THROUGH THE BIBLE - Deuteron..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse 1. And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the Lord and you at the time to declare to you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the fire and you did not go up into the mountain. He said, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourselves a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers, of the children, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God on it you shall do not do any work you or your son or your daughter or your male servants or your female servant, or your ox, or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. I know your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder, and you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, and you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. and you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.

These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness with a loud voice, and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. And you said, behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness. And we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire.

This day, we have seen God speak with man and man still live. Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, we shall die. For who is there of all the flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire, as we have and has still lived?

Go near him, and hear all the Lord our God will say, and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it. And the Lord heard your words when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, I have heard the words of these people, which they have spoken to you, and they are right in all that they have spoken. Oh, that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever. Go and say to them, Return to your tents, but you stand here by me and I will tell you the whole commandment and statutes and the rules that you shall teach them that they may do them in the land that I'm giving them to possess.

You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right and or the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess. Amen. Grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord remains forever.

Lord, we thank you for your word. the treasure that it is to our souls. We thank you, Lord, for this evening, for these few moments that you have given us, Lord, by extending our lives and allowing us to meet in this way, to open up this passage, even now, this passage in Deuteronomy, chapter 5, and to together, Lord, as your people, cleansed and washed by the blood of the Lamb, to meditate upon these words and, Lord, to meditate upon the eternal truths that are found within. I pray, Lord, that you would carry me by your Holy Spirit. Only that which comes out of my mouth may be consistent, may correspond with your word and the truth therein.

And your people who hear, Lord, I pray that they would embrace by faith. They would receive from you, not from mere man, but from you by your Holy Spirit. That you would feed our souls and change us from within. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Last week, we spent a few moments meditating together as a church on the previous chapter, Deuteronomy chapter 4. And if you recall back then, I said that the overarching detail or the overarching message that I really wanted your heart to receive from that chapter is this. that the only true God is a God who speaks. He's a God who's opened his mouth and has been pleased to speak his word. Now, remembering that this is the people of Israel, second generation, only weeks away from entering, crossing the Jordan and entering into the promised land to engage in battle with the Canaanites, a series of nations, Nations that serve and worship foreign gods.

That's what they're going to be confronted with. A people who have polytheism, many false gods and wicked practices in serving and worshipping these gods. Gods made from their own hands. God's made from stone and from wood and from metal. That's what these people are going to be confronted with, these people of Israel, these wicked nations known as the Canaanites.

They serve these gods who don't have a heartbeat. These gods who don't have breath in their lungs. These gods who are dumb and mute. But that's not the experience of the people of Israel with the only true God. Their experiences summarize really well, I think, in the 26th verse of the fifth chapter that is before us, where it is written, they heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire.

Yahweh is the living God. Yahweh, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. He's a God who is alive and He's a God who has opened His mouth and was pleased to speak to His people and give them His word. This is who Yahweh is. This is the only true God, the God of Israel.

And now Moses, once again, reminds these second generation people to look back, to look back at the events that took place at the mountain of God, at Sinai, or as Moses calls it, Mount Horeb. Look back. And then, again, he reminds them of the 10 words, or the 10 commandments that God spoke back then. He reminds them also that not only is this God, the only true God, a God who speaks, but as such, He is a God who demands that His people obey every word that He has spoken. And the careful reader would notice that as we work our way through the book of Deuteronomy, you'll come across many verbs that say listen and hear and do and obey and observe.

The God is not only a God that opens His mouth and speaks, but He expects His people to listen. The only right response from a creature to a Creator God who was pleased to open His mouth and give them His Word, His precepts, His statutes, His laws, His rules, is that one of obedience. Perfect obedience. Anything else is simple. Anything else is rebellion.

Now let's be clear. We have a wonderful chapter before us. To think that I'll be able to do any justice to what is written before us in the moments that we have would be arrogant on my behalf. But what we'll do instead, because this will require a certain sermon series to look through these wonderful words that are before us here in Deuteronomy chapter 5, but instead, rather than concentrate our efforts on the actual words for now, I want us to concentrate our efforts on the ones speaking the words. And in particular, I want us to concentrate our thoughts on the attitudes and the response of the people when they hear the God who speaks.

What is the attitude and what is the response of a people who hear the only true God, the living God, as Moses writes for us, who opens his mouth and is pleased to speak? So Moses says in verse 2, The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant. Now the fathers here, take note, is not speaking about their parents who died across the wilderness. Though the term fathers here and throughout the book of Deuteronomy, for the most part, refers to the patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

So remember that. Not with our fathers did our God make the covenant, but with us. We're all of us here alive today. The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain. Now this is the second generation of people.

We remember that. It's been almost two decades since that the events took place out at Mount Sinai or Horeb. Most of these people who are now listening to Moses speak weren't even born when this happened. So how is it that Moses says he spoke to you? You're there.

You are who we hear alive today, he says. He's spoken to you. You were there face to face with God. Well, Beloved simply said, when God opened his mouth and made a covenant with these people that he rescued from Egypt, that covenant wasn't simply for the people who were standing there at the foot of the mountain. That covenant was made for the people of Israel.

That means for those who are still in the loins of those who are before them. This is for the generations to come until the Lord fulfills that covenant. Until He terminates that covenant. Until He brings it to an end by replacing it with a new and better covenant. That is, for the people of Israel, for the generations of this people.

And therefore, as Moses speaks, he said that even though it was your parents and most of you weren't there, the words spoken to them are spoken to you also. It's a covenant made to you, all who are alive here today. In fact, those words are actually exemplified here in verse 6, only two verses later, we see this reality because it reads, I am the Lord your God, who brought you, hear that, you, out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Now you can't see it in the English, but the you is not in the plural, you's, all of you, but in the singular. The Lord God, He says, He brought you in the singular, a people, the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

There is a unity here. There is a oneness, a covenantal oneness to the people of Israel. When God speaks to these people, those who are present and those who are still in their loins to come in future generations are spoken to. They are all encapsulated in this covenant made at Sinai. That means that if in 10 generations time, The people of Israel, these great, great, great, great, great grandchildren, if they disobey or if they obey God, they'll receive the covenant blessings.

They were there at Sinai, but they will still receive the covenant blessings. But if they disobey, there is no excuse. They'll receive the covenant curses. And that's why in the previous chapter, as we examined last week, Moses implores these people that they keep, not only they keep the statutes and the rules and the precepts and the commandments of God, but they have to teach them to their children and to their children's children. to continue to teach them of the covenant, of the word of God, of the stipulations that God has made for these people in the covenant, because there are no excuses.

Everyone born in this family is under the covenant that God has made. But I said to you, I briefly this evening, I only want to speak or concentrate our efforts to the response of the people as they were confronted with the God who speaks. So let's move our eyes to verse 22. Let's read the words here for about seven or six verses. out of the midst of fire, the clouds, and the thick darkness with a loud voice.

And he added, no more. That's after speaking the Ten Commandments. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me, Moses says, 23. And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. And you said, behold, the Lord, our God has shown us his glory and greatness.

And we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, we shall die.

For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire, as we have and has still lived? Go near and hear all the Lord our God will say and speak to us all that the Lord God will speak to you and we will hear and we will do it. Beloved brothers and sisters, let me ask you a question. What is the overarching emotion that's driving the words of the people of Israel in these words? Well, in these verses, what is the overarching emotion behind the words from their mouth to the prophet Moses?

What is that? What is the main emotion behind this? It is fear. Absolute fear is behind it. Fear that is driven deep into their bones.

Fear that is driven deep into their hearts. And rightfully so. Because then God says in verse 29, Oh, oh that they had such a heart as this always To do what? What are the next words? What are the next words?

To fear me and to keep all my commands that it might go well with them and with their descendants. The fear of the Lord is the right response. Let's not get that wrong. Back in Exodus chapter 20, That's the first time in our Bibles that we have been exposed to what is called the 10 words of the 10 commandments. Back then, when things were happening in real time, listen to the words of Moses in verse 20 of that chapter.

He says, now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpets and the mountains smoking, the people were afraid. The people were afraid and trembled. And they stood far off. And they said to Moses, You speak for us, and we will listen. But do not let God speak to us, lest we die.

Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you. Now that's a bit strange at first sight. Don't fear, but fear. Don't fear. Don't fear.

Don't fear the awesome display. Don't fear the cloud and the fire and the thunderings and the rumblings. Don't fear those manifestations. Fear God himself. Fear the person and who he is.

Fear the thrice holy God who cannot look upon sin and unrighteousness, which is what all you are, as well as myself. Fear him. have a reverential fear, not for the manifestations, but for the person, the being himself. Fear God. The fear of God must always be in the heart of God's people.

Why? What's the reason that Moses gave? That God, he says, fear God so that what? You may not sin. That's what he says.

Fear him. so that you may not sin. Moses is giving these people, once again, the Ten Commandments. Beloved, there are critical elements that we will look into next week of what is involved in obeying that which God has spoken. But here he's saying, you fear the Lord.

And that's the right response. A reverential fear. You see, in Romans chapter 3, a passage that we all have come to know, Romans 1 and 2, is an indictment of all of creation, all of humanity, both Jew and Gentile, into what? Sin. Everyone is implicated in this deadly disease called sin.

Romans 3 now expresses the heart of the sinful nature. The sinful, unregenerated heart. You hear words like, no one does good, no one is righteous, or their mouths are open graves, and so forth. But then the Apostle Paul, in verses from 11 to 17 and verse 18, he gives a bit of a summary of the all of the above. What is the summary of the heart of the one who does not know God, of the natural man?

What is the summary? He says, There is no fear of God before their eyes. Being devoid of the fear of God is to be stamped and defined by sin and unrighteousness. It's to be wicked to the core. That's the root.

That's the root cause of sin against God, that man does not truly fear God for who he is. Because if He really did, then they would stand before Him, acknowledging who He is. They would stand before this thrice holy God. The One who, as I said earlier, cannot look upon sin and unrighteousness. The One who is justice.

The One who is beauty. The One who is righteousness. The one who is only pure. The one who knows no sin. And in his holiness and in his purity and in his righteousness, the contrast between this holy God and what I see in myself becomes oh so obvious.

And quickly, what comes to the heart of man is this. I'm unworthy. I'm crushed. How can I stand before a holy God like this? Knees begin to tremble and you cry out, no more, no more.

It may be best expressed in the words of the prophet Isaiah, the passage we're probably all thinking about right now. In Isaiah chapter six, you remember the words of Isaiah when he was confronted with the presence and the word of the living God. Woe to me. For I am lost, ESB. I am undone, some other translations, but literally, I am destroyed.

I am cut off. This is a cause for me to cease. I am obliterated before this thrice holy God. For I am a man of unclean lips, he goes on to say, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, the lord of hosts. Oh, how unworthy I am to stand in your holy presence, O God.

When I see you for who you are, when I hear your voice, I recognize that I am in immediate danger. I should perish. I should waste away. Apart from your mercy, I will perish. And the people of Israel here know it.

And that's the expression of their mouth both in Exodus chapter 20 and here in Deuteronomy chapter 5 when Moses is recollecting what that generation said back then. When confronted with the fear of God, the soul, the soul knows, knows who it is. Knows the depravity and the uncleanness and the sinfulness. And before the glory and the beauty and the purity of God, they immediately recognize the filth that they are before this wonderful God. And the only response is one to be in trembling fear.

And Peter was confronted with Yahweh in the flesh. This is what he said in Luke chapter 5. He fell to his face, we're told. Before him, the incarnate died. And he says, depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

The fear of God, Peter recognized. The fear of God, Isaiah recognized. The fear of God, the people of Israel recognized that truth also. And they cried out, we're dead if we hear another word from his mouth. Moses, Moses, you intermediate for us.

We need a mediator. That's what they cried out. Without a mediator, we will be destroyed. We will perish. Moses, You stand in between us and God, we are unworthy.

Moses, you mediate on our behalf. Is that an overreaction, do you think? Not at all. Because God says in verse 28, I've heard all that these people have spoken and they are what? Look at your Bibles.

What does God say? I've heard what these people have spoken and they are what? They are right in what? All that they have spoken. That's right.

No one can stand in the presence of God and remain alive. And they acknowledged it with their own mouths. The fact that they did was immense mercy from a holy God. But he recognized the fear of the God that was placed in their heart, that they are unworthy. They are just like Isaiah, people of unclean lips.

And they deserve to be crushed. So God provided for them a mediator. But this mediator was but a shadow. by the shadow. How do we know that?

God used him and he was mighty and he was faithful in the purpose. But Moses, as we saw last week and the week before, Moses could not cross over into the promised land because his mediation was good but he was not perfect. Because Moses was a sinner and Moses needed himself a mediator before a holy God. Remember, nothing unholy, nothing impure, no sin can stand before a holy God. It will be crushed under the weight of his righteousness.

Moses was but a mediator, pointing to the perfect mediator to come. He was a shadow. Then we're told, fast forward to the New Testament, we're told in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5, for there is one God. And there is one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. Moses was a mediator of the old covenant, but he couldn't be the full and final mediator of the people of God.

Because his life came to an end and the people went on without him. When Moses approached God for the first time in Exodus chapter 3, do you remember? Do you remember what God said to him in the burning bush? He said, Moses, take off your sandals because the ground you step on is holy ground. You're in the presence of God.

So who is this mediator that is worthy to go into the presence of God? We sang it early on. You alone are worthy. Jesus Christ is worthy. He's the only one worthy.

Because the mediator needed to be both God and man. The one who fully experienced the human experience. Took on a reasonable body and a reasonable soul. And the one who is eternally God. The one who can mediate on behalf of God, on behalf of man.

And the one who reconciled man to God. And forever reconciles man to God. Because he will never die. Death could not eat him. Died once, resurrected from the death, and death could not hold him.

He died to sin and he died to death. Beloved brothers and sisters, there is no other. There is no other. You and I cannot stand in the presence of God without being crushed under the weight of his glory, unless we are found in Christ, unless we're hid in Christ, unless we're united in Jesus Christ, the eternal mediator of God's people, the one who reconciles us to God, praise be. He's not in this prayer.