that he's going to go with Israel. Remember those tablets you broke?

[35:39] And rightly so because the covenant was broken. I'm going to show you I'm renewing this covenant. Go get two more tablets and I'm going to write on those. He's already getting confirmation. You see that?

[35:51] That's why that's there. And then he came down there in verse 5. Yahweh descended in the cloud and stood there with him. I love this too.

[36:01] As Moses called out to Yahweh and Yahweh responds. Verse 6. Yahweh passed by in front of him. We don't know what he saw but notice what's emphasized are the words because the main point is this.

[36:19] Yahweh is loving, gracious, and forgiving. Notice, Yahweh, Yahweh declaring his name. The compassionate and gracious God.

[36:33] I'm going to take each word. Compassionate. Gut level. Emotional sympathy. Tender hearted mercy. Gracious.

[36:44] He responds favorably to those who desire mercy, help, and forgiveness. Notice he says slow to anger. He's forbearing.

[36:58] He doesn't just simply retaliate. His immediate response is forbearance. Interesting, which is why Paul says in Colossians, he calls a church in Colossae, he says, put on, excuse me, a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other.

[37:27] Why? Because that's who our God is. He is compassionate. He's got gut level, tender hearted mercy. He likes to respond favorably.

[37:43] He's forbearing. Notice the next part. Rich or abounding in loving kindness or steadfast love. That means he's dependable, solid.

[38:00] He's got integrity. And that word steadfast love or in the American standard loving kindness is the Hebrew word chesed, which you can translate as steadfast or faithful covenant keeping love.

[38:18] It's undeserving, unmerited favor. So that if you need mercy, you can totally and fully rely upon Yahweh.

[38:33] The next part. Keeps or maintains steadfast love for thousands. His grace is inexhaustible. Notice he says, who forgives?

[38:46] Yahweh says, I forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin. Forgives means it's carried away. All manner of immorality, disobedience, foolishness, rebellion, sin, nothing beyond his power or even his willingness to forgive is every kind and shape of sin.

[39:08] God will forgive you. Are you an addict? God will forgive you. Pornography? God will forgive you. Pridefulness?

[39:19] God will forgive you. Deception? God will forgive you. Gossiper? God will forgive you. Slanderer? God forgives. Murderer? God forgives. An abuser? God forgives.

[39:31] Nothing is outside of the scope. God forgives. No secret God forgives you.

[39:50] God forgives you to forgive you. God Pandora— God forgives you. God forgives you. mountainegenes or another way to translate it? does not grant pure indulgence. what does it mean in other words when there is no repentance then there can be no real true forgiveness this is a qualifier God grants forgiveness absolutely when there's repentance remember last week repentance look to Christ you receive mercy an unrepentant person will not escape judgment you won't even escape the consequences of sin forgiveness doesn't mean a person has been released from all the results or consequences for their sin I mean they won't pay for full penalty there's redemption that comes when there's repentance but realize there's consequences and then the next part of the qualifier bringing or visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations let me tell you what this does not mean it does not mean

[41:04] God will punish family members even if they turn from evil it doesn't mean my grandkids will pay for my sin it doesn't mean that this is what it means punishment can be very severe with the repercussions of that sin upon generations to come in other words he's talking about he's talking about the pattern and the impact of sin upon others that's what he's talking about but those are the qualifiers notice the emphasis the emphasis is the main point the main point is Yahweh is merciful gracious loving and forgiving this is the crux of Israel's understanding of God so important that Israel constantly was called back to turn to this essential description of God the book of numbers Nehemiah Psalm one two three different Psalms Isaiah Jeremiah

[42:04] Joel Jonah Nahum it goes friends here Exodus it keeps going throughout the Old Testament this is the crux this is the hanging of the balance of who God is and then the fullest display of his goodness and his wonderful benefits is to cross so for those who are in need God will be tender hearted to you for those of us who don't measure up God will be gracious to you for those of us who are stubborn God will show his forbearance for those of us who have been faithless God is faithful for those of us who have sinned God is forgiving for those of us who are unrepentant God is just if you're here and you're not a follower of Jesus listen God is just but you can have forgiveness God is righteous but you can have his love repent and trust in Christ and you'll be saved the last two verses our intercessor responds notice the first response

[43:12] I worship you Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship after seeing and hearing the character of Yahweh proclaimed and receiving a deeper understanding of Yahweh he quickly bowed down how should we respond when we see the wonderful benefits of God and his character bowed down in worship and then he says this I worship you we need your presence and we need your mercy it's not that he doubted it but he says if now I found favor and I said oh Lord I pray let the Lord go along in our midst even though these people they're so stiff necked notice why does he say that?

[44:09] because he he sees the goodness of God and he's like oh we are so horrible right? when we look at the goodness and grace and mercy of God it should put a mirror up to you and you go oh my goodness I can't believe the life that I live how could I think that way?

[44:33] how could I say those things? how could I do those things to other people? now that I clearly see says Moses even more about you and now that I see you and compare you to these stiff necked stubborn rebellious people holy cow we need mercy that's how we should respond holy cow we need your mercy when we repent and look to Christ the father promises unceasing never ending gracious merciful love and his eternal son and this merciful gracious love is the greatest display of his glory because of Jesus Christ our savior we have God's never ending presence through his love mercy and grace there's no need to fear no need to have guilt no need to be shamed no need to have doubts trust his word trust his love this is who you are in

[45:38] Christ this is your identity in Jesus Christ he loves me this is a motivation to show grace to each other this is motivation for us to proclaim the gospel of grace to others now that we see our sinfulness rebellion idolatry proneness to wander prone to leave the God I love defiance and true wretchedness we plead for mercy we embrace the fact that we have it and we live our lives with a new identity Jesus he loves me take anything away from this Jesus he loves me Jesus he loves me Father we thank you that you have displayed your glorious goodness to us your glorious goodness in the cross we respond respond with our voices with our emotions and we want to respond with our will to live with this new identity to show merciful grace to each other and to speak this gospel of grace to those that are wretched sinners who don't deserve your grace but neither do we take some time please ponder think pray cry out to God thank him for the love that he shows you in

[47:39] Christ Jesus after a few moments we will we'll do our time of giving and then we'll have some other things for us and how to respond do that now think ponder you