THROUGH THE BIBLE - Exodus 1..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Exodus chapter 19. I'm going to be reading from the English Standard Version of the Bible.

Let's pay much attention to each one of the words and read carefully with reverent hearts. This is the Word of God. On the third new moon, after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain.

While Moses went up to God, the Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel, You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasure possession among all peoples. For all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. So Moses came and called the elders of the people and said before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him.

All the people answered together and said, All that the Lord has spoken, we will do. And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe you forever. When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, the Lord said to Moses, Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them watch the garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people and be ready for the third day.

For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai Again, sorry. "...in the sight of all people. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death."

Verse 13. "...No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot. Whether beast or man, he shall not live." When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.

So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, Be ready for the third day. Do not go near a woman. On the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast. and that all the people in the camp tremble.

Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like a smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord, to Luke, and many of them perish. Also, let the priests who come here to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them. And Moses said to the Lord, The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it. And the Lord said to him, Go down and come up, bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priest and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.

So Moses went down to the people untold them. This is the word of the Lord. Amen. Now, brothers and sisters, here we have a very important passage as we are approaching to Exodus Chapter 20. Exodus Chapter 20 is a very, very important chapter in which the Lord is going to give what we know as the Ten Commandments.

But here in Chapter 19, brothers and sisters, this is very important. The people of Israel are approaching to Mount Sinai. They are entering into Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. And this Mount Sinai is going to be a very important place, not only geographically, but also in theology and in doctrine. Every time that the place Sinai comes to your mind, there is a concept that has to come with it, and that is the concept of obedience and the concept of the law.

That is what the apostles in the New Testament speak of Mount Sinai and everything that is related to Mount Sinai. So if you go to Galatians chapter 4, we see here in Galatians chapter 4, the perfect example in which an apostle by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speak to us about what Mount Sinai, this place where the people of Israel are, represents in theology and in doctrine for the Christian Church. In Galatians chapter 4, the Apostle Paul is speaking of this. In verse 22, chapter 4, verse 22, he is going to give us the allegory of Hagar and Sarah. And pay attention to what the Apostle is going to do, verse 22 in chapter 4.

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now, this may be interpreted allegorically. These women are to covenant speaking of Hagar and Sarah, Sarah of the promise and Hagar of the flesh. Now it says, one is from Mount Sinai, that is Hagar, bearing children for slavery.

She is Hagar, it says there. Now verse 25, read it carefully. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother, speaking of the promise."

So, brothers and sisters, Mount Sinai is a very important place that every time that we think about it, if you're going to get something from this time that we spent together, is that every time that we mention Mount Sinai from this pulpit or Moses, that is equivalent to the obedience of the law. In the example that Apostle Paul has given us, he's speaking of Sarah and Hagar came very long before Moses entering into Mount Sinai. It is the obedience to the law that in Abraham it was in circumcision, but now with Moses in Mount Sinai is going to be in the Ten Commandments, in the covenant given to the people of Israel. This is vital and this is very important because now God is entering into a covenant with the people of Israel that is a covenant of obedience. It's a covenant of obedience to the law.

The people of Israel were supposed to obey the commandments of the law and by obeying the commandments of the law, they would have received the covenantal blessings that God had promised. That's why in the chapter that we have here, when the people come into Mount Sinai, in verse 5 says, in verse 4 says, you yourselves had seen what I did. The Lord is speaking to the people through Moses. You yourselves had seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, says verse 5.

Now, therefore, if You will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant. You shall be my treasure possession among all peoples for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. This is Sinai, which is equivalent to obedience to the law.

Now, brothers and sisters, the law is very important in the relationship between men and God, because by not meeting the standard of righteousness of God, men cannot enter into the presence of a holy God. And this is what we see in this chapter. In this chapter, we see that God is speaking to the people of Israel always, through Moses. And it seems that Moses is the messenger, not only taking the message from God to the people, but also from the people to God. And this is speaking of this intermediary work of Moses as the one who is bringing the standard of righteousness of the law from God to the people.

This is portraying this picture in which a holy God cannot approach and be in the presence of sinful humans. nor it's impossible for a holy and perfect God to be in the immediate presence of sinful humans. And for that reason, he is given to Moses, the intermediary. All of these commandments say that people may not come to the mountain. They may die if they come to the mountain.

That's why law or obedience is very important. Obedience is the regulator now, from now on, between the relationship of the people of Israel and God. Israel will not be able to enter into the presence, immediate presence of God, apart from the fulfillment of the requirements of the law. Praise God, because this is a type, this is a shadow, this is a type, not only the law, but also Moses is a glorious type, because the same Paul, if you go to Romans chapter 10, is going to tell us and is going to explain to us the meaning of the law and the righteousness of the law that is given to Israel in Manzana, in Moses, compared with the person of Jesus Christ. So then if you go to Romans chapter 10, and then you read carefully, it's only one verse, but now I'm just going to read more than one verse, sorry.

Let's just read from verse 1, so that we understand this section. Chapter 10, verse 1, it says, Brothers, my heart desires and prayer to God for them, that is for Israel, is that they may be saved, that is physical Israel, for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Verse 3, for being ignorant of the righteousness of God. This is speaking to the people of Israel and seeking to establish their own righteousness. They did not submit to God's righteousness.

Now pay attention to verse 4. Because Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. But then he's going to continue explaining this statement that he had just made. Verse 5, For Moses, the one that was in Mount Sinai, given the law to the people of Israel, writes about the righteousness that is based on the law. that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.

But the righteousness based on faith," verse 6, says, do not say in your heart, who will ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down. Or who will descend into the abyss? That is to bring Christ up from the dead. But what does it say?

The word is near. You're in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes, and it is justified, that is righteous, is made righteous, and with the mouth one confesses, and is saved.

Brothers and sisters, What we have by the providence of God, working through history, is bringing the people of Israel to Mount Sinai as a type of the law and the obedience that is pointing towards the person of Jesus Christ, who is born under the Mosaic law, fulfills all of the requirements of the law, and Christ himself becomes the end of that law unto righteousness, the righteousness that is necessary for a human to enter into the presence of God. So, under the old covenant, the Israelites could not enter into the immediate presence, other by the ministry of the priest. But under the new covenant, because Christ has entered into the Holy of Holies as the forerunner, He has entered on behalf of the people of His church, He has completed all the requirements, righteous requirements of God. And therefore, it is not more for obedience to the law, but it is by faith in Christ who fulfilled the requirements of the law. It is not that God is just putting the requirements of the law under the carpet.

It is that the requirements of the law have been fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. And then when by grace, through faith, we are united to him, We are inserted into His body, and then with Him we are made one, and we enter into the Holy of Holies. And then the Holy Presence of God cannot destroy us, not because of the righteousness that we have in and of ourselves, but because of the righteousness of Christ, that neither Moses nor the people of Israel could obtain in their own efforts. They were pointing towards the Messiah that was to come, and praise God, because then the New Testament speaks that Christians are the holy priesthood, that we are the holy nation, that we are the chosen, the peculiar people of God that have entrance, or that we can enter into the holy presence of God. Not only enter, but it says, with boldness.

with certainty, Hebrews chapter 4. And that is the promise that we are to apprehend by faith, brothers and sisters, that every time that we come to this place and every time that we live our Christian life, it is not by works anymore, but it's by the works of Christ operating in us by His grace, producing in us Christ's likeness and bringing us to Him. Our works, even when we are saved, are filthy rags before God. It is only the works of Christ imputed to us by faith, the ones that make us acceptable and precious in the sight of God. This is the glorious gospel of salvation, and that may be true for all of you who are within the sound of my voice.

Amen.