24-0908a Transcript

(0:16) When Jesus went ashore, he saw a large crowd, and he felt compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. (0:24) And he began to teach them many things. (0:29) This concludes this reading.

Preacher: Mike Mathis

(1:06) Good morning, everyone, church, those that are here physically, those that are on the phone. (1:21) It is my privilege to stand before you this morning to deliver another message from God’s word, (1:37) and pray that what we will be giving to you will be uplifting to you, (1:47) that will make your desire to come back.

(1:57) And I will divide this lesson into two parts. (2:03) The first part I’m going to deliver this morning. (2:07) The second part of it I’m going to have tonight.

(2:13) But I’m going to be in Exodus 34 before I get into the text. (2:37) There are people who have different views of God. (2:42) Some have the idea that God is an angry God, ready to smite people off the earth.

(2:53) They have this idea that God hates, especially a group that says that God hates America. (3:07) Especially a man and his wife have an online site that says God hates America. (3:25) Some believe that God has a certain number of people that are going to hell, (3:34) and there is nothing anybody can do about it.

(3:39) You don’t have a choice in the matter. (3:46) And there are those that look at God as a different God in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. (4:01) But let’s take a look at Exodus 34 verses 4 through 6. (4:20) I’m going to go through 7. (4:29) Exodus 4, 4 through 7. (4:40) Now, Moses, in chapter 32 of Exodus, received two tables of stone, (4:53) which God himself engraved on that stone, up on those tablets, what we know as the Ten Commandments.

(5:05) And God told Moses to go down to the people because they had made a golden calf, (5:20) and they are falling down and worshiping that golden calf. (5:29) So Moses goes down with the Ten Commandments on those tablets of stone in his hands. (5:46) And when he gets down to the people, he sees the golden calf and what the people are doing.

(5:55) And then he begins to get very angry, and he casts the tablets of stone down (6:07) and breaks the stone tablets that the Ten Commandments are written on. (6:16) Now, here in chapter 34, God is telling Moses to cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. (6:30) And I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you break.

(6:45) So be ready in the morning to come up in the morning to Mount Sinai (6:53) and present yourselves to be there on the top of the mountain. (7:01) And no man shall come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain, (7:08) neither let flocks nor herds feed before that mountain. (7:18) Now we’re going to read verses 4 through 7. (7:24) The title of my lesson is God’s Proclamation.

(7:34) So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. (7:40) Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, (7:46) as the Lord had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. (7:56) Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

(8:09) The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, (8:13) The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, (8:25) keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin, (8:34) by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children (8:43) and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation. (8:51) Now the reason I’m calling this God’s Proclamation (8:58) is that what he said in verses 5 and 6. (9:07) Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. (9:18) This is God who is proclaiming this.

(9:25) And he is proclaiming the name of the Lord. (9:32) Now when you have the name of someone, it suggests power. (9:42) It suggests authority.

(9:48) It suggests that someone has authority. (9:54) And we know that God has all authority. (9:59) And we should be in awe at his name.

(10:08) In verse 6, and the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, (10:15) The Lord, the Lord God. (10:21) Now before someone gets fearsome at this name, with a terrible fear, (10:35) we need to have a fear, but we should not have a fear that is so terrifying (10:43) that we just don’t know what to do. (10:49) But now listen to what God is saying here.

(10:54) The Lord, the Lord God, merciful or compassionate as it is said in other translations. (11:07) The Lord is merciful. (11:10) We ought to see his mercy when he frees the Israelites from Egyptian bondage.

(11:22) We ought to even see his mercy even when he is plaguing the Egyptians. (11:33) Now while the Egyptians have been undergoing the plagues that God put upon them, (11:42) there was still some mercy there (11:47) because when Thabo got to the point where he says, (11:54) Okay, I’ll let the people go and entreat the Lord. (12:00) And I will let the people go.

(12:05) Well, Moses would entreat God to end the plague and the plagues would end. (12:21) Well, when Thabo would see that the plagues were lifted, (12:28) he would change his mind. (12:29) He wouldn’t let them go.

(12:31) So God is merciful. (12:35) And also he’s merciful because he put a division between the Egyptians and the Israelites. (12:48) When it came to a certain plague and from that plague onward to the end of those plagues, (12:57) he made a division between the Egyptians and the children of Israel.

(13:05) So God is merciful or he is compassionate. (13:18) In this, Jesus is out and Lord. (13:26) He is in verse 35, it says, (13:32) Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, (13:39) preaching the gospel of the king, (13:44) and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

(13:50) But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, (13:57) because they were weary and scattered like sheep, having no shepherd. (14:05) Then he said to his disciples, (14:08) The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. (14:14) Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

(14:25) So God is merciful. (14:28) He is compassionate. (14:30) It says, he said so here in Exodus 34, that he is merciful.

(14:37) Her name is spoken in the New Testament and gracious in Mark 6, 34. (14:58) We find generally the same thing that was read in Matthew, (15:09) but Mark says that he taught many things. (15:18) He adds that he taught many things.

(15:24) And Jesus, when he came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, (15:33) because they were like sheep, not having a shepherd. (15:37) So he began to teach them many things. (15:44) So he was being gracious to them.

(15:51) Now in Matthew, the 15th chapter, we want to begin with verse 30. (16:11) Then great multitudes came to him, having with him the lame, the blind, the mute, maimed, and many others. (16:26) And they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and he healed them.

(16:32) So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking. (16:38) The maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. (16:46) And they glorified the God of Israel.

(16:53) Now he healed the sick. (16:59) He saw the ailments of the people, and he healed. (17:03) And this was miraculously that he would make the blind see.

(17:17) He would make those that were mute, who could not speak, able to speak. (17:24) And so he healed the sick. (17:27) He also fed the hungry.

(17:31) Now, Jesus, in Matthew 15, still yet, in verse 32, (17:41) Now Jesus called the disciples to himself and said, (17:46) I have compassion on the multitude, because they have not continued with me three days. (17:55) I have nothing to eat. (17:58) And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.

(18:08) Then his disciples said to him, (18:10) Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude? (18:18) Jesus said to them, (18:20) How many loaves do you have? (18:23) And they said, seven, and a few little fish. (18:31) So he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. (18:36) And he took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, (18:44) broke them, and gave them to his disciples.

(18:48) And the disciples gave to the multitude. (18:53) So they ate and were filled. (18:57) And they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.

(19:07) Now, those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. (19:19) And he sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdalene. (19:29) So the Lord fed the hungry.

(19:33) He saw that the hungry would be fed. (19:37) He didn’t want them to go out being hungry to faint along the way. (19:46) In Matthew 11, verses 1-5, (19:52) John the Baptist, being in prison, sent his disciples to Jesus (20:03) and wanted to know if Jesus was the one that they were looking for, (20:09) or do we still look for another? (20:14) And Jesus tells the disciples of John (20:21) to go back and tell John what you see and hear.

(20:30) In verse 5 it says, (20:33) The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, (20:41) the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. (20:51) And blessed is he who is not offended because of me. (20:57) Notice that aside from miraculously healing the people, (21:04) he preaches the gospel, the good news to them.

(21:12) And so, in this way, Jesus has been gracious to these people. (21:20) As God said in Exodus 34, that he is gracious. (21:34) Long-suffering.

That means God is patient. (21:41) Long-suffering. (21:44) You know, in order to get the fill of God’s patience with the Israelites, (22:01) in spite of all the things that God did for them, they complained all the time.

(22:12) And in Numbers 14, they come to the borders of the promised land. (22:31) And Moses sends 12 spies out to look the place over. (22:44) And they come back with the fruit of the place to show that it was fruitful indeed.

(22:56) But 10 of those spies brought a bad report saying to these people that they cannot go in. (23:10) Says, we seem to be as grasshoppers in our own eyes and in theirs. (23:21) And telling the people that it just can’t be done.

(23:27) Now, in Numbers 14, the people flatly refuse to go in because they believe the 10 spies. (23:38) Well, you know, God gets very, very angry with them. (23:44) And he is about…​ (23:47) He tells Moses, let me strike these people down and make you a nation of people that will obey my voice.

(24:01) But Moses, in the 18th verse of this chapter 14, I’m going to begin with 15. (24:23) Now, if you kill these people as one man, (24:28) then the nations which have heard of your fame will speak and say, (24:32) because the Lord was not able to bring this people to the land which he swore to give them. (24:40) Therefore, he killed them in the wilderness.

(24:45) Now, I pray thee, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have spoken. (24:54) Say, the Lord is long suffering. (24:59) Moses reminds God that he is long suffering and abundant in mercy, (25:09) forgiving iniquity and transgression.

(25:13) But he by no means clears the guilty, (25:17) visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children to the third and fourth generation. (25:25) So instead of actually killing all the people, (25:33) he brings the flags upon those ten spies (25:39) and on the people that believe the ten spies and don’t go in. (25:49) They are fearful because they think that those giants that are in the land (26:00) are too great for them to overcome.

(26:06) And then he said, (26:11) the carcasses of you who have complained against me shall fall in this wilderness. (26:18) All of you who were numbered according to your entire number, (26:24) from twenty years old and above, (26:28) except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, (26:35) you shall by no means enter the land by which I swore I would make you dwell in. (26:43) But your little ones whom you said would be victims, (26:49) I will bring in and they shall know the land which you have despised.

(26:57) And the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years. (27:05) They spent forty days checking out the land, twelve spies did. (27:12) So they, as a result of this, (27:17) then they spent forty years, (27:21) and those of the people that did not go in died in the wilderness.

(27:31) During those forty years, (27:37) and God indeed did collect some of those people (27:41) and all of those that died. (27:47) Now, in the New Testament, (27:52) we find in Romans 2-4, (27:57) what Paul is writing to the Romans (28:02) and telling them that God is long-suffering. (28:13) And then he says, (28:20) Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, (28:27) forbearance and long-suffering, (28:30) not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (28:39) And then Romans 9, in verse 22-24, (28:48) we’ve got this question that Paul asks the Romans.

(28:58) Why did God want him to show his wrath (29:02) and to make his power known, (29:04) endure for much long-suffering (29:08) the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, (29:15) and that he might make known the riches of his glory (29:19) on the vessels of mercy (29:22) which he has prepared beforehand for glory? (29:28) Even us whom he called, (29:32) not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. (29:39) So God in his long-suffering, (29:44) he patiently prepared for when everyone (29:50) would receive the blessings that he prepared them for (29:59) and to provide mercy. (30:02) And then lastly, in 2 Peter 3 and verse 9, (30:14) we’ve got this, that Peter in 2 Peter 3 and verse 9 (30:25) tells the people, (30:28) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, (30:33) as some count slackness, (30:37) but is long-suffering toward us, (30:41) not willing that any should perish, (30:45) but that all should come to repentance.

(30:52) Yes, God is long-suffering. (30:55) He is merciful. He is gracious.

(30:58) He is slow to anger. (31:01) He is long-suffering. (31:03) He is patient.

(31:06) And let us be careful, (31:08) because his patience does not last forever. (31:14) Always. (31:16) He’s long-suffering.

He patiently works with us. (31:20) But we should not let his patience run out on us. (31:26) He gives us the chance to repent.

(31:30) He wants all men to come to repentance. (31:36) But sad to say, all men won’t come to repentance. (31:42) They buy the fact that God is mean, (31:46) that he is hateful.

(31:48) They buy the fact that he’s got a certain number that he saves, (31:56) that he’s got a certain number that will go to hell. (32:04) Nothing that we do, we can do to change him. (32:12) But yet, they say, some of them will say, (32:18) Well, why teach them if they can’t make a choice? (32:23) Why teach them if…​ (32:25) Why are we going to teach them if there’s nothing to be done? (32:31) But there is something we can do.

(32:37) As God is good and gracious and long-suffering, (32:42) we too should imitate him. (32:44) We’re made in his image. (32:47) And let us then make the choice (32:51) to be merciful as he’s merciful.

(32:55) Let us come to him in repentance (32:58) to change our ways if we need to (33:02) by believing and by being baptized (33:07) in order to receive salvation. (33:10) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. (33:13) Says Mark 16, 16.

(33:17) Later on the day of Pentecost says, (33:20) Repent and be baptized every one of you (33:24) in the name of Jesus Christ (33:27) for the remission of sins (33:30) or the forgiveness of sins. (33:34) We need to know that God is the same God. (33:39) Even though we see him doing different things (33:44) in the Old Testament (33:46) because he’s dealing with an earthly nation (33:50) as well as a spiritual nation.

(33:53) Now he’s got a spiritual kingdom, (33:59) a spiritual house, (34:02) and our warfare is not (34:05) kind of as they were under the Old Testament. (34:13) And the things that he did in his wrath (34:18) would show there are some things (34:24) that shows his mercy (34:27) even though he was really wrathful. (34:33) Yes, God is merciful, gracious, and long-suffering.

(34:41) If you want to be with God, (34:45) come before it is too late. (34:49) If you’ve departed from God (34:51) and obeyed the gospel and departed, (34:54) come back to him. (34:57) And he’ll receive you.

(35:02) And why not do so (35:05) while we stand and while we sing?