Now we'll turn for a few minutes this night to give our attention to two verses which we find in this passage before us. Verses 19 and 20 of Exodus 18. So let's read these verses again and these are of course the words of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses and the counsel that he gave to Moses. Hearken now unto my voice I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee. Be thou for the people to God work, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God. And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Be thou for the people to God work, or as we would say, toward God. Exodus is the Christian life. It is a God-intended type, that is a prophecy of the Christian walk. From the bondage in Egypt, by the deliverance which God achieved through these awesome plagues brought upon the Egyptians, which typify, of course, the sufferings and anguish of Christ upon the cross, and now the wilderness journey of the people through the desert towards their promised land. Exodus lays out before us that Christian life. And it is therefore a book full of rich teaching and encouragement and instruction for the believer. It is a very edifying book to spend time reflecting upon and studying and meditating upon. Now we come tonight to perhaps somewhat obscure passage of Exodus. Moses' father-in-law comes to meet him, and taking the evidence all together, it seems that this occurred once the people of Israel were at the base of Mount Sinai, and that it is included here, slightly out of its chronological position, simply that the narrative flow of that later section will not be impeded. Really, we need to jump from this chapter to Numbers chapter 11 to see the conclusion to the story where these judges that Jethro recommended were in fact appointed by the commandment of the Lord. So here we have Moses' father-in-law coming to meet him. Now Jethro is a somewhat shadowy figure. He is described to us as the priest of Midian, and that would tend to suggest to us that he was a pagan worshipper of false gods, and not merely a worshipper, but a leader in that pagan worship, a priest of idols. But what we find here is this man convinced, persuaded, by all that he sees and by all that he hears. I want you to look at verse 11 and what you see there is a confession of faith. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly, he was above them. Here is a confession of faith in the true God, in the living God that he lives and that he reigns. supreme, and the evidence of Scripture follows that through, for we find the descendants of Moses, father-in-law, referred to specifically in Judges chapter 1 as coming to dwell amongst the people, the Kenneths, Midianites by descent, but in their faith of the people of Israel, and so at last incorporated into the number of the tribes. of Israel. So in one sense this is a conversion narrative that is before us and our attention is here directed specifically to the counsel that Jethro gave to Moses. Now for all that Jethro was apparently, so far as we can judge, a relatively new believer, yet he was an old and a wise man and he spoke with great wisdom. Wisdom yet submitting his wisdom to the judgment of God. Notice verse 23, if thou shalt do this thing and God command thee so. So here is a wise man giving counsel, but submitting his counsel ultimately to the will of the Lord. And of course, that is a good example for us always in giving counsel and advice in difficult matters. Moses' father-in-law urges Moses to delegate, to have other judges to bear the burden, to take upon themselves the lesser matters, the little cases, so that Moses himself will not be exhausted and overwhelmed. Be thou for the people toward God. There's a principle here, isn't there? That same principle that we found in Acts chapter six, where the apostles were to give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. They were not to become, as it were, deacons serving the table. They were to set aside other men for that role so that they could give themselves to the higher calling, the spiritual work of Christian ministry. And these are important principles for us. But let's come particularly to this. God sets apart a mediator. Yes, it's Jethro who speaks, but he submits the council to God's will. And God confirms that council, numbers 11, by acting upon it in the choice of these elders. There's a doctrine here then, that God is pleased to deal with this people through a mediator, that this is God's way of communicating with his people, of giving them instruction and of hearing their prayers through a middle man, a mediator, a man who stands on the medium, that is the point of contact between God and man. Moses, said that in the prophetic sense, the one man counted worthy by God to ascend the mount, to stand in his presence, a prophet who could speak with God face to face, a prophet such as none other would be until Christ himself came, Deuteronomy 18, 15 to 19. But know this, that that mediatorial role is of course fulfilled in Christ. Christ is the great mediator of his people. So this gives us a wonderful and a beautiful and a rich picture of Christ as the go-between, as the intercessor of his people. That then is one doctrine which we may draw out of this passage. Then again, there's a second doctrine. that God is pleased that his people be ruled by a plurality of elders, that is by more than one. that there be wisdom in the numbers. And that, again, is a foundational principle for us in the government of the church. We could well say that that is the foundational principle for Presbyterian church government. It's a precious, it's an important point. It need not detain us particularly tonight. I think if we wanted to teach that doctrine particularly, we would turn more to New Testament texts, but it is worth acknowledging. So there are these two doctrines. What I especially want to bring before you tonight is a third doctrine, which we find in this passage, and which is of particular and pressing significance and relevance to each one of us. There's a principle here, this principle of delegation, be thou for the people that man's most important duty must be his first priority. That man's most important duty must be his first priority. And as the Lord will enable us, I want us to spend a little time this night considering and opening up that subject together. Let's consider first. What really matters? What really matters? What causes would be important enough that they would have to be brought to Moses for judgment? Lesser matters, trivial disagreements, minor arguments, differences of opinion, they could be settled by the captains of tens and captains of fifties and captains of hundreds and captains of thousands. But some matters, would have to come to Moses. Some matters would be so pressing and so vital that they could not be brought to any lesser authority. They must come to the mediator. No one less would do. So what matters then? Matters of great cost. We weigh things. as people, depending on the amount of money involved. If a dispute is trivial, if it is over pennies, we consider it beneath our dignity to waste time on. But if it is worth tens of thousands of pounds, then we will be consulting solicitors, then we will be anxious, then we will be awake in the night worrying about it, then it will dominate our thoughts, waking and sleeping, until hopefully the matter is resolved. Matters of great cost press themselves upon people. So matters of great cost would be brought to Moses. For example, the case of the daughters of Zelophehad who came with that question, would they inherit along with the sons of their tribes? A question of real material significance. That was a question not to delegate to some lesser judge. That was a question to bring to the mediator himself. It was a question of great cost. It referred to the actual division of substantial areas of real estate in God's promised land. Matters of great cost must be brought to God. Matters of great cost must be brought by the mediator. I want you to consider this now. How much time you devote to matters of cost in this world. How many hours you spend fretting over money. How much time you spend in the pursuit of earnings. How much attention you pay to the balance of your bank account or to the amount outstanding upon your mortgage. What worry and concern there is if things are not what they should be. What satisfaction, what a comfort that is, if all is well and if your provision is abundant. Matters of great cost. But the word of God asks, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? And I want you to consider that this night there is a matter of far greater cost than any legal case in this world, than any battle over trademarks or over the ownership of corporate stock. One of these cases worth hundreds of millions or maybe billions of pounds. One of these great corporate trade deals in which people buy some household name corporation. What is that? in comparison with eternity. When you consider that you have a soul that will still be conscious 100,000 years from now, and 100 million years from now. That once every acre of real estate in this world has been burnt up, once every title deed has been rendered worthless once every pound and dollar and euro has ceased to exist, whether physically or on the virtual computer screen. When all this world is gone, what then do you possess? Have you treasure in heaven? Are you rich towards God? Have you amassed such wealth as will actually matter? Have you, like the daughters of Zelophia, made sure your claim upon an inheritance within the promised land? Or have you neglected that for matters of lesser cost? Matters of great cost must be brought to the mediator. And what could be more costly than your undying soul? What could be more valuable than your conscious experience for eternity? And you have been granted this little space of time, this short human life to prepare for that eternity. This life is given that you may get ready for the kingdom that is coming. Is that what your life looks like? A life that is consumed with preparation for the matter of greatest cost, for what really will endure, for the estate that you will have a million years from now. Matters of great cost. matters of great difficulty. When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and 250 princes of the people of Israel, rose up to complain against Moses and Aaron, has not God spoken also by us? Ye sons of Levi, take too much upon yourselves. That was not a matter for the captain of 50 or for the captain of a thousand. to resolve and to deal with. That rebellion was a matter of great difficulty. That rebellion had to come directly to the mediator and he had to bring it directly to God. Matters of great difficulty were matters that could not be delegated. Now you have many worries in this world. We are all very anxious. about this coronavirus situation. We are regarding the statistics of the second wave with great concern. We are following the news on a daily basis. We are watching about how President Trump's health will be. We are concerned, will there be another lockdown in Scotland? These are legitimate worries. I do not disparage these things. These are matters of life and death. We have worries in this world. We have concerns and anxieties and it may be that things are weighing very heavily upon you in these dark and stressful days in which we are living. But you've got matters of greater difficulty before you than a lockdown or a pandemic. Matters of more pressing difficulty than how you will get through the next few months or it may well be how you will get through the next two years of this strange and difficult situation. There are matters that are more difficult than that, the salvation of your soul. That is a matter so difficult that it is entirely beyond your capacity to resolve. You cannot save yourself. You cannot resolve your own situation. You cannot make yourself acceptable before God. The rebellion of Korah is in here. That spirit of opposition to God's anointed servant, that rejection of Christ, that animosity against him, by nature, it's in your own heart. The enemies are those of a man's own household. and of yourself, you are entirely unable to subdue the rebellion, to bring yourself into submission to Christ. Or you can change outwardly. You can make New Year's resolutions as it were. You can polish up the outward exterior. You can be very diligent in church, and it's good to be diligent in church. You can be very regular and steady with your Bible reading and do that each day. That is good and commendable. You can set aside time for prayer. You can be strict about family worship. All good, all commendable, but none of it will save you. None of it will save you. You need Christ. You must have the mediator. It is a matter, if we could express it colloquially, above your pay grade. It is too difficult for you to resolve. And therefore, rather than attempting to address this yourself, you must flee to the one who can. to the saviour whose righteousness is sufficient to cover a multitude of sins, whose blood can wash away the accumulated guilt of a life of rebellion, who has the keys of life and of death, who is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. This matter is too difficult for you But oh, praise God, it's not too difficult for Christ. Flee to the mediator before it is too late. Seek him, seek life, seek salvation before you find that you worried about what was trivial and passing and forgot what was final and eternal and enduring and forever. Oh, how fearful to mistake priorities that badly. Matters of great cost, matters of great difficulty. Another kind of matter that would be brought to Moses would be matters of great joy. Think when the people heard that Balaam had been summoned by the king of Moab to curse Israel, that he'd been brought up to the hill to gaze down upon the camp of God's people and to pronounce curses upon them, and that every time he tried to curse, it was blessing upon blessing that came forth. until at last even wicked Balaam brought forth one of the most beautiful and striking Messianic prophecies of all Old Testament scripture, as he proclaimed the star out of Jacob and the scepter out of Israel, the Messiah that would come in all his radiance. What joy in the when such news was heard. That was not news to carry to the head of the household. That was not news for the head of the tribe. No, to Moses. This must be recorded in the scriptures. More than that, this must be carried to God in thankfulness, in joy. This delight that we now feel in the blessed hope of the Messiah and of his salvation and of God granting victories over all our enemies. This joy must be expressed to God in praise. It must go to the mediator. Matters of great joy are important, are worth taking to him. You know, we have so much that fills our lives. So much that we do for the pursuit of joy. We busy ourselves with entertainment. But there's some of us who can entertain ourselves from the beginning of the day to the end of the day, who can fill our time so effortlessly. I'm not even speaking necessarily here about things that are in themselves wrong and sinful, but even in things indifferent. Oh, how distracted, how busy we can be with entertainment. And remember, though it may be inherently a thing indifferent, yet if it's allowed to distract and to detract from the things of God, then that entertainment becomes itself sinful. We pray in the psalm, turn thou away my sight and eyes from viewing vanity. Well, we pray it, we sing it, but do we act upon it? Are we spending our money for that which is not bread? We need to ask hard questions about how we spend our time as God's people. We need to guard how we spend our money as God's people, to be sure that we are not being led astray to feed upon worldliness, even as we profess godliness. I would lay before you the challenge. Should Christians be subscribers to Netflix? Should we? Should we be giving our money to a corporation that produces material of a description, which I would not sully this place by describing. You say, well, I don't watch that. Okay, but you're paying for it. You're the boss, you're the one who's providing the resources necessary for such things to be staged, or such material to be produced, and to be disseminated through the world. Is it helpful for you to have on your phone or on your laptop such an app to distract you and to fill your time and your attention with that which is, okay, I grant, sometimes morally indifferent, but very often not morally indifferent at all, but of its essence, corrupt, sinful, degrade, coming from a moral place. that is entirely separate from the word of God, about the television license. Again, you're responsible if you pay that for everything the BBC produces, for every single thing that that corporation does, whether you watch it or whether you don't. And again, we maybe do need to start asking very serious questions amongst ourselves about whether we as the people of God need to have that in our home. about whether it really is proper to be watching drama, to be watching theatrical productions constantly, daily, within our own lives. Do we need that? Is it vital for us? Is it necessary? Is it good for us? Turn thou away my sight and eyes from viewing vanity. What really does bring you joy? Does your entertainment bring you joy? Oh, it fills time. It's very good at filling time. It's very good at consuming the attention. It's very good at keeping the mind occupied. But does it really give the joy it promises? You know, the world is full of promises. Do this and you'll be happy. Watch this and you'll laugh. Follow this and it will fill your attention and it will delight you. But all too often what it brings is a sting of guilt and shame in the tail. All too often it consumes the attention and distracts from what is vital and needful and corrupts perhaps the opinions, even subconsciously, even beneath the surface. and leads away from what matters. Dear friend, do we not know better joys? Do we not know deeper delights than what the world promises and offers with its entertainment? Upon mine heart bestowed by thee more gladness I have vowed than they, even them, when corn and wine did much with them abound, always sing it. But do we believe it? Do we know that we have a source of joy and gladness that the world knows not of? Do we pursue then the joy and the gladness which is real? which is substantial, which is lasting, which is enriching, which feasts the soul and feeds faith, which directs opinions in the right path, not the wrong path, which fills our mind with good words and not foul words, which leaves good images in the mind and not ugly and corrupt images. Have we not better things to do? Matters of great joy. Oh, dear friend, if you are lacking joy in your life, turn not to the world. Our testimony as God's people to you is there's better joy. There's fuller joy. There's richer joy with the mediator, with Christ. in the sweetness that he offers in the entertainment, and I use the term reverent, he provides his people in the abundance of the riches and feeding which he has in this word and in the fullness of his truth. What benefit when we set aside time for good and godly reading, what comfort when we have been in the word or in good books, what a blessing when we have spent time in prayer, what a What a joy when we can look back upon an evening spent in good things, in conversation and Christian experience, in reflection upon the truth, in anticipation of eternal blessing. Thomas Manton makes the lovely remark, grace is but young glory. Hope lays hold upon heaven and makes it a present reality in the heart of the believer. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Do you know what that text means experimentally? Matters then of importance, matters of cost, of difficulty, of joy, these are the matters to bring to the mediator. And these are ultimately, if we're honest with ourselves, the matters that are really important. So we've considered then, firstly, what really matters. Secondly, acting on what really matters. The instruction was, not to bring these things to Moses the man. Moses was a very wise man. He was an old man, a man of great education and a great life experience. No doubt he had great capacity himself to judge and to lead. But you'll notice that the emphasis in the text is, be thou for the people to Godward that thou mayest bring the causes unto God, Moses's role was not to be the ultimate, as it were, the Supreme Court judge. His role was to be the mediator, to bring, to carry the felt need unto God. It is God who can meet the people's need. God who can overrule in these most difficult and taxing of questions. It is God who can guide them aright It is God who can provide for their needs. And so it's to God that these things must be brought. We must look unto the Lord, and we find that his ear is open unto the cry of his people. He is faithful, but promised. Ever there is a welcome with God, ever there is a hearing ear, and so we must use that. We must make use of that new and living way which he has made through the veil, that is to say through his flesh, unto God by a mediator. And so it is by Christ that we must come. It is by that way that we approach God. It is to him, it is for Jesus' sake that we bring our difficulties unto God and seek his light and his help and his overruling in all that challenges us by the mediator unto God. And the wonderful thing is that we are assured that God will answer. There's a lovely picture in Revelation chapter eight of the prayers of the saints, the Lord's people, ascending up before him. And we're told of an angel who is offering sweet-smelling incense with these prayers, so that they are a sweet odor before God. Of ourselves, inherently, our prayers are unworthy for his ears, are unfit for the presence of God. But oh, praise God, there is a sweetness that is added and that is the work of the mediator. Christ makes our prayers acceptable before God. And so be thou to the people, be thou for the people to Godward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God, and therefore, as a result, thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk. and the work that they must do. Moses then was to be a prophet to the people. Having brought the people's prayers to God, he was then to bring the word of God to the people. He was to declare what God would speak. And so it follows from this, Exodus chapter 20, the Ten Commandments. and all the law of God that follows upon that. Moses, the prophet of the Lord, to teach and to guide the people. So it is with Christ. Christ speaks the Word. Christ is the Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. What does it mean that Christ is the Word? Certainly it means that Christ reveals the word of God. His very words, the sermon on the mount and so on, the parables are the very word of God. But of course it's more than that. He himself is the revelation of God. He is the God-man. He is the mediator in that more profound sense than Moses could ever be. He walked in this world as God. He revealed God to man. And so the whole walk of Christ before the eyes of man was a proclamation. Here is what God requires. Here is the way. What key in it? When we see Christ, we see what man should be. Now there's different stages in responding to Christ. And it may well be that this night that you have begun, but not advanced in that. The beginning is to pay attention to the word. Faith cometh by hearing. So the first thing is to hear, to listen. God, we are told, opened the heart of Lydia so that she attended unto the things which were spoken by Paul. Are you starting to listen? To really hear when the word of God is being spoken? Do you feel a force behind it? A spiritual power that convicts you of its truth? A spiritual, a moral conviction that this word is good and that it is right, and when it finds you wanting, then indeed you are wanting, that when morally you don't come up to the standard of that word, it is you that is at fault, not the word which you are hearing. That is the word of God being attended to, being heard. That is God speaking to you by that prophetic voice of Christ, and you are hearing. But more is required, more. Not just to hear, but to believe. We're told of the people of Israel in the desert, some of them at least. Hebrews 4 verse 6, that the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those that heard it. Christ is the word of God. Not simply in revealing to us what man should be, but more than that, in revealing to us how man may be saved by himself. He's a prophet, but he's also a priest. He is the one who died for man. He is the one who rose again. He is the one who is at God's right hand, interceding for us. It is as a priest that Christ must be believed in. We preach Christ crucify. And it is in the proclamation of Christ crucify that we see the distinction made between those who are his and those who are not. Between those who believe in this man, who trust in his salvation, who will have this man to die for them, to be their savior, to be their priest. Where you see that distinction, between God's people and those who, like many of Israel of old, would not believe and would not put their trust in this same Saviour. The word must be believed. He has told you the way of salvation. He has revealed to you the way of life. Here it is in all of Scripture. Will you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? and so be saved. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But yet there is a further step. The word must be attended to, the word must be believed, but more than that, the word must be obeyed. Not the hearers of the law are justified, but the doers of the law shall be justified. And thus we see the distinction made. This word must therefore be kept. Here is the believer's rule of life. Here is the command for how this life must be lived out. Or you cannot work to save yourself. but you can work to show that you have been saved. Here is the evidence of God's people in a changed and transformed world, in the word heard, believed, and obeyed, put into practice. Here is the summons of Christ as King. As prophet he preaches to us the way of life, as priest he is that way of life, as king he commands the following of that way of life. Will you have this man to reign over you? Moses the mediator could bring to the people the ordinances And the laws, he could show them the way within they must walk and the work that they must do. But then the challenge lay upon the people to obey, to keep that law, which was commanded immediately by Moses, ultimately by God himself. The laws of God. Commandments are of God. The way of holiness is from God, and without holiness shall no man see the Lord. Do you give evidence then in your life that you are His, that not only do you hear the Word, that not only do you believe the Word, but that you obey the Word, that this book really is your rule of life. that you really live as one who looks for an eternal inheritance, as one whose treasure is in heaven, as one whose hope is there and whose comfort in the face of all the anxieties of life is there. There's the call, there's the challenge of the gospel. How do you respond? Christ the mediator is still the way of life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by thee. And so he has set before us the way, here is the way, walk ye in it. Will we do so? Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Dear friend, if someone looked at your life in this past week, if someone could see how your time was spent and how your thoughts were occupied, if they could see what you did and what you said and what you spent your time upon, would they say, there's a man, there's a lady, living for eternity. There's one preparing for heaven. There's one following out the life of Christ in the soul. Would they say that? There's a question for self-examination for all of us. Are these really the great matters to you? Are these the things that concern you the most. Let me speak a little to the Lord's people here. It may be that you are anxious and troubled in these days, concerned about the state of the cause, burdened for it. Remember that we have a mediator in heaven. Remember that we have one who bears the burden I was very struck by something I read in a writer recently. He remarked, we have to take upon ourselves the confession of John the Baptist. I am not the Christ. You cannot bear the worries of this world upon your own shoulders. You need to remember that there is a mediator in heaven, that there is one whose ears are open. The judges are open, the way is open, the Saviour is there. Stop trying to bear it yourself. Give him no rest until he established Jerusalem and make her a praise on all the earth. Let your worries drive you to prayer and seek the blessing of Christ upon her. Remember that he can carry what you cannot. I am not the Christ. Remember that, but there is a Christ and his ears are open. Be thou for the people to Godward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God. And let me speak a word to those here who are not the Lord's people and who know that their need is to have this same saviour. Dear friend, he is there, that mediator, between heaven and earth. As it were, Moses on the top of the mount with his arms uplifted to heaven. And so the battle progressed and the victory was won. He is still there. Christ on God's right hand and his prayers are heard. He's the one you need on your side. You don't need a minister to pray for you or an elder. You need Christ to pray for you. You need the advocate with the father to be in your corner and upon your side. It's him you must have. And Jesus says, him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. The way to him is open. The door is evident. His arms are yet outstretched to a disobedient and gainsaying people. But I've sinned so badly in the last week. Well, all the more reason to flee to Christ. But I've let him down yet again. Well, how much more then you need to repent? But I am so hard and so unbelieving. Then come to the one who can give you faith. For faith is the gift of God. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look unto me. and be ye saved, O ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. Amen. The Lord be pleased to bless his work.