Fearing The Lord? Series

Please open your Bibles to Exodus 20….. We read in verse 1, “God spoke……”! God gave the Israelites the 10 Commandments which are applicable to us today through Jesus Christ. Let us continue our worship of God by listening and learning from His Words in Exodus 20:18-26….

Let us summarize the story….

First of all, let’s briefly go back to…

Exodus 19:9-10….

God chose Moses to be a mediator for the people, but God presented Himself directly to the people.

Exodus 20:1-18 – after hearing God and seeing all His power manifested physically as well, the people trembled with fear and stayed at a distance from God!!

v19: the Israelites were so fearful that they thought they would die if God speaks to them again!

v20: What did Moses knew that the people did not comprehend??

God revealed Himself with power so that the people would trust and obey God!

v21: Why do you think that Moses seemed to have no fears? What was different between Moses and the rest?? Moses had matured in his faith and trust in God! We will note later that Moses actually had fears!

v22-26: God told Moses to tell the people:

a. God repeated the 2nd Commandment! You shall not make for yourself an idol to bow down to and worship. I wonder why God repeated Himself with that Commandment? God knew they were going to break this Commandment!

b. Make an altar of earth and sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

c. The proper humble worship God will be blessed; worship with pride or negligence of holiness will have consequences.

What Biblical Principles should we apply to our lives today? There are really a lot to think about from this simple passage….

1. Just as God called Moses as a mediator (a priest for people to connect with God), Christians today are God’s Royal Priesthood (1 Peter 2:9)! God revealed Himself to the Hebrews of old to encourage them to trust and obey Him alone!

2. Does God still reveal Himself today? How??

Do we truly make it a habit to daily look for God’s revelation?

We are to be aware of God’s daily revelations to encourage us to humble ourselves and to trust and obey Him!

Be still and know God! The more we know God the more we will be closer to God!

3. And like Moses, the more we grow in faith, the more comfortable we will be with God’s presence! What is our comfort level in yielding to God the Holy Spirit on a daily basis?

We are to grow our faith in God on a daily basis!

How do we grow our faith? First of all, turn with me to the New Testament in Hebrews 12:18-24…..

Moses worked hard for his faith but today growing our faith in God is really easier because we have Jesus Christ!

And so from Hebrews 12….

4. Our growing faith in God starts with our dependence on Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12)!

We are to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ everyday! See Jesus Christ every moment of the day!

And again did you notice that God repeated His Commandment to the Israelites about not having idol? Someone came up to me once about my messages and said I talk too much about Jesus Christ. Honestly, I was hurt at first then I realized that I must be doing the right thing to always bring up our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Ever wonder why it seems that God repeats the same message in Scriptures?

5. We today are just like the Israelites of old, even though God has told us something multiple times, we still don’t do it! James 1:22….. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Let us be doers of God’s Word!

And have we heard this before?

6. God looks at our humble hearts when we worship!

As we try to express in the praise song “Heart of Worship”, is my worship really all about the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from the bottom of my heart?

Take a moment to pray about these things……..