W. Austin Gardner
Worship Based on His Words

Exodus 24:1 And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. 2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him. 3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do. 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. 6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. 8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: 10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. 11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. 13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God. 14 And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them. 15 And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. 16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
God calls the leadership to private worship
Over 74 are invited to come up and worship God 24:1 And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
There were 70 elders, spiritual leaders, in the ministry of Israel
They would be respected leaders
Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu were the priestly leaders
Moses was the one God had put in charge to lead through the others
However, they will all worship from a distance
They all got to go up but would be worshipping from a distance
Worship can often feel distant to us but we should count ourselves very blessed that we get to worship God.
We are invited to worship Him
We should never take this invitation lightly
Only Moses will come near to the Lord 2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.
Moses was the go-between
He stood between the people and God
Today Jesus stands there
In Jesus, we can all get near to worship
God honored the large leadership group by having them come before Him and participate in a special worship service
Even in the Old Testament God wasn’t excluding everyone from His presence
The leadership should be the most faithful to be in the presence of God
God still took Moses into a special place alone with Him
God did have Moses have a special place of worship
He had a special relationship
God seemed to be marking the leadership in a special way 13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
Then He marked Moses even more especially 18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Today, by God’s grace and Jesus' sacrifice, we are all brought near.
Though God met with Moses in a very special way He meets with you in the same way
You will not get new revelation but He will teach you to understand the revelation that He has already given
This great privilege just makes us much more responsible.
We have been given the priesthood of the believer so that we can go to God on our own through Jesus Christ
We have the liberty to study the Word of God and learn for ourselves
All the words
Moses job was to get all the words
Then Moses was to tell the people all the words 3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.
Moses got the Words from God, not himself
The people responded correctly with their promise to obey the words
Preaching services have two elements
One is to expound the words
The other is the commitment to obey the words as we understand what God is saying
It is not about learning more but about living more
It is not about filling the head but affecting the entire life
God would write down the commandments so that Moses would teach them 12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
Notice these are the words, commandments, laws that God Himself has written
The words came from God
Moses was simply to teach the people what God had said
That is the job of your preachers and teachers today
We are not to have innovative ideas
We are not to be creative
We are to simply tell God’s people what God said
We are to study it and learn it so that we can say it
The entire ministry of God’s people today is based on all the words still
We are to read and study all the words
We should go to church and hear them expounded
We should be teaching them to our children
We should be hungry for learning and sharing all the words
Our church should be a place that teaches all the words
The altar and the blood
Moses wrote down what God said 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Moses was careful to keep the words that God had given
Moses having met with God, was anxious and ready to obey so he got up early
They built an altar
The altar had 12 pillars to represent all 12 tribes
Hearing God’s Words should always inspire worship
We should want to humble ourselves
We should want to respond in thanksgiving and praise
We should want to confess our failures and seek to draw nearer
The Word drives us to worship
Worship includes offerings and sacrifice 5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
The young men made the offerings only because it was very hard work to do the sacrifices
Everyone’s heart would be united in this offering
Everyone would share in the expense
The sacrifices were about blood 6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
The animals were killed and their blood placed on the altar
Jesus was being represented because we cannot worship God without Jesus opening the door for us
They heard the word but weren’t good enough to come before God on their own merit
A sacrifice was made for peace
Blood was shed to bring them into the presence of God
All their worship was based on the book 7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
They knew what was expected of them because of the book
The covenant was the promise from God to them
The covenant was how they could respond to God’s great offer
They read the book to the people
The people responded by saying that they would obey
The only answer for them was the blood. The blood was the basis of their covenant 8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
They met with God
They got God’s Word
They read the book
Now they meet at the altar
The blood is mentioned
The altar and the blood should motivate several things in our lives today
We should be very interested in all the Words that He has given us
We should be up early and worshipping
The Word of God should be more than a book to learn about but truth to live-out
We should be ready to sacrifice and give to our worthy God
We should always remember that all we have is due to the shed blood of Jesus Christ
We are people of the book
We seek out His promises and seek to live out what He has put in us
They saw God
God had invited them to come and worship
They went to worship and God revealed Himself to them 9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: 10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
The elders found out that God was not going to hurt them 11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink. 17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
The congregation was organized so that God’s man could be alone with God 14 And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.
Moses was alone with God 15 And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. 16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
Ministry can often be very lonely
Moses is alone with God
People might not have understood Moses because of this
Moses very likely was fearful
Moses wanted and needed to hear from God
We too will see and know God
As we understand that He calls for worship
That worship means us humbling ourselves before Him
That we come to serve, not receive
That it is His Word that will guide everything we do and not what we would desire
That without the shed blood of Jesus we would have no opportunity
That it is God Himself that has made a covenant with us
That worship includes our giving our everything to God