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[0:00] Good morning. Beautiful morning. Blessing to come into the house of the Lord. This is actually our one year anniversary in this location.! So, praise the Lord.

[0:11] July 7th of last year was our first day here. What a blessing. So, we are in Exodus chapter 24. Last week, we did verses 1 through 8. After the previous three weeks, we did a chapter a week.

[0:24] Just kind of blowing through those. And then we just kind of hit the brakes. God just hit the brakes hard here. In Exodus 24. As Moses has brought the people to the Mount of God, they've heard the Ten Commandments audibly spoken to them from the mountain.

[0:38] God has spoken forth in Exodus 20, those Ten Commandments. And at the end of that, the people say, we don't want to hear anything more. That's enough. Moses, please, Moses, you speak to us.

[0:49] We can't hear anything more that God would have to say. It will kill us. And so, Moses tells the people, well, no, God wants you to draw near. His desire for you is to be in his presence.

[1:01] And Moses draws near while the people hold back. And God gives Moses, then, Exodus 21, 22, and 23, which is just the expounding upon the Ten Commandments. He says, here are the Ten Commandments. How you relate to God.

[1:13] How you relate to man. And then, here you go, Moses. Here's how I want you to tell the people how to apply this to their lives. And that's what we finished up in Exodus 23. And then we saw in chapter 24, verse 1 of chapter 24 of Exodus said, that the Lord says to Moses, come up, come up unto the Lord, you and Aaron and Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's two sons, his oldest two, and 70 of the elders of Israel, and worship you afar off.

[1:39] So, he wants them to come near. And then, Moses, before he did that, this is kind of like the wrap-up of Exodus 20, 21, 22, and 23. God says, okay, now that I've given you my word, I want you to come up into my presence with all these men.

[1:52] But before Moses does that, he then takes God's word and he writes it down. And there's that really neat verse there in Exodus 24, verse 4. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning and built an altar.

[2:06] And so, Moses arises to the word and worship. It's the first thing he does for the people. Moses understood God's heart for his people. God wanted the people to draw near.

[2:19] He wanted them to come and be in his presence. God will work with what we give him. You know, like we said earlier, well, when I opened in prayer earlier, I was talking about walking in the spirit, that if we live in the spirit, so let us walk in the spirit.

[2:33] The living part's not hard because of the spirit of God. We've been birthed into a new life. It's to walk it out. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it's God that works in you, do will and do of his good pleasure.

[2:45] So it's the part where the rubber meets the road or my feet hit the road. I have to walk this out, this life of the spirit, making decisions and choices that lead to God's desire for me, which is nearness, which is his presence.

[2:57] And we saw that God would draw us near by the word, by sacrifice, by obedience and blood, as God enacts what is in essence the Mosaic covenant. God brings his people near through a sacrifice, through the word, through obedience, by blood.

[3:14] But our nearness to God is directly related to the opportunities that we partake of when God gives us opportunity to come near into his presence. My walk with God is in direct proportion to how I respond to nearness.

[3:28] When God says, here's an opportunity to draw near, if I don't, well, my walk with God is gonna reflect that. And we see the difference here with how God's going to call Moses into his presence.

[3:38] The people are at the base of the mountain. Well, the elders come a little closer with Aaron and then Moses goes further into his presence. It's not because Moses was super, super special. It's because Moses responded in faith to God's word.

[3:51] Moses responded to draw near when God said, hey, here's an opportunity to draw near. And he did. Hebrews 10, 22 says, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

[4:09] With true assurance of faith, we draw near. How? Well, by the word, by sacrifice, by obedience and by blood, because we have assurance that it's been fulfilled.

[4:20] The sacrifice has been made. Jesus has brought us near. But what's our part? Let us draw near. Let us draw near with a true heart. Why?

[4:30] Because our hearts have been sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies have been washed with pure water so we can draw near. But we still have to choose to do that. So the Mosaic covenant, it was a conditional covenant. It was a conditional covenant of national identity and blessing.

[4:44] God has enacted this for Israel. They've come out of Egypt, a million, two million plus slaves. They have no identity. God gives them an identity through his word. He says, I'm going to enact a covenant with you. And it is conditional, but it's a conditional covenant of national identity and blessing that does not displace the previous covenant that God made with Abraham regarding individual identity and blessing.

[5:10] God says to Abraham in Abraham chapter 12. If I start quoting Abraham chapter 12, go to a different church. Genesis chapter 12.

[5:21] In verse one, the Lord said unto Abraham, get you out of your country and from your kindred and from your father's house into a land that I will show you. And I'll make of you a great nation and I'll bless you.

[5:33] I'll make your name great and you shall be a blessing. And I'll bless them that bless you and curse them that curse you. And you shall all the families of the earth be blessed. It's a promise. That's a covenant, a unilateral covenant that God makes with Abraham based on promise.

[5:48] God says, this is what I'm going to do. Abraham, therefore you do. He didn't say you do, therefore I'll do. No, he said, I'm going to do this. So therefore, Abraham, walk with me because I'm going to do this in your life.

[6:03] Have all the families of the earth been blessed in Abraham? Yes, they have. Because it was through him that Jesus has blessed all the families of the earth. The salvation has come to mankind if they would partake of it.

[6:14] So this promise is not undone. Today, is national Israel under the Mosaic covenant? No. Well, in the Old Testament, they broke the Mosaic covenant and they were taken out of the land because of that.

[6:29] Today, there is no Mosaic covenant, even if you want to live by it. Why not? Because it was fulfilled. Because it's been completed. It's not that it's invalid.

[6:43] It's just there's something better. So even Israel today, if they say, we're going to rebuild a temple and we're going to have sacrifices, we're going to worship, is that going to lead them to the one true and living God?

[6:55] No, it's not. Because the temple will be rebuilt and it will lead them to worship a man and instead of Christ, the Antichrist in place. But they're still God's people in the land, out of the land.

[7:08] And in idolatry or not, they are still seed of Abraham. And so that's when you may hear today, unfortunately, there's so much where people, even in the church, so that's not really the Jews from the Bible, the ones that are in Israel.

[7:21] It's not the same. Well, it's not the same because they're not under the same covenant, walking in the same way that they did in the Old Testament. But they're still under the Abrahamic covenant.

[7:33] They're still God's people. And so God is establishing establishing a covenant with his people that he's already established ownership of through Abraham. He's now establishing a covenant, a national covenant of identity and blessing, which is conditional upon their partaking of it.

[7:51] We saw how last week, Moses made an altar here. At the end of Exodus 20, after he gives all the Ten Commandments, God doesn't say, now do these, keep them all, or else. No, at the end of Exodus 20, he says, hey, now make an altar, Moses.

[8:05] Here, now you need to know how to make an altar because you're not going to be able to keep these. You're going to need to come to me. You're going to need a way that when you break a command, you can come and be restored.

[8:16] Should we live after the commands of God just because we can't do them? Well, remember, we liken that to food, right? You know what? I've been trying to eat good and work out more and I totally fell off the wagon and I just ate a dozen donuts.

[8:28] So I'm going to give up altogether and just eat junk for the rest of my life, right? No, is that what we do? No, we go, oh, okay, tomorrow it's steak and carrots. You know, I'm going to do good tomorrow, right?

[8:39] No, we don't just throw caution to the wind and say, whatever. If I can't keep a little of it, I'm not even going to try with any of it. We don't do that with God's word. Don't do that with God's commands. So you know what? Man, I've been blowing it and God's revealed that to me.

[8:53] I'm not going to just throw caution to the wind and run from the Lord. No, I'm going to go back to him and say, okay, Lord, how can I do better at this? Now, we don't do that through effort. We do that through the work of the Spirit.

[9:05] And so Moses, he goes up into the Mount of God, the Mount that burned with fire and was black, which it is today. In satellite imagery, it's there. The top of the mountain is black.

[9:17] Israel's encamped down at the base and literally when it says Moses goes up into the mountain, there is a way for him to travel up into the Mount of God. But he builds an altar and that altar is there today. you can see it.

[9:29] If you see that little V shape right there that exists today, Moses had built an altar. It's the cattle shoots that would funnel the cattle to the altar where they were making all these sacrifices at that time as Moses prepares to go up into the mountain.

[9:47] And that's where we pick up in verse 9. Sorry, I had it turned off. There's the, that's there today. And he put up, set up the 12 pillars and you can see the, what the remains of the 12 pillars, those white stones there today.

[10:00] Again, God, God had his word come to a land full of rocks. Rocks are still there. Didn't come to like, you know, the Appalachian mountains where everything just rots away.

[10:12] Wood doesn't last. Verse 9 is where we pick up. So Moses in verse 8 had sprinkled the blood with all the people, on all the people and on the book that he had written.

[10:25] And then after Moses has given the people the word of God, he's, he then goes up into the mountain in verse 9. Then went up Moses and Aaron and Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel.

[10:36] And so they all go up just as God had said to them. Excuse me. If you remember in verse 3, Moses came in Exodus 24 and he told the people all the words of the Lord and he gave them all of his judgments and all the people answered and said, we'll do it.

[10:53] We'll do it. But God knows their hearts. God's like, well, I'm not going to be able to call off you into my presence. Because I know the heart is not one of faith. But Moses responds to the people and to God by passing on his word.

[11:08] So Moses ascends into God's presence only after three things. He's given the people his word, God's word. He's worshipped by building an altar and he's sacrificed with blood.

[11:19] Moses ascends into God's presence only after the word, after worship, after the blood. What are we doing today? Coming into God's presence. Coming through worship, through the word.

[11:31] We're going to have communion today. We're going to come by blood. We only come into God's presence after the word, worship, and the blood. Psalm 24, verse 3, says, Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord or who shall stand in his holy place?

[11:45] Man, who doesn't want to go up into God's presence? Who doesn't want God to call us into his presence? He that has clean hands and a pure heart who's not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully.

[11:56] Well, I'm out. I wanted to go into God's presence. I don't have a pure heart. My hands aren't clean. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

[12:09] Who is it that ascended with clean hands and a pure heart that received righteousness from the Lord and the God of salvation? Jesus. He went on our behalf. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob.

[12:25] We seek the Lord. Those who seek me will find me when they seek me with all of their heart. Moses ascended into God's presence not because he was perfect, not at all. But the law points forward to the one who will bring us into God's presence.

[12:39] Moses is not going because his heart was pure and he had not lifted up his soul into vanity. He was going because he knew who his God was and he's responding to God who's calling him into his presence. The result of Moses' response to God's word was to draw him closer in relationship to God.

[12:55] My response to God's word should be to draw me closer in relationship to God. It's not meant to push me away. When I read something like that, I don't have clean hands. I don't have a pure heart.

[13:06] I'm going to close this and go do something else. No, no. It doesn't push me away. God's word reveals the truth but then it says, come near. Come closer. Come closer because God's word has an antidote for my unclean heart and unclean hands.

[13:22] These men, Moses, his name means drawn out, chosen by God to deliver his people, throwing down that rod before Pharaoh, becoming a serpent, delivering God's people through the Red Sea.

[13:34] Think of him standing there alone. All right, Lord. Just to see what's going to happen. And the water going back, leading the people, striking the rock and water coming out of it.

[13:46] Aaron, the first priest, the first one who will represent God to man and man to God to stand there as a priest. His sons, Nadab and Abihu, they're with him. Seventy elders of Israel.

[13:57] These are men, like we said last week, organization is great but anointing is better. So under Jethro, you had the ones who were over tens, hundreds, and thousands and maybe these men were called out from that but these are 70 men who God is going to anoint in numbers.

[14:11] All these men think, yeah, these are great men. These are great men. These are imperfect men who had failure still in their future and God knew that. God is calling men into his presence that he knew had failure still in their future.

[14:26] Moses, Moses is going to come to the rock again and God's going to say, speak to the rock, Moses. And Moses is going to smack the rock and that with the rod and the rod, by this time, he has placed it before the tabernacle there and it buds, right, to prove that he's the one called by God and it's like, it's literally a staff that's alive, that continues to live.

[14:48] It's got almond flowers and almonds on it. So here he's smacking this rock and there's leaves and almonds flying everywhere. You stiff-necked and hard-hearted people, I'll give you water. And God says, Moses, you can't represent me that way.

[15:01] The rock was struck once and only now when you need water do we speak to the rock. Moses, you can't represent me in anger. The wrath of God works not, the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God.

[15:13] Moses, you can't take my people into the promised land. The law cannot take us into promise. Aaron, oh, Aaron, less than 40 days from now, Aaron, you're going to be worshiping a golden calf with all the people.

[15:28] Nadab and Abihu, they'll eventually get drunk and come to the tabernacle to worship God how they want to because they're priests and God fires them. Says, you're out of the ministry. Sends down fire from heaven and burns them up.

[15:42] Seventy elders, none of them are going to stand up and say, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, Aaron, let's not make this golden calf. Maybe some of them stood with Korah someday.

[15:54] And Korah gets grounded by God. The ground opens up and eats him. All of these men, God invited imperfect men with failure still in their future into his presence.

[16:05] In Luke chapter 6, there's a long one to put up there, but Jesus is on the mountain and he's praying and he continues all night in prayer. All night. What's he praying about?

[16:16] Well, the next morning when it was day, he called them 12 disciples. Oh, all night long Jesus is praying. If Jesus is praying all night for the 12 men who are going to be with him to represent him after he leaves to take this movement forward of the church, can you imagine who those 12 men would be that he picks?

[16:35] Wow. If you didn't know who they were, could you imagine? You'd think, wow, 12 men. Must be someone up there with Moses or something like that. He called him Simon and he named Peter who would curse, swear, and deny and say, I don't know this man.

[16:54] I don't know who he is. And Andrew's brother and James and John, James and John who knew the heart of the ministry so well that they wanted a church that would go out and kill everybody who wasn't part of their church.

[17:05] Lord, this town didn't receive the gospel. Maybe we should just smoke them, wipe them out. Matthew, I'm sorry, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Thomas.

[17:21] I will rise again, Thomas. Thomas, we've seen the Lord. I'm not going to believe that junk. You're not getting that by me. No way. I don't believe unless I see it. Don't you know the Lord, Thomas?

[17:32] How long were you with him? Simon and Elpheus and Simon called Zalotus and James and Judas, the brother of James and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.

[17:44] He was the traitor. The traitor. Jesus prayed all night. He said, God, these are imperfect people. Father, these men are imperfect and they have failure in front of them, but I'm going to bring them near to my presence.

[17:58] Look what he did with them because they abode in his presence. Yes, Judas, the traitor, but the rest God was able to use. Verse 10, and they saw the God of Israel and there was under his feet, as it were, a paved work of sapphire stone, as it were, the body of heaven in his clearness.

[18:17] You know, some days, most of the days in the summer in the south. It's not clear. It's hazy. But you get those days like in the spring and towards the fall, they're just so crisply clear. It's like there's no humidity.

[18:29] It's just, oh, it feels so good and you can see forever. Every cloud is like a high definition outline, right? And heaven, the body of heaven in his clearness. Heaven will be so clear and so crisp.

[18:42] What are they seeing here? They saw the God of Israel and there was under his feet, as it were, a paved work. God gave him a glimpse into the throne room of heaven. You know, the Bible is progressive revelation.

[18:53] God works by progressive revelation. The revelation of God progresses. Abraham knew so much, Moses knew more. By the time we get to the prophets, more is revealed. When we get then to Jesus, the fulfillment, he brings all revelation.

[19:06] And then the New Testament, or the fullness of the revelation. Hebrews says that in former days, he's spoken unto us by the prophets, but in these last days, he's chosen to speak unto us by his son.

[19:18] Progressive revelation. They're seeing the throne room of God. It's like what we're looking at on Wednesday nights in Revelation. Revelation chapter four, when it says, and John is caught up into his presence and immediately, he says, I was in the spirit and behold, a throne was set in heaven and one that sat on the throne.

[19:34] And he describes what he looks like. And then in verse six, he says, and before the throne, there was a sea of glass like unto crystal and in the midst of the throne and round about the throne are four creatures, four living creatures.

[19:47] And he sees this sea of glass, this crystal. And here they look up and they see that in the body of heaven, they see this clearness. They see something very clear. If you look back midway between those and Ezekiel, Ezekiel gets also a vision of heaven.

[20:04] Ezekiel chapter one. And he says, and above the firmament that was over the heads of the four creatures, just like in Revelation, was the likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone.

[20:17] Same thing these guys in Exodus 24 see. A paved work of sapphire stone. Ezekiel says, I saw as it were a throne in the appearance of a sapphire stone and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness of the appearance of a man above upon it.

[20:32] A man sits on the throne of heaven. Our man, Jesus sits there representing us. It's not an angel. It's not some crazy created thing we didn't even know of yet. It's a man who sits there.

[20:45] These men, under the law, could lift their eyes no further than the feet of God. They're able to see just, just a little bit. They saw his feet. God allowed them to see that.

[20:57] Under the new covenant, we don't deserve anything better. We don't deserve to see anything more. But we have been granted to see so much more, haven't we? 2 Corinthians chapter four, verse six says, for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

[21:19] Man, I don't deserve to see anything more than his feet. But I've allowed, I've been allowed to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus, in the person of Jesus. We who follow Jesus will one day see him face to face.

[21:31] We will. We'll have that privilege to see him. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know, even as I also know.

[21:42] We will see him face to face. However, right now, the priority is not sight. Priority is faith. We're to walk by faith and not by sight. In John chapter 12, they were at a feast and there were certain Greeks that were there.

[21:57] And the Greeks means that they were most likely either Jewish proselytes, Greeks who had turned to Judaism, or they could have just been Hellenistic Jews. That's the way they referred to the Jews that were of the Greek mindset, the Greeks.

[22:11] And they came to Philip and they said, we want to see Jesus. That's a good thing. That's a very good thing. I want to see Jesus. I want to see Jesus. And so he goes to Andrew because Andrew seems to be the guy you go to to have someone bring someone to Jesus.

[22:27] And so he goes and they say, hey, Lord, there's this guy who wants, there's these guys they want to see you. You know, we found someone, we found someone who actually wants to see you. Let's bring him. And Jesus responds interesting to them.

[22:41] He says, truly, truly, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat or grain of wheat fall on the ground and die, it remains alone. But if it die, it brings forth much fruit. What's he saying to them?

[22:52] Is that a yes or a no? He's saying, listen, they want to see me, but if they see me, they're not going to see who I really am. If you see that little grain of wheat, man, that's not what, that's not what it's all about.

[23:07] You plant it in the ground and then you really see it. Then you see what it really is and what it's going to become. Jesus is like, they can see me, but that's not what I want them to see. But I want them to see as what will come from me, from my resurrection, the fruit that will grow from this.

[23:21] It's not about seeing Jesus physically. It's not about having an experience with Jesus. Jesus. It's about the fruit that comes from the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. First, Peter speaks of stones and these jewels.

[23:37] You know, as we see that, these men, they see this jasper. Well, Peter says that we're living stones. We're precious stones. We are built up a spiritual house. We're a holy priesthood. We're to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

[23:53] Wherefore, also it says, contained in scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. And he that believes on him shall not be confounded.

[24:06] And to you, therefore, which believe, he is precious. And he is. As these men look into the throne room of God and see these precious stones, I want to look at the throne of God and see the precious one.

[24:19] And someday I will. And upon all the nobles are the children of Israel. It's funny how God describes these men who are about to have amazing failures in their near future. And God said, this is the cream of the crop.

[24:30] This is the nobles. This is the best that they can offer. Literally, the word nobles means like from the edges to the edges. It means like, you know, the very like, there's not much of it.

[24:42] This is like the best piece that you could like shave off. It says, He laid not his hand. What does that mean? And also they saw God and did eat and drink. Well, in Exodus 33, God is going to respond to Moses' desire to see his face.

[24:58] He says, God, I want to see you. And the Lord says to Moses, you can't see my face for there shall no man see me and live. You can't, Moses. You can't, you can't just experience the unrestrained holiness of God because of your state.

[25:13] You're going to need a filter. You need something between, a mediator. But at that time, he's like, no, Moses, you can't see my face. And so what he's saying here is they were not judged.

[25:24] They were not, they did not have anything done to them because of seeing God in person. He didn't lay their hands on them in judgment. And here you see grace contained in the law.

[25:36] They had looked upon God and God did not put his hand upon them in judgment. God's grace is contained in the law. And then what do they do? They fellowship.

[25:47] They eat and they drink. Food is for fellowship. You know that? Food's for fellowship. Before we needed to eat, God gave us to eat. Right? In the garden, he put all of those things in the garden for Adam to eat and Eve to eat.

[25:59] Every tree that was good to look upon and to eat. They didn't need to. Well, I'm not going to eat of it. Well, that's okay. Death had not entered the world yet. It was only for fellowship. God came down and walked in the cool of the garden and the cool of the day with them.

[26:12] There's fellowship together. Food is for fellowship. All through scripture. Food is for fellowship. Unfortunately, we live in a world that doesn't believe that anymore. We don't have time to eat together.

[26:24] I don't have time to make a meal. Oh my word. The preparation that goes into that. The thought, the care, the effort, the time to sit down and partake. And then you got to clean the thing up.

[26:35] I don't like that part. Wasn't that fellowship? We got to put a lot of thought and care and time into getting together. We don't have to take the time to do that.

[26:45] We don't have to be here and then you got to clean up afterwards. Fellowship can be messy and create a big mess. But man, it's sure yummy. It's sure satisfying. God does not lay his hand upon these men and God will not lay his hand in judgment upon any who partake of his presence.

[27:04] Jesus said in John chapter 6, truly, truly, I say unto you, he that believes on me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Truly, truly, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

[27:21] But whoso eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. I will raise him up at the last day. And then we know it says many heard this saying and said, this is too hard for us. And they turned back and wouldn't follow him.

[27:32] He's not talking about chomping on Jesus. What he's talking about? He's fellowship, partaking, communion. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in him.

[27:45] Nearness. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. Now that bread came from heaven. It was a divine source, but it didn't have an everlasting effect.

[27:56] The divine bread that Jesus brings in his life has an everlasting effect. He that eats of this bread shall live forever. And here they sit in God's presence, fellowshipping. Verse 12, And the Lord said unto Moses, Moses, I want you to come up into the mount and be there.

[28:12] I love the King James wording. Moses, come up into the mount, be there. Moses, I want you to be there. And I'll give you tables of stone and a law and commandments which I have written that you may teach them.

[28:28] Matthew 11, 28, come unto me. God always desires us to come into his presence. Come unto me. All you who labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.

[28:40] For I am meek and lowly in heart. You shall find rest into your souls. The Lord is calling Moses into his presence and what is he asking him to do? Well, I think there's four things he asks him to do. He says, Moses, come and be there.

[28:51] Well, the first thing he says is come. The Lord told Moses, come and then abide. Come and be there, Moses. Abide there. And then receive.

[29:02] Receive the word that I have for you. And what is he supposed to do with that word? He's supposed to give it. He's supposed to teach it. The Lord told Moses to come, to abide, to receive, and then take what he's received in God's presence and to share it, to teach it.

[29:19] John 15, verse 4, abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine. No more can you except you abide in me. I think we want to flip that so often.

[29:32] Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branch. Like, well, how about, Lord, I'll be the vine and you be the branch, right? And I can just live my life through you. We'll stick you on and then my life as the vine will just, everything I do, you can bless and it'll just live through you and it'll flow through you.

[29:51] And Jesus says, no, no, no. I am the vine. My life lives through you. You're the branch. My life flows through you, not the other way around. So often, we ask God to bless our life, our decisions, our plans.

[30:06] And God says, just come, abide, receive. I have so much I want to give you and I want you to give away. I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit.

[30:19] Without me, you can do nothing. We are drawn near to God, we're to abide with God, we're to receive from God and then we're to give on behalf of God. Moses had to choose to do this.

[30:33] Moses had to choose to respond to God's word and believe it. I feel like the last few studies we've done, we've had some really profound things we've said. I have another one.

[30:46] Really, really profound. No one else can walk the path of our relationship with God for us. Super profound. No one else can do that. Nobody can walk your relationship with God for you.

[30:59] I can't walk it for you. Moses can't walk it for us. No one else can walk the path of our relationship with God for us. Nobody else can draw near to God for us. Nobody can abide for God for it, with God for us, receive from God or give on behalf.

[31:12] can't. We must choose to draw near, to partake and abide on our own. Now, God has done all the heavy lifting for us. We just have to choose to do that. But you know what we can do?

[31:25] I can't walk it for you, but I can walk it with you. You can walk it with me. Just do it together. My relationship with God and my walk with God and the path that I'm going, we can look around and say, you go in that direction too? Well, we could walk together.

[31:43] Let's do this together. Let's draw near. Let's abide. Let's partake. Moses's nearness to God was not just for his benefit. Was it a benefit to him? You bet. When I draw near to God, is it a benefit? Yes. But it was to be used for edification and instruction for God's people. Moses, come near. Moses, be there. Moses, receive. And then go teach this. You're only going to be here 40 days and 40 nights, Moses. Now, I've never been to a pastor's retreat that long. I think I'd probably want to go home before the end of it. But when God's throwing the retreat, you don't mind staying there 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus would say in Matthew 28, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you. And lo, I'm with you always. You're not going to walk it alone. I'm with you. Even until the end of the world. Those three men who, I mean, those three men, those 12 men who had three years with Jesus, who all had failure in their future. God said, now take what you've received. I've drawn you near.

[32:47] You've abided with me. You've partaken. Now go and share it and give it because I'm with you. You're not alone. Ephesians chapter four, verse seven says, But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Because of God's grace, we receive the gifts that God has for us. Is that a blessing for us individual? Sure is.

[33:08] It allows me to draw near to God, to abide in his presence. For the perfecting of the saints, the completing, the wholeness of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Moses, this isn't just for you, buddy. This is so my people can be blessed. The same people that said, we don't want to hear anything more from God, Moses. God says, ah, but they need this and I'm going to make sure they get it. And Moses in verse 13, he rose up and his minister, Joshua.

[33:43] Well, where'd he come from? Remember last week I said there was like a bonus character. That's the bonus character this week, right? It's like you're playing a video game. You unlock a bonus character. Bonus character. Joshua, son of none. Servant of Moses. Well, this is, where'd he come from?

[34:00] Moses rose up. Well, before Moses could go up, he had to get up, didn't he? All of the great works of God started with a beginning. All of the great people of God started with a choice to choose to respond to God and obey. Moses had to get up before he could go up. We saw in verse 4, Exodus 24, he rose up early, spent time with the Lord, used the word and worship. Psalm 57, verse 7 says, my heart is fixed, O God. The psalmist writes, my heart is fixed, immovable. I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory. Awake, psalter and harp. I myself will awake early. He says, I'm going to sing. I'm going to praise the Lord, and I can't wait to get to it. I'm going to awake early. I'm going to begin with this. This thing is fixed in my life. It's not an option. Well, maybe I'll sing and give glory to the Lord. Maybe I'll wake up, O harp and psaltery. Maybe I will. This is fixed. Many times before we can go up into God's presence, the first thing we got to do is we got to get up. Our God is the God of the morning. Very early on the morning of the third day, women came to the tomb. Our God is the God of the morning. Joshua, where did he come from? Last time we saw Joshua, what was he doing? He was fighting the enemy on our behalf, on the people of God's behalf. Moses said to him in Exodus 17, when Amalek came to attack all the weak ones, the ones in the back and the rear, he said, Joshua, choose us out men and go and fight. Moses on the mountain interceding for God's people,

[35:40] Joshua going into battle, leading the people into victory. But here we see Joshua just show up. He came unlooked for. He came unbidden and he came unforeseen. Who was looking for Joshua right here?

[35:55] Who was asking for Joshua? Who could have foreseen that Joshua would show up here? What does Joshua mean in the Hebrew? Jehovah is salvation, Yeshua. What is Yeshua in the Greek of the New Testament? It's Jesus. Jesus came unlooked for. They weren't looking for Jesus.

[36:15] They were looking for the bonus character in the video game, Joshua, who will come and defeat all the Romans. He came unbidden. I think the Pharisees must have said that to each other constantly. And, you know, when they're in their back corners, planning out their next move to capture Jesus, we didn't ask for this. We didn't want him. He came unforeseen. They were not looking for that.

[36:39] Joshua came unlooked for, unbidden and unforeseen. Moses was asked by God to come alone into God's presence, but he wasn't alone, was he? Joshua was with him. Joshua went up with him.

[36:52] Moses did not ascend into God's presence alone, did he? He went with Joshua. Neither would he return alone. Who would Moses return with? Moses, the people would see Moses go into God's presence with Joshua, and they would see Moses come out of God's presence with Joshua and the word, coming down from the mountain. Joshua, the servant of the law, the minister, Moses' minister.

[37:16] Jesus said in Matthew chapter 20, verse 28, he says, the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, but to serve. Joshua here is the servant of the law. Jesus came to serve.

[37:28] the law. He says in Matthew chapter 5, verse 17, don't think that I've come to destroy the law of the prophets. I've not come to destroy them. I've come to serve them. I've come to bring about fulfillment. Jesus, our Joshua, the servant of the law, this Joshua in the Old Testament would one day take the people where the law could not take them. He's going to take them into promise.

[37:51] And our Joshua, our Jesus, he came as a servant of the law, fulfilled the law so he could take God's people, us, into a place the law could not take us, to take us into promise.

[38:04] Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5, but when the fullness of the time was come, don't you love how the scripture links itself so well? Matthew 5, 17, Jesus says, I came to fulfill the law. Galatians 4, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Yes, one day Joshua came, came in the fullness of time to serve the law, to fulfill the law so that he could take us where the law can't.

[38:38] He could take us into promise. Came unlooked for, came unforeseen and unbidden. And Moses, in verse 14, turns and says to the elders, all right, boys, stay here. So if you think of it as they've gone up into the mount, the people are down in the plain, they've probably gone up to that area where the altar was, and now he's saying to them, you guys stay down here, I'm going to go on up further. Terry, you here for us until we come again unto you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are here with you. If you remember, Hur was on the mount with, when they fought the Amalekites, holding up the other hand. It's not biblical, we don't know for sure, but it's thought possibly he's Miriam, Aaron's sister's husband. So this could be Moses' brother-in-law. It's very plausible. But either way, he says, you have Aaron and Hur here with you. If any man have any matters to do, let them come unto him.

[39:30] So he says, stay here until we come again to you. Meaning what? Wait for our return. If we go, we will come again. Wait for the return, guys. Wait for the return of the word and of Joshua. The people would see both of them go up and they were to wait until they return and come back. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me, not me, him. My father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there, you may be also. Did Jesus say he would return if he went? Yes, he did. Did he go? That means he's going to return. Moses said, hey guys, stay here until we come again unto you. We're going to leave, but we're going to come again. Paul would tell us in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 10, that we're to wait for his son from heaven, for God's son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from wrath to come. As he stood on the Mount of Olives outside of Jerusalem and ascended and the two men who stood by, notice in the scripture it says two men. It doesn't say angels, it said two men stood by. Jesus, we're going to see here, was on a mountain with two men with his disciples. And they said, why don't you look up into heaven? Don't you know the same Jesus will return, who left will return in the same manner? We're to look for Jesus. There would be a day where Moses and Joshua would again meet upon a mountain. Joshua, Jehovah is salvation, would meet upon a mountain with Moses. But at that time, only Joshua comes back down from the mountain.

[41:23] Matthew chapter 17, Jesus takes the disciples, Peter, James, and John, the ones that he kept real close to the special class. And he brought them up into the high mountain with him and he prayed. And they fall asleep. And when they wake up, oh my word, Jesus has been transfigured before them.

[41:39] And there's two other men there. And it's Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets, meeting with Jesus. Peter wakes up and he sees this and he's shocked. And it says, and Moses and Elijah walk away, are walking away. And Peter yells out, Lord, it's good for us to be here. Boy, I wish I wasn't sleeping for all this. Maybe I could like drag this out a little longer. Let me build three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. That's a great idea, right? And then it says, a cloud overshadows them. And out of the cloud comes a voice. And it says, this is my beloved son, hear you him.

[42:18] And it says, the cloud, out of the cloud, after the cloud dissipates, they look around. And it says, when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. At that time, as Jehovah is salvation, as Yeshua on that mountain met with Moses and Elijah, only one man came down from that mountain. Only Yeshua is salvation. Only Jesus came down from that mountain. The typology in scripture is so beautiful. The pictures and the shadows that are there, that God puts there.

[42:51] So he says, hey, if you have any matter, literally the word any matter means speech or words. If you got any speech or words, bring them to Aaron and Hur. And I couldn't help but think of this scripture in Proverbs 10, 19. In the multitude of words, there wants no sin. But he that refrains his lips is wise.

[43:08] Man, in the multitude of words, there wants not sin. You just keep talking, sin's going to come out. Texting is so dangerous. It's such a dangerous thing because you have no, you have no way to interpret the motive or the phrasing. And it can be so dangerous. Those multitude of words. And you can be like, wait, what do they mean by that? Oh, I think you find out you're completely wrong. You're like, oh man. But for Aaron and Hur, they are to be in charge when Moses is gone. We know what's going to happen. Like I said, 40 days and 40 nights, Moses will be on the mountain. Within that amount of time, the people are going to come and say, Aaron, we don't know what happened to this, Moses. We don't have any idea. Well, remember he said he's going to go and come back. There was no way he could have survived 40 days, 40 nights. Remember, they're going to see him go up into a mountain that burned with fire. He's probably long gone. He probably did something and God got upset at him. Make us God's, Aaron. Make us a God. And Aaron got wrapped up in all the words and he does that. You see, as long as Moses was in view, Aaron was steady in his walk with God.

[44:19] We saw when God first called Moses and Moses is like, I can't speak. I got a lot to say, but I can't speak. And he says, well, I'm going to bring you Aaron who won't stop talking, but he's got nothing to say.

[44:30] So you're going to have to fill his head, Moses. You tell him what to say. As long as Moses was there and told him, everything was good. Aaron, this is what we're going to do today. We're going to go and meet Pharaoh at nine in the morning. And then we got an appointment at 10 to meet him again by the water. And you're going to take the staff. This is what you're going to say. You're going to hit the water. It's going to turn to blood. All right, Moses. Yes, God's going to do great things.

[44:50] As long as he had Moses in view, his walk was steady. Aaron lacked personal conviction and fortitude. As long as he had Moses. Okay, I'm convinced the difference between being convinced and convicted. I can convince you. You can convince most anyone of anything, right? We've all been convinced of things that afterwards we go, why did I buy that? Why did I listen to that guy and sign up to that plan? I don't need timeshares, right? We've all been convinced of things, but a conviction, a conviction is something that withstands any convincing. When you're convicted, we think of like, oh, God's convicting me. Like that's something negative. But a conviction, we hold convictions and truths that nobody's going to shake. Like the psalmist said, my heart is fixed. My heart is fixed.

[45:35] Oh God, I have a conviction. Aaron didn't have conviction. As long as Moses was in view, okay, there was an appropriate time for that, Aaron. There's an appropriate time where your walk needed a Moses. But what happened between Moses and Aaron in Egypt and now? Well, Exodus 20 happened, Aaron.

[45:55] And God said to you, I am the Lord, your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make unto you any graven image or any likeness or anything like it in heaven above on earth beneath. Aaron, that word has spoken audibly from the mountain and you heard that. You don't need Moses now to know what to do.

[46:19] Was Moses wrong? Did he make a mistake leaving Aaron and Hur in charge? No. The mistake was Aaron and Hur thought they were the authority. They thought they were the ones in charge instead of realizing God's word was the authority. And Moses goes up into the mount and a cloud covered it. And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai. And the cloud covered it six days. And the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And so for six days, Moses goes on up alone into the mountain. He draws near.

[46:51] He's on the edge of God's glory. But it's not until the seventh day, the day of rest, that he's called to enter in. And the seventh day, God ended his work which he'd made and he rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had made. You see, the law was not given for effort, despite, unfortunately, the culture that's been built up even within the church about the law. And well, there's the Old Testament, there's the New Testament, and there's the law, and there's grace. The law was not given for effort. The law was to lead to rest. It could not give rest, but it was to point to it. It was to lead to it. And here God is calling Moses. He's calling by his word. What does Moses hear? He hears his word. He responds to God's word, and he's led into a place of rest, into God's glory. You know, in Hebrews chapter four, the writer is reiterating kind of Israel's walk through the wilderness. And he talks about Joshua, this Joshua we're reading about now, and how he brought them into the promised land. But he says that Joshua could only do so much. He says, if that Joshua had given them rest, the people of God rest, eternal rest, then would there not be spoken about afterwards another day? There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that has entered into his rest, Jesus's rest, God's rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Moses was just responding to the call of God. Moses was entering into a place of God's glory, but it was in a place of rest. Verse 17, and the sight of the glory of the

[48:33] Lord was like the devouring fire, that's consuming, was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. And so again, here they see Moses go into what they think, he just got smoked. He's not coming back 40 days. He's not going to come back. Again, in Hebrews chapter 12, for you are not come unto the mountain that might be touched and that burned with fire, nor under blackness and darkness and tempest. But we are come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. Was Moses consumed? Poof! No. What did Moses come back with?

[49:25] What did he come back consumed with? He came back with God's word written by God, his face glowing, consumed with the presence of God, consumed with his word, consumed with care for the people of God.

[49:37] That's in the law. That's God's love and care and grace and rest contained in the law. How much more when we come to Jesus, the mediator, the go-between? We cannot look upon God's face, but we can look at Jesus who stands between us and God. God himself, fully God and fully man.

[49:57] In our last verse, And Moses went up into the midst of the cloud, and he got him into the mount. And Moses was in the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. Into the midst, he was among. He went among God's glory. The number 40 in the scripture usually means judgment or testing or trial. For 40 days and 40 nights, Moses was alone. 40 days and 40 nights, he was unseen. He was in God's presence, and he was out without any physical supply.

[50:26] As the Joshua of the New Testament comes on the scene, and he's anointed for ministry and called to fulfill the law, Jehovah is salvation. In Luke chapter 4, Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit, was led forth into the wilderness. And for 40 days, he was tested and tried of the devil.

[50:49] And afterwards, he was hungry. And Satan comes to him and says, Hey, turn the rocks into bread. I mean, wouldn't that be cool? Like God sent manna from heaven? What if you made bread out of rocks for everybody? That could be like your thing, you know?

[51:05] And Jesus answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. As Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights in the presence of God, receiving the word of God, he was living literally by the word of God.

[51:18] He was alone, unseen in God's presence and without physical supply, but he had God's word, just as Jesus did. God's desire is to make a way for his people to partake of fellowship.

[51:31] But he wants us to do that in a place of rest and in his glorious presence. As we started with his glorious presence. His glorious presence is a place where we fellowship, where we rest, where we draw near. And yes, that takes both Moses and Joshua.

[51:46] The Moses of the Old Testament and the Joshua of the New Testament. It takes them both. You cannot have the new covenant without the old covenant. It takes both. Turn to Luke 24. We're going to finish here.

[51:59] And when you get there, we're going to start in verse 36. We need to draw near to God. We need to abide with God. We need to receive from God. And then we're to go and to give on behalf of God.

[52:14] Jesus in Luke 24. So he's at the end here. He's coming to the end of his ministry. He's fulfilled the law. He became that sacrificial lamb on the cross. He rose again to give eternal life.

[52:30] And now the end of his physical time on earth, until he comes again, is about to wrap up. In Luke 24, all the guys are together. All together in the upper room.

[52:45] A lot has happened. The women have seen Jesus after the resurrection there. On their way back from the garden, he appears to them and says, Go tell my disciples to go before me into Galilee. They don't. They stay in Jerusalem because they're afraid.

[52:56] He goes and he sees Mary Magdalene. And then it also says he went and saw Peter. So before he sees Peter at the Sea of Galilee, and before he sees him in the upper room, he appears alone to Peter. I don't think Peter would have come back to the upper room if Jesus didn't appear alone to him and say, Hey, Peter, I love you. I restore you.

[53:13] A lot has happened. And as they spoke in Luke 24, verse 36, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said unto them, Peace be unto you.

[53:25] But they were terrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?

[53:37] And he says, Behold, my hands and my feet. It is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see me have.

[53:51] And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they would not believe for joy. It's just too good to believe. I can't believe it. What's the next thing he does?

[54:03] As he's come into their presence and brought them into their presence. By blood and by sacrifice and by covenant, he dwells with them. He said unto them, Do you have anything here to eat?

[54:17] Did Jesus need to eat? This is his resurrected body. He didn't need to eat. You guys, you got anything here to eat? And they gave him a piece of burrowed fish and a honeycomb. And he took it and did eat before them.

[54:31] You know, I'd always thought that, man, well, he's just showing that like, this is real. I'm not a spirit. I'm eating something. I don't know. I don't know. I think he ate before them in the same way in the old covenant.

[54:46] Moses and these nobles ate before God. In the same way Jesus is saying, Hey guys, I want to fellowship with you. I want you to partake with me. He's the one now eating before them.

[54:58] And one day we're going to sit in his presence and he's going to come and he's going to serve us. He's essentially going to get off his throne and say, Hey, I've been saving this seat for you.

[55:10] Come and eat with me. And boy, I hope it's more than fish and honeycomb. He said, Come and eat with me. And he ate before them and he took it.

[55:20] And he said to them, These are the words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled. Guys, it's over. It's all fulfilled. It's done. And someday we'll get to the prophets and Psalms.

[55:39] And then he opened their understandings that they might understand the scripture. Moses went in to receive the word of God. And he's going to come back down to the mountain with God's word written on a stone. And Jesus, the word of God, word of God made flesh, is standing in the presence of these men.

[55:53] And he says, Hey, I brought you the word. I've opened your understanding that you might understand the scriptures. And he said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it was appropriate for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.

[56:05] And that repentance and remissions of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my father upon you, but tear you in Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high.

[56:24] Jehovah's salvation leading us into promise. He said, Guys, draw near. Bide with me. Fellowship. Receive from God. And then go and share with what I have for you. It's not just for us.

[56:36] It's wonderful it is to come into God's presence, to come into the cloud of his glory, to come together in fellowship. It's not just for us. It's to do the work of the ministry. The work of the ministry doesn't all happen here.

[56:48] It starts here. Right? It starts in our relationship with God. The individual walk builds from there. Jesus, our Joshua, has fulfilled all that Moses could not accomplish.

[57:02] All that the law could not accomplish. Both Jesus, I mean both Joshua and Moses will find their fulfillment in Joshua of the New Testament in Jesus. And both Joshua and Moses find the fulfillment at the table.

[57:14] Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. He says, He's talking about as they followed God in the wilderness.

[57:33] The cloud by day and the fire by night. And they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And they did all eat the same spiritual meat. This wasn't something they decided to do.

[57:44] God led them. God was doing this work. And they did all drink the same spiritual rock. I mean the spiritual drink, which was the spiritual rock that followed them. And that rock was Christ.

[57:55] It was Jesus supplying for them even then. But with many of them, God was not pleased. For they were overthrown in the wilderness because of their unbelief. Again, we're told that in Hebrews.

[58:08] But the next, we jump down in that chapter to verse 11. It tells us that all these things, all these things we've read about today, they happened unto them for examples.

[58:20] And they were written for our instruction. Upon them, upon whom the ends of the world are come. All of these things that we've just read, they're an example and they're an instruction.

[58:33] They're for us. Upon whom the end of the world is come. There's not a lot of time left, guys. Jesus is coming soon. If I go and prepare a place, I will come again and receive you unto myself.

[58:49] Why? Because he desires fellowship. That where I am, there you may be also. He desires fellowship. If you jump down in that chapter to verse 16, Paul says, The cup of blessing, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?

[59:07] The word communion is koinonia. Koinonia is the word for fellowship. Paul would say, hey, all of these things were written for our example, for our instruction, because God knows that the end is here.

[59:20] And what does he say? What is his priority? Well, it's communion. It's fellowship. Because God wants to bring us in to a relationship, a fellowship with him.

[59:31] The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion? Is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion, the fellowship of the body of Christ?

[59:42] God wants you to be in fellowship. So he gave his own blood and broke his own body for your fellowship. So he can just spend time with you. So he can eat in your presence. And so we can eat in his presence.

[59:52] Father, thank you so much for this beautiful section of scripture, Lord. Lord, I wish I had the time during the week to always be super read ahead, but I'm not.

[60:07] Many times I hit the next section of scripture and I'm just reading it and studying it. And, you know, I know that next we're going into the tabernacle and all this. And I knew all this was here, the Ten Commandments, but, Lord, there's so much that comes unlooked for, unbidden and unforeseen.

[60:24] I just don't expect. And, Lord, I thank you for drawing me into your presence by the blood and by the body. I thank you, Lord, that we can come together, Lord, and we can bless that cup of fellowship.

[60:39] We can bless you, Jesus, because of the koinonia. Thank you for the law. Thank you for the law that points so perfectly to Joshua, the one who will bring us into promise.

[60:57] Thank you for your spirit. I don't have to have a law written on stone. I can, like the psalmist say, my heart is fixed because, God, you fixed my heart. Thank you for the most glorious thing you've ever done.

[61:10] To stand in our place, Lord, and to hang on that cross. All for fellowship. All because you just wanted to draw us near. Forgive us, Lord.

[61:20] Forgive us for thinking that it's about my effort or my ability or what I can do for you. You do want us to do things. But only after we've come by blood and the word and worship.

[61:32] Only after we've responded, received, and abided with you. Only after your word. Only after that do we have anything worth giving to anybody. And even, Lord, as we go and we give it, it's still fellowship because you said, hey, I'm with you always.

[61:47] Even to the end of the world. We love you. We praise you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You know, some will be in God's presence.

[62:00] They'll see all that's happening. They'll want to partake of all the excitement or be a part of something. But they'll never behold.

[62:11] They'll never behold His glory. They'll never truly come into fellowship. Some will behold. But they'll never eat and drink. They'll stay at a distance.

[62:22] They'll see things happening. And I'm not going to partake in that. And there's those that will behold and eat and drink. They'll behold Him to see who He is.

[62:33] And because of that, they'll say, man, I'm going to receive what He has. Jesus, our Joshua, has fulfilled all that Moses could not accomplish. We are now called near by the word, by sacrifice, and by blood.

[62:48] God has invited us imperfect people with failure still in our future into His presence. You know, sometimes moving forward with God, it's like we said, it's simply having to get up before we can go up.

[63:04] It's walking that path that no one else can walk for us. Sometimes we have to let go of the failure that's behind. And we also have to let go of the idea that we're not going to be perfect.

[63:14] There's failure in our future. But forgetting that which is behind, we reach forth under that which is before. We reach out for what God has for us. Pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

[63:30] It's a high calling to be in fellowship with God. But it's a blessed thing. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.

[63:42]  The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you and give you peace. God bless you. Draw near to God. Enjoy some fellowship.