BEHOLD THE KINDNESS AND THE SEVERITY OF GOD

BEHOLD THE KINDNESS AND THE SEVERITY OF GOD

                “Then Moses said, ‘I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!’ And He said, ‘I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.’ But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the Lord said, ‘Behold there is a place by Me and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about ,while My glory is passing by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” Exodus 33:18-23

                There is a reason why the Torah (The first five books of the Bible) became the standard by which all subsequent scripture was measured. In Moses’ writings can be found the seeds of all truth from beginning to end. The framework for all truth, all prophecy and all of the purposes of God from creation to the new creation, to the doors of eternity are encompassed by the writings of Moses.

                But as God explained it to Miriam and Aaron, He said: “Hear My words; If there is a prophet among you I the Lord shall make Myself know to him in a vision, I shall speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses. He is faithful in all My household; with him I speak mouth to mouth. Num.12:6, 7.

                This is why when Jesus verified His role as the world’s Messiah, he began with Moses and all the prophets. His name and His purposes were written into every piece of furniture, every bit of Israel’s history and in every type and shadow. And it was all dictated to Moses directly from the Lord.

                Today, however, since we only want to preach on the aspects of God that we like, we are presenting a God to the world that enlists neither fear nor trembling. In a sense we worship a God of our own making. But now listen to how God described Himself to Moses as He passed by:

                “Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” Then Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.

                Today we worship a God that is so patient and understanding that we can flagrantly partake of sins that God calls an abomination, and we soothe each other with God’s forgiveness, even though we refuse to repent of our abominations. This is not the God of the Bible.

                Here in the book of Exodus we find that God will forgive the repentant, but He will not clear the sins or the iniquities of those who willingly disobey Him. God is holy. He doesn’t just act holy. Holy is what He is and sin cannot exist in His presence. We no longer comprehend the power of the blood of Jesus. Any man, good or bad would be instantly consumed by the direct presence of God and yet He has chosen that the blood of His Son will cover our sins and give us audience with Him. In fact we can come boldly before the throne of God. But that boldness comes only through repentance and forgiveness of sins.

                We like to talk about this boldness a lot and for good reason, but in today’s unbalanced view of God we fail to preach the whole story, for as Hebrews 10:26, 27 it says: “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.”

                So we have a church today that casually walks with one foot in the world and one foot in the church and we like to pretend that our sins are okay because “God is good all the time.”

                Yesterday I wrote about humility, how that we as somewhat arrogant Christians pray more like the Pharisee who thanks God that he is not like others, instead of like the  Publican who beat upon his chest and cried out,” God be merciful to me a sinner.” And while we can have absolute faith that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin, we should never presume that we can go on sinning willfully. There is a goal to Christianity and that goal is that we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13.

                Friends, that is a mighty tall order and one that can only be accomplished if Christ Himself is in us, living His perfect life in us and through us and as us. There is nothing casual about Christianity. As Galatians 2: 20 says, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave His life for me.”

                There is nothing casual about the Christian life. It is a total death to self and the world, replaced by a life that is lived by Christ in us. That is our only hope of glory. 2 Cor. 4:7, Col. 1:26-29.

                I am not saying that we need to be afraid of God, but we need a great deal more respect than is being shown Him these days. In fact, God said to Isaiah: “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit and who trembles at My Word.” Isa. 66:2b

                So why did God speak face to face with Moses? It says in Numbers 12:3, “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.”

                Many Christians want to hear from God today. But when they do hear from God they choose only the things they want to do. They obey only that which is convenient and pleasant.

                All of this being said; there is great comfort to be found in the unchanging nature of God. If we are pliable like clay in the Potter’s hand, He will make us into vessels for honor. His promises from beginning to end tell us that what we cannot do for ourselves, He will do. He does it, not by excusing sin, but by cleansing our temples and driving out the money changers and the clamor and traffic and then He restores peace and healing, praise and worship. It is He who does this and not we ourselves.

                We just need to know that the work He does in us does not make us arrogant and presumptuous.

                “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Ps. 34:18, 19.

                “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, Oh God, Thou wilt not despise.” Ps. 52:17

                “For thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy. “ I dwell on a high and holy place and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Isa.57:15

                “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Ps. 91:1.

                There are times when we need to tremble at His Word… to humble ourselves before Him… to weep between the porch and the altar for our sins and the sins of our nation and of the world… to cry out to Him, “God be merciful to me a sinner. Cover me with the blood of your Son Jesus. Cleanse me and make me whole. Help me to be humble and to pray and to seek Your face even as Moses did. Make me into the kind of person that brings you pleasure.

                When we get to the place where the Word of the Lord does not fill us with wonder and humility, worship and adoration, love and a servant’s heart, then perhaps it is time to take a closer look at what holiness and righteousness really are. For at His first coming He came as a humble servant to die for our sins, but we are now facing His return when He will come as King of kings and Lord of lords. He will return as the Judge of the earth to pour out His wrath upon sin and Satan and those who have chosen to excuse themselves of the abominations that a holy God can never excuse.

                Behold the kindness and the severity of God. Worship Him for who He really is. Stand beside Him as one would stand beside a Lion. Rejoice in His power to bring both salvation and justice to a war torn planet. If we belong to Him then both justice and mercy are our friends and God is our refuge and strength.