ARCC Sermons

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February 9th

Our Bible reading for today is in Exodus chapters 30,31,32.

What does it mean when scripture speaks of something or someone “being most holy to the Lord?”

Our text today says that Aaron would anoint the corners of the incense altar, once a year, with blood from a burnt offering....”

Making the incense altar “most holy to the Lord”. The word holy is related to the word “saint”.

The apostle Paul called all believers in Christ, saints. What did he mean? He meant that all who believe Jesus are “set apart” for God’s use only....not for our own use, but for God’s...

The apostle Paul also taught the believers in Thessalonica that it was the will of God for them to be “sanctified”...that is: made holy unto God...set apart for God’s use...not God’s use and someone else's use, just God’s ....at home, at work, at school, at play, at church.

So, once a year, Aaron went through a ritual to remind himself and all the other priests that the furnishings related to the tabernacle were “most holy to the Lord”. Set apart for God’s use only.

So Aaron would say to his fellow priests, be careful to never allow the tabernacle or it’s furniture to be used for any other purpose, but God’s.

Remember, God chose Israel and his descendants to be His treasured ones..His people by God’s grace and the God-given faith of the people.

God made them holy.

So the tabernacle and the furnishings and the priests and the sacrifices...were to be constant reminders to the congregation of Israel that they, in covenant relationship with God, had been made most holy unto the Lord. So set your mind and heart to live that way...to the glory of God.

Listen to the lyrics of a song by my friend, Scott Underwood Holiness...I just wish he was here to sing it...

Holiness, holiness is what I long for...Holiness is what I need...Holiness, holiness is what you want from me.

So take my heart, God

So take my heart and form it

Take my mind transform it

Take my will conform it

To Yours, to yours o Lord!

Now to the next part of the text...

Before the work on the tabernacle was started, God chose a talented man to oversee it. That sounds reasonable....but something else impressed me most.

“ I filled him with the Holy Spirit,” God said.

God was saying...”I filled the sails of his life with my wind...so that he will go in the direction of my blowing”.

And God gave all available men and women in the congregation abilities that could be used to build the tabernacle.

So, God was choosing to use Spirit-filled leadership and the availability of congregational members to build the tent of meeting for the worship of God. Sounds like a good recipe for success.

But not good enough.

You say “what happened”?

Well, that’s the rest of the story...

Have a great day.

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February 8th

Our Bible reading today is in Exodus chapters 28,29.

Today, I see one more visual aid to my growing understanding of God’s covenant with Israel and with me and you.

Please bear with my introduction...it’s not to conceal our text, but to reveal it...I hope.

God’s covenant with us (that is His promise to us) is huge.

God promised eternal life to us...which is His life...He promised us His life, not just a better one of ours.

God promised us His life... for us...taking the penalty of our sins upon his own body on the tree...so that we wouldn't have to die for our sins...

God promised us His life.... in us...the life of amazing fruitfulness...(listen to Jesus speak to this in John 15...” I am the vine and you are the branches, he that abides in Me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit.”) God promised...

And God promised us His life ...with us...which means that He will never leave us nor forsake us...no matter what...from here to heaven and back.

From the night of my conversion to Christ...the cross of Christ and His empty tomb became the “central visual aid” for my thanksgiving to God for His promise to save me from the penalty of my sin.

Today's reading offers us, I believe, another visual aid for thanking God for His covenant promise to His people.

I'll be right back...

Yesterday’s reading introduced us to the visual aid of the Tabernacle, its very presence...in the middle of the camp...said “God’s presence here”...”Central to who we are!” loud and clear.

Even its furnishings spoke the message of God’s covenant with Israel..”You are going to be my people...and I am going to be your God”...”

“I Am” has made provisions for your true worship of Me and your daily fellowship with the congregation.

For instance, true worship began with a covering for sin. That’s why a lamb’s lifeblood was shed on the altar, in the court of the tabernacle, to cover the sins of the approaching worshiper.

Without the shedding of blood, there was no remission of sin, and without that blood covering, there was no reasonable service of worship.

So God provided the altar as the doorway to a worship relationship with Him. And God would also provide a beautiful picture of preparation for community worship.

The priests would dip their hands in the water of the brass laver that stood before the entrance of the tabernacle. Then they would touch their head, their heart, their hands and their feet...dedicating all of their life to serving God by serving His people.

God put a laver of clean water before the tabernacle to remind priests and congregation that worship was singular and in community. Unrighteous thoughts, feelings, and actions toward one another must be put away, must be cleansed...for if not they would disqualify themselves as true worshipers of God...and be a stumbling block for other’s worship of God.

They must forgive each other...and they must be willing to ask for forgiveness when they have hurt another.

Yes ...even the priests in their daily work were a visual aid to worshipping Israelites in covenant with God and each other.

Today’s reading reveals God’s instructions about the office and function of the priesthood. All of which was related to the worship of the one true God who, like Moses sang, “reigns over all the earth.”

Yes, Today’s passage about the priesthood is one more overhead projection, one more smartboard presentation, and one more multiple screen video in vivid technicolor, of Jesus...the tabernacle with us...the priest who intercedes for us to the Father even now...and the perfect sacrifice to cover our sins and give us eternal life. Awesome savior

Have a great day

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February 7

Our Bible reading today is in Exodus chapters 25,26,27.

Today we are still camped at the foot of Mt Sinai with the congregation of Israel.

Moses is still on the mountain with God. God is giving him detailed instructions about a “mobile sanctuary” to be built for the purpose of the worship of God.

In the years to come, around 40 of them, people would pass by the different encampment sights of Israel in the wilderness.

Rabbi’s say...% that they would see the cloud...they would see the fire in the sky above the “tented-palace” and would ask out loud, “What’s that?”

The older travelers would respond, “That’s the house of Israel’s God...the God who defeated all of “MIGHTY EGYPT.”

Wow...I kind of think...that if I was passing through that way, I believe that I would at least respect the place, and perhaps even give serious consideration to finding out more about such a powerful God.

Well, just like God came down on the mountain to meet with His people at Sinai, He would come all the way down on this tabernacle every year...not for the giving of the law, but to atone for the sins of the people who had broken the covenant laws that year.

Now to today’s text...

Question.....Who was going to build the Tabernacle? This House of God?

Answer....The people of Israel! They would fund it and build it, inside and out, through their own personal resources.

This “tent of meeting”, which is translated “tabernacle,” would be a rectangular structure...framed in with acacia wood...45’ long...15’ wide...and 15’ tall.

The grounds outside, just adjacent to the tabernacle, were called the “court of the tabernacle.” That’s where the common people would gather for worship regularly and specially.

Now, do you remember in our earlier Exodus readings how the people were warned not to go on the mountain...or even touch it?....in order to meet God?

They needed a representative to intercede for them for God’s favor. That representative was Moses.

Now...think of the tabernacle...placed at the center of two million Israelites encamped in the wilderness of Sinai...

...Could the people just go right into the tabernacle to worship and fellowship with God?

No!

They would need a representative to intercede for them for God’s favor. Those representatives would be the priests of Israel.

They would aid Moses in teaching the people the law outside the tabernacle. ##But primarily, they assisted Aaron in pleading to God on behalf of the people...and they would do that inside the House of God...another name for the tent.

So, let’s get this straight...the Israelite people could not get to God...on the mountain...or in the Tabernacle...on their own...They had to have someone go for them.

O what a foreshadowing of the ministry of our Saviour Jesus. We couldn't get to God on our own. So Jesus came all the way down to earth for the purpose of getting sinners to God. That happened at the cross that He suffered and died on...1500 years after Mt Sinai and the Tabernacle.

Right before Jesus died in our place, He cried “it is finished”....that moment, the veil in the Temple, that separated the people from God in the Holy of Holies, was rent into two pieces...opening the way for believing sinners to see and know and worship up close, the God of their salvation...THANK YOU JESUS!

Have a great day

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February 6th

Our Bible reading for today is in Exodus chapters 22,23,24.

The people of Israel knew where Moses was. They watched from afar as Moses made his way to the slopes of Sinai. The fathers and mothers were, I’m sure, trying to explain what their children were seeing.

You can imagine the questions.

“Is that mountain a volcano that is about to explode?”

“Are the elders going with Moses?”

“Is God going to hurt us?”

“I thought you said that no one could see God and live. Is Moses going to die?”

“Is this the promised land?”

Is God in the fire and smoke?”

“What do you mean we can't touch the mountain or we will die?”

“I'm afraid...God is scary.”

We know that toward the end of the Exodus record, the Bible says that Moses spent 40 days and nights on the mountain with God. Some suggest that number of days were consecutive days and nights. Others say Moses went up and came down several times in that 40-day span.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over that discussion.

What we do know from today’s text is that God spoke to Moses on the mountain and Moses, sometime after that, he came down and told the people “all the words” (that is the 10 commandments) and many other rules for living.

The people responded, “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.”

By the way...how many times, in my Christian life, have I responded to God exactly like the congregation of Israel did at Sinai? Hundreds of times at least.

“O Lord...whatever You say, I'll do it...” only to find myself days later guilty and discouraged for disobeying Him. Praise God for 1 John 1:9...My father in law’s favorite verse...”If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”

So sometime after “this congregational” meeting, our text today says that God called Moses to come back...and bring Aaron Nadab Abihu and the 70 elders. Only Moses would come up to the Lord. The others would worship from afar.

Question: Why did Moses get to go on up the mountain and converse with God while the other elders did not.

Was Moses better than his leadership team? No!

Did the others just not love God enough? No.

Short answer: “God said so.”

Couldn't Moses worship from afar AND couldn't God speak to him from afar? Sure! So why did God have Moses to come closer? God said so.

He sovereignly put one above the others. They all had God-given significance and value. They all were privileged to worship God and do life with him. But God called and invited Moses. Short and simple.

Was Moses a good spiritual leader? I believe so...but he couldn't have influenced so many without the Godly men around him.

So what about those rules that God gave to the congregation?

They would give important parameters for the life of the new nation. But those same good rules could not give them eternal life. Only blood from the perfect sacrifice could do that...

And that is the rest of the story

Have a good day!

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February 5th

Our Bible reading today is in Exodus chapters 19,20,21.

It has been about four months and 200 miles since Moses and Israel left Egypt for the promised land.

The people have crossed the Red Sea...drank sweet water at the settlement called Bitter...and in the Wilderness of Sin, God added to His powerful and gracious work for His treasured ones by beginning to give the people quail every evening and mana every morning.

Days later they would reach Rephidim and now the congregation would grumble and quarrel with Moses about the lack of sufficient water.

At the instruction of God, Moses struck the “rock” at Horeb and water flowed from the rock for the people.

That had to be amazing...Horeb was a mountain made of massive stones...Moses struck it in the presence of the people.

Some must have said, “Why is he hitting a mountain? Why isn't he organizing a well digging crew?

And all of a sudden, the mountain’s belly opens up and freshwater flows to the people...God works again...we can visualize children splashing in it...women and men filling all kinds of containers with it...and others standing still, in awe of what Moses and God just did.

Now...God was fixing to do something else at Rephidim. He was about to use Israel’s farmers and shepherds and masons to win a decisive battle against a relentless enemy.

And His strategy?...have an old man with a stick sit on a mountainside overlooking the battlefield below...then have the old man raise the stick...as long as it is raised, Joshua’s men prevail in battle. And to make sure the stick is held high for Joshua and the men to see it and gain courage and strength in faith that God was with them...the strategy included two other men stationed on the mountainside with the old man...to raise his arms for him when he wearied from the exercise.

It wouldn't be the last battle...but God gave them a story to tell...and that story would encourage future warriors to fight for the glory of God.

And that brings us to the text for today.

Moses and the people have made it to Mt. Sinai. Here is where God calls Moses to the mountain. Here is where God gives ten words/10 commandments for Moses to give to the people.

Before we look at a few of the 10 commandments, let me tell you why the 10 commandments matter to me.

#1. They tell me something of what doing life with God looks like...such as...loving parents...loving neighbors...loving my spouse...loving God!

#2. They show me something of how different God followers are from the rest of the world...such as...loving the one true God...sacrificially loving my wife and kids....loving my neighbors...loving my church...and loving my parents.

Stay with me...the 10 commandments matter to me because...I love Jesus. And because I love Jesus I want to obey His commands...not so I can get saved, but because I already am saved.

Back to the text...God gave His words to Moses. And told Moses to give them to the people. And he did.

“Tell them that they shall have no other gods before Me.”

“Tell them that they shall not make any graven image to worship.”

“Tell them that they shall not take the name of the Lord their God in vain.”

“Tell them that they shall remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.”

“Tell them that they shall honor their father and mother.”

Tell them not to commit adultery...not to murder...not to steal...not to bear false witness against a neighbor...and not to covet what his neighbor has.

Were the people excited about God’s coming down to them? Let’s listen to a little bit more of the story before we are through...

“The mountain rumbled. Dark smoke and fire came down upon the mountain. It was God! And the people backed up and away...they trembled and were afraid that they might die by God’s hand that very day.

Now move forward...It was another day....a different mountain...and God showed up, not with laws that we had broken, that condemn us, but with grace that forgives us...

When did that happen? Well, that’s the rest of the story......

Have a great day!

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February 4

Our Bible reading today is in Exodus 16,17,18.

It will be obvious in our reading today that God is ever listening to His own...ever watching what we are doing as His witnesses, His servants...His children.

That truth can be comforting at times...and we praise Him for His alertness to our needs...knowing us so intimately...that He responds with ample help, and

sufficient grace ...to meet our needs right on heaven’s time...

even before we direct our sober prayers heavenward.

But sometimes...the fact that our God knows...everything...that I say and do ...that is disturbing.

But... that “disturbance” is a good thing...a GOD-THING.”

God sees when we are choosing to leave Him, for a little bit or for some time. And by the work of the Holy Spirit, “God disturbs” us, convicts us, to a “healthy fear/awe/and love of the Lord” that turns us back to Him...not just getting back to religious duty...but rather getting us back to rending our hearts instead of our cloaks.

NOW to the text...A little over a month into the exodus journey, we read that the “whole congregation of the people of Israel” grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness”...that was a congregation of over 600,000 Israelite men complaining about Moses and Aaron’s poor leadership.

That’s a lot of grumbling in church. Maybe the Pastor and his associate should have resigned...except, that wasn't in God’s plan.

Let’s listen and learn.

The Bible says that the people were thirsty and hungry. (Maybe the snacks for the kids were all gone and the “sweet water” of Mara was getting low.)

Just guessing.

And the congregation blamed Moses and Aaron for their uncomfortable condition.

Perhaps their stores were depleting...perhaps some had not been as disciplined in the wise consumption of the food they had brought from Egypt.

Or, more than likely, self-absorbed worry and anger was moving in to take the place...of faith in God’s providing.

“Been there...done that!”

SO...Moses firmly taught the people that their grumbling had been understood by God as “nothing less” than their calling “His faithfulness” into question.

Oh friends...May the fear of the Lord in us guard us always from accusing our Savior of unfaithfulness to us.

He has been more than faithful to you and me and ours...even when we were the unfaithful ones...He stepped up for us.. Praise His Name!

And what else could Moses and Aaron have said to those 600,000 who grumbled and questioned their motives?

“Did not God send me to be His instrument for deliverance? Did not God give Aaron to aid me in this redemptive work? Isn't God still leading the Israelite procession with His cloud by day and His fire by night?

And were we God’s appointed servants for this part of His work with His people? Yes!

Not perfect servants...absolutely not....but entirely God’s...for His use only.

They had put themselves “out there” for the people. Moses and Aaron had left their spouses and children to come to Egypt...Which was not a “Jewish friendly” place to be.

...and yet...

They were willing to intercede for Israel before Pharoah...who had already proven to be arrogantly and murderously against the Israelite people. But God’s servants walked right into the way of danger for the sake of their countrymen and the glory of their faithful God.

What a picture of a great deliverer Moses makes. But better still...what a great Foreshadowing of the greatest deliverer...Jesus Christ...the bread of life for the hungry...the refreshing water of life for the thirsty...Come eat...Come drink...I give eternal life...to those who believe me.

Enjoy the rest of the story.

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February 3rd

Our Bible reading today is in Exodus chapters 13,14,15.

“Moses said to the people. “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt...” 13:3

This was more than a request for Israel’s people to pay tribute to the God who saved them from Egyptian enslavement.

This was more than just giving God a place on the Jewish calendar. Surely such a salvation would call the people of Israel to make much of God. And celebrating God was good.

But when God had Moses to tell the people to “Remember this day”...He was saying...”Don't Forget IT”...use the remembrance of what happened on this day to strengthen you and your family’s faith ...

....and to help you meet and overcome the challenges that you most certainly will face on your journey from here.

Anything come to mind? Communion?...partaking of the Lord’s Supper? Yes...”

“Do this in remembrance of me...Jesus told His disciples...when you eat the bread and drink the cup, you show the value of my death until I come again.”

How valuable a death? Our eternal life, that’s all...”We remember Lord...and we don't want to forget You and the great salvation You bought for us at the cross.

Continuing in today’s text...

“When Pharoah let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, (even though that was the shortest route to the promised land )...God led them by way of the “wilderness” “on the way to the Red Sea.”” 13:17,18

God did not choose the shortest route to Canaan...He chose a longer way...He chose the wilderness way...instead of the Philistine way.

Why?

We read that perhaps the history associated with barbaric Philistia might have struck fear in Israel’s heart and they would have been tempted to turn back to Egypt.

I believe God was teaching His people lessons the whole way. I believe God was saying “My way is not always what you might expect.” I believe God was saying “You don't have to figure me out...just stay with me..I'm good at leading my people.”

Listen to the following...

“And Israel moved to the edge of the wilderness, and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud in order to show them the way....and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light.”

God was saying with the cloud and the fire...” Trust me...stay with me...I Am the Way!” (Exactly what Jesus said 1400 years later to the twelve.)

Continuing in today’s reading...

“Pharoah and his special forces followed the Israelites and caught up with them at the Red Sea...the Israelites cried to God and cursed Moses for bringing them to this place to be murdered by Pharoah.”

“Moses told the people that God would fight for them....they must only be quiet...And God told Moses...” stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it...I will get glory over Pharoah...and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” 14:14,16,17,18

God acts again on behalf of His people...even a people who doubted Him...a people who doubted that He would fulfill His promise to get them to the promised land.

What God does that for His servants?...for those who have nothing to benefit Him?

What God pours out His life of mercy and grace upon those who do not appreciate Him?

What God does that?

Our God...!!!

The Great “I Am all you will ever need” God...

Jesus Christ...who went on to take the “exodus deliverance” to the ultimate deliverance...saving all who believe Him, Jew and Gentile...not by way of the “Red Sea”, but by way of the “blood-red Cross.”

Enjoy the rest of the story friends

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February 2nd

Our Bible reading today is in Exodus chapters 10,11,12.

God has sent 7 plagues upon Egypt so far...and Pharoah continued to refuse to let the people go.

God spoke to Moses. “I have hardened Pharoah’s heart against your request...so that...

I may show my signs/wonders among the people of Egypt...

God had predetermined that a full cup of His righteous judgment would be seen and felt all across the “man worshipping” Egypt...all ten judgments!

Obviously, the judgments were not obscure. They were neither small nor hard to recognize...water turned to blood everywhere...millions of frogs everywhere...gnats, flies, diseased cattle, everywhere...sores, and running boils on everyone, everywhere...hail beat down vegetation in the fields and orchards, everywhere....and there are three more judgments to read about...the worst saved for last...everywhere throughout Egypt.

Nothing was left to chance! God was sovereignly at work.

I have wondered on occasion how many Egyptians repented and turned from worshipping Pharoah to worship the true God of Israel? That would have been a great part of the story...

EXCEPT for one thing...

The Exodus was all about God’s glorious redemption of His chosen vessel, Israel....the son of promise.

God would make sure Israel would know, going forward, that He was their God and they were His people.

God also told Moses that there was another reason for His terrible judgments in Egypt...He was giving Israel a story to tell to their children and their grandchildren...a story of God’s presence, power, and deliverance so that their children would know without a doubt that their Lord...He was and is God.

Oh, friends...let us not miss this...what God is doing in our midst today is not to be forgotten.

God has worked in mighty ways so that... we will have a story to tell tomorrow...especially to our families so that they will be strengthened spiritually for whatever comes.

One more part of the text in the podcast today...”Thus says the Lord, (Moses speaking to Pharoah on behalf of God) “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go that they may serve me.”

Remember, we are reading the Bible text that God wrote for us who believe Him.

It is my belief, that what God did in hardening Pharoah’s heart did not erase his personal responsibility to the God who made him. Long before Moses stood before the head of Egypt, the Pharoah owed God his life of worship. But Pharoah chose to be God instead of submitting to the one true God.

So after 7 plagues in the land...7 rejections by Pharoah...God STILL extends another opportunity for Pharoah to turn to Him.

So how does the hardening by God go with His invitation?

I believe...along with Spurgeon, Calvin, and MacArthur...that what we see here is God’s grace operating in parallel with His sovereign purposes.

God purposed to pour out all of His judgments upon Egypt. AT THE SAME TIME...He offered grace for humility and repentance to the hardened Pharoah. Questions?...Me too...

But let us remember, He’s God. And we are not. His Word says that His ways are far above our own...especially above our own understanding at times. Surely we will understand it more completely by and by.

Thank You, Jesus...You are the Word!