We're going to continue on in Exodus chapter 20. And just as I got the title of the last song wrong, so I got the number of verses that's listed in your bulletin wrong. We're going to go from verses 18 through 21, not through 26. A couple of weeks ago we finished with the last of the Ten Commandments, finishing, Do Not Covet. And now we've come to an event that's similar to what we've read in Exodus chapter 19 where God's presence was experienced in the people's senses. They saw, they heard, they felt. So join me as I read verses 18 through 21 of Exodus chapter 20. Now all the people witnessed the thunderings and the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking. And when people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, you speak with us and we will hear. but let not God speak with us lest we die. And Moses said to the people, do not fear, for God has come to test you, that his fear may be before you and that you may not sin. So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near, the thick darkness where God was. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of God endures forever. May God bless the reading and proclamation of his holy word this day. About 22 years ago, our son was in a rehab facility after suffering through a number of consecutive seizures. And I'm sure there are sadder places than a rehab facility like a hospital for children with terminal illnesses, but close behind that would be a rehab facility for children. Now our son was in a room with no regular beds, just mattresses on the floor. This was done to avoid the risk of falling out of bed for the children. And there were only two kids in the room, him and his roommate. And his roommate was a young boy that had no hands or feet. And I soon found out that this boy lost his hands and feet due to an electrocution. I learned that he had entered a fenced off area and climbed up a high tower that made contact with voltage wires. And as that electricity ran through his body, fried and blew off his extremities. And it was such a heartbreaking story, and it seemed that the lad was adjusting somewhat to his new life without hands and feet, but I knew at that time he had a long road ahead of him. And he was getting used to his prosthetic limbs, and the day we arrived at the hospital, the rehab facility, we heard him cry out from his room something that we've never heard before. He was crying, I can't find my feet. And my heart went out to him thinking of myself as a young boy and how many foolish and dangerous things I'd done that could have resulted in serious injuries like that. You know, foolishness rarely connects actions with consequences unless consequences are experienced, especially negative ones. You know, the energy and the curiosity of a young boy along with something that looked like it was fun to climb made him not even give any heed to the warning signs of high voltage, warning signs that were posted there. At least it didn't give him much serious thoughts or even enough thought to prevent him from entering that dangerous area. I'm sure even a rambunctious boy like that would have had his foolishness tempered if it were more of just the signs posted. Perhaps if there was a demonstration of that power, that electricity, perhaps connecting with something and the electricity arcing and bringing forth sparks and smokes and the sound that electrical things could do, then the voltage could actually be seen. Perhaps such a demonstration, the boy, instead of approaching with reckless abandonment, it would have given him great pause not to mess with it. And this would have been such a sight that anyone, young or old, would have trembled and stood afar off. Well today's text speaks of God giving His people just that. Not only a verbal warning, but one also in which they witnessed with their eyes and heard with their ears. And indeed it did cause them to tremble and stand afar off. You can almost see the Israelites gazing and being fixated on this scene, almost as if they couldn't stop looking at the site. But while they were looking, they slowly walked back from what they saw on Sinai. Here at the base of Sinai, several of their senses were involved. We read that they could see and they could hear God's power. We also read that some time ago in chapter 19, verse 18, the whole mountain greatly quaked. So they saw and they felt the power of God. Now I want you to look at the contrast of the reactions of the children of Israel in chapters 19 and also here at the end of chapter 20. I always want to make sure that seal gets broken, it wasn't drank out of before. In chapter 19, verse 4, we read of God telling the children of Israel that He bore them on eagles' wings and He carried them to Himself. God is drawing nigh to His people. He tells Moses, tell the children of Israel they are His own special treasure above all people. This is what God's communicating to them. God tells Moses, 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, God says. It is here that we read the people's declaration in verse 8 of chapter 19. Then all the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. They had experienced God's hand of protection through all the plagues against the Egyptians, culminating in the death of the firstborn in the final plague. They saw God's deliverance and His power as He destroyed Pharaoh's armies in the Red Sea. They experienced His strong arm of deliverance as He held back the waters of the Red Sea. And God gave them even victory over the Amalekites. His hand of provision, daily provision, was experienced in the manna from heaven being supplied to them. God made bitter water sweet at Marah. God caused water to flow out from a rock. God was surely with his people. It's quite evident. And in chapter 19, those comforting words again that we read, you'll be a special treasure to me above all people. accompanied by that display of smoke, trumpet blasts and trembling, such that the people trembled. However, in chapter 19, the people did not move back. In fact, God tells Moses to mark off the area at the base of Sinai, the mountain there, to warn the people not to touch the mountain or even the base of it. Whoever touches the mountains shall surely be put to death. Still, the Israelites were more attracted to Sinai at this point, and God gave them a second warning, so that the gazers would not break through the barrier and touch the mountain and perish. That was chapter 19. Now we move into chapter 20, and we read that the children of Israel, they were trembling as before, but now this time, they're standing far off. There was no need to give a warning to not touch the mountain. Here in chapter 20, they had moved away from the mountain and they were at a far distance, scripture tells us. Now, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that their own trembling was an involuntary action of what they were experiencing at the time. But here in chapter 20, that trembling was the result of something else. And that something else was what they had now heard, God's holy law, the Ten Commandments had been given. Now the commandments of God were made clear here in chapter 20. His requirements over their time, their possessions, how they talked and how they treated one another, and chiefly, who and how they worshiped was put forth. They were his people and he demanded total allegiance and that their lives would reflect his holy character. Remember, he's making a nation of priests. Now you may recall earlier in a message in Exodus I quoted a commentator who said Exodus can be subtitled Revelation, another book of Revelation, and that is revealing more and more of who God is and His power and His majesty and His holiness. And that is what we have here in this chapter in particular. In the giving of the Ten Commandments, the children of Israel received an immense, overwhelming revelation of God's holiness and it caused them to become undone. We read of this time and time again in scripture when God pulls back the curtain, as it were, and shows himself in a greater glimpse of his true holiness. And what happens? Well, Isaiah the prophet demonstrated that and we know of his reaction in Isaiah chapter 6 when he goes into the temple and the seraphim are crying the thrice, only thrice time, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. The post of the doors were shaken, they trembled. And the voice of him who cried out, the house was filled with smoke." So we see the same type of theophany that's happening in Sinai. And what was Isaiah's reaction to this? Verse 5 of Isaiah 6, he said, "'Woe is me, for I am undone, because I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.'" The woe is me is the same reaction that the Hebrews had at the hearing of the law of God. Read what they say in verse 19. Then they said to Moses, you speak with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die. You know, the actions of moving afar off demonstrate that they felt their lives were in danger of being snuffed out. Death is about as undone as a person could be. Now the children of Israel didn't hear a cry of, holy, holy, holy, like in Isaiah, but they did hear the Ten Commandments cry, holy, holy, holy, ten times over, and each time the commandment was given. Now the children of Israel were getting quite a picture of God's character. and holiness. And next to that holiness, and compared to God's majesty and glory and incomprehensible righteousness, they became absolutely aware of their unholiness and it caused them to recoil. Again, you speak with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die. Hebrews chapter 12, which Brother Mike read, shows clearly that it was indeed the commandments of God that were primarily the reason they were discombobulated. So much so that terror was brought on the children of Israel. We read concerning Sinai in Hebrews 12 verse 19, the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words so that those who heard it begged that the words should not be spoken to them anymore. And here's verse 20, for they could not endure what was commanded. They could not endure what was commanded. The sights and tremblings were one thing, but they could not endure what was commanded." You know, this reminds me of a quote that Mark Twain purportedly gave. Mark Twain said, it ain't the parts of the Bible that I can understand that bother me, it's the parts that I do understand. Well, the children of Israel, Moses, understood it more and it bothered them. Now they could not endure what was commanded. They just heard the commandments and were undone. If standing before a holy God and simply hearing of the commandments causes such terror, what would be the case of standing before the God after having broken those 10 commandments? Again, my mind goes to Hebrews chapter 10, verse 31. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. Yes, it's a fearful thing, and we read the children of Israel did fear. However, was it the right kind of fear? Was it a rightly placed fear? What is Moses' response to such a request in verse 19, that you speak us and we will hear you, but let not God speak with us? Does he rebuke them for not being willing to hear from God Himself directly? We read, and I think this is the key verse of our text, verse 20, And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that his fear may be before you, so that you may not sin. Now it seems on the surface Moses is a bit contradictory. Do not fear, that his fear may be before you. Well what is it? Fear or don't fear? Moses wanted to bring a sense of assurance to the people and to guide them into having fear before God, but it had to be the right fear. Now Moses states that this displays of God's majesty and hearing of the Ten Commandments was indeed a test for them. God has come to test you. Now this wasn't a test to see how many of them could recite the Ten Commandments or quote back. By the way, I think there's a number of children here in our congregation that could recite for us the Ten Commandments. I think they're a good example to us how we should and could memorize the Ten Commandments. I think if someone here wants to recite them to one of us, I know Pastor Dabney usually has a box of treats in his office and he'll give any adult that gives us the list of the Ten Commandments. But really it is a list that we should have memorized and in our hearts and consider often. Now the children were not tested on their recitation of the commandments, but they were tested on whether they will follow them. And the word test here carries with it a meaning of proving something, testing its quality or strength, to fortify it in a sense, to hold up. It's the same word used in Exodus 15-25 when God tested the children of Israel at the bitter waters of Marah. In Exodus 16.4, God tested them by telling them not to gather more manna than what they necessarily needed. In this case, God was testing their obedience. His instruction in the testing was for them to learn obedience. Now, isn't it interesting that God calls Israel his firstborn? And we know Israel was going to have a hard time learning obedience. They very often demonstrated disobedience. But there would come a time when God's firstborn son would learn obedience as well, but he would fulfill it and live a perfectly obedient life. Now, God's testing with it brings revelation. It reveals what's on the inside. 1 Samuel 16, 7, Scripture tells us that God looks on the inward parts. He searches our hearts and reveals what's in us. And the revealing would be not only for the people, but also all posterity, all those who come after, which includes us. Now, what does God's testing reveal in this testing here in Exodus 20? Three things. First, the testing was to reveal who God was. Did they grasp that? Did they grasp His majesty and His power, His holiness, and also His transcendence? He is nothing like them, yet He condescends and speaks to them. I think this is one of the most Difficult things to wrap our minds around. The combination of God being transcendent yet imminent and present with us. Matthew Henry writes concerning this test. It was designed, once for all, to give a sensible discovery of the glorious majesty of God for the assistance of our faith concerning it, that, knowing the terror of the Lord, we may be persuaded to live in his fear. Now the second thing that testing reveals flows out of it. It flows out of the first thing and that's when God's power is displayed and His character revealed through the giving of the law. In contrast, the people realized their own sinfulness and shame. The test revealed God's expectations for His people. We read in 1 Peter 1.16, be ye holy, for I am holy, says the Lord. Now back in chapter 19.8, the Israelite said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. Now that God has spoken His commandments, they realize their inability to keep those commandments. Their response of fear is understandable. As I mentioned before, a response of fear is often the response of people in Scripture. In Revelation 1, even believers in Revelation chapter 1, the apostle John fell as a dead man in the presence of the glorified Savior. Even God's representatives that are sent from his presence provoke a reaction of fear. Think of Mary's reaction when the angel Gabriel came and announced to her the birth of Christ. The angel tells Mary the same thing that Jesus told John in Revelation 1, the same thing that Moses told the children of Israel in Exodus 20, do not fear. It's been said it's the most often command given in scripture, fear not. That's something for our anxious hearts to consider, is it not? It's a command we often could overlook and perhaps break. Now Moses is letting the people know that this reaction of fear drives them from the Lord, should be displaced with the right kind of fear put in its place, Moses tells them. don't have a slavish fear that comes from guilt and shame or a sense of danger. God could have destroyed the children of Israel anywhere along the line of their sojourn in Exodus. He could have done it a long time ago. He could have left them in slavery. But let us remember once again that God gave his commandments after they were delivered. They weren't delivered because they were an obedient people. The fact is they were delivered first and then given God's law. Now to be reason enough for them to know that God was for them, he was for their good, he was for their instruction and not their destruction. Moses did not attend for the people to have a slavish fear of God and terror that would cause them to flee from God, no, but that his fear may be before you, a fear that would draw them to him. His fear speaks of a heart full of reverence and honor and obedience and obedience to his law. Thomas Watson writes, fear of God is a leading grace. Fear of God is a leading grace. The fear of God leads all other graces. It is the first seed God sows in the heart. When a Christian can say little of faith and perhaps nothing in assurance, yet he dares not deny that he fears God. God is so great that he's afraid of displeasing him and so good that he's afraid of losing him. The first seed God sows in the heart is the fear of God. Now, by contrast, you think of what you see going on in society today, or even in the church. I mean, even this past week, I'm reminded of how much our culture, our society has lost any little sense of fear God had had before. Even this tragic, horrific thing that happened in Nashville, Tennessee. There are actually pundits on TV who are trying to churn this murderous action of a person and making the murderer to be the victim here. Unheard of in here is that the fear of God is almost completely void in our general society. But even in the church, we have to wonder what's become of the fear of God. It's been said, and you may have heard me say it, I don't know who said it originally, But it's been said that the church today, the contemporary church and the affluent West, we worship our work, we work at our play, and we play at our worship. We worship our work, we work at our play, and we play at our worship. There's no fear in our worship of God. He's not a priority in our lives. And I'm speaking of the church generally, and this ought not to be. The one who goes by the name Christian and yet is somewhat indifferent to the Word of God and means of grace, the commands of God, we would have to agree it's one who lacks His fear, the proper fear, true fear. True fear sees God so great, as Watson writes, that we're afraid of displeasing Him. And true fear sees Him as so good that we're afraid of losing Him. Now that fear of displeasing Him is what Moses says is the purpose of the proper fear of God. Again, verse 20, that His fear may be before you so that you may not sin. Now I mentioned before that the children of Israel didn't have much of a chance to break the commandments. They just before had received the commandments. But had they given thought to how many times they've already broken those commandments even before receiving them in the past? The people trembled and stood afar off. We read in verse 19, you speak to Moses, we will hear you. And what were the people doing when they said, you speak to God, we'll listen to you Moses. They were calling out for a mediator, a go between them and God. They cried out as Job did in chapter 9 verses 32 and 33. Speaking of God, Job says, "'For he is not a man as I am, that I may answer him, and that we should go to court together. Nor is there any mediator between us who may lay his hand on both of us.'" That was Job's cry. Job and the children of Israel both wanted a mediator. Was this God's will for them? Well, indeed it is. We see this in verse 19 of Exodus 20. We see it spelled out a bit more in Deuteronomy chapter 5 verses 23 to 25. So was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders, and you said, Surely the Lord has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man, yet he still lives. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. For if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you. We will hear and do it." We see a further explanation of what was said in Exodus. And then Moses' response to this is, fear not. But now in Deuteronomy chapter 5, it goes on to verse 28 to see God's response. We hear Moses' response to the people, fear not. Here in Deuteronomy chapter 5, we read of God's response. God says, then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you, and they are right. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh, that they'd have such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep my commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever." But they are right. God confirmed it. They're right in what they've spoken. God was showing his people that they needed a mediator. God has used his prophets to speak to his people. He uses his word. He speaks to us through the incarnate Lord Jesus Christ to speak to us. God's unveiled majesty and holiness would cause us all to cry out, as Peter did, depart from me for I am a sinful man. Now we see Moses in the role of mediator between God and the Israelites in previous chapters. Though they didn't realize it, the complainings and murmurings that they took to Moses, Moses took to the Lord. Moses was interceding for them at that time. He was mediating on their behalf. We see a clear picture of Moses mediating in chapter 19 as we read of his ascending Mount Sinai, going up Mount Sinai to speak with God and his descending, coming back down to talk with the children of Israel. So we read of this happening three times in chapter 19 of his ascending and descending. Now the children of Israel finally come to the realization that they had to have a mediator. And in doing so, they not only call out Moses to be that one, they're also an illustration for all of us who follow to look for a mediator. Matthew Henry writes, hereby also they teach us to acquiesce in that method. which infinite wisdom takes of speaking to us by men like ourselves, whose tear shall not make us afraid, nor the hand be heavy upon us. We need that go-between. And where does that ultimately direct us? Of course, that wonderful verse that we often quote, 1 Timothy 2.5, there's only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Now at times the children of Israel rightly saw God's holy character and their own sinfulness and their inability to stand in God's presence in and of themselves and they rightly pleaded for a mediator. And what did this mediator do? What did Moses do? We read at the end of verse 21, the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. Now the people couldn't ascend into the thick darkness where God was, only Moses. Let him bring the word of God to us and we will do it. Their plea for a mediator was right and proper. Now, is this not the plea of our own hearts as well? The law of God shines on our hearts and we realize that we can't stand before a holy God, a righteous God. And again, in and of ourselves, we're like Adam, as Pastor Dabney mentioned in CEL, where I said, you're taking my sermon from me. Our Federal Ed Adam was, and after breaking God's command, what does Adam do? He flees from God's presence, a response that always happens because darkness hates light. But just as God gave his word to Moses the mediator, so he gives us the greater than Moses, the word incarnate, the word made flesh and dwelt among us, the clearest and greatest expression of his word, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now just as the people of Israel couldn't stand before God without a mediator, So it is for every son and daughter of Adam. The idea that is popular today that you might hear from talk show hosts on TV or so-called progressive Christians that all roads lead to God, all religions are going in the same direction, it's not an idea that's derived from scripture. That is universalism that comes from man's own creative imagination. It's not a sad thing that man's imagination is in a fallen state and man is more prone to identify himself with sinful man than he is with a holy God. That's why we need God's revelation of himself through special revelation, his word. It's a mirror of His law, the illumination of His Word that we get a glimpse of His character and a better understanding of our own as well. Sometimes we hear people say things like, the God of the Old Testament was angrier, ready to execute judgment at the slightest provocation. They liken God to opposite how man is. You know, as a man grows older, there could be a tendency to grow more grumpier, more so than they were before. My own take on this is that younger men can control their grumpiness a little bit better than old men can. They would say that God has lightened up a bit compared to how he was before. Dear ones, there could be nothing further from the truth. There's no change with God. Psalm 102, verses 25 through 27. Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, they will all grow old like a garment, like a cloak. You will change them, and they will be changed, but you are the same. and your years will have no end." Change and decay we witness and we experience, but there is no change with God. He is holy. His holy and just requirements to come before Him are the same. God was a consuming fire in the Old Testament. He's a consuming fire in the New Testament. He still is. And we read of the same signs of God's appearance that were evident in Exodus 20 as we do in Revelation chapter 4. There in verse 5 we read, and from the throne proceeded lightning, thunderings, and voices. God is the same. God is the same and as we look upon him as revealed in his word, we ought to have that initial reaction of retraction from his pure undefiled presence. There ought to be a sense of fear and trembling. However, so ought that fear and trembling cause us to look for a mediator. Christ was a greater prophet than Moses was, and so too is he a greater mediator in which Moses was a type. Moses was a type, but he also needed the anti-type, Christ, for he was a sinner too. We read in Hebrews 12.21 of Moses, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I am exceedingly afraid and trembling. Now, if the holy prophet Moses was afraid and trembled, should we not have that same sense? Oh yeah, but praise God, we do approach through the Son. We read in John chapter one, verses 16 through 18, enough is fullness we've all received, and grace for grace, for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth come through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Oh, for grace and truth. When we think of Moses going up into that black cloud as a mediator to bring God's Word to the people, does it not bring us to that scene of Calvary? Now, Pastor Fred will be doing a Good Friday sermon this coming Friday. Maybe perhaps this is a precursor. Now, though we read there, excuse me, there at Calvary, we read of Christ hanging between earth and heaven on the cross, what do we see there? Well, we read of the elements reacting in the presence of God as they did on Sinai. In Luke chapter 23 verses 44 through 46, Well, the darkness was symbolic of God's presence, but it was also symbolic of His judgment as well. We read in Exodus chapter 20 of that plague of darkness that hit. And we read of the day of darkening that happened in the day of the Lord. We read that in Joel chapter 2 and Zephaniah chapter 1. And not only do we read of the darkness in Luke 23, but we read of the earth trembling as well in Matthew 27 at the time of Christ's crucifixion. There we read, so when the centurion and those with him were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that happened, they feared greatly. Just like the children of Israel saying, truly this was the Son of God. Now when those same manifestations, the same theophanies that happened on Calvary as they did on Sinai, it was because Christ entered the darkness. He whose obedience fulfilled all righteous requirements of the law. He who knew no sin became sin for us, received in our stead the wrath of God's judgment of our sin. Now Christ bore the penalty of our sin. He took the guilt and shame of our rebellion and breaking of God's commandments. And it's at Calvary that God took the insurmountable debt of our sin and nailed it to our Mediator on the cross. The writer of Hebrews reminds us of the difference between Moses as the type of mediator and Christ, the fulfillment of that type, pointed to. Again, the verses our brother Mike read. For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched, that it burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the words should not be spoken to them anymore, but you've come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, that heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels to the General Assembly of the Church of the Firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and the blood of the sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. speaks better things than that of Abel. What did Abel's blood cry out for? It cried out for vengeance. What does Christ's blood cry out for? For forgiveness and reconciliation. It's a better thing. Dear ones, many of us have come to the place of receiving what Thomas Watson called the leading grace of the fear of God. And that fear of God has allowed us to get a bit of a glimpse of what God's perfect character is like. And that fear has grown when we, in particular, contrast it and compare it with our own character. But let it not be a fear of terror, but let it be a fear that draws us to Christ, the mediator. The fear to be shunned is the fear that causes us to run from Christ. The fear that draws us to him, for he's provided a mediator. It's his grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. One grace taken away, another fear given by grace. Now that fear of God may bring his people to a fear that makes us totally aware that in and of ourselves we have no right to stand in God's presence, but in Christ, our mediator, we can indeed. There's a number of people who are waiting until their lives improve before they become a Christian. They're waiting on that day when they polish up some of these things that they get rid of before they come and trust Christ. you must go as a mediator to him and cling to him as a sin bearing Savior. He will forgive those sins. And not only that, dear ones, when we think of sharing the gospel, let us also remember to implement God's Ten Commandments in sharing. It's in the revealing of his character and holiness that the sinner is drawn to the only way he can go to Christ, the mediator. You know, Christ's mediation, made that which was once a tear to us, a delight." Perhaps that's what the psalmist was trying to capture in Psalm chapter two, verse 11, serving the Lord with fear and rejoicing with trembling. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoicing and trembling. Two words you normally don't put together. The children of Israel's fear was in response to seeing the lightning, the smoke, and the trembling on the mountain and hearing the voice of God. And they pulled back crying for mediation. But dear saint, though we may see that which makes us tremble and It ought to take long looks, long looks at our great mediator. For it is with God's mercies and view that we have the right perspective and we have the right fear. True fear indeed leads to doxology, it leads to worship. True fear will make us thankful that the wrong fear, the wrong kind of fear was swallowed up in God's perfect love. The fear of God will give us a hatred for sin. It will give us obedient hearts and the fear of God will indeed be that first grace, which will fill us with gratefulness and cause us to rejoice all the more in our great mediator. Dear ones, would you pray with me? Our gracious heavenly Father, how thankful we are to have this privilege of this day given to us, the deposit of your word upon us. and how we ask, oh God, that as we consider and meditate and contemplate your holy character as revealed to us in scripture, we don't compare man against man, but we compare our lives against your holy character and how it does indeed cause us to look to our wonderful savior. Oh Lord, we pray that by your spirit, we'd have a greater appreciation for that great debt, bore and paid for on our behalf and a new life. And to think that we can stand in the presence of a holy God because we stand in the son. Lord be with us now as we continue our time of worship. Thank you again for this table, your sign and seal upon your proclaimed word that we continue to give you glory for it in Christ's name, amen.