1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,700 You're listening to City Church Manchester. We are a church that invites 2 00:00:05,700 --> 00:00:11,880 everyone to enjoy Christ for the glory of God. If we can serve you in any way 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:19,280 then visit our website at citychurchmanchester.org to find out more. 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,760 If you have a Bible with you would you like to turn with me to Exodus chapter 40 5 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:29,560 verses 33 to 38. Let me encourage you in your own time please do read the 6 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:33,120 chapters, the two chapters before that which have led up to this as well. We're 7 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,520 going for that short passage there just for the sake of time but it will cover 8 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,880 that whole section there which is really helpful as we've made our way through 9 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:43,240 the book of Exodus but we are in our last bit here. So let me read to you 10 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:50,840 Exodus chapter 40 verses 33 to 38. If you have a church Bible that is on page 101. 11 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,640 Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the 12 00:00:55,640 --> 00:01:00,600 curtain at the entrance of the courtyard and so Moses finished the work. The cloud 13 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,400 covered the tent of the meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 14 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:08,640 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on 15 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,600 it. The glory of the Lord had filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the 16 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,520 Israelites whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle they would set 17 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:21,320 out but if the cloud did not lift they did not set out until the day it lifted. 18 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:25,480 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day and the fire was in 19 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:29,400 the cloud by night in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels. 20 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:35,320 Matt's going to come and share the word to us now. Thanks Eric and good 21 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:41,120 afternoon everyone really good to be with you. Do you keep your Bibles 22 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:46,960 open in Exodus as we're going to be kind of looking at that part of the Exodus 23 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:53,980 story but we'll also be doing really an overview of the whole of the book. So why 24 00:01:53,980 --> 00:01:57,800 don't I pray before we start. Dear Heavenly Father we thank you so much 25 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:03,080 that you are a good God that you love us deeply and that as your word is open you 26 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,480 speak to us no matter who we are no matter the circumstance which we've 27 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:11,520 arrived here this afternoon and we ask that none of us would leave here 28 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:19,320 unchanged. Amen. Well let me ask you this question. Let me ask you this question. 29 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:27,360 Were you ever were you ever afraid of monsters under the bed? Were you ever 30 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:32,800 afraid of monsters under the bed? You see when the when the light is switched off 31 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:38,840 at night and you're plunged into darkness did you ever hide under the 32 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:45,920 covers? Was that you? Did you ever kind of cocoon yourself in the duvet because 33 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:52,840 actually when you were cocooned in the duvet it just felt like you were safe. It 34 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:59,960 was like a warm and cozy refuge with just you and a community of cuddly toys 35 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:07,320 where you could kind of bunker yourself down and be safe. Well that was certainly 36 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:12,560 my experience and I think last week I really made a breakthrough in improving 37 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:18,920 that you can ask Jackie. But I imagine for many of us being afraid of the dark 38 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:23,280 looking for safety is probably an experience that marked all of our 39 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:30,040 childhoods at some way at some point or another. But as grown-ups but as 40 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:36,800 grown-ups we come to realize that actually the monsters under our beds 41 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,320 that we imagine that are there are really not the types of things that we 42 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:49,320 should be worried about. For in the darkness or out there there are far more 43 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:56,640 terrifying things that even our best efforts to build stronger refuges out of 44 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:03,360 apartments or houses or strong CVs or tight friendship groups or even 45 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:11,680 marriage cannot protect us from. One leadership writer he posed a question 46 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:18,360 recently on the platform LinkedIn and he said this what is the one thing that 47 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:24,240 you're struggling with right now above anything else and he overwhelmingly got 48 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:32,600 the response back more than relationship issues more than financial issues the 49 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:39,560 problem that people said they were facing was that of mental clutter. That 50 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:45,200 is a sense of being overwhelmed a sense of not being able to switch off because 51 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:50,920 your brain is always switched on it's kind of like it's got a radar for 52 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:56,160 problems that could come your way that need fixing for future issues that you 53 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:00,960 need to be aware of of scanning past conversations that you've had with other 54 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,240 people looking for mistakes that you may have said or faux pas that you may have 55 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:14,560 unwittingly made. You see those monsters of the world the world that we live in 56 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:20,560 way way outside of Eden a world where each one of us if we're honest has 57 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:26,000 actually abandoned our creator God and the way that he's asked us to live and 58 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:33,160 in our own way vowed that we would live life our own way the worries of that 59 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:40,840 world that we have been responsible for making well that is a world full of fear 60 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:49,400 full of worry and we live in a world where those monsters live within our 61 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:58,120 hearts and minds and our duvets and our cuddly toys will not protect us in the 62 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:05,400 dark and that's why the book of Exodus is so important. Now this is going to be 63 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,800 the final talk in our Exodus series we've been trekking through Exodus for a 64 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:14,760 long time overall and I want to give you an overview of Exodus I want to show you 65 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:19,840 where we've been and I want to kind of give you a final reminder as we close 66 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:25,640 this book of the Bible why it is so valuable for us today. Exodus is 40 67 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:34,800 chapters long but within the book of Exodus are described three refuges three 68 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:43,240 refuges three locations of safety that point to the ultimate rescue ultimate 69 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:48,880 protection the ultimate peace that we can finally have from the monsters of 70 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:54,200 this broken world. I want to show you these three refuges as quickly as I can 71 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,280 and that's going to be the way that we're going to restructure this kind of 72 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:02,120 overview in the book of Exodus and then I'm going to finish by giving us a key 73 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:09,320 something that we can take away that will help us when we face our own fears. 74 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:15,560 So the first point is this the first refuge the basket first refuge the 75 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:20,960 basket. Now the book of Exodus it opens with the Israelite nation being enslaved 76 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:25,720 by the Egyptians they've been enslaved for hundreds of years by the time verse 77 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:33,600 one comes around and in the early chapters of Exodus the Pharaoh has said 78 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,320 that he's afraid of the Israelites they'll get too big and he wants to cull 79 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:44,360 the population so in an act of genocide he he calls he calls for all of the 80 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:51,240 Israelite boys to be thrown into the River Nile and killed. You see this is a 81 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:55,040 very dark opening to the book of Exodus I wonder if you remember it those of you 82 00:07:55,040 --> 00:08:00,320 who were who were here when we started this series but these early chapters you 83 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:07,160 may not know this these early chapters are also titled by some as the five 84 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:12,080 women who saved the world that's also kind of how these early chapters are 85 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:16,600 titled the five women who saved the world in the sense of the actions the 86 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:21,120 courage of these five women at the very first chapters of Exodus actually laid 87 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:27,600 the foundation for the Messiah to come. In the beginning of Exodus you have two 88 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:32,160 midwives who have been told by Pharaoh that they need to work for him one's 89 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:37,400 called Chifra which means splendid and the other one is called Pua which means 90 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,640 beautiful and I think if you were in a maternity ward and you had a midwife 91 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,880 called splendid and another one called beautiful you would probably feel a 92 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,960 little bit calmer would knew about what was about to happen to you but these 93 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:54,640 amazing Israelite women these amazing Israelite midwives covertly defy Pharaoh 94 00:08:54,640 --> 00:09:00,600 the great superpower of the time. Look at me at verses 1 to 4 of chapter 2 if 95 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:06,000 you've got your Bible chapter 2 verses 1 to 4 says this now a man of the tribe of 96 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:10,920 Levi married a Levi woman and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son when 97 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:15,680 she saw that he was a fine child she hid him for three months but when she could 98 00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:19,840 no longer hide him she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar 99 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:24,600 and pitch then she placed the child in it put it among the reeds along the 100 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:28,920 bank of the Nile her sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him 101 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:34,080 so this is the kind of origin story of Moses who is the main character 102 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:39,880 throughout the entire book of Exodus but you've got Moses's mother really is the 103 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:44,640 star of the show in these opening chapters she is a mother who joins the 104 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:51,960 ranks of courageous women who have hidden their children from slaughter 105 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:56,960 something that there will be a number of mothers even across our world today who 106 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:03,600 have had to make that horrendous choice and Moses mother risks her own life in 107 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:12,480 the process she perhaps shows even greater courage by placing her child in 108 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:23,520 a basket on the major river of the nation this simple basket is the first 109 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:30,680 refuge in the book of Exodus and against all the odds it bears a child born in the 110 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:36,720 image of the living God on top of the water everything around that basket is 111 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:42,280 danger and inevitable death but within the basket there is safety there is 112 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:48,800 refuge and it's all under the watchful guardianship of his sister well that is 113 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:55,040 that is the next woman where it lands remarkably in the safe hands of the 114 00:10:55,040 --> 00:11:01,360 Egyptian princess whose women woman number five an Egyptian princess who 115 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:06,560 against all of the stigma and the pressure of her own family she chooses 116 00:11:06,560 --> 00:11:11,880 to raise this child as her own can you imagine the situation where this woman 117 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:16,360 goes against her very father's wishes to have these children destroyed and these 118 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:24,200 people treated as less than dirt on your feet and yet she chooses to pluck this 119 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:33,360 child who should otherwise be dead out of the water and cares for him as her 120 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:41,040 remarkable courage and for those of you who know your Bibles does it not ring 121 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:46,000 some bells here is there not like in a ding ding ding that this feels a little 122 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:51,040 bit like the story of Noah's Ark that you can read about in Genesis 9 which 123 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:56,360 sure if you know your story is a huge boat known as the Ark that became a 124 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:02,520 refuge for Noah and his family from the death of the flood waters but carrying 125 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:08,360 these fragile humans to safety and so here we have at the very beginning of 126 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:14,200 our book of Exodus God raises up a leader called Moses who will be tasked 127 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:20,960 to rescue his people from the monster of slavery now the challenge of course is 128 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:25,280 you if you were there at the very beginning of the book of Exodus to the 129 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:30,080 very beginning of our series the challenge for us here today in 21st 130 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:35,120 century Manchester was in the light of the example of the bravery and courage 131 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:42,680 of the five women who saved the world the challenge was this where are you 132 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:51,160 where are you I'm talking to you where are you subversively doing good in the 133 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:57,160 place that God has placed you where are you subversively doing good in the 134 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,920 location that God has placed you you see it's always going to be easier for you 135 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:06,440 and I to put our heads down and blend in with the wallpaper of the office or the 136 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:15,840 school gate or the university bar or the digital realms that you inhabit but but 137 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:22,320 on this side on this side of the new creation where things are not good and 138 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:27,320 not well and things are dangerous and harmful and not as God had planned them 139 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:32,280 to be two things are constant number one God's people will always face 140 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:37,280 persecution they will always face injustice and they will always face 141 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:42,320 suffering either directly or indirectly that will always be a constant this side 142 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:48,160 of the new creation the second thing is God's people are called to act they're 143 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:53,560 actually called to do something about it they're called to risk the status quo to 144 00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:59,960 put themselves on the line to subversively if necessary be a force of 145 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:05,240 resistance against the darkness in this world all of the women at the very 146 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:10,480 beginning of the book of Exodus brings significant impact through leveraging 147 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:18,040 the very ordinariness of their position the ordinariness of their opportunity of 148 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:23,000 their resources under their current circumstances these women didn't turn 149 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,760 the world upside down for kind of being entrepreneurs though that is a good thing 150 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:32,040 to do or stunning happen not for profit though that is a great thing to do these 151 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:37,680 women actually saved the world through leveraging the ordinary opportunities 152 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:47,000 that God had placed around them so what is the opportunity you have you you have 153 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:55,560 literally right now in order to showcase the goodness and generosity of God in 154 00:14:55,560 --> 00:15:02,240 the everydayness of this coming week what opportunity do you have to show 155 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:07,280 that God is wonderful see this is a sense of what it means to live for his 156 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:16,360 glory isn't it don't allow your life to shrink shrink to merely getting by 157 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:27,560 don't waste your life just waiting for the weekend number two come to the 158 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:36,040 second refuge point to second refuge the house this takes us to kind of towards 159 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:43,480 the first kind of end of the first part of the book of Exodus in Moses Moses a 160 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:48,040 grown man now he's sent by God to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go and 161 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:53,080 this drama of this section of the book is that Pharaoh says no says he's not 162 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:58,360 going to let God's people go which leads to the the very famous ten plagues that 163 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:04,520 are brought about by God and it's a fascinating piece of scripture if this 164 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:08,200 was a film it'd be like a montage sequence you know all the different kind 165 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:14,160 of plagues happening together at a super fast pace well the ten plagues mirror 166 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:21,260 the ten words or the ten times that God speaks in Genesis chapter one it's a 167 00:16:21,260 --> 00:16:27,560 description in these ten plagues of the creation being unraveled or undone it is 168 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:33,360 a picture of de-creation it is making the point that the power that brought 169 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:40,600 the universe into being is now being devastatingly focused like sun was raised 170 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:51,880 through a magnifying glass onto this one stubborn slave endorsing nation it is 171 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:58,400 God saying I will not put up with this not with my people these ten plagues are 172 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:06,520 a scream into the darkness that when God commits to a people he never lets them 173 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:13,720 go you see Pharaoh doesn't budge though and so God calls the final tenth plague 174 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:18,600 I wonder if you remember it when we went through it as a church community it was 175 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:24,320 it was a hard one to work through it's the death of the firstborn of each house 176 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:31,120 it echoes Pharaoh's actions at the very beginning of Genesis when he killed the 177 00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:36,440 Israelite children and this plague the final plague is the most intense 178 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:44,560 because this final plague is liable to fall on both Egyptians or Israelites but 179 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:50,040 equally equally and this is where the generosity comes in actually God gives a 180 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:58,200 way to be saved if you are an Israelite or if you are an Egyptian the only thing 181 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:05,040 they have to do to be saved is they have to build a refuge and the instructions 182 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:11,560 for building this second refuge in Exodus were were quite simple it's right 183 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:18,400 there in in verses 21 to 22 then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and 184 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:22,840 said to them go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter 185 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:29,040 the Passover lamb take a bunch of hisp dip it into the blood in the basin and 186 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:35,040 put some on the blood on the door and on both sides of the doorframe none of you 187 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:42,840 shall go out of the door of your house until morning again those of you who 188 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:46,840 know your Bibles will be thinking to yourself here we go it's a specific 189 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:53,320 location it's where families and animals all go in together and the people will 190 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:57,000 be safe we're talking about an ark here aren't we isn't this a reference again 191 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:04,600 to Noah's ark in fact and I love this in the original Hebrew the word house in 192 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:11,280 this part of the book of Exodus is the word for ark spelt backwards isn't that 193 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:20,160 cool that's pretty cool it's cool to me it's cool to me but this refuge the 194 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:25,640 second refuge this house has actually what is it's it makes a profound 195 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:32,240 difference because this house this refuge only works because of a 196 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:37,080 substitutionary death of another you see God's justice can't be selective 197 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:41,360 otherwise it would be corrupt you can't have a judge who says well I'm gonna 198 00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:45,360 send you to prison but because you're part of my family you can go free that 199 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:52,040 just wouldn't be right would it we want the benefits of God's justice when we're 200 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:57,600 the victim but we really don't want God's justice when we're condemned after 201 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:05,200 all if if the reality of your life the things that you've said or done or did 202 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:11,400 publicly or in secret or just played up on this massive screen when you just 203 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:18,160 want the whole earth to open up and swallow you whole none of us can stand 204 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:26,120 the true justice of God can we so it was a temporary solution an unblemished 205 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:33,120 animal was sacrificed representing for the Israelites or the Egyptians a faith 206 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:40,560 by which the people could be rescued by God this animal would die in their place 207 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:47,200 because it was a representation that one day one day God would make a permanent 208 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:53,880 solution to the injustice of his people sin and one of the many challenges of 209 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:58,280 this part of Exodus is the question if you were there if you were there way 210 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:03,600 back in this part of Exodus when you were given the instructions for this 211 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:09,440 refuge would you actually have made your house a refuge would you have done that 212 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:15,120 would you have gone to the expense or the inconvenience would you would you 213 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:19,680 have changed your diary to do all of the things that God requested to make your 214 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:29,400 home a refuge would you in deepest love and distress for your Israelite 215 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:34,760 neighbor who you see going about their normal day business having ignored God's 216 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,960 instructions to make a refuge themselves would you have gone to that neighbor and 217 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,880 said hey I'm willing to have an awkward conversation with you because I love you 218 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:47,880 and you are in great danger unless you actually do what God tells you would you 219 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:56,400 have had that conversation would you have that awkwardness if it was someone 220 00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:00,160 you loved and you were worried for them can you see where I'm going with that 221 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:07,120 application for us as a church community if God has been clear about what trusting 222 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:15,880 him looks like and and the end result of not trusting him is is terrifying 223 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:24,800 consequences of facing your own judgment for your own injustice but God's told us 224 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:32,120 how how we can find a refuge from the consequences of our own sin should we 225 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:37,000 keep that private or should we share that with others that was one of the big 226 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:45,600 challenges from this part of Exodus if you were there back then let's turn up 227 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,680 the volume on this one would you have knocked on the door of your Egyptian 228 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:55,400 neighbor if you were an Israelite and said hey something big is about to happen 229 00:22:55,400 --> 00:23:03,120 but there is a way to be safe if you make a refuge or if you come into my 230 00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:08,960 home would you have done that if if you were there would you have knocked on the 231 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:16,760 door of your slave master and said hey there's a there's a great judgment 232 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:25,000 coming but but you can come to the refuge with me would you have done that 233 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:35,720 or is your faith a private matter and what happens out there is their problem 234 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:40,480 refuges against coming danger and never just private are they if you were just 235 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:44,840 to walk a few meters down the road outside of this church towards Piccadilly 236 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:50,240 station you wouldn't know it but under that road is actually one of the largest 237 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:59,960 air raid shelters in this city it can hold about 1275 people and keep them safe 238 00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:10,720 from bombs it's public it's not private it's why we as a church exist to be a 239 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:19,000 refuge not merely for ourselves but we have space here for your friends for 240 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:24,200 your neighbors for your work colleagues that do not yet know Christ and have no 241 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:30,200 idea that one day the Lord Jesus is coming back and bringing with him the 242 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:43,720 justice and judgment that we both long for and yet makes us tremble well come 243 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:49,440 with me to our third point the third refuge the tabernacle we're tracking 244 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:54,240 through this book fast aren't we the majority of the back end of the book of 245 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:58,640 Exodus is focused on the third refuge which is the tabernacle and who could 246 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:03,960 forget when Chris in this very room made a kind of life-size tabernacle for us all 247 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:10,440 to experience how big it was and how awesome it was it is the ultimate 248 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:14,520 refuge so far in the book of Exodus and it is far better than all of the 249 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:19,360 previous refuges it's better than the Ark of Noah is better than the 250 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:25,000 basket of Moses is better than the house this one this refuge was like a second 251 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:29,800 garden of Eden it was designed to be like that and it was a place where God 252 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:34,880 would be present with his people that's what made it so special where God's 253 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:43,780 presence would dwell and so in verses 35 to 40 sorry in chapters 35 to 40 final 254 00:25:43,780 --> 00:25:48,680 chapters of the book they go into immense detail behind the construction 255 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:55,040 of the tabernacle but here's a teaching point for us yeah I have never 256 00:25:55,040 --> 00:26:02,960 understood it when Christians dismiss creative excellence you see the writer 257 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:08,560 of Exodus could have just said oh God told them to build a nice big tent he 258 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:16,400 doesn't chapter upon chapter is God giving the very precise instructions of 259 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:23,720 exactly how he wants this final refuge to be made in this book God says how he 260 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:29,040 wants it to be made what he wants it to be made from he even says who he wants 261 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:35,240 to be there the craftsman working on it he doesn't just pull a plumber or an 262 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:43,840 electrician from gumtree he directly says in verses some 30 to 35 of chapter 263 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:53,040 35 he wants a fella called Bezalel and a fella called Ahaliah because he wants 264 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:59,480 their specific wisdom their skill their excellence that he has given them to be 265 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:05,560 used for the construction of this tabernacle in order for it to be 266 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:12,780 beautiful you see if you're a creative or consider yourself a creative in this 267 00:27:12,780 --> 00:27:18,200 room then note the application in fact if you have skills of any sort which I'm 268 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:23,880 sure all of you do note this application Ephesians chapter 2 tells us that the 269 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:32,320 church the church that is this community of people that actually we are the 270 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:38,240 living stones of the new temple that is the new tabernacle that is the refuge 271 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:46,520 that enjoys the protection of God the Son God the Father God the Spirit so where 272 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:54,200 your skills adorn the church whatever that might be or wherever your skills in 273 00:27:54,200 --> 00:28:02,720 your general life or profession points to Jesus then that's a big deal and you 274 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:09,120 should cherish that you see your diligence your practice your rehearsal 275 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:15,320 your attention to detail your attention to typeface or font size or measurement 276 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:25,960 or color palette or Excel precision or tuning or rehearsal all matters it all 277 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:33,520 really matters the skills are given to you by God for his glory how is it for 278 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:39,680 his glory because the tabernacle was like a walking signpost pointing the 279 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:46,840 Israelites and all of the other nations around them encouraging them to see how 280 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:52,560 beautiful God is so that they could put their trust in him and come to him as a 281 00:28:52,560 --> 00:29:00,120 refuge think about it like this the tabernacle in Exodus was the most 282 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:08,080 expensive most beautiful most wonderful billboard pointing to a come here and 283 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:13,880 find a refuge in the desert advertisement that the world had ever 284 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:23,120 seen until perhaps you know the Burj Khalifa hotel and that doesn't move you 285 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:27,800 see this was a remarkable remarkable signpost pointing to God in all of his 286 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:35,760 glory the believer the Christian believer pursues excellence with their 287 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:40,280 God-given skills that's what we do we pursue excellence we pursue beauty and 288 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:47,800 design we pursue soul moving wonder in composition not to point at ourselves 289 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:55,000 but to provoke the world to ask the question who is the creator of you who 290 00:29:55,000 --> 00:30:01,880 you honor through the things that you make and your skills be you an 291 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:08,640 electrician or a medic or an academic or a teacher or a stay-at-home parent 292 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:17,280 whatever you might be called to do your skills are an invitation to all who 293 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:23,840 observe and watch you it's an invitation to all of those who observe and watch 294 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:33,420 you to come and know the God that you serve so here Exodus ends the collective 295 00:30:33,420 --> 00:30:38,760 effort of all of the people at the very end of chapter 40 they've created the 296 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:46,080 tabernacle and God dwells with his people he has empowered them to make a 297 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:55,400 refuge that will protect them look with me at verse 34 of the last chapter of 298 00:30:55,400 --> 00:31:01,880 extas then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled 299 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:06,400 the tabernacle it's like the high point it's like the climax this is what it's 300 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:11,600 all been about the great ultimate refuge that all of exodus has been building to 301 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:21,160 has been made but there is one ominous note right at the very end of verse 35 302 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:26,040 right there at the very end in your Bibles we're told that Moses could not 303 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:33,440 enter the refuge because the glory of God was there now the reason that this 304 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:37,200 is a slightly niggling it's just a niggle it's just a niggle perhaps you 305 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:42,840 think of it why couldn't Moses go in because you're thinking to yourself if 306 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:47,320 you've been through us for the whole of the Exodus journey in passages like 307 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:53,680 Exodus 24 verses 15 to 18 Moses is met with God on the mountain in the glory 308 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:58,040 cloud with the lightning with the very presence of God that seemed to be no 309 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:04,880 problem and yet now at the very end of the book he can't go into the tent or 310 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:10,560 went wrong we're told that he couldn't go in because God's glorious presence 311 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:14,760 was there and yet throughout the book of Exodus throughout the book of Exodus 312 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:20,640 Moses has been the only one who could go to be close to God because his presence 313 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:25,160 was there so what has changed at the very end of the book what has changed 314 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:31,880 at the very climax when everything should be ice cream and cakes it's not a 315 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:36,320 good way to finish a book of the Bible with ice cream and cake there seems to 316 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:43,040 be a niggle of sadness and the reason it's there goes back to chapter 32 317 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:54,920 verses 31 to 34 of Exodus where Moses if you remember Ralph's sermon on the on 318 00:32:54,920 --> 00:33:00,440 the moment the people abandoned God and they made this golden calf idol made of 319 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:07,200 gold if you remember Moses says when God is about to punish the people and 320 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:12,160 destroy them and have nothing more to do with them because of their their sin 321 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:22,800 because of their rebellion Moses goes look God punish me but save the people 322 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:29,280 let the justice fall on me only be the refuge to the people that you said you 323 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:37,440 would be and so at the end of this amazing book the people are safe and 324 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:42,560 they're worshiping God and they're having the time of their life with the 325 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:48,320 refuge of God symbolically right in the middle of the Israelite camp but they're 326 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:55,840 only able to do that because Moses said I'll take their place I'll take their 327 00:33:55,840 --> 00:34:05,640 place let me put it like this back in 1912 one of the most famous maritime 328 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:13,760 disasters in the UK happened it was the sinking of the Titanic and in the final 329 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:21,360 minutes in the final minutes where that large ocean liner was sinking fast into 330 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:29,640 the ice-cold waters of the ocean there was one place left on the very last 331 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:39,840 lifeboat one place one place on the very last lifeboat and there was a lady there 332 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:45,320 was a lady who was in the queue and it was her place her name was Edith Evans 333 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:51,560 and she was about to step on board the lifeboat from the deck of the Titanic 334 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:57,400 when she noticed her friend was still on the ship a friend that she dearly loved 335 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:05,760 a lady called Caroline Lamson Brown Caroline Lamson Brown and so she said 336 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:19,600 no no no Caroline you take my place you you take my place and Caroline accepted 337 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:25,480 that invitation and she became the last person to step off the deck of the 338 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:32,920 Titanic onto a lifeboat according to numerous accounts whereas Evans perished 339 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:40,320 in the water with around about 1,500 other passengers aboard and her body was 340 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:48,960 never recovered and Caroline Brown said at a memorial service for Evans some 341 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:54,920 months later she said this it was a heroic sacrifice and as long as life 342 00:35:54,920 --> 00:36:04,520 lasts I shall hold her memory dear as my preserver who preferred to die so that I 343 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:15,320 might live. Exodus is designed to point us to Jesus for like Moses and like 344 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:27,400 Evans Jesus said of us let them be safe let them be safe in the refuge let them 345 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:34,800 take my place and so is Jesus who took the punishment for my sin so that the 346 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:39,480 perfect good of God of justice could always be close to me and you not in a 347 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:44,480 tent but gifting me the Holy Spirit so that the presence of God could dwell 348 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:52,720 with me always. It was Jesus who is our true friend whose love would have pulled 349 00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:57,840 me into the refuge of his house activated by his blood even though I 350 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:06,960 treat him like nothing and it's Jesus who had the courage like Moses's mother 351 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:14,440 to save me and you though I like a baby in a basket could do nothing to 352 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:20,880 contribute to my own safety. The application to you if you're not yet a 353 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:24,720 believer is put your trust in Jesus because it doesn't matter who you are or 354 00:37:24,720 --> 00:37:32,800 what you've done Jesus has paid it all. But for those of you who are believers 355 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:39,200 and if you're like me but you are a worrier you are an excessive planner you 356 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:49,840 are an obsessive list maker well then if you're like me then there's part of you 357 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:56,440 that still believes that you are outside of the refuge. You see one of the things 358 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:59,280 that we learn in the book of Exodus is that slaves have to worry about 359 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:07,160 everything because they have no one to worry on their behalf but we do because 360 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:13,000 we're not slaves and so if you're like me and you struggle with that mental 361 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:19,360 clutter those monsters that come in the night and steal your sleep and your 362 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:28,440 peace one thing for you to remember the God who gave up his place in the refuge 363 00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:44,360 of heaven for you will not abandon you now will not abandon you now. He will not 364 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:55,560 let you face your fears alone. For you are not called to live this life on your 365 00:38:55,560 --> 00:39:07,240 own to be your own Savior. The book of Exodus calls us to draw close to him our 366 00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:16,200 loving God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father we thank you that though we do not deserve it 367 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:22,000 you call us to be close to you you call us to walk with you though we often think 368 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:28,360 of ourselves as alone and abandoned we are reminded that in the Lord Jesus who 369 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:36,240 gave up his place in heaven so that we would never be without refuge again we 370 00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:43,000 have the very creator of the universe walking with us as we face our challenges 371 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:51,560 our fears our monsters every day. Amen.