Come Up the Mountain to the Lord
Exodus 24:1-8 Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.” 3 So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the [a]judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”
Here is what is happening. Moses is establishing the conditions of the covenant. God’s covenant with the Israelites, made here at Mount Sinai encompasses two basic principles: 1. God alone establishes the promises and obligations of the covenant, and 2. Humans are expected to accept them in obedient faith.
He promised to give the Israelites land of Canaan after redeeming them from slavery in Egypt and to be their God and adopt them as His people. He wanted to bless all nations through them revealing His ultimate goal was to bring the Savior into the world through His covenant people.
Before God would fulfill His promises, He required the Israelites to commit themselves to live in covenant with Him according to His laws spoken to them on Mount Sinai. After Moses took the book of the Covenant and read it to the people (v.7), they all proclaimed with one voice, “All the words which the Lord has said, we will do”, thus ratifying the covenant. Without this solemn promise to accept God’s requirements, this covenant would not have been confirmed.
This agreement to keep God’s law remained a condition of the covenant. Only by persevering in obedience to the Lord’s commands and by offering the prescribed sacrifices of the covenant would Israel continue as God’s treasured possession and keep on receiving His blessings.
The obedience God expected from His people was not perfection but a sincere desire to obey. Inherent in the covenant was a recognition of the weakness of human nature, at times humans would fail. In order to remove the guilt of sin and reconcile the people to Himself, God provided the sacrificial system. The people would confess their sins, offer various sacrifices, and so be reconciled to the Lord.
Through His covenant with Israel, God intended that people in other nations, by observing Israel’s faithfulness to God and the accompanying blessings of the covenant, would want to draw near to the Lord and become a part of the community of faith.
What does this mean to us?
TO GO up the mountain, you must be purified.
The mountain represents the presence of God. Today, God calls all men to draw near. (v.1) Come up unto the Lord
Under the Old covenant, only one man could draw near the Lord in order to intercede for the people. In this case it was Moses, and as the covenant was established it was the high priest once a year who could go into the holy of holies. HE would repent for himself and then the sins of the people. But now through the precious blood of Christ, we have a high priest that made a way once and for all to draw near.
Hebrews 10:19-22 Therefore, brethren, having boldness[a] to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water
It is God’s will and His plan from the beginning of time to be in relationship with His creation. God wants fellowship with you. He wants to know you. He wants to be your God and He wants you to be His people. He loves us and His love was displayed for us on the cross when Jesus died for our sins. Because of His great sacrifice we can come up the mountain and draw near.
John 12:32 And I, if I am [a]lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
But it is not enough to just say, “I believe in Jesus” with no internal change. Unless you are purified and made holy, no man shall see the Lord. The psalmist tells us who may go up the mountain
Psalm 24:3-5 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
We see from the above Scriptures that we must pursue holiness. We cannot be holy without the washing of the blood of the Lamb and the Holy Spirit; but we are not immediately made holy when we say a prayer. We must be born again of the Spirit. There is a process of sanctification. We are to pursue holiness. A life that has been changed and transformed by the Lord will look, act, speak differently.
IT is not enough to just do good works. Your hands must match your heart. If your arm offends you, cut it off. You can cut off your arms and still live, but you cannot cut out your heart and live. Your heart must be purified.
If you are the same today as the day you said a prayer to be saved, then you are deceiving yourself.
1 John 3:6 AMPC No one who abides in Him [who lives and remains [a]in communion with and in obedience to Him—deliberately, knowingly, and [b]habitually] commits (practices) sin. No one who [habitually] sins has either seen or known Him [recognized, perceived, or understood Him, or has had an experiential acquaintance with Him].
God provided in His covenant for human weakness- but there is a big difference between willful and ignorant sin.
Willful sin- I can do this because God will forgive me. There is no thought for the Lord, only self. “I can do what I want” camp. I am under grace.
Ignorant- I got caught up in this thing. God forgive me! There is remorse for hurting God and breaking His covenant.
Pureness heart is reflected in the way and manner in which we approach a holy God.
James 4:8 ESV Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
God gave us an example of the proper way to approach Him:
“And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God. And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzzah; and he called the name of the place Perez Uzzah to this day. David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”” II Samuel 6:6-9 NKJV
Death is a tad bit harsh of a punishment, would you agree? Yet, throughout Scripture God warns us that He is holy and we are not. We cannot approach a holy God, we are not His peers nor His equals. It is only through the precious blood of the Lamb that we can even come near. Neither you nor your children are special. It must be God’s way, this is His covenant obligation.
The Lord gave me this word a year ago during a Sunday service, many Christians treat Him and His house as a “common thing”. There is no reverence for Him, His house, His sacraments, His ministers, or His saints. Christians treat the House of the Lord as Uzzah treated the Ark- commonly, like a Walmart or grocery store. And because God is restraining His punishment; you continue to treat Him commonly in the manner that you approach Him
The disciples asked of the Lord, “teach us to pray”, they were saying, “How do we draw near?” Jesus responded, “Our Father who art in heaven; hallowed (holy) be Thy name”. It’s the very first sentence of the prayer. He is not common.
What if the first time you treated Him as common, you were struck down? The book of Acts records a husband and wife lying to the Holy Spirit and both being struck dead, producing the fear of the Lord in His people. Paul said to the Corinthian church that many of them were sick and had already died for taking communion in an unholy manner, treating it as a common thing. The writer of Hebrews tells us that to continue to sin willfully is trampling on the blood of Christ, treating it as a common thing.
Hebrews 10:29-31 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” [a]says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
I hear this all the time, “I am in Christ and I can boldly go to throne! I march in and tell God what I want!” Be careful. This is willful sin
While it is true that we can approach Him through the blood of Jesus; boldness does not mean “demanding” or “brashly”; it means “with authority”. All the other Scriptures apply when we come near Him. We come humbly. We come obediently. We come with clean hands and a pure heart. We come after examining ourselves. We come near in love and in reverence. Do not fall into the common trap. God has not changed. He was holy then, He is holy now. We can approach Him as our Father because we’ve been forgiven and cleansed; and still remember and be in awe of His holiness.
To go up the mountain, you must be obedient
Blood and obedience go hand and hand. “All that the Lord has said, we will do” is a condition of the covenant
Hebrews 3:7-18 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but [b]exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?
Ps Matt harped on obedience last Sunday, so I don’t want to preach on it too much. But I would not be giving the Scripture its due diligence without touching on the subject. How can you even claim to be in Christ if you do not obey Him? How do claim to love Him and not obey Him?
John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The Greek word translated “believes not” is apeitheo, and means to “disobey, not be subject to”, and is contrasted with the word “believe” (pisteuo). It translates that unbelief means to disobey the Son. The word “pisteuo” uses the words faith and obedience interchangeably.
Disobedience and unbelief go hand and hand. You refuse to tithe because you do not really believe God will take care of you (unbelief). You won’t submit to your husband because you do not really believe that what God says about men and women is true. You refuse to stop sinning because you do not believe that God will punish disobedience (unbelief). You believe God’s word is outdated and old fashioned. This is unbelief.
Remember how I told you that God alone establishes the promises and obligations of the covenant, and humans are expected to accept them in obedient faith? He sets the obligations of the covenant and when you came to the Lord, you said, “I agree to Your covenant” and these were to repent and make Jesus Lord. Lord means Master.
Hebrews 5:9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
Acts 5:32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Obedience is not a work! If you say you believe and do not obey, then you are doing the same that Satan does. Obedience is the response of a heart full of faith, love and gratitude for my Lord and Savior. He is my king! My Lord and my God. He died so that I could have eternal life. How can I not love Him and obey Him? It is my reasonable response to His loving kindness.
To go up the mountain, you have to climb.
Estes Park- 8000 ft. the air is thin and it is difficult to breath. My heart beat would not come back down after the run. Climbing is hard work! Who here has ever done Mailbox Peak? Faith, Amber, Eva and myself did it a couple of years ago. The last ¼ mile is the hardest. It is straight up the mountain and I hate heights.
Many people do not count the cost. They refuse to come up near the Lord because it is hard. The road of salvation is narrow and afflicted. The air is thin on the high road and it becomes difficult to breath.
To go up the mountain, you have to leave things behind.
2 Corinthians 6:17-18 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.”
It has always been the desire of the Lord to be in intimate fellowship with His creation. We were not created to love the world. We were created to love the Father. We were created to love and obey Him.
Leaving behind things to come up the mountain will be your greatest hindrance in your Christian walk. The shortest sermon ever preached:
Luke 17:32 Remember Lot’s wife.
Explain-
You will have to leave behind the world’s way of doing things, worldly idols, culture, and philosophy. Can I speak to the women right now- the world’s fashion.
You will have to leave behind your past. Some people’s past have become their identity and they become in bondage to their past hurts and traumas instead of releasing the past to the Lord and covering it under the blood.
You will have to leave behind people,
Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
The prophet asks a rhetorical question. You cannot go up with those who are not in agreement with the Word of the Lord, including family members, friends and loved ones. Do you know where I am seeing this happen? IN this demonic agenda with the alphabet crowd. WE are to have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness. EX: Faith was asked a question at Bible school- would you attend a gay wedding?
2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what [a]fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what [b]communion has light with darkness?
Believers in Christ are not to be yoked with unbelievers, or apostate Christians. The imagery of the “yoke” brings to mind the rigid harness used to keep livestock locked together and pulling in a consistent direction. The Old Testament used a form of the word to forbid mating cattle of different species (Leviticus 19:19). The Law also forbids harnessing together an ox and a donkey to plow a field (Deuteronomy 22:10).
The point of this phrase is clear. Those in Christ are something other than those who are not in Christ. They are not the same—spiritually—and should not be locked together into any kind of binding relationship.
Paul asks: what cooperation can there be between virtue and wickedness? Those in Christ have “become the righteousness of God”. Those outside of Christ continue in their status as unrepentant, lawless sinners. The two cannot—must not—be joined together. To do so makes as little sense as trying to join light and darkness in fellowship. It can’t be done. As soon as the light arrives, the darkness must vanish.
With some, you have to shake the grave dust off your feet and move on
Not everyone who starts with you will finish with you.
Go up the mountain to receive the blessing of the covenant
Lastly, come up the mountain and draw near to the Lord because He desires to bless you and your family, for all to see what a mighty and awesome God we serve. Through His covenant with Israel, God intended that people in other nations, by observing Israel’s faithfulness to God and the accompanying blessings of the covenant, would want to draw near to the Lord and become a part of the community of faith. God chose the Israelites for a special purpose. He offered them an opportunity to become the model nation of His way of life for all nations, so that all people could have His blessings.
Exodus 19:4-6 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I [a]bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
Isaiah 42:6-7 “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
But Israel rejected Him and so were cut off. You now are grafted in because of their disobedience.
Romans 11:19-22 NKJV You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, [d]goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
This invitation is sent out today- to His faithful church.
1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Our lives should be lived in away that magnify the Lord and His greatness. We live lives that show forth a mighty Savior who changes our wicked hearts and transforms our lives.
I am not the person I was before Christ. I had a girl tell me one time, “You do not understand what I have been through”
The problem is that you see a justified person standing before you, who has been healed, delivered and transformed. There is no marks from the past on me.
Our lives should reflect a glorious God, who heals, forgives and delivers from the bondage of sin and death. Our speech reflects a great big God, who does the impossible and blesses the humble.
Who wants to follow a god that has no power? Our lives should display the power of God. We serve a God who answers prayers and makes a way when there seems to be no way. I want people to see a God who does the impossible and opens the Red Sea
Who was here when Lena was healed? “Somebody touched my knee!” This is the reason I never miss an opportunity to be in the house of God.
He is the God of all comfort and the Almighty, all powerful Savior. He has me in the palm of His faithful hands and because I love Him and am committed to Him, I do not live a life of chance. He has a perfect way and He orders my steps. I have a future and it is blessed!
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