Joni Mannell - The Breaking Of Bread - Class 4 - The Blood of the Covenant

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:11

   We’ve now come to our 4th class in a series on the general theme at the Breaking of Bread, and this class is entitled The Blood of the Covenant. And so we’ll call up our brother Johnny Mannell to give us his fourth class. Brother Johnny. Thanks Lloyd. Good morning brothers and sisters. I’m very conscious that one of my bad habits is a when I either get excited, or B when I know I’m pushing the clock.

2. 0:52

   I tend to just speak faster in the hope that I can get all my words out in the same amount of time. So I hope you’ve managed to like, still understand me. I’m conscious that you know this dialect and that kind of thing that works both ways. I’m sure you have as much difficulty understanding me as I do understanding you.

3. 1:09

   So has it been OK? I’ve not like, baffled you. You’ve managed to understand most of what I’ve said even when it’s gone really quick. OK, right. So thank you for that. That’s very kind of you. Because the pace probably is not going to slow down on that basis then. So let let’s just recap where we’ve been just to keep it in your mind.

4. 1:29

   So on Sunday when we met for the first time, we talked about the demeanour and the mindset of the Lord Jesus Christ. What was it that he wanted them to remember about him as they went into that Last Supper together? What was the demeanour of the Lord Jesus Christ and his mindset that he wanted them to embrace, that he wanted them to share with him that he wanted them to have as well?

5. 1:48

   My joy, my peace, be of good cheer. I have overcome for the joy set before Him all of those things and then on Monday we we looked at the the symbols themselves, the bread and the wine based on John’s Gospel there in John six with the feeding of the 5000 the. Power of the. Word of God and what it can do in a man’s life when he submits to it and tries to employ it in his life as the Lord did in his. And the wine at Cana there poured out with energy and power.

6. 2:16

   The new wine never tasted anything like it before. This new life that the Lord Jesus Christ was offering to us and wants us to share and wants us to engage in. And then yesterday we looked at what did we look at yesterday? Remind me, what was my theme yesterday? Say again, this do that’s right. There’s too much stuff, isn’t there? This do in remembrance of me when the apostle Paul said as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you declare the Lord’s death.

7. 2:49

   And what does it mean then when we leave the memorial table to do something in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ? Not just to have been there, but if we want to demonstrate our love and our appreciation for what the Lord has done for us, then there is something incumbent upon us in our lives that we that we do for him. Well, these next two sessions, today and tomorrow, brother and sisters, we’re going to kind of go underground a little bit. These two kind of come as a pair now, today and tomorrow. And we’re going to go into the Old Testament and today we’re picking up on the words of the Lord Jesus, which you’ll have noticed there in Exodus 24, which is clearly where he’s quoting from when he took the cup. And he said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which has been poured out for you for the for the remission of sins. And he’s making a clear reference back, isn’t he, to this moment that Lloyd read for us in Exodus 24. Moses took the blood and sprinkled it there in verse 8 on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words. This, this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you.

8. 3:51

   So what was it, Brin sisters, about the blood of the old covenant? What was happening here at Sinai where Moses shared this extraordinary set of scenarios with the children of Israel that the Lord wanted us to think about and focus on as we watch him and witness him sharing the cup with his disciples and as we share in it ourselves.

9. 4:10

   What was happening here at Sinai I want to do with you this morning is take you on a journey from Exodus 24 all the way through to Exodus 34. Now, that sounds like a bit of an epic, doesn’t it? We’re going to go very quickly. I’m desperately going to try and not get bogged down in the details, and I want you to do the same.

10. 4:26

    What? I want you to. Look, for as we go through these chapters and what was happening here at Sinai is the big picture of what’s going on. What is it that Moses is trying to convey to the people? What are the issues that he’s dealing with so that we can see how it is that the Lord extrapolates them from the Old Testament and and hands them to us as he shares the cup with us week by week. That’s what we’re going to do.

11. 4:48

    And I want to share with you, Brent sisters, that for me, not just the old covenant was made known to to the people by Moses here in Exodus, but the new covenant was as well. I don’t want you to think that the new covenant was something they had to wait another 3-4 thousand years for.

12. 5:03

    It was right here in Exodus. Moses made it abundantly clear to them what that was. And the Lord Jesus was ratifying it there in the in the upper room with his disciples. Is that OK? Are you ready? Right here we go. Come with me. Just back a couple of pages to Exodus 19 and let’s really feel the flow of what’s what’s happening here for the children of Israel. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Well, Exodus 19 is very, very exciting. The children of Israel have crossed the Red Sea. They’ve gone through all the experiences of Passover night that we were thinking about on Sunday. They’ve arrived in the wilderness. And here in Exodus 19, for the first time, God is now going to formally speak to his people.

13. 5:51

    And it’s an electrifying moment. All the all the camp of Israel arrive at the at the base of Mount Sinai. Moses goes up into the mountain, and God is now going to speak to this newly formed nation, this new group of people. For the first time and the words that he says, brothers, sisters are, are moving in the extreme. Just have a listen to them in this situation. It’s the third month since the children of Israel have gone forth from the land of Egypt.

14. 6:16

    Verse One in the same day they come to the wilderness of Sinai. For they departed from referendum, and had come to the desert of Sinai, and pitched in the wilderness. And there Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God. And the Lord called him out of the mountain, saying, This is what I want you to say to the House of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, you’ve seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagle’s wings, and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenants, then you’ll be a peculiar treasure, and to me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and you’ll be to me a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you will speak to the children of Israel.

15. 7:04

    Isn’t that beautiful? The very first time Israel have ever met with God. And this is what God wants to do with them. I’ve brought you on eagle’s wings, he says, and I’ve brought you to myself. And now verse 5, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and you will be unto me a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

16. 7:30

    And there was just one. Condition, Bren sisters, upon which God could have a relationship with his people. I will make you into the most extraordinary nation of people on the face of the planet, says God on this one condition. If you obey my voice and keep my covenants, then this is what I can do with you. If you’re willing to hear my words and try and engage with them in your lives and follow them and believe in them and trust in them and commit yourselves to them, then we can have the most extraordinary relationship. If you obey my voice and keep my covenants. Then we will have this kind of relationship and Moses would later say there was no other nation on earth ever, ever before or ever since that God ever made an agreement like that with.

17. 8:12

    If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be this special people, this lovely treasure to me above all people in the earth. So verse 7, Moses came, called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord had commanded him. And all the people answered together and said all that the Lord has spoken we will do. I just want you to think about that for a moment. Bren Sisters, and how you would have felt if Moses was standing here today saying those words to you and me, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant.

18. 8:52

    And I don’t think he was meaning, you know, in some lackadaisical, laissez faire way, he’s saying if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be to me these special people. How would you feel? What would you have said to Moses if you’d have been in that great company? I think I would have been a bit more reserved about it personally.

19. 9:14

    All that the Lord has said, we will do, they replied. And having had some experience of being a disciple and looking around the room, I know you have two. You know, Bren sisters, what a challenging thing that would be to say. All that the Lord has said we will do. I asked you yesterday if you would consider having a go at having a sinless day, right?

20. 9:39

    I don’t know whether today’s that day for you. How many of you got it this morning thinking right, today’s my day. I’m going to have my sinless day today. All that the Lord has said we will do. And there was a deep problem in that Ansa Brun sisters wasn’t there. Because having a relationship with God is actually not about all the things that we will do, is it?

21. 9:59

    That’s going to be one of the fundamental problems now for the rest of Israel’s history that they are going to struggle with. It is not about everything that they will do. God has already said look at what I’ve already done for you, how I bare you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.

22. 10:12

    Now if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant and I guess Prince citizen, I’m just doing Johnny male interpretation here. I’m guessing what God was wanting to hear from the people was we’re going to do our best. We’re going to need your mercy, Lord, Father, to bear with us, but we’re going to do our best.

23. 10:28

    We’re going to commit to having a go. But they didn’t say that. They said all that. The Lord has spoken. We will do. We’re going to do it. We’re going to do it. Just keep a finger in Exodus and come to one Peter 2. The apostle Peter when he wrote a letter to his friends and to the ecclesias of the 1st century and the ecclesia of today.

24. 10:54

    He, he, he picks up on that incident in Exodus 24 in one Peter 2 and verse 9. And notice how Peter has just changed the emphasis a little bit from what the children of Israel said there on on the on the desert floor.

25. 11:13

    One Peter 2 and verse 9. You are a chosen generation, he says. And this is he’s writing this to the Ecclesia Brains sisters. He’s writing this to you and me. He’s saying you are now those people who were standing there on the wilderness floor. You are those people in this relationship with God that was happening right back there in Exodus 24. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

26. 11:51

    And do you notice how Peter has just flipped the emphasis? This wasn’t about you, he says. It’s not you who’s done this. You are here and you are in this relationship to show forth the praises of Him. He’s the one who’s done it, not you. It’s not we bread and sisters who have done all that the Lord has asked for.

27. 12:08

    Is it? You know, in your own life and in your own heart. And I know it in mine. It’s not me that’s done it. It’s not me that’s found myself in this relationship with. God, it’s through nothing that I’ve done. You are here to show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. It’s not all.

28. 12:25

    That we have been able to do. It’s all that he has done for us. And God was teaching them, brother and sisters here in Exodus 24, and it was going to be a painful journey. It was going to be a painful lesson that actually they couldn’t do all that the Lord had commanded. It wasn’t.

29. 12:43

    They didn’t have the. Capacity in them to do it just be as you come back to Exodus come back on the two Deuteronomy chapter 5 and the lovely thing is brother and sisters and it’s it’s a great insight into the patience of God. Even when they were standing there saying all that the Lord has spoken. We will do God knew that they didn’t have it in them to do it either.

30. 13:11

    Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 28 when the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me all that the Lord has said we will do. That’s what he’s referring to. When the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me and the Lord said to me, I’ve heard the voice of the words of these people which they’ve spoken to thee.

31. 13:31

    They have well said in all that they have spoken. So it was, it was a great thing to say all that the Lord has said. We will do all. It was a great thing to say. Verse 29. Oh, that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever.

32. 13:52

    So maybe the intention was there, maybe they thought they had the capacity to do it. Maybe it was well-intentioned. It was a great thing to say, said God. When I asked them if they could do it, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, when I, when I asked them if they could do it and they said all that the Lord has spoken, we will do.

33. 14:09

    It was a great intention. It was a great desire. I just wish, said God, it had been matched. By a willingness and a perseverance to actually see it through. But it wasn’t, it wasn’t, and that’s a really important thing. I want you to pick up on Bren Sisters today because whilst we might turn it week by week to the memorial service, and whilst we might see all that the Lord has done for us, we might have experienced the eagle wings on which God has brought us to himself and we might say inside of ourselves, right, I’m going to do it.

34. 14:39

    I’m going to commit myself, I’m going to make this the best that I can be. You know as well as I do, Bren Sisters, that things have a habit of falling down around our ears. And what I want us to see this morning, brethren, is is how God resolves that situation in the most beautiful way. God is now going to bring these people back to himself even though he knows that they can’t do themselves all that the Lord has asked of them.

35. 15:05

    So let’s with that background, then coming back to Exodus 24, because in order to begin teaching them that lesson, Moses does something very unusual, very graphic, very visual. Moses was a great user of visual imagery in his teaching, just as the Lord Jesus was. And now he employs a very visible sign, a pattern of things that he’s seen presented to him by God. And he, he lays it all out now in front of the men and women of Israel.

36. 15:37

    And I’m going to suggest to you, brother sisters, you just watch these details that Moses has the first prototype breaking of bread right here on Mount Sinai with the children of Israel. Here we go. Verse 3, Moses told all the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgements, and all the people answered with one voice and said all the words which the Lord has said will we do?

37. 16:03

    Here it is again. It’s a repeated phrase right here in these early chapters in Exodus. All the Lord has said we will do. So verse 4, Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and he rose up early in the morning and built an altar under the hill and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of Israel.

38. 16:22

    And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took off the blood, put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar, and he took the book of the covenant and read in the audience of the people. And they said again, all that the Lord has said, will we do and be obedient.

39. 16:40

    And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words. Now notice the details then brains, sisters. First of all, verse 4, Moses writes down everything that God has said. And in a way, brains, it seems to me this is this is the testimony of what Jesus will ultimately do. You remember when we talked about the bread there in John 6, Jesus was describing himself as the the word of God made flesh all that the Lord has said Jesus did do, right? He was the one.

40. 17:13

    And Moses now documents it all down. And Jesus says I am the one who did it. And Moses now documents everything, and then he builds an altar. It was nothing to do with the altar of the Tabernacle that hasn’t even been built yet. The instructions for it aren’t going to come until the next chapter. This is just an earthen altar that Moses builds and he surrounds it by 12 pillars.

41. 17:38

    That’s interesting, isn’t it? So can you see the scene? You’ve got an altar there in the middle and it’s surrounded by 12 pillars. And what I want to suggest you this morning, brother and sisters, without getting bogged down in the detail, in the details, is what you are seeing here is a picture of the breaking of bread.

42. 17:53

    This is the this is the the upper room. This is the Last Supper. You remember in Galatians, the apostle Paul describes the 12 apostles as pillars. He actually uses that term and here are 12 pillars surrounding this altar. Now in verse 5, he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered the offerings and sacrificed the peace offerings. Who were those young men?

43. 18:18

    Bren sisters who Moses sent to do that? They weren’t the priests or the Levites in the in the typical sense. Of Exodus because they haven’t been ordained yet at this point in in Israel’s history, the family of Aaron has not been selected for the priesthood and the Levites have not been chosen to be those specific people.

44. 18:37

    These young men Bran sisters offering the offerings are the first borns aren’t they the ones who have been redeemed on Passover night? They were each of the first borns was the priest for their family, just as it has always been, right the way through Genesis, right the time from when Abel took the offering on behalf of him and of his brother, even though he was the younger, right from the time when Joseph wore the priestly garment for his family.

45. 18:59

    And the first borns right down their generations have taken on the role of the priesthood. And here they are. And I suggest you Bren sisters, these young men that Moses has got making these offerings are the first borns of the families of Israel and every family had a representative there. And you remember, Bren sisters, how the Apostle in Hebrews 12 describes the ecclesia today as the Church of the first born, those who’ve been redeemed, the ecclesia of God.

46. 19:27

    And here they were with the 12 pillars and they were there about to have a fellowship meal with Moses there on the mountain. And here it gets really interesting. Then verse 5, they offer burnt offerings and peace offerings. Why those two? Why did Moses select specifically burnt offerings and peace offerings? And I’m going to suggest to you the reason. It’s a suggestion and nothing more. I’d be interested to talk with you about it if you have other views.

47. 19:57

    The burnt offering and the peace offering were the only ones that you would routinely offer bread and wine with in the sacrifices under the law. They were the ones that were the fellowship offerings for Israel. They were the ones that the men and women could share in and participate in in in the most unique way. They were the ones that involved bread and wine when the people came and offered every time.

48. 20:20

    And they were the ones that Moses is offering here. And then in verse 6, Moses takes the blood, and he sprinkles it on the altar, and he takes the book of the covenant that he’s written with all the words of God that they say they’re going to do. He reads it in the audience of the people. And they repeat all the words that the Lord has said, Will we do and be obedient.

49. 20:40

    And Moses took the blood and sprinkles it on the people, and says, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you concerning all these words. And he starts sprinkling the blood of these offerings on the people in a way as if he’s saying you need to be touched by the blood of this offering. And if you can see Brensis, there’s this great picture that Moses is orchestrating here on the on the mountain. It must have been extraordinary to watch as Moses builds this altar and he sets up these 12 pillars and he makes all the people watch what he’s doing.

50. 21:07

    And the Lord Jesus Christ was right there in the centre. If you want to know what it means to to to do all the words that the Lord has spoken and be obedient, then you need to watch what’s going on right here in the centre of this great scene. Because there’s only one man, says Moses, who’s ever going to be able to do that. All that the Lord has said we will do. Just keep a.

51. 21:29

    Finger in Exodus and come back with me to Hebrews Chapter 9 and let’s just really grasp what it is that Moses is trying to to convey to the people. It’s so annoying, isn’t it? That Exodus is so brief you don’t get any of the extra. Discussion or or or presentation that Moses might have had to the people, but I suggest it’s implicit here in Hebrews that that’s what Moses was doing. He what he didn’t just quietly and silently go around building this altar and putting 12 pillars up and making them go off and get offerings in silence. I believe, for instance, Moses was telling the people. What it is that he was signifying by what he was doing. Hebrews 9, verse 23.

52. 22:16

    It was necessary that the the patterns of things in heaven should be purified with these things that Moses was doing, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands which are figures of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. And I can’t believe, Princess, is that Moses wasn’t explaining that to the people, that what he was doing, this great visual aid that he laid out in front of them was a pattern. It was a copy of something that God had shown to him personally. There is going to come a man who will eventually be the ultimate burnt offering, the only man who will do all the words that the Lord has spoken.

53. 22:58

    And one day he will stand as a representative for all of these 12 tribes, these pillars that are sitting here now. And you need to be associated with that man. It will be the life of that man that you need to embrace and grasp. Hold off. Who is going to do it for you? And Moses is sprinkling the blood of this offering and he’s saying to them, I believe Bren sisters, you need to understand the pattern that God has ordained. This is just a picture of what one day is going to be made a reality.

54. 23:26

    This is what needs to be. Done in the heavenly things. And I’m just sharing with you a visual aid of one day what it’s going to look like. I wonder, Abrensis, as if as the Lord Jesus sat at that table with those 12 men, he had a great picture in his mind of Moses standing there with his 12 pillars and that altar in the middle with the burnt offering and the blood being sprinkled on the people.

55. 23:49

    This cup is the new covenant in My blood, and I want you to be associated with this. I am the one who has done all the words which the Lord has spoken.

56. 24:03

    Just come back to verse 19, still in Hebrews 9, for when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the Law. Isn’t that lovely? Moses didn’t just write these complicated things down, he explained to them. Every precept to the people. He took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled the book and the people saying this is the blood of the covenant which God has enjoined unto you. And these are this is a pattern.

57. 24:37

    This is a picture. And one day men and women of Israel, you need to understand what God is going to do. You need to understand the extent to which God requires all the words that He has spoken to be done and you can’t do it. You don’t have the capacity within you. And if you do, then you need to look and understand that the extent to which God requires it of you.

58. 24:58

    And you need to understand one day there will come a man who you need to be associated with who will do it for you and with you. Maybe it was, for instance, that Moses even explained to them about the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the one who had been promised for generations, and how in him, not in Abraham, in his seed, all nations of the earth would one day be blessed.

59. 25:25

    Well, Brent says that was the old covenant right there. That was the old covenant being ratified by Moses with the blood. Sprinkled on all the. People now we need to see the new covenants come back to Exodus 24. I know I’m I’m, I’m rapidly taking you through it, but I don’t want you to get bogged down in the details. Just see the big picture because the big picture is going to carry right on now as they leave this memorial table right here on Mount Sinai, Exodus 24.

60. 26:01

    Let’s come down in verse 15. I want you to notice what happens next. Moses has shared this memorial meal with the elders of Israel and the first borns who’ve been there preparing the offerings and now he’s going to leave them. Verse 15 Moses went up into the mount and a cloud covered the mount and the glory of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it 6 days.

61. 26:26

    And the 7th day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud and got up into the mount.

62. 26:39

    And he was in the mount 40 days and 40 nights. And I want you to see the scene of what’s happening here. Now, Bren sisters, did it ring any bells with you in verse 15? Moses went up into the mount and a cloud covered the mount. Moses ascending up. And he’s now going to go up into the presence of God, into the cloud.

63. 26:58

    And I want to suggest with you, and I want you to watch this carefully, Bren sisters, that as Moses has shared this memorial feast with the elders of Israel and the first borns, we’re now going to see in picture the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. He ascends up into the cloud for 40 days and 40 nights to be in the presence of God.

64. 27:17

    And I want to. Suggest to you we’re having a picture here made of the offering of Jesus in the upper room, the breaking of bread, and now his ascension. Notice what Moses said in verse 14. He said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us until we come again unto you. Aaron and her are with you.

65. 27:37

    If any man have a matter to do, let him come unto them. So I want you to wait for me. I’ll be back. Isn’t that lovely? And and Moses now going away in into a far country, as the Lord Jesus would describe in a parable to receive for him a Kingdom and he’s going to return. And he said to the elders of Israel now wait, whatever happens, if you have any problems. Aaron and her are going to resolve it with you, but I want you to wait.

66. 28:01

    Hang on. I’m going to come back. Wait here. And, and there was a great promise of his return. Now, then, brother, sisters, as you turn to Exodus 32, what did they do in his absence? Did they wait or did they not wait?

67. 28:20

    And as you come to Exodus 32, I want you to notice really carefully the words that Moses chooses in the very opening verses. And you know this scene, Moses is now about to arrive back down at the at the base of Mount Sinai, having been 40 days and 40 nights in the presence of God. And the words that Moses chooses here in verse one are really important when the people saw that Moses delayed to come. Down out of the mount.

68. 28:48

    Why does he use that word when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount And it’s brethren, sisters, the Lord Jesus quotes from it, doesn’t he? They said, My Lord delays his coming. That’s what they said. Moses had gone up there having broken bread with them and shared with them all the wonders of the covenant, what God was going to do with them, what He required of them. All that the Lord has said we will do. Do you remember how emphatic they’ve been about that three times already this morning?

69. 29:14

    We’ve read it, and there are more that we haven’t. All that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient with one voice. And Moses says, OK, if that’s what you’re willing to do, let’s share a meal as a token of it that you’re committing your lives into the hands of God.

70. 29:28

    And now I’m going up to be with him and to receive the Kingdom from his hand. And I want you to wait, hang on and and be patient for my return. And what they said was my Lord. Delays his coming and when they saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, they gathered themselves together into Aaron and said up make us gods which shall go before us for As for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt.

71. 29:54

    We don’t know what’s become of him and they couldn’t wait. Bren sisters, what happened to all the Lord has said we will do what Where’s it gone And Bren sisters, although it’s not as overt as this in our daily lives it happens, doesn’t it? We talked about it yesterday. Sometimes the reality of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and it’s implications and it’s challenge in your life and mine sometimes gets a little bit hazy and a bit foggy and it sometimes starts sitting at the back of our minds instead of the of at the front, doesn’t it?

72. 30:30

    My law delays his coming and all sorts of things began to happen. Keep your finger in Exodus. I hope your fingers are not too tired this morning coming over to Acts 7, because Stephen gives us an insight into what was going on in their minds when they said that, and he reinforces that Moses was a prototype of the Lord Jesus Christ.

73. 31:04

    Acts 737 This is that Moses who? Said to the children of Israel a prophet will the Lord God raise up unto you among your brethren, like unto me him shall ye hear? Isn’t that lovely? Stephen says Moses was was prototyping the Lord Jesus Christ and Moses himself had said one day the Lord God is going to raise up a man from among your brethren and he will be like me, a man who would share with them that great memorial feast and ascend up to into the clouds to be with God in order to bring a Kingdom back for these people.

74. 31:40

    This is he verse 38, who was in the church in the wilderness with the Angel which spake him in the Mount Sinai. And with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us, to whom our fathers would not obey, but they thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again to Egypt, saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us.

75. 32:04

    For As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s become of him and what I want to. Suggest to you, Brendan, is, is what’s going on there? What Moses, what Stephen, sorry, is telling us is that they they were actually rejecting Moses as being their leader. They thrust him from them in their hearts. I mean, they didn’t do it literally, did they? Moses was up in the mountain with God. He wasn’t there, but they thrust him from them and said, actually, As for this Moses, well, we don’t know what’s become of him.

76. 32:34

    Come on, let’s head back to Egypt. Let’s make us another captain and we’ll return back to Egypt. And in their hearts, they thrust him away from them. Why? Because they wanted to go back to Egypt. And their problem with Moses. Moses was a man who was not going to let them go back to Egypt. And he was challenging them and pushing them and stretching them all the time trying to get Egypt. Out of them and as soon as he was gone, as soon as he turned his back that that that influence wasn’t there anymore and the urge to go back to Egypt wasn’t challenged and back they went and they thrust him from them when when they said to Aaron up make us gods.

77. 33:12

    And again, Bensit says the exhortation is clear. Isn’t it? It’s not as overt as this in daily life, but when there are things that we want to do, when there are aspects of our characters that we want to become, it’s really easy to say just for a moment in our life, isn’t it? Do you know what?

78. 33:30

    As for this man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, well, we don’t know what’s become of him. My Lord delays his coming. Come on, let’s go back to Egypt. Just just for a moment. Let’s just taste a little bit of it, enjoy a little bit of it, go back to it.

79. 33:44

    He’s not here. It’s difficult trying to live into into these circumstances when He’s not here driving us and pushing us. How important, Brents, it is week by week that we can remember all that the Lord has said. Will we do and be obedient? Well, you know what happens. Exodus 32 as Moses arrives back down from the mountain. Verse 19 of Exodus 32.

80. 34:19

    It came to pass as soon as Moses came near the camp and he saw the calf and the dancing and Moses anger waxed hot and he cast the tables out of his hands and broke them beneath them out. And he took the calf which they had made and burnt it with fire and ground it to powder, strawed it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. And and it’s a sad scene.

81. 34:39

    Bren sisters, what, what the children of Israel have been doing. They made this golden calf, as you know, I’m just trying to lay my my eyes on it. Here we go. Verse 7, the children of Israel says God, they’ve corrupted themselves. They’ve turned out of the way, they’ve made a molten calf and worshipped it. They’ve sacrificed unto it, saying, these be thy gods and Geneva and says, as you read Exodus 32, what you discover is they’d not just done that, they’d also built an altar. There it is.

82. 35:06

    Verse 5, These be thy gods of Israel which have brought you apart the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early and burnt offerings and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Do you see what’s happening?

83. 35:22

    They’ve got a golden calf and Aaron’s desperately trying to manage the situation. And he’s built an altar and they’re offering burnt offerings and peace offerings at the same time as worshipping the golden calf. And we’ll see tomorrow. Brent says why the apostle Paul makes such a big issue about you can’t share at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons because there they were worshipping the golden calf and at the same time there in verse 6, they’re offering burnt offerings and peace offerings and they’ve got everything all mixed up, that breaking of bread that they had a few moments ago back there in Exodus 24.

84. 35:53

    Has now got all mixed up with other things. And the apostle Paul said you do that in your lives and it can’t happen, it won’t work. And there’s no wonder Brand sisters, the meekest man in all the earth, got angry, lost his temper in a royal way and broke those tablets of stone at the base of the mountain. And I don’t think Brent Sisters, Moses broke those stones purely in anger.

85. 36:19

    I mean, there was a lot of anger behind it. I think those stones went to went to the floor with a pretty big thud. But he was doing it to make a point to the people. All that the Lord has said, you said we will do and be obedient. And this is what God asked you to do. And look at it already it’s gone. Everything’s gone.

86. 36:38

    This great covenant that you made with God has been broken, and he did it as a symbol of the fact of what they’d done with their relationship to God. It had been broken to pieces and fallen apart. Now then, brothers and sisters, what I want us to do then you’ve you’ve seen them make the covenant with God all that the Lord has said we will do.

87. 36:57

    You’ve seen them share the meal as a as a testimony of that. And now you’ve seen it all properly come crashing down to pieces. Their relationship with God is gone. It’s broken, it’s lost. Now I want you to see, Brent, sisters, how God is going to repair it. And it’s really beautiful, really, really beautiful. Come with me to Exodus chapter 3. Do you remember on Passover night when the children of Israel left Egypt?

88. 37:36

    There was a really important detail that God asked them to do. It feels like a one of those kind of off the cuff side statements. Do you remember how God said just before you leave, I want you to go and borrow from your neighbors gold, silver, all the fine garments. And do you remember on Passover night how they did that? They went and took all the finery of the Egyptians, all their wealth, the the bracelets, the earrings, the the jewellery, the fine Egyptian cotton, which today still today the Egyptian. Cotton is amongst the finest in the world and they went and took it and took it with them.

89. 38:08

    And it sounds like that was just a, a passing thing just as they were leaving. It’s almost sounds like God said, by the way, why don’t you just go and take some some clothes and jewelry with you? Well, it wasn’t like that. That had been one of the key details actually of Passover night 40 years before Passover ever happened.

90. 38:24

    Exodus chapter 3 and verse 21. And here is Moses at the burning Bush, right before he’s ever even gone back to Egypt. And notice the detail that that God gives to Moses. I’m going to give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. And it will come to pass that when you go, you will not go empty.

91. 38:47

    Every woman will borrow of her neighbor and of her who sojourns in her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold and raiment. And you will put them on your sons and on your daughters, and you will spoil the Egyptians. Isn’t that interesting? 40 years before one of the key issues of Passover night, in God’s mind, the preparation had been made.

92. 39:06

    They were going to be taking this stuff with them. This is right here at the Burning Bush. You’re going to borrow from your neighbors jewels of gold, raiment, silver, and did you notice what they were to do with it? This is really important since you just notice this is a beautiful point that God makes when you take these things. Verse 22 These jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment, you will put them on your sons.

93. 39:32

    And on your. Daughters, why do you think that was? Can you imagine the scene on Passover night as they made their way down towards the Red Sea, all the little children wearing the jewellery and the finery of Egypt? Can you imagine, Bren and Sis, if you were parents, if you were grandparents, watching your children and your grandchildren who’d grown up as slave kids?

94. 39:55

    They’d never worn fine Egyptian cotton. They’ve never worn ornaments of gold and silver and bracelets and earrings. And now as they make their way across the waters of the Red Sea with the, with the moon, you know, glittering on them through the water, and all these little kids dragging these beautiful Egyptian clothes in the sand, you know, bedecked with jewels and finery, it would have.

95. 40:17

    Been an awesome sight wouldn’t it, to watch your children? Wearing all these beautiful things that. Had it been in any of the circumstances they were, you’d never have seen. These kids had never worn anything like that. What was God telling Bren sisters, the men and women of Israel, by asking them to dress up their children and their grandchildren in these things?

96. 40:36

    And I suggest to you, Bren sisters, what it was, that was what God was saying is, well, when I look down on my children, that’s what I see in the redemption that I’ve provided for my children. I see Princess and princesses, men and women wearing white linen, fine white clothes that I have provided. And I want you to see that in your children. I want you to feel how emotional and how exciting that is as you leave this slave life behind and you make your way to a new life wearing all these beautiful things. And I want you to put them on your children. Now then, Bren sisters, as you come to Exodus 25, what was it that God had wanted them to do with it when they arrived on the other side of the Red Sea and they arrived in the wilderness? What were they to do with all those fine things? And here it gets really lovely.

97. 41:25

    And just keep saying that to keep you going. You’ll have noticed that. And it is really lovely when you just see the progression here. Exodus 25 The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering of every man that gives it willingly with his heart. You will take my offering, and this is the offering that you will take of them.

98. 41:47

    Gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goat’s hair, ramskins, and so on and so on. Verse 8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. Isn’t that lovely? All those things that you left with on Passover night, all those beautiful jewels and fine garments that you saw on your children and on your grandchildren.

99. 42:07

    Well now I need some of it back, and I want you to notice how gentle God was. He didn’t say I want all of it back now can you please come and hand it back in? It was only borrowed. Notice what he says verse 2. Speak to the children of Israel that they bring me an offering of every man that gives it willingly with his heart.

100. 42:26

     I find that beautiful. God could have so easily taken an inventory, couldn’t He? I know you took 1.2 million fine cloth garments. I know what the weight of gold was and the silver. And now Aaron, if you please, just stand there with your scales, let’s have it all the way back in, right? I know how much you took.

101. 42:45

     God didn’t say that, did he? He didn’t didn’t need it all. He just said if you feel like giving it back willingly with your heart, then you can make me a sanctuary and that’s, that’s ecclesial life, Brent says. It’s right there, isn’t it? It will only work if we give it willingly with our heart, if we recognise that what we have has been given to us by God and it’s the most precious. Thing in the.

102. 43:08

     World and if we give back to it willingly with our heart, then God can make a sanctuary for us to dwell in. Really beautiful. I wonder if you can imagine being a parent or a grandparent now needing to extract some of those great toys that are now in the toy boxes of your children and grandchildren and giving them back to God.

103. 43:31

     Can you imagine taking from Elias what has become his favorite toys that were given to him on Passover night and saying, right, I’m, I’m really sorry, Elias, but we need to give this to God. How would you begin? Bransis explaining that would it be a case of quickly take it when he’s in bed and when he’s got up in the morning it’s gone or would you try and sit down with your children, explain what God wanted to do with these things.

104. 43:54

     You’re not giving this up, Elise. This is a gift to God. God, God has given these things and he and he lent them to us. They were assigned to us of how amazing God, what amazing things God is going to do with us. Now we need to give it back to God. God, if we if you give it back to God, God is going to come and live with us. That’s what’s going to happen, Elise, if you give back these things that God gave to you.

105. 44:16

     Isn’t that lovely? Well, Bren, sisters, when you come to Exodus 32, of course the big question is what did they do with it? And it’s a sad note, isn’t it, in the life of the children of Israel, all those extraordinary things that God had bestowed on them and passed overnight, that they’d seen their children bedecked with jewels and ornaments and these fine things. Well, when you come to Exodus 32, Aaron said to them, verse 2, break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters, and give them unto me.

106. 44:54

     And that finery, Bren sisters, they gave to Aaron and did something altogether different with it. And again, it’s not as overt as this in our daily living, isn’t it? God hasn’t given us golden earrings and we don’t break them off and and mould them into golden calves. But the principles exist, don’t they, Bren sisters? This is what happens.

107. 45:14

     This is how abhorrent it is when we when we don’t appreciate and and grasp the value of what God has given to us and we mix it up with other things and we start devoting ourselves to. To things that are of so much less consequence and less value, and the horrors of seeing what God had given to them.

108. 45:31

     Now being turned into this golden calf is an awful, awful moment in the history of the children of Israel, isn’t it? Welcome with me to Exodus 35. We’re nearly there.

109. 45:52

     We’re now on the other side of the incident with the golden calf. We’ve gone through it. We’ve gone past it, and there’s been a change in the hearts and minds of the people. And I want you to notice it. Exodus 35. God is now starting again. Verse 5. Take ye from among you in offering unto the Lord. Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it. Verse 10.

110. 46:19

     Every wise hearted among you will come and make all that the Lord has commanded, and now it’s going to happen. Bren Sisters. For the first time it’s going to happen, and as you just read through Exodus 35 and 36, next time you’re there or when you get time on your own, what you’ll discover is that over 14 times this expression is used.

111. 46:37

     Let’s have a look. Verse 21, They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing. Verse 22, They came both men and women, as many as were willing hearted. Verse 25, all the women who were wise hearted. Verse 26 All the women whose heart stirred them up. Verse 29 The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord. Every man and woman whose heart made them willing. Chapter 36, Verse one then wrought Bezalel and the holy AB and every wise hearted man.

112. 47:07

     Verse 2 Moses called Bezaleel and the holy ABBA and every wise hearted man in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, and everyone whose heart stirred him up. There’s just a handful of them and you get the flavour. Something has happened, something has changed. Brains, sisters in the hearts and minds of these people, they are now willing, they are now coming, they are now bringing, they are now giving to the point that Moses has to say stop, we’ve got enough. What’s changed?

113. 47:33

     What’s changed between Exodus 32, when they were so willing to give all these things to the golden calf that they’re now willing to bring it to the Lord to build a sanctuary? What changed? Well, the pivot point, Rensis, and this is where we’re just going to finish, is in Exodus 34. This was the moment, Rensis, that changed the hearts and minds of the men and women of Israel. Sorry, Exodus 33, Exodus 33 and verse three. I’m not going to go before you.

114. 48:12

     God has said to this land flowing with milk and honey, I’m not going up in the midst of you, for you’re a stiff necked people, lest I consume you in the way. And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned and nobody put on his ornaments. Isn’t that poignant all of a sudden? All these fine things that they’ve been wearing, they just know instinctively now they need to take them off. There is no place now standing in the presence of God for wearing fine ornaments and they take them off. This is after, of course, the golden calf. Come down to verse 12.

115. 48:42

     This is lovely, isn’t it? What Moses now does? He goes up and speaks with God, and he says to the Lord, See, you say unto me, Bring up this people, and you’ve not let me know whom. You’re going to send with me yet You’ve said I know you by name of you, and you found grace in my sight. Now, if I have found grace in your sight, show me now your way.

116. 49:02

     That I may know you, that I might feign grace in your sight and consider that this nation is your people. How are we going to get there, God, if you’re going to abandon these people? That’s what Moses is saying, isn’t it? How are we ever going to fulfil all the things that you’ve said you’re going to do?

117. 49:14

     Show me now your way. I don’t understand how this is going to work. I understand the people have broken the covenant. I understand that they said all that the Lord has said we will do, and I understand it’s all come crashing down and it’s been broken. But tell me what the solution is.

118. 49:27

     Where do we go from here? How are we going to get? To be your people. How are you ever going to fulfil all things that you said to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Tell me how we’re going to do it. Show me now your way and come down to this famous question in verse 18, verse 17, the Lord said to Moses, I’m going to do this thing that you’ve spoken for.

119. 49:51

     You’ve found grace in my sight, and I know you by name. And Moses said to the Lord, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. You know the occasion. Show me your glory. And the last question for this morning, Brent, this is I’ve got for you, is what was Moses really asking to see?

120. 50:09

     Show me your glory. What was it that Moses wanted to see? I spent a lot of time in Sunday school thinking that Moses wanted to see the biggest firework display ever. You know, Moses had seen some amazing stuff. He’d seen the burning Bush. He’d seen all the plagues of Egypt. He’d seen the waters of the Red Sea parting.

121. 50:29

     He’d spoken with God face to face as a man speaks to his friend. He’d seen the most amazing things in the world ever. What more could Moses want to see? What did he mean? Bren Sisters, when he said show me your glory, Moses was a perceptive man, Bren sisters. And what Moses wanted to see was the glory of God in the way he was going to deal with men and women. This nation have broken their covenant with you and it needs repairing.

122. 50:57

     And that says Moses is your glory. If you can fix this problem, if you can find a way to live with men and women who fail, who have problems, who make mistakes. If you can find a way to work with with men and women who make a real mess of their lives and turn things upside down and break all the promises that they make, Oi will I then have seen your glory. I want to see that glory, says Moses. Isn’t that beautiful?

123. 51:29

     Show me your glory. And God agrees. And when you come to Exodus 34, Brent, this is this famous, famous moment. I want you to notice the context in which God displays his glory. What was it that God did to demonstrate his glory to Moses? And much to my frustration as a kid, it wasn’t a firework display.

124. 51:47

     It was much more, much more subtle than that. Exodus 34 verse one, and you’re reading it right here. In these verses the Lord said to Moses, hew 2 tables of stone like the first, and I will write upon those tables the words that were in the first ones which you broke, and you’re about to see God’s glory right there. I’m going to start again, says God. All right, I will show you my glory. Hew out two tables of stone like the first Moses, and we’ll repair this covenant.

125. 52:17

     We’ll start again. I’m going to write it all out again. Me and these. People, we’re going to start again. We’re going to have a new beginning. I’m going to show you my glory. I’m going to write it all out again. There’s going to be a new set. We’re going to begin all over again.

126. 52:31

     Come down to verse 4. Moses hew 2 tables of stone like the first. And Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him. And he took in his hand the 2 tables of stone. And it was those Bran sisters that was going to be the testimony of God’s glory.

127. 52:47

     Verse 5. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands and forgiving iniquity and transgression and. Sin.

128. 53:06

     That was the glory of God. Brothers, sisters, right there, show me your glory. And every man and woman in Israel was about to see it, every single one of them. This is my glory, says God. I’ll start again. I’ll write it all out again. And I will be a God who is merciful, gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands and forgiving iniquity and sin. And brethren and sisters, the demonstration of God’s glory was not some spectacular firework display. It was the fact that He was willing to show His kindness and His mercy at starting again.

129. 53:46

     Can you imagine, brethren and sisters, just fine with them, if you’d have been one of those men and women of Israel waiting for Moses on the wilderness floor, No ornaments, no fine clothing. You realise what you’ve done. You’d stood there and said all that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient.

130. 54:02

     And you watched it come crashing into a million pieces as Moses broke those tablets at the at the mountain floor. What were you expecting when Moses came back down the mountain? What were you expecting to see? I’ll tell you what I think they were expecting. They were expecting fire, brimstone, judgement. They were expecting God to consume them in his anger.

131. 54:27

     And what did they see? They see a they saw a meek man walking down the mountainside with his face shining and he was carrying two tables of stone just like the first. And he said, I’ve seen the glory of God. God is merciful, gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. And you were the people of God.

132. 54:51

     Isn’t that lovely, Bren sisters? And when you then come to Exodus 35, where we were a moment ago, and you saw the people coming with a willing heart, everyone, verse 21 whose hearts stirred him up, and whom his Spirit made willing, they came, men and women, as many as were willing hearted. There were amongst that company Bren sisters, men and women whose hearts melted when they saw the long-suffering nature and the mercy and the kindness of God and His willingness to start again. And that was the new covenant right there. The Old Covenant was made with men and women who couldn’t do it.

133. 55:24

     The Old Covenant was made with men and women who said all that the Lord has said we. Will do. We can do it. It’s all about us and the new covenant was made by a God who said, I’m a God who’s willing to start again every time when your lives come crashing down, every time when we make a mess, every time when we when we fail to live up to the promises that we’ve made.

134. 55:47

     God says the new covenant is about a God who is willing to start again. I am a God who is long-suffering, gracious and abundant in goodness and truth. How wonderful is that? I used to think, you know, Bren sisters, particularly on a Sunday morning when I sat at the breaking of bread, that when God examined my heart, he would be ashamed. He’ll be ashamed of me and and the relationship I would have with God will be one that went something like this. Well, Johnny, there we are.

135. 56:19

     It’s a mess. You know, what can we do? There’s no point crying over it. That’s what it is. You know, we’ll just have to get on with it and deal with you as you are. And it’s not like that, is it, Bren Sisters, because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. God says I am. I am a God who comes in a firework display of glory. I’m a God who is abundant in goodness and truth. I am long-suffering.

136. 56:43

     I am merciful and gracious. I I forgive iniquity and transgression and sin. That’s my glory. I’m a God. Who starts again with broken people like you and like me, I’m a God who works with people who who can’t do it on their own, who need me in their lives. And Bren Sisters, when the Lord Jesus took that cup and said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you, that was the that was the firework display, Bren sisters of the glory of God. That was the cup that Moses would have loved to have shared there on the wilderness floor of Mount Sinai. When the people said all that the Lord has said, will we do and be obedient.

137. 57:22

     And may it be Bieber and says we share the cup of the new covenant of the Lord. May we never underestimate its power and its energy and the difference that it can make in the lives of people who fail like you and me. You have been called out of darkness, says the Apostle Peter. You are that chosen generation of royal priesthood, that you might show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.