Rememberance
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John Colunga and I have the privilige of serving as lead pastor here at New Day Pasadena
I also have the privilige of bringing this weeks sermon
So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Exodus 40:34-38
If you forgot your Bible please use the one in front of you and if you dont have a Bible at all, please take home the one in front of you as a free gift to you
Opening
We are closing out our sermon series in the book of Exodus
And while we may not have hit every chapter we highlighted many of the important themes
End the sermon series with a pretty bow
Todays bow is going to be detailed
It is going to be heavy on teaching so please take notes
We will be reading through a lot of scripture
But the goal of this particular sermon is simple
To magnify the glory of God and his detail for us
Lets jump right in
If you are able to stand, I ask that you please do so for the reading of God’s word. I’ll read it as you follow along,
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 40:34–38.
This is the Word of the Lord - You may now be seated
Sermon
Sermon
Glory of the Lord
And as we come to the end, we are given this passage where it says that the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle
And many times we talk about God’s glory without ever fully undertanding or fully conveying that the glory of the Lord means
And so first we look at two things concerning God’s glory: his internal glory and his external glory
Internal Glory
holiness - God is set apart
His charater and very eseence makes him greater than all things
It makes him perfect
It makes him the authority
It makes him all powerful
If there is a police officer in the middle of the road and and eighteen wheeler is driving fast on the road
And the officer sticks out his hand to make the truck and the truck comes to a complete stop,
The officer didnt make the truck stop with his power, rather he stopped him with his authority
When there is a weight lifter in the gym with the goal of getting stronger - he/she picks up the heavy weights with their power and strength
The weight does nothing but sit there until acted upon by the strength of the lifter
So the lifter is acting out of his/her strength and not their authority
But our God internally is all powerful, and all knowing, and He has all of the authority
So only God can set the laws of morality of what is right and wrong
His holiness and his sovereignty work hand in hand
External Glory
And then there God’s external glory
God’s external glory is all of the manifestations of God’s physical presence
Wherever God is dwelling there is an external manifestation of who He is
And in Exodus God’s glory was manifested through the burning bush
Gods glory was minifested before Moses in a bright light where Moses’ face had to be shielded
And now we see God’s glory manifested in a cloud
And as God was dwelling in the cloud, as his glory was externally radiating in the cloud -
But then he came to dwell in the tabernacle and his external glory was still seen through the cloud
But even though his external glory was seen in the cloud and he was dwelling in the tabernacle
He still had his internal glory - He was holy - and so Moses could not go into the tent!
And so wherever God is, whatever object or form he takes to dwell, he always has his internal glory
But then his external glory can be manifested in different ways
A Holy God/God of detail
If you are reading through Exodus with us in the Daily Bible Plan, you have probably come accross some not so fun chapters
In fact, it was noted in our community group last week that it has been a challenge because of all the detail that is given
And if I am being honest, I would agree that these chapters have been a challenge
But at the same time, I think we are all grateful that God is specific
He doesn’t just say “surprise me”
He doesn’t say “just give me your best”
He doesnt say “worship me however you want”
He doesn’t say “follow your own path”
Rather, Since our God is Holy and glorious, it would make sense that God is a God of order and detail
God is a specific God
Lets consider his specificity
And we will do this by looking at several ways in which God was specific
Specific in his authority
God was specific in telling Moses how he is to convey the authority of God
God calls Moses to be a mediator and to act on God’s authority
Genesis 3 the Burning Bush - Moses was to go and convey the authority of God to Pharaoh
God was specific that Moses was to go to the Israelites and Elders and convey that the one true God who lives through all generations has sent him by His authority
And they would listen to Moses but the Pharaoh wouldn’t
Specific in his power
Power to save Moses
Power to appear how he pleases
Power of the 10 plagues
Power of parting the sea
Power to provide for his people - he even does that in a specific way
Specific in Instruction
insturction - concerning morality (authority) - 10 commandments
instruction - concerning conduct (power) - laws of how the people were to live
instruction - tabernacle
Specific in his covenant/promises
God is specific in his covenats/promises
We hve been often going back to Genesis 15:13-16
“Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.””
God tells Abraham exactly the details that he needs to know
God is specific in his covenant
Abraham, you will be dead when this happens but know for certain that your offspring will be living in a land that is not their own, and they will be servants, and they will be afflicted for 400 years,
But I will judge the nation that is lourding over them and when I free the people they will leave with great posessions
And you Abraham will die peacefully and live a long life
Now, as human, beings, I can only imagine Abraham maybe wanting more detail
However, God is specific in revealing to Abraham exactly what he needs to know
Specific to dwell
Lastly, we find that God is specific to dwell among his people
And when this comes to pass - after the Israelites come out with great posessions
God doesn’t just leave them alone - He doesn’t abandon them
Rather, they are his people whom he loves and he wants to dwell among them
And so his glory fills the tabernacle
And when its time to move on God leads the Israelites to move
God loves and cares for his people
And that is how this book of Exodus ends, that the glory of the Lord is dwelling among the people
Jesus’ glory
While this is the end of Exodus, it is not the end of the Bible
Nor is it the end of God’s work
Even before Exodus, in the book of Genesis, there is a specific promise of a Savior
And at the end of Exodus the Savior had not come yet so it has to go on
And thats why we talk about Jesus
Because Jesus was and is the promised Savior that did come to earth
He was fully God and was fully man
That means that he beheld the glory of God
That means that he was the glory of God
Last week I read John 1:14 and highlighted that Jesus came to dwell among us
Today I want to highlight that in that verse, John talks about his glory
John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Today I want to highlight that in that verse, John talks about his glory
The glory of Jesus was and is because he is God
The glory of the Lord was among the people!
Jesus walked on this earth and taught as the glory of God
And while he dwelt among the people he had a purpose a specific purpose and a specific message
Philippians 2:5–11 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Jesus came from heaven and dwelt among the people
The glory of the Lord came from heaven and dwelt among the poeple
And because of his death and resurrection Jesus has both the power and authority to save us
That as the Holy Spirit works in our hearts and our eyes are opened and ears hear, our hearts are changed with our belief in Jesus Christ
That the hopeless sinner who is dead and enslaved to sin, can be made alive and free because of the glory of the Lord
Glory within us
And I don’t want you to miss this,
In the garden of Eden God dwelt with man before the fall - Eden was the tabernacle and displayed his glory
Man sinned and had to be sent out, seperated from God and his glory
In the desert - still separated but among the people God and his glory comes to dwell in the tabernacle
They had to stop and build the tabernacle so God can come dwell among them
Then they had to tear it down and physically carry the tabernacle wherever they went
But then Jesus in his glory comes to dwell among the people
And because of Jesus’ work and our faith and trust in Him - We are now the tabernacle because we have the Holy Spirit of the Lord dwelling within us
But that also means that we are beholding the glory of the Lord!
We are reflect the glory of the Lord
2 Corinthians 3:16–18 “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
We are a people transformed by the glory of God, for the glory of God, and to the glory of God
And this doesn’t happen by accident
This work is specific
Your salvation is specific, your purpose as a believer is specific
And by God’s design, your walk with Jesus is to be specific
We are to be specific in doing things from the glory of God, to the glory of God, and to reflect the glory of God
1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Such a small verse with a lot of detail
Whatever you do
so like at work? - whatever you do
What if im working out? - whatever you do
What if I am hanging out with friends? - whatever you do
Do it all for yourself? No, do it for the glory of God
SIn and Glory
Please put a pin right there in 1 Corinthians 10
Now many of you know Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
So, how can we reflect the glory of God and fall short of it at the same time?
And the answer is that even though we are redeemed by Christ,
in our humaness, we are still tempted and can still fall into sin
When we sin, we are unrighteous
And Romans 3:23 points back to Romans 1
Romans 1:22–23 “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”
The word I want us to focus on is exchange
When we sin, There is an exchange of the glory of the immortal God for idols
When the Israelites made the Golden calf, after the 10 commandments had been given
They exchanged their worship, attentention, and devotion for God - to something else
And when we sin, this is what we are doing
We choose to put something else ahead of our worship, attention, and devotion of Christ
And so we are exchanging the glory of Christ to sin - and by extention - we fall short!
And you may or may not know this but today is Palm Sunday
It is the start of the beginning of the road leading up to death of Jesus
Where the people were laying palm branches and cloaks at the feet of Jesus as he rode in
And just days later those very same people will be the ones to say crucify Him!
And it can be easy to say “How dare they” but at the same, “How dare us”!
How dare we entertain sin
How dare we exchange the reflection of the Glory of the Lord for sin
And yet, although we fall short time and time again
The death of our Savior one time pays the penalty for all of our failings
How specific is that!?
How detailed is that!?
That the Glory of the Lord would forgive us over and over and over again
That we can walk confidently in the forgiveness of our sins and strive to reflect the glory of God!
I cant make this up! No one can! Our God has spoken and he has detailed these things to us
The question is, do we believe him!?
Christian Living
Now, in light of Christs glory and work for us, in light of our new freedom,
Lets go back to 1 Corinthians 10,
Written by the Apostle Paul, he is teaching about the book of Exodus and how it pertains to the church
He starts off by reminding the people of the deliverance and then mentions their failings
And after he tells the people that these things were written so that they may learn from them, he writes this in verse 13
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
So we can know for certain that because of Jesus, no sin has power over us
When we do sin, we do it willfully - we do it while there is a way out
And then Paul says flee from idolotry - flee from sin
Application
Application
So, God has internal and external glory
God is a specific and detailed God
Jesus, being God, has glory
Jesus’ death and glory saves
We need saving because we fall short of the glory of God
We put our faith and trust in Jesus to save us and he does
Jesus forgives us of our sins
And because now the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us we can flee from sin and reflect the glory of God
So, we have two application points today
Discern yourself and reflect the glory of God to others
In between Paul speaking about the Exodus and then his encouragement to do all things for the glory of God, is
1 Corinthians 10:23–24 ““All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”
You know yourself and God knows you
We are freed in Christ
2. Read your Bible
God is specific to us in his authority, power, instruction, and promises
Yet, we often ask where is God and why isnt he speaking to me
We act as if God is witholding details essential to living our life
38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
We are not left alone
The Holy Spirit and the Bible is what you need for daily living