Dr MJ Du Plessis Reformed Church Bellville 18 February 2007 (morning) Scripture NIV

REFORMED CHURCH BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2007: MORNING SERVICE

Sing before: Hymn 4-3:2

Let us commence this meeting with God by declaring openly to one another and to God:

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Beloved grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen

Psalm of praise: Psalm 18:1+11

Confession of faith: Nicene
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, or us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was Incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.
And we believe one holy catholic* and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

After the reading of the Law we confess our guilt and pray for forgiveness and a new life before God with Psalm 25:5+7

Law
Psalm: 25:5+7

Prayer:

Doxology
Worship
Confession of sins
Forgiveness
Gratitude
Prayer for the need of the congregation for the church, the authorities and the sinful world and appeal to God's promises.
General prayer
Enlightenment from the Holy Spirit for the sake of the ministry of the Word.

Amen

Psalm: 89:12

Scripture: Exodus 33
Text: Exodus 33:3+5:14

33:3: "But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way."

33:5 "For the Lord said to Moses: 'Tell the Israelites, you are a stiff-necked people'. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you."

33: "The Lord replied, 'My Presence will go with you and I will give you rest'."

In this passage the Lord reveals a terrible truth – He does forsake certain people in this life so that they can remain alive in this world.

He states plainly that should He go with them to the promised land He would destroy them!
He would destroy them because they refuse to repent and refuse to change and to improve.

We find this today also:

A person persists in sinning and eventually the consequences of that sin wreak themselves on him/her.
Finding himself/herself in deep trouble this person then says: the Lord has forsaken me!
And perhaps the Lord did forsake him/her – precisely because it is the purpose of the Lord that this is to be a period of grace in which this person can come to repentance!

The Lord reveals here that we should know that we cannot put the blame onto the Lord when He forsakes us.

Verses 3 and 5 state it clearly: Because of His grace the Lord cannot go with them because should He go with them, the Lord would destroy the people who refuse to obey Him.
Eventually the Lord did destroy them when He compelled the Israelites to wander in the desert for 40 years until all those who had departed from Egypt and always remained obstreperous had died there.

For people who remain unrepentant in their sins there is a temporary grace when the Lord forsakes them so that in their earthly life they may still have a physical life.

All people transgress against the Lord. Even the saints commit grievous sins. Yet the Lord shows us endless patience.

He forgives us – although He warns us.
He answers our prayers and shows us grace – although our prayers are arrogant and wrong.
He even forgives us our unwillingness to execute our calling – up to a point.

Moses is a saintly person. We read in Exodus 33:11 that the Lord would speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks with a friend.

It shows that there was a special and personal relationship between the Lord and Moses.
In the eyes of the Lord Moses was a special person and sent together with Elijah to support the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Olives before the crucifixion.

But does this mean that an excellent person never makes a mistake? No, they too fall in error. Grievous error. They sometimes overstep the limits of humility before the Lord. See what happened in the passage we have read.

While the Lord was giving His Commandments to Moses the Israelites made a golden calf. This angered the Lord and He told Moses that He would not go with them farther. He would send them an Angel to accompany them.

Note the following:

The Lord withdraws from His people.
He is not sending them the Angel of the Lord but an ordinary Angel to accompany them.
In this life the Israelites will loose nothing – they shall still enter the Promised Land.

Moses then prayed to the Lord.

He prayed that the Lord be merciful to His people and that He forgive them their sin (of worshipping the idol).
He asked the Lord to blot him out of the book the Lord had written should the Lord refuse to forgive them (Ch 32:32).
The Lord then instructed Moses to continue his journey with the Israelites.

There is an extraordinary aspect in the way Moses reacts to the Lord's commands.

Every time the Lord calls him and commands him to do something Moses raises some objection – he shows a deep-seated unwillingness to obey the will of the Lord without question.
When the Lord called him from the burning bush Moses raised difficulties. Here he does it again.

One gains the impression that Moses arrogantly questions the Lord's commands.

When the Lord commands Moses to continue his journey with the Israelites accompanied by the Angel, Moses reacts to it by reminding the Lord thereof that He had said to Moses: "I know you by name and you have found favour with Me." (Ex 33:12)
With these words the Lord had confirmed the close relationship that existed between Himself and Moses.
From Ephesians 1:4 we know that the Lord already knew Moses before creation.
What is important here is that with this confirmation the Lord also confirms that He is gracious.

Romans 9 reveals that the Lord also creates people who are kept for his wrath.

These people do not share in His mercy.
Hence this confirmation to Moses is important: I know you by name and I know you in my mercy. You have found favour with me.

Moses uses this confirmation of mercy to argue with the Lord. It appears to be more than an argument, it is a reproach.

Moses does not want to continue the journey with the Israelites.
That is why he says to the Lord: "You have been telling me: 'Lead these people' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me". (Ex 33:12)

Is that true?

The Lord has said that He will send an Angel!
Joshua was to be Moses' successor and this the Lord had told Moses some time before.

The Bible tells us in these words: "Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, did not leave the tent." (Ex 33:11)

That shows clearly that Joshua shared the lead with Moses.
Moreover, before this occurrence Joshua was on the mountain with Moses when he received the Ten Commandments.

Moses now builds up an argument around the Lord's words that the Lord has promised him His grace.

If he has found favour in the eyes of the Lord then he wants to know the Lord's will.
He does not say exactly what he wishes to know for the words that the Lord must remember that these people are His people and not Moses' follow the request: "Remember that this nation is your people". (Ex 33:13)

A reproach is hidden in these words as Moses appears to tell the Lord that he is actually doing the work that the Lord Himself should do.

The Lord tells Moses that He will accompany them: "The Lord replied: My presence will go with you and I will give you rest". (Ex 33:14)

Moses knows that without the Lord they cannot carry on. The Lord must accompany them. Whether his reasoning is correct is another matter.

His primary consideration is the opinion of the other nations, not the glory of God.
"How will anyone know that You are pleased with me and with your people unless You go with us?" (Ex 33:16)

This question is not directed at the glory of God.

Moses bases his argument – correctly – on the fact that it is the presence of the Lord that is with them that distinguishes them from all the other people on earth.
His argument is aimed at himself and the people – the other nations will laugh at them when they see that the pillar of cloud and of fire (the presence of the Lord) no longer accompanies them. (Ex 33:15+16)

See how patient the Lord is with Moses.

He knows that Moses is reluctant to continue the journey with the people.
He hears the reproach that the people are the Lord's people and not Moses' people and that the Lord should deal with them and not leave it to Moses.

The Lord does not become angry. He grants Moses' prayer but not for the reasons given by Moses.

He does so out of His grace.

"And the Lord said to Moses 'I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name'." (Ex 33:17)

It is the purpose of the Lord's grace that there should be repentance!

In this way God's glory is served. He is so great and His love is so great that it rises above our sins.

With love and patience He listens to our wrong arguments and observes our wrong doings.
With love He forgives us our reluctance to do what He wants us to do.
He even answers our wrong prayers the right way.

We should therefore never say that in God's Counsel no mercy is provided for us!

He protects us wherever we are.
Perhaps the difficulty that the fearful people have is that their relationship with the Lord is skewed or that they do not have any relationship with God at all – as was the case with the Israelites who worshipped the golden calf while the mountain next to them was smoking with the holy presence of God!
Perhaps these people fear that the Lord will forsake them as they have forsaken Him.

The Lord tells us that he does forsake certain people so that in this life they may remain alive.

He tells who these people are.
He will destroy those who continue to complain and refuse to repent.

In the passage we have read the Lord reveals His grace to those who do try to please him and who continue to pray to Him – verse 17: "for thou hast found grace in my sight and I know thee by name". (Ex 33:17 King James)

In the New Testament the Lord explains the fulfillment of this: "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire". (Revelation 20:15)

The creation of Hell and the Lord's judgment precedes this: "Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty". (Revelation 19:15)

We who are known by the Lord our names are written in the Lord's book of life. The names are written there because of God's love in which He chose us and the propitiation of all our sins by the Lord Jesus Christ.

"I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the Word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and have not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4)

These are not people who in their lifetime were perfect. The people who receive this eternal blessing with God are people who lost their lives but who remained true to the Lord.
Amen

Closing prayer
Closing Psalm: 119:2

The Lord will bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord turn His countenance to you and give you peace.
Amen

Dr MJ Du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
18 February 2007 (morning)
Scripture NIV