Title: Christ Consecrating
us to God
Text: Ex 32: 15-35
Date: Sept 13, 2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
Last time we saw the children
of Israel and Aaron make an idol and engage in a vain show. Moses was in the mount. He interceded for them so that God did not
destroy them. But today we see that not
only does Christ intercede for his people in mount Zion before God our Father,
Christ also comes to his people and ministers to us.
Exodus 32:
15: And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the
testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their
sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 16: And the
tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of
God, graven upon the tables.
Our Lord Jesus said, “The law is in my heart.” He fulfilled it for his people and he writes
the new covenant law of faith and love in our hearts.
2 Corinthians 3: 3: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly
declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink,
but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy
tables of the heart.
Proposition: We see a
type of how Christ works this in the hearts of his people bringing us to be
consecrated to Christ our Righteousness.
Title: Christ Consecrating Us to God
CHRIST MAKES US KNOW OUR GUILT
Christ
makes us behold our guilt before the law.
Moses’ anger waxed hot. He cast the tables out of his hands and brake
them beneath the mount.
Imagine this vain idolatrous show suddenly interrupted
by Moses in righteous indignation, breaking the tablets before them all. God never rebuked Moses for doing so. It is needful to show us a type of God’s people
breaking the whole law of God. Christ interrupts
our vanity, revealing we have broken the whole law of God, and making us know
God’s wrath against all who break his law.
Natural religious man sees that sinners pour
contempt on God’s holy law by immorally breaking it every day. But Christ comes in power revealing we are
guilty of the same vain idolatry when we claim to have kept God’s law and think
we can come to God by our obedience.
Romans 3: 19: Now we
know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the
law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty
before God. 20: Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
CHRIST
TURNS US FROM OUR IDOLS
Exodus
32: 20: And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and
ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of
Israel drink of it.
By
grinding the idol to power Moses showed them that their idol had no power to
save itself, much less to save them. Christ
makes us see our idol god could not save itself much less us. Moses made the gold unprofitable to them—Christ
makes our idols unprofitable in our eyes.
Then
Moses made them drink it. Christ will
make our sin bitter to our taste—our Lord will make us loath it, hate it, mourn
over it. Nothing happened when they
drank it—our Lord makes us know it is not that which goes into the mouth that
defileth a man, it is what comes out of the heart. We are the idolater. Our sinful self is the idol. It is our heart that is deceitful and desperately
wicked. He makes us become one with our
sin—to see it is what we are!
CHRIST
MAKES SIN PERSONAL
Exodus
32: 21: And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou
hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22: And Aaron said, Let not the anger of
my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.
23: For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as
for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot
not what is become of him. 24: And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold,
let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into
the fire, and there came out this calf.
What
a rebuke? Not only did Moses convict
Aaron of sinning, he convicted him of bringing sin upon the people. Aaron did what Adam did—he led all the people
into sin; he brought so great a sin upon them. Christ comes in the power of the Holy Spirit
and makes his child know personally—“thou art the man!”
Our
first response is like Aaron’s. This is
what Adam did, too, he blamed his wife and blamed God for giving him his wife. But notice Moses does not press him. He does something far better.
CHRIST
MAKES US TAKE SIDES WITH GOD AGAINST OURSELVES
Exodus 32: 25: And when
Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their
shame among their enemies:) 26: Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and
said, Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves
together unto him.
This is what Christ does
when he converts us in the first hour and in every hour that he turns us from
sin. Christ makes us take sides with God
against ourselves. This is the great question,
“Who is on the LORD’s side?”
Instead
of making Aaron confess one particular sin—instead of making the sons of Levi
confess individual sins—he made them confess all they are is sin. When Christ makes us publicly confess that we
are on the Lord’s side, we are confessing I am sin. I have never done anything but sin—outwardly,
inwardly. All my righteousness’s are sin. All my religious deeds are sin. All my former religion was only sin and only
made others sin. Taking sides with the
Lord is taking sides against everything we are by nature and everything we have
ever done. It is a public cry to God
before all that:
Psalm 51: 3: I
acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4: Against
thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that
thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou
judgest.
CHRIST MAKES US
CONSECRATE OURSELVES TO HIM
Exodus 32: 27: And he
said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by
his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay
every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.
28: And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell
of the people that day about three thousand men. 29: For Moses had said, Consecrate
yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his
brother; that [GOD] may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
Moses commanded them use their
sword and slay their nearest and dearest loved ones—every man his brother,
and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.” What is typified here?
Consecration to Christ is
more than publicly saying we are on the Lord’s side—it comes with a price. He calls us to deny our own sinful selves—that
is the picture in these closest loved ones.
Christ calls us to deny our nearest loved ones. He calls us to deny our former religious
companions. Why? Christ must have the preeminence in our
hearts. There can be no competition, no
compromise, Christ must be All!
Matthew 10: 32: Whosoever therefore shall confess me
before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33: But
whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which
is in heaven. 34: Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not
to send peace, but a sword. 35: For I am come to set a man at variance against
his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law
against her mother in law. 36: And a man’s foes shall be they of his own
household. 37: He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me:
and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38: And he
that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39: He
that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake
shall find it.
Luke 14: 26: If any man come to me, and hate not his
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and
his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Men are fond of saying, “I
was saved in freewill, works religion.
But later I came to the doctrines of grace.” Christ makes us mortify that
sinful rebel when Christ becomes preeminent.
Those are folks who have not been consecrated in effectual power. They are protecting mom and dad and their golden
ox rather than confessing Christ. They
are protecting the companions they love more than Christ. They are protecting their own vain false
refuge of self—they love self rather than Christ!
The sword of the Spirit, the
word of God, the two-edged sword coming out of Christ’s mouth—the gospel of
Christ—cuts to the inner most thoughts and intents of the heart. He makes his redeemed honest and makes them deny
all for Christ!
Brethren, true repentance, true
consecration is a sinner takings sides with God against himself and his
nearest, dearest idols and companions and loved ones, even his own self. It is justifying God. Refusal to takes sides with the Lord is a
rejection of God’s word against us.
Luke
7:29: And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified
God, being baptized with the baptism of John. 30: But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God
against themselves, being not baptized of him.
Notice, out of 12 tribes only 1 sided
with the Lord. The sons of Levi were a
remnant amongst a multitude. Christ
brings us out in consecration to him and make us a remnant amongst a multitude.
2 Corinthians 6: 14: Be
ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15: And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel? 16: And what agreement hath the temple of God with
idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my
people. 17: Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18: And
will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the
Lord Almighty. 7:1 Having therefore these
promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Christ does this the first
hour but he also continues all our days when we are overtaken in sin. We never cease repenting and coming to Christ
consecrating ourselves to him. He alone makes
us to do so.
CHRIST MAKES US SEE HIS
CROSS FOR US
Exodus 32: 30: And it
came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a
great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an
atonement for your sin. 31: And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh,
this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. 32: Yet
now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — ; and if not, blot me, I pray
thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. 33: And the LORD said unto
Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34: Therefore
now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold,
mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will
visit their sin upon them. 35: And the LORD plagued the people, because they
made the calf, which Aaron made.
“Ye have sinned a great
sin!” Moses spoke this to the sons
of Levi who had been separated to Christ.
Christ makes his people, his elect, his remnant, see that we deserved the
sword of justice to slay us under the wrath of God for our great sin, the same as
every other idolater.
Sinner, do you realize
there is no difference between you and the vilest idolater right now in
yourself? You are as bad in your flesh
as the worst sinner. It is far worse
than even you think. There is no
difference between me and the most wicked, god-hating rebel on this earth? The only difference is Christ stood in the
breach between his elect and God.
We had to have forgiveness
with God of all our sins or we could never have communion with him. Therefore atonement had to be made for
our sins—a price had to be paid, justice had to be satisfied. Moses was not interceding for those who were
slain. He was not interceding for any of
those who continued in their rebellion.
Moses interceded only for those sons of Levi who he made to take sides
with God against themselves. Christ’s work
on the cross was not for everyone. The
reason some remain rebels while others bow is because Christ was and is
successful. Christ made atonement by
shedding his precious blood for the remission of our sins. For all God’s elect Levites, Christ took our
shame, all our shame, all our sins became his.
And he was made a curse for us. Then
Christ bore the sword of God’s wrath in our place, the fury of God’s wrath,
Zechariah 13: 7: Awake,
O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow,
saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd,…
Imagine the sorrow that day
when they slew 3000 of their nearest kin that day. That was nothing compared to the sorrow
Christ bore in your place and mine on the cursed tree.
Isaiah 53:4: Surely he
hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…
Christ bore our stinking,
vile, shameful sins. The sins that he
says we continue to drink like water everyday.
Isaiah 53: 4:…yet we
did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Next time you sorrow
because you gave yourself for one you love and they esteem you guilty as
charged, getting what you deserve, remember we did the same to Christ all our
days of rebellion and we do the same now.
Isaiah 53:5: But he
was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:
Instead of his people bearing the sword of justice,
Christ bore it on our behalf. Instead of
us being cut off from God, Christ bore it on our behalf. Here is Christ’s cry to the Father,
Psalm 22:1: My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from
the words of my roaring? 2 O my God, I
cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not;…7: All they that see me laugh me to
scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8: He
trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him,
seeing he delighted in him….12: Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls
of Bashan have beset me round. 13: They gaped upon me with their mouths,
as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14: I am poured out like water, and all
my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of
my bowels. 15: My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth
to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16: For dogs have
compassed me: the assembly of the wicked [whatever wickedness you are condemning
in someone else right now sinner—that is what he says you and me are, we were
the wicked] have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17: I may tell
all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18: They part my garments
among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19: But be not thou far from me, O
LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
Then God said, “Enough! Justice satisfied! My righteousness has been
declared in perfection!”—"and with his stripes we are healed.”
Now, as we sin the same
vile, wicked, idolatrous sins—even after we have been brought out of Egypt, even
after we have seen God destroy our enemies, still we worship our idol called “self”—but
Christ stands before the Father on our behalf, saying, “Oh, this people have
sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive
their sin — ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which
thou hast written. And the LORD says unto [Christ], Whosoever hath sinned
against me, him will I blot out of my book.” But let me add what the Father says to
Christ, “But concerning these for whom you died, my Son—for whom you were forsaken,
they have not sinned against me. I have
no record. I remember their sins no more. I will never blot my righteous and holy
people out of the Lamb’s book of life because my Son blotted all their sins out
of the record books of sin!”
So God our Father graciously
commands his Son through his gospel saying, “Therefore now go, lead the
people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee.” He continues to correct us for our sins. He continues to protect us from all who sin
against us with his plagues. He does so
because he is a loving Father, a faithful Shepherd and we are righteous in him!
May he bless this word to
make us take up the sword of God’s word, slay our flesh and consecrate ourselves
to our great Redeemer, our Advocate, our Righteousness!
Amen!