Exodus 32:01-35, Salvation from the Old and New Testaments by John.

Salvation from the Old and New Testaments
Exodus 32:01-35.

1. Most of us are quite familiar with the term "New Testament Christian," right?
2. There's nothing specifically wrong with calling yourself a NTC, but we must not forget a number of things.
3. One is God did not change between the Old and New Testaments. He is the same as He has always been. You can't improve on perfection! And He is perfect!
4. As NTCs, we must understand the Old Testament by the New.
5. As I read in Exodus this week, the Lord laid a number of things on my heart, and I'm going to share some of them this morning.
6. Everything I have to say is couched in New Testament Theology and Bible Study.

I. The Israelites were just like people are today!

1. They were not satisfied with God.
(1) They wanted god's they could hold in their hands. Why? So they could control them!
(2) You remember "I dream of Genie" on TV?
(3) It was funny, and people like to be entertained, but people also like to be in control of the power!
(4) We like to think we can force God to answer our prayers by saying, "In Jesus' Name, I pray!"
(5) Have we changed, or are we still like those Israelites who wanted gods they could control?
(6) "The Devil and Daniel Webster" is a classic tale of that same desire to have the whole world at our disposal regardless of the cost! We like it even better when the hero gets away without punishment!
2. There are always priests, ministers, or others who represent God, but who are as fallible as was Aaron.
(1) We shouldn't throw stones at him until we know we won't make the same mistakes! Amen?
(2) We may believe we are strong Christians, but we always discover Satan knows our weaknesses, and he will tempt us beyond our ability to stand unless God helps us! God will if we turn to Him. I Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
3. There are ministers like Moses, too.
(1) He interceded for the people.
(2) He refused to take God's great blessing at the expense of his kinfolk. (In 32:10, God told him to leave Him alone so that He could destroy all the people and make a great nation just from Moses' family!)
(3) Wouldn't that be a great temptation? It would to me! Those people were nothing but trouble from the beginning!
(4) After God relented, Moses went down the mountain to the people. He picked up Joshua who was waiting for him. They heard the noise, and Joshua thought they were at war! Moses told him he heard singing!
(5) They found the people frolicking about committing all sorts of sins. Promiscuous sex was generally practiced in idol worship.
4. This same Moses who interceded with God for the people is the same Moses who lost his temper with them!
(1) He dashed the stone tablets of the Law to stony ground, and they broke into pieces!
(2) He turned on Aaron! v. 21, "What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?"
(3) We know that the people led their leader Aaron into sin, don't we? And in a way, that's what Aaron said.
(4) He quoted them in v 23, "Make us gods who will go before us..."
(5) Then he tried to make the golden calf look miraculous. He said he just threw the gold in the fire and out jumped this calf!
5. At this point, we would have to say Aaron had already made sinful mistakes.
(1) His first one was his failure to stand up for God!
(2) His second one was to stop leading the people and to start following them.
(3) His third one in my estimation was to fabricate a lie about how that calf was made!
(4) It bothers me to realize, under the same circumstances, I might sing, "Stand up! Stand up for Jesus! Ye soldiers of the Cross!" And I might not do one bit better than Aaron did!
(5) I say that because I've seen other pastors do similar things, and I'm just another pastor, just a man...unless I am in the Spirit of God!
(6) Even so, every one of those Israelites could have been led by God's Spirit! They didn't want to be led! They wanted to lead themselves!
5. And we are just like they were! Our desires make it hard for us to follow Jesus!

II. I think God gave us Aaron so we could see ourselves as we are!

1. One of the great preachers of the past walking with a deacon saw a profligate man obviously drunk and staggering down the street. The deacon said, "Look at that man! Isn't he terrible?" The
preacher said, "But for the grace of God, there go I."
2. Aaron had seen the miracles of God!
3. Aaron stood before Pharaoh!
4. Aaron saw the army of Egypt perish in the waters of the Red Sea!
5. How could he have fallen so quickly? How could he have been so weak?
6. Satan knew Aaron's weakness, and he worked with his people to put pressure on Aaron where it hurt!
7. We ought to see ourselves in Aaron!

III. Let's look at how and where Aaron went wrong.

1. We've already seen how he caved in to the people's desire.
2. We've also seen how he colored the situation to keep from looking so bad to Moses.
3. I think to Aaron, God was up on the mountain instead of right there with the people. He probably did not realize that God knew exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it! That's a big mistake!
4. Another mistake was that he believed he could persuade his brother Moses that he hadn't done anything really wrong! Too many of us believe we will stand before God someday and persuade Him that we are really pretty good people. That's a big mistake! Romans 3:19 says, "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God."
5. Aaron's next mistake was thinking God would leave him alone because he was an Israelite, one of God's chosen people. We have the same idea. We believe we are God's chosen people, amen? We are, but that doesn't mean God will let our sins just pass on by! He expects us to confess our sins when we commit them. Then He will forgive us. I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

IV. Some of us are capable of great sacrifice. Moses was. v 32.

1. Moses offered to die for his people. That was a great magnanimous offer, but it would not work!
2. Some today are willing to die for their friends, maybe one or two of us are willing to even die for our enemies, but it will not work.
3. We are all sinners. We are all already under God's condemnation! There is nothing we can give in exchange for our own souls, much less someone else's.
4. God said no to Moses' offer, but He also made a statement that stands and is in effect right now.
5. V 33. "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book."
6. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
7. I can't die for your salvation, and you can't die for mine, but praise the Lord! Jesus died for all of us!

Conclusion:
1. The Gospel of Jesus is in both the Old and New Testaments. God hasn't changed. We are all saved the same way regardless of when we live!
2. The Old Testament people looked forward to God providing a sacrifice for their sins. He did it in Jesus.
3. Since the death of Jesus on the cross, we look back to His death, and we know He died for us!
4. Everyone makes mistakes. We all have weaknesses. None of us is righteous--Except in Jesus!
5. Are you in Jesus? You can give yourself to Him right now, and that will be settled for all eternity!

Emmanuel 4/1/2007