or nothing that can be slowed down.
And we also now turn to a final section in this series of sermons about the glory of God.
I read an article a couple years ago where it talks about how different cultures
differentiate or divide how they deem power.
So maybe on the East Coast you are known as powerful because of your title
or maybe how much money you make or even what avenue or apartment complex you might live in.
Maybe on the West Coast your power might come from what you look like
or maybe what you've done to make yourself look in a certain degree
or how cultural you can be, multicultural you can be.
I read that and they ignored Garfield County, Enid, Oklahoma.
And I kind of started to wonder what does power look like in my own context?
And I think in my own context that what really power looks like is not really who you know
but how quickly you can connect the dots from who you know to who those people should know.
You know, my mom's from Iowa.
And if anyone even comes close to being from Iowa, she is immediately being like,
what part?
And where'd you go to school?
Or, oh, did you know so-and-so?
I knew him.
He was the mayor of that place.
And all of a sudden I know, I pick up on this, even in my culture's, my church's context,
there's a lot of German people, like I said last night, in our county.
But there is a different kind of German people on the north side of town than on the west side of town.
And then you go a little bit, maybe 30 miles south, you go into a really Catholic area
to where all of a sudden if you're in that and you don't know anyone and you're not a part of anything,
you have no power.
A theologian once said that the most powerful thing about us is what comes into our minds when we think about God.
This is the powerful truth, though it's not the message we often hear.
Instead, we're often told that the value that you and I have is the number of friends that we can collect
or the number of followers we can have, whether we're leading in an industry
or even gaining followers on Instagram or our success.
We gather up for ourselves through our grades or our career transitions,
maybe even our achievements or incomes, the connections that we have.
But our God offers a different and completely different message.
He tells us that eternal life is found in knowing him.
Eternal life.
There's not much more power than that.
Eternal life is found exclusively in knowing him.
God doesn't want us to be confused about who he is either.
So you don't have to go on this, you know, mystic walk in the woods
hoping to understand and know who the cosmic power of the universe is.
He's made himself known to us, not only so that we can understand his character,
but also so that we can enter into a relationship with him.
And this knowledge isn't just about facts that you learn.
There's this constant tension that's presented to us in the scriptures
where the onus of the question is actually placed on you and how you respond to it.
God has graciously made himself known.
And this power and this knowledge isn't supposed to just stay in your head,
but is also supposed to shape your heart and your life,
leading to a constant state of worship and day-by-day devotion.
So the most important thing about you,
the most powerful thing about you,
is what comes into your mind when you think about God.
And to know God is to know both his character and to know him relationally.
I want you to see in the first part of this passage an unveiling,
almost doctrine, you could say, an unveiling, beautiful picture of God.
If you look at Exodus 34, a passage where God makes himself known in a remarkable way,
this chapter offers you a glimpse of who God is.
Though it doesn't tell us everything,
it offers you an incredibly powerful glimpse of who God is.
To set the context,
Moses, the author of this text,
and in many ways one of the main characters of the movement of Exodus,
is leading the Israelites.
So you can see him as the commander of their army.
And they have been rescued from Egypt.
At this point they've been crossing the Red Sea.
They've received the Ten Commandments.
But after Moses received the commandments,
he came down to find his people worshiping a golden calf
instead of the one true God.
So in response to this,
God calls Moses back up to the mountain,
and here Moses makes an audacious request.
You can see it there in your text.
Verse 5,
The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there
and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
And this comes after Moses asked the Lord to show me your glory.
He gave him something.
He went down.
He saw something terrible.
God brought him back up.
And he wants to ask the Lord to show me your glory.
And in Exodus 34, God answers that.
Now imagine what it'd be like to be Moses.
This is the true God who has performed incredible miracles.
This is the God who Moses is saying,
Show me your glory.
He turned water into blood,
sent plagues in the form of frogs and gnats,
brought darkness, hail, parted the Red Sea.
This is the God who's provided manna from heaven,
water from rocks,
and now Moses is about to enter God in a new way.
And you'd expect a dramatic visual experience,
something like being given a golden ticket to a tour factory
or something that almost feels 40 in your immersion,
virtual reality in your understanding,
where you see the inner workings of something so spectacular and amazing.
And that's certainly what Moses would have expected too.
Show me your glory.
The Lord responds in a way that demonstrates that he's about to.
But in verse 5,
the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there
and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
God passed by Moses,
showing him his glory before.
But here's the surprising part.
The focus isn't on what Moses saw.
In fact, you actually see no description here
of God's appearance at all.
Show me your glory.
And you and I reading this text today are not seeing that.
In fact, there's no description of God's appearance.
Moses asked to see God's glory,
but instead of a detailed visual image,
what Moses receives is a proclamation.
Show me your glory.
And God gives him a sermon,
a revelation of God's name and character.
And this is significant because God doesn't satisfy Moses' request
by showing a dazzling sight.
Instead, he proclaims something.
Look here at the text.
He proclaims his name twice.
In doing so, God reveals his character.
Where Moses wanted sight,
God gives him a deeper spoken description of who he is.
It's as if Moses wanted to see the movie,
but God gives him the speech instead.
I took a Shakespeare class in high school,
and I know you're going to think,
wow, that's impressive.
But it was a Shakespeare book on tape class
where all we would do is sit in the class
and hear Shakespeare out loud.
And then when we were done with that,
we would watch the movie.
But then we were tested over the book.
It was miserable.
I didn't want to read the book.
I just saw the movie.
And then you start to see,
oh man, movies are a little bit different
than what the book says.
Moses wanted the easy way.
God gives him a speech.
We're all like Moses before this.
Human tendency.
How many of you have thought,
if I could only see God,
then I'd believe.
Maybe even if I could only see what God was doing.
Pull back the curtain.
Show me the spinning gears.
Then I'd be calm and content.
Then I'd follow you.
Moses, in some ways,
is expressing the same desire,
but God doesn't reveal himself
through spectacular visual display.
Instead, he makes himself known
through his very word.
God's revelation isn't meant to give us
a physical picture to satisfy our curiosity.
He reveals his glory in a way
that speaks to our hearts and minds.
Through his word.
Capital W-O-R-D.
Where the lasting revelation of God
comes not in sight,
but in faith.
In truth.
Of his own character
that's being proclaimed to us
by his very word.
This passage reminds us
that faith is not by what we see,
but about trusting the very word of God
as reveals himself to us.
Where God makes himself known,
not through images,
but through his proclamation.
Where his word invites us to know
and worship him.
It's hard to give a bigger emphasis here
on the doctrine of scripture.
In it being effective.
In it being sufficient.
Where this word is an invitation,
again, not to gaze at something,
but to see God in his word
and to hear his voice in his word.
The second thing I think you see in this text
is not only the coming proclamation of God
as a revelation of himself,
but also the revelation of God's glory here
in a couple of verses.
This is the meaty part, right?
This is where you want to do the heavy lifting.
Moses says,
I want to see your glory,
and God gives him a description of his attributes.
God reveals himself to Moses,
not just through a visual display,
but through the proclamation of his name.
And in verse 6,
you see the Lord, the Lord.
And this isn't just a proper name like ours,
but when God proclaims his name,
he's actually revealing the essence of his being,
his character, and his nature.
We want this to be the case for us.
All of us have something in mind
when you hear the name of the Kennedys,
the Roosevelt's.
Remember when I was like 7 or 8 years old,
my dad was like,
hey, we're not the Kennedys.
The Griffins are not the Roosevelt's.
We need to act well,
but you need to not be haughty.
Your name doesn't bring with it a kingdom.
The opposite here.
Through his name, God defines himself
so that he can be known by his people,
inviting them into himself.
When God says the Lord,
it's the name Yahweh,
the great I am.
This is the same name revealed to Moses
in Exodus 3 at the burning bush,
meaning I am who I am.
It speaks of his self-existence,
his independence,
where unlike us,
he is not contingent on food
or sleep or other necessities.
God depends on nothing.
I just can't get over that reality.
He is eternal without a beginning
or an end.
I don't know if this is right mathematically,
but someone told me
the eternality of God
is like the number zero
with the edges,
all the edges being taken off.
You just can't understand it.
You can't fathom it.
For us,
life requires
all these things,
food, sleep,
other necessities,
but life also requires death.
Something must die
to sustain our physical bodies.
We sleep to survive
and we have to
have a start date and an end date,
but God never sleeps.
One of the most comforting
psalm verses in the Bible
is that God never rests.
He never had a beginning
and he will never have an end.
He simply is the I am.
This name reveals a God
who is completely independent
and self-sustaining
these two repetition,
defining things about the Lord
where you and I are always
in a state of becoming something,
hopefully in a positive way,
becoming a better father,
becoming a better friend,
becoming a better worker.
Our God is never becoming.
He is being.
This revelation of God's name
is not just mind-blowing theologically,
but it's an invitation
to know him personally.
By declaring his name,
he is showing us
that while he is beyond
our full comprehension,
he also makes himself known.
The Lord.
Where God is transcendent yet personal.
The reverberation
from the heavens
onto Moses' ears and face.
Not just intellectually,
not just physically,
but relationally.
Or to go even further
in Exodus 34, 6-7,
it's where he describes himself.
A God who is merciful
and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love
and faithfulness.
These are not just abstract qualities,
and so I want to pull at them
like balls of string
only to understand
more fully of what they're about.
To see the attributes
of God's glory
in this particular passage
is the first thing
that God says
when he reveals himself to Moses
is that he's merciful.
He gives his name,
and the first characteristic
he emphasizes
is his mercy.
He could have chosen other things,
but he chooses mercy.
It's his mercy
that hasn't cast them off.
It's his pity
and action
towards these miserable people
that has spared them
from being put out.
It's his mercy
that allowed them
to cross the Red Sea
without drowning
like the Egyptians.
It's his mercy
that brought them
to Sinai
even after they worshipped
the golden calf.
And despite their failures,
God remains with them
because he is merciful.
He's poured himself out
on mercy
and no closer to running out
than when he started.
He is moved
by the misery
of others
and acts to relieve it.
It's a state of pity
in action.
In our case,
you think of the word
misery comes in part
from the word pity.
About a month ago,
my very near
and dear to my heart,
my New York Yankees,
greatest baseball team
in world history,
my New York Yankees,
fell short
in the World Series.
And I understand
that probably all of you
had great pity on me.
I'm sure you sat there
and you were like,
poor you,
another year.
That's not the kind
of pity that God has
when it talks about
his mercy.
He doesn't just see us
wandering,
sinful,
in need of a saving grace
and goes,
poor you,
if you'd only done better.
But we see
this action
of pity
where it meets
mercy,
undeserved
and unearned,
freely given.
the Israelites
had shown
their miserable character
by rebelling
and complaining
from the moment
they left Egypt.
In Exodus 32,
after God
delivered them
from slavery,
they made a golden calf
and worshipped it.
And yet God
in his mercy
draws near to them,
again,
revealing his name
and his character.
I'm often,
and I would imagine
it brings us
great joy
in great tears
when we see
an older friend
come to Christ
by God's saving work.
Seventy years later,
eighty years later,
God being slow
in his mercy
but very powerful
in his mercy
is the same energy
that we look at
when maybe our
eight-year-old
confesses Christ
and says he wants
to abandon
all that he has.
And you might
look at him and go,
you have nothing
that I haven't given you.
In the same way
that it's God
in his mercy
who would say
you have nothing
that I haven't given you
but come to me
in the same way.
God is merciful.
Lamentations 3,
we read,
the steadfast love
of the Lord
never ceases
and his mercies
never come to an end.
His mercies
never run out.
But the Lord
is not only merciful,
verse 6,
the next word,
he's also gracious.
He freely blesses
the undeserving.
We often hear
that grace
is unmerited favor.
But we sometimes
say that
with a little too
excitement.
Grace is not
just unmerited favor.
It is love
from God
towards those
who deserve
the opposite
of love.
It is life
where only death
is deserved.
It is power
at work
in the powerlessness.
That's the grace
of God.
Think of Abraham
long before this.
Before he was
the father
of many nations,
he was an idolater
serving other gods.
Yet,
what does God do?
He calls Abraham
and makes
a great promise
within him.
That's grace.
The one who had
nothing,
was doing the wrong
thing,
is now fueled
and fired up
by the Lord.
Through Abraham,
all nations would be
blessed,
not just because
of anything Abraham
did,
but because God
is gracious.
Similarly,
Jacob,
after him,
later known as Israel,
the one from whom
the nation is named,
was deceitful
and not of great
character
for much of his life.
Yet,
God blessed him
and made promises
to him
and through him
would come
the Savior.
This is all because
God is gracious,
not that Jacob
was great.
God's grace
doesn't just cancel debt,
it actually supplies
an infinite line
of credit
in the other direction.
This is the grace
of God.
He is merciful
and gracious
and these are the
first two words
he uses to describe
himself after revealing
his name.
The Lord,
the Lord,
merciful and gracious.
And every human being
needs to know
these two words
after hearing
the Lord's name.
Without his mercy
and his grace,
we are like Abraham
worshipping other gods
or like Jacob
going after the golden calf.
But because God
is merciful and gracious,
we can know him.
I wonder if this is the way
that you talk about
God to other people.
I would imagine
some people talk
about God to you
in what they want
and how they feel
they've been oppressed
or in how they've
been bothered
and how do you
talk about God?
Here's how God
presents himself
to us.
One theologian said
that God distributes
his blessings
where he might
otherwise send
his thunders.
His mercy
and his grace
are like the sun
ever ready
shining upon
us without effort.
But thunderstorms
need to be built up.
They take time.
They take energy.
They take development.
One of the coolest things
I think in the world
is the slow coming,
more precise predictions
of things like
thunderstorms
and lightning
and tornadoes.
One of my best friends
from college
is a meteorologist
in the National Weather
Center in Norman,
Oklahoma.
And I just think
that's really cool.
He's a behind-the-scenes guy.
His PhD was in flooding.
So if you ever have
a question on rivers flooding,
race is your guy.
So we always pester him
whenever it's tornado season
texting him throughout the day.
He's like,
guys, I'm literally
working right now.
This is the go moment
for all of us.
And he said,
actually,
we've been working
on this set of cells,
figuring out these set of cells
for about three days now.
It's just now touching
Lotton, Oklahoma.
And you've got five or eight hours
to figure it out.
You see this slow-moving
characteristic of the Lord
where the first few things
like grace and mercy
are like the sun.
They're always shining.
But here you have this build-up.
of the way the Lord
talks about his character.
Not that it's ever-changing,
but he says that he is
slow to anger.
In other words,
he defers his anger
and is willing to be patient.
Unlike his mercy and grace,
which flow freely,
his anger is stirred.
Exodus 3 illustrates this beautifully.
When Moses encounters
the burning bush,
he hesitates and questions God.
But God remains patient,
offering reassurance,
promises, and signs.
Yet even after all of this,
Moses still resists
and asks God
to send someone else,
then only God's anger
began to burn.
And even then,
he remains slow to act.
We see the same
in Pharaoh's story
where God gives him
a sign after sign
of bringing judgment.
Or in the book of Joshua
where God waits patiently
for the nations
in the promised land
to repent.
And in the story of Jonah
where God relents
from destroying Nineveh
when they repent.
Jonah is actually
angry with God
for being so slow to anger.
Jonah knew that God
is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger
and abounding
in steadfast love.
Even in the person of Jesus
who is taunted
by the very people
he created,
we see him slow to anger
as an attribute.
I think there's a,
I think this is right.
I hope it's right.
I recently just preached
through the book of Joshua
and you see this
tremendous figure
at the beginning
of the book of Joshua
where they see something
that looks like
a soldier of the heavens,
an angel of the Lord
and he's holding
within him a sword.
And he says that
he's the commander
of the Lord's army.
And then what does
the Lord's army do
for the next several chapters?
They destroy
all of God's enemies
in order to do what?
Offer peace.
Follow the Lord this way.
Worship the Lord this way.
Obey the Lord this way.
You see that,
you see that trend
coming almost top-sided
in the New Testament
where Jesus,
who I think the commander
of the Lord
is a pre-incarnation figure of,
you see Jesus
and what does he come to do?
What does he say
that he comes to do?
Offer peace.
Until how long?
In the book of Revelation
when he comes back
with the sword.
See here that the Lord
is slow to anger
where God abounds
in his slowness
to the degree
that he abounds
in steadfast love.
You see this in verse 6.
Another attribute mentioned.
This is love
that is not fickle
or fleeting
but reliable
and constant.
It's not based
on the loveliness
or the recipient
but on the character
of God himself.
He loves
because he is loved
to the degree
in Deuteronomy 7.
God tells them
that he chose them
not because they were
a great nation
or did wonderful things
but because he loved them.
And that's the nature
of God's steadfast love.
It abounds
and is not dependent on us.
God's steadfast love
is also expressed
in his own forgiveness.
You see here
that he forgives
the iniquity,
the transgression,
in the sin
because of his abundance
and love.
This forgiveness
is comprehensive
covering every kind
of wrongdoing.
He doesn't forgive
because we are deserving
but because he is
abounding in love
and then finally
he is abounding
in faithfulness
in verse 6.
Everything he is
and says
is absolutely reliable.
In a world
where commitments
are often broken
God's faithfulness
is actually refreshing
to us.
When he makes a promise
he keeps it.
When he made a promise
promise to Abraham
despite all odds
he fulfilled it.
When he promised Moses
that he would bring Israel
out of Egypt
that seemed like a big task
he fulfills it.
God's faithfulness
is steady
unwavering.
It's an unwavering truth
that you and I
can depend on
unlike other gods
or religions
or other things
that you and I
can put our trust in.
Other things
that are unpredictable
and very often frightening
the God of the scriptures
is reliable
and trustworthy.
He is merciful
and gracious.
He is slow to anger
and abounding
in steadfast love.
I wonder if this is
what you would say
when you tell yourself
about God.
I would imagine
in a room this size
there are a good amount
of you
who have just gone through
so, so much
and you're going to ask
the honest question
why is God
doing this to me?
Why is God
putting me through this?
Going back to last night
too,
very often
you have to
preach to yourself
at least the truth
about who God is.
And he is not
one who punishes
his children.
He is not one
who inflicts
sinful ways
on those whom he loves.
He is not one of those
who is trying to trap you
into falling
into sin.
But he is the one
who is merciful,
gracious,
abounding in faithfulness
and love slow to anger.
Now we see this
as wonderful
and in the beginning
of the scriptures.
And you're going to
keep reading on
and on in the scriptures
so many more words,
thousands more words,
maybe a thousand
more pages
and there is a tension
here in this God
making himself
known to his people
and his people
responding not well
to this God
and this tension
continues to unfold itself
until finally
it is revealed
in the coming
God-man Christ Jesus
where the fullness
of God's character
is revealed
to his people.
It's in Christ Jesus
that we see
the fullness
or that we see
the fullest display
of God
where he is the
radiance of the glory
of God it says.
In him the fullness
of God dwells bodily
and in him
we see the fullest
display of all
of the attributes
of God.
Because what is
happening when
Jesus comes on
is that he is
all of these things
perfectly.
He is God.
This is not some
new revelation
of God.
He's not some
new God on the scene
where you have to
discount the one
of the old
because now you
have something
refreshing.
This is the radiance
of the one
that is being portrayed
in words
in a sermon
to Moses.
He's showing the
character of God
because of who he is.
He's the greatest
display of mercy
and grace.
He's the one
who came to seek
and save the lost.
When you think about
Exodus 34
and a God being
merciful and gracious
Jesus is the one
who is the greatest
display of these
two things.
So when we have
the miserable
blind man crying out
in the New Testament
have mercy on me
Jesus is drawn to him
heals him
forgives him
out of his mercy
and grace.
when we have
a bleeding woman
coming up to him
who couldn't be
healed by any
other person
though she spent
all of her money
and life trying
to find relief
he just allows
a hem of his
garment to be
touched
and she's
instantly healed
and he doesn't
just leave it
at the healing
because he's
full of grace.
He heals her
and then calls
to her and says
daughter
your faith
has healed you.
daughter
he calls her
he heals
forgives
and welcomes
into his family.
Also you think of
Exodus 34
being slow to anger
he's the greatest
display of being
slow to anger.
Here's a man
that the scripture
calls a man of
sorrows
acquainted with grief
a grief
a grief from the
hands of people
men and women
he created
and he's slow
to anger with them.
They're the ones
who are literally
killing him
and he's slow
to anger with them.
He doesn't call
down legions
of angels
to defend him
though he could have.
He doesn't bring up
those around him
to push back
on their darkness
though he could have.
He willingly suffers
at their hands
because he's slow
to anger
all showcasing
to us
like in Exodus 34
the God of love
here is
the Savior
displaying all
the love of God
where he demonstrates
his love for us
in this
and that while
we were still sinners
Christ died for us
where 1 John
chapter 4 says
this is love
not that we have
loved God
but that God
has loved us
and gave his son
as a propitiation
for sin.
He didn't see
something lovely
in the world
and go
that's the apple
that I want to be
of my eye
that's the flower
that I want to be
on my dinner table
he is love
and out of that love
he sends his son
and makes him
a propitiation
for sin
turning Jesus
away from the anger
and wrath
of God
he does that
in his son
Jesus
we also see
that God
is faithful
in Exodus 34
and it's Jesus
who is the greatest
display of faithfulness
of God
he kept all
of God's word
not one part
did he skip over
or failed to fulfill
he kept all of it
we might
miss out on one
you know
you think of the
rich young ruler
who says
I just want a way
to be healed
or I want a way
to have eternal life
and what does Jesus say
great follow all
the commandments
and he goes
I've done that
he goes I've done that
and he goes great
then sell everything
and give it to the poor
and follow me
but what did that
rich young man
what did he not believe
that it would be
actually in his
eternal best interest
to follow Jesus
selling everything
actually isn't that hard
arguably it's a
really good way
to make a lot of money
if you have a lot of stuff
any of you who work
in inventory
you want to sell
everything in inventory
don't you
even giving everything away
that's not really that bad
people want to be generous
don't you want to be generous
isn't it nice
like now that I have a son
I want to buy
I just bought my son
a NBA
the professional basketball team
what are they
the Oklahoma City Thunder
the mascot is Rumble
it's a bison
and I like looked at that
and saw it online
I was like
I don't care at all
about basketball
but I want Bradley
to have that rumble
it's easy to give stuff away
it is impossible
to follow Jesus
if you think it won't be
in your best interest
if you don't think
Jesus is going to be faithful
to provide for you
and what I mean by that
is eternal life
salvation
heaven and earth
being collided
to a new heavens
and new earth
if you don't think
he's going to be faithful
then you would actually
be logically right
to not follow him
but here we see that
Jesus
of everything
in the scriptures
that he was to obey
even the words
of the father
his response was
yes and amen
to all of God's promises
he's the seed
of the woman
that was promised
in Genesis 3
he's the offspring
of Abraham
who through many
sons would come
he was the blessing
that would flow
through many nations
he was the true
and better temple
the one who made
his tabernacle
among his people
who was lifted up
sends his spirit
so those people
could be a temple
themselves
and he's the true
and better rest
that was promised
in the land
and from the Sabbath
that were pointing
toward it
we see here
words that invoke
a desire for sacrifice
in Exodus 34
recognizing that Jesus
was the true
and better lamb
he was the sacrificial lamb
that was not just one
like an animal
before it
but he was the one
who was truly God
truly man
without any blemish
where he and his sacrifice
could fully
truly take a replacement
for us
as he died on the cross
he's the greater king
that comes from the line
of David
surpassing the righteousness
and glory of David
who followed him
he reigns
not just for a little while
over his people
but eternally
in Jesus
we see the yes
and amen
the savior king
who rules
and reigns on high
I have one of the
I have a privilege
of doing a lot
of the membership interviews
so when people
aim to join our church
they take a class
they're interviewed
by one of our elders
part of the interview
is to understand
if they have a good
articulation of the gospel
and part of that
their understanding
articulation of the gospel
people really
step on themselves
when they
they either do things
to Jesus
that haven't been done
or they don't do things
to Jesus
that have been done
like everyone wants
to crucify Jesus
in their testimony
of what the gospel is
no one wants to raise him
from the grave
he died for my sins
and you're like
and then what
is he still there
and they're like
oh he was raised
from the grave
on the third day
and you're like
and then what
is he still roaming
around the earth
and you're like
no he's in heaven
yes
ruling and reigning
on high
not a temporary king
and he's also
the greatest display
of God's justice
where we don't see
a mean God
of the Old Testament
and a soft
loving Jesus
in the new
no Jesus
was no man
who was soft on sin
he was upset about sin
as much as his father
and so against sin
he's willing
to be crucified
for it
where the cross
tells us
that our sin
is so bad
that Jesus
had to die
but it also tells us
that God is so good
that he was willing
to do this
so that there could be
forgiveness provided
for his people
so in Jesus
we see the tension
of verse 7
relieved
in Exodus 34
where Jesus
is the one
who comes
and is the atoning
sacrifice for sin
the only place
for forgiveness
and the only sacrifice
that can take away
sin of the world
in him
we see God
as both just
and justifier
as he holds up
righteousness
perfectly
and completely
and he is still
justifying sinners
and bringing them
into a relationship
to himself
through Christ
so friends
what about you
Moses wanted God
to show him
his glory
what about you
in him
you can have
a God
who is for you
in Jesus
you can have
a life
with his
transcendent God
through our
connection
to Jesus
by faith
through our
unity
with Jesus
by our
repentance
we can not
only know God
but also reflect
who God is
it's at this point
that we recognize
that we can be
true image bearers
like we should have
been at the beginning
with Adam and Eve
pouring out the
reflection of the
image of the
one true living God
the message of the
gospel
isn't just recognizing
God for who he is
Jesus for who he is
and what he has done
but to recognize
what he has done
so that you may
do what he has
called you to do
in Jesus
we can be merciful
because we've
received mercy
in him
we can be
gracious
because we've
received the
grace of God
we ought to be
the most gracious
people on the
planet
and the most
merciful people
alive
in our
lifelessness
in our
powerlessness
that's what we
know of Jesus
in Jesus
we can be people
who are slow
to anger
because the
worst thing
that could
happen to us
has already
happened
on the cross
as Jesus
was crucified
on our behalf
in Jesus
we can abound
in love
because Jesus
abounded in love
for us
and poured out
his love
into our hearts
where we no longer
need to love
from the outside
of him
we have all
that we need
in him
so now we can
abound in love
toward him
and toward others
and in Jesus
we can be just
always looking for
what is right
in obeying the
Lord
and good
in what is
a life in response
to God
because we know
that there is a God
who cares
about great justice
in our hearts
and in the people
around us
in the end
there will be
no injustice
whether dealt
with at the cross
or in hell
no injustice
will remain
what do you think
about when you
think about God
that's the most
important thing
about you
and God makes
himself known
not just
for our information
but also
as an invitation
for us to know
him
and the response
is left
to you
response here
is left
to you
but I pray
that we would
take our cue
from Moses
in Exodus
34 verse 8
see there with
your eyes
hold on to it
with your hearts
Moses quickly
bowed his head
toward the earth
and worshiped
us
our gracious
and heavenly
father we come
to you this morning
again
in great thankfulness
for all that you
have done
for us
not only
in Moses'
words
but also
in the cross
of Christ
where love
and mercy
met
love
and justice
met
where anger
was
as it should
have been
poured out
on us
it was poured
out on your
son for us
God we are
so grateful
for this
we pray
that we would
respond
by being
reminded
so greatly
of your
glorious gospel
of the glory
of you
our God
pray this in
Jesus name
amen
well on the night
before Jesus
was crucified
he ate dinner
with his disciples
and he gave them
a picture
or a sign
of what is
known as the
gospel
if you've ever
wondered what
the gospel
is like
you and I
have a picture
of it
a sign
of it
he took bread
in that moment
he took bread
he took wine
there were elements
there at the meal
he took these
elements at the meal
there and he passed
them around
as a meal
and said that
they should be
received as a sign
of his body
and his blood
the bread
of the body
and the cup
of his blood
and that he would
be crucified
for these people
and they could
see it through
these elements
by you and me
taking these elements
this morning
the elements
of the Lord's
supper
it takes us
back
it calls us
to a point
of reminiscing
it's not just
remembering something
but it's
reminiscing something
it's almost like
we're there
we're a part
of it
because it
proclaims his
death
now I'm the only
one who prepared
a sermon this
morning
I would trust
but in this
moment
in this action
all of you
who partake
of it
are also
preaching a
message
you are
proclaiming
the Lord's
death
now this
meal
is for those
who are
repentant
blood-bought
believers
in the
Lord Jesus
Christ
so if
you're here
today
and you're
a believer
in Jesus
Christ
this meal
is for you
it's not
for those
who are
unbelievers
we would ask
that you would
consider the
gospel that you
would have heard
the claims
of Christ
and allow
these moments
of passing
over or
passing by
I pray as a
catalyst for
you to
question
your understanding
of the Lord
Jesus Christ
your understanding
of what his
death and
resurrection
can mean
for you
Paul is
also clear
one of the
authors of
the New
Testament
Paul is
also clear
that all
of us
should examine
ourselves
before partaking
of these
elements
and to
confess our
sins
and if we
find ourselves
in unrepentant
sins
refusing to
repent of
our sins
friend as
that is you
I also want
to ask you
to not
partake in
the supper
as well
use it
as a time
of fasting
where you
see the
pain of
missing out
as others
get to
partake
as a
catalyst
for you
to come
to the
water
where it
is good
to come
to the
meal
where it
is
nourishing
now in
some ways
in a moment
I'm going
to pray
and then
after that
we'll all
be invited
up to the
tables
where you'll
take the
elements
back to
your seat
and then
we'll all
take them
together
in a
moment
but before
that as
we partake
when we
partake
remember that
Christ
willingly
poured out
his blood
a new
covenant
uniting us
to God
in his
boundless
mercy
uniting us
to God
in his
abundant
grace
uniting us
to a
God
who was
so thankful
that he was
slow to
anger
for us
uniting us
to a
God
who was
faithful
drawing us
into a
fellowship
with him
through his
own
sacrifice
and we
pray
and then
we'll
guide
our
elements
our
gracious
and
heavenly
father
we thank
you
for what
these
moments
mean
what
these
elements
mean
we pray
that you
would
nourish
us
we pray
that he
would
allow us
to
reminisce
on your
glorious
death
we pray
that you
would
give us
joy
in this
we ask
this in
Jesus name
amen