Series: Exodus
Title: True
Worship
Text: Ex 34:
18-27
Date: Nov 22,
2020
Place: SGBC,
NJ
Exodus 34: 27: And the LORD said
unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have
made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
Subject: True Worship
Proposition: In this old covenant carnal worship, we see a type
of new covenant spiritual worship. We
see here a shadow of how God brings his child into the everlasting covenant of
grace. God revealed to Moses his glory—a
sinner’s salvation begins when God reveals his glory in the face of Christ
Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4: 6: For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The result was Moses hit his
face and begged mercy from God—that is what we do when the Spirit reveals
Christ in us.
Then God said, v10:
Behold I make a covenant. God wrote
the old covenant on tablets of stone. But
when God reveals Christ in us, he writes the everlasting covenant of grace on
our hearts—the [everlasting, new covenant] law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus makes us free from the [old covenant] law of sin and death.
In verses 10-17 we see Christ
is Jealous for his bride. He conquers
the enemy of our flesh, purging our conscience, separating us from our old idolatrous,
carnal works that we once called worship.
He makes us chaste virgins in him and we submit to him alone.
Then the Spirit of God teaches
us 7 statutes—the number of completion—this pictures spiritual worship of
Christ in spirit and in truth through faith. This was their worship: it was carnal; it
typified Christ in ceremony as they assembled together; it pictures our
spiritual worship as we assemble to behold Christ and glory in him. We no longer need the shadows and types for
we have Christ—we have the completed scriptures. We have looked at each of these in detail
before; today we will look at each briefly to see that together they picture
true, spiritual worship.
THE FEAST
Exodus 34: 18: The feast
of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened
bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month
Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
When born of God, by faith,
we begin feasting upon Christ. We do so
the rest our days. The feast of
unleavened bread began in the first month of the Jewish year which was their beginning,
the first month the Lord delivered them out of Egyptian bondage through the
Passover lamb. This feast began the day
after Passover. God’s gift of life and
faith in Christ follows the finished work of Christ our Passover on the cross. All who Christ redeemed by blood shall be
regenerated to life and live by Christ our Bread alone. We saw it Thursday night.
Galatians 3:13: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us:…14: That the blessing of Abraham might
come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of
the Spirit through faith.
Spiritual
life begins when God reveals in our hearts Christ our Passover, sacrificed for
us—who delivered his people from spiritual bondage
This feast lasted 7
days—completion—it began on a sabbath day and ended on a sabbath day. The day God brings us to faith in Christ we begin
to rest in Christ by faith. We live by
faith in Christ until our life ends with rest in glory with Christ.
From the first day until the
last we live by faith feasting upon Christ our Unleavened Bread—our unleavened,
sinless Savior bore the sin of his people away so that by him we are
unleavened, without sin, righteous, which means we live by his Life.
Romans 8: 10: If Christ
be in you, the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness!
John 6:53: Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye
have no life in you. 54: Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath
eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55: For my flesh is meat
indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56: He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh
my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
We
are unleavened: without sin, righteous in Christ. So we live by faith feasting upon Christ our
Unleavened Bread in sincerity and truth.
By the Spirit mortifying our flesh, we put off the old man with his
self-righteousness, malice and wickedness.
1 Corinthians 5: 7: Purge out therefore the old
leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our
passover is sacrificed for us: 8: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old
leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
GLORY TO OUR REDEEMER
Exodus 34: 19: All that openeth the matrix is mine;
and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is
male. 20: But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if
thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn
of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear
before me empty.
Through faith in Christ, the Son of God, we give all
glory to Christ who redeemed us and in whom we approach God our Father.
All God’s elect are
represented by “the ass.” It was an
unclean animal. The law demanded our
necks be broken in justice because we had broken God’s law. But Christ the Lamb redeemed us by dying in
our place under the law. He bought us. So when born-again of the Spirit of God, we are
born as God’s firstlings: God says, “they are all mine!” I bought you, I redeemed you, thou art mine.
God says, “And none shall
appear before me empty.” We assemble
together to appear before God bringing nothing of our hands. We appear full and complete in Christ our
Redeemer. Coming in Christ alone
we give Christ all the glory
SABBATH REST
Exodus 34: 21: Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh
day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
By faith in Christ, we rest
from all our vain works, having peace with God.
Christ is our Sabbath Rest. Christ
finished all the works of the law for us.
We rest in Christ by faith. Our
rest in Christ is having Peace with God.
Hebrews 4: 3: For we which have believed do enter into
rest
Romans 4: 1: Being justified, by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
“In earing time and in
harvest”—even as we do the good works which Christ produces in us, we rest
in Christ, putting no confidence in any work we do, only in him.
Philippian 3: 3: For we are the circumcision: which
worship God in Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the
flesh
THE FEAST OF PENTECOST
Exodus 34: 22: And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of
the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s
end.
Believing Christ is the Head
of his church, we preach Christ crucified, trusting Christ to gather his people
through the Holy Spirit. That is what we
have pictured here. The feast of weeks
was the feast held at harvest-time: fifty days after the feast of firstfruits—hence
the name “Pentecost.”
When
Christ finished the work of redeeming his elect, he arose to God’s right hand. On this very day of Pentecost, he showed us
exactly what it typified. Christ poured
out his Spirit upon his apostles who preached the gospel of Christ crucified, risen
as both Lord and Christ, the successful Savior.
Through the gospel Christ harvested 3000 of his redeemed, bringing them
to faith in him.
Acts 2: 33: Therefore being by the right hand of God
exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he
hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 34: For David is not ascended
into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on
my right hand, 35: Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know
assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both
Lord and Christ.
So
believing Christ is Head—Lord and Christ—we preach Christ and wait on Christ to
add to the church daily such as should be saved. He gathers the harvest.
Isaiah 43:5: Fear not: for I am with thee: I will
bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; 6: I will say to
the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth; 7: Even every one that is called
by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have
made him.
PUBLIC WORSHIP OF CHRIST
Exodus 34: 23: Thrice in
the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
24: For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders:
neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before
the LORD thy God thrice in the year.
Christ being our life, by
faith we arrange our lives around the worship of Christ. Three times in the year the males were to drop
everything in their lives, leave their farms and families and go to the place
of public worship to appear before the Lord God. Doing so they proved they believed God was
the LORD God—their covenant God—who would keep his promise. God cast out the enemy before them and
enlarged their borders so that they lived a long distance from God’s ordained
place of public worship. But when they
left their farms and family behind, God controlled the hearts of their enemies
so that no man desired their land
Brethren, we need to
remember this in these days of pandemics and public outcry. God rules the hearts of the enemy as well as
the germs. God commands we arrange our
lives around the worship of his Son. If
we believe him then we shall let nothing hinder us from doing so. If these men went up three times in the year
and God did not let a dog wag his tongue against their families then we can be
sure God will protect you and me. By the
power of the Spirit of God, true faith does not arrange worship around our
lives. We do not fear the enemy: the
economy, the government, our finances, our jobs so as to forsake assembling
together.
Spurgeon told a story of a
man who said he always worked rather than assembling for worship because that
put him at least two days ahead of the church folk. Spurgeon said your arithmetic will not add up
when you meet God in the day of judgment.
If we believe our sovereign
Lord Jesus then we know he is the one who provides all for us in this life as
well as the life to come. So we arrange
everything around the worship of him.
Hebrews 10: 23: Let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is
faithful that promised;) 24: And let us consider one another to provoke unto
love and to good works: 25: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much
the more, as ye see the day approaching. 26: For if we sin willfully after that
we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice
for sins, 27: But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery
indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28: He that despised Moses’
law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29: Of how much sorer
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot
the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was
sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
NOTHING OF US
Exodus 34: 25: Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice
with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left
unto the morning…26…Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
By faith in Christ we add
nothing of us to Christ’s gospel or to his means of worship.
Any works of our own that we
attempt to add to Christ’s blood is leaven. It is sin. God rejects it. Therefore, we preach Christ is All and we rest
in Christ.
We are leaving nothing
until the morning because we need Christ to be all our salvation.
Therefore, we preach Christ
as all the salvation of his people—and add no man-made doctrines or methods or
commandments—lest we seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
FIRST OF FIRSTFRUITS
Exodus 34: 26: The first
of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy
God.
This is the sum of all. Faith gives Christ all preeminence. We give him the first of the firstfruits—the best
of all.
It please God that his Son
have all preeminence because it pleased God that in him all fulness dwells. To a believer Christ is Life, Righteousness,
Holiness, Redemption, the Way, the Truth, our Provider, our Healer, our Keeper,
our All. Everything we have spiritually
and temporally came from Christ’s abundance: good works, praise, money, time. He gave it all to us. When David offered so abundantly to build the
temple listen to him give Jehovah Jesus all preeminence.
1 Chronicles 29: 10: Wherefore
David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be
thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. 11: Thine, O LORD, is
the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty:
for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is
the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. 12: Both riches
and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is
power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give
strength unto all. 13: Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy
glorious name. 14: But who am I, and what is my people, that we
should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come
of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. 15: For we are strangers
before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the
earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. 16: O LORD our
God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy
name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.”
Romans 11: 35: Or who hath first given to him, and it
shall be recompensed unto him again? 36: For of him, and through him, and to
him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Amen!