So we're beginning our worship this evening singing in Psalm 65.
Psalm number 65, that's in the St. Psalms version on page 82,
singing to the tune St. David, verses 1 to 7.
In Zion, praise awaits you, Lord.
To you our vows will pay.
To you all people will come near.
You hear us when we pray.
When we were overwhelmed by sins and guilt upon us lay,
you pardoned all our trespasses and washed our guilt away.
How blessed are those you choose and bring within your courts of grace.
We're filled with blessings in your house, in your most holy place.
Psalm 65, singing on to the end of verse 7.
In Zion, praise awaits you, Lord.
To you our vows will pay.
To you all people will come near.
You hear us when we pray.
When we were overwhelmed by sins and guilt upon us lay,
You pardoned all our trespasses and washed our guilt away.
How blessed are those you choose and bring within your courts of grace.
We're filled with blessings in your house, in your most holy place.
With awesome deeds of righteousness, you answer us, O God.
ZARROW stilleses, O God.
Our Savior, O God, O God.
Our Savior, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O dobry.
hope over the seas and all the earth above.
By strength and power you are the hills, you have the ocean voice.
You come, let you know of the wind and still the hills' voice.
We're going to call upon the Lord now in prayer. Let's join together in prayer.
Our gracious and eternal God,
we draw near to you this evening conscious of the truth of these words we have been singing,
that you are the God who hears and answers the prayers of your people,
that you are the one to whom we draw near now with our petitions and our thanksgivings.
And we give thanks, Lord, that you have opened this way for us,
that we can so freely use through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank you tonight, O Lord, for this privilege we have.
We thank you that we can follow these words of the psalmist so readily for ourselves,
that even though he spoke of your house as the temple in those days long ago,
we give thanks that we draw near to you to the courts of heaven.
We give thanks that we are able to do so through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has ascended on high and has led captivity captive
and has set down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty on high.
We thank you for the guarantee you give your people,
that they are acceptable and accepted by you
through him who loved them and gave himself for them.
Help us then, we pray, to draw near to you tonight in faith.
O Lord, we have so many things within ourselves
and around us in the world in which we live
that could cause us to hesitate.
That would be sources of doubt for us were we to allow them
to place doubts in our mind as to what we do
when we come near to God.
Or even hesitancy in drawing near to you.
Though we know our unworthiness, Lord,
feels like we are indeed meant to be hesitant before you.
Yet you make it clear in your word that it is not so.
That we should come before you, Lord, with believing hearts,
with minds ready to be filled by the teaching of your Spirit.
And we ask tonight that you would help us
to have our minds engaged with your truth
and to depend upon your Holy Spirit as we come.
We give thanks, O Lord, for the advantage you give us
as we find ourselves under the Gospel
and as we find ourselves educated by this Gospel
through the application of it to our hearts and minds by your Spirit.
We pray, O Lord, that tonight you would add to our understanding,
to our commitment to you.
That you would enable us to take from this evening's worship
a greater desire and a further resolve
to live as your people in the world.
We give thanks, Lord, that we belong to a believing people.
We're not confined to our own locality or to our own nation.
That we belong to a people spread throughout the world
whose trust is in the Lord
and who form his own living church on earth.
We pray, Lord, as we acknowledge these great things
that you would help us to be thankful
for the heritage that you have given us
to be part of as we find ourselves
even this evening to benefit from those who have gone before us,
from their faithfulness to your truth
and from the teaching that they gave us
in regard to the things of God.
We pray that our concern to pass these on
to our own children and grandchildren
may be amply fulfilled through your blessing.
And we pray tonight, gracious one,
for all the gatherings of your people.
We ask that where your beloved people are gathered
that they may too know your blessing
as we seek for ourselves.
That they may come under the guidance
of your Holy Spirit and your truth.
And that you would prepare us and prepare them
to live in this world that is so opposed to you
in so many ways.
Help us, we pray, in our own locality,
in our own nation,
as we face so many challenges to the gospel,
challenges to our own upholding of it.
Lord, help us to trust in you
and help us to be truly mindful of your word
as being fully sufficient
to meet with the needs of our age.
We give thanks that it reveals to us
even the things that we ought to expect
on to the end of the world
and the way in which people are foretold in your word
as would be opposed to your truth,
would seek out for themselves alternatives to God,
alternatives to trusting in you.
We pray that you would maintain us faithful,
maintain us active for you, Lord,
privately and publicly,
so that we may have that desire in our heart fulfilled
to bring glory and honor to your name.
We thank you as your servant, Jude,
in his epistle reminds us
that we are given that charge
of looking after your truth
even as the faith wants delivered to the saints.
And, Lord, our concern is
that you would help us
to do so meaningfully
and engagingly with the world in which we live
and that we may therefore not hide our light
under a bushel.
So remember us here as a congregation
also in all our concerns,
in all our activities.
We pray that you would continue, Lord,
to provide for us as you have down through the years.
You know our concerns, Lord,
to have the gospel supported
by the means that you give us.
We pray that whether we think of
that support being financial or material
or even the way of our own commitment personally
to give of our time
and of our gift to it,
we pray, Lord,
that you would enable us
to do it with thankfulness.
And we ask that you would bless our community
and bless the gospel among us, we pray.
Enlarge the place of our borders,
as your word tells us,
help us, help us, oh Lord,
to further depend upon
the grace of your spirit
to bless your word.
Remember those around us, Lord,
who care not for these things,
those who are affected
by the rampant secularism of our age,
to turn away from the things of God
and to give attention instead
to those ideologies and those teachings
which cannot satisfy our human souls
and which have such a destructive effect,
not only, Lord, personally on lives,
but also collectively,
as we see throughout our land.
we ask again that you would bless
every effort made to bring the gospel
before the world of our day,
not only by the services of your church
and by specific evangelistic endeavors,
but also through the ongoing witness of your people,
engaging individually with others
in their own neighborhoods and localities,
places of work.
remember that witness, Lord, we pray,
and bless it,
and bless it even beyond
what we are able ourselves
to imagine or to think.
We pray that you bless tonight
those who belong to us
and are unable to be present.
Remember those prevented
by the severity of the weather.
Bless them, we pray.
Bless those who are engaged online
with our service this evening.
We thank you, Lord, for that facility
and pray that it may be blessed
to those who partake of it,
not only here locally,
but throughout our land,
even throughout the world,
as we hear from time to time
of those who are thankful
and give information to us
about the benefits they receive from it.
And we thank you for every other congregation
that disseminates the gospel
through these means.
And we ask that these may be used
to the furtherance of your kingdom on earth
and the praise and the glory of your name.
Grant, O Lord,
that we may nevertheless be thankful
that we are able collectively
to join together physically,
to join together as we do tonight.
Lord, we ask that your blessing
will follow all that we seek to do
in your name.
Remember those tonight who are ill.
Be with them, we pray,
as they are known to ourselves,
those of our congregation,
those families,
those individuals who have,
at this time,
experienced trial of that kind.
Remember them, we pray,
those who have undergone treatment,
those who have undergone surgery,
those who are looking forward to such,
those who have difficulties
of mental health and issues with that.
Lord, remember them, we pray.
Remember our young people.
Bless them, we pray,
as they become familiar with your truth.
Help them to understand it.
Help us to pass it on to them meaningfully.
And in a way that will truly engage
with the situation that they face
in their young days.
Grant your blessing, we pray,
to our children,
to our grandchildren,
to those who face an uncertain future,
except for the fact that
all things are certain with yourself.
And we ask that you would continue
to bless all that we seek to do
in your name as a congregation,
as we reach out with the gospel
in different forms.
Bless us then now, we pray.
Continue to watch over us
during such weather
as we experience
and keep us safe,
pardoning all our sins
and receiving our thanks.
For Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Let's sing again to God's praise
in Psalm 119.
Psalm 119 from St. Sam's,
page 157,
singing to the tune,
Rockingham,
and singing verses 9 to 16.
How can the young keep their life pure
by doing what your word demands?
I seek you with my heart and soul.
Let me not stray from your commands.
Your word I've hidden in my heart
to keep me from offending you.
Praise be to you, O Lord my God.
Teach me your statutes,
firm and true.
We'll sing the whole of that section,
these four stanzas.
How can the young keep their life pure?
By doing all your word demands?
I seek you with my heart and soul.
Let me not stray from your commands.
Your word I've hidden in my heart
to keep me from offending you.
Praise be to you, O Lord my God.
Each junior statutes, firm and true.
Each law proceeding from your heart,
I gladly with my lips and hope.
I love to follow your commands,
as other child to count their own.
I meditated upon your ways,
and long your precepts I replay.
I take delight in your degrees.
Your word I never will be great.
Amen.
Let's turn now to read God's word.
We're reading tonight in the book of Exodus.
The book of Exodus and chapter 20.
And we can read through the whole chapter
from the beginning.
Exodus chapter 20.
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 slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
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 a Sabbath to the Lord your God.
On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates.
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.
Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God has given 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 or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor's.
Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking,
the people were afraid and trembled.
And they stood far off and said to Moses,
You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us lest we die.
Moses said to the people,
Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.
The people stood afar off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
And the Lord said to Moses,
Thus you shall say to the people of Israel,
You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.
You shall not make gods of silver to be with me,
nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.
An altar of earth you shall make for me,
and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings,
your sheep and your oxen.
In every place where I cause my name to be remembered,
I will come to you and bless you.
If you make me an altar of stone,
you shall not build it of hewn stones,
for if you wield your tool on it, you profane it.
And you shall not go up by steps to my altar,
that your nakedness be not exposed on it.
Amen.
May God bless to us these words,
and to his name be the praise.
We're going to sing further from Psalm 119,
but this time in the Scottish Psalter version.
That's on page 402,
singing from verse 33 to the end of that section at verse 40.
Tune this time as St. Columba.
Teach me, O Lord,
the perfect way of thy precepts divine,
and to observe it to the end I shall my heart incline.
Give understanding unto me,
so keep thy law shall I.
Yea, even with my whole heart,
I shall observe it carefully.
In thy law's path make me to know,
for I delight therein,
my heart unto thy testimonies,
and not to greed incline.
This whole psalm, of course,
is mainly focused on the Word of God,
and different words are used to describe that Word of God,
precepts, law, testimonies, and so on.
And all the way through,
the psalmist is giving us
the benefits that he has received
from the Word of God
as he has sought to keep it for himself.
And so we follow that
as we turn this evening to Exodus chapter 20,
where the emphasis is on the law of God especially.
But of course, the Word of God,
as it includes the law of God,
includes other besides the gospel,
as well as the law.
So the whole Word of God,
you could say,
is encapsulated,
even as we sing about God's law and testimonies
from Psalm 119.
So from verse 33 to the tunes in Columba,
Teach me, O Lord,
the perfect way.
Teach me, O Lord,
the perfect way
of thy presence divine,
and to observe it to the end,
I shall my heart deny.
Give understanding unto thee,
So deep thy love shall I,
Ye, in with my whole heart I shall,
O servant carefully.
In thy love's path make me to go,
For I delight in him,
My heart unto thy testimonies,
And ought to thee in life.
Turn thou away my sight and eyes,
From you in gravity,
And in thy good and holy way,
Be pleased to quake in me.
Confirm to thee thy grace,
Vance carefully.
You will,
The gracious word,
Which I think I'll be here,
In celle you will shoutmys,
The King that's 2nd of blastery of death,
This I carefree.
The King that's makes me to go,
For I delight in you,
He hath to give unto thee,
Even of hy vself-nayers.
Once Stadt activ夜 it is making me,
Turn thou away,
For missionary it is available,
For in my home,
And have your peace in life away,
May my dear people
Or do thy judgment be
Though for thy peace
There's high among
In my truth be in thee
Please turn with me now to Exodus 20, a passage we read a few moments ago.
And tonight we're going to focus on verses 18 to 21, set in the context, of course, of the chapter as an account of giving the law to the people of Israel.
Well, Deuteronomy is a book that contains the sayings of Moses and reminders to the people of what the Lord had delivered them from.
They're actually now ready to enter the promised land as you come to Deuteronomy.
But here in Exodus, of course, it's the giving of the law.
And in the giving of the law, the Lord is setting out these things for them in a way that really shows his own awesomeness and his greatness.
We'll quote from Deuteronomy later on as words that are related to this.
But here, in terms of the giving of the law, is the effect that the whole incident had on the people.
This was a really awesome occasion.
I go back to verse chapter 19 and verses 16 to 20.
There you can see the description.
In the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast,
so that all the people in the camp trembled.
And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God.
And they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.
Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire.
The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
What an awesome occasion!
And what a description that is of that occasion.
That whole mountain that the people were standing on, standing near, trembled in the presence of the Lord.
It was an indication to them that the Lord himself actually was there.
They couldn't, of course, see God.
But they were sensible to his presence as they saw the effect that his descent, or the presence of God, had on the creation itself.
As the mountain was on fire and smoked and trembled under their feet.
And it's little wonder that they were actually terrified.
As you read here in chapter 20, when they saw, verse 18, they saw the thunder, the flashes of lightning, the sound of the trumpet, the mountain smoking.
The people were afraid and trembled.
And that fear that being afraid is not a small, slight thing.
They were really terrified.
And no wonder, because they were participants in this incredible occasion and event where the Lord had descended on Mount Sinai.
In fact, when you go to chapter 12 of the epistle to the Hebrews, it adds significantly there that even Moses said,
I exceedingly fear and tremble.
Now, that's not told us in the Exodus account of the event, but the fact that it's still within the Word of God means it's true.
Even Moses, this man who was so familiar with God, this man who knew what it was to be in the presence of this holy God.
And yet here is an occasion where even he trembled.
And if Moses trembled with the knowledge and the closeness and the way in which you are so familiar with being close to God,
if he trembled, then that itself tells you this must have been a completely awesome occasion.
We just can't, we can only just barely imagine what it must have been like.
I mean, we know in recent days and other times the devastating effects of an earthquake.
And you'll see nowadays video of people taking a video of an earthquake as it's taking place within buildings and outside buildings.
And you can see the cameras are just all over the place.
They're just being rattled as the earth moves, as the earth shakes beneath them.
And people, of course, are terrified.
Well, that's exactly what was happening in Mount Sinai.
It wasn't necessarily an earthquake, but the mountain itself trembled just like as an earthquake.
You see it still to this day.
But with fire and lightnings and thunders, all of that just added to the overwhelming experience of being in the presence of God.
God having descended in his presence to the earth.
And so the people came to Moses with this request.
They came as they trembled and stood afar off.
They would not come near to this immediate area.
They said, you speak to us and we will listen.
But don't let God speak to us lest we die.
You see, they were aware of being in the presence of God, aware of their own sinfulness, of what they were as created human beings and sinful human beings at that.
And here they are in the presence of this God who has descended on this mountain and caused this mountain to tremble and to smoke and so on.
And they say, you speak to us.
Don't let God speak to us in case we die.
How Moses in the Old Testament is one of the primary examples of mediatorship in the Old Testament.
And here they are effectively asking Moses to mediate for them.
You speak to us.
You convey God's word to us.
You stand between us and God.
Don't let God come near to us.
Don't let God speak to us.
But you do it.
And if you do it, then we'll be safe.
But if God comes to speak to us, it's likely that we will die.
So there's the first of all, the people's fear.
And then we'll look at the purpose of God, where Moses said to them, don't fear, do not fear, for God has come to test you that the fear of him may be before you and that you may not sin.
And thirdly, at the end of the final point, a third point will be the person of Moses in this context, very briefly.
People's fear, the purpose of God, and the person of Moses.
Well, here's the people's fear.
They're aware of God's presence, as we said.
They heard the voice of God, and they trembled before them.
And they were afraid that they were just very near death.
That's really the experience they had.
They had come to realize that they were in the presence of this holy God,
the God who was now showing himself to them with such a tremendous power and effect.
And here they are, afraid they're going to die.
So they stood afar off.
They did not dare to draw near in that context.
Now, that's something, of course, that you find elsewhere in the Bible.
For example, in Isaiah chapter 6, we have an account of Isaiah's call to be a prophet,
and how part of that was how he saw the Lord high and lifted up, sitting on a throne,
and how his robe, the train of his robe, filled the temple, and so on.
And he saw the seraphim, and they were calling out to one another,
holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts.
The whole earth is full of his glory.
And in a similar way to Sinai, the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called,
and the house was filled with smoke.
You see the similarity there, because it's to do with the presence of this awesome, holy God.
And God reiterating, as it were, his holiness through the words of the seraphim.
And I said, Isaiah goes on to say, I said,
Woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
What is Isaiah aware of more than anything else?
Yes, he's aware of the presence of God, but for himself, as respects himself.
What is he aware of? He's aware of his own utter sinfulness.
And because he's aware of his sinfulness in the presence of this holy God,
he's actually convinced that he's about to die.
I am undone.
The words really mean, I am going to die.
I can't stand in the presence of this God as I am,
so the only likely outcome of this is death for me.
See, when God does come near to us, even through the gospel,
through his word, through his law,
and impresses upon us his own awesome holiness,
if ever you've come to know that in your experience,
even to a small degree,
what you're really aware of is your own sinfulness in the presence of that,
and even that you're worthy of nothing else but that you would die
in the presence of this holy God.
You become aware of your sinfulness.
You become aware of death as the inevitable consequence of sin.
Or as the Bible puts it elsewhere,
the wages of sin is death.
And as you're aware of that,
and as that impresses itself upon you,
in most cases people are aware of their need of a mediator,
someone to come and stand between them and this God,
someone to actually act for them and on their behalf,
someone to actually cause that they will not die,
though that as they see it is the likely outcome
of God's holy presence coming into their experience.
And that, of course, is an aspect of the law of God itself.
This is a context, a chapter dealing with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai,
and all of these accompanying elements
are really an indicator of how important an event this was
in the experience of Israel.
God giving his law,
and God saying through these tremendous manifestations of himself
through the creation trembling,
how important, how awesome this is,
how important this law is going to be for the people,
and how they must regard it as a revelation
of God's own nature, effectively,
and what he's like,
and who they need to be,
and what they need to be in his presence.
It brings to you the knowledge of sin,
this law of God,
when it says,
this is the summary, of course,
of the law in the Ten Commandments,
where it talks about,
you shall not murder,
you shall not commit adultery,
you shall not steal,
you shall not be a false witness,
you shall have no other gods before me,
and so on.
There is the whole law of God,
the requirement of God morally,
summed up in these Ten Commandments.
And as they're summed up
in these Ten Commandments,
it brings to us the knowledge of sin,
the knowledge of our own demerit,
the knowledge of what we're liable to
as a consequence of our sin,
that we are liable to death,
liable to God's condemnation,
liable justly to all of these things.
And that's why,
in some ways,
in many ways,
indeed,
our society is the way it is.
The absence of this law
in the minds of people
and the consideration of people
leads to the kind of thing
that you find in our own society,
in the Western world,
especially today.
The law of God being largely absent
from people's thoughts,
from people's considerations,
from people's practices,
you're inevitably left with
something like secularism
as its foundation,
or other ideologies,
and what you're left with then
is really just people's own ideas
of what morality should be like,
or what way of life should be lived,
a life that's pleasing just to ourselves.
But the Bible tells us
that we need more than that.
We need a foundation.
We need this God
and this law of God
to be foundational for us.
When you put God's law
and God's word aside,
you inevitably end up
with the chaos
and the moral chaos
and the immorality
that sadly characterizes us
as a people so much.
Well, there's the people's fear then.
And secondly,
that leads us to think
of the purpose of God.
In verse 20,
Moses said to the people,
Do not fear,
for God has come to test you
that the fear of him
may be before you.
And it's interesting
that he says that,
that God has come
to test them.
And if you compare that
with Deuteronomy,
as we said earlier,
Deuteronomy is
a word that's given to them
before they enter
the promised land,
but a reminder
and a reiteration of things
like the giving of the law.
And if you go to
Deuteronomy chapter 8,
for example,
you'll find from verse,
the beginning of the chapter,
really the whole commandment.
God says that,
I command you today,
you shall be careful to do
that you may go
and you may live
and multiply
and go in and possess
the land the Lord gave.
And you shall remember
the way,
the whole way
that the Lord your God
has led you
these 40 years
in the wilderness
that he might humble you,
testing you
to know what was in your heart,
whether you would keep
his commandments or not.
And he goes through there
talking about the things
they experienced
in the wilderness
and it's all a period
of testing for them.
Are they going to be obedient
to God or not?
Are they going to set
the Lord before them
as their God
or are they going to turn
to other gods?
What are they going to do
when they enter into
the promised land
that's now before them?
Are they still going
to be true to God?
Are they going to just
abandon the ways of God?
You see,
that's why God was reminding them
at that stage
of what he had given them
on Mount Sinai
and why he had tested them
on Mount Sinai
by this tremendous manifestation.
It wasn't to kill them.
It wasn't to actually
annihilate them.
It wasn't to bring them death.
It was to test them.
To test them
whether they would be obedient
and faithful
to this God or not.
And you know,
God,
whenever he tests us
in his providence,
they may not be
anything like
the tremendous event
of Sinai,
but every time
the Lord is testing us
in whatever way
and to whatever degree,
that testing of God
is actually
a positive,
advantageous thing
if we take it
in the right spirit.
And whatever testing
you're going through
tonight as a Christian,
don't look at it
as a negative
in God's providence.
Don't think it's something
that just somehow or other
sits outside
of God's purpose
for you.
Don't go along
with the idea
that God doesn't
really intend
or want you
to have any suffering
at all in your life
and that therefore
you have to appeal
to him to take
the suffering away.
That you can live
a far better life
without suffering
at all.
That your faith
will be much stronger
if you didn't have
any such suffering
in your life.
That way of thinking
is not respectful
of the teaching
of the word of God.
God does test us.
God tests us
in his providence.
God tests us
by various events
in our lives.
God tests us
by illness.
God tests us
by bereavement.
God tests us
in many ways
in his providence.
All of these things
are under his
complete control.
And tonight
when God
is bringing you
something
testing in your life,
remember
he's not
giving you that
so that you
will think
badly of him.
So that you
will think
he's not
dealing with you
really in a way
that's advantageous
or positive for you.
Every testing
has its own benefit.
But we need
to receive it
faithfully,
trustingly,
lovingly.
Now that's easy
to say in words.
That's easy to say
standing in a pulpit.
Much more difficult
to know it,
to accept it
and to receive it
when you're actually
in that testing.
But as the epistle
to the Hebrews
puts it
in terms of
chastisement
or chastening,
it's not pleasant
for the time
that it's
being experienced.
Neither is any
type of suffering
in the providence
of God.
But afterward,
how does it put it?
It yields the
peaceable fruit
of righteousness
to all those
not only
who have been tested
but who have
actually carried
the test
positively.
Who have been
exercised
thereby.
God is testing
us
so that we
will come
to himself
and be exercised
all the more
in our relationship
with him.
And that's why
he goes on to say
it's so that the fear
of him
might be before you
and that you may
not sin.
There's a number
of things there.
He's not come
he says to you
to kill you
don't fear
he has come
to test you
so that the fear
of him may be
before you.
Now we often
come across
as we've done
a number of times
on other occasions
the fear of God
and the meaning
of the fear of God
and what does the Bible
mean by the fear of God
and what is it
to be a God fearer
words which are not
all that current
in our present usage
of them
but used to be
very common
and sadly
have fallen out
of use
in many ways
the fear of God
of being a God fearer
is something
that really
is so significant
to understand
what that means.
Well the fear of God
as in many places
in the Bible
includes such things
as being in awe
of God.
See God is teaching
the people here
Moses is saying
he has drawn near to you
he's come to test you
that the fear of him
may be before you
that you will come
to be in awe
of him
as the great God
who is your deliverer
who is your God
your creator
your savior
and living in awe
of God
is not the same
as living
in a way
that's afraid
of him
in fact
the fear of God
is in many ways
the opposite
of being afraid
of God
the people here
were afraid
but Moses is assuring
them
no he says
don't be afraid
he has not come down
so that you will be
afraid of him
he's come down
so that the fear
of him may go before you
that you'll have love
and respect
and awe
of him
and of his ways
and of his word
and of his commandments
because you see
the fear of God
at the very heart
of the fear of God
is love for God
and love for God
means respect for God
that's really the fear
of God in action
if you like
and Israel is not
to keep the law
of God
because they're afraid
of God
but out of love
and respect for him
out of the fear
of him
that's what leads us
to be careful
with regard to
the word of God
and how we apply it
to our lives
and see
that combination
is important as well
that combination
of love
and of law
it's important
that we keep them together
because love needs the law
and law needs love
these are not opposites
these are not contradictory
that's not necessarily
what our society
thinks of it
because when you think
of presenting
the law of God
the ten commandments
the teaching of the Bible
even generally
to the world
of our days
you'll very soon find out
they don't want to know that
they don't want to be under law
but their own law
the law that people have
for themselves
their own ideas
of what's right and wrong
their own ideology
but love without
law
you could compare it
I think to
I'm sure you've all seen
and especially
if you've kept chickens
you know that sometimes
an egg is laid
without a shell
and it's rather difficult
to pick up that egg
without your finger
piercing it
it's a perfectly good enough
egg to eat
the inside is perfectly okay
you have the yolk
and you have the white
but you don't have the shell
it's a very
it's a very malleable
movable thing
all too easily broken
something you've got to be
very careful
how you handle
and in some ways
if you think of love
without the law of God
underneath it
or along with it
it's a bit like that
malleable
movable
thing
that the egg
without the shell is
or think of
something
mallowy
something without
any structure
love needs
the law of God
to give it that
shape
that firmness
to give it that
foundational
if you like
it's not necessarily
foundational
to love
but love
requires
the law of God
to give it
the structure
that's required
love can't exist
without structure
that's why it's so
meaningless
to hear this
often repeated
mantra today
with regard to
lifestyles that are
contrary to the word
of God
love is love
what does that mean
love is love
love is what I make it
that's what it means
love is how I define it
love is how it best
fits with my ideology
love is how it
how it
how it fits with
how I see the world
how I see my place
in it
how I see my lifestyle
love is love
so different
to the definition
and the teaching
of the Bible
as to what love is
love for God
primarily
and first of all
but love
as it extends
to loving your fellow
Christians
and loving the world
indeed
it has to have
a firmness to it
what does provide
how does that
firmness provide it
well the word of God
the law of God
if you go to the opposite
and the law of God
without love
what do you have
well that's something
if you like to have
another illustration
it's rather like
a grindstone
which just goes on
grinding
and goes on grinding
the more you try
to keep it
as Paul found out
the more it grinds you
and the more it grinds you
the more it hurts
it just wears you down
you try and keep
the law of God
without love for God
without respect
and awe
in loving God
and you'll find
that's its effect
when Paul
and Saul of Tarsus
thought he was really
managing the situation
so well
his own life
those things
he now says
having come to know Christ
what gain did I have
I count them now
as just rubbish
something to be
thrown away
his own righteousness
that is he means
he wasn't actually
rubbishing the law
of God
but he was rubbishing
his own attitude
to it
his own attempt
to keep it
by his own strength
and so love
and law
actually go together
and you see
it's saying here
that the love
that the fear
of God
which we're saying
contains the love
of God
may be before you
in other words
it's not to be
an occasional thing
for you
God is saying
to Israel
that it may be
before you
that it may be
part of your path
onwards
that you may
always place it
before you
that it may always
direct your life
as you see
from Psalm 119
so often
the word of God
the precepts
of God
they're not laborious
when you love
the Lord
they're not burdensome
when you love
the Lord
they're actually
a guide to life
they keep your life
in check
they guide you
on the way
so he says
that the fear
of him
may be
before you
not occasional
but as part
of your path
Psalm 1
that man
has perfect
blessedness
who walks
not astray
in counsel
of ungodly men
or stands
in sinners way
whose loves
the Lord
who meditates
on the law
of God
night and day
we need
the law
of God
before us
always
that's
again so
contrary
to the way
our society
sadly
see things
law
and love
as we said
kept
or regarded
as opposites
and especially
the law
of God
itself
and friends
you're all
too conscious
I'm sure
of how
lawlessness
or the
degree of
lawlessness
that has
crept
into our
society
into the
behavior
of people
when you
find
violence
all too
soon
accompanying
different
types
of
demonstrations
on our
streets
what's
behind
that
why
is that
the way
it is
why can't
people
demonstrate
peaceably
although some
of course
do
well it's
largely because
there's no
concept of
the law
of God
no concept
of being
answerable
to a higher
authority
than
themselves
and certainly
not answerable
to God
because they
don't believe
in him
well here is
Moses saying
this is why
this event
has happened
this is why
God has
come down
don't be
afraid
but it's so
that you
may have
the fear
of him
before you
that you
may not
sin
because you
see the
outcome
of the
fear of
God
as something
that regulates
your heart
your thoughts
your way of
life
the outcome
of that
the inevitable
consequence
of having
the fear
of God
as the
guide
of your
life
is holiness
of life
is so
that you
may not
sin
that's why
God has
come
that the
fear of
him may
be before
you
and that
you may
not sin
in relation
to that
it's not
our own
efforts to
keep the
law of
God
that ensure
that we
do not
sin
it's
actually
our love
for God
and respect
for his
law
that has
the effect
of not
wanting to
sin in
the presence
of God
holiness
in other
words
likeness
to God
himself
and you
may be
saying
tonight
well
I'm just
left out of
the picture
altogether
then
what hope
is there
for me
when I know
that I'm a
sinner
when I know
that even
as a
Christian
I do
sin
from day
to day
I'm
conscious
of my
sin
and here's
a passage
saying that
the fear
of God
may be
before you
so that
you may
not sin
where does
that leave
me
well if you're
conscious of
your sin
tonight
what do you
do with
it
you go
to Jesus
with it
you confess
it to
Jesus
whether you're
a Christian
converted
or otherwise
but you go
to God
with it
you express
it to
him
whenever you
are a
Christian
as many
of you are
tonight
and you're
conscious
of still
sinning
against the
Lord
and so
difficult
to actually
control
some of the
urges in
your own
heart
some of the
constant
motions of
sin in
your mind
and in
your heart
what do
you do
well where
is the
answer
the answer
is in
first
John
chapter
two
verses
one
to
two
my
beloved
children
I write
these things
to you
he says
so that
you may
not sin
but if
anyone
does
sin
we have
an advocate
with the
father
Jesus
Christ
the
righteous
one
and he
is the
propitiation
for our
sin
he is
God's
answer
to his
own
anger
against us
for our
sins
go to
Jesus
he's
already
paid the
price
of sin
he continues
to be
the mediator
between us
and God
when we
come
and have
our trust
in him
and he
continues
to make
intercession
for his
people
from his
throne
in heaven
he presents
the perfection
of his
own
atonement
the death
he died
at Calvary
the life
of obedience
he lived
he continually
presents that
to God
even by his
person being
there
we have an
advocate
with the
father
and he is
the propitiation
for our
sins
so don't
despair
tonight
don't treat
your sin
lightly
don't think
of it in
such a way
as says
well I can
go to
Jesus
with it
any time
that's not
what he's
saying
yes you
can do
that
but you
need to
constantly
have in
your mind
and I
must too
when I'm
conscious
of my
sin
I look
to God
I look
to his
provision
I look
to the
Savior
I look
to Jesus
I look
to him
as the
mediator
I look
to his
intercession
I look
to him
as the
one God
has provided
for me
so that
I will
not die
for my
sins
who's
looking after
your own
life
tonight
who's
looking after
your eternity
who's looking
after what
happened
what happens
to you
during the
course of
life
who's
looking after
what will
be the
case
when you
die
or after
you die
who's
looking after
your present
who's looking
after your
future
in what
or in
whom
is your
trust
well if
it's in
Jesus
it is
well
it is
well
with your
soul
and if
it's not
you don't
have a
mediator
if you
haven't
come to
accept him
to trust
in him
you're
facing
God
in your
own
ability
in your
own
strength
and where's
that going
to get
us
because
the wages
of sin
is death
so there's
the people's
fear
the purpose
of God
and very
very briefly
the person
of Moses
we said
the people's
request
or plea
here
when they're
afraid to
draw near
is saying
to Moses
you speak
to us
don't let
God speak
to us
in case
we die
in the
Old Testament
we have
a number
of people
that represent
Jesus
and you could
say are
foreshadowing
of Jesus
we use the
word type
a type
of Christ
means somebody
who's symbolic
in a sense
of Christ
in the
prophecies
or in the
teachings
of the Old
Testament
leading up
to the time
of Jesus
himself
and if
you ask
who is
the main
type
of a
mediator
in the
Old Testament
to teach
us about
Jesus
and the
way Jesus
was going
to come
to be
the mediator
well
in many
ways
it's
Moses
because
Moses
here
is asked
by the
people
to come
and stand
between
them
and God
or at
least
speak
to them
that's
the same
thing
as a
mediator
speaking
for God
to the
people
rather than
God
himself
coming
destructively
to
them
for their
sin
and Moses
as a
mediator
you see
that wonderful
chapter in
chapter 32
where the
people had
so grievously
sinned against
the Lord
in fashioning
creating this
golden calf
and beginning
to worship
it
while Moses
was up in
the mountain
God revealed
to him
that the
people had
corrupted
themselves
made a
calf
and the
Lord
said
I have
seen
this
people
behold
it is a
stiff neck
people
now therefore
leave me
alone
that my
wrath
may burn
hot against
them
that I
may consume
them in
order that I
may make a
great nation
of you
what a great
test for
Moses
God is
saying to
him
don't appeal
to me
don't
actually
as he
puts it
there
leave me
alone
let me
alone
stop
praying for
this
people
I'm
going to
destroy
them
Moses
said
he
implored
the
Lord
instead
of that
Moses
acted
as the
mediator
oh
Lord
why
does
your
wrath
burn
hot
against
your
people
why
should
the
Egyptians
say
with
evil
intent
he
brought
them
out
to
kill
them
turn
from
your
burning
anger
and
relent
remember
Abraham
Isaac
and
Israel
your
servants
and so
the
Lord
turned
from
the
anger
that he
had
threatened
to break
out
on the
people
and then
later on
in the
chapter
you have
this
marvelous
emphasis
on
Moses
saying
Moses
said to
the
people
you
have
sinned
a
great
sin
what's
Moses
saying
he's
pleading
with
God
not
to
destroy
the
people
that
there
be
not
death
from
God
for
these
people
but
he's
saying
Lord
instead
of
that
if there
has
to be
a
death
effectively
he's
saying
let
that
be
mine
let
that
be
upon
me
let
me
bear
the
penalty
let
me
take
the
guilt
for
their
grievous
sin
no
that's
mediatorship
that is
a
type
a
foreshadowing
of the
mediatorship
of Jesus
because
that's
effectively
what
Jesus
did
for
his
people
he
took
their
sin
to
himself
let
me
die
their
death
let
me
die
the
death
they
deserve
that's
effectively
what's
at the
heart
of the
mediatorship
of
Jesus
standing
between
God
and his
people
God
and sinners
and you
see here
in Exodus
chapter
20
these
verses
in verse
21
that section
finishes
people stood
afar off
while Moses
drew near
to the
thick
darkness
where
God
was
what is
Calvary
is the
mediator
is the
mediator
and entering
into the
thick
darkness
where God
and his
wrath is
and taking
to himself
that penalty
that they
deserved
here is
Moses
on behalf
of the
people
foreshadowing
that entrance
of Jesus
into the
darkness
and Calvary's
darkness
is recorded
for us
in the
New Testament
that darkness
in the
creation
that symbolized
the darkness
in the soul
of Jesus
as he
became
the curse
for his
people
are you
tonight
under his
intercession
who is
remembering
you in the
presence of
God
remember
it's not
the same
thing to
have people
praying for
you
as to be
within the
intercession
of Jesus
himself
through faith
in Christ
through trusting
in him
through handing
your life over
to him
whatever way
you describe
it
you come
under this
magnificent
indescribable
wonderful
privilege
of having
the king
of heaven
interceding
for you
constantly
remembering
you
in the
presence
of the
father
who would
want to
live
without
that
let's
pray
oh
lord
our
god
we
give
thanks
for the
provision
that you
have made
for us
so that
as sinners
we would
not be
consumed
by the
wrath
that we
so much
deserve
we thank
you tonight
for Jesus
for the
mediatorship
that he
exercises
and for
the way
that he
came into
this world
and entered
into that
thick darkness
that no one
can describe
the darkness
of bearing
the wrath
of god
we thank
you lord
that he
endured
and came
through
and came
from the
dead
itself
to finally
be ascended
to heaven
to sit
at the
right hand
of god
oh help
us we
pray
to have
our trust
in you
to have
our confidence
in that
lord
and turn
us we
pray
from our
own ways
from our
own thoughts
so that we
might think
our thoughts
after you
as we find
these in your
word
bless us
then we
pray for
jesus
sake
amen
now we're
going to sing
finally in
conclusion
tonight
from psalm
119
again
psalm
119
again
is the
scottish
psalter
version
page
415
and we
sing from
verse 172
the final
four stanzas
of psalm
119
my tongue
of thy
most blessed
word
shall speak
and it
confess
because all
thy commandments
are perfect
righteousness
let thy
strong hand
make help
to me
thy precepts
are my
choice
i longed
for thy
salvation
lord
and in
thy law
rejoice
these words
in conclusion
my tongue
of thy
most
blessed
word
shall be
shall speak
and it
ановly
Let thy strong hand be held to me.
Thy pleasets are my choice.
I long for thy salvation, Lord.
And in thy glory rejoice.
O let thy soul in hand be sharp.
Give praises come to thee.
And let thy judgment wish us.
Be helpful unto thee.
I lie in the lost sheep wanes astray.
I serve as secret and high.
For thy promise I suffer not.
To save as of my mind.
Amen.
Now, we're not using the main door this evening for exiting the building because of the strength of the weather.
I'm not sure if Rory's opening this one.
This one is and this one as well.
So just come forward to the side doors, please, to vacate the building this evening.
I'll go to the door to my right.
Those upstairs can just choose which one of the front doors they come to, side doors they come to.
Now, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore.
Amen.